Highly effective and isotropic pinning in epitaxial Fe(Se,Te) thin films grown on CaF2 substrates

We report on the isotropic pinning obtained in epitaxial Fe(Se,Te) thin films grown on CaF2 (001) substrate. High critical current density values larger than 1 MA/cm2 in self field in liquid helium are reached together with a very weak dependence on the magnetic field and a complete isotropy. Analysis through Transmission Electron Microscopy evidences the presence of defects looking like lattice disorder at a very small scale, between 5 and 20 nm, which are thought to be responsible for such isotropic behavior in contrast to what observed on SrTiO3, where defects parallel to the c-axis enhance pinning in that directio

Produtividade de Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf cv. Marandu sob diferentes arranjos estruturais de sistema agrossilvipastoril com eucalipto.

O sucesso de sistemas de produção sustentáveis tem como aspecto fundamental a escolha das espécies. O conhecimento da tolerância da Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf ao sombreamento e seu desempenho em consórcio com eucalipto implica na recomendação desta forrageira para implantação de sistemas agrossilvipastoris. O objetivo deste trabalho foi avaliar quantitativa e qualitativamente a produtividade de Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf cv. Marandu sob diferentes arranjos estruturais de sistema agrossilvipastoril com eucalipto. Realizou-se o plantio de mudas clonais de um híbrido natural de Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh com Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake, em dezembro de 1999, em área de cerrado, no noroeste deMinas Gerais (Paracatu MG, Brasil). Fez-se o plantio em consórcio com arroz no primeiro ano, soja no segundo e em seguida braquiária, semeada em dezembro de 2001. O experimento foi implantado no delineamento blocos casualizados, em esquema de parcelas subdivididas, com quatro repetições. Nas parcelas foram alocados os arranjos do eucalipto, em linhas duplas: (3 x 3)+10m, (3 x 4)+7 m, (3 x 4)+10 m, (3 x 4)+7+10 m, (3 x 3)+15 m; e linhas simples: 10x3m, e 10x4m. As subparcelas corresponderam às avaliações na linha e na entrelinha de plantio. Foram avaliados o rendimento e aspectos de qualidade da forragem, bem como a densidade de fluxo de fótons fotossinteticamente ativos no subbosque, em cada arranjo. Verificou-se que a forragem disponível (matéria natural e matéria seca) foi sempre maior na entrelinha do que na linha de plantio, independente do arranjo. Os variados arranjos do sistema agrossilvipastoril praticamente não provocaram variação no teor de fibras, N e P na forragem. As concentrações de Ca, K e Mn foram maiores na braquiária sob as linhas de plantio do eucalipto e as oncentrações de Mg e Zn maiores na entrelinha de plantio

Radiação solar no sub-bosque de sistema agrossilvipastoril com eucalipto em diferentes arranjos estruturais.

A radiação solar no sub-bosque de povoamentos de eucalipto torna-se decisiva para implantação de culturas intercalares e consórcio com pastagens em sistemas agrossilvipastoris. Objetivou-se determinar a incidência e distribuição da densidade de fluxo de fótons, radiação solar global e iluminância no sub-bosque de diferentes arranjos estruturais de sistema agrossilvipatoril com eucalipto. O experimento foi implantado em dezembro de 1999, em área de cerrado. Realizou-se o plantio de mudas clonais de um híbrido natural de Eucalyptus camaldulensis Dehnh com Eucalyptus urophylla S.T. Blake, em consórcio com arroz no primeiro ano, soja no segundo e pastagem de Brachiaria brizantha (Hochst. ex A. Rich.) Stapf cv. Marandu nos anos consecutivos. O delineamento utilizado foi blocos casualizados em esquema de parcelas subdivididas, com cinco repetições. Nas parcelas, estudou-se o efeito dos arranjos 3,33 x 2 m, 3,33 x 3 m, 5 x 2 m, 10 x 2 m, 10 x 3 m, 10 x 4 m, (3 x 4)+7 m, (3 x 3)+10 m, (3 x 4)+10 m e (3 x 3)+15 m. As subparcelas corresponderam às avaliações na linha e entrelinha de plantio, realizadas aos 27, 38 e 54 meses. A radiação solar no subbosque varia em função dos arranjos. Nos 3,33 x 2 m e 3,33 x 3 m, o fechamento do dossel promove sombreamento geral do sub-bosque aos dois anos. Nos arranjos mais amplos, a distribuição espacial da radiação solar e o sombreamento variam com a época do ano

