Combining expansion microscopy and STED improves resolution 30-fold relative to the diffraction limit

This month has been unusually busy in the Indian automotive industry with most major players dropping new models. Here’s a roundup of what we drove.

The eighth-generation Toyota Camry Hybrid arrived in India in January, while the numbers may seem impressive, in the midst of its like-for-like competitors we find out what it is like to drive one in the real world. 

The Toyota Glanza hybrid is one car which is hard to find faults with; perhaps just a bit more of creature comforts will have made it the go-to vehicle.

Its 4x4s have long been known for their thirstiness, but now Land Rover is launching two more frugal hybrids models.

The title compound, hexa­kis­(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-3-ium) hepta­molybdate 2-methyl-1H-imidazole disolvate dihydrate, (C4H7N2)6[Mo7O24]·2C4H6N2·2H2O, was prepared from 2-methyl­imidazole and ammonium hepta­molybdate tetra­hydrate in acid solution. The [Mo7O24]6− hepta­molybdate cluster anion is accompanied by six protonated (C4H7N2)+ 2-methyl­imidazolium cations, two neutral C4H6N2 2-methyl­imidazole mol­ecules and two water mol­ecules of crystallization. The cluster consists of seven distorted MoO6 octa­hedra sharing edges or vertices. In the crystal, the components are linked by N—H⋯N, N—H⋯O, O—H⋯O, N—H⋯(O,O) and O—H⋯(O,O) hydrogen bonds, generating a three-dimensional network. Weak C—H⋯O inter­actions consolidate the packing.

The monocation product of the oxidative condensation–cyclization between two mol­ecules of pyridine-2-carbaldehyde and one mol­ecule of CH3NH2·HCl in methanol, 2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium, was isolated in the presence of metal ions as bis­[2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridin-2-ium] tetra­iodo­cadmate, (C13H12N3)2[CdI4], (I), and the mixed chloride/nitrate salt, bis­[2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridin-2-ium] 1.5-chlor­ide 0.5-nitrate trihydrate, 2C13H12N3+·1.5Cl−·0.5NO3−·3H2O, (II). Hybrid salt (I) crystallizes in the space group P21/n with two [L]2[CdI4] mol­ecules in the asymmetric unit related by pseudosymmetry. In the crystal of (I), layers of organic cations and of tetra­halometallate anions are stacked parallel to the ab plane. Anti­parallel L+ cations disposed in a herring-bone pattern form π-bonded chains through aromatic stacking. In the inorganic layer, adjacent tetra­hedral CdI4 units have no connectivity but demonstrate close packing of iodide anions. In the crystal lattice of (II), the cations are arranged in stacks propagating along the a axis; the one-dimensional hydrogen-bonded polymer built of chloride ions and water mol­ecules runs parallel to a column of stacked cations.

The syntheses and crystal structures of three hybrid perovskites, viz. poly[1-methyl­piperizine-1,4-diium [tri-μ-bromido-potassium] hemihydrate], {(C5H14N2)[KBr3]·0.5H2O}n, (I), poly[1-methyl­piperizine-1,4-diium [tri-μ-bromido-rubidium] hemihydrate], {(C5H14N2)[RbBr3]·0.5H2O}n, (II), and poly[1-methyl­piperizine-1,4-diium [tri-μ-bromido-caesium] hemihydrate], {(C5H14N2)[CsBr3]·0.5H2O}n, (III), are described. These isostructural (space group Amm2) phases contain a three-dimensional, corner-sharing network of distorted ABr6 octa­hedra (A = K, Rb, Cs) with the same topology as the classical perovskite structure. The doubly protonated C5H14N22+ cations occupy inter­stices bounded by eight octa­hedra and the water mol­ecules lie in square sites bounded by four octa­hedra. N—H⋯Br, N—H⋯(Br,Br), N—H⋯O and O—H⋯Br hydrogen bonds consolidate the structures.

