Ultralong 100 ns spin relaxation time in graphite at room temperature

Graphite has been intensively studied, yet its electron spins dynamics remains an unresolved problem even 70 years after the first experiments. The central quantities, the longitudinal (T1) and transverse (T2) relaxation times were postulated to be equal, mirroring standard metals, but T1 has never been measured for graphite. Here, based on a detailed band structure calculation including spin-orbit coupling, we predict an unexpected behavior of the relaxation times. We find, based on saturation ESR measurements, that T1 is markedly different from T2. Spins injected with perpendicular polarization with respect to the graphene plane have an extraordinarily long lifetime of 100 ns at room temperature. This is ten times more than in the best graphene samples. The spin diffusion length across graphite planes is thus expected to be ultralong, on the scale of ~ 70 μm, suggesting that thin films of graphite — or multilayer AB graphene stacks — can be excellent platforms for spintronics applications compatible with 2D van der Waals technologies. Finally, we provide a qualitative account of the observed spin relaxation based on the anisotropic spin admixture of the Bloch states in graphite obtained from density functional theory calculation

Tear fluid biomarkers in ocular and systemic disease: potential use for predictive, preventive and personalised medicine

In the field of predictive, preventive and personalised medicine, researchers are keen to identify novel and reliable ways to predict and diagnose disease, as well as to monitor patient response to therapeutic agents. In the last decade alone, the sensitivity of profiling technologies has undergone huge improvements in detection sensitivity, thus allowing quantification of minute samples, for example body fluids that were previously difficult to assay. As a consequence, there has been a huge increase in tear fluid investigation, predominantly in the field of ocular surface disease. As tears are a more accessible and less complex body fluid (than serum or plasma) and sampling is much less invasive, research is starting to focus on how disease processes affect the proteomic, lipidomic and metabolomic composition of the tear film. By determining compositional changes to tear profiles, crucial pathways in disease progression may be identified, allowing for more predictive and personalised therapy of the individual. This article will provide an overview of the various putative tear fluid biomarkers that have been identified to date, ranging from ocular surface disease and retinopathies to cancer and multiple sclerosis. Putative tear fluid biomarkers of ocular disorders, as well as the more recent field of systemic disease biomarkers, will be shown

Revising mtDNA haplotypes of the ancient Hungarian conquerors with next generation sequencing

As part of the effort to create a high resolution representative sequence database of the medieval Hungarian conquerors we have resequenced the entire mtDNA genome of 24 published ancient samples with Next Generation Sequencing, whose haplotypes had been previously determined with traditional PCR based methods. We show that PCR based methods are prone to erroneous haplotype or haplogroup determination due to ambiguous sequence reads, and many of the resequenced samples had been classified inaccurately. The SNaPshot method applied with published ancient DNA authenticity criteria is the most straightforward and cheapest PCR based approach for testing a large number of coding region SNP-s, which greatly facilitates correct haplogroup determination

Identification and localization of molecular markers linked to the Lr52 leaf rust resistance gene of wheat

Growing resistant wheat cultivars is considered to be an efficient and environmentally safe approach in reducing damage caused by leaf rust disease. Among the numerous leaf rust resistance genes of wheat, Lr52 is a very effective one with a broad spectrum resistance. The objective of this study was to identify and map molecular markers closely linked to the Lr52 resistance gene. Out of 280 RAPD, 44 SSR and 8 STS markers tested, three showed close linkage to the Lr52 . In our study, one SSR marker (Xwmc149) showed a close linkage (11.3 cM) to the Lr52 gene. Another SSR (Xgwm234) and an STS (Xtxw200) markers, having close linkage to a recently identified leaf rust resistance gene found in PI 289824, also showed a close linkage (7.2 and 3.6 cM, respectively) to the Lr52 . Matchings in the mapping distances of these markers linked to these resistance genes still remain open the possibility that the gene found in PI 289824 is identical to the Lr52 , or simply this locate very close to it

Isolation and identification of Pyrenophora chaetomioides from winter oat in Hungary

The aim of this study was to identify a fungal pathogen that caused necrotic leaf spots in experimental plots of oat in two remote regions of Hungary, the Southern Great Plain and Central Transdanubia. Two monosporic isolates, one from each region, were subjected to morphological and molecular investigations, and their pathogenicity to oat, barley and wheat seedlings was tested by artifcial inoculations. Morphology of cultures and conidia matched well the description of genus Drechslera, the asexual stage of Pyrenophora. The natural host and higher pathogenicity of both isolates to oat than to barley and wheat suggested that the fungus represented the primarily oat pathogen P. chaetomioides. Although accurate species identifcation could not be achieved due to overlapping morphology and host range among the oat and barley pathogenic Pyrenophora spp., PCR amplifcation and direct sequencing of the ITS1–5.8S–ITS2 region of the nuclear ribosomal DNA revealed 100% identity amongst our isolates and several reference strains of P. chaetomioides, justifying the species identity of the fungus we found on oats. Our study also confrmed an earlier, symptom-based observation about the occurrence of Pyrenophora leaf blotch disease in experimental plots in Hungary, and is the frst to prove the presence of its causal agent, P. chaetomioides, based on isolation and accurate species identifcation

Broadly sympatric occurrence of two thief ant species Solenopsis fugax (Latreille, 1798) and S. juliae (Arakelian, 1991) in the East European Pontic-Caspian region (Hymenoptera, Formicidae) is disclosed

This paper presents numeric morphology-based evidence on the broadly overlapping distribution of two thief ant species Solenopsis fugax (Latreille, 1798) and S. juliae (Arakelian, 1991) in the East European Pontic-Caspian region. The paper integrates two autonomous data collections and independent analyses performed by different researchers, using different equipment, considering different character combinations, and evaluating partially different samples. Five type series, the neotype series of Solenopsis fugax (Latreille 1798) and the type series of S. flavidula (Nylander, 1849), S. (Diplorhoptrum) fugax var. furtiva Santschi, 1934, S. (Diplorhoptrum) fugax var. pontica Santschi, 1934, S. (Diplorhoptrum) fugax var. scytica Santschi, 1934 were nested in one cluster and we propose the junior synonymy of the latter four taxa names with S. fugax. The other cluster contained only one type specimen of Solenopsis nitida (Dlussky & Radchenko, 1994) measured from AntWeb images. The naming of this cluster was based on both verbal statements and measurements of gynes given in the original description of Solenopsis juliae (Arakelian, 1991), which represents the oldest available name for this cluster. Hence, S. nitida is proposed as junior synonym of S. juliae. Solenopsis cypridis Santschi, 1934 is raised to species rank based on investigation of worker and gyne type specimens