515 research outputs found
Ab Initio Structural Energetics of Beta-Si3N4 Surfaces
Motivated by recent electron microscopy studies on the Si3N4/rare-earth oxide
interfaces, the atomic and electronic structures of bare beta-Si3N4 surfaces
are investigated from first principles. The equilibrium shape of a Si3N4
crystal is found to have a hexagonal cross section and a faceted dome-like base
in agreement with experimental observations. The large atomic relaxations on
the prismatic planes are driven by the tendency of Si to saturate its dangling
bonds, which gives rise to resonant-bond configurations or planar sp^2-type
bonding. We predict three bare surfaces with lower energies than the open-ring
(10-10) surface observed at the interface, which indicate that
non-stoichiometry and the presence of the rare-earth oxide play crucial roles
in determining the termination of the Si3N4 matrix grains.Comment: 4 Pages, 4 Figures, 1 tabl
Surgical outcomes after cardiac surgery in liver transplant recipients
ObjectiveThis was a single-center retrospective study to assess the surgical outcomes and predictors of mortality of liver transplant recipients undergoing cardiac surgery.MethodsFrom 2000 to 2010, 61 patients with a functioning liver allograft underwent cardiac surgery. The mean interval between liver transplantation and cardiac surgery was 5.4 ± 4.4 years. Of the 61 patients, 33 (54%) were in Child-Pugh class A and 28 in class B. The preoperative and postoperative data were reviewed.ResultsThe overall in-hospital mortality was 6.6%. The survival rate was 82.4% ± 5.1% at 1 year and 50.2% ± 8.2% at 5 years. Cox regression analysis identified preoperative encephalopathy (odds ratio, 5.2; 95% confidence interval, 1.8-15.5; P = .003) and pulmonary hypertension (odds ratio, 3.5; 95% confidence interval, 1.3-9.4; P = .045) as independent predictors of late mortality. The preoperative Model for End-Stage Liver Disease (MELD) scores of patients who died in-hospital or late postoperatively were significantly greater statistically than the scores of the others (in-hospital death, 23.7 ± 7.8 vs 13.1 ± 4.5, P < .001; late death, 15.2 ± 6.1 vs 12.3 ± 4.1, P = .038). The Youden index identified an optimal MELD score cutoff value of 13.5 (sensitivity, 56.0%; specificity, 67.6%). Kaplan-Meier survival analysis successfully demonstrated that the survival rate of the MELD score less than 13.5 (MELD <13.5) group was significantly greater than that of the MELD >13.5 group (MELD <13.5 group, 93.8% ± 4.2% at 1 year and 52.4% ± 11.8% at 5 years; MELD >13.5 group, 66.9% ± 9.6% at 1 year and 46.1% ± 11.1% at 5 years; P = .027). In contrast, the survival rate when stratified by Child-Pugh class (class A vs B) was not significantly different.ConclusionsCardiac surgery in the liver allograft recipients was associated with acceptable surgical outcomes. Preoperative encephalopathy and pulmonary hypertension were independent predictors of late mortality. The cutoff value of 13.5 in the MELD score might be useful for predicting surgical mortality in cardiac surgery
Superconductivity of the spin ladder system: Are the superconducting pairing and the spin-gap formation of the same origin?
Pressure-induced superconductivity in a spin-ladder cuprate
SrCaCuO has not been studied on a microscopic level so
far although the superconductivity was already discovered in 1996. We have
improved high-pressure technique with using a large high-quality crystal, and
succeeded in studying the superconductivity using Cu nuclear magnetic
resonance (NMR). We found that anomalous metallic state reflecting the
spin-ladder structure is realized and the superconductivity possesses a
s-wavelike character in the meaning that a finite gap exists in the
quasi-particle excitation: At pressure of 3.5GPa we observed two excitation
modes in the normal state from the relaxation rate . One gives rise
to an activation-type component in , and the other -linear
component linking directly with the superconductivity. This gapless mode likely
arises from free motion of holon-spinon bound states appearing by hole doping,
and the pairing of them likely causes the superconductivity.Comment: to be published in Phys. Rev. Let
フェノール・ベンゼン混合ダイマーイオンの振動・電子スペクトルの観測
1999年分子構造総合討論会, 1999年9月27日-30日, 大阪大学(大阪), 1pB6
Stringent Specificity in the Construction of a GABAergic Presynaptic Inhibitory Circuit
SummaryGABAergic interneurons are key elements in neural coding, but the mechanisms that assemble inhibitory circuits remain unclear. In the spinal cord, the transfer of sensory signals to motor neurons is filtered by GABAergic interneurons that act presynaptically to inhibit sensory transmitter release and postsynaptically to inhibit motor neuron excitability. We show here that the connectivity and synaptic differentiation of GABAergic interneurons that mediate presynaptic inhibition is directed by their sensory targets. In the absence of sensory terminals these GABAergic neurons shun other available targets, fail to undergo presynaptic differentiation, and withdraw axons from the ventral spinal cord. A sensory-specific source of brain derived neurotrophic factor induces synaptic expression of the GABA synthetic enzyme GAD65 – a defining biochemical feature of this set of interneurons. The organization of a GABAergic circuit that mediates presynaptic inhibition in the mammalian CNS is therefore controlled by a stringent program of sensory recognition and signaling
S1 excited-state dynamics of OMpCA and its hydrogen-bonded complexes
第30回化学反応討論会, 2014年6月4日-6日, イーグレひめじ(姫路
Discovery of proton hill in the phase space during interactions between ions and electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves
宇宙空間で電波を生み出す陽子の集団を発見 --JAXAの人工衛星「あらせ」の観測と解析から--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2021-07-12.A study using Arase data gives the first observational evidence that the frequency drift of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves is caused by cyclotron trapping. EMIC emissions play an important role in planetary magnetospheres, causing scattering loss of radiation belt relativistic electrons and energetic protons. EMIC waves frequently show nonlinear signatures that include frequency drift and amplitude enhancements. While nonlinear growth theory has suggested that the frequency change is caused by nonlinear resonant currents owing to cyclotron trapping of the particles, observational evidence for this has been elusive. We survey the wave data observed by Arase from March, 2017 to September 2019, and find the best falling tone emission event, one detected on 11th November, 2017, for the wave particle interaction analysis. Here, we show for the first time direct evidence of the formation of a proton hill in phase space indicating cyclotron trapping. The associated resonance currents and the wave growth of a falling tone EMIC wave are observed coincident with the hill, as theoretically predicted
Magnetic field effect on the chiral magnetism of noncentrosymmetric UPtGe: experiment and theory
The effect of differently oriented magnetic field on chiral incommensurate
helimagnet UPtGe is studied both experimentally and theoretically. The
magnetization measurements up to the field above the saturation have revealed
an isotropic magnetic response below 20 T and a remarkable nonmonotonic
anisotropy in high fields. Moreover, the two principally different phase
transitions from the noncollinear incommensurate to the field-induced
ferromagnetic state have been observed. These properties are successfully
explained by density-functional theory calculations taking into account the
noncollinearity of the magnetic structures, arbitrary directed magnetic field,
and relativistic effects. We also estimate the strength of different competing
magnetic interactions and discuss possible scenarios of the field-induced phase
transformations.Comment: 7 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl
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