The isostructural title compounds, poly[piperazin-1-ium [di-μ-bromido-caesium]], {(C4H11N2)[CsBr2]}n, and poly[piperazin-1-ium [di-μ-bromido-rubidium]], {(C4H11N2)[RbBr2]}n, contain singly-protonated piperazin-1-ium cations and unusual ABr6 (A = Cs or Rb) trigonal prisms. The prisms are linked into a distinctive `curtain wall' arrangement propagating in the (010) plane by face and edge sharing. In each case, a network of N—H⋯N, N—H⋯Br and N—H⋯(Br,Br) hydrogen bonds consolidates the structure.

The title phospho­nate-based organic–inorganic hybrid framework, poly[bis(dimethylammonium) [(μ4-2,5-dihydroxybenzene-1,4-diphosphonato)zinc(II)]], {(C2H8N)2[Zn(C6H4O8P2)]}n, was formed unexpectedly when di­methyl­ammonium cations were formed from the in situ deca­rbonylation of the N,N-di­methyl­formamide solvent. The framework is built up from ZnO4 tetra­hedra and bridging di­phospho­nate tetra-anions to generate a three-dimensional network comprising [100] channels occupied by the (CH3)2NH2+ cations. Within the channels, an array of N—H⋯O hydrogen bonds help to establish the structure. In addition, intra­molecular O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds between the appended –OH groups of the phenyl ring and adjacent PO32− groups are observed.

A peptide biphenyl hybrid compound {systematic name: dimethyl 2,2'-[((2S,2'S)-2,2'-{[(2S,2'S)-1,1'-([1,1'-biphen­yl]-2,2'-dicarbon­yl)bis­(pyrrolidine-1,2-diyl-2-carbon­yl)]bis­(aza­nedi­yl)}bis­(3-phenyl­propano­yl))bis­(aza­nedi­yl)](2S,2'S)-dipropionate hemihydrate}, C50H56N6O10·0.5H2O, was prepared by coupling of [1,1'-biphen­yl]-2,2'-dicarbonyl dichloride, tri­ethyl­amine and the tripeptide Pro–Phe–Ala in CH2Cl2 at 273 K under an N2 atmosphere. In the crystal, the asymmetric unit contains the peptide biphenyl hybrid accompanied by one-half of a water mol­ecule. A C atom of one of the proline rings is disordered between two positions in a 0.746 (11):0.254 (11) ratio. An important structural aspect of peptide compounds is their capacity to self-associate mediated by inter­molecular and intra­molecular hydrogen bonding. This characteristic can be useful in understanding the inter­actions between peptides and biomacromolecular targets, as well as to explain peptide properties.

A new organic–inorganic hybrid salt [L]2[MnCl4] (I) where L+ is the 2-methyl-3-(pyridin-2-yl)imidazo[1,5-a]pyridinium cation, is built of discrete organic cations and tetra­chlorido­manganate(II) anions. The L+ cation was formed in situ in the oxidative cyclo­condensation of 2-pyridine­carbaldehyde and CH3NH2·HCl in methanol. The structure was refined as a two-component twin using PLATON (Spek, 2020) to de-twin the data. The twin law (−1 0 0 0 − 1 0 0.5 0 1) was applied in the refinement where the twin component fraction refined to 0.155 (1). The compound crystallizes in the space group P21/c with two crystallographically non-equivalent cations in the asymmetric unit, which possess similar structural conformations. The fused pyridinium and imidazolium rings of the cations are virtually coplanar [dihedral angles are 0.89 (18) and 0.78 (17)°]; the pendant pyridyl rings are twisted by 36.83 (14) and 36.14 (13)° with respect to the planes of the remaining atoms of the cations. The tetra­hedral MnCl42– anion is slightly distorted with the Mn—Cl distances falling in the range 2.3469 (10)–2.3941 (9) Å. The distortion value of 0.044 relative to the ideal tetra­hedron was obtained by continuous shape measurement (CShM) analysis. In the crystal, the cations and anions form separate stacks propagating along the a-axis direction. The organic cations display weak π–π stacking. The anions, which are stacked identically one above the other, demonstrate loose packing; the minimum Mn⋯Mn separation in the cation stack is approximately 7.49 Å. The investigation of the fluorescent properties of a powdered sample of (I) showed no emission. X-band EPR data for (I) at 293 and 77 K revealed broad fine structure signals, indicating moderate zero-field splitting.

