Electron Conditioning of Technical Aluminium Surfaces: Effect on the Secondary Electron Yield

The effect of electron conditioning on commercially aluminium alloys 1100 and 6063 were investigated. Contrary to the assumption that electron conditioning, if performed long enough, can reduce and stabilize the SEY to low values ($\leq 1.3$, value of many pure elements), the SEY of aluminium did not go lower than 1.8. In fact, it reincreases with continued electron exposure dose.Comment: 36 pages, 25 figures, submitted to JVST

Functional dissection of the enhancer repertoire in human embryonic stem cells

Enhancers are genetic elements that regulate spatiotemporal gene expression. Enhancer function requires transcription factor (TF) binding and correlates with histone modifications. However, the extent to which TF binding and histone modifications functionally define active enhancers remains unclear. Here, we combine chromatin immunoprecipitation with a massively parallel reporter assay (ChIP-STARR-seq) to identify functional enhancers in human embryonic stem cells (ESCs) genome-wide in a quantitative unbiased manner. Although active enhancers associate with TFs, only a minority of regions marked by NANOG, OCT4, H3K27ac, and H3K4me1 function as enhancers, with activity markedly changing under naive versus primed culture conditions. We identify an enhancer set associated with functions extending to non-ESC-specific processes. Moreover, although transposable elements associate with putative enhancers, only some exhibit activity. Similarly, within super-enhancers, large tracts are non-functional, with activity restricted to small sub-domains. This catalog of validated enhancers provides a valuable resource for further functional dissection of the regulatory genome.Barakat et al. use a combination of chromatin immunoprecipitation and a massively parallel reporter assay to identify functional enhancers in primed and naive human embryonic stem cells. This genome-wide catalog of validated enhancers provides a valuable resource for the further dissection of the regulatory genome

GeneProf data:a resource of curated, integrated and reusable high-throughput genomics experiments

GeneProf Data (http://www.geneprof.org) is an open web resource for analysed functional genomics experiments. We have built up a large collection of completely processed RNA-seq and ChIP-seq studies by carefully and transparently reanalysing and annotating high-profile public data sets. GeneProf makes these data instantly accessible in an easily interpretable, searchable and reusable manner and thus opens up the path to the advantages and insights gained from genome-scale experiments to a broader scientific audience. Moreover, GeneProf supports programmatic access to these data via web services to further facilitate the reuse of experimental data across tools and laboratories

First experimental evidence of one-dimensional plasma modes in superconducting thin wires

We have studied niobium superconducting thin wires deposited onto a SrTiO$_{3}$ substrate. By measuring the reflection coefficient of the wires, resonances are observed in the superconducting state in the 130 MHz to 4 GHz range. They are interpreted as standing wave resonances of one-dimensional plasma modes propagating along the superconducting wire. The experimental dispersion law, $\omega$ versus $q$, presents a linear dependence over the entire wave vector range. The modes are softened as the temperature increases close the superconducting transition temperature. Very good agreement are observed between our data and the dispersion relation predicted by Kulik and Mooij and Sch\"on.Comment: Submitted to Physical review Letter

Identification of the bulk pairing symmetry in high-temperature superconductors: Evidence for an extended s-wave with eight line nodes

we identify the intrinsic bulk pairing symmetry for both electron and hole-doped cuprates from the existing bulk- and nearly bulk-sensitive experimental results such as magnetic penetration depth, Raman scattering, single-particle tunneling, Andreev reflection, nonlinear Meissner effect, neutron scattering, thermal conductivity, specific heat, and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. These experiments consistently show that the dominant bulk pairing symmetry in hole-doped cuprates is of extended s-wave with eight line nodes, and of anisotropic s-wave in electron-doped cuprates. The proposed pairing symmetries do not contradict some surface- and phase-sensitive experiments which show a predominant d-wave pairing symmetry at the degraded surfaces. We also quantitatively explain the phase-sensitive experiments along the c-axis for both Bi_{2}Sr_{2}CaCu_{2}O_{8+y} and YBa_{2}Cu_{3}O_{7-y}.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figure

Evidence for coexistence of the superconducting gap and the pseudo - gap in Bi-2212 from intrinsic tunneling spectroscopy

We present intrinsic tunneling spectroscopy measurements on small Bi$_2$Sr$_2$CaCu$_2$O$_{8+x}$ mesas. The tunnel conductance curves show both sharp peaks at the superconducting gap voltage and broad humps representing the $c$-axis pseudo-gap. The superconducting gap vanishes at $T_c$, while the pseudo-gap exists both above and below $T_c$. Our observation implies that the superconducting and pseudo-gaps represent different coexisting phenomena.Comment: 5 pages, 4 figure

