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Two-dimensional ultrathin CdSe nanoplatelets have attracted a large interest due to their optical properties but their formation mechanism is not well understood. Several different mechanisms have been proposed: confined growth in a surfactant mesophase acting as a template, anisotropic ripening of small seeds into 2D nanoplatelets, or continuous anisotropic growth of a limited number of nuclei. However, quantitative in situ data that could validate or disprove these formation scenarios are lacking. We use synchrotron-based small-angle and wide-angle X-ray scattering to probe the formation mechanism of CdSe nanoplatelets synthesized using a heating-up method. We prove the absence of a molecular mesophase in the reactive medium at the onset of nanoplatelet formation ruling out a templating effect. We also show that our data are inconsistent with the anisotropic ripening of small seeds whereas the evolution of the SAXS patterns during the reaction is consistent with the continuous lateral growth of nanoplatelets fed by reactive monomers. Finally, we show that when the final temperature of the synthesis is lowered, nanoplatelets with larger lateral dimensions form. We reveal that they bend in solution during their growth to yield nanoscrolls.

Colloidal CdSe nanoplatelets with monolayer control over their thickness can now be synthesized in solution and display interesting optical properties. From a fundamental point of view, the self-assembly of CdSe nanoplatelets can impact their optical properties through short-range interactions, and achieving control over their dispersion state in solution is of major relevance. The related issue of colloidal stability is important from an applicative standpoint in the perspective of the processing of these materials. Using UV-vis spectroscopy, we assess the colloidal stability of dispersions of CdSe nanoplatelets at different nanoparticle and ligand (oleic acid) concentrations. We unravel an optimum in oleic acid concentration for colloidal stability and show that even moderately concentrated dispersions flocculate on a time scale ranging from minutes to hours. Small-angle X-ray scattering shows that the precipitation proceeds through a face-to-face stacking of the nanoplatelets due to long-ranged van der Waals attraction. To address this issue, we coated the platelets with a carboxylic acid-terminated polystyrene, thus achieving colloidal stability while retaining the optical properties of the platelets.

A Gallo-roman horse from the ancient site of Iwuy ("Val-de-Calvigny", Nord, France) showed extensive lesions of severe vertebral ankylosing hyperostosis reliable to "ankylosing spondylarthritis/-osis" and "deforming spondylarthrosis". Discussing the case gives the opportunity to a comparative and critical review of spinal hyperostosing and ankylosing diseases in horse and man., (Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.)

Understanding the formation mechanism of colloidal nanocrystals is of paramount importance in order to design new nanostructures and synthesize them in a predictive fashion. However, reliable data on the pathways leading from molecular precursors to nanocrystals are not available yet. We used synchrotron-based time-resolved in situ small and wide-angle X-ray scattering to experimentally monitor the formation of CdSe quantum dots synthesized in solution through the heating up of precursors in octadecene at 240 °C. Our experiment yields a complete movie of the structure of the solution from the self-assembly of the precursors to the formation of the quantum dots. We show that the initial cadmium precursor lamellar structure melts into small micelles at 100 °C and that the first CdSe nuclei appear at 218.7 °C. The size distributions and concentration in nanocrystals are measured in a quantitative fashion as a function of time. We show that a short nucleation burst lasting 30 s is followed by a slow decrease of nanoparticle concentration. The rate-limiting process of the quantum dot formation is found to be the thermal activation of selenium.

We show that colloidal nanoplatelets can self-assemble to form a 1D superlattice. When self-assembled, an additional emission line appears in the photoluminescence spectrum at low temperatures. This emission line is a collective effect, greatly enhanced when the NPLs are self-assembled. It is attributed to the longitudinal optical (LO) phonon replica of the band-edge exciton, and its presence in self-assembled nanoplatelets is explained using a model based on an efficient photons reabsorption between neighboring nanoplatelets. The presence of phonon replica at low temperatures in ensemble measurements suggests the possibility to design a laser, based on self-assembled nanoplatelets.

We have recently synthesized atomically flat semiconductor colloidal nanoplatelets with quasi 2D geometry. Here, we show that core/shell nanoplatelets can be obtained with a 2D geometry that is conserved. The epitaxial growth of the shell semiconductor is performed at room temperature. We report the detailed synthesis of CdSe/CdS and CdSe/CdZnS structures with different shell thicknesses. The shell growth is characterized both spectroscopically and structurally. In particular, the core/shell structure appears very clearly on high-resolution, high-angle annular dark-field transmission electron microscope images, thanks to the difference of atomic density between the core and the shell. When the nanoplatelets stand on their edge, we can precisely count the number of atomic planes forming the core and the shell. This provides a direct measurement, with atomic precision, of the core nanoplatelets thickness. The constraints exerted by the shell growth on the core is analyzed using global phase analysis. The core/shell nanoplatelets we obtained have narrow emission spectra with full-width at half-maximum close to 20 nm, and quantum yield that can reach 60%.

