Stability and Dynamics of Crystals and Glasses of Motorized Particles

Many of the large structures of the cell, such as the cytoskeleton, are assembled and maintained far from equilibrium. We study the stabilities of various structures for a simple model of such a far-from-equilibrium organized assembly in which spherical particles move under the influence of attached motors. From the variational solutions of the manybody master equation for Brownian motion with motorized kicking we obtain a closed equation for the order parameter of localization. Thus we obtain the transition criterion for localization and stability limits for the crystalline phase and frozen amorphous structures of motorized particles. The theory also allows an estimate of nonequilibrium effective temperatures characterizing the response and fluctuations of motorized crystals and glasses.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figure

Synthetic Applications of Oxidative Aromatic Coupling : From Biphenols to Nanographenes

Oxidative aromatic coupling occupies a fundamental place in the modern chemistry of aromatic compounds. It is a method of choice for the assembly of large and bewildering architectures. Considerable effort was also devoted to applications of the Scholl reaction for the synthesis of chiral biphenols and natural products. The ability to form biaryl linkages without any prefunctionalization provides an efficient pathway to many complex structures. Although the chemistry of this process is only now becoming fully understood, this reaction continues to both fascinate and challenge researchers. This is especially true for heterocoupling, that is, oxidative aromatic coupling with the chemoselective formation of a C−C bond between two different arenes. Analysis of the progress achieved in this field since 2013 reveals that many groups have contributed by pushing the boundary of structural possibilities, expanding into surface‐assisted (cyclo)dehydrogenation, and developing new reagents

Direct vs. indirect optical recombination in Ge films grown on Si substrates

The optical emission spectra from Ge films on Si are markedly different from their bulk Ge counterparts. Whereas bulk Ge emission is dominated by the material's indirect gap, the photoluminescence signal from Ge films is mainly associated with its direct band gap. Using a new class of Ge-on-Si films grown by a recently introduced CVD approach, we study the direct and indirect photoluminescence from intrinsic and doped samples and we conclude that the origin of the discrepancy is the lack of self-absorption in thin Ge films combined with a deviation from quasi-equilibrium conditions in the conduction band. The latter is confirmed by a simple model suggesting that the deviation from quasi-equilibrium is caused by the much shorter recombination lifetime in the films relative to bulk Ge

Saturation of front propagation in a reaction-diffusion process describing plasma damage in porous low-k materials

We propose a three-component reaction-diffusion system yielding an asymptotic logarithmic time-dependence for a moving interface. This is naturally related to a Stefan-problem for which both one-sided Dirichlet-type and von Neumann-type boundary conditions are considered. We integrate the dependence of the interface motion on diffusion and reaction parameters and we observe a change from transport behavior and interface motion \sim t^1/2 to logarithmic behavior \sim ln t as a function of time. We apply our theoretical findings to the propagation of carbon depletion in porous dielectrics exposed to a low temperature plasma. This diffusion saturation is reached after about 1 minute in typical experimental situations of plasma damage in microelectronic fabrication. We predict the general dependencies on porosity and reaction rates.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev.

Automated Intelligent Monitoring and the Controlling Software System for Solar Panels

The inspection of the solar panels on a periodic basis is important to improve longevity and ensure performance of the solar system. To get the most solar potential of the photovoltaic (PV) system is possible through an intelligent monitoring & controlling system. The monitoring & controlling system has rapidly increased its popularity because of its user-friendly graphical interface for data acquisition, monitoring, controlling and measurements. In order to monitor the performance of the system especially for renewable energy source application such as solar photovoltaic (PV), data-acquisition systems had been used to collect all the data regarding the installed system. In this paper the development of a smart automated monitoring & controlling system for the solar panel is described, the core idea is based on IoT (the Internet of Things). The measurements of data are made using sensors, block management data acquisition modules, and a software system. Then, all the real-time data collection of the electrical output parameters of the PV plant such as voltage, current and generated electricity is displayed and stored in the block management. The proposed system is smart enough to make suggestions if the panel is not working properly, to display errors, to remind about maintenance of the system through email or SMS, and to rotate panels according to a sun position using the Ephemeral table that stored in the system. The advantages of the system are the performance of the solar panel system which can be monitored and analyzed

Reconceptualising risk: Perceptions of risk in rural and remote maternity service planning.

OBJECTIVE: to explore perceptions and examples of risk related to pregnancy and childbirth in rural and remote Australia and how these influence the planning of maternity services. DESIGN: data collection in this qualitative component of a mixed methods study included 88 semi-structured individual and group interviews (n=102), three focus groups (n=22) and one group information session (n=17). Researchers identified two categories of risk for exploration: health services risk (including clinical and corporate risks) and social risk (including cultural, emotional and financial risks). Data were aggregated and thematically analysed to identify perceptions and examples of risk related to each category. SETTING: fieldwork was conducted in four jurisdictions at nine sites in rural (n=3) and remote (n=6) Australia. PARTICIPANTS: 117 health service employees and 24 consumers. MEASUREMENTS AND FINDINGS: examples and perceptions relating to each category of risk were identified from the data. Most medical practitioners and health service managers perceived clinical risks related to rural birthing services without access to caesarean section. Consumer participants were more likely to emphasise social risks arising from a lack of local birthing services. KEY CONCLUSIONS: our analysis demonstrated that the closure of services adds social risk, which exacerbates clinical risk. Analysis also highlighted that perceptions of clinical risk are privileged over social risk in decisions about rural and remote maternity service planning. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: a comprehensive analysis of risk that identifies how social and other forms of risk contribute to adverse clinical outcomes would benefit rural and remote people and their health services. Formal risk analyses should consider the risks associated with failure to provide birthing services in rural and remote communities as well as the risks of maintaining services