Development of High Ic Long REBCO Tapes with High Production Rate by PLD Method

AbstractWe have been developing long REBa2Cu3O7-δ coated conductors with high performance by the combination of the IBAD and the PLD methods. To realize the low production cost for REBa2Cu3O7-δ coated conductors, growth conditions were optimized for long tape fabrication in the “in-plume PLD method”. As a result, the Ic performance was confirmed with a high production rate under the high oxygen gas pressure and high laser energy density of > 800 mTorr and > 3J/cm2, respectively. We successfully fabricated a 35 m long GdBa2Cu3O7-δ coated conductor with high Ic value of 619 A/cm-w by the production rate of 30 m/h

A general lower bound for collaborative tree exploration

We consider collaborative graph exploration with a set of $k$ agents. All agents start at a common vertex of an initially unknown graph and need to collectively visit all other vertices. We assume agents are deterministic, vertices are distinguishable, moves are simultaneous, and we allow agents to communicate globally. For this setting, we give the first non-trivial lower bounds that bridge the gap between small ($k \leq \sqrt n$) and large ($k \geq n$) teams of agents. Remarkably, our bounds tightly connect to existing results in both domains. First, we significantly extend a lower bound of $\Omega(\log k / \log\log k)$ by Dynia et al. on the competitive ratio of a collaborative tree exploration strategy to the range $k \leq n \log^c n$ for any $c \in \mathbb{N}$. Second, we provide a tight lower bound on the number of agents needed for any competitive exploration algorithm. In particular, we show that any collaborative tree exploration algorithm with $k = Dn^{1+o(1)}$ agents has a competitive ratio of $\omega(1)$, while Dereniowski et al. gave an algorithm with $k = Dn^{1+\varepsilon}$ agents and competitive ratio $O(1)$, for any $\varepsilon > 0$ and with $D$ denoting the diameter of the graph. Lastly, we show that, for any exploration algorithm using $k = n$ agents, there exist trees of arbitrarily large height $D$ that require $\Omega(D^2)$ rounds, and we provide a simple algorithm that matches this bound for all trees

SNAI1 expression and the mesenchymal phenotype: an immunohistochemical study performed on 46 cases of oral squamous cell carcinoma

Abstract Background SNAI1 can initiate epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT), leading to loss of epithelial characteristics and, in cancer, to invasion and metastasis. We hypothesized that SNAI1 reactivation occurs in oral squamous cell carcinoma (OSCC) where it might also be associated with focal adhesion kinase (FAK) expression and p63 loss. Methods Immunohistochemistry was performed on 46 tumors and 26 corresponding lymph node metastases. Full tissue sections were examined to account for rare and focal expression. Clinical outcome data were collected and analyzed. Results SNAI1-positivity (nuclear, ≥ 5% tumor cells) was observed in 10 tumors and 5 metastases (n = 12 patients). Individual SNAI1(+) tumor cells were seen in primary tumors of 30 patients. High level SNAI1 expression (>10% tumor cells) was rare, but significantly associated with poor outcome. Two cases displayed a sarcomatoid component as part of the primary tumor with SNAI1(+)/FAK(+)/E-cadherin(-)/p63(-) phenotype, but disparate phenotypes in corresponding metastases. All cases had variable SNAI1(+) stroma. A mesenchymal-like immunoprofile in primary tumors characterized by E-cadherin loss (n = 29, 63%) or high cytoplasmic FAK expression (n = 10, 22%) was associated with N(+) status and tumor recurrence/new primary, respectively. Conclusions SNAI1 is expressed, although at low levels, in a substantial proportion of OSCC. High levels of SNAI1 may herald a poor prognosis and circumscribed SNAI1 expression can indicate the presence of a sarcomatoid component. Absence of p63 in this context does not exclude squamous tumor origin. Additional EMT inducers may contribute to a mesenchymal-like phenotype and OSCC progression

At the edge of intonation: the interplay of utterance-final F0 movements and voiceless fricative sounds

