Revealing the Structure and Oxygen Transport at Interfaces in Complex Oxide Heterostructures via ¹⁷O NMR Spectroscopy

Vertically aligned nanocomposite (VAN) films, comprising nanopillars of one phase embedded in a matrix of another, have shown great promise for a range of applications due to their high interfacial areas oriented perpendicular to the substrate. In particular, oxide VANs show enhanced oxide-ion conductivity in directions that are orthogonal to those found in more conventional thin-film heterostructures; however, the structure of the interfaces and its influence on conductivity remain unclear. In this work, 17O NMR spectroscopy is used to study CeO2–SrTiO3 VAN thin films: selective isotopic enrichment is combined with a lift-off technique to remove the substrate, facilitating detection of the 17O NMR signal from single atomic layer interfaces. By performing the isotopic enrichment at variable temperatures, the superior oxide-ion conductivity of the VAN films compared to the bulk materials is shown to arise from enhanced oxygen mobility at this interface; oxygen motion at the interface is further identified from 17O relaxometry experiments. The structure of this interface is solved by calculating the NMR parameters using density functional theory combined with random structure searching, allowing the chemistry underpinning the enhanced oxide-ion transport to be proposed. Finally, a comparison is made with 1% Gd-doped CeO2–SrTiO3 VAN films, for which greater NMR signal can be obtained due to paramagnetic relaxation enhancement, while the relative oxide-ion conductivities of the phases remain similar. These results highlight the information that can be obtained on interfacial structure and dynamics with solid-state NMR spectroscopy, in this and other nanostructured systems, our methodology being generally applicable to overcome sensitivity limitations in thin-film studies

Health and mass unemployment events-developing a framework for preparedness and response

Background Mass unemployment events are not uncommon yet the impact on health is not well recognised. There is a need for a preparedness and response framework, as exists for other events that threaten population health. Methods Framework informed by a narrative review of the impact of mass unemployment on health (studies published in English from 1990 to 2016), and qualitative data from 23 semi-structured interviews with individuals connected to historical national and international events, addressing gaps in published literature on lessons learnt from past responses. Results Economic and employment shock triggered by mass unemployment events have a detrimental impact on workers, families and communities. We present a public health informed response framework which includes (i) identify areas at risk, (ii) develop an early warning system, (iii) mobilise multi-sector action including health and community, (iv) provision of support across employment, finance and health (v) proportionate to need, (vi) extend support to family members and (vii) communities and (viii) evaluate and learn. Conclusion Mass unemployment events have an adverse impact on the health, financial and social circumstances of workers, families, and communities. This is the first framework for action to mitigate and address the detrimental impact of mass unemployment events on population health

Surface-selective direct 17^{17}O DNP NMR of CeO2_{2} nanoparticles

Surface-selective direct $^{17}$O DNP has been demonstrated for the first time on CeO$_{2}$ nanoparticles, for which the first three layers can be distinguished with high selectivity. Polarisation build-up curves show that the polarisation of the (sub-)surface sites builds up faster than the bulk, accounting for the remarkable surface selectivity.We are grateful for financial support by the Oppenheimer Foundation (M. A. H.), the Cambridge Commonwealth Trusts (D. M. H.), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) (21573103 and 21661130149) and the Royal Society Newton Fund (L. P.). The DNP experiments were performed at the DNP MAS NMR Facility at the University of Nottingham, with thanks to the EPSRC for funding of pilot studies (EP/L022524/1)

Associations between childhood deaths and adverse childhood experiences: An audit of data from a child death overview panel

Background: Despite strong associations between adverse childhood experiences (ACEs) and poor health, few studies have examined the cumulative impact of ACEs on causes of childhood mortality. Methods: This study explored if data routinely collected by child death overview panels (CDOPs) could be used to measure ACE exposure and examined associations between ACEs and child death categories. Data covering four years (2012–2016) of cases from a CDOP in North West England were examined. Results: Of 489 cases, 20% were identified as having ≥4 ACEs. Deaths of children with ≥4 ACEs were 22.26 (5.72–86.59) times more likely (than those with 0 ACEs) to be classified as ‘avoidable and non-natural’ causes (e.g., injury, abuse, suicide; compared with ‘genetic and medical conditions’). Such children were also 3.44 (1.75–6.73) times more likely to have their deaths classified as ‘chronic and acute conditions’. Conclusions: This study evidences that a history of ACEs can be compiled from CDOP records. Measurements of ACE prevalence in retrospective studies will miss individuals who died in childhood and may underestimate the impacts of ACEs on lifetime health. Strong associations between ACEs and deaths from ‘chronic and acute conditions’ suggest that ACEs may be important factors in child deaths in addition to those classified as ‘avoidable and non-natural’. Results add to an already compelling case for ACE prevention in the general population and families affected by child health problems. Broader use of routinely collected child death records could play an important role in improving multi-agency awareness of ACEs and their negative health and mortality risks as well in the development of ACE informed responses

