1,457 research outputs found
Giant Spin Seebeck Effect through an Interface Organic Semiconductor
Interfacing an organic semiconductor C60 with a non-magnetic metallic thin
film (Cu or Pt) has created a novel heterostructure that is ferromagnetic at
ambient temperature, while its interface with a magnetic metal (Fe or Co) can
tune the anisotropic magnetic surface property of the material. Here, we
demonstrate that sandwiching C60 in between a magnetic insulator (Y3Fe5O12:
YIG) and a non-magnetic, strong spin-orbit metal (Pt) promotes highly efficient
spin current transport via the thermally driven spin Seebeck effect (SSE).
Experiments and first principles calculations consistently show that the
presence of C60 reduces significantly the conductivity mismatch between YIG and
Pt and the surface perpendicular magnetic anisotropy of YIG, giving rise to
enhanced spin mixing conductance across YIG/C60/Pt interfaces. As a result, a
600% increase in the SSE voltage (VLSSE) has been realized in YIG/C60/Pt
relative to YIG/Pt. Temperature-dependent SSE voltage measurements on
YIG/C60/Pt with varying C60 layer thicknesses also show an exponential increase
in VLSSE at low temperatures below 200 K, resembling the temperature evolution
of spin diffusion length of C60. Our study emphasizes the important roles of
the magnetic anisotropy and the spin diffusion length of the intermediate layer
in the SSE in YIG/C60/Pt structures, providing a new pathway for developing
novel spin-caloric materials
ATLASGAL-selected massive clumps in the inner Galaxy: I. CO depletion and isotopic ratios
In the low-mass regime, it is found that the gas-phase abundances of
C-bearing molecules in cold starless cores rapidly decrease with increasing
density, as the molecules form mantles on dust grains. We study CO depletion in
102 massive clumps selected from the ATLASGAL 870 micron survey, and
investigate its correlation with evolutionary stage and with the physical
parameters of the sources. Moreover, we study the gradients in [12C]/[13C] and
[18O]/[17O] isotopic ratios across the inner Galaxy, and the virial stability
of the clumps. We use low-J emission lines of CO isotopologues and the dust
continuum emission to infer the depletion factor fD. RATRAN one-dimensional
models were also used to determine fD and to investigate the presence of
depletion above a density threshold. The isotopic ratios and optical depth were
derived with a Bayesian approach. We find a significant number of clumps with a
large fD, up to ~20. Larger values are found for colder clumps, thus for
earlier evolutionary phases. For massive clumps in the earliest stages of
evolution we estimate the radius of the region where CO depletion is important
to be a few tenths of a pc. Clumps are found with total masses derived from
dust continuum emission up to ~20 times higher than the virial mass, especially
among the less evolved sources. These large values may in part be explained by
the presence of depletion: if the CO emission comes mainly from the low-density
outer layers, the molecules may be subthermally excited, leading to an
overestimate of the dust masses. CO depletion in high-mass clumps seems to
behave as in the low-mass regime, with less evolved clumps showing larger
values for the depletion than their more evolved counterparts, and increasing
for denser sources. The C and O isotopic ratios are consistent with previous
determinations, and show a large intrinsic scatter.Comment: 20 pages, 17 figures, 38 pages of online material (tables and
figures
Environmental contamination with clostridioides (Clostridium) difficile in Vietnam
AIMS: To investigate the prevalence, molecular type, and antimicrobial susceptibility of Clostridioides difficile in the environment in Vietnam, where little is known about C. difficile. METHODS AND RESULTS: Samples of pig faeces, soils from pig farms, potatoes, and the hospital environment were cultured for C. difficile. Isolates were identified and typed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) ribotyping. The overall prevalence of C. difficile contamination was 24.5% (68/278). Clostridioides difficile was detected mainly in soils from pig farms and hospital soils, with 70%-100% prevalence. Clostridioides difficile was isolated from 3.4% of pig faecal samples and 5% of potato surfaces. The four most prevalent ribotypes (RTs) were RTs 001, 009, 038, and QX574. All isolates were susceptible to metronidazole, fidaxomicin, vancomycin, and amoxicillin/clavulanate, while resistance to erythromycin, tetracycline, and moxifloxacin was common in toxigenic strains. Clostridioides difficile RTs 001A+B+CDT- and 038A-B-CDT- were predominantly multidrug resistant. CONCLUSIONS: Environmental sources of C. difficile are important to consider in the epidemiology of C. difficile infection in Vietnam, however, contaminated soils are likely to be the most important source of C. difficile. This poses additional challenges to controlling infections in healthcare settings
Factors influencing to use of Bluezone
This study aims to understand the main factors and their influence on the
behavioral intention of users about using Bluezone. Surveys are sent to users
through the Google Form tool. Experimental results through analysis of
exploratory factors on 224 survey subjects show that there are 4 main factors
affecting user behavior. Structural equation modeling indicates that trust,
performance expectations, effort expectations, and social influence have a
positive impact on behavioral intention of using BluezoneComment: in Vietnamese languag
Large scale IRAM 30m CO-observations in the giant molecular cloud complex W43
We aim to give a full description of the distribution and location of dense
molecular clouds in the giant molecular cloud complex W43. It has previously
been identified as one of the most massive star-forming regions in our Galaxy.
