210 research outputs found
Multifunctional Magnetoelectric Materials for Device Applications
Mutiferroics are a novel class of next generation multifunctional materials,
which display simultaneous magnetic spin, electric dipole, and ferroelastic
ordering, and have drawn increasing interest due to their multi-functionality
for a variety of device applications. Since single-phase materials exist rarely
in nature with such cross-coupling properties, an intensive research activity
is being pursued towards the discovery of new single-phase multiferroic
materials and the design of new engineered materials with strong
magneto-electric (ME) coupling. This review article summarizes the development
of different kinds of multiferroic material: single-phase and composite
ceramic, laminated composite, and nanostructured thin films. Thin-film
nanostructures have higher magnitude direct ME coupling values and clear
evidence of indirect ME coupling compared with bulk materials. Promising ME
coupling coefficients have been reported in laminated composite materials in
which signal to noise ratio is good for device fabrication. We describe the
possible applications of these materials
Ferroelectric Capped Magnetization in Multiferroic PZT/LSMO Tunnel Junctions
Self-poled ultra-thin ferroelectric PbZr0.52Ti0.48O3 (PZT) (5 and 7 nm) films
have been grown by pulsed laser deposition technique on ferromagnetic
La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 (LSMO) (30 nm) to check the effect of polar capping on
magnetization for ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) devices. PZT/LSMO
heterostructures with thick polar PZT (7 nm) capping show nearly 100%
enhancement in magnetization compared with thin polar PZT (5 nm) films,
probably due to excess hole transfer from the ferroelectric to the
ferromagnetic layers. Core-level X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies
revealed the presence of larger Mn 3s exchange splitting and higher Mn3+/Mn4+
ion ratio in the LMSO with 7 nm polar capping.Comment: 17 pages, 5 figure
Trigonometry of 'complex Hermitian' type homogeneous symmetric spaces
This paper contains a thorough study of the trigonometry of the homogeneous
symmetric spaces in the Cayley-Klein-Dickson family of spaces of 'complex
Hermitian' type and rank-one. The complex Hermitian elliptic CP^N and
hyperbolic CH^N spaces, their analogues with indefinite Hermitian metric and
some non-compact symmetric spaces associated to SL(N+1,R) are the generic
members in this family. The method encapsulates trigonometry for this whole
family of spaces into a single "basic trigonometric group equation", and has
'universality' and '(self)-duality' as its distinctive traits. All previously
known results on the trigonometry of CP^N and CH^N follow as particular cases
of our general equations. The physical Quantum Space of States of any quantum
system belongs, as the complex Hermitian space member, to this parametrised
family; hence its trigonometry appears as a rather particular case of the
equations we obtain.Comment: 46 pages, LaTe
XPO1 Gene Therapy Attenuates Cardiac Dysfunction in Rats with Chronic Induced Myocardial Infarction
Transcriptomic signature of XPO1 was highly expressed and inversely related to left ventricular function in ischemic cardiomyopathy patients. We hypothesized that treatment with AAV9-shXPO1 attenuates left ventricular dysfunction and remodeling in a myocardial infarction rat model. We induced myocardial infarction by coronary ligation in Sprague-Dawley rats (n = 10), which received AAV9-shXPO1 (n = 5) or placebo AAV9-scramble (n = 5) treatment. Serial echocardiographic assessment was performed throughout the study. After myocardial infarction, AAV9-shXPO1-treated rats showed partial recovery of left ventricular fractional shortening (16.8 +/- 2.8 vs 24.6 +/- 4.1%, P < 0.05) and a maintained left ventricular dimension (6.17 +/- 0.95 vs 4.70 +/- 0.93 mm, P < 0.05), which was not observed in non-treated rats. Furthermore, lower levels of EXP-1 (P < 0.05) and lower collagen fibers and fibrosis in cardiac tissue were observed. However, no differences were found in the IL-6 or TNFR1 plasma levels of the myocardium of AAV9-shXPO1 rats. AAV9-shXPO1 administration attenuates cardiac dysfunction and remodeling in rats after myocardial infarction, producing the gene silencing of XPO1
Magnetic phase evolution in the spinel compounds ZnCoCrO
We present the magnetic properties of complete solid solutions of
ZnCrO and CoCrO: two well-studied oxide spinels with very
different magnetic ground states. ZnCrO, with non-magnetic
cations occupying the A site and magnetic cations on the B site, is a
highly frustrated antiferromagnet. CoCrO, with magnetic cations
(three unpaired electrons) on the A site as well, exhibits both N\'eel
ferrimagnetism as well as commensurate and incommensurate non-collinear
magnetic order. More recently, CoCrO has been studied extensively for
its polar behavior which arises from conical magnetic ordering. Gradually
introducing magnetism on the A site of ZnCrO results in a transition
from frustrated antiferromagnetism to glassy magnetism at low concentrations of
Co, and eventually to ferrimagnetic and conical ground states at higher
concentrations. Real-space Monte-Carlo simulations of the magnetic
susceptibility suggest that the first magnetic ordering transition and features
of the susceptibility across are captured by near-neighbor self- and
cross-couplings between the magnetic A and B atoms. We present as a part of
this study, a method for displaying the temperature dependence of magnetic
susceptibility in a manner which helps distinguish between compounds possessing
purely antiferromagnetic interactions from compounds where other kinds of
ordering are present.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 1 tabl
Zinc intake, status and indices of cognitive function in adults and children: a systematic review and meta-analysis