Differential expression of pathogenicity- and virulence-related genes of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri under copper stress

In this study, we used real-time quantitative PCR (RT-qPCR) to evaluate the expression of 32 genes of Xanthomonas axonopodis pv. citri related to pathogenicity and virulence that are also involved in copper detoxification. Nearly all of the genes were up-regulated, including copA and copB. Two genes homologous to members of the type II secretion system (xcsH and xcsC) and two involved in the degradation of plant cell wall components (pglA and pel) were the most expressed in response to an elevated copper concentration. The type II secretion system (xcs operon) and a few homologues of proteins putatively secreted by this system showed enhanced expression when the bacteria were exposed to a high concentration of copper sulfate. The enhanced expression of the genes of secretion II system during copper stress suggests that this pathway may have an important role in the adaptative response of X. axonopodis pv. citri to toxic compounds. These findings highlight the potential role of these genes in attenuating the toxicity of certain metals and could represent an important means of bacterial resistance against chemicals used to control diseases

Decoloración de aguas residuales de una industria de pinturas por la microalga Chlorella sp

Objective. Decoloring wastewater from a paint factory making use of Chlorella sp., microalgae as a biological way of treatment. Materials and methods. Samples of this microalgae previously cultivated with nourishing fertilizer under photoperiods of light and darkness were taken to test the microalgae Chlorella sp., initial concentration effect in the bioremoval process. For this purpose, it was cultivated in 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 units of absorbance in bioreactors with 200 mL wastewater with and without nutrients. The biotest with the best rate of colour removal was chosen and the DBO5 and DQO were marked out. The immobilized Chlorella sp., in kappa carrageenan was also tested. Results. In the tests colour decrease percentage were 81.7, 69.7 and 58.3% without nutrients in the initial concentrations of 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 units of absorbance respectively and 72.6, 69.0 and 86.8% for 0.10, 0.20 and 0.30 units of absorbance with nutrients respectively in the day of maximum growth. The immobilized microalgae score were 72.60% and 78.36% of color removal for 0.4 and 1.6 units of absorbance respectively. The higher colour removal test score was that with nutrients at 0.30 units of absorbance with several changes in DBO5 and DQO values. Conclusion. The biological wastewater treatment making use of Chlorella sp., microalgae can be considered as an effective choice in decolorating wastewater.Objetivo. Decolorar aguas residuales obtenidas de una empresa de pinturas, empleando la microalga Chlorella sp., como medio biológico de tratamiento. Materiales y métodos. Muestras de la microalga previamente cultivada con fertilizante como nutriente y fotoperiodos de luz y oscuridad, se tomaron para evaluar el efecto de la concentración inicial de la microalga Chlorella sp., en el proceso de bioremoción. Para tal fin, esta se cultivó a 0.10, 0.20 y 0.30 unidades de absorbancia en biorreactores con 200 mL de aguas residuales en presencia y ausencia de nutrientes. Se seleccionó el bioensayo con mejores porcentajes de remoción del color y se le determinó el DBO5 y DQO. Chlorella sp., inmovilizada en kappa carragenina también se estudió. Resultados. Los porcentajes de reducción de color de los bioensayos en ausencia de nutrientes fueron de 81.7, 69.7 y 58.3% para las concentraciones iniciales de 0.10, 0.20 y 0.30 unidades de absorbancia respectivamente y en presencia de nutrientes fueron 72.6, 69.0 y 86.8% para 0.10, 0.20 y 0.30 unidades de absorbancia respectivamente, en el día de máximo crecimiento. Los resultados de la microalga inmovilizada fueron de 72.60% y 78.36% de remoción del color para 0.4 y 1.6 unidades de absorbancia respectivamente. El bioensayo con mayor rendimiento de remoción fue el realizado en presencia de nutrientes a 0.30 unidades de absorbancia con cambios importantes en los valores de DBO5 y DQO. Conclusión. El tratamiento biológico de aguas empleando la microalga Chlorella sp., puede considerarse una alternativa eficaz en la decoloración de aguas residuales

Hand-drawn resistors, capacitors, diodes, and circuits for a pressure sensor system on paper

Hand-written fabrication techniques offer new ways of developing customizable, biodegradable and low-cost electronic systems. In this work, a new level of complexity is demonstrated for hand-written electronics by fabricating passive components, circuits and a sensorsystem on paper. The system comprises a pencil-written graphite force-sensitive-resistor, a pencil-drawn RC-filter, a pen-written half-wave rectifier, and a commercial front-end voltage amplifier. The sensor system exhibits a linear response for pressures up to 1.2 kPa, and a sensitivity of 51 mV kPa-1 . Furthermore, the electrical and mechanical performance of the single components and circuits is studied. Diodes fabricated through pen-written deposition of silver and nickel contacts on amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide coated paper show rectification ratios up to 1:8. Tensile and compressive bending measurements applied to all pencil-written components for radii down to 0.1 mm indicate minor influence of strain. Similar results are obtained for circuits created from these individual components. Diodes and half-wave rectifiers show a stable behavior when bent to a radius of 5 mm. The presented techniques can enable the development of flexible and eco-friendly wearables and sensors for consumer and healthcare applications, and are an effective way for school-pupils to explore the world of electronics

