Pressure and temperature driven phase transitions in HgTe quantum wells

We present theoretical investigations of pressure and temperature driven phase transitions in HgTe quantum wells grown on CdTe buffer. Using the 8-band \textbf{k$\cdot$p} Hamiltonian we calculate evolution of energy band structure at different quantum well width with hydrostatic pressure up to 20 kBar and temperature ranging up 300 K. In particular, we show that in addition to temperature, tuning of hydrostatic pressure allows to drive transitions between semimetal, band insulator and topological insulator phases. Our realistic band structure calculations reveal that the band inversion under hydrostatic pressure and temperature may be accompanied by non-local overlapping between conduction and valence bands. The pressure and temperature phase diagrams are presented.Comment: 9 pages, 8 figures + Supplemental material (5 pages

High intensity study of THz detectors based on field effect transistors

Terahertz power dependence of the photoresponse of field effect transistors, operating at frequencies from 0.1 to 3 THz for incident radiation power density up to 100 kW/cm^2 was studied for Si metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors and InGaAs high electron mobility transistors. The photoresponse increased linearly with increasing radiation power up to kW/cm^2 range. The saturation of the photoresponse was observed for all investigated field effect transistors for intensities above several kW/cm^2. The observed signal saturation is explained by drain photocurrent saturation similar to saturation in direct currents output characteristics. The theoretical model of terahertz field effect transistor photoresponse at high intensity was developed. The model explains quantitatively experimental data both in linear and nonlinear (saturation) range. Our results show that dynamic range of field effect transistors is very high and can extend over more than six orderd of magnitudes of power densities (from 0.5 mW/cm^2 to 5 kW/cm^2)

Temperature-driven single-valley Dirac fermions in HgTe quantum wells

We report on temperature-dependent magnetospectroscopy of two HgTe/CdHgTe quantum wells below and above the critical well thickness $d_c$. Our results, obtained in magnetic fields up to 16 T and temperature range from 2 K to 150 K, clearly indicate a change of the band-gap energy with temperature. The quantum well wider than $d_c$ evidences a temperature-driven transition from topological insulator to semiconductor phases. At the critical temperature of 90 K, the merging of inter- and intra-band transitions in weak magnetic fields clearly specifies the formation of gapless state, revealing the appearance of single-valley massless Dirac fermions with velocity of $5.6\times10^5$ m$\times$s$^{-1}$. For both quantum wells, the energies extracted from experimental data are in good agreement with calculations on the basis of the 8-band Kane Hamiltonian with temperature-dependent parameters.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures and Supplemental Materials (4 pages

Developments in the negative-U modelling of the cuprate HTSC systems

The paper deals with the many stands that go into creating the unique and complex nature of the HTSC cuprates above Tc as below. Like its predecessors it treats charge, not spin or lattice, as prime mover, but thus taken in the context of the chemical bonding relevant to these copper oxides. The crucial shell filling, negative-U, double-loading fluctuations possible there require accessing at high valent local environment as prevails within the mixed valent, inhomogeneous two sub-system circumstance of the HTSC materials. Close attention is paid to the recent results from Corson, Demsar, Li, Johnson, Norman, Varma, Gyorffy and colleagues.Comment: 44 pages:200+ references. Submitted to J.Phys.:Condensed Matter, Sept 7 200

Comparative evaluation of INNO-LiPA HBV assay, direct DNA sequencing and subtractive PCR-RFLP for genotyping of clinical HBV isolates

Genotypes (A to H) of hepatitis B virus (HBV) influence liver disease progression and response to antiviral therapy in HBV-infected patients. Several methods have been developed for rapid genotyping of HBV strains. However, some of these methods may not be suitable for developing countries. The performance of INNO-LiPA HBV Genotyping assay (LiPA), direct DNA sequencing and subtractive PCR-RFLP of genotype-specific HBV genome regions were evaluated for accurately determining the HBV genotypes by analyzing sera (n = 80) samples from chronic HBV patients. Both, LiPA and DNA sequencing identified 63, 4 and 13 HBV strains as belonging to genotype D, genotype A and mixed genotype A and D, respectively. On the contrary, the PCR-RFLP-based method correctly identified all 4 genotype A but only 56 of 63 genotype D strains. Seven genotype D strains yielded indeterminate results. DNA sequence comparisons showed that a single nucleotide change in the target region generated an additional restriction site for Nla IV that compromised the accuracy of this method. Furthermore, all the mixed genotype A and D strains were identified only as genotype A strains. The data show that the PCR-RFLP-based method incorrectly identified some genotype D strains and failed to identify mixed genotype infections while LiPA and DNA sequencing yielded accurate results

