Epitaxial growth and thermodynamic stability of SrIrO3/SrTiO3 heterostructures

Obtaining high-quality thin films of 5d transition metal oxides is essential to explore the exotic semimetallic and topological phases predicted to arise from the combination of strong electron correlations and spin-orbit coupling. Here, we show that the transport properties of SrIrO3 thin films, grown by pulsed laser deposition, can be optimized by considering the effect of laser-induced modification of the SrIrO3 target surface. We further demonstrate that bare SrIrO3 thin films are subject to degradation in air and are highly sensitive to lithographic processing. A crystalline SrTiO3 cap layer deposited in-situ is effective in preserving the film quality, allowing us to measure metallic transport behavior in films with thicknesses down to 4 unit cells. In addition, the SrTiO3 encapsulation enables the fabrication of devices such as Hall bars without altering the film properties, allowing precise (magneto)transport measurements on micro- and nanoscale devices.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

The Impact of Dysmetabolic Sarcopenia Among Insulin Sensitive Tissues: A Narrative Review

Sarcopenia is a common muscular affection among elderly individuals. More recently, it has been recognized as the skeletal muscle (SM) expression of the metabolic syndrome. The prevalence of sarcopenia is increasing along with visceral obesity, to which it is tightly associated. Nonetheless, it is a still underreported entity by clinicians, despite the worsening in disease burden and reduced patient quality of life. Recognition of sarcopenia is clinically challenging, and variability in study populations and diagnostic methods across the clinical studies makes it hard to reach a strong evidence. Impaired insulin activity in SM is responsible for the altered molecular pathways and clinical manifestations of sarcopenia, which is morphologically expressed by myosteatosis. Lipotoxicity, oxidative stress and adipose tissue-derived inflammation lead to both alterations in glucose disposal and protein synthesis in SM, with raising insulin resistance (IR) and SM atrophy. In particular, hyperleptinemia and leptin resistance interfere directly with SM activity, but also with the release of Growth Hormone from the hypohysis, leading to a lack in its anabolic effect on SM. Moreover, sarcopenia is independently associated to liver fibrosis in Non-Alcoholic Fatty Liver Disease (NAFLD), which in turn worsens SM functionality through the secretion of proinflammatory heptokines. The cross-talk between the liver and SM in the IR setting is of crucial relevance, given the high prevalence of NAFLD and the reciprocal impact of insulin-sensitive tissues on the overall disease burden. Along with the efforts of non-invasive diagnostic approaches, irisin and myostatin are two myokines currently evaluated as potential biomarkers for diagnosis and prognostication. Decreased irisin levels seem to be potentially associated to sarcopenia, whereas increased myostatin has shown to negatively impact on sarcopenia in pre-clinical studies. Gene variants in irisin have been explored with regard to the impact on the liver disease phenotype, with conflicting results. The gut-muscle axis has gain relevance with the evidence that insulin resistance-derived gut dysbiosis is responsible for increased endotoxemia and reduction in short-chain free fatty acids, directly affecting and predisposing to sarcopenia. Based on the current evidence, more efforts are needed to increase awareness and improve the management of sarcopenic patients

Mentalization, attachment, and defense mechanisms: A Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual-2-oriented empirical investigation

Mentalizing capacities depends on the quality of primary attachment interactions with caregivers who thinks of the child as a subject with mental states. Operationalized as reflective functioning, mentalization is crucial for regulating emotions and developing of a coherent sense of identity, for interacting with individuals making sense to own and others mental states, and for distinguishing internal and external realities without distortions. Although the clinical literature on interplay between mentalization, attachment, and emotional regulation is rich, the empirical research is limited. This study sought to explore connections between reflective functioning, attachment styles, and implicit emotion regulation, operationalized as defense mechanisms, in a group of depressive patients. Twenty-eight patients were interviewed using the adult attachment interview (AAI) and diagnosed using the Psychodynamic Chart-2 of the Psychodynamic Diagnostic Manual, Second Edition. The reflective functioning scale and the defense mechanisms rating scale Qsort were applied to AAI transcriptions to assess reflective functioning and defensive profile. Patients with secure attachment showed significantly higher levels in reflective functioning and overall defensive functioning as compared to those with insecure attachment. Good reflective functioning and secure attachment correlated with mature defenses and specific defensive mechanisms that serve in better regulating affective states. Overall, the relationship between mentalization, attachment and emotion regulation lay the foundations for the delineation of defensive profiles associated with attachment patterns and reflective functioning in depressive patients. The systematic assessment of these psychological dimensions with gold-standard tools may help in tailoring personalized therapeutic interventions and promoting more effective treatments

Diodes with Breakdown Voltages Enhanced by the Metal-Insulator Transition of LaAlO3_3-SrTiO3_3 Interfaces

Using the metal-insulator transition that takes place as a function of carrier density at the LaAlO$_3$-SrTiO$_3$ interface, oxide diodes have been fabricated with room-temperature breakdown voltages of up to 200 V. With applied voltage, the capacitance of the diodes changes by a factor of 150. The diodes are robust and operate at temperatures up to 270 C

Bimodal Phase Diagram of the Superfluid Density in LaAlO3/SrTiO3 Revealed by an Interfacial Waveguide Resonator

We explore the superconducting phase diagram of the two-dimensional electron system at the LaAlO3/SrTiO3 interface by monitoring the frequencies of the cavity modes of a coplanar waveguide resonator fabricated in the interface itself. We determine the phase diagram of the superconducting transition as a function of temperature and electrostatic gating, finding that both the superfluid density and the transition temperature follow a dome shape, but that the two are not monotonically related. The ground state of this 2DES is interpreted as a Josephson junction array, where a transition from long- to short-range order occurs as a function of the electronic doping. The synergy between correlated oxides and superconducting circuits is revealed to be a promising route to investigate these exotic compounds, complementary to standard magneto-transport measurements.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figures and 10 pages of supplementary materia