In developing countries, deficiencies of micronutrients are thought to have a major impact on child development; however, a consensus on the specific relationship between dietary zinc intake and cognitive function remains elusive. The aim of this systematic review was to examine the relationship between zinc intake, status and indices of cognitive function in children and adults. A systematic literature search was conducted using EMBASE, MEDLINE and Cochrane Library databases from inception to March 2014. Included studies were those that supplied zinc as supplements or measured dietary zinc intake. A meta-analysis of the extracted data was performed where sufficient data were available. Of all of the potentially relevant papers, 18 studies met the inclusion criteria, 12 of which were randomised controlled trials (RCTs; 11 in children and 1 in adults) and 6 were observational studies (2 in children and 4 in adults). Nine of the 18 studies reported a positive association between zinc intake or status with one or more measure of cognitive function. Meta-analysis of data from the adult’s studies was not possible because of limited number of studies. A meta-analysis of data from the six RCTs conducted in children revealed that there was no significant overall effect of zinc intake on any indices of cognitive function: intelligence, standard mean difference of <0.001 (95% confidence interval (CI) –0.12, 0.13) P=0.95; executive function, standard mean difference of 0.08 (95% CI, –0.06, 022) P=0.26; and motor skills standard mean difference of 0.11 (95% CI –0.17, 0.39) P=0.43. Heterogeneity in the study designs was a major limitation, hence only a small number (n=6) of studies could be included in the meta-analyses. Meta-analysis failed to show a significant effect of zinc supplementation on cognitive functioning in children though, taken as a whole, there were some small indicators of improvement on aspects of executive function and motor development following supplementation but high-quality RCTs are necessary to investigate this further
Dielectric anomalies due to grain boundary conduction in chemically substituted BiFeO 3
Don't Blame the Messenger: A Field Experiment on Delivery Methods for Increasing Tax Compliance
Antimicrobial resistance among migrants in Europe: a systematic review and meta-analysis
BACKGROUND: Rates of antimicrobial resistance (AMR) are rising globally and there is concern that increased migration is contributing to the burden of antibiotic resistance in Europe. However, the effect of migration on the burden of AMR in Europe has not yet been comprehensively examined. Therefore, we did a systematic review and meta-analysis to identify and synthesise data for AMR carriage or infection in migrants to Europe to examine differences in patterns of AMR across migrant groups and in different settings. METHODS: For this systematic review and meta-analysis, we searched MEDLINE, Embase, PubMed, and Scopus with no language restrictions from Jan 1, 2000, to Jan 18, 2017, for primary data from observational studies reporting antibacterial resistance in common bacterial pathogens among migrants to 21 European Union-15 and European Economic Area countries. To be eligible for inclusion, studies had to report data on carriage or infection with laboratory-confirmed antibiotic-resistant organisms in migrant populations. We extracted data from eligible studies and assessed quality using piloted, standardised forms. We did not examine drug resistance in tuberculosis and excluded articles solely reporting on this parameter. We also excluded articles in which migrant status was determined by ethnicity, country of birth of participants' parents, or was not defined, and articles in which data were not disaggregated by migrant status. Outcomes were carriage of or infection with antibiotic-resistant organisms. We used random-effects models to calculate the pooled prevalence of each outcome. The study protocol is registered with PROSPERO, number CRD42016043681. FINDINGS: We identified 2274 articles, of which 23 observational studies reporting on antibiotic resistance in 2319 migrants were included. The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or AMR infection in migrants was 25·4% (95% CI 19·1-31·8; I2 =98%), including meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (7·8%, 4·8-10·7; I2 =92%) and antibiotic-resistant Gram-negative bacteria (27·2%, 17·6-36·8; I2 =94%). The pooled prevalence of any AMR carriage or infection was higher in refugees and asylum seekers (33·0%, 18·3-47·6; I2 =98%) than in other migrant groups (6·6%, 1·8-11·3; I2 =92%). The pooled prevalence of antibiotic-resistant organisms was slightly higher in high-migrant community settings (33·1%, 11·1-55·1; I2 =96%) than in migrants in hospitals (24·3%, 16·1-32·6; I2 =98%). We did not find evidence of high rates of transmission of AMR from migrant to host populations. INTERPRETATION: Migrants are exposed to conditions favouring the emergence of drug resistance during transit and in host countries in Europe. Increased antibiotic resistance among refugees and asylum seekers and in high-migrant community settings (such as refugee camps and detention facilities) highlights the need for improved living conditions, access to health care, and initiatives to facilitate detection of and appropriate high-quality treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections during transit and in host countries. Protocols for the prevention and control of infection and for antibiotic surveillance need to be integrated in all aspects of health care, which should be accessible for all migrant groups, and should target determinants of AMR before, during, and after migration. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research Imperial Biomedical Research Centre, Imperial College Healthcare Charity, the Wellcome Trust, and UK National Institute for Health Research Health Protection Research Unit in Healthcare-associated Infections and Antimictobial Resistance at Imperial College London
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