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Self-contained power supplies and energy storage continue to improve. The criteria that determine their development include efficiency, safety, adaptability, modifiability, and a number of others. In this work, one of the ways to improve the lithium-ion battery by using a new negative electrode is considered. The possibilities of applicability of the improved lithium-ion battery are discussed, its advantages and disadvantages in relation to a hydrogen fuel cell and power sources using hydrogen fuel are considered. The study of the functioning of the new anode, the material of which is a two-layer silicene on a nickel substrate, is carried out at the atomic level. Improvement of the anode characteristics can be achieved by subjecting it to the neutron doping. Li-ion batteries with an improved anode will have higher charging capacity and power, faster charging and improved safety.

Mast cells express high-affinity IgE receptor (FcεRI) on their surface, cross-linking of which leads to the immediate release of proinflammatory mediators such as histamine but also late-phase cytokine secretion, which are central to the pathogenesis of allergic diseases. Despite the growing evidences that mammalian target of rapamycin (mTOR) plays important roles in the immune system, it is still unclear how mTOR signaling regulates mast cell function. In this study, we investigated the effects of 3-benzyl-5-((2-nitrophenoxy) methyl)-dihydrofuran-2(3H)-one (3BDO) as an mTOR agonist on FcεRI-mediated allergic responses of mast cells. Our data showed that administration of 3BDO decreased β-hexosaminidase, interleukin 6 (IL-6), and tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) release in murine bone marrow-derived mast cells (BMMCs) after FcεRI cross-linking, which was associated with an increase in mTOR complex 1 (mTORC1) signaling but a decrease in activation of Erk1/2, Jnk, and mTORC2-Akt. In addition, we found that a specific Akt agonist, SC79, is able to fully restore the decrease of β-hexosaminidase release in 3BDO-treated BMMCs but has no effect on IL-6 release in these cells, suggesting that 3BDO negatively regulates FcεRI-mediated degranulation and cytokine release through differential mechanisms in mast cells. The present data demonstrate that proper activation of mTORC1 is crucial for mast cell effector function, suggesting the applicability of the mTORC1 activator as a useful therapeutic agent in mast cell-related diseases.

Three 1D coordination polymers of [Ag2L2(NO3)2]n composition have been synthesized by the reaction of AgNO3 with several disubstituted thiazoles. The building units of the polymers comprise two Ag atoms, which are μ2-N,S-bridged by a pair of ligands in a head-to-tail manner. The UV-VIS solid-state dual emission has been found for the polymer with 4-methyl-2-(pyridin-3-yl)thiazole as a ligand.

Coordination abilities of tris[2-(2-pyridyl)ethyl]phosphine (L) toward Ag(I) and Au(I) have been surveyed. Its reaction with AgClO4, AgNO3 and AgOTf results in self-assembly of 1D coordination polymers (CPs) of [Ag(L)X]n type (X = ClO4, NO3, OTf), built up by conjugated twelve-membered [Ag ( N C C C P P C C C N ) Ag] cycles. The reaction of this phosphine with AgCl affords CP [Ag4Cl4(L)2]n, where in stepped cubane [Ag4Cl4] modules are bridged by “PyCH2CH2P” arms. Interaction of L with Au(tht)Cl produces linear [Au(L)Cl] complex, in which P-coordination is observed. CPs [Ag(L)ClO4]n and [Ag4Cl4(L)2]n at ambient temperature show pronounced excitation wavelength dependent photoluminescence originated by intraligand transitions.

Dinuclear complex, [Ag2(2-Mt)2(MeCN)2(NO3)2] (1) as well as layered (2D) coordination polymers (CPs), [Ag2(2-Mt)2(NO3)2]n (2) and [Ag4(2-Mt)4(NO3)4·2H2O]n (3), are self-assembled from 2-(methylthio)thiazole (2-Mt) and AgNO3 under different conditions. These compounds contain a [Ag2(2-Mt)2] unit consisting of two metal atoms bridged by 2-Mt ligands (μ2-N,S) in head-to-tail (for 1 and 2) and head-to-head (for 3) manner. 2-(Methylthio)benzothiazole (2-Mbt) reacts with AgNO3 to assemble complex [Ag2(2-Mbt)2(MeCN)2(NO3)2] (4), showing interesting dual emission behavior associated with the presence of fluorescence and phosphorescence, contributions of which depends on the excitation wavelength.

The reaction of 1,3-bis(diphenylphosphinyl)propane (dpppO 2 ) with MnI 2 , depending on the reactants ratio, affords either 1D coordination polymer, [Mn(dpppO 2 )I 2 ] n ( 1 ), or cage-like complex [Mn 2 (dpppO 2 ) 4 I 2 ]l 2 ( 2 ). Polymer 1 contains Mn(II) ions in a tetrahedral [Mn@O 2 I 2 ] arrangement, while the metal ions of 2 feature a square-pyramidal [Mn@O 4 I] geometry. At ambient temperature, 1 emits green phosphorescence (λ max = 530 nm) with unusually short lifetime being 50 µs, while 2 displays long-lived red phosphorescence with λ max = 660 nm and the lifetime of 1400 µs.

We statistically study the geoeffectiveness of two types of compression regions: corotating interaction regions (CIRs) before the solar wind high-speed streams (HSSs) from the coronal holes and Sheaths before the fast interplanetary CMEs (ICMEs) including flux-rope magnetic clouds (MCs) and non-MC Ejecta using the OMNI dataset ( http://omniweb.gsfc.nasa.gov (King and Papitashvili, 2004)) and our Catalog of large-scale solar wind phenomena for 1976–2000 ( ftp://ftp.iki.rssi.ru/pub/omni/ (Yermolaev et al., 2009)). Our analysis shows that the magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field B in CIRs and Sheaths increases with increasing speed of both types of pistons: HSS and ICME; the increase of the piston speed results in the increase of geoeffectiveness of both compression regions. The value B in Sheaths before Ejecta is higher than B in Ejecta. The value B in Sheaths before MCs in the beginning of phenomena interval is lower than in MCs but in the end of interval it is close to B in MCs. The contribution of Sheath in storm generation can be significant for so-called "CME-induced" storms and Sheath-induced storms should be identified and analyzed separately.

The results of experimental study of silver-containing lanthanum-phosphate glasses, modified by electron irradiation with electrons energy E = 5 and 50 keV and thermal treatment are presented. The concentration of Ag2O in glasses was 17 and 30 mol%. It is shown that initially silver is contained in glasses mainly in a state of subnanosized neutral molecular clusters (MCs). Local electron irradiation results in the increase of MCs concentration in the irradiated zone. This process is accompanied by the appearance of luminescence outside the irradiated zone. Redistribution of silver during electron irradiation is confirmed by X-ray spectral microanalyses. During irradiation with E = 5 keV some part of silver migrates to the glass surface, forming the solid silver film. During thermal treatment the growth of silver MCs takes place, and, at last, they form silver nanoparticles (NPs).