Tuning coherent-phonon heat transport in LaCoO3/SrTiO3 superlattices

Accessing the regime of coherent phonon propagation in nanostructures opens enormous possibilities to control the thermal conductivity in energy harvesting devices, phononic circuits, etc. In this paper we show that coherent phonons contribute substantially to the thermal conductivity of LaCoO3/SrTiO3 oxide superlattices, up to room temperature. We show that their contribution can be tuned through small variations of the superlattice periodicity, without changing the total superlattice thickness. Using this strategy, we tuned the thermal conductivity by 20% at room temperature. We also discuss the role of interface mixing and epitaxial relaxation as an extrinsic, material dependent key parameter for understanding the thermal conductivity of oxide superlattices. © 2021 The Authors. Published by American Chemical Society

Variations in strain affect friction and microstructure evolution in copper under a reciprocating tribological load

The microstructure of the materials constituting a metallic frictional contact strongly influences tribological performance. Being able to tailor friction and wear is challenging due to the complex microstructure evolution associated with tribological loading. Here, we investigate the effect of the strain distribution on these processes. High-purity copper plates were morphologically surface textured with two parallel rectangles—referred to as membranes—over the entire sample length by micro-milling. By keeping the width of these membranes constant and only varying their height, reciprocating tribological loading against sapphire discs resulted in different elastic and plastic strains. Finite element simulations were carried out to evaluate the strain distribution in the membranes. It was found that the maximum elastic strain increases with decreasing membrane stiffness. The coefficient of friction decreases with increasing membrane aspect ratio. By analyzing the microstructure and local crystallographic orientation, we found that both show less change with decreasing membrane stiffness

InterMEL: An international biorepository and clinical database to uncover predictors of survival in early-stage melanoma

We are conducting a multicenter study to identify classifiers predictive of disease-specific survival in patients with primary melanomas. Here we delineate the unique aspects, challenges, and best practices for optimizing a study of generally small-sized pigmented tumor samples including primary melanomas of at least 1.05mm from AJTCC TNM stage IIA-IIID patients. We also evaluated tissue-derived predictors of extracted nucleic acids’ quality and success in downstream testing. This ongoing study will target 1,000 melanomas within the international InterMEL consortium.Medicin

Characterization and outcomes of 414 patients with primary SS who developed haematological malignancies

Objective: To characterize 414 patients with primary SS who developed haematological malignancies and to analyse how the main SS- and lymphoma-related features can modify the presentation patterns and outcomes. Methods: By January 2021, the Big Data Sjögren Project Consortium database included 11 966 patients fulfilling the 2002/2016 classification criteria. Haematological malignancies diagnosed according to the World Health Organization (WHO) classification were retrospectively identified. Results: There were 414 patients (355 women, mean age 57 years) with haematological malignancies (in 43, malignancy preceded at least one year the SS diagnosis). A total of 376 (91%) patients had mature B-cell malignancy, nearly half had extranodal marginal zone lymphoma (MZL) of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue (MALT lymphoma) (n = 197), followed by diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (n = 67), nodal MZL lymphoma (n = 29), chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) (n = 19) and follicular lymphoma (FL) (n = 17). Rates of complete response, relapses and death were 80%, 34% and 13%, respectively, with a 5-year survival rate of 86.5% after a mean follow-up of 8 years. There were significant differences in age at diagnosis (younger in MALT, older in CLL/SLL), predominant clinical presentation (glandular enlargement in MALT lymphoma, peripheral lymphadenopathy in nodal MZL and FL, constitutional symptoms in DLBCL, incidental diagnosis in CLL/SLL), therapeutic response (higher in MALT lymphoma, lower in DLBCL) and survival (better in MALT, nodal MZL and FL, worse in DLBCL). Conclusion: In the largest reported study of haematological malignancies complicating primary SS, we confirm the overwhelming predominance of B-cell lymphomas, especially MALT, with the salivary glands being the primary site of involvement. This highly-specific histopathological scenario is linked with the overall good prognosis with a 5-year survival rate of nearly 90%

Gamma entrainment frequency affects mood, memory and cognition: an exploratory pilot study

Here we provide evidence with an exploratory pilot study that through the use of a Gamma 40 Hz entrainment frequency, mood, memory and cognition can be improved with respect to a 9-participant cohort. Participants constituted towards three binaural entrainment frequency groups: the 40 Hz, 25 Hz and 100 Hz. Participants attended a total of eight entrainment frequency sessions twice over the duration of a 4-week period. Additionally, participants were assessed based on their cognitive abilities, mood as well as memory, where the cognitive and memory assessments occurred before and after a 5-min binaural beat stimulation. The mood assessment scores were collected from sessions 1, 4 and 8, respectively. With respect to the Gamma 40 Hz entrainment frequency population, we observed a mean improvement in cognitive scores, elevating from 75% average to 85% average upon conclusion of the experimentation at weak statistical significance (α = 0.10, p = 0.076). Similarly, memory score improvements at a greater significance (α = 0.05, p = 0.0027) were noted, elevating from an average of 87% to 95%. In pertinence to the mood scores, a negative correlation across all populations were noted, inferring an overall increase in mood due to lower scores correlating with elevated mood. Finally, correlation analysis revealed a stronger R2 value (0.9838) within the 40 Hz group between sessions as well as mood score when compared across the entire frequency group cohort

Localization of

Trichinellosis is widespread around the world with different representatives of the genus Trichinella found in almost every continent. In Argentina the main source of transmission for the disease to humans is pig meat infected with Trichinella spiralis. The object of this work was to determine the distribution of Trichinella larvae in fresh meat cuts which are sold for human consumption and in the muscles traditionally used for the disease diagnosis at meat-packing plants. Cranial muscles to the last rib showed more Trichinella spiralis larvae than those with a caudal location (p 0.05) between bilateral left and right muscles. Significant larval concentrations were found in the neck muscles, even in carcasses with a low parasitic load; these muscles are used to prepare cold meats (boston butt). Commercial cuts of meat had a substantial larval burdens in animals experimentally infected with 500 to 5,000 Trichinella spiralis larvae, with parasite burdens similar to infection levels in muscles evaluated at the meat packing plant