Structure and elasticity of CaCO suggests carbonate contribution to the seismic anomalies of Earth's mantle.

Knowledge of carbonate compounds under high pressure inside Earth is key to understanding the internal structure of the Earth, the deep carbon cycle and major geological events. Here we use first-principles simulations to calculate the structure and elasticity of CaCO-minerals with different symmetries under high pressure. Our calculations show that CaCO-minerals represent a group of low-density low-seismic-wave velocity mantle minerals.

Reproductive and developmental toxicities of 5-fluorouracil in model organisms and humans.

Chemotherapy, as an important clinical treatment, has greatly enhanced survival in cancer patients, but the side effects and long-term sequelae bother both patients and clinicians. 5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) has been widely used as a chemotherapeutic agent in the clinical treatment of various cancers, but several studies showed its adverse effects on reproduction. Reproductive toxicity of 5-FU often associates with developmental block, malformation and ovarian damage in the females.

The reversible reproductive toxicity of 5-fluorouracil in mice.

5-Fluorouracil (5-FU) is a "cytotoxic" drug used for cancer chemotherapy, which inhibits cells division via affecting DNA synthesis. Although being widely used for cancer treatment, 5-FU has non-negligible side effects. In the present study, the effects of 5-FU on oocyte and early embryonic development were investigated.

Preparation and Optical Absorption Properties of Ternary Rare Earth Boride LaPrB Submicron Powders.

As multifunctional materials, rare-earth hexaborides (RB) display many interesting physical properties such as optical absorption, magnetic and thermionic emission. With the wide application of rare earth hexaboride and the continuous extension of its research fields, researchers have studied the synthesis of multi-rare earth hexaboride nano-powders and their thermal emission and light absorption properties. In the present work, ternary Single-phase LaPrB submicron powders are successfully synthesized using a solid-state reaction, in which lanthanum chloride (LaCl₃) and praseodymium chloride (PrCl₃) are used as rare-earth source and NaBH₄ as the boron source under continuous vacuum conditions.

Aggregation in methanol and formation of molecular glasses for europium(III) N-acylaminocarboxylates: effects of alkyl chain length and head group.

Europium(III) complexes of N-acyl-DL-alaninates (acyl=acetyl, butanoyl, hexanoyl, octanoyl, decanoyl, dodecanoyl and tetradecanoyl), N-octanoyl-DL-phenylalaninate, and N-octanoyl-L-serinate were prepared to understand the effects of alkyl chain length and the type of head group on the formation of glassy states and on the aggregation behaviour in solutions. The acylalaninate complexes had a tendency to form a transparent glass, whereas Eu(ala)3 (ala=DL-alaninate) was easily crystallized. Of the C2(acetyl)-C14(tetradecanoyl) chains in the ligands, the C4-C8 chains were the most favourable to assume a stable glassy state by solvent vaporization.

Formation of molecular glasses and the aggregation in solutions for lanthanum(III), calcium(II), and yttrium(III) complexes of octanoyl-DL-alaninate.

Octanoylalaninato-metal (metal = calcium(II), yttrium(III), lanthanum(III), and zinc(II)) complexes were prepared and the first three metal complexes were found to readily form transparent and stable molecular glasses from methanol and chloroform solutions. The process of glass formation from solution was studied in detail. The effect of the central metal ions on the formation of glassy states was remarkable: the lanthanum and calcium complexes assumed glassy or crystalline states depending on the isolation method and the yttrium complex had a large tendency to assume an amorphous state, whereas the zinc complex did not assume a pure and stable glassy-state.