The paper is concerned with the 'edge of intonation' in a twofold sense. It focuses on utterance-final F0 movements and crosses the traditional segment-prosody divide by investigating the interplay of F0 and voiceless fricatives in speech production. An experiment was performed for German with four types of voiceless fricatives: /f/, /s/, /ʃ/ and /x/. They were elicited with scripted dialogues in the contexts of terminal falling statement and high rising question intonations. Acoustic analyses show that fricatives concluding the high rising question intonations had higher mean centres of gravity (CoGs), larger CoG ranges and higher noise energy levels than fricatives concluding the terminal falling statement intonations. The different spectral-energy patterns are suitable to induce percepts of a high 'aperiodic pitch' at the end of the questions and of a low 'aperiodic pitch' at the end of the statements. The results are discussed with regard to the possible existence of 'segmental intonation' and its implication for F0 truncation and the segment-prosody dichotomy, in which segments are the alleged troublemakers for the production and perception of intonation

The putative Tumor Suppressor VILIP-1 Counteracts Epidermal Growth Factor-Induced Epidermal-Mesenchymal Transition in Squamous Carcinoma Cells

Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a crucial step for the acquisition of invasive properties of carcinoma cells during tumor progression. Epidermal growth factor (EGF)-treatment of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells provokes changes in the expression of lineage markers, morphological changes, and a higher invasive and metastatic potential. Here we show that chronic stimulation with EGF induces EMT in skin-derived SCC cell lines along with the down-regulation of the epithelial marker E-cadherin, and of the putative tumor suppressor VILIP-1 (visinin-like protein 1). In esophageal squamous cell carcinoma and non-small cell lung carcinoma the loss of VILIP-1 correlates with clinicopathological features related to enhanced invasiveness. VILIP-1 has previously been shown to suppress tumor cell invasion via enhancing cAMP-signaling in a murine SCC model. In mouse skin SCC cell lines the VILIP-1-negative tumor cells have low cAMP levels, whereas VILIP-1-positive SCCs possess high cAMP levels, but low invasive properties. We show that in VILIP-1-negative SCCs, Snail1, a transcriptional repressor involved in EMT, is up-regulated. Snail1 expression is reduced by ectopic VILIP-1-expression in VILIP-1-negative SCC cells, and application of the general adenylyl cyclase inhibitor 2′,3′-dideoxyadenosine attenuated this effect. Conversely, EGF-stimulation of VILIP-1-positive SCC cells leads to the down-regulation of VILIP-1 and the induction of Snail1 expression. The induction of Snail is inhibited by elevated cAMP levels. The role of cAMP in EMT was further highlighted by its suppressive effect on the EGF-induced enhancement of migration in VILIP-1-positive SCC cells. These findings indicate that VILIP-1 is involved in EMT of SCC by regulating the transcription factor Snail1 in a cAMP-dependent manner

An integrated approach to determine left atrial volume, mass and function in hypertrophic cardiomyopathy by two-dimensional echocardiography

Methods: The study included 25 hypertrophic cardiomyopathy (HCM) patients (15 non-obstructive and 10 obstructive) and 25 controls for assessment of left atrial (LA) volume, mass and function by two-dimensional echocardiography. Measurement included mean LA diameter (LAD), LA mass = {(mean LAD + anterior LA wall + posterior LA wall)3- mean LAD3} × 0.8 + 0.6, LA volume = [(8/3 φ L ̇ A1 ̇ A2), where L is LA length, A1 and A2 are LA area in 4-chambers and 2-chambers, respectively] including maximum (Vmax), minimum (Vmin), and pre-atrial contraction (Vpre-A), total atrial stroke volume (TA-SV), TA emptying fraction (TA-EF), active atrial SV (AA-SV), AA-EF, passive atrial SV (PA-SV), PA-EF, atrial expansion index (AEI), and LA kinetic energy (LA-KE) = 1/2 × AA-SV × P × V2. Results: LAD, LA mass, Vmax, Vmin, and Vpre-Awere significantly higher in HCM than controls. TA-SV and TA-EF were comparable in both HCM subgroups and controls. AA-SV and LA-KE were significantly higher in both HCM subgroups than controls. LA-KE was significantly higher in obstructive HCM than non-obstructive (P < 0.001). PA-EF and AEI were significantly lower in obstructive HCM than controls (P < 0.05). Conclusion: HCM is associated with increased LA size and augmented LA pump function especially obstructive type. LA conduit and reservoir functions are impaired in obstructive HCM