Schottky barrier height at metal/ZnO interface: A first-principles study

The Schottky barrier heights (SBHs) of various metals on ZnO are investigated by first-principles calculation. The SBHs decrease linearly with increasing metal work function, which follows the prediction of the metal-induced gap states (MIGS) model. The pinning factor S is calculated to be 0.56 which indicates moderate pinning effect. A closer look at the interfacial electronic structure shows the dominant rule of oxygen in forming the MIGS. To extend the concept of MIGS model to the band alignment between semiconductors, a calculation is performed on Si/ZnO interface. Si is found to have a type-II band alignment with ZnO, the conduction band offset (CBO) and valence band offset (VBO) are calculated to be 0.5 eV and 2.5 eV respectively. The results agree with the experimental values and the predicted values based on the charge neutrality level (CNL) method

Potential economic impacts from improving breastfeeding rates in the UK

This article has been made available through the Brunel Open Access Publishing Fund.RATIONALE: Studies suggest that increased breastfeeding rates can provide substantial financial savings, but the scale of such savings in the UK is not known. OBJECTIVE: To calculate potential cost savings attributable to increases in breastfeeding rates from the National Health Service perspective. DESIGN AND SETTINGS: Cost savings focussed on where evidence of health benefit is strongest: reductions in gastrointestinal and lower respiratory tract infections, acute otitis media in infants, necrotising enterocolitis in preterm babies and breast cancer (BC) in women. Savings were estimated using a seven-step framework in which an incidence-based disease model determined the number of cases that could have been avoided if breastfeeding rates were increased. Point estimates of cost savings were subject to a deterministic sensitivity analysis. RESULTS: Treating the four acute diseases in children costs the UK at least £89 million annually. The 2009-2010 value of lifetime costs of treating maternal BC is estimated at £959 million. Supporting mothers who are exclusively breast feeding at 1 week to continue breast feeding until 4 months can be expected to reduce the incidence of three childhood infectious diseases and save at least £11 million annually. Doubling the proportion of mothers currently breast feeding for 7-18 months in their lifetime is likely to reduce the incidence of maternal BC and save at least £31 million at 2009-2010 value. CONCLUSIONS: The economic impact of low breastfeeding rates is substantial. Investing in services that support women who want to breast feed for longer is potentially cost saving

Cardiotrophin-1 activates a distinct form of cardiac muscle cell hypertrophy. Assembly of sarcomeric units in series VIA gp130/leukemia inhibitory factor receptor-dependent pathways

Cardiotrophin-1 (CT-1) was recently isolated by expression cloning based on its ability to induce an increase in cell size in neonatal rat ventricular cardiomyocytes. Sequence similarity data suggested that CT-1 is a novel member of a family of structurally related cytokines sharing the receptor component gp130. The present study documents that gp130 is required for CT-1 signaling in cardiomyocytes, by demonstrating that a monoclonal anti-gp130 antibody completely inhibits c-fos induction by CT-1. Similarly, a leukemia inhibitory factor receptor subunit beta (LIFRbeta) antagonist effectively blocks the CT-1 induction of c-fos, indicating a requirement for LIFRbeta in the hypertrophic response, as well. Upon stimulation with CT-1, both gpl30 and the LIFRbeta are tyrosine-phosphorylated, providing further evidence that CT-1 signals through the gp130/LIFRbeta heterodimer in cardiomyocytes. CT-1 induces a hypertrophic response in cardiomyocytes that is distinct from the phenotype seen after alpha-adrenergic stimulation, both with regard to cell morphology and gene expression pattern. Stimulation with CT-1 results in an increase in cardiac cell size that is characterized by an increase in cell length but no significant change in cell width. Confocal laser microscopy of CT-1 stimulated cells reveals the assembly of sarcomeric units in series rather than in parallel, as seen after alpha-adrenergic stimulation. CT-1 induces a distinct pattern of immediate early genes, and up-regulates the atrial natriuretic factor (ANF) gene, but does not affect skeletal alpha-actin or myosin light chain-2v expression. As evidenced by nuclear run-on transcription assays, both CT-1 and alpha-adrenergic stimulation lead to an increase in ANF gene transcription. Transient transfection analyses document that, in contrast to alpha-adrenergic stimulation, the CT-1 responsive cis-regulatory elements are located outside of the proximal 3 kilobase pairs of the ANF 5'-flanking region. These studies indicate that CT-1 can activate a distinct form of myocardial cell hypertrophy, characterized by the promotion of sarcomere assembly in series, via gpl30/LIFRbeta-dependent signaling pathways

