3,990 research outputs found
Surface doping in T6/ PDI-8CN2 Heterostructures investigated by transport and photoemission measurements
In this paper, we discuss the surface doping in sexithiophene (T6) organic
field-effect transistors by PDI-8CN2. We show that an accumulation
heterojunction is formed at the interface between the organic semiconductors
and that the consequent band bending in T6 caused by PDI-8CN2 deposition can be
addressed as the cause of the surface doping in T6 transistors. Several
evidences of this phenomenon have been furnished both by electrical transport
and photoemission measurements, namely the increase in the conductivity, the
shift of the threshold voltage and the shift of the T6 HOMO peak towards higher
binding energies.Comment: 5 pages, 5 figure
Single-Crystal Organic Charge-Transfer Interfaces probed using Schottky-Gated Heterostructures
Organic semiconductors based on small conjugated molecules generally behave
as insulators when undoped, but the hetero-interfaces of two such materials can
show electrical conductivity as large as in a metal. Although charge transfer
is commonly invoked to explain the phenomenon, the details of the process and
the nature of the interfacial charge carriers remain largely unexplored. Here
we use Schottky-gated heterostructures to probe the conducting layer at the
interface between rubrene and PDIF-CN2 single crystals. Gate-modulated
conductivity measurements demonstrate that interfacial transport is due to
electrons, whose mobility exhibits band-like behavior from room temperature to
~ 150 K, and remains as high as ~ 1 cm2V-1s-1 at 30 K for the best devices. The
electron density decreases linearly with decreasing temperature, an observation
that can be explained quantitatively based on the heterostructure band diagram.
These results elucidate the electronic structure of rubrene-PDIF-CN2 interfaces
and show the potential of Schottky-gated organic heterostructures for the
investigation of transport in molecular semiconductors.Comment: 37 pages, 9 Figures (including supplementary information
Leaf water diffusion dynamics in vivo through a sub-terahertz portable imaging system
The development of terahertz based technology has given the opportunity for the realization of non destructive techniques capable of gaining meaningful information on delicate systems such as biological samples. Here, the health status of leaves in vivo has been monitored through a portable terahertz imaging system. The data have been extracted and analysed from the images acquired and compared with analogous results reported in the literature on similar systems. The possibilty of extracting additional information from the images regarding leaf details has also been explored
Very low bias stress in n-type organic single crystal transistors
Bias stress effects in n-channel organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) are
investigated using PDIF-CN2 single-crystal devices with Cytop gate dielectric,
both under vacuum and in ambient. We find that the amount of bias stress is
very small as compared to all (p-channel) OFETs reported in the literature.
Stressing the PDIF-CN2 devices by applying 80 V to the gate for up to a week
results in a decrease of the source drain current of only ~1% under vacuum and
~10% in air. This remarkable stability of the devices leads to characteristic
time constants, extracted by fitting the data with a stretched exponential -
that are \tau ~ 2\cdot10^9 s in air and \tau ~ 5\cdot10^9 s in vacuum -
approximately two orders of magnitude larger than the best values reported
previously for p-channel OFETs.Comment: Submitted to Applied Physics Letters; 14 pages, 3 figure
Phenytoin and gingival mucosa: A molecular investigation.
Several distinct classes of drugs, such as anticonvulsants, immunosuppressants, and calcium channel blockers, caused gingival overgrowth. One of the main drugs associated with the gingival overgrowth is the anti-epileptic such as phenytoin, which affects gingival tissues by altering extracellular matrix metabolism. In our study, we evaluate the effect of phenytoin, a drug whose active substance is phenytoin, on gingival fibroblasts of healthy volunteers. Gene expression of 29 genes was investigated in gingival fibroblasts' cell culture treated with phenytoin compared with untreated cells. Among the studied genes, only 13 genes (CXCL5, CXCL10, CCR1, CCR3, CCR5, CCR6, IL-1A, IL-1B, IL-5, IL-7, IL-6R, BMP-2, and TNFSF-10) were statistically significant. All but one gene resulted downregulated after 24\u2009h of treatment with phenytoin. BPM2 was the only, although weakly, up-expressed gene. Probably, we have not highlighted overexpression of the other inflammatory molecules because the study was performed on healthy people. Many studies show that phenytoin induces the overexpression of these cytokines but, probably, in our study, the drug does not have the same effect because we used gingival fibroblasts of healthy people
Overview: Tropospheric profiling: state of the art and future challenges – introduction to the AMT special issue
Abstract. This paper introduces the Atmospheric Measurement Techniques special issue on tropospheric profiling, which was conceived to host full papers presenting the results shown at the 9th International Symposium on Tropospheric Profiling (ISTP9). ISTP9 was held in L'Aquila (Italy) from 3 to 7 September 2012, bringing together 150 scientists representing of 28 countries and 3 continents. The tropospheric profiling special issue collects the highlights of ISTP9, reporting recent advances and future challenges in research and technology development
Spectrally resolved observations of atmospheric emitted radiance in the H2O rotation band
This paper presents the project Earth Cooling by Water
Vapor Radiation, an observational programme, which aims at
developing a database of spectrally resolved far infrared
observations, in atmospheric dry conditions, in order to
validate radiative transfer models and test the quality of water
vapor continuum and line parameters. The project provides
the very first set of far-infrared spectral downwelling
radiance measurements, in dry atmospheric conditions,
which are complemented with Raman Lidar-derived
temperature and water vapor profiles
Intraventricular flow patterns during right ventricular apical pacing
Objectives To assess differences in blood flow
momentum (BFM) and kinetic energy (KE) dissipation in
a model of cardiac dyssynchrony induced by electrical
right ventricular apical (RVA) stimulation compared with
spontaneous sinus rhythm.
