Hydroides elegans is a common marine fouling organism in most tropical and subtropical waters. The life cycle of H. elegans includes a planktonic larval stage in which swimming larvae normally take 5 days to attain competency to settle. Larval metamorphosis marks the beginning of its benthic life; however, the endogenous molecular mechanisms that regulate metamorphosis remain largely unknown. In this study, a PCR-based suppressive subtractive hybridization (SSH) library was constructed to screen the genes expressed in competent larvae but not in precompetent larvae. Among the transcripts isolated from the library, 21 significantly matched sequences in the GenBank. Many of these isolated transcripts have putative roles in the reactive oxygen species (ROS) signal transduction pathway or in response to ROS stress. A putative novel p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), which was also isolated with SSH screen, was then cloned and characterized. The MAPK inhibitors assay showed that both p38 MAPK inhibitors SB202190 and SB203580 effectively inhibited the biofilm-induced metamorphosis of H. elegans. A cell stressors assay showed that H2O2 effectively induced larval metamorphosis of H. elegans, but the inductivity of H2O2 was also inhibited by both SB inhibitors. The catalase assay showed that the catalase could effetely inhibit H. elegans larvae from responding to inductive biofilm. These results showed that the p38 MAPK-dependent pathway plays critical role in controlling larval metamorphosis of the marine polychaete H. elegans, and the reactive oxygen radicals produced by biofilm could be the cue inducing larval metamorphosis. © 2010 Wiley-Liss, Inc.

Simulation of defect interactions in binary/ternary group IV semiconductor alloys at the density functional theory level is difficult due to the random distribution of the constituent atoms. The special quasirandom structures approach is a computationally efficient way to describe the random nature. We systematically study the efficacy of the methodology and generate a number of special quasirandom cells for future use. In order to demonstrate the applicability of the technique, the electronic structures of E centers in Si1-xGex and Si1-x -yGexSny alloys are discussed for a range of nearest neighbor environments. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We use ab-initio calculations based on the augmented spherical wave method within density functional theory to study the magnetic ordering and Fermi surface of BaFe2As2, the parent compound of the hole-doped iron pnictide superconductors (K,Ba)Fe2As2, for the tetragonal I4/mmm as well as the orthorhombic Fmmm structure. In comparison to full potential linear augmented plane wave calculations, we obtain significantly smaller magnetic energies. This finding is remarkable, since the augmented spherical wave method, in general, is known for a most reliable description of magnetism. © 2010 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

We report a first-principles study of structural, electronic and magnetic properties of crystalline alloys Zn1-xTMxS (TM = Fe, Co and Ni) at x = 0.25. Structural properties are computed from the total ground state energy convergence and it is found that the cohesive energies of Zn 1-xTMxS are greater than that of zincblende ZnS. We also study the spin-polarized electronic band structures, total and partial density of states and the effect of TM 3d states. Our results exhibit that Zn 0.75Fe0.25S, Zn0.75Co0.25S and Zn0.75Ni0.25S are half-metallic ferromagnetic with a magnetic moment of 4μB, 3μB and 2μB, respectively. Furthermore, we calculate the TM 3d spin-exchange-splitting energies Δx (d), Δx (x-d), exchange constants N0α and N0β, crystal field splitting (ΔEcrystEt2g-Eeg), and find that p-d hybridization reduces the local magnetic moment of TM from its free space charge value. Moreover, robustness of Zn1-xTMxS with respect to the variation of lattice constants is also discussed. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

We discuss in detail spin-polarized electronic structure calculations for the 1 × 1 YBa2Cu3O7/PrBa 2Cu3O7 superlattice. Our results are based on the full-potential linear augmented plane wave method and the generalized gradient approximation for the exchange-correlation functional. The on-site Coulomb interaction affecting the correlated Cu 3d and Pr 4f electrons is taken into consideration. At first glance the YBa2Cu3O 7/PrBa2Cu3O7 interface appears to be inert, i.e., the electronic states do not show a clear sign of interaction between the two component materials. Nonetheless, a total energy analysis points to a significant modification of the magnetic coupling in the vicinity of the interface due to the relaxation of the electronic structure. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Ab-initio calculations are performed to investigate the structural, electronic and magnetic properties of spin-polarized diluted magnetic semiconductors composed of IIVI compounds Cd1-xCoxX (X=S, Se, Te) at x=0.25. From the calculated results of band structure and density of states, the half-metallic character and stability of ferromagnetic state for Cd1-xCoxS, Cd1-xCoxSe and Cd 1-xCoxTe alloys are determined. It is found that the tetrahedral crystal field gives rise to triple degeneracy t2g and double degeneracy eg. Furthermore, we predict the values of spin-exchange splitting energies Δx(d) and Δ x(p-d) and exchange constants N0α and N 0β produced by the Co 3d states. Calculated total magnetic moments and the robustness of half-metallicity of Cd1-xCo xX (X=S, Se, Te) with respect to the variation in lattice parameters are also discussed. We also extend our calculations to x=0.50, 0.75 for S compounds in order to observe the change due to increase in Co. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

In this article we discuss the effect of constituents on structure, flow, and thermal properties of nanoscale ionic materials (NIMs). NIMs are a new class of nanohybrids consisting of a nanometer-sized core, a charged corona covalently attached to the core, and an oppositely charged canopy. The hybrid nature of NIMs allows for their properties to be engineered by selectively varying their components. The unique properties associated with these systems can help overcome some of the issues facing the implementation of nanohybrids to various commercial applications, including carbon dioxide capture,water desalinization and as lubricants. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Structural, electronic and optical properties of ternary alloy system CdxZn1-xS have been studied using first-principles approach based on density functional theory. Electronic structure, density of states and energy band gap values for CdxZn1-xS are estimated in the range 0 ≤ x ≤ 1 using both the standard local density approximation (LDA) as well as the generalized gradient approximations (GGA) of Wu-Cohen (WC) for the exchange-correlation potential. It is observed that the direct band gap EgΓ-Γ of CdxZn1-xS decreases nonlinearly with the compositional parameter x, as observed experimentally. It is also found that Cd s and d, S p and Zn d states play a major role in determining the electronic properties of this alloy system. Furthermore, results for complex dielectric constant ε(ω), refractive index n(ω), normal-incidence reflectivity R(ω), absorption coefficient α(ω) and optical conductivity σ(ω) are also described in a wide range of the incident photon energy and compared with the existing experimental data. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

The impact of thermal treatment and thickness on the polarization and leakage current of poly(vinylidene fluoride-trifluoroethylene) [P(VDF-TrFE)] copolymer thin film capacitors has been studied. The evolution of the film morphology, crystallinity and bonding orientation as a function of annealing temperature and thickness were characterized using multiple techniques. Electrical performance of the devices was correlated with the material properties. It was found that annealing at or slightly above the Curie temperature (Tc) is the optimal temperature for high polarization, smooth surface morphology and low leakage current. Higher annealing temperature (but below the melting temperature Tm) favors larger size β crystallites through molecular chain self-organization, resulting in increased film roughness, and the vertical polarization tends to saturate. Metal-Ferroelectric-Metal (MFM) capacitors consistently achieved Ps, Pr and Vc of 8.5 μC/cm2, 7.4 μC/cm2 and 10.2 V, respectively.

Secondary ion mass spectroscopy measurements of heavily indium doped germanium samples revealed that a significant proportion of the indium dose is immobile. Using electronic structure calculations we address the possibility of indium clustering with point defects by predicting the stability of indium-vacancy clusters, InnVm. We find that the formation of large clusters is energetically favorable, which can explain the immobility of the indium ions. © 2010 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.