Polarization states of polydomain epitaxial Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 thin films and their dielectric properties

Ferroelectric and dielectric properties of polydomain (twinned) single-crystal Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 thin films are described with the aid of a nonlinear thermodynamic theory, which has been developed recently for epitaxial ferroelectric films with dense laminar domain structures. For Pb(Zr1-xTix)O3 (PZT) films with compositions x = 0.9, 0.8, 0.7, 0.6, 0.5, and 0.4, the "misfit strain-temperature" phase diagrams are calculated and compared with each other. It is found that the equilibrium diagrams of PZT films with x > 0.7 are similar to the diagram of PbTiO3 films. They consist of only four different stability ranges, which correspond to the paraelectric phase, single-domain tetragonal ferroelectric phase, and two pseudo-tetragonal domain patterns. In contrast, at x = 0.4, 0.5, and 0.6, the equilibrium diagram displays a rich variety of stable polarization states, involving at least one monoclinic polydomain state. Using the developed phase diagrams, the mean out-of-plane polarization of a poled PZT film is calculated as a function of the misfit strain and composition. Theoretical results are compared with the measured remanent polarizations of PZT films grown on SrTiO3. Dependence of the out-of-plane dielectric response of PZT films on the misfit strain in the heterostructure is also reported.Comment: 23 pages, 4 figure

Are radiogallium-labelled DOTA-conjugated somatostatin analogues superior to those labelled with other radiometals?

Purpose: Gallium-68 is a metallic positron emitter with a half-life of 68min that is ideal for the in vivo use of small molecules, such as [68Ga-DOTA,Tyr3]octreotide, in the diagnostic imaging of somatostatin receptor-positive tumours. In preclinical studies it has shown a striking superiority over its 111In-labelled congener. The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether third-generation somatostatin-based, radiogallium-labelled peptides show the same superiority. Methods: Peptides were synthesised on solid phase. The receptor affinity was determined by in vitro receptor autoradiography. The internalisation rate was studied in AR4-2J and hsst-HEK-transfected cell lines. The pharmacokinetics was studied in a rat xenograft tumour model, AR4-2J. Results: All peptides showed high affinities on hsst2, with the highest affinity for the GaIII-complexed peptides. On hsst3 the situation was reversed, with a trend towards lower affinity of the GaIII peptides. A significantly increased internalisation rate was found in sst2-expressing cells for all 67Ga-labelled peptides. Internalisation into HEK-sst3 was usually faster for the 111In-labelled peptides. No internalisation was found into sst5. Biodistribution studies employing [67Ga-DOTA,1-Nal3]octreotide in comparison to [111In-DOTA,1-Nal3]octreotide and [67Ga-DOTA,Tyr3]octreotide showed a significantly higher and receptor-mediated uptake of the two 67Ga-labelled peptides in the tumour and somatostatin receptor-positive tissues. A patient study illustrated the potential advantage of a broad receptor subtype profile radiopeptide over a high-affinity sst2-selective radiopeptide. Conclusion: This study demonstrates that 67/68Ga-DOTA-octapeptides show distinctly better preclinical, pharmacological performances than the 111In-labelled peptides, especially on sst2-expressing cells and the corresponding animal models. They may be excellent candidates for further development for clinical studie

Coercive field of ultrathin PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 epitaxial films

The polarization reversal in single-crystalline ferroelectric films has been investigated experimentally and theoretically. The hysteresis loops were measured for Pb(Zr0.52Ti0.48)O-3 films with thicknesses ranging from 8 to 250 nm. These films were grown epitaxially on SrRuO3 bottom electrodes deposited on SrTiO3 substrates. The measurements using Pt top electrodes showed that the coercive field E-c increases drastically as the film becomes thinner, reaching values as high as E(c)approximate to1200 kV/cm. To understand this observation, we calculated the thermodynamic coercive field E-th of a ferroelectric film as a function of the misfit strain S-m in an epitaxial system and showed that E-th strongly depends on S-m. However, the coercive field of ultrathin films, when measured at high frequencies, exceeds the calculated thermodynamic limit. Since this is impossible for an intrinsic coercive field E-c, we conclude that measurements give an apparent E-c rather than the intrinsic one. An enormous increase of apparent coercive field in ultrathin films may be explained by the presence of a conductive nonferroelectric interface layer. (C) 2003 American Institute of Physics

Isothiourea-catalyzed enantioselective functionalisation of glycine Schiff base aryl esters via 1,6- and 1,4-additions