Methods We cross-sectionally enrolled 12 consecutive
patients (mean age 74\ub18 years, 60% male, mean left
ventricular ejection fraction 58%\ub16 %), within 48 hours
from pacemaker (PMK) implantation. Inclusion criteria
were: age>18 years, no PMK-dependency, sinus rhythm
with a spontaneous narrow QRS at the ECG, preserved
ejection fraction (>50%) and a low percentage of PMKstimulation (<20%). All the participants underwent a
complete echocardiographic evaluation, including left
ventricular strain analysis and particle image velocimetry.
Results Compared with sinus rhythm, BFM shifted from
27\ub13.3 to 34\ub17.6\ub0 (p=0.016), while RVA-pacing was
characterised by a 35% of increment in KE dissipation,
during diastole (p=0.043) and 32% during systole
(p=0.016). In the same conditions, left ventricle global
longitudinal strain (LV GLS) significantly decreased from
17\ub13.3 to 11%\ub12.8% (p=0.004) during RVA-stimulation.
At the multivariable analysis, BFM and diastolic KE
dissipation were significantly associated with LV GLS
deterioration (Beta Coeff.=0.54, 95% CI 0.07 to 1.00,
p=0.034 and Beta Coeff.=0.29, 95% CI 0.02 to 0.57,
p=0.049, respectively).
Conclusions In RVA-stimulation, BFM impairment and
KE dissipation were found to be significantly associated
with LV GLS deterioration, when controlling for potential
confounders. Such changes may favour the onset of
cardiac remodelling and sustain heart failure
Multiple detection and spread of novel strains of the SARS-CoV-2 B.1.177 (B.1.177.75) lineage that test negative by a commercially available nucleocapsid gene real-time RT-PCR
Several lineages of SARS-CoV-2 are currently circulating worldwide. During SARS-CoV-2 diagnostic activities performed in Abruzzo region (central Italy) several strains belonging to the B.1.177.75 lineage tested negative for the N gene but positive for the ORF1ab and S genes (+/+/- pattern) by the TaqPath COVID-19 CE-IVD RT-PCR Kit manufactured by Thermofisher. By sequencing, a unique mutation, synonymous 28948C > T, was found in the N-negative B.1.177.75 strains. Although we do not have any knowledge upon the nucleotide sequences of the primers and probe adopted by this kit, it is likely that N gene dropout only occurs when 28948C > T is coupled with 28932C > T, this latter present, in turn, in all B.1.177.75 sequences available on public databases. Furthermore, epidemiological analysis was also performed. The majority of the N-negative B.1.177.75 cases belonged to two clusters apparently unrelated to each other and both clusters involved young people. However, the phylogeny for sequences containing the +/+/- pattern strongly supports a genetic connection and one common source for both clusters. Though, genetic comparison suggests a connection rather than indicating the independent emergence of the same mutation in two apparently unrelated clusters. This study highlights once more the importance of sharing genomic data to link apparently unrelated epidemiological clusters and to, remarkably, update molecular tests
Orexin-A/Hypocretin-1 Controls the VTA-NAc Mesolimbic Pathway via Endocannabinoid-Mediated Disinhibition of Dopaminergic Neurons in Obese Mice
Disinhibition of orexin-A/hypocretin-1 (OX-A) release occurs to several output areas of the lateral hypothalamus (LH) in the brain of leptin knockout obese ob/ob mice. In this study, we have investigated whether a similar increase of OX-A release occurs to the ventral tegmental area (VTA), an orexinergic LH output area with functional effects on dopaminergic signaling at the mesolimbic circuit. By confocal and correlative light and electron microscopy (CLEM) morphological studies coupled to molecular, biochemical, and pharmacological approaches, we investigated OX-A-mediated dopaminergic signaling at the LH-VTA-nucleus accumbens (NAc) pathway in obese ob/ob mice compared to wild-type (wt) lean littermates. We found an elevation of OX-A trafficking and release to the VTA of ob/ob mice and consequent orexin receptor-1 (OX1R)-mediated over-activation of dopaminergic (DA) neurons via phospholipase C (PLC)/diacylglycerol lipase (DAGL-α)-induced biosynthesis of the endocannabinoid 2-arachidonoylglycerol (2-AG). In fact, by retrograde signaling to cannabinoid receptor type 1 (CB1R) at inhibitory inputs to DA neurons, 2-AG inhibited GABA release thus inducing an increase in DA concentration in the VTA and NAc of ob/ob mice. This effect was prevented by the OX1R antagonist SB-334867 (30 mg/Kg, i.p.), or the CB1R antagonist AM251 (10 mg/Kg, i.p.) and mimicked by OX-A injection (40 μg/Kg, i.p.) in wt lean mice. Enhanced DA signaling to the NAc in ob/ob mice, or in OX-A-injected wt mice, was accompanied by β-arrestin2-mediated desensitization of dopamine D2 receptor (D2R) in a manner prevented by SB-334867 or the D2R antagonist L741 (1.5 mg/Kg, i.p.). These results further support the role of OX-A signaling in the control of neuroadaptive responses, such as compulsive reward-seeking behavior or binge-like consumption of high palatable food, and suggest that aberrant OX-A trafficking to the DA neurons in the VTA of ob/ob mice influences the D2R response at NAc, a main target area of the mesolimbic pathway, via 2-AG/CB1-mediated retrograde signaling
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