123 research outputs found
Reversible metallisation of soft UV patterned substrates
Soft UV (365 nm) patterning of ortho-nitrobenzyl functionalized thiol-on-gold self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) using acid catalysis, produces surfaces which can be used for the selective electro-deposition of copper. Exploiting the difference in the reduction peak potential between the photolysed and the masked regions of the SAM allows copper to be deposited selectively on those areas that have been exposed to the light. The copper can be removed by raising the electrode potential. The process is fully reversible so that depositing a pattern of copper, and removing it again is something that can be repeated many times. The copper deposited on the photolysed regions, like copper deposited on bare gold, forms a film of copper oxide, and so it is presumably formed on top of the SAM. Preliminary results for two-photon photocleavage show that it is also possible to implement patterning with sub-wavelength features
Thermal conductivity of MgB in the superconducting state
We present thermal conductivity measurements on very pure and dense bulk
samples, as indicated by residual resistivity values as low as 0.5 mW cm and
thermal conductivity values higher than 200 W/mK. In the normal state we found
that the Wiedemann Franz law, in its generalized form, works well suggesting
that phonons do not contribute to the heat transport. The thermal conductivity
in the superconducting state has been analysed by using a two-gap model. Thank
to the large gap anisotropy we were able to evaluate quantitatively intraband
scattering relaxation times of and bands, which depend on the
disorder in different way; namely, as the disorder increases, it reduces more
effectively the relaxation times of than of bands, as
suggested by a recent calculation [1].Comment: 12 pages, 5 figure
Effect of density of state on isotope effect exponent of two-band superconductors
The exact formula of Tc's equation and the isotope effect exponent of
two-band s-wave superconductors in weak-coupling limit are derived by
considering the influence of two kinds of density of state : constant and van
Hove singularity. The pairing interaction in each band consisted of 2 parts :
the electron-phonon interaction and non-electron-phonon interaction are
included in our model. We find that the interband interaction of
electron-phonon show more effect on isotope exponent than the intraband
interaction and the isotope effect exponent with constant density of state can
fit to an experimental data,MgB2, and high-Tc superconductors, better than van
Hove singularity density of state.Comment: 11 pages. accepted in Physica
Distinct Clinical and Laboratory Patterns of Pneumocystis jirovecii Pneumonia in Renal Transplant Recipients.
Late post-transplant Pneumocystis jirovecii pneumonia (PcP) has been reported in many renal transplant recipients (RTRs) centers using universal prophylaxis. Specific features of PcP compared to other respiratory infections in the same population are not well reported. We analyzed clinical, laboratory, administrative and radiological data of all confirmed PcP cases between January 2009 and December 2014. To identify factors specifically associated with PcP, we compared clinical and laboratory data of RTRs with non-PcP. Over the study period, 36 cases of PcP were identified. Respiratory distress was more frequent in PcP compared to non-PcP (tachypnea: 59%, 20/34 vs. 25%, 13/53, p = 0.0014; dyspnea: 70%, 23/33 vs. 44%, 24/55, p = 0.0181). In contrast, fever was less frequent in PcP compared to non-PcP pneumonia (35%, 11/31 vs. 76%, 42/55, p = 0.0002). In both cohorts, total lymphocyte count and serum sodium decreased, whereas lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) increased at diagnosis. Serum calcium increased in PcP and decreased in non-PcP. In most PcP cases (58%, 21/36), no formal indication for restart of PcP prophylaxis could be identified. Potential transmission encounters, suggestive of interhuman transmission, were found in 14/36, 39% of patients. Interhuman transmission seems to contribute importantly to PcP among RTRs. Hypercalcemia, but not elevated LDH, was associated with PcP when compared to non-PcP
RVB Contribution to Superconductivity in
We view as electronically equivalent to (non-staggered) graphite
( layer) that has undergone a zero gap semiconductor to a superconductor
phase transition by a large c-axis (chemical) pressure due to layers.
