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Manganese complexes [(arene)Mn(CO)3]+were prepared in one step from arenes and Mn(CO)5Br. They were found to be efficient catalysts in the carbonyl cyanation with TMSCN, CO2fixation by epoxides, and direct reductive amination in the presence of syngas. The amination reaction tolerated various reducible functional groups. The synergy of carbon monoxide and hydrogen in syngas provides high efficiency of the catalytic system. The developed protocols do not require an inert atmosphere, and the catalysts can be handled in air.

The study of human neural cells, their behaviour and migration are important areas of research in the biomedical field, particularly for potential therapeutic applications. The safety of using neural cells in therapy is still a concern due to a lack of information on long-term changes that may occur. While current methods of cell tracing explore gene manipulations, we elaborate approaches to cell marking with no genetic interference. In this study, we present a novel method for labelling and tracking neural cells using cell-impregnatable photoconvertible polyelectrolyte microcapsules. These capsules demonstrated low cytotoxicity with no effect on the differentiation ability of the neural cells, maintained a high level of fluorescent signal and ability for tracing individual neural cells for over 7 days. The capsules modified with rhodamine- and fluorescein-based dyes were demonstrated to undergo photoconversion by both one- and two-photon lasers while being internalized by neural cells. The finding gives the possibility to select individual capsules inside multicellular structures like spheroids and tissues and alternate their fluorescent appearance. Thus, we can track individual cell paths in complex systems. This new method offers a promising alternative for studying neural cells’ long-term behaviour and migration in complex systems such as three-dimensional cellular populations.

We report the molecular mechanism of action of gausemycins and the isolation of new members of the family, gausemycins C (1c), D (1d), E (1e), and F (1f), the minor components of the mixture. To elucidate the mechanism of action of gausemycins, we investigated the antimicrobial activity of the most active compounds, gausemycins A and B, in the presence of Ca2+, other metal ions, and phosphate. Gausemycins require a significantly higher Ca2+concentration for maximum activity than daptomycin but lower than that required for malacidine and cadasides. Species-specific antimicrobial activity was found upon testing against a wide panel of Gram-positive bacteria. Membranoactivity of gausemycins was demonstrated upon their interactions with model lipid bilayers and micelles. The pore-forming ability was found to be dramatically dependent on the Ca2+concentration and the membrane lipid composition. An NMR study of gausemycin B in zwitterionic and anionic micelles suggested the putative structure of the gausemycin/membrane complex and revealed the binding of Ca2+by the macrocyclic domain of the antibiotic.

This work presents experimental studying the effect of processing by severe plastic deformation (SPD) on the thermoelastic and thermoelectric properties of pure aluminum and copper under pulsed laser radiation. The studies were carried out on technical aluminum AD1 (99.3%) and pure copper M1 (99.9%). High pressure torsion (HPT) was used for processing by SPD. After the HPT processing, the materials samples in the form of a plane disk were subjected to pulsed laser radiation focused on the disk center. Pulsed lasers with a wavelength of 1.06 micron and operating in the free laser oscillation mode with pulse duration of 100 microseconds or in the mode of a single pulse with duration of about 10 nanoseconds were used. The thermoelastic and thermoelectric responses of the materials were determined by measuring acoustic waves and the thermoelectric power. The disks with the initial coarse-grained material state were considered as a reference sample, and the disks of the materials after SPD processing were considered as a controlled object. The results demonstrated a very high sensitivity of the parameters of thermoelastic and thermoelectric response to structural changes in the materials. For example, the used HPT mode led to a reduction in the maximum thermoelectric power value for aluminum by 40% and for copper by 35%.

The nanocrystalline (NC) and ultrafine-grained (UFG) structures of metallic materials can lead to their extraordinary high strength. However, most of the papers on this topic consider deformation parameters of NC and UFG materials only for the case of quasi-static tensile tests. Characteristics of dynamic strength and fracture of such materials remain unexplored. This paper presents a study of the mechanical behavior of pure titanium Grade 4 with a coarse-grained (CG) and UFG structure under uniaxial compression with different strain rates. The UFG structure was provided using the method of equal-channel angular pressing. The dynamic compression was carried out on a setup with the Split-Hopkinson pressure bar. It is found that in the observed range of strain rates 10–3-3×103 s–1, the yield stress of the CG titanium increases by 20%, and does not exceed the yield stress of the UFG titanium. However, the yield stress of the UFG titanium remains close to a quasi-static value. It is shown that these strain-rate dependencies of the yield strength can be predicted by the incubation time approach. The calculated curves show that at strain rates above 104 s–1 the yield stress of the CG titanium becomes higher than the yield strength of the UFG titanium.