This paper discusses the full structural solution of the hybrid perovskite formamidinium lead tribromide (FAPbBr3) and its temperature-dependent phase transitions in the range from 3 K to 300 K using neutron powder diffraction and synchrotron X-ray diffraction. Special emphasis is put on the influence of deuteration on formamidinium, its position in the unit cell and disordering in comparison to fully hydrogenated FAPbBr3. The temperature-dependent measurements show that deuteration critically influences the crystal structures, i.e. results in partially-ordered temperature-dependent structural modifications in which two symmetry-independent molecule positions with additional dislocation of the molecular centre atom and molecular angle inclinations are present.

A new genetic study by a team of Cuban and American researchers confirms that American crocodiles are hybridizing with wild populations of critically endangered Cuban crocodiles, which may cause a population decline of this species found only in the Cuban Archipelago.

The post Genetic study confirms American crocodiles and critically endangered Cuban crocodiles are hybridizing in the wild appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

In a new study researchers from the Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute’s Center for Conservation and Evolutionary Genetics used DNA from coyote scat (feces) to trace the route that led some of the animals to colonize in Northern Virginia.

The post New genetic evidence confirms coyote migration route to Virginia and hybridization with wolves appeared first on Smithsonian Insider.

"The importance of hybrid cloud and AI has accelerated. What has changed is the pace at which they're being adopted. Transformation journeys (of) last few years are now being compacted into months...They're looking for long lasting answers on what they can do with technology to address the key issues that COVID-19 has brought to light," he said.

In the real-time economy, the demand for cloud services keeps growing with the hybrid cloud as the optimal architecture for handling the inevitable complexity of the agile company’s IT infrastructure.

Hybrid and electric vehicles emit lower levels of carbon dioxide and air pollutants than conventional petrol and diesel vehicles, yet their market uptake in the EU remains limited. New research provides an assessment of the Total Cost of Ownership (TCO) — which combines purchase and operating expenses — of different vehicle types. By comparing historical data on hybrid, petrol and diesel vehicles in three countries (Japan, the UK and the USA), researchers found a strong link between TCO and market share of those vehicles. They also identified a number of ways in which policymakers may promote the adoption of cleaner vehicles through the provision of financial incentives.

With the emerging synergy between hybrid cloud and AI, we will witness tremendous innovation and business value in the enterprise IT world.

While workloads are increasingly moving from traditional to cloud data centers - both private and public, hybridization has allowed mission-critical workloads to stay on-premise. Multi-cloud adoption is also being driven by the evolution of new orchestration and management services that are helping to define and run cloud processes and create competitive solutions.

Policies to manage marine ecological quality can be improved by combining economic and ecological concerns, finds a new study. Using this integrated perspective, researchers developed a model which identified the most cost-effective options for reducing nutrient pollution in the Baltic Sea within a 40-year time-span. The total cost of meeting the commonly agreed targets is estimated to be €1,487 million annually.

The Honda CR-Z is the newest hybrid to hit the streets of America.

Honda hybrid sales increased during September 2010 including a 338 percent increase for the Civic.

Chevy Volt and Nissan Leaf sales are down and the Toyota Prius reigns supreme.

Reduced production is leading to sales declines for both Toyota and Honda hybrids.

Porsche revealed the 918 Spyder Hybrid at this year's Geneva Auto Show and may be producing the vehicle sooner than originally expected.

After receiving positive feedback from the public, Porsche has given the green light to the 918 Spyder plug-in hybrid.

Porsche's first production hybrid, the 2011 Cayenne S Hybrid, will be available next month.

The 300-foot-long (92.2-meter-long) Viking Lady is set to get a battery pack, which will turn the supply vessel into a hybrid ship with technology similar to th