Influenza A Virus Expresses High Levels of an Unusual Class of Small Viral Leader RNAs in Infected Cells

Evidence has recently accumulated suggesting that small noncoding RNAs, and particularly microRNAs, have the potential to strongly affect the replication and pathogenic potential of a range of human virus species. Here, we report the use of deep sequencing to comprehensively analyze small viral RNAs (18 to 27 nucleotides [nt]) produced during infection by influenza A virus. Although influenza A virus differs from most other RNA viruses in that it replicates its genome in the nucleus and is therefore exposed to the nuclear microRNA processing factors Drosha and DGCR8, we did not observe any microRNAs encoded by influenza virus genes. However, influenza virus infection did induce the expression of very high levels—over 100,000 copies per cell by 8 h postinfection—of a population of 18- to 27-nt small viral leader RNAs (leRNAs) that originated from the precise 5′ ends of all eight influenza virus genomic RNA (vRNA) segments. Like the vRNAs themselves, our data indicate that the leRNAs also bear a 5′-terminal triphosphate and are therefore not capable of functioning as microRNAs. Instead, the high-level production of leRNAs may imply a role in another aspect of the viral life cycle, such as regulation of the switch from viral mRNA transcription to genomic RNA synthesis

Der platonische Nietzsche

Mit der Behauptung, dass seine eigene Philosophie als »umgedrehter Platonismus« verstanden werden soll, stellt Nietzsche seine Beziehung zum platonischen System dar. Dieses Forschungsprojekt sucht nach einer neuen Variation dieser Darstellung, um die philosophischen Analogien beider Autoren aufzuspüren. Das erste Kapitel beschäftigt sich mit einer Erläuterung des Begriffes „umgedrehter Platonismus“, womit die Differenz zwischen diesen beiden Systemen definiert wird. Diese Diskrepanz ist spürbar in vier verschiedene Bereichen: metaphysisch, axiologisch, gnoseologisch und ästhetisch. Das zweite Kapitel behandelt die Rolle des Apollinischen und des Dionysischen in der nietzscheschen Theorie. Die beiden Konzepte werden mit dem des platonischen Eros verglichen, da diese es dem Menschen ermöglichen, die sinnliche Welt zu verlassen und eine Ur-Realität kennenzulernen. Das dritte Kapitel analysiert die Verurteilung der Kunst in Platon’s „Staat“. Der griechische Philosoph strebt die wahre Kenntnis an und verbindet seine ästhetischen Überlegungen mit der Idee der Wahrheit. Nietzsche bearbeitet diese Verbindung zwischen Ästhetik und Erkenntnistheorie unter dem Begriff »amor fati«. Das vierte Kapitel ist der Physiologie der Liebe gewidmet. Nietzsche verwandelt der Erkenntnisprozess in eine leidenschaftliche Liebe. Die Erkenntnis nimmt die Form einer Passion an und kristallisiert sich allmählich und nach einem langen Prozess mit Höhen und Tiefen in »amor fati«. »Amor fati« schafft eine Ästhetisierung der Erkenntnis und Epistemologiesierung der Ästhetik. Somit liegt Nietzsches Erkenntnistheorie parallel zu jener Platons.By claiming that his philosophy should be understood as “inverted Platonism” Nietzsche defined his relationship to the Platonic system. This research project aims to articulate a new understanding of this relationship by analyzing philosophical similarities between the two authors'' respective philosophies. The first chapter is dedicated to the explanation of the term “inverted Platonism” and articulates the differences between Plato''s and Nietzsche''s systems. These discrepancies are manifested in four main areas: the metaphysical, the axiological, the gnosiological and the aesthetic. The second chapter deals with the roles of the Apollonian and the Dionysian in Nietzschean theory. Both concepts are compared with the Platonic Eros, as they invite man to abandon the sensual world and instead to commune with the very origin of reality. The third chapter analyzes Plato´s denunciation of art in “The Republic”. The Greek philosopher seeks true knowledge and connects his aesthetic concerns with the idea of Truth. Nietzsche refers to the cynosure between aesthetics and cognitive theory as “amor fati”. The fourth chapter is dedicated to the physiology of love. Nietzsche transforms the cognitive process into a passionate love. Cognition assumes the shape of passion, slowly crystallizing over time, with many twists and turns, into “amor fati”. “Amor fati” aestheticizes cognition and epistemologizes aesthetics. Therefore Nietzsche''s cognitive theory is actually equivalent to that of Plato