3,881 research outputs found
Effect of isospin dependent cross-section on fragment production in the collision of charge asymmetric nuclei
To understand the role of isospin effects on fragmentation due to the
collisions of charge asymmetric nuclei, we have performed a complete
systematical study using isospin dependent quantum molecular dynamics model.
Here simulations have been carried out for , where n
varies from 47 to 59 and for , where m varies from 14
to 23. Our study shows that isospin dependent cross-section shows its influence
on fragmentation in the collision of neutron rich nuclei
Modulation of terahertz polarization on picosecond timescales using polymer-encapsulated semiconductor nanowires
© OSA 2017. We exploit the photoconductivity of semiconductor nanowires to achieve ultrafast broad-bandwidth modulation of THz pulses. A modulation depth of -8 dB was exhibited by a polarizer consisting of 14 layers of nanowires encapsulated in polymer
Gold nanoparticles improve metabolic profile of mice fed a high-fat diet
© 2018 The Author(s). Background: Obesity is a high risk for multiple metabolic disorders due to excessive influx of energy, glucose and lipid, often from a western based diet. Low-grade inflammation plays a key role in the progression of such metabolic disorders. The anti-inflammatory property of gold compounds has been used in treating rheumatoid arthritis in the clinic. Previously we found that pure gold nanoparticles (AuNPs, 21 nm) also possess anti-inflammatory effects on the retroperitoneal fat tissue following intraperitoneal injection, by downregulating tumor necrosis factor (TNF) α. However, whether such an effect can change the risk of metabolic disorders in the obese has not been well studied. The study employed C57BL/6 mice fed a pellet high fat diet (HFD, 43% as fat) that were treated daily with AuNPs [low (HFD-LAu) or high (HFD-HAu) dose] via intraperitoneal injection for 9 weeks. In the in vitro study, RAW264.7 macrophages and 3T3-L1 adipocytes were cultured with low and high concentrations of AuNPs alone or together. Results: The HFD-fed mice showed a significant increase in fat mass, glucose intolerance, dyslipidemia, and liver steatosis. The HFD-LAu group showed an 8% reduction in body weight, ameliorated hyperlipidemia, and normal glucose tolerance; while the HFD-HAu group had a 5% reduction in body weight with significant improvement in their glucose intolerance and hyperlipidemia. The underlying mechanism may be attributed to a reduction in adipose and hepatic local proinflammatory cytokine production, e.g. TNFα. In vitro studies of co-cultured murine RAW264.7 macrophage and 3T3-L1 adipocytes supported this proposed mechanism. Conclusion: AuNPs demonstrate a promising profile for potential management of obesity related glucose and lipid disorders and are useful as a research tool for the study of biological mechanisms
The Effects of Surfaces and Surface Passivation on the Electrical Properties of Nanowires and Other Nanostructures: Time-Resolved Terahertz Spectroscopy Studies
The electrical properties of nanomaterials are strongly influenced by their surfaces, which in turn are strongly influenced by device processing and passivation procedures. Optical pump-terahertz probe spectroscopy is ideal for measuring the native properties of these materials, determining the changes induced by device processing, and studying the effectiveness of surface passivation procedures. Here we study the electronic properties of III-V nanowires and other nanomaterials in both their native and encapsulated/integrated states, which is uniquely possible with terahertz spectroscopy
Developmental changes in the role of different metalinguistic awareness skills in Chinese reading acquisition from preschool to third grade
Copyright @ 2014 Wei et al. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted
use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.The present study investigated the relationship between Chinese reading skills and metalinguistic awareness skills such as phonological, morphological, and orthographic awareness for 101 Preschool, 94 Grade-1, 98 Grade-2, and 98 Grade-3 children from two primary schools in Mainland China. The aim of the study was to examine how each of these metalinguistic awareness skills would exert their influence on the success of reading in Chinese with age. The results showed that all three metalinguistic awareness skills significantly predicted reading success. It further revealed that orthographic awareness played a dominant role in the early stages of reading acquisition, and its influence decreased with age, while the opposite was true for the contribution of morphological awareness. The results were in stark contrast with studies in English, where phonological awareness is typically shown as the single most potent metalinguistic awareness factor in literacy acquisition. In order to account for the current data, a three-stage model of reading acquisition in Chinese is discussed.National Natural Science Foundation of China and Knowledge Innovation Program of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences
Electronic Spin Transport in Dual-Gated Bilayer Graphene
The elimination of extrinsic sources of spin relaxation is key in realizing
