84 research outputs found
Origin of the high piezoelectric response in PbZr(1-x)TixO3
High resolution x-ray powder diffraction measurements on poled PbZr(1-x)TixO3
(PZT) ceramic samples close to the rhombohedral-tetragonal phase boundary (the
so-called morphotropic phase boundary, MPB) have shown that for both
rhombohedral and tetragonal compositions, the piezoelectric elongation of the
unit cell does not occur along the polar directions but along those directions
associated with the monoclinic distortion. This work provides the first direct
evidence for the origin of the very high piezoelectricity in PZT.Comment: 4 pages, 4 EPS figures embedded. More specific title and abstract. To
appear in Phys. Rev. Let
Geometric reconstruction methods for electron tomography
Electron tomography is becoming an increasingly important tool in materials
science for studying the three-dimensional morphologies and chemical
compositions of nanostructures. The image quality obtained by many current
algorithms is seriously affected by the problems of missing wedge artefacts and
nonlinear projection intensities due to diffraction effects. The former refers
to the fact that data cannot be acquired over the full tilt range;
the latter implies that for some orientations, crystalline structures can show
strong contrast changes. To overcome these problems we introduce and discuss
several algorithms from the mathematical fields of geometric and discrete
tomography. The algorithms incorporate geometric prior knowledge (mainly
convexity and homogeneity), which also in principle considerably reduces the
number of tilt angles required. Results are discussed for the reconstruction of
an InAs nanowire
Heterovalent and A-atom effects in A(B'B'')O3 perovskite alloys
Using first-principles supercell calculations, we have investigated
energetic, structural and dielectric properties of three different A(B'B'')O_3
perovskite alloys: Ba(Zn_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_3 (BZN), Pb(Zn_{1/3}Nb_{2/3})O_3
(PZN), and Pb(Zr_{1/3}Ti_{2/3})O_3 (PZT). In the homovalent alloy PZT, the
energetics are found to be mainly driven by atomic relaxations. In the
heterovalent alloys BZN and PZN, however, electrostatic interactions among B'
and B'' atoms are found to be very important. These electrostatic interactions
are responsible for the stabilization of the observed compositional long-range
order in BZN. On the other hand, cell relaxations and the formation of short
Pb--O bonds could lead to a destabilization of the same ordered structure in
PZN. Finally, comparing the dielectric properties of homovalent and
heterovalent alloys, the most dramatic difference arises in connection with the
effective charges of the B' atom. We find that the effective charge of Zr in
PZT is anomalous, while in BZN and PZN the effective charge of Zn is close to
its nominal ionic value.Comment: 7 pages, two-column style with 2 postscript figures embedded. Uses
REVTEX and epsf macros. Also available at
http://www.physics.rutgers.edu/~dhv/preprints/index.html#lb_he
Stability of the monoclinic phase in the ferroelectric perovskite PbZr(1-x)TixO3
Recent structural studies of ferroelectric PbZr(1-x)TixO3 (PZT) with x= 0.48,
have revealed a new monoclinic phase in the vicinity of the morphotropic phase
boundary (MPB), previously regarded as the the boundary separating the
rhombohedral and tetragonal regions of the PZT phase diagram. In the present
paper, the stability region of all three phases has been established from high
resolution synchrotron x-ray powder diffraction measurements on a series of
highly homogeneous samples with 0.42 <=x<= 0.52. At 20K the monoclinic phase is
stable in the range 0.46 <=x<= 0.51, and this range narrows as the temperature
is increased. A first-order phase transition from tetragonal to rhombohedral
symmetry is observed only for x= 0.45. The MPB, therefore, corresponds not to
the tetragonal-rhombohedral phase boundary, but instead to the boundary between
the tetragonal and monoclinic phases for 0.46 <=x<= 0.51. This result provides
important insight into the close relationship between the monoclinic phase and
the striking piezoelectric properties of PZT; in particular, investigations of
poled samples have shown that the monoclinic distortion is the origin of the
unusually high piezoelectric response of PZT.Comment: REVTeX file, 7 figures embedde
Targeting the BRD4/FOXO3a/CDK6 Axis Sensitizes AKT Inhibition in Luminal Breast Cancer
BRD4 assembles transcriptional machinery at gene super-enhancer regions and governs the expression of genes that are critical for cancer progression. However, it remains unclear whether BRD4-mediated gene transcription is required for tumor cells to develop drug resistance. Our data show that prolonged treatment of luminal breast cancer cells with AKT inhibitors induces FOXO3a dephosphorylation, nuclear translocation, and disrupts its association with SirT6, eventually leading to FOXO3a acetylation as well as BRD4 recognition. Acetylated FOXO3a recognizes the BD2 domain of BRD4, recruits the BRD4/RNAPII complex to the CDK6 gene promoter, and induces its transcription. Pharmacological inhibition of either BRD4/FOXO3a association or CDK6 significantly overcomes the resistance of luminal breast cancer cells to AKT inhibitors in vitro and in vivo. Our study reports the involvement of BRD4/FOXO3a/CDK6 axis in AKTi resistance and provides potential therapeutic strategies for treating resistant breast cancer
Ab initio linear response and frozen phonons for the relaxor PMN (PbMg1/3Nb2/3O3)
We report first principles density functional studies using plane wave basis
sets and pseudopotentials and all electron linear augmented plane wave (LAPW)
of the relative stability of various ferroelectric and antiferroelectric
supercells of PMN for 1:2 chemical ordering along [111] and [001]. We used
linear response with density functional perturbation theory (DFPT) as
implemented in the code ABINIT to compute the Born effective charges,
electronic dielectric tensors, long wavelength phonon frequencies and LO-TO
splittings. The polar response is different for supercells ordered along [111]
and [001]. Several polar phonon modes show significant coupling with the
macroscopic electric field giving giant LO-TO splittings. For [111] ordering, a
polar transverse optic (TO) mode with E symmetry is found to be unstable in the
ferroelectric P3m1 structure and the ground state is found to be triclinic.