Reduction of liver stiffness following resolution of acute flares of chronic hepatitis B

Background: Measuring liver stiffness is becoming more popular as a non-invasive tool for assessing liver fibrosis. Aim: To assess the effect of severe hepatitis B flare on liver stiffness and determine factors that correlate with liver stiffness measurements. Methods: Twenty-nine patients with severe hepatitis B flare (ALT > 10 × upper limit of normal) were followed up for 1 year. Serial transient elastography was performed at the time of flare, 3-6, and 12 months after flare. Results: At the time of flare, the median liver stiffness was 16.8 kPa, with no patients having normal liver stiffness (<6 kPa). There was a significant decrease in liver stiffness from baseline to 3-6 months (16.8 vs. 7.9 kPa, respectively, P < 0.001), and a further smaller decline from 3-6 to 12 months (7.9 vs. 6.9 kPa, respectively, P = 0.039). By 12 months, 10 (34%) had normalized their liver stiffness. Baseline parameters which correlated with liver stiffness include bilirubin, ALT, albumin, prothrombin time and platelet levels (all P < 0.05). Conclusion: Liver stiffness was increased in patients with severe hepatitis B flares, with return to near normal levels by 6 months. Transient elastography for proper assessment of liver fibrosis should be performed at least 6 months after flare. © 2010 The Author(s).published_or_final_versionSpringer Open Choice, 31 May 201

Employee involvement in Ukrainian companies

This paper examines the hypothesis that the introduction of Western quality standards has brought some development of employee involvement in Ukrainian manufacturing and service companies and analyses the consequences for managements' use of the institutions of employee representation. The subject is pursued through eight case studies, four in a test and four in a control group. Quality developments were driven by top managers and not by human resource (HR) practitioners. In the test companies, managerial hierarchies were flattened and process orientations adopted; training was increased; communication was improved and in some cases teamwork was established. These developments were largely absent in the four control cases. The consequences for employee representative institutions are examined. In three cases, management revived the previously anachronistic 'Assembly of the Working Collective' as an employee involvement tool, thereby demonstrating a preference for picking workplace institutions 'off the path' for adaptation rather than either using unions or limiting involvement to non-institutional modes

BubR1 as a prognostic marker for recurrence-free survival rates in epithelial ovarian cancers

BACKGROUND: Epithelial ovarian cancer is one of the most lethal malignancies, and has a high recurrence rate. Thus, prognostic markers for recurrence are crucial for the care of ovarian cancer. As ovarian cancers frequently exhibit chromosome instability, we aimed at assessing the prognostic significance of two key mitotic kinases, BubR1 and Aurora A. METHODS: We analysed paraffin-embedded tissue sections from 160 ovarian cancer patients whose clinical outcomes had been tracked after first-line treatment. RESULTS: The median recurrence-free survival in patients with a positive and negative expression of BubR1 was 27 and 83 months, respectively (Po0.001). A positive BubR1 expression was also associated with advanced stage, serous histology and high grade. In contrast, Aurora A immunostaining did not correlate with any of the clinical parameters analysed. CONCLUSION: BubR1, but not Aurora A, is a prognostic marker for recurrence-free survival rates in epithelial ovarian cancers.Research in the H Lee laboratory is funded by the National Research Laboratory Program from the Korean ministry of Education and Science (ROA-2008-000-20023-0). This work was also supported by the Seoul National University Hospital Grant (0420080450), the 21C Frontier Functional Genome Project (FG06- 2-14) of the Korean ministry of Education and Science, Korea Research Foundation (KRF-2005-C00097), and the National R&D Program for Cancer Control (0620070) from the Korean ministry of Health welfare and Family Affairs. Imaging facilities in the H Lee laboratory are funded by RCFC (R11-2005-009-04003-0) of the SRC program from KOSEF