the exceptional intrinsic spin transport performance of graphene. Towards this,
we study charge and spin transport in bilayer graphene-based spin valve devices
fabricated in a new device architecture which allows us to make a comparative
study by separately investigating the roles of substrate and polymer residues
on spin relaxation. First, the comparison between spin valves fabricated on
SiO2 and BN substrates suggests that substrate-related charged impurities,
phonons and roughness do not limit the spin transport in current devices. Next,
the observation of a 5-fold enhancement in spin relaxation time in the
encapsulated device highlights the significance of polymer residues on spin
relaxation. We observe a spin relaxation length of ~ 10 um in the encapsulated
bilayer with a charge mobility of 24000 cm2/Vs. The carrier density dependence
of spin relaxation time has two distinct regimes; n<4 x 1012 cm-2, where spin
relaxation time decreases monotonically as carrier concentration increases, and
n>4 x 1012 cm-2, where spin relaxation time exhibits a sudden increase. The
sudden increase in the spin relaxation time with no corresponding signature in
the charge transport suggests the presence of a magnetic resonance close to the
charge neutrality point. We also demonstrate, for the first time, spin
transport across bipolar p-n junctions in our dual-gated device architecture
that fully integrates a sequence of encapsulated regions in its design. At low
temperatures, strong suppression of the spin signal was observed while a
transport gap was induced, which is interpreted as a novel manifestation of
impedance mismatch within the spin channel
The microRNA-29 family in cartilage homeostasis and osteoarthritis
MicroRNAs have been shown to function in cartilage development and homeostasis, as well as in progression of osteoarthritis. The objective of the current study was to identify microRNAs involved in the onset or early progression of osteoarthritis and characterise their function in chondrocytes. MicroRNA expression in mouse knee joints post-DMM surgery was measured over 7 days. Expression of miR-29b-3p was increased at day 1 and regulated in the opposite direction to its potential targets. In a mouse model of cartilage injury and in end-stage human OA cartilage, the miR-29 family were also regulated. SOX9 repressed expression of miR-29a-3p and miR-29b-3p via the 29a/b1 promoter. TGFβ1 decreased expression of miR-29a, b and c (3p) in primary chondrocytes, whilst IL-1β increased (but LPS decreased) their expression. The miR-29 family negatively regulated Smad, NFκB and canonical WNT signalling pathways. Expression profiles revealed regulation of new WNT-related genes. Amongst these, FZD3, FZD5, DVL3, FRAT2, CK2A2 were validated as direct targets of the miR-29 family. These data identify the miR-29 family as microRNAs acting across development and progression of OA. They are regulated by factors which are important in OA and impact on relevant signalling pathways
NRF2-driven miR-125B1 and miR-29B1 transcriptional regulation controls a novel anti-apoptotic miRNA regulatory network for AML survival
Transcription factor NRF2 is an important regulator of oxidative stress. It is involved in cancer progression, and has abnormal constitutive expression in acute myeloid leukaemia (AML). Posttranscriptional regulation by microRNAs (miRNAs) can affect the malignant phenotype of AML cells. In this study, we identified and characterised NRF2-regulated miRNAs in AML. An miRNA array identified miRNA expression level changes in response to NRF2 knockdown in AML cells. Further analysis of miRNAs concomitantly regulated by knockdown of the NRF2 inhibitor KEAP1 revealed the major candidate NRF2-mediated miRNAs in AML. We identified miR-125B to be upregulated and miR-29B to be downregulated by NRF2 in AML. Subsequent bioinformatic analysis identified putative NRF2 binding sites upstream of the miR-125B1 coding region and downstream of the mir-29B1 coding region. Chromatin immunoprecipitation analyses showed that NRF2 binds to these antioxidant response elements (AREs) located in the 5′ untranslated regions of miR-125B and miR-29B. Finally, primary AML samples transfected with anti-miR-125B antagomiR or miR-29B mimic showed increased cell death responsiveness either alone or co-treated with standard AML chemotherapy. In summary, we find that NRF2 regulation of miR-125B and miR-29B acts to promote leukaemic cell survival, and their manipulation enhances AML responsiveness towards cytotoxic chemotherapeutics
Static Charges in the Low-Energy Theory of the S-Duality Twist
We continue the study of the low-energy limit of N=4 super Yang-Mills theory
compactified on a circle with S-duality and R-symmetry twists that preserve N=6
supersymmetry in 2+1D. We introduce external static supersymmetric quark and
anti-quark sources into the theory and calculate the Witten Index of the
resulting Hilbert space of ground states on a torus. Using these results we
compute the action of simple Wilson loops on the Hilbert space of ground states
without sources. In some cases we find disagreement between our results for the
Wilson loop eigenvalues and previous conjectures about a connection with
Chern-Simons theory.Comment: 73 pages, two paragraphs added, one to the introduction and one to
the discussio
- …