To trace the moderately dense molecular clouds in the W43 region, we initiated
an IRAM 30m large program, named W43-HERO, covering a large dynamic range of
scales (from 0.3 to 140 pc). We obtained on-the-fly-maps in 13CO (2-1) and C18O
(2-1) with a high spectral resolution of 0.1 km/s and a spatial resolution of
12". These maps cover an area of ~1.5 square degrees and include the two main
clouds of W43, as well as the lower density gas surrounding them. A comparison
with Galactic models and previous distance calculations confirms the location
of W43 near the tangential point of the Scutum arm at a distance from the Sun
of approximately 6 kpc. The resulting intensity cubes of the observed region
are separated into sub-cubes, centered on single clouds which are then analyzed
in detail. The optical depth, excitation temperature, and H2 column density
maps are derived out of the 13CO and C18O data. These results are then compared
with those derived from Herschel dust maps. The mass of a typical cloud is
several 10^4 solar masses while the total mass in the dense molecular gas (>100
cm^-3) in W43 is found to be about 1.9e6 solar masses. Probability distribution
functions obtained from column density maps derived from molecular line data
and Herschel imaging show a log-normal distribution for low column densities
and a power-law tail for high densities. A flatter slope for the molecular line
data PDF may imply that those selectively show the gravitationally collapsing
gas
Evolution of dynamic, biochemical, and morphological parameters in hypothermic machine perfusion of human livers: A proof-of-concept study
Introduction:
Hypothermic machine perfusion (HMP) is increasingly investigated as a means to assess liver quality, but data on viability markers is inconsistent and the effects of different perfusion routes and oxygenation on perfusion biomarkers are unclear.
Methods:
This is a single-centre, randomised, multi-arm, parallel study using discarded human livers for evaluation of HMP using arterial, oxygen-supplemented venous and non-oxygen-supplemented venous perfusion. The study included 2 stages: in the first stage, 25 livers were randomised into static cold storage (n = 7), hepatic artery HMP (n = 10), and non-oxygen-supplemented portal vein HMP (n = 8). In the second stage, 20 livers were randomised into oxygen-supplemented and non-oxygen-supplemented portal vein HMP (n = 11 and 9, respectively). Changes in dynamic, biochemical, and morphologic parameters during 4-hour preservation were compared between perfusion groups, and between potentially transplantable and non-transplantable livers.
Results:
During arterial perfusion, resistance was higher and flow was lower than venous perfusion (p = 0.001 and 0.01, respectively); this was associated with higher perfusate markers during arterial perfusion (p>0.05). Supplementary oxygen did not cause a significant alteration in the studied parameters. Morphology was similar between static and dynamic preservation groups. Perfusate markers were 2 fold higher in non-transplantable livers (p>0.05).
Conclusions:
Arterial only perfusion might not be adequate for graft perfusion. Hepatocellular injury markers are accessible and easy to perform and could offer insight into graft quality, but large randomised trials are needed to identify reliable quality assessment biomarkers
Electroanalysis of gallic and ellagic acids at a boron-doped diamond electrode coupled with high-performance liquid chromatography
Electrochemistry of gallic acid (GA) and ellagic acid (EA) was investigated by cyclic voltammetry (CV) using a bare boron-doped diamond (BDD) electrode. CVs indicate that the electro-oxidation of both GA and EA are quasi-reversible processes. High-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) coupled with a BDD electrode poised at+1.4 V offers the limit of detection (LOD, S/N=3) of 60 and 200 nM for GA and EA, respectively. The optimized method was then applied to the detection of both acids in Islay, Highland and Scotch whiskeys, with the highest concentrations found in a 14-year-old Highland whiskey
Dominant B-cell epitopes from cancer/stem cell antigen SOC2 recognized by serum samples from cancer patients
Cataloged from PDF version of article.Human sex determining region Y-box 2 (SOX2) is an important transcriptional factor involved in the pluripotency
and stemness of human embryonic stem cells. SOX2 plays important roles in maintaining cancer stem cell activities
of melanoma and cancers of the brain, prostate, breast, and lung. SOX2 is also a lineage survival oncogene
for squamous cell carcinoma of the lung and esophagus. Spontaneous cellular and humoral immune responses
against SOX2 present in cancer patients classify it as a tumor-associated antigen (TAA) shared by lung cancer, glioblastoma,
and prostate cancer among others. In this study, B-cell epitopes were predicted using computer-assisted
algorithms. Synthetic peptides based on the prediction were screened for recognition by serum samples from cancer
patients using ELISA. Two dominant B-cell epitopes, SOX2:52-87 and SOX2:98-124 were identified. Prostate
cancer, glioblastoma and lung cancer serum samples that recognized the above SOX2 epitopes also recognized
the full-length protein based on Western blot. These B-cell epitopes may be used in assessing humoral immune
responses against SOX2 in cancer immunotherapy and stem cell-related transplantation
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