Enhanced and continuous electrostatic carrier doping on the SrTiO3_{3} surface

Paraelectrical tuning of a charge carrier density as high as 10$^{13}$\,cm$^{-2}$ in the presence of a high electronic carrier mobility on the delicate surfaces of correlated oxides, is a key to the technological breakthrough of a field effect transistor (FET) utilising the metal-nonmetal transition. Here we introduce the Parylene-C/Ta$_{2}$O$_{5}$ hybrid gate insulator and fabricate FET devices on single-crystalline SrTiO$_{3}$, which has been regarded as a bedrock material for oxide electronics. The gate insulator accumulates up to $\sim10^{13}$cm$^{-2}$ carriers, while the field-effect mobility is kept at 10\,cm$^2$/Vs even at room temperature. Further to the exceptional performance of our devices, the enhanced compatibility of high carrier density and high mobility revealed the mechanism for the long standing puzzle of the distribution of electrostatically doped carriers on the surface of SrTiO$_{3}$. Namely, the formation and continuous evolution of field domains and current filaments.Comment: Supplementary Information: <http://www.nature.com/srep/2013/130424/srep01721/extref/srep01721-s1.pdf

6-gene promoter methylation assay is potentially applicable for prostate cancer clinical staging based on urine collection following prostatic massage

The detection of prostate cancer (PCa) biomarkers in bodily fluids, a process known as liquid biopsy, is a promising approach and particularly beneficial when performed in urine samples due to their maximal non‑invasiveness requirement of collection. A number of gene panels proposed for this purpose have allowed discrimination between disease‑free prostate and PCa; however, they bear no significant prognostic value. With the purpose to develop a gene panel for PCa diagnosis and prognosis, the methylation status of 17 cancer-associated genes were analyzed in urine cell‑free DNA obtained from 31 patients with PCa and 33 control individuals using methylation‑specific polymerase chain reaction (MSP). Among these, 13 genes indicated the increase in methylation frequency in patients with PCa compared with controls. No prior association has been reported between adenomatosis polyposis coli 2 (APC2), homeobox A9, Wnt family member 7A (WNT7A) and N‑Myc downstream‑regulated gene 4 protein genes with PCa. The 6‑gene panel consisting of APC2, cadherin 1, forkhead box P1, leucine rich repeat containing 3B, WNT7A and zinc family protein of the cerebellum 4 was subsequently developed providing PCa detection with 78% sensitivity and 100% specificity. The number of genes methylated (NGM) value introduced for this panel was indicated to rise monotonically from 0.27 in control individuals to 4.6 and 4.25 in patients with highly developed and metastatic T2/T3 stage cancer, respectively. Therefore, the approach of defining the NGM value may not only allow for the detection of PCa, but also provide a rough evaluation of tumor malignancy and metastatic potential by non‑invasive MSP analysis of urine samples

New Trends in Beverage Packaging Systems: A Review

New trends in beverage packaging are focusing on the structure modification of packaging materials and the development of new active and/or intelligent systems, which can interact with the product or its environment, improving the conservation of beverages, such as wine, juice or beer, customer acceptability, and food security. In this paper, the main nutritional and organoleptic degradation processes of beverages, such as oxidative degradation or changes in the aromatic profiles, which influence their color and volatile composition are summarized. Finally, the description of the current situation of beverage packaging materials and new possible, emerging strategies to overcome some of the pending issues are discussed