Spintronic properties of one-dimensional electron gas in graphene armchair ribbons

We have investigated, using effective mass approach (EMA), magnetic properties of a one-dimensional electron gas in graphene armchair ribbons when the electrons of occupy only the lowest conduction subband. We find that magnetic properties of the one-dimensional electron gas may depend sensitively on the width of the ribbon. For ribbon widths $L_x=3Ma_0$, a critical point separates ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states while for $L_x=(3M+1)a_0$ paramagnetic state is stable ($M$ is an integer and $a_{0}$ is the length of the unit cell). These width-dependent properties are a consequence of eigenstates that have a subtle width-dependent mixture of $\mathbf{K}$ and $\mathbf{K'}$ states, and can be understood by examining the wavefunction overlap that appears in the expression for the many-body exchange self-energy. Ferromagnetic and paramagnetic states may be used for spintronic purposes.Comment: 5 pages, 6 figure

Enzymatic hydrolysate from velvet antler suppresses adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells and attenuates obesity in high-fat diet-fed mice

The purpose of the current study was to investigate the potential anti-obesity activity of an enzymatic hydrolysate of velvet antler in inhibiting adipogenesis in 3T3-L1 cells and in high-fat diet (HFD)-fed obese mice. The enzy- matic hydrolysate was prepared using the commercial food grade protease, Protamex. The velvet antler Protamex hydrolysate (VAPH) indicated profound inhibitory effects on adipogenesis dose-dependently by decreasing the accumulation of triglycerides and down-regulating expression levels of adipogenesis-related proteins C/EBPα, SREBP-1, and PPARγ. In a mouse model of HFD-induced obesity, oral administration of VAPH (100 and 300 mg/kg for 13 weeks) significantly reduced the body weight gain that had resulted from the HFD. VAPH treat- ment also lowered the serum glucose and triglyceride levels, while increasing the HDL-C level. Furthermore, the treatment greatly reduced hepatic lipid droplet accumulation as well as the size of adipocytes. Current findings H has profound anti-obesity effects and could be an effective candidate for preventing obesity and obesity-related chronic diseases

Cost-benefit analysis of introducing next-generation sequencing (metagenomic) pathogen testing in the setting of pyrexia of unknown origin

Pyrexia of unknown origin (PUO) is defined as a temperature of >38.3°C that lasts for >3 weeks, where no cause can be found despite appropriate investigation. Existing protocols for the work-up of PUO can be extensive and costly, motivating the application of recent advances in molecular diagnostics to pathogen testing. There have been many reports describing various analytical methods and performance of metagenomic pathogen testing in clinical samples but the economics of it has been less well studied. This study pragmatically evaluates the feasibility of introducing metagenomic testing in this setting by assessing the relative cost of clinically-relevant strategies employing this investigative tool under various cost and performance scenarios using Singapore as a demonstration case, and assessing the price and performance benchmarks, which would need to be achieved for metagenomic testing to be potentially considered financially viable relative to the current diagnostic standard. This study has some important limitations: we examined only impact of introducing the metagenomic test to the overall diagnostic cost and excluded costs associated with hospitalization and makes assumptions about the performance of the routine diagnostic tests, limiting the cost of metagenomic test, and the lack of further work-up after positive pathogen detection by the metagenomic test. However, these assumptions were necessary to keep the model within reasonable limits. In spite of these, the simplified presentation lends itself to the illustration of the key insights of our paper. In general, we find the use of metagenomic testing as second-line investigation is effectively dominated, and that use of metagenomic testing at first-line would typically require higher rates of detection or lower cost than currently available in order to be justifiable purely as a cost-saving measure. We conclude that current conditions do not warrant a widespread rush to deploy metagenomic testing to resolve any and all uncertainty, but rather as a front-line technology that should be used in specific contexts, as a supplement to rather than a replacement for careful clinical judgement

Different Types of Door-Opening Motions as Contributing Factors to Containment Failures in Hospital Isolation Rooms

10.1371/journal.pone