Laser-induced etching of few-layer graphene synthesized by Rapid-Chemical Vapour Deposition on Cu thin films

The outstanding electrical and mechanical properties of graphene make it very attractive for several applications, Nanoelectronics above all. However a reproducible and non destructive way to produce high quality, large-scale area, single layer graphene sheets is still lacking. Chemical Vapour Deposition of graphene on Cu catalytic thin films represents a promising method to reach this goal, because of the low temperatures (T < 900 Celsius degrees) involved during the process and of the theoretically expected monolayer self-limiting growth. On the contrary such self-limiting growth is not commonly observed in experiments, thus making the development of techniques allowing for a better control of graphene growth highly desirable. Here we report about the local ablation effect, arising in Raman analysis, due to the heat transfer induced by the laser incident beam onto the graphene sample.Comment: v1:9 pages, 8 figures, submitted to SpringerPlus; v2: 11 pages, PDFLaTeX, 9 figures, revised peer-reviewed version resubmitted to SpringerPlus; 1 figure added, figure 1 and 4 replaced,typos corrected, "Results and discussion" section significantly extended to better explain etching mechanism and features of Raman spectra, references adde

Long Term Running Biphasically Improves Methylglyoxal-Related Metabolism, Redox Homeostasis and Neurotrophic Support within Adult Mouse Brain Cortex

Oxidative stress and neurotrophic support decline seem to be crucially involved in brain aging. Emerging evidences indicate the pro-oxidant methylglyoxal (MG) as a key player in the age-related dicarbonyl stress and molecular damage within the central nervous system. Although exercise promotes the overproduction of reactive oxygen species, habitual exercise may retard cellular aging and reduce the age-dependent cognitive decline through hormetic adaptations, yet molecular mechanisms underlying beneficial effects of exercise are still largely unclear. In particular, whereas adaptive responses induced by exercise initiated in youth have been broadly investigated, the effects of chronic and moderate exercise begun in adult age on biochemical hallmarks of very early senescence in mammal brains have not been extensively studied. This research investigated whether a long-term, forced and moderate running initiated in adult age may affect the interplay between the redox-related profile and the oxidative-/MG-dependent molecular damage patterns in CD1 female mice cortices; as well, we investigated possible exercise-induced effects on the activity of the brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF)-dependent pathway. Our findings suggested that after a transient imbalance in almost all parameters investigated, the lately-initiated exercise regimen strongly reduced molecular damage profiles in brains of adult mice, by enhancing activities of the main ROS- and MG-targeting scavenging systems, as well as by preserving the BDNF-dependent signaling through the transition from adult to middle age

On the pathway to better birth outcomes? A systematic review of azithromycin and curable sexually transmitted infections.

The WHO recommends the administration of sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine (SP) to all pregnant women living in areas of moderate (stable) to high malaria transmission during scheduled antenatal visits, beginning in the second trimester and continuing to delivery. Malaria parasites have lost sensitivity to SP in many endemic areas, prompting the investigation of alternatives that include azithromycin-based combination (ABC) therapies. Use of ABC therapies may also confer protection against curable sexually transmitted infections and reproductive tract infections (STIs/RTIs). The magnitude of protection at the population level would depend on the efficacy of the azithromycin-based regimen used and the underlying prevalence of curable STIs/RTIs among pregnant women who receive preventive treatment. This systematic review summarizes the efficacy data of azithromycin against curable STIs/RTIs