Bending and Buckling of Circular Sinusoidal Shear Deformation Microplates with Modified Couple Stress Theory

The modified couple stress theory(MCST)is applied to analyze axisymmetric bending and buckling behaviors of circular microplates with sinusoidal shear deformation theory.The differential governing equations and boundary conditions are derived through the principle of minimum total potential energy,and expressed in nominal form with the introduced nominal variables.With the application of generalized differential quadrature method(GDQM),both the differential governing equations and boundary conditions are expressed in discrete form,and a set of linear equations are obtained.The bending deflection can be obtained through solving the linear equations,while buckling loads can be determined through solving general eigenvalue problems.The influence of material length scale parameter and plate geometrical dimensions on the bending deflection and buckling loads of circular microplates is investigated numerically for different boundary conditions.

Aging-independent and size-dependent genotoxic response induced by titanium dioxide nanoparticles in mammalian cells

Titanium dioxide nanoparticles (TiO2 NPs) are subjected to various transformation processes (chemical,physical and biological processes) in the environment,potentially affecting their bioavailability and toxic properties.However,the size variation of TiO2 NPs during aging process and subsequent effects in mammalian cells are largely unknown.The aim of this study was to illustrate the adverse effects of TiO2 NPs in different sizes (5,15 and <100 nm) during aging process on human-hamster hybrid (AL) cells.There was an aging-time dependent enhancement of average hydrodynamic size in TiO2 NPs stock suspensions.The cytotoxicity of fresh TiO2 NPs increased in a size-dependent manner;in contrast,their genotoxicity decreased with the increasing sizes of NPs.No significant toxicity difference was observed in cells exposed to either fresh or 60 day-aged TiO2 NPs.Both Fresh and aged TiO2 NPs efficiently induced mitochondrial dysfunction and activated Caspase-3/7 in a size-dependent manner.Using mitochondrial-DNA deficient (ρ°) AL cells,we further discovered that mitochondrial dysfunction made significant contribution to the size-dependent toxicity induced by TiO2 NPs during the aging process.Taken together,our data indicated that TiO2 NPs could significantly induced the cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in an aging time-independent and size-dependent manner,which were triggered by mitochondrial dysfunction.Our study suggested the necessity to include size as an additional parameter for the cautious monitoring of TiO2 NPs disposal before entering the environment.

SURFACE STRESS EFFECT IN MECHANICS OF NANOSTRUCTURED MATERIALS

This review article summarizes the advances in the surface stress effect in mechanics of nanostructured elements, including nanoparticles, nanowires, nanobeams, and nanofilms, and heterogeneous materials containing nanoscale inhomogeneities. It begins with the fundamental formulations of surface mechanics of solids, including the definition of surface stress as a surface excess quantity, the surface constitutive relations, and the surface equilibrium equations. Then, it depicts some theoretical and experimental studies of the mechanical properties of nanostructured elements, as well as the static and dynamic behaviour of cantilever sensors caused by the surface stress which is influenced by adsorption. Afterwards, the article gives a summary of the analytical elasto-static and dynamic solutions of a single as well as multiple inhomogeneities embedded in a matrix with the interface stress prevailing. The effect of surface elasticity on the diffraction of elastic waves is elucidated. Due to the difficulties in the analytical solution of inhomogeneities of complex shapes and configurations, finite element approaches have been developed for heterogeneous materials with the surface stress. Surface stress and surface energy are inherently related to crack propagation and the stress field in the vicinity of crack tips. The solutions of crack prob- lems taking into account surface stress effects are also included. Predicting the effective elastic and plastic responses of heterogeneous materials while taking into account surface and interface stresses has received much attention. The advances in this topic are inevitably delineated. Mechanics of rough surfaces appears to deserve special attention due to its theoretical and practical implications. Some most recent work is reviewed. Finally, some challenges are pointed out. They include the characterization of surfaces and interfaces of real nanomaterials, experimental mea- surements and verification of mechanical parameters of complex surfaces, and the effects of the physical and chemical processes on the surface properties, etc.

