On band gaps of nonlocal acoustic lattice metamaterials: a robust strain gradient model

We have proposed an “exact” strain gradient (SG) continuum model to properly predict the dispersive characteristics of diatomic lattice metamaterials with local and nonlocal interactions. The key enhancement is proposing a wavelength-dependent Taylor expansion to obtain a satisfactory accuracy when the wavelength gets close to the lattice spacing. Such a wavelength-dependent Taylor expansion is applied to the displacement field of the diatomic lattice, resulting in a novel SG model. For various kinds of diatomic lattices, the dispersion diagrams given by the proposed SG model always agree well with those given by the discrete model throughout the first Brillouin zone, manifesting the robustness of the present model. Based on this SG model, we have conducted the following discussions. (I) Both mass and stiffness ratios affect the band gap structures of diatomic lattice metamaterials, which is very helpful for the design of metamaterials. (II) The increase in the SG order can enhance the model performance if the modified Taylor expansion is adopted. Without doing so, the higher-order continuum model can suffer from a stronger instability issue and does not necessarily have a better accuracy. The proposed SG continuum model with the eighth-order truncation is found to be enough to capture the dispersion behaviors all over the first Brillouin zone. (III) The effects of the nonlocal interactions are analyzed. The nonlocal interactions reduce the workable range of the well-known long-wave approximation, causing more local extrema in the dispersive diagrams. The present model can serve as a satisfactory continuum theory when the wavelength gets close to the lattice spacing, i.e., when the long-wave approximation is no longer valid. For the convenience of band gap designs, we have also provided the design space from which one can easily obtain the proper mass and stiffness ratios corresponding to a requested band gap width.

Microtubule Lattice Spacing Governs Cohesive Envelope Formation of Tau Family Proteins

Tau is an intrinsically-disordered microtubule-associated protein (MAP) implicated in neurodegenerative disease. On microtubules, tau molecules segregate into two kinetically distinct phases, consisting of either independently diffusing molecules or interacting molecules that form cohesive envelopes around microtubules. Envelopes differentially regulate lattice accessibility for other MAPs, but the mechanism of envelope formation remains unclear. Here, we find that tau envelopes form cooperatively, locally altering the spacing of tubulin dimers within the microtubule lattice. Envelope formation compacted the underlying lattice, whereas lattice extension induced tau-envelope disassembly. Investigating other members of the tau-MAP family, we find MAP2 similarly forms envelopes governed by lattice-spacing, whereas MAP4 cannot. Envelopes differentially biased motor protein movement, suggesting that tau family members could spatially divide the microtubule surface into functionally distinct segments. We conclude that the interdependent allostery between lattice-spacing and cooperative envelope formation provides the molecular basis for spatial regulation of microtubule-based processes by tau and MAP2.

A study of preparing silver iodide nanocolloid by electrical spark discharge method and its properties

This study employed an electric discharge machine (EDM) and the Electrical Spark Discharge Method (ESDM) to prepare silver iodide nanocolloid (AgINC). Povidone–iodine (PVP-I) was dissolved in deionized water to create a dielectric fluid. Silver material was melted using the high temperature generated by an electric arc, and the peeled-off material was reacted with PVP-I to form AgI nanoparticles (AgINPs). Six discharge pulse wave parameter combinations (Ton–Toff) were employed, and the resultant particle size and suspension of the prepared samples were examined. The results revealed that AgINPs were successfully created using the ESDM. When Ton–Toff was set at 90–90 μs, the zeta potential of the AgINC was − 50.3 mV, indicating excellent suspension stability. The AgINC particle size was 16 nm, verifying that the parameters yielded AgINPs with the smallest particle size distribution and highest zeta potential. Ultraviolet–visible spectrum analyser was performed to analyse the samples, and the spectra indicated that the characteristic wavelength was 420 nm regardless of the Ton–Toff values. X-ray diffraction analysis determined that the AgINPs exhibited two crystal structures, namely β-AgI and Ag. Transmission electron microscopy was performed and revealed that the particles were irregularly shaped and that some of the larger particles had aggregated. The crystal structure was determined to be a mixture of Ag and β-AgI, with a lattice spacing of 0.235 nm and 0.229 nm, respectively. The lattice spacing of the Ag was 0.235 nm. X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the prepared AgINC were composed of only Ag and I; no additional chemical elements were detected.

