60 research outputs found
Transmission of an arenavirus in white-throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula), southeastern Colorado, 1995-1999.
From 1995 to 1999, we conducted longitudinal studies of white- throated woodrats (Neotoma albigula) in southeastern Colorado. Forty-five (42.9%) of 105 female and 15 (26.8%) of 56 male N. albigula had antibodies against Whitewater Arroyo virus (WWAV). Sixteen female and three male N. albigula seroconverted during the study period, most of them during July-November, when population densities are highest. Analyses of longevity data, minimum numbers alive and infected, movements, and weight data suggest that the dominant mode of WWAV transmission among white-throated woodrats in Colorado is direct contact. WWAV was recently reported to cause fatal infection in humans. Our findings will lead to better assessment of the public health threat posed by infected woodrats and may be useful in predicting periods of increased risk for human infection
Low-temperature heat transfer in nanowires
The new regime of low-temperature heat transfer in suspended nanowires is
predicted. It takes place when (i) only ``acoustic'' phonon modes of the wire
are thermally populated and (ii) phonons are subject to the effective elastic
scattering. Qualitatively, the main peculiarities of heat transfer originate
due to appearance of the flexural modes with high density of states in the wire
phonon spectrum. They give rise to the temperature dependence of the
wire thermal conductance. The experimental situations where the new regime is
likely to be detected are discussed.Comment: RevTex file, 1 PS figur
Role of confined phonons in thin film superconductivity
We calculate the critical temperature and the superconducting energy
gaps of a thin film superconductor system, where is the
superconducting energy gap of the -th subband. Since the quantization of
both the electron energy and phonon spectrum arises due to dimensional
confinement in one direction, the effective electron-electron interaction
mediated by the quantized confined phonons is different from that mediated by
the bulk phonon, leading to the modification of in the thin film system.
We investigate the dependence of and on the film thickness
with this modified interaction.Comment: 4 pages, 2 figure
Binary Mixtures of SH- and CH3-Terminated Self-Assembled Monolayers to Control the Average Spacing Between Aligned Gold Nanoparticles
This paper presents a method to control the average spacing between organometallic chemical vapor deposition (OMCVD) grown gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) in a line. Focused ion beam patterned CH3-terminated self-assembled monolayers are refilled systematically with different mixtures of SH- and CH3-terminated silanes. The average spacing between OMCVD Au NPs is demonstrated systematically to decrease by increasing the v/v% ratio of the thiols in the binary silane mixtures with SH- and CH3-terminated groups
Enhancing Electron Coherence via Quantum Phonon Confinement in Atomically Thin Nb3SiTe6
The extraordinary properties of two dimensional (2D) materials, such as the
extremely high carrier mobility in graphene and the large direct band gaps in
transition metal dichalcogenides MX2 (M = Mo or W, X = S, Se) monolayers,
highlight the crucial role quantum confinement can have in producing a wide
spectrum of technologically important electronic properties. Currently one of
the highest priorities in the field is to search for new 2D crystalline systems
with structural and electronic properties that can be exploited for device
development. In this letter, we report on the unusual quantum transport
properties of the 2D ternary transition metal chalcogenide - Nb3SiTe6. We show
that the micaceous nature of Nb3SiTe6 allows it to be thinned down to
one-unit-cell thick 2D crystals using microexfoliation technique. When the
thickness of Nb3SiTe6 crystal is reduced below a few unit-cells thickness, we
observed an unexpected, enhanced weak-antilocalization signature in
magnetotransport. This finding provides solid evidence for the long-predicted
suppression of electron-phonon interaction caused by the crossover of phonon
spectrum from 3D to 2D.Comment: Accepted by Nature Physic
ELISA versus PCR for diagnosis of chronic Chagas disease: systematic review and meta-analysis
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Most current guidelines recommend two serological tests to diagnose chronic Chagas disease. When serological tests are persistently inconclusive, some guidelines recommend molecular tests. The aim of this investigation was to review chronic Chagas disease diagnosis literature and to summarize results of ELISA and PCR performance.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A systematic review was conducted searching remote databases (MEDLINE, LILACS, EMBASE, SCOPUS and ISIWeb) and full texts bibliography for relevant abstracts. In addition, manufacturers of commercial tests were contacted. Original investigations were eligible if they estimated sensitivity and specificity, or reliability -or if their calculation was possible - of ELISA or PCR tests, for chronic Chagas disease.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Heterogeneity was high within each test (ELISA and PCR) and threshold effect was detected only in a particular subgroup. Reference standard blinding partially explained heterogeneity in ELISA studies, and pooled sensitivity and specificity were 97.7% [96.7%-98.5%] and 96.3% [94.6%-97.6%] respectively. Commercial ELISA with recombinant antigens studied in phase three investigations partially explained heterogeneity, and pooled sensitivity and specificity were 99.3% [97.9%-99.9%] and 97.5% [88.5%-99.5%] respectively. ELISA's reliability was seldom studied but was considered acceptable. PCR heterogeneity was not explained, but a threshold effect was detected in three groups created by using guanidine and boiling the sample before DNA extraction. PCR sensitivity is likely to be between 50% and 90%, while its specificity is close to 100%. PCR reliability was never studied.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>Both conventional and recombinant based ELISA give useful information, however there are commercial tests without technical reports and therefore were not included in this review. Physicians need to have access to technical reports to understand if these serological tests are similar to those included in this review and therefore correctly order and interpret test results. Currently, PCR should not be used in clinical practice for chronic Chagas disease diagnosis and there is no PCR test commercially available for this purpose. Tests limitations and directions for future research are discussed.</p
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