A thermodynamic description for the Co–Cr–Fe–Mn–Ni system

The CALPHAD method has been employed to compose thermodynamic description of the Fe–Cr–Mn–Ni–Si–C–N system. Using an algorithm based on finding a global minimum of Gibbs energy, the calculations of system phase composition were performed in the temperature range from 1750°C to hardening and in the range of compositions corresponding to 04Kh20N6G11M2AFB steel. Calculations showed that at temperatures above liquidus line, Cr and Mn increase nitrogen solubility in the melt, while Ni and Si reduce it. With an increase in the content of Cr, Mn, Ni, and Si in steel in the studied composition range, both liquidus and solidus temperature decrease. The degree of influence on these temperatures of Cr, Mn, Ni and Si within the steel grade is different and ranges from ~3 to ~14°C. Calculations taking into account the possibility of nitrogen transfer between steel and the atmosphere of air showed that the amount of fixed nitrogen in the alloy under study varies, depending on the composition of the steel and temperature, from ~0.3 to ~0.6 wt%. As the temperature decreases from liquidus to solidus, the amount of fixed nitrogen increases, with the exception of those steel compositions when ferrite and not austenite is released from the liquid phase.

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Biology and Physics of Heterochromatin-Like Domains/Complexes

Cells ◽

10.3390/cells9081881 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 9 (8) ◽

pp. 1881

Author(s):

Prim B. Singh ◽

Stepan N. Belyakin ◽

Petr P. Laktionov

Keyword(s):

Phase Separation ◽

Fission Yeast ◽

Thermodynamic Description ◽

Dynamic Structure ◽

Vertebrate Development ◽

Type Region ◽

Additional Tool ◽

3D Genome ◽

Chromatin Template ◽

Cis And Trans

The hallmarks of constitutive heterochromatin, HP1 and H3K9me2/3, assemble heterochromatin-like domains/complexes outside canonical constitutively heterochromatic territories where they regulate chromatin template-dependent processes. Domains are more than 100 kb in size; complexes less than 100 kb. They are present in the genomes of organisms ranging from fission yeast to human, with an expansion in size and number in mammals. Some of the likely functions of domains/complexes include silencing of the donor mating type region in fission yeast, preservation of DNA methylation at imprinted germline differentially methylated regions (gDMRs) and regulation of the phylotypic progression during vertebrate development. Far cis- and trans-contacts between micro-phase separated domains/complexes in mammalian nuclei contribute to the emergence of epigenetic compartmental domains (ECDs) detected in Hi-C maps. A thermodynamic description of micro-phase separation of heterochromatin-like domains/complexes may require a gestalt shift away from the monomer as the “unit of incompatibility” that determines the sign and magnitude of the Flory–Huggins parameter, χ. Instead, a more dynamic structure, the oligo-nucleosomal “clutch”, consisting of between 2 and 10 nucleosomes is both the long sought-after secondary structure of chromatin and its unit of incompatibility. Based on this assumption we present a simple theoretical framework that enables an estimation of χ for domains/complexes flanked by euchromatin and thereby an indication of their tendency to phase separate. The degree of phase separation is specified by χN, where N is the number of “clutches” in a domain/complex. Our approach could provide an additional tool for understanding the biophysics of the 3D genome.

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