Spectrum of transthyretin gene mutations and clinical characteristics of Polish patients with cardiac transthyretin amyloidosis

Background: Transthyretin amyloidosis (ATTR) is a rare, life-threatening systemic disorder. We present first findings on the cardiac hereditary ATTR in Poland.Methods: Sixty-eight consecutive patients with suspected or known cardiac amyloidosis were evaluated, including blood tests, standard 12-lead electrocardiography (ECG) and transthoracic echocardiography. ATTR was confirmed histologically or non-invasively using 99mTc-DPD scintigraphy. Transthyretin (TTR) gene sequencing was performed.Results: In 2017–2019, 10 unrelated male patients were diagnosed with hereditary ATTR. All patients had very uncommon TTR gene mutations: 7 patients had p.Phe53Leu mutation, 2 patients had p.Glu109Lys mutation and 1 patient had p.Ala101Val mutation. The age of onset ranged from 49 to 67 years (mean [SD] age, 58.7 [6.4] years). On ECG, most patients (70%) had pseudoinfarct pattern and/or low QRS voltage. The maximal wall thickness (MWT) on echocardiography varied considerably among the patients from moderate (16 mm) to massively increased (30 mm). Most patients (90%) had decreased left ventricular ejection fraction (mean [SD], 43 [11] %). On follow-up, we observed progressive heart failure in almost all cases. The first patient with p.Phe53Leu mutation died of heart failure, the second died suddenly, the third successfully underwent combined heart and liver transplant with 15 months survival from the surgery. The patient with p.Ala101Val mutation died of stroke.Conclusions: According to available data, this is the first time that the types of TTR mutations and the clinical characteristics of Polish patients with cardiac hereditary ATTR have been described. Previous literature data about Polish background in families with p.Phe53Leu mutation and the present results, suggest that this TTR mutation might be endemic in the Polish population

Phenotyping vs. genotyping for prediction of clopidogrel efficacy and safety: the PEGASUS-PCI study

Background: Prognostic values of genotyping and phenotyping for assessment of clopidogrel responsiveness have been shown in independent studies. Objectives: To compare different assays for prediction of events during long-term follow-up. Methods: In this prospective cohort study polymorphisms of CYP2C19*2 and CYP2C19*17 alleles, vasodilator- stimulated phosphoprotein phosphorylation (VASP) assay, multiple electrode aggregometry (MEA), cone and platelet analyser (CPA) and platelet function analyser (PFA- 100) were performed in 416 patients undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention. The rates of events were recorded during a 12-month follow-up. Results: Platelet aggregation by MEA predicted stent thrombosis (2.4%) better (c-index = 0.90; P < 0.001; sensitivity = 90%; specificity = 83%) than the VASP assay, CPA or PFA-100 (c-index 0.05; sensitivity < 70%; specificity < 70% for all) or even the CYP2C19*2 polymorphism (c-index 0.05; sensitivity = 30%; specificity = 71%). Survival analysis indicated that patients classified as poor responders by MEA had a substantially higher risk of developing stent thrombosis or MACE than clopidogrel responders (12.5% vs. 0.3%, P < 0.001, and 18.5% vs. 11.3%, P = 0.022, respectively), whereas poor metabolizers (CYP2C19*1/*2 or *2/*2 carriers) were not at increased risks (stent thrombosis, 2.7% vs. 2.5%, P > 0.05; MACE, 13.5% vs. 12.1%, P = 0.556). The incidence of major bleedings (2.6%) was numerically higher in patients with an enhanced vs. poor response to clopidogrel assessed by MEA (4% vs. 0%) or in ultra-metabolizers vs. regular metabolizers (CYP2C19*17/*17 vs. CYP2C19*1/*1; 9.5% vs. 2%). The classification tree analysis demonstrated that acute coronary syndrome at hospitalization and diabetes mellitus were the best discriminators for clopidogrel responder status. Conclusions: Phenotyping of platelet response to clopidogrel was a better predictor of stent thrombosis than genotyping

Imaging current-induced switching of antiferromagnetic domains in CuMnAs

The magnetic order in antiferromagnetic materials is hard to control with external magnetic fields. Using X-ray Magnetic Linear Dichroism microscopy, we show that staggered effective fields generated by electrical current can induce modification of the antiferromagnetic domain structure in microdevices fabricated from a tetragonal CuMnAs thin film. A clear correlation between the average domain orientation and the anisotropy of the electrical resistance is demonstrated, with both showing reproducible switching in response to orthogonally applied current pulses. However, the behavior is inhomogeneous at the submicron level, highlighting the complex nature of the switching process in multi-domain antiferromagnetic films