DNA Methylation Dynamics of Human Hematopoietic Stem Cell Differentiation

Hematopoietic stem cells give rise to all blood cells in a differentiation process that involves widespread epigenome remodeling. Here we present genome-wide reference maps of the associated DNA methylation dynamics. We used a meta-epigenomic approach that combines DNA methylation profiles across many small pools of cells and performed single-cell methylome sequencing to assess cell-to-cell heterogeneity. The resulting dataset identified characteristic differences between HSCs derived from fetal liver, cord blood, bone marrow, and peripheral blood. We also observed lineage-specific DNA methylation between myeloid and lymphoid progenitors, characterized immature multi-lymphoid progenitors, and detected progressive DNA methylation differences in maturing megakaryocytes. We linked these patterns to gene expression, histone modifications, and chromatin accessibility, and we used machine learning to derive a model of human hematopoietic differentiation directly from DNA methylation data. Our results contribute to a better understanding of human hematopoietic stem cell differentiation and provide a framework for studying blood-linked diseases.This work was funded by the BLUEPRINT project (European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme grant 282510), the NIHR Cambridge Biomedical Research Centre, and the Austrian Academy of Sciences. F.A.C. is supported by a Medical Research Council Clinical Training Fellowship (grant MR/K024043/1). F.H. is supported by a postdoctoral fellowship of the German Research Council (DFG; grant HA 7723/1-1). J.K. is supported by a DOC Fellowship of the Austrian Academy of Sciences. W.H.O. is supported by the NIHR, BHF (grants PG-0310-1002 and RG/09/12/28096), and NHS Blood and Transplant. E.L. is supported by a Wellcome Trust Sir Henry Dale Fellowship (grant 107630/Z/15/Z) and core support grant from the Wellcome Trust and MRC to the Wellcome Trust-Medical Research Council Cambridge Stem Cell Institute. M. Frontini is supported by the BHF Cambridge Centre of Excellence (grant RE/13/6/30180). C.B. is supported by a New Frontiers Group award of the Austrian Academy of Sciences and by a European Research Council (ERC) Starting Grant (European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program; grant 679146)

Influence of vortex-vortex interaction on critical currents across low-angle grain boundaries in YBa2Cu3O7-delta thin films

Low-angle grain boundaries with misorientation angles theta < 5 degrees in optimally doped thin films of YBCO are investigated by magnetooptical imaging. By using a numerical inversion scheme of Biot-Savart's law the critical current density across the grain boundary can be determined with a spatial resolution of about 5 micrometers. Detailed investigation of the spatially resolved flux density and current density data shows that the current density across the boundary varies with varying local flux density. Combining the corresponding flux and current pattern it is found that there exists a universal dependency of the grain boundary current on the local flux density. A change in the local flux density means a variation in the flux line-flux line distance. With this knowledge a model is developped that explains the flux-current relation by means of magnetic vortex-vortex interaction.Comment: 7 pages, 14 figure

Electron transport, penetration depth and upper critical magnetic field of ZrB12 and MgB2

We report on the synthesis and measurements of the temperature dependence of resistivity, R(T), the penetration depth, l(T), and upper critical magnetic field, Hc2(T), for polycrystalline samples of dodecaboride ZrB12 and diboride MgB2. We conclude that ZrB12 as well as MgB2 behave like simple metals in the normal state with usual Bloch-Gruneisen temperature dependence of resistivity and with rather low resistive Debye temperature, TR=280 K, for ZrB12 (as compared to MgB2 with TR=900 K). The R(T) and l(T) dependencies of ZrB12 reveal a superconducting transition at Tc=6.0 K. Although a clear exponential l(T)dependence in MgB2 thin films and ceramic pellets was observed at low temperatures, this dependence was almost linear for ZrB12 below Tc/2. These features indicate s-wave pairing state in MgB2, whereas a d-wave pairing state is possible in ZrB12. A fit to the data gives a reduced energy gap 2D(0)/kTc=1.6 for MgB2 films and pellets, in good agreement with published data for 3D \pi - sheets of the Fermi surface. Contrary to conventional theories we found a linear temperature dependence of Hc2(T) for ZrB12 (Hc2(0)=0.15 T).Comment: 8 pages, 10 figures, submitted to JET