Titan's ionosphere: Model comparisons with Cassini Ta Data

On October 26, 2004, during its first encounter with Titan (Ta), the Cassini Orbiter moved from the dayside to the nightside with a closest approach altitude of 1174 km. In situ measurements of the main part of Titan's ionosphere were made by the Langmuir probe on the Cassini Radio and Plasma Wave Experiment (RPWS), while the Ion and Neutral Mass Spectrometer (INMS) measured the main constituents of the neutral atmosphere. The results of model calculations of Titan's ionosphere for Ta encounter conditions (e.g., near the terminator) are presented in this paper. The paper includes comparisons of calculated and measured electron densities along the spacecraft track. Ionization both by solar radiation and by incoming energetic electrons from Saturn's magnetosphere are needed to obtain good agreement between the measured and calculated electron densities

Titan's ionosphere: Model comparisons with Cassini Ta data

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/94829/1/grl20028.pd

Missense Pathogenic variants in KIF4A Affect Dental Morphogenesis Resulting in X-linked Taurodontism, Microdontia and Dens-Invaginatus

The etiology of dental anomalies is multifactorial; and genetic and environmental factors that affect the dental lamina have been implicated. We investigated two families of European ancestry in which males were affected by taurodontism, microdontia and dens invaginatus. In both families, males were related to each other via unaffected females. A linkage analysis was conducted in a New Zealand family, followed by exome sequencing and focused analysis of the X-chromosome. In a US family, exome sequencing of the X-chromosome was followed by Sanger sequencing to conduct segregation analyses. We identified two independent missense variants in KIF4A that segregate in affected males and female carriers. The variant in a New Zealand family (p.Asp371His) predicts the substitution of a residue in the motor domain of the protein while the one in a US family (p.Arg771Lys) predicts the substitution of a residue in the domain that interacts with Protein Regulator of Cytokinesis 1 (PRC1). We demonstrated that the gene is expressed in the developing tooth bud during development, and that the p.Arg771Lys variant influences cell migration in an in vitro assay. These data implicate missense variations in KIF4A in a pathogenic mechanism that causes taurodontism, microdontia and dens invaginatus phenotypes

Maternal and neonatal risk factors for childhood type 1 diabetes: a matched case-control study

Peer reviewedPublisher PD

A Measurement of Rb using a Double Tagging Method

The fraction of Z to bbbar events in hadronic Z decays has been measured by the OPAL experiment using the data collected at LEP between 1992 and 1995. The Z to bbbar decays were tagged using displaced secondary vertices, and high momentum electrons and muons. Systematic uncertainties were reduced by measuring the b-tagging efficiency using a double tagging technique. Efficiency correlations between opposite hemispheres of an event are small, and are well understood through comparisons between real and simulated data samples. A value of Rb = 0.2178 +- 0.0011 +- 0.0013 was obtained, where the first error is statistical and the second systematic. The uncertainty on Rc, the fraction of Z to ccbar events in hadronic Z decays, is not included in the errors. The dependence on Rc is Delta(Rb)/Rb = -0.056*Delta(Rc)/Rc where Delta(Rc) is the deviation of Rc from the value 0.172 predicted by the Standard Model. The result for Rb agrees with the value of 0.2155 +- 0.0003 predicted by the Standard Model.Comment: 42 pages, LaTeX, 14 eps figures included, submitted to European Physical Journal

Measurement of the B+ and B-0 lifetimes and search for CP(T) violation using reconstructed secondary vertices

The lifetimes of the B+ and B-0 mesons, and their ratio, have been measured in the OPAL experiment using 2.4 million hadronic Z(0) decays recorded at LEP. Z(0) --> b (b) over bar decays were tagged using displaced secondary vertices and high momentum electrons and muons. The lifetimes were then measured using well-reconstructed charged and neutral secondary vertices selected in this tagged data sample. The results aretau(B+) = 1.643 +/- 0.037 +/- 0.025 pstau(Bo) = 1.523 +/- 0.057 +/- 0.053 pstau(B+)/tau(Bo) = 1.079 +/- 0.064 +/- 0.041,where in each case the first error is statistical and the second systematic.A larger data sample of 3.1 million hadronic Z(o) decays has been used to search for CP and CPT violating effects by comparison of inclusive b and (b) over bar hadron decays, No evidence fur such effects is seen. The CP violation parameter Re(epsilon(B)) is measured to be Re(epsilon(B)) = 0.001 +/- 0.014 +/- 0.003and the fractional difference between b and (b) over bar hadron lifetimes is measured to(Delta tau/tau)(b) = tau(b hadron) - tau((b) over bar hadron)/tau(average) = -0.001 +/- 0.012 +/- 0.008