Phononic thermal conductivity in silicene: the role of vacancy defects and boundary scattering

We calculate the thermal conductivity of free-standing silicene using the phonon Boltzmann transport equation within the relaxation time approximation. In this calculation, we investigate the effects of sample size and different scattering mechanisms such as phonon-phonon, phonon-boundary, phonon-isotope and phonon-vacancy defect. Moreover, the role of different phonon modes is examined. We show that, in contrast to graphene, the dominant contribution to the thermal conductivity of silicene originates from the in-plane acoustic branches, which is about 70\% at room temperature and this contribution becomes larger by considering vacancy defects. Our results indicate that while the thermal conductivity of silicene is significantly suppressed by the vacancy defects, the effect of isotopes on the phononic transport is small. Our calculations demonstrate that by removing only one of every 400 silicon atoms, a substantial reduction of about 58\% in thermal conductivity is achieved. Furthermore, we find that the phonon-boundary scattering is important in defectless and small-size silicene samples, specially at low temperatures.Comment: 9 pages, 11 figure

Effect of horse sex status on British Eventing competition performance: an observational study between 1998 and 2016

To test the hypothesis that gender affects horse scores in eventing competition, data on the scores and points awarded to 681 horses was collected from the British Eventing website. Equal numbers of mares, geldings and stallions were used, all foaled during or after 1994 and aged 4–10 years. The study included five levels of competition (BE90, BE100, Novice, Intermediate and Advanced) and investigated differences in mean phased scores, total scores and rank in competition. Additionally, the mean and median ‘BE points per competition’ of each gender were compared. Significant differences in performance between genders were found at all levels except Advanced. Differences were highlighted in average phased and total scores, rank and median points per competition. There was an overall pattern of stallions and geldings outperforming mares, though this was not found to be true at all levels. The only area in which mares were found to perform significantly better than geldings or stallions was showjumping time penalties at BE90

Anisotropic hybrid excitation modes in monolayer and double-layer phosphorene on polar substrates

We investigate the anisotropic hybrid plasmon-SO phonon dispersion relations in monolayer and double-layer phosphorene systems located on the polar substrates, such as SiO2, h-BN and Al2O3. We calculate these hybrid modes with using the dynamical dielectric function in the RPA by considering the electron-electron interaction and long-range electric field generated by the substrate SO phonons via Frohlich interaction. In the long-wavelength limit, we obtain some analytical expressions for the hybrid plasmon-SO phonon dispersion relations which represent the behavior of these modes akin to the modes obtaining from the loss function. Our results indicate a strong anisotropy in plasmon-SO phonon modes, whereas they are stronger along the light-mass direction in our heterostructures. Furthermore, we find that the type of substrate has a significant effect on the dispersion relations of the coupled modes. Also, by tuning the misalignment and separation between layers in double-layer phosphorene on polar substrates, we can engineer the hybrid modes.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figure

Using Simple Microwave Approach for Synthesize of CuInS2 Nanostructures and Investigation of their Performance in Solar Cells

This study focuses on the preparation and characterization of single phase CuInS2 nanoparticles with a copper complex as precursor via microwave technique. The effect of sulfur sources on product size and morphology was investigated. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Thin films CuInS2 were prepared by doctor’s blade method and then studied via I-V characterization

Exposure of a tendon extracellular matrix to synovial fluid triggers endogenous and engrafted cell death: A mechanism for failed healing of intrathecal tendon injuries

Aim: The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of normal synovial fluid (SF) on exposed endogenous tendon-derived cells (TDC) and engrafted mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) within the tendon extracellular matrix. Methods: Explants from equine superficial digital flexor (extra-synovial) and deep digital flexor tendons (DDFT) from the compressed, intra-synovial and the tensile, extra-synovial regions were cultured in allogeneic or autologous SF-media. Human hamstring explants were cultured in allogeneic SF. Explant viability was assessed by staining. Proliferation of equine monolayer MSCs and TDCs in SF-media and co-culture with DDFT explants was determined by alamarblue®. Non-viable Native Tendon matrices (NNTs) were re-populated with MSCs or TDCs and cultured in SF-media. Immunohistochemical staining of tendon sections for the apoptotic proteins caspase-3, -8 and -9 was performed. Results: Contact with autologous or allogeneic SF resulted in rapid death of resident tenocytes in equine and human tendon. SF did not affect the viability of equine epitenon cells, or of MSCs and TDCs in monolayer or indirect explant co-culture. MSCs and TDCs, engrafted into NNTs, died when cultured in SF. Caspase-3, -8 and -9 expression was greatest in SDFT explants exposed to allogeneic SF. Conclusions: The efficacy of cells administered intra-synovially for tendon lesion repair is likely to be limited, since once incorporated into the matrix, cells become vulnerable to the adverse effects of SF. These observations could account for the poor success rate of intra-synovial tendon healing following damage to the epitenon and contact with SF, common with most soft tissue intra-synovial pathologies

Genetic variability of Taenia saginata inferred from mitochondrial DNA sequences

Taenia saginata is an important tapeworm, infecting humans in many parts of the world. The present study was undertaken to identify inter- and intraspecific variation of T. saginata isolated from cattle in different parts of Iran using two mitochondrial CO1 and 12S rRNA genes. Up to 105 bovine specimens of T. saginata were collected from 20 slaughterhouses in three provinces of Iran. DNA were extracted from the metacestode Cysticercus bovis. After PCR amplification, sequencing of CO1 and 12S rRNA genes were carried out and two phylogenetic analyses of the sequence data were generated by Bayesian inference on CO1 and 12S rRNA sequences. Sequence analyses of CO1 and 12S rRNA genes showed 11 and 29 representative profiles respectively. The level of pairwise nucleotide variation between individual haplotypes of CO1 gene was 0.3–2.4 % while the overall nucleotide variation among all 11 haplotypes was 4.6 %. For 12S rRNA sequence data, level of pairwise nucleotide variation was 0.2–2.5 % and the overall nucleotide variation was determined as 5.8 % among 29 haplotypes of 12S rRNA gene. Considerable genetic diversity was found in both mitochondrial genes particularly in 12S rRNA gene. © 2015, Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

Using Simple Microwave Approach for Synthesize of CuInS2 Nanostructures and Investigation of their Performance in Solar Cells

This study focuses on the preparation and characterization of single phase CuInS2 nanoparticles with a copper complex as precursor via microwave technique. The effect of sulfur sources on product size and morphology was investigated. The products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy, ultraviolet–visible spectroscopy, and photoluminescence spectroscopy. Thin films CuInS2 were prepared by doctor’s blade method and then studied via I-V characterization