Multiple phonon instabilities of polar modes and their mode couplings provide
the pathway for polarization rotation. The Born effective charges in PMN are
highly anisotropic and this anisotropy contributes to the observed huge
electromechanical coupling in PMN solid solutions.Comment: 34 pages, 6 figures. to appear in PR
Laser treatment of Ag@ZnO nanorods as long-life-span SERS surfaces.
This is the accepted manuscript. The final version is available from ACS at http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/am506622x.UV nanosecond laser pulses have been used to produce a unique surface nanostructuration of Ag@ZnO supported nanorods (NRs). The NRs were fabricated by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) at low temperature applying a silver layer as promoter. The irradiation of these structures with single nanosecond pulses of an ArF laser produces the melting and reshaping of the end of the NRs that aggregate in the form of bundles terminated by melted ZnO spherical particles. Well-defined silver nanoparticles (NPs), formed by phase separation at the surface of these melted ZnO particles, give rise to a broad plasmonic response consistent with their anisotropic shape. Surface enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) in the as-prepared Ag@ZnO NRs arrays was proved by using a Rhodamine 6G (Rh6G) chromophore as standard analyte. The surface modifications induced by laser treatment improve the stability of this system as SERS substrate while preserving its activity.We thank the Junta de Andalucía (TEP8067, FQM-6900 and P12-FQM-2265) and the Spanish
Ministry of Economy and Competitiveness (Projects CONSOLIDER-CSD 2008-00023,
MAT2011-28345-C02-02, MAT2013-40852-R, MAT2013-42900-P and RECUPERA 2020) for
financial support. The authors also thank the European Union Seventh Framework Programme
under Grant Agreements 312483-ESTEEM2 (Integrated Infrastructure Initiative-I3) and
REGPOT-CT-2011-285895-Al-NANOFUNC, and the European Research Council under the
European Union’s Seventh Framework Programme (FP/2007-2013)/ERC grant agreement
291522 - 3DIMAGE. R. J. Peláez acknowledges the grant JCI-2012_13034 from the Juan de la
Cierva program
Diminishing benefits of urban living for children and adolescents’ growth and development
Optimal growth and development in childhood and adolescence is crucial for lifelong health and well-being1–6. Here we used data from 2,325 population-based studies, with measurements of height and weight from 71 million participants, to report the height and body-mass index (BMI) of children and adolescents aged 5–19 years on the basis of rural and urban place of residence in 200 countries and territories from 1990 to 2020. In 1990, children and adolescents residing in cities were taller than their rural counterparts in all but a few high-income countries. By 2020, the urban height advantage became smaller in most countries, and in many high-income western countries it reversed into a small urban-based disadvantage. The exception was for boys in most countries in sub-Saharan Africa and in some countries in Oceania, south Asia and the region of central Asia, Middle East and north Africa. In these countries, successive cohorts of boys from rural places either did not gain height or possibly became shorter, and hence fell further behind their urban peers. The difference between the age-standardized mean BMI of children in urban and rural areas was <1.1 kg m–2 in the vast majority of countries. Within this small range, BMI increased slightly more in cities than in rural areas, except in south Asia, sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in central and eastern Europe. Our results show that in much of the world, the growth and developmental advantages of living in cities have diminished in the twenty-first century, whereas in much of sub-Saharan Africa they have amplified
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Global variation in diabetes diagnosis and prevalence based on fasting glucose and hemoglobin A1c
Fasting plasma glucose (FPG) and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) are both used to diagnose diabetes, but these measurements can identify different people as having diabetes. We used data from 117 population-based studies and quantified, in different world regions, the prevalence of diagnosed diabetes, and whether those who were previously undiagnosed and detected as having diabetes in survey screening, had elevated FPG, HbA1c or both. We developed prediction equations for estimating the probability that a person without previously diagnosed diabetes, and at a specific level of FPG, had elevated HbA1c, and vice versa. The age-standardized proportion of diabetes that was previously undiagnosed and detected in survey screening ranged from 30% in the high-income western region to 66% in south Asia. Among those with screen-detected diabetes with either test, the age-standardized proportion who had elevated levels of both FPG and HbA1c was 29–39% across regions; the remainder had discordant elevation of FPG or HbA1c. In most low- and middle-income regions, isolated elevated HbA1c was more common than isolated elevated FPG. In these regions, the use of FPG alone may delay diabetes diagnosis and underestimate diabetes prevalence. Our prediction equations help allocate finite resources for measuring HbA1c to reduce the global shortfall in diabetes diagnosis and surveillance
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