Dust plays a vital role in climate and biophysical feedbacks in the Earth system. One source of dust, the Bodélé Depression in Chad, is estimated to produce about half the mineral aerosols emitted from the Sahara, which is the world's largest source. By using a variety of new remote sensing data, regional modeling, trajectory models, chemical analyses of dust, and future climate simulations, we investigate the current and past sensitivity of the Bodélé. We show that minor adjustments to small features of the atmospheric circulation, such as the Bodélé Low-Level Jet, could profoundly alter the behavior of this feature. Dust production during the mid-Holocene ceased completely from this key source region. Although subject to a great deal of uncertainty, some simulations of the 21st century indicate the potential for a substantial increase in dust production by the end of the century in comparison with current values.

Phage phi 197 is representative of a widespread lactococcal phage group characterized by a particular morphology (prolate head with a noncontractile tail). In order to develop an immunoenzymatic phage detection test, fusion proteins containing beta-galactosidase fused to epitopes of phage phi 197 structural proteins were constructed by cloning random DNA fragments from the phage genome upstream of a lacZ gene on a plasmid vector. Recombinant plasmids containing certain fragments encoded the synthesis of fusion proteins which react with polyclonal antibodies against the phage and confer a Lac+ phenotype on Escherichia coli. Three different epitopes were represented; phage-specific DNA fragments encoding these epitopes were mapped at three locations on the phage genome, and their nucleotide sequences were determined. Two fused phage antigens were conformational epitopes, whereas the phage epitope of protein encoded by the recombinant plasmid designated pOA17 was a denaturation-resistant epitope. This epitope was very immunogenic. Protein encoded by plasmid pOA17 was synthesized in large amounts from a strong promoter. Antibodies raised against this hybrid protein were used to identify the 46-kDa minor phage protein which provides the epitope. Antibody cross-reactivity of phages related to phi 197 showed that this epitope is well conserved in this genetic group.

Control of gene expression in Euglena was examined during light-induced chloroplast development. Greening was achieved under standard conditions which allowed the synthesis of all plastid proteins in both cytoplasmic and chloroplastic compartments, or under experimentally modified conditions inducing the preferential synthesis of the photosystem II (PSII) light-harvesting antenna or reaction centers. The relative composition of total mRNAs in cellular, cytoplasmic or chloroplastic fractions, as analyzed by their in-vitro translation products in cell-free systems did not significantly change during the in-vivo protein-synthesis processes which are specific to each greening system. By contrast, cytoplasmic polysomal mRNAs extracted during the selective recovery phase of PSII light-harvesting antennae provided a major in-vitro synthesis product of 28 kDa which could correspond to a precursor of the main 26-kDa apoprotein of the light-harvesting chlorophyll a/b protein complex. Similarly, the in-vivo selective synthesis of the 41-kDa and 51-kDa polypeptides of PSII reaction centers was concomitant with an enrichment of plastid polysomes in mRNA species coding for polypeptides of the same molecular weight. These observations confirm that protein synthesis during chloroplast development in Euglena is weakly regulated at the transcription level and they demonstrate that translational regulation occurs in both the cytoplasmic and the chloroplastic compartments.

Glutamine synthetase is the key enzyme in the assimilation by plants of reduced nitrogen provided from either the soil or fixed symbiotically in association with Rhizobium. We have isolated a number of cDNA clones for soybean glutamine synthetase (GS) from a nodule-cDNA library, using RNA from polysomes immunoprecipitated by GS antibodies. Transcripts corresponding to two clones differing in their 3' non-translated sequences were present in both root and nodule tissue; however, the concentration in the nodules was several times higher. The relative concentrations of these sequences in both tissues is about 9:1. Availability of ammonium ions [provided as NH(4)NO(3) or (NH(4))(2)SO(4)] enhanced the expression of both sequences in root tissue within 2 h, reaching a level similar to that in nodules by 8 h, while KNO(3) had no effect during this period. When nitrogen fixation was prevented by replacing nitrogen with argon in the root environment or when the nodules were formed by a Fix mutant of Bradyrhizobium japonicum, the amounts of GS mRNA did not increase over that in roots. These experiments, together with the time course of increase in GS mRNA transcripts, suggest that the genes encoding cytosolic GS are directly induced by the available ammonia.