Giant spin Hall effect in graphene grown by chemical vapour deposition

Advances in large-area graphene synthesis via chemical vapour deposition on metals like copper were instrumental in the demonstration of graphene-based novel, wafer-scale electronic circuits and proof-of-concept applications such as flexible touch panels. Here, we show that graphene grown by chemical vapour deposition on copper is equally promising for spintronics applications. In contrast to natural graphene, our experiments demonstrate that chemically synthesized graphene has a strong spin-orbit coupling as high as 20 meV giving rise to a giant spin Hall effect. The exceptionally large spin Hall angle ∼0.2 provides an important step towards graphene-based spintronics devices within existing complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor technology. Our microscopic model shows that unavoidable residual copper adatom clusters act as local spin-orbit scatterers and, in the resonant scattering limit, induce transverse spin currents with enhanced skew-scattering contribution. Our findings are confirmed independently by introducing metallic adatoms-copper, silver and gold on exfoliated graphene samples

Root traits explain plant species distributions along climatic gradients yet challenge the nature of ecological trade-offs

Ecological theory is built on trade-offs, where trait differences among species evolved as adaptations to different environments. Trade-offs are often assumed to be bidirectional, where opposite ends of a gradient in trait values confer advantages in different environments. However, unidirectional benefits could be widespread if extreme trait values confer advantages at one end of an environmental gradient, whereas a wide range of trait values are equally beneficial at the other end. Here, we show that root traits explain species occurrences along broad gradients of temperature and water availability, but model predictions only resembled trade-offs in two out of 24 models. Forest species with low specific root length and high root tissue density (RTD) were more likely to occur in warm climates but species with high specific root length and low RTD were more likely to occur in cold climates. Unidirectional benefits were more prevalent than trade-offs: for example, species with large-diameter roots and high RTD were more commonly associated with dry climates, but species with the opposite trait values were not associated with wet climates. Directional selection for traits consistently occurred in cold or dry climates, whereas a diversity of root trait values were equally viable in warm or wet climates. Explicit integration of unidirectional benefits into ecological theory is needed to advance our understanding of the consequences of trait variation on species responses to environmental change.</p

RNA delivery by extracellular vesicles in mammalian cells and its applications.

The term 'extracellular vesicles' refers to a heterogeneous population of vesicular bodies of cellular origin that derive either from the endosomal compartment (exosomes) or as a result of shedding from the plasma membrane (microvesicles, oncosomes and apoptotic bodies). Extracellular vesicles carry a variety of cargo, including RNAs, proteins, lipids and DNA, which can be taken up by other cells, both in the direct vicinity of the source cell and at distant sites in the body via biofluids, and elicit a variety of phenotypic responses. Owing to their unique biology and roles in cell-cell communication, extracellular vesicles have attracted strong interest, which is further enhanced by their potential clinical utility. Because extracellular vesicles derive their cargo from the contents of the cells that produce them, they are attractive sources of biomarkers for a variety of diseases. Furthermore, studies demonstrating phenotypic effects of specific extracellular vesicle-associated cargo on target cells have stoked interest in extracellular vesicles as therapeutic vehicles. There is particularly strong evidence that the RNA cargo of extracellular vesicles can alter recipient cell gene expression and function. During the past decade, extracellular vesicles and their RNA cargo have become better defined, but many aspects of extracellular vesicle biology remain to be elucidated. These include selective cargo loading resulting in substantial differences between the composition of extracellular vesicles and source cells; heterogeneity in extracellular vesicle size and composition; and undefined mechanisms for the uptake of extracellular vesicles into recipient cells and the fates of their cargo. Further progress in unravelling the basic mechanisms of extracellular vesicle biogenesis, transport, and cargo delivery and function is needed for successful clinical implementation. This Review focuses on the current state of knowledge pertaining to packaging, transport and function of RNAs in extracellular vesicles and outlines the progress made thus far towards their clinical applications

Gender differences in the use of cardiovascular interventions in HIV-positive persons; the D:A:D Study

Peer reviewe

Pseudospin-driven spin relaxation mechanism in graphene

The prospect of transporting spin information over long distances in graphene, possible because of its small intrinsic spin-orbit coupling (SOC) and vanishing hyperfine interaction, has stimulated intense research exploring spintronics applications. However, measured spin relaxation times are orders of magnitude smaller than initially predicted, while the main physical process for spin dephasing and its charge-density and disorder dependences remain unconvincingly described by conventional mechanisms. Here, we unravel a spin relaxation mechanism for non-magnetic samples that follows from an entanglement between spin and pseudospin driven by random SOC, unique to graphene. The mixing between spin and pseudospin-related Berrya's phases results in fast spin dephasing even when approaching the ballistic limit, with increasing relaxation times away from the Dirac point, as observed experimentally. The SOC can be caused by adatoms, ripples or even the substrate, suggesting novel spin manipulation strategies based on the pseudospin degree of freedom.The research leading to these results has received funding from the European Union Seventh Framework Programme under grant agreement number 604391 Graphene Flagship. This work was also funded by Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness under contracts MAT2012-33911 and MAT2010-18065. S.O.V. acknowledges ERC Grant agreement 308023 SPINBOUND.Peer Reviewe