78 research outputs found
Strain-coupled ferroelectric polarization in BaTiO3-CaTiO3 superlattices
We report on growth and ferroelectric (FE) properties of superlattices (SLs)
composed of the FE BaTiO3 and the paraelectric (PE) CaTiO3. Previous theories
have predicted that the polarization in (BaTiO3)n/(CaTiO3)n SLs increases as
the sublayer thickness (n) increases when the same strain state is maintained.
However, our BaTiO3/CaTiO3 SLs show a varying lattice-strain state and
systematic reduction in polarization with increasing n while
coherently-strained SLs with n=1, 2 show a FE polarization of ca. 8.5 uC/cm^2.
We suggest that the strain coupling plays more important role in FE properties
than the electrostatic interlayer coupling based on constant dielectric
permittivities.Comment: 7 pages, 4 figure
Optical spectroscopic investigation on the coupling of electronic and magnetic structure in multiferroic hexagonal RMnO3 (R = Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films
We investigated the effects of temperature and magnetic field on the
electronic structure of hexagonal RMnO3 (R = Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films
using optical spectroscopy. As the magnetic ordering of the system was
disturbed, a systematic change in the electronic structure was commonly
identified in this series. The optical absorption peak near 1.7 eV showed an
unexpectedly large shift of more than 150 meV from 300 K to 15 K, accompanied
by an anomaly of the shift at the Neel temperature. The magnetic field
dependent measurement clearly revealed a sizable shift of the corresponding
peak when a high magnetic field was applied. Our findings indicated strong
coupling between the magnetic ordering and the electronic structure in the
multiferroic hexagonal RMnO3 compounds.Comment: 16 pages including 4 figure
Electronic structures of hexagonal RMnO3 (R = Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films
We investigated the electronic structure of multiferroic hexagonal RMnO3 (R =
Gd, Tb, Dy, and Ho) thin films using both optical spectroscopy and
first-principles calculations. Using artificially stabilized hexagonal RMnO3,
we extended the optical spectroscopic studies on the hexagonal multiferroic
manganite system. We observed two optical transitions located near 1.7 eV and
2.3 eV, in addition to the predominant absorption above 5 eV. With the help of
first-principles calculations, we attribute the low-lying optical absorption
peaks to inter-site transitions from the oxygen states hybridized strongly with
different Mn orbital symmetries to the Mn 3d3z2-r2 state. As the ionic radius
of the rare earth ion increased, the lowest peak showed a systematic increase
in its peak position. We explained this systematic change in terms of a
flattening of the MnO5 triangular bipyramid
Ticks Collected from Wild and Domestic Animals and Natural Habitats in the Republic of Korea
Ticks were collected from 35 animals from 5 provinces and 3 metropolitan cities during 2012. Ticks also were collected by tick drag from 4 sites in Gyeonggi-do (2) and Jeollabuk-do (2) Provinces. A total of 612 ticks belonging to 6 species and 3 genera were collected from mammals and a bird (n=573) and by tick drag (n=39). Haemaphyalis longicornis (n=434) was the most commonly collected tick, followed by H. flava (158), Ixodes nipponensis (11), Amblyomma testudinarium (7), H. japonica (1), and H. formosensis (1). H. longicornis and H. flava were collected from all animal hosts examined. For animal hosts (n>1), the highest Tick Index (TI) was observed for domestic dogs (29.6), followed by Siberian roe deer (17.4), water deer (14.4), and raccoon dogs (1.3). A total of 402 H. longicornis (adults 86, 21.4%; nymphs 160, 39.8%; larvae 156, 38.9%) were collected from wild and domestic animals. A total of 158 H. flava (n=158) were collected from wild and domestic animals and 1 ring-necked pheasant, with a higher proportion of adults (103, 65.2%), while nymphs and larvae only accounted for 12.7% (20) and 22.2% (35), respectively. Only 7 A. testudinarium were collected from the wild boar (6 adults) and Eurasian badger (1 nymph), while only 5 I. nipponensis were collected from the water deer (4 adults) and a raccoon dog (1 adult). One adult female H. formosensis was first collected from vegetation by tick drag from Mara Island, Seogwipo-si, Jeju-do Province.OAIID:oai:osos.snu.ac.kr:snu2014-01/102/0000051105/1SEQ:1PERF_CD:SNU2014-01EVAL_ITEM_CD:102USER_ID:0000051105ADJUST_YN:NEMP_ID:A077262DEPT_CD:551CITE_RATE:.881FILENAME:07(kjp52-3)13-284-final version.pdfDEPT_NM:์์ํ๊ณผSCOPUS_YN:YCONFIRM:
Immunohistochemical Analysis of Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer: Correlation with Clinical Parameters and Prognosis
Non-small cell lung cancers (NSCLC) vary in their biologic behavior. Recurrence and tumor-related mortality may be attributable to molecular abnormalities in primary tumors. This study evaluated such immunophenotypes with regard to cell cycle regulation and proliferation, apoptosis, and angiogenesis, to determine their significance for patient outcome. Core biopsies from 219 patients with NSCLC were assembled on tissue microarrays, and the expressions of p16, p21, p27, cyclin B1, cyclin E, Ki-67, caspase-3, survivin, bcl-2, VEGF, and endostatin were evaluated by immunohistochemistry. Despite previously described prognostic relevance of some of the investigated molecules, many of those markers were not directly associated with recurrence or survival. However, there was a trend for p16 immunoreactivity to be associated with a good prognosis (57% vs. 42% in 5-yr survival) (p=0.071). bcl-2 expression was strongly correlated with a better outcome (65% vs. 45% in 5-yr survival) (p=0.029), and the hazard of death for bcl-2 positive patients was 0.42 times of that for bcl-2 negative patients (p=0.047). A multivariate analysis with Cox proportional hazards model confirmed that the lymph node status (p=0.043) and stage (p=0.003) were other independent prognostic factors. Our results suggest that p16 and bcl-2 provide prognostic information independent of the TNM stage in NSCLC
