Synergistic effect of doping with nitrogen and molybdenum on the photocatalytic properties of thin titania films

Doping of titania with metal and non-metal elements provides a simple and efficient pathway to significant enhancement of photocatalytic properties. In this work titania thin films co-doped with molybdenum and nitrogen were prepared by reactive magnetron sputtering. Additionally, coatings doped only with nitrogen were prepared under identical deposition conditions for comparison purposes. Coatings were annealed at 873 K in air and analysed by Raman spectroscopy, XRD and XPS. Photocatalytic properties of the coatings were evaluated on the basis of the photodegradation rate of methylene blue dye under UV, fluorescent and visible light. It was found that the photocatalytic activity of co-doped samples was significantly higher than that of N-doped coatings. Unlike N-doped titania films, co-doped coatings exhibited high photocatalytic activity under the fluorescent light source and noticeable activity under visible light. The possible mechanism for the enhancement of the photocatalytic activity of Mo-N co-doped titania coatings is discussed

Microbial diversity of intestinal contents and mucus in yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco)

In this study, traditional culture-based techniques and the 16S rDNA sequencing method were used to investigate the microbial community of the intestinal contents and mucosal layer in the intestine of yellow catfish (Pelteobagrus fulvidraco). Eleven phylotypes were detected from culturable microbiota, and their closest relatives were Plesiomonas, Yersinia, Enterobacter, Shewanella, Aeromonas, Vibrio, and Myroides. Forty-four phylotypes were retrieved from 100 positive clones from intestinal contents (library C), and 21 phylotypes were detected in the 57 positive clones from intestinal mucus (library M), most of which were affiliated with Proteobacteria (>50% of the total). However, the bacterial groups OP10 and Actinobacteria detected in library C were not found in library M, suggesting that the abundance and diversity of bacterial populations in mucus might be different from the microbiota in gut contents, and that some microbial species poorly colonized the gut mucosal layer. (C) 2010 Published by Elsevier B.V

On Glauber modes in Soft-Collinear Effective Theory

Gluon interactions involving spectator partons in collisions at hadronic machines are investigated. We find a class of examples in which a mode, called Glauber gluons, must be introduced to the effective theory for consistency.Comment: 19 pages, three figures. Uses JHEP3.cl

Occurrence of Camallanus cotti in greatly diverse fish species from Danjiangkou Reservoir in central China

Two thousand four hundred fifty-eight fish comprised of 53 species were captured in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, in the northwestern part of Hubei Province, central China during 2004, to examine Camallanus cotti infections. We found that 19 cypriniform, 3 siluriforme, and 4 perciforme fishes were infected by the nematode. Our study revealed the species, Hemiculter bleekeri bleekeri, Culter oxycephaloide, Pseudolaubuca sinensis, Acanthobrama simony, Mylopharyngodon piceus, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Gnathopogon imberbis, G. argentatus, Saurogobio dabryi, S. dumerili, Gobiobotia ichangensis, Liobagrus marginatoides, and Ctenogobius shennongensis as new hosts of the worm. The number and range of fish host species found in this survey were much greater than any of the previous investigations. The mean prevalence, prevalence, mean abundance, and intensity of infection varied in different fish species, indicating a possible host preference. Moreover, we suggest that this nematode is a native parasite of cypriniform fishes in China, perhaps initially in the reaches of the Yangtze River.Two thousand four hundred fifty-eight fish comprised of 53 species were captured in the Danjiangkou Reservoir, in the northwestern part of Hubei Province, central China during 2004, to examine Camallanus cotti infections. We found that 19 cypriniform, 3 siluriforme, and 4 perciforme fishes were infected by the nematode. Our study revealed the species, Hemiculter bleekeri bleekeri, Culter oxycephaloide, Pseudolaubuca sinensis, Acanthobrama simony, Mylopharyngodon piceus, Ctenopharyngodon idella, Gnathopogon imberbis, G. argentatus, Saurogobio dabryi, S. dumerili, Gobiobotia ichangensis, Liobagrus marginatoides, and Ctenogobius shennongensis as new hosts of the worm. The number and range of fish host species found in this survey were much greater than any of the previous investigations. The mean prevalence, prevalence, mean abundance, and intensity of infection varied in different fish species, indicating a possible host preference. Moreover, we suggest that this nematode is a native parasite of cypriniform fishes in China, perhaps initially in the reaches of the Yangtze River

Generalized Holographic Quantum Criticality at Finite Density

We show that the near-extremal solutions of Einstein-Maxwell-Dilaton theories, studied in ArXiv:1005.4690, provide IR quantum critical geometries, by embedding classes of them in higher-dimensional AdS and Lifshitz solutions. This explains the scaling of their thermodynamic functions and their IR transport coefficients, the nature of their spectra, the Gubser bound, and regulates their singularities. We propose that these are the most general quantum critical IR asymptotics at finite density of EMD theories.Comment: v4: Corrected the scaling equation for the conductivity in section 9.

Effective Holographic Theories for low-temperature condensed matter systems

The IR dynamics of effective holographic theories capturing the interplay between charge density and the leading relevant scalar operator at strong coupling are analyzed. Such theories are parameterized by two real exponents $(\gamma,\delta)$ that control the IR dynamics. By studying the thermodynamics, spectra and conductivities of several classes of charged dilatonic black hole solutions that include the charge density back reaction fully, the landscape of such theories in view of condensed matter applications is characterized. Several regions of the $(\gamma,\delta)$ plane can be excluded as the extremal solutions have unacceptable singularities. The classical solutions have generically zero entropy at zero temperature, except when $\gamma=\delta$ where the entropy at extremality is finite. The general scaling of DC resistivity with temperature at low temperature, and AC conductivity at low frequency and temperature across the whole $(\gamma,\delta)$ plane, is found. There is a codimension-one region where the DC resistivity is linear in the temperature. For massive carriers, it is shown that when the scalar operator is not the dilaton, the DC resistivity scales as the heat capacity (and entropy) for planar (3d) systems. Regions are identified where the theory at finite density is a Mott-like insulator at T=0. We also find that at low enough temperatures the entropy due to the charge carriers is generically larger than at zero charge density.Comment: (v3): Added discussion on the UV completion of the solutions, and on extremal spectra in the charged case. Expanded discusion on insulating extremal solutions. Many other refinements and corrections. 126 pages. 48 figure

Formyl Peptide Receptor as a Novel Therapeutic Target for Anxiety-Related Disorders

Formyl peptide receptors (FPR) belong to a family of sensors of the immune system that detect microbe-associated molecules and inform various cellular and sensorial mechanisms to the presence of pathogens in the host. Here we demonstrate that Fpr2/3-deficient mice show a distinct profile of behaviour characterised by reduced anxiety in the marble burying and light-dark box paradigms, increased exploratory behaviour in an open-field, together with superior performance on a novel object recognition test. Pharmacological blockade with a formyl peptide receptor antagonist, Boc2, in wild type mice reproduced most of the behavioural changes observed in the Fpr2/3(-/-) mice, including a significant improvement in novel object discrimination and reduced anxiety in a light/dark shuttle test. These effects were associated with reduced FPR signalling in the gut as shown by the significant reduction in the levels of p-p38. Collectively, these findings suggest that homeostatic FPR signalling exerts a modulatory effect on anxiety-like behaviours. These findings thus suggest that therapies targeting FPRs may be a novel approach to ameliorate behavioural abnormalities present in neuropsychiatric disorders at the cognitive-emotional interface