Abstract P417: Cardiomyopathy-associated Variant In Troponin T Tail Domain Promotes Disruption Of Both Frank-starling Mechanism And Cardiac Myofilament Performance

Missense variant Ile79Asn in human cardiac troponin T (HcTnT-I79N) tail region has been linked to familial hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM), arrhythmia, and sudden cardiac death. It has been reported that inotropic stimulation with high extracellular Ca 2+ or isoproterenol led to diastolic dysfunction in both isolated and in vivo HcTnT-I79N mice hearts. Although HcTnT-I79N effects are acknowledged to be dependent on the inotropic state of the cardiac muscle, little is known about how this pathogenic variant affects the Frank-Starling law of the heart. To further investigate the functional and structural consequences of this deadly variant in a stretch-dependent manner, cardiac tissues were harvested from non-transgenic (NTg) control mice and transgenic mice bearing HcTnT-I79N. Left ventricular papillary muscle bundles were permeabilized and mounted for mechanical measurements. Sarcomere length (SL 1.9, 2.1 or 2.3 μm) was set at pCa 8 using HeNe laser diffraction and then Ca 2+ -dependence of isometric force, sinusoidal stiffness (SS, 0.2% PTP length oscillation) and rate of tension redevelopment ( k TR ) were measured. We observed that HcTnT-I79N tissue exhibited increased myofilament Ca 2+ -sensitivity of force, increased SS, slower k TR at all levels of Ca 2+ -activation, and diminished length-dependent activation (LDA). Small-angle X-ray diffraction revealed that HcTnT-I79N permeabilized cardiac muscles exhibit smaller myofilament lattice spacing at longer SLs (2.1 μm and 2.3 μm) compared to NTg. Using 3% Dextran T500 to osmotically compress the myofilament lattice (SL 2.1 μm), HcTnT-I79N showed no change in myofilament lattice spacing and little change in contractile indices associated with LDA. Interestingly, upon osmotic compression, HcTnT-I79N displayed a decrease in disordered relaxed state (DRX, ON state) of myosin and an increase in super-relaxed state (SRX, OFF state) of myosin. We conclude that altered cardiac myofilament performance, lack of responsiveness to osmotic compression, and reduced LDA observed with HcTnT-I79N are partially due to a combination of smaller myofilament lattice and disturbed ON and OFF states of myosin.

Gap-Size-Dependent Effective Phase Transition in Metasurfaces of Closed-Ring Resonators

We theoretically investigate a metal-to-insulator transition in artificial two-dimensional (2D) crystals (i.e., metasurfaces) of tightly coupled closed-ring resonators. Strong interaction between unit resonators in the metasurfaces yields the effective permittivity highly dependent on the lattice spacing of unit resonators. Through our rigorous theory, we provide a closed form of effective permittivity of the metasurface and reveal that the permittivity possesses a Lorentzian-type resonant behavior, implying that the transition of the effective permittivity can arise when the lattice spacing passes a critical value.

Morphological, structural and electrical properties of pentacene thin films grown via thermal evaporation technique

The physical and structural characteristics of pentacene thin films on indium tin oxide (ITO)-coated glass were studied. The pentacene films were deposited using the thermal evaporation method with deposition times of 20, 30, and 60 minutes. Field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) images revealed that film thickness increased with deposition time, with a bulk phase layer appearing at 60 minutes. The presence of the thin-film phase corresponding to 15.5 Å lattice spacing was demonstrated by X-ray diffraction (XRD) patterns in pentacene films with deposition times of 20 and 30 minutes. Meanwhile, with a deposition time of 60 minutes and a lattice spacing of 14.5 Å, the existence of the bulk phase was verified in the pentacene film. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) images of the crystallinity of the pentacene films revealed that the pentacene films deposited on ITO-coated glass exhibited the formation of similar islands with modular grains, results in a fine crystalline structure. From the current-voltage (I-V) and current density-voltage (J-V) characteristics, the pentacene films were ohmic and that current increased as the pentacene’s thickness decreased. Pentacene films deposited on an ITO-coated glass substrate showed potential in the development of broadband and narrowband optoelectronic devices on a transparent substrate.

Nucleon gluon distribution function from 2 + 1 + 1-flavor lattice QCD

The parton distribution functions (PDFs) provide process-independent information about the quarks and gluons inside hadrons. Although the gluon PDF can be obtained from a global fit to experimental data, it is not constrained well in the large-[Formula: see text] region. Theoretical gluon-PDF studies are much fewer than those of the quark PDFs. In this work, we present the first lattice-QCD results that access the [Formula: see text]-dependence of the gluon unpolarized PDF of the nucleon. The lattice calculation is carried out with nucleon momenta up to 2.16 GeV, lattice spacing [Formula: see text] fm, and with valence pion masses of 310 and 690 MeV. We use reduced Ioffe-time distributions to cancel the renormalization and implement a one-loop perturbative pseudo-PDF gluon matching. We neglect mixing of the gluon operator with the quark singlet sector. Our matrix-element results in coordinate space are consistent with those obtained from the global PDF fits of CT18 NNLO and NNPDF3.1 NNLO. Our fitted gluon PDFs at both pion masses are consistent with global fits in the [Formula: see text] region.