This paper outlines the results of experimental study of the dynamic rock failure based on the comparison of dry and saturated limestone samples obtained during the dynamic compression and split tests. The tests were performed using the Kolsky method and its modifications for dynamic splitting. The mechanical data (e.g. strength, time and energy characteristics) of this material at high strain rates are obtained. It is shown that these characteristics are sensitive to the strain rate. A unified interpretation of these rate effects, based on the structural–temporal approach, is hereby presented. It is demonstrated that the temporal dependence of the dynamic compressive and split tensile strengths of dry and saturated limestone samples can be predicted by the incubation time criterion. Previously discovered possibilities to optimize (minimize) the energy input for the failure process is discussed in connection with industrial rock failure processes. It is shown that the optimal energy input value associated with critical load, which is required to initialize failure in the rock media, strongly depends on the incubation time and the impact duration. The optimal load shapes, which minimize the momentum for a single failure impact, are demonstrated. Through this investigation, a possible approach to reduce the specific energy required for rock cutting by means of high-frequency vibrations is also discussed.

The work presents results of the experimental study of dynamic compression of various modifications of bitumen: bitumen 40/60, polymer-bitumen binder and rubber bitumen. The tests were carried out using the Kolsky method. The tests were conducted for the sample temperature of-15 and 20 °C. It is shown that polymer modifier and rubber additives have a significant influence on the carrying capacity of the bitumen samples at slow loading, but they do not provide significant advantages in the dynamic tests. Strain rate dependence of maximum compressive stress was obtained for the bitumens. It is shown that this dependence can be predicted by the incubation time criterion. The values of the quasi-static and dynamic strength, characterizing the carrying capacity of bitumen at slow and fast loading, are defined.

Results of experimental investigation of concrete and rocks under high rate loads of microsecond duration (2.5 µs) are presented. Tested samples are rectangular plates (150/150/15 mm) with a notch (70 mm long and 3 mm thick) containing a pre-crack (about 1 mm long). Dynamic loading was created utilizing electric wire explosion technique. An electric wire was placed between the faces of the notch at a distance of 20 mm from the tip of the pre-crack. After the wire explosion the trajectory of the extended crack and the fracture surface were studied. Measured dependence of the crack extension on the loading pulse energy gives the possibility of determining the threshold (minimal) amplitude of the load required to initiate fracture in the studied samples.

This work presents the study of an influence of ultrafine-grained (UFG) structure on impact toughness and dynamic compression of commercially pure titanium Grade 4. The UFG structure was provided by means of equal-channel angular pressing according to the Conform scheme (ECAP-Conform, Ufa) with subsequent heat treatment. Impact toughness tests on samples with U-shaped notch were carried out using a drop weight impact machine. Dynamic compression test of cylindrical samples were carried out on a setup with the Split-Hopkinson pressure bar (SHPB-20) by the Kolsky method. It was found that the impact toughness of the UFG titanium is 15% greater than that of its coarse-grained (CG) counterpart. However, fracture process of the CG material requires 1.5 times more energy. The ECAP treatment significantly increased yield strength of the material. At the same time, an increase of compression strain rate by 6 orders resulted in an increase of yield strength of the CG material by 20%, while yield strength of the UFG titanium remained at the level of a quasi-static load. The UFG material showed a well-expressed strain hardening behaviour for all strain rates.

Method of electric-arc melting with nonconsumable electrode in a protective argon atmosphere with using a pulsed mode was used to show possibility in principle of obtaining multi-component metallic surfacing of Fe-Mo-Cr-Ti-Ni-Cu-Al system on uncooled steel substrate. Features of structure and elemental composition were studied using scanning electron microscopy methods. Component intermixing of the surfacing is observed. Surfacing microhardness is 5 times greater than that of the substrate. boundary has high adhesion strength.

Cycling of the compression pressure during high pressure torsion (HPT) of the titanium Ti-6Al-4V alloy significantly improves the grain refinement process, and also results in a more uniform microstructure along the sample diameter.