Risk factors of COVID-19 mortality: a systematic review of current literature and lessons from recent retracted articles
OBJECTIVE: Recently, two influential articles that reported the association of (hydroxy)chloroquine or angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) mortality were retracted due to significant methodological issues. Therefore, we aimed to analyze the same clinical issues through an improved research method and to find out the differences from the retracted papers. We systematically reviewed pre-existing literature, and compared the results with those of the retracted papers to gain a novel insight.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We extracted common risk factors identified in two retracted papers, and conducted relevant publication search until June 26, 2020 in PubMed. Then, we analyzed the risk factors for COVID-19 mortality and compared them to those of the retracted papers.
RESULTS: Our systematic review demonstrated that most demographic and clinical risk factors for COVID-19 mortality were similar to those of the retracted papers. However, while the retracted paper indicated that both (hydroxy)chloroquine monotherapy and combination therapy with macrolide were associated with higher risk of mortality, our study showed that only combination therapy of hydroxychloroquine and macrolide was associated with higher risk of mortality (odds ratio 2.33; 95% confidence interval 1.63-3.34). In addition, our study demonstrated that use of ACE inhibitors or angiotensin receptor blockers (ARBs) was associated with reduced risk of mortality (0.77; 0.65-0.91).
CONCLUSIONS: When analyzing the same clinical issues with the two retracted papers through a systematic review of randomized controlled trials and relevant cohort studies, we found out that (hydroxy)chloroquine monotherapy was not associated with higher risk of mortality, and that the use of ACE inhibitors or ARBs was associated with reduced risk of mortality in COVID-19 patients
Apolipophorin-III Mediates Antiplasmodial Epithelial Responses in Anopheles gambiae (G3) Mosquitoes
Apolipophorin-III (ApoLp-III) is known to play an important role in lipid transport and innate immunity in lepidopteran insects. However, there is no evidence of involvement of ApoLp-IIIs in the immune responses of dipteran insects such as Drosophila and mosquitoes.We report the molecular and functional characterization of An. gambiae apolipophorin-III (AgApoLp-III). Mosquito ApoLp-IIIs have diverged extensively from those of lepidopteran insects; however, the predicted tertiary structure of AgApoLp-III is similar to that of Manduca sexta (tobacco hornworm). We found that AgApoLp-III mRNA expression is strongly induced in the midgut of An. gambiae (G3 strain) mosquitoes in response to Plasmodium berghei infection. Furthermore, immunofluorescence stainings revealed that high levels of AgApoLp-III protein accumulate in the cytoplasm of Plasmodium-invaded cells and AgApoLp-III silencing increases the intensity of P. berghei infection by five fold.There are broad differences in the midgut epithelial responses to Plasmodium invasion between An. gambiae strains. In the G3 strain of An. gambiae AgApoLp-III participates in midgut epithelial defense responses that limit Plasmodium infection
Body mass index and mortality in patients with cardiovascular disease: An umbrella review of meta-analyses
OBJECTIVE: Although many previous meta-analyses of epidemiological studies have demonstrated a relationship between body mass index (BMI) and mortality, inconsistent findings among cardiovascular disease patients have been observed. Thus, we performed an umbrella review to understand the strength of evidence and validity of claimed associations between BMI and mortality in patients with cardiovascular diseases.
MATERIALS AND METHODS: We comprehensively re-analyzed the data of meta-analyses of observational studies and randomized controlled trials on associations between BMI and mortality among patients with cardiovascular diseases. We also assessed the strength of evidence of the re-analyzed outcomes, which were determined from the criteria including statistical significance of the p-value of random-effects, as well as fixed-effects meta-analyses, small-study effects, between-study heterogeneity, and a 95% prediction interval.
RESULTS: We ran comprehensive re-analysis of the data from the 21 selected studies, which contained a total of 108 meta-analyses; 23 were graded as convincing evidence and 12 were suggestive, 42 were weak, and 23 were non-significant.
CONCLUSIONS: Underweight increased mortality in acute coronary syndrome (ACS), heart failure, and after therapeutic intervention for patients with cardiovascular diseases. Overweight, on the other hand decreased mortality in patientโs ACS, atrial fibrillation, and heart failure with convincing evidence
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