Further, like the \ppi bonded planar organic molecules, graphite is an old
resonating valence bond (RVB) system. The RVB's are the `preexisting cooper
pairs' in the `parental' zero gap semiconducting (graphite) sheets that
manifests themselves as a superconducting ground state of the transformed
metal. Some consequences are pointed out.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure, RevTex. Based on a talk given at the Institute
Seminar Week, IMSc, Madras (12-16, Feb. 2001
Muon-spin-relaxation study of the magnetic penetration depth in MgB2
The magnetic vortex lattice (VL) of polycrystalline MgB2 has been
investigated by transverse-field muon-spin-relaxation (TF-MuSR). The evolution
of TF-MuSR depolarization rate, sigma, that is proportional to the second
moment of the field distribution of the VL has been studied as a function of
temperature and applied magnetic field. The low temperature value s exhibits a
pronounced peak near Hext = 75 mT. This behavior is characteristic of strong
pinning induced distortions of the VL which put into question the
interpretation of the low-field TF-MuSR data in terms of the magnetic
penetration depth lambda(T). An approximately constant value of sigma, such as
expected for an ideal VL in the London-limit, is observed at higher fields of
Hext > 0.4 T. The TF-MuSR data at Hext = 0.6 T are analyzed in terms of a
two-gap model. We obtain values for the gap size of D1 = 6.0 meV (2D1/kBTc =
3.6), D2 = 2.6 meV (2D2/kBTc = 1.6), a comparable spectral weight of the two
bands and a zero temperature value for the magnetic penetration depth of lambda
= 100 nm. In addition, we performed MuSR-measurements in zero external field
(ZF-MuSR). We obtain evidence that the muon site (at low temperature) is
located on a ring surrounding the center of the boron hexagon. Muon diffusion
sets in already at rather low temperature of T > 10 K. The nuclear magnetic
moments can account for the observed relaxation rate and no evidence for
electronic magnetic moments has been obtained.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure
Instances and connectors : issues for a second generation process language
This work is supported by UK EPSRC grants GR/L34433 and GR/L32699Over the past decade a variety of process languages have been defined, used and evaluated. It is now possible to consider second generation languages based on this experience. Rather than develop a second generation wish list this position paper explores two issues: instances and connectors. Instances relate to the relationship between a process model as a description and the, possibly multiple, enacting instances which are created from it. Connectors refers to the issue of concurrency control and achieving a higher level of abstraction in how parts of a model interact. We believe that these issues are key to developing systems which can effectively support business processes, and that they have not received sufficient attention within the process modelling community. Through exploring these issues we also illustrate our approach to designing a second generation process language.Postprin
Specific heat of classical disordered elastic systems
We study the thermodynamics of disordered elastic systems, applied to vortex
lattices in the Bragg glass phase. Using the replica variational method we
compute the specific heat of pinned vortons in the classical limit. We find
that the contribution of disorder is positive, linear at low temperature, and
exhibits a maximum. It is found to be important compared to other
contributions, e.g. core electrons, mean field and non linear elasticity that
we evaluate. The contribution of droplets is subdominant at weak disorder in
.Comment: 4 pages, RevTe
Physical Property Characterization of Bulk MgB2 Superconductor
We report synthesis, structure/micro-structure, resistivity under magnetic
field [R(T)H], Raman spectra, thermoelectric power S(T), thermal conductivity
K(T), and magnetization of ambient pressure argon annealed polycrystalline bulk
samples of MgB2, processed under identical conditions. The compound
crystallizes in hexagonal structure with space group P6/mmm. Transmission
electron microscopy (TEM) reveals electron micrographs showing various types of
defect features along with the presence of 3-4nm thick amorphous layers forming
the grain boundaries of otherwise crystalline MgB2. Raman spectra of the
compound at room temperature exhibited characteristic phonon peak at 600 cm-1.
Superconductivity is observed at 37.2K by magnetic susceptibility C(T),
resistivity R(T), thermoelectric power S(T), and thermal conductivity K(T)
measurements. The power law fitting of R(T) give rise to Debye temperature at
1400K which is found consistent with the theoretical fitting of S(T),
exhibiting ThetaD of 1410K and carrier density of 3.81x 1028/m3. Thermal
conductivity K(T) shows a jump at 38K, i.e., at Tc, which was missing in some
earlier reports. Critical current density (Jc) of up to 105 A/cm2 in 1-2T
(Tesla) fields at temperatures (T) of up to 10K is seen from magnetization
measurements. The irreversibility field, defined as the field related to
merging of M(H) loops is found to be 78, 68 and 42 kOe at 4, 10 and 20K
respectively. The superconducting performance parameters viz. irreversibility
field (Hirr) and critical current density Jc(H) of the studied MgB2 are
improved profoundly with addition of nano-SiC and nano-Diamond. The physical
property parameters measured for polycrystalline MgB2 are compared with earlier
reports and a consolidated insight of various physical properties is presented.Comment: 41 pages TEXT+Fig
Caenorhabditis elegans N-glycan Core β-galactoside Confers Sensitivity towards Nematotoxic Fungal Galectin CGL2
The physiological role of fungal galectins has remained elusive. Here, we show that feeding of a mushroom galectin, Coprinopsis cinerea CGL2, to Caenorhabditis elegans inhibited development and reproduction and ultimately resulted in killing of this nematode. The lack of toxicity of a carbohydrate-binding defective CGL2 variant and the resistance of a C. elegans mutant defective in GDP-fucose biosynthesis suggested that CGL2-mediated nematotoxicity depends on the interaction between the galectin and a fucose-containing glycoconjugate. A screen for CGL2-resistant worm mutants identified this glycoconjugate as a Galβ1,4Fucα1,6 modification of C. elegans N-glycan cores. Analysis of N-glycan structures in wild type and CGL2-resistant nematodes confirmed this finding and allowed the identification of a novel putative glycosyltransferase required for the biosynthesis of this glycoepitope. The X-ray crystal structure of a complex between CGL2 and the Galβ1,4Fucα1,6GlcNAc trisaccharide at 1.5 Å resolution revealed the biophysical basis for this interaction. Our results suggest that fungal galectins play a role in the defense of fungi against predators by binding to specific glycoconjugates of these organisms
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