Size-dependent hydroxyl radicals generation induced by SiO_2 ultra-fine particles: The role of surface iron

Oxidative stress and hydroxyl radicals (·OH) play important roles in adverse health effects caused by inhalable ambient air particles (PM10). The ultra-fine fraction of PM10 has been hypothesized as one of the critical contributors to ·OH generation. Both in vivo and in vitro studies have shown that ultra-fine particles (UFPs) or nano-particles generate more ·OH than larger particles with identical mass and composition. Both the surface area and surface-adsorbed redox-active metals have been suggested as factors to determine the oxidative capacity of UFPs. In this study, the ·OH-generating capability of dif-ferent sizes of SiO2 particles was investigated in order to determine which factor influences particle-induced ·OH generation. The amount of ·OH generated in both acellular and cellular systems was quantified using a capillary electrophoresis method following exposure to SiO2 particles with diameters of 14, 100, and 500 nm. The amount of ·OH was strongly dependent on particle size, and a significant enhancement was observed only with 14 nm particles. Further studies indicated a close association between ·OH and iron ion concentration (R2 = 0.812, p<0.01). Washed particles, with their surface iron being removed, did not generate ·OH. The iron-containing leachate from these washings was able to enhance ·OH production as untreated particles did. Therefore, the presence of adsorbed iron on the surface of the SiO2 particles is presented as a possible mechanism of UPFs-induced ·OH generation. The SiO2 acted as an inert substrate, and the surface of ultra-fine SiO2 particles acted as a carrier for iron.

Cross-scale indentation scaling relationships of strain gradient plastic solids:Influence of inclusions near the indenter tip

The indentation test is a localized testing technique;therefore,the role of the material size-effect and local non-uniformity is of much importance.The influence of the heterogeneity in size-independent materials has been studied previously.The present work detailedly investigated the influence of the material size-effect and heterogeneity(inclusions near the indenter tip)on the indentation hardness using a size-dependent strain gradient plastic theory.And it was found that when considering the material size-ffect,shallow hard inclusions in the heterogeneous materials more significantly enhance the material indentation hardness compared with the size-independent materials which are based on the conventional plastic theory.This hardening effect is be-lieved to be related to the elevation of the load and local constraints of large deformation.The effect of material inhomogeneity mainly comes from the non-uniformity of the structure rather than the inclusion modulus itself especially when the size-effect is involved,and the transition range of the inclusion modulus'influence is pretty narrow.The effect of non-uniformity becomes negligible after the initial inclusion depth is larger than its diameter.The horizontal offset of the indenter from the inclusion is also of much sensitivity to the influence of the heterogeneous indentation.This paper focuses on the scaling relationships in micro-and nanoindentation,the influence of non-uniformity in microscopic materials is studied and supplemented as well.

Nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide(NAD^(+))reduction enabled by an atomically precise Au-Ag alloy nanocluster

The redox property of the ultrasmall coinage nanoclusters(with several to tens of Au/Ag atoms)has elucidated the electrontransfer capacity of nanoclusters,has been successfully utilized in a variety of redox conversions(such as from CO_(2)to CO).Nevertheless,their biological applications are mainly restricted by the scarcity of atomically precise,water-soluble metal nanoclusters,the limited application(mainly on the decomposition of H_(2)O_(2)in these days).Herein,mercaptosuccinic acid(MSA)protected ultrasmall alloy AuAg nanoclusters were prepared,the main product was determined[Au_(3)Ag_(5)(MSA)_(3)]−by electrospray ionization mass spectrometry(ESI-MS).The clusters can not only mediate the decomposition of H_(2)O_(2)to generate hydroxyl radicals,but is also able to mediate the reduction of nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide(NAD)to its reduced form of NADH.This is the first time that the atomically precise metal nanoclusters were used to mediate the coenzyme reduction.The preliminary mechanistic insights imply the reaction to be driven by the hydrogen bonding between the carboxylic groups(on the surface of MSA)and the amino N–H bonds(on NAD).In this context,the presence of the carboxylic groups,the sub-nanometer size regime(~1 nm),the synergistic effect of the Au-Ag clusters are pre-requisite to the NAD reduction.