287 research outputs found
Band-structure topologies of graphene: spin-orbit coupling effects from first principles
The electronic band structure of graphene in the presence of spin-orbit
coupling and transverse electric field is investigated from first principles
using the linearized augmented plane-wave method. The spin-orbit coupling opens
a gap at the -point of the magnitude of 24 eV (0.28 K). This
intrinsic splitting comes 96% from the usually neglected and higher
orbitals. The electric field induces an additional (extrinsic)
Bychkov-Rashba-type splitting of 10 eV (0.11 K) per V/nm, coming from the
- mixing. A 'mini-ripple' configuration with every other atom is
shifted out of the sheet by less than 1% differs little from the intrinsic
case.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
Microbial control of caged population of Zonocerus variegatus using Beauveria bassiana and Metarhizium sp
Microbial control of caged populations of Zonocerus variegatus was carried out using indigenous fungal entomopathogens isolated from the grasshopper's cadaver. Bioassay response indicated a dose-dependent mortality coupled with drastic reduction in food consumption among spores infected grasshoppers. Lethal time (LT 50 ) of 4.6 days for 10 3 spores/ml and 3.8 days for 10 7 spores/ml of oil formulation of Beauveria bassiana were observed. While Metarhizium sp recorded LT 50 of 9.0 days and 2.8 days for 10 3 and 10 7 spores/ml, respectively. The results obtained were discussed in relation to use of the isolates in the control Z. variegatus infestation in forest agro-ecosystem of south west, Nigeria
Iron Status and Analysis of Efficacy and Safety of Ferric Carboxymaltose Treatment in Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Background and Aims:We analyzed iron deficiency and the therapeutic response following intravenous ferric carboxymaltose in a large single-center inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) cohort. Methods: 250 IBD patients were retrospectively analyzed for iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia. A subgroup was analyzed regarding efficacy and side effects of iron supplementation with ferric carboxymaltose. Results: In the cohort (n = 250), 54.4% of the patients had serum iron levels 60 mu g/dl, 61.6% had ferritin >100 ng/ml, and 90.7% reached Hb >12/13 g/dl at follow-up (p < 0.0001 for all parameters vs. pretreatment values). The most frequent adverse event was a transient increase of liver enzymes with male gender as risk factor (p = 0.008, OR 8.62, 95% CI 1.74-41.66). Conclusions: Iron deficiency and anemia are frequent in IBD patients. Treatment with ferric carboxymaltose is efficious, safe and well tolerated in iron-deficient IBD patients. Copyright (C) 2011 S. Karger AG, Base
Graphite and Hexagonal Boron-Nitride Possess the Same Interlayer Distance. Why?
Graphite and hexagonal boron nitride (h-BN) are two prominent members of the
family of layered materials possessing a hexagonal lattice. While graphite has
non-polar homo-nuclear C-C intra-layer bonds, h-BN presents highly polar B-N
bonds resulting in different optimal stacking modes of the two materials in
bulk form. Furthermore, the static polarizabilities of the constituent atoms
considerably differ from each other suggesting large differences in the
dispersive component of the interlayer bonding. Despite these major differences
both materials present practically identical interlayer distances. To
understand this finding, a comparative study of the nature of the interlayer
bonding in both materials is presented. A full lattice sum of the interactions
between the partially charged atomic centers in h-BN results in vanishingly
small monopolar electrostatic contributions to the interlayer binding energy.
Higher order electrostatic multipoles, exchange, and short-range correlation
contributions are found to be very similar in both materials and to almost
completely cancel out by the Pauli repulsions at physically relevant interlayer
distances resulting in a marginal effective contribution to the interlayer
binding. Further analysis of the dispersive energy term reveals that despite
the large differences in the individual atomic polarizabilities the
hetero-atomic B-N C6 coefficient is very similar to the homo-atomic C-C
coefficient in the hexagonal bulk form resulting in very similar dispersive
contribution to the interlayer binding. The overall binding energy curves of
both materials are thus very similar predicting practically the same interlayer
distance and very similar binding energies.Comment: 18 pages, 5 figures, 2 table
Magnetic correlations and quantum criticality in the insulating antiferromagnetic, insulating spin liquid, renormalized Fermi liquid, and metallic antiferromagnetic phases of the Mott system V_2O_3
Magnetic correlations in all four phases of pure and doped vanadium
sesquioxide V_2O_3 have been examined by magnetic thermal neutron scattering.