The St Andrews team thanks the EPSRC Centre for Doctoral Training in Critical Resource Catalysis (CRITICAT, grant code EP/L016419/1) (RC) for funding. The Linz team gratefully acknowledges generous financial support by the Austrian Science Funds (FWF) through project No. P31784.The enantioselective α-functionalisation of glycine Schiff base aryl esters through isothiourea catalysis is successfully demonstrated for 1,6-additions to para-quinone methides (21 examples, up to 95 : 5 dr and 96 : 4 er) and 1,4- additions to methylene substituted dicarbonyl or disulfonyl Michael acceptors (17 examples, up to 98 : 2 er). This nucleophilic organocatalysis approach gives access to a range of α-functionalised α-amino acid derivatives and further transformations of the activated aryl ester group provide a straightforward entry to advanced amino acid-based esters, amides or thioesters.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Effect of cold rolling on consistent pattern and mechanisms deformation, structural and phase transitions and mechanical properties of single crystals steel Fe-28Mn-2.6Al-1.3C

The dependence of microhardness of Fe-28Mn-2.6Al-1.3C single crystals on the degree of precipitation and deformation temperature is established. It can be divided into three sections: in sections I and III, the microhardness is slightly dependent on the orientation of the sample, while in section II the orientation dependence of microhardness is manifested. The orientation dependence of the microhardness is determined by the orientation dependence of the dislocation structure and the deformation mechanism (slip and / or twinning). Rolling does not lead to the realization of deformation phase transitions of steel Fe-28Mn-2.6Al-1.3C

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptors are not overexpressed in pancreatic islets from patients with severe hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia following gastric bypass

Aims/hypothesis: Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptors are highly overexpressed in benign insulinomas, permitting in vivo tumour visualisation with GLP-1 receptor scanning. The present study sought to evaluate the GLP-1 receptor status in vitro in other pancreatic disorders leading to hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia, specifically after gastric bypass surgery. Methods: Fresh frozen pancreatic tissue samples (n = 7) from six gastric bypass surgery patients suffering from hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia were evaluated for GLP-1 receptor content using in vitro receptor autoradiography, and compared with normal pancreas and with pancreatic insulinoma tissues. Results: GLP-1 receptor analysis of the pancreatic tissues, which histopathologically were compatible with nesidioblastosis and originated from post-bypass hypoglycaemic patients, revealed a mean density value of GLP-1 receptors in the islets of 1,483 ± 183dpm/mg tissue. Pharmacological characterisation indicated the presence of specific GLP-1 receptors. The density of islet GLP-1 receptor in post-gastric bypass patients did not differ from that of normal pancreas (1,563 ± 104dpm/mg tissue, n = 10). Receptor density in pancreatic acini was low in post-bypass and control conditions. In contrast, benign insulinomas showed a high density of GLP-1 receptors, with a mean value of 8,302 ± 1,073dpm/mg tissue (n = 6). Conclusions/interpretation: In contrast to insulinoma, hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia after gastric bypass surgery is not accompanied by overexpression of GLP-1 receptor in individual islets. Thus, patients with post-gastric bypass hyperinsulinaemic hypoglycaemia are not candidates for GLP-1 receptor imaging in vivo using radiolabelled exendin. These GLP-1 receptor data support the notion that the islet pathobiology of post-gastric bypass hypoglycaemia is distinctly different from that of benign insulinoma

High-harmonic generation in liquids with few-cycle pulses: effect of laser-pulse duration on the cut-off energy

High-harmonic generation (HHG) in liquids is opening new opportunities for attosecond light sources and attosecond time-resolved studies of dynamics in the liquid phase. In gas-phase HHG, few-cycle pulses are routinely used to create isolated attosecond pulses and to extend the cut-off energy. Here, we study the properties of HHG in liquids, including water and several alcohols, by continuously tuning the pulse duration of a mid-infrared driver from the multi- to the sub-two-cycle regime. Similar to the gas phase, we observe the transition from discrete odd-order harmonics to continuous extreme-ultraviolet emission. However, the cut-off energy is shown to be entirely independent of the pulse duration. This observation is confirmed by ab-initio simulations of HHG in large clusters. Our results support the notion that the cut-off energy is a fundamental property of the liquid, independent of the driving-pulse properties. Combined with the recently reported wavelength-independence of the cutoff, these results confirm the direct sensitivity of HHG to the mean-free paths of slow electrons in liquids. Our results additionally imply that few-cycle mid-infrared laser pulses are suitable drivers for generating isolated attosecond pulses from liquids