While the antiferromagnetic insulator can be accounted for by a Heisenberg
localized spin model, the long range order in the antiferromagnetic metal is an
incommensurate spin-density-wave, resulting from a Fermi surface nesting
instability. Spin dynamics in the strongly correlated metal are dominated by
spin fluctuations in the Stoner electron-hole continuum. Furthermore, our
results in metallic V_2O_3 represent an unprecedentedly complete
characterization of the spin fluctuations near a metallic quantum critical
point, and provide quantitative support for the SCR theory for itinerant
antiferromagnets in the small moment limit. Dynamic magnetic correlations for
energy smaller than k_BT in the paramagnetic insulator carry substantial
magnetic spectral weight. However, the correlation length extends only to the
nearest neighbor distance. The phase transition to the antiferromagnetic
insulator introduces a sudden switching of magnetic correlations to a different
spatial periodicity which indicates a sudden change in the underlying spin
Hamiltonian. To describe this phase transition and also the unusual short range
order in the paramagnetic state, it seems necessary to take into account the
orbital degrees of freedom associated with the degenerate d-orbitals at the
Fermi level in V_2O_3.Comment: Postscript file, 24 pages, 26 figures, 2 tables, accepted by Phys.
Rev.
A low FODMAP diet is associated with changes in the microbiota and reduction in breath hydrogen but not colonic volume in healthy subjects
Background & aims Ingestion of poorly digested, fermentable carbohydrates (fermentable oligo-, di-, mono-saccharides and polyols; FODMAPs) have been implicated in exacerbating intestinal symptoms and the reduction of intake with symptom alleviation. Restricting FODMAP intake is believed to relieve colonic distension by reducing colonic fermentation but this has not been previously directly assessed. We performed a randomised controlled trial comparing the effect of a low FODMAP diet combined with either maltodextrin or oligofructose on colonic contents, metabolites and microbiota. Methods A parallel randomised controlled trial in healthy adults (n = 37). All subjects followed a low FODMAP diet for a week and supplemented their diet with either maltodextrin (MD) or oligofructose (OF) 7g twice daily. Fasted assessments performed pre- and post-diet included MRI to assess colonic volume, breath testing for hydrogen and methane, and stool collection for microbiota analysis. Results The low FODMAP diet was associated with a reduction in Bifidobacterium and breath hydrogen, which was reversed by oligofructose supplementation. The difference in breath hydrogen between groups post-intervention was 27ppm (95% CI 7 to 50, P Conclusion A low FODMAP diet reduces total bacterial count and gas production with little effect on colonic volume.Peer reviewe
Systematic pathway generation and sorting in martensitic transformations: Titanium alpha to omega
Structural phase transitions are governed by the underlying atomic
transformation mechanism; martensitic transformations can be separated into
strain and shuffle components. A systematic pathway generation and sorting
algorithm is presented and applied to the problem of the titanium alpha to
omega transformation under pressure. In this algorithm, all pathways are
constructed within a few geometric limits, and efficiently sorted by their
energy barriers. The geometry and symmetry details of the seven lowest energy
barrier pathways are given. The lack of a single simple geometric criterion for
determining the lowest energy pathway shows the necessity of atomistic studies
for pathway determination.Comment: 11 pages, 2 figure
Enteral feeding reduces metabolic activity of the intestinal microbiome in Crohn’s disease: an observational study
Background/Objectives:
Enteral feeding will induce remission in as many as 80–90% of compliant patients with active Crohn’s disease (CD), but its method of action remains uncertain. This study was designed to examine its effects on the colonic microbiome.
Methods/Subjects:
Healthy volunteers and patients with CD followed a regimen confined to enteral feeds alone for 1 or 2 weeks, respectively. Chemicals excreted on breath or in faeces were characterised at the start and at the end of the feeding period by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry.
Results:
One week of feeding in healthy volunteers caused significant changes in stool colour and deterioration in breath odour, together with increased excretion of phenol and indoles on the breath. Feeding for 2 weeks in patients with CD produced significant improvements in symptoms and a decrease in the concentration of C-reactive protein. The faecal concentrations of microbial products, including short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), and potentially toxic substances, including 1-propanol, 1-butanol and the methyl and ethyl esters of SCFAs, showed significant falls.
Conclusions:
A significant change occurs in the production of microbial metabolites after enteral feeding in both healthy volunteers and patients with CD. Many of those detected in CD are toxic and may feasibly lead to the immunological attack on the gut microbiota, which is characteristic of inflammatory bowel disease. The reduction in the production of such metabolites after enteral feeding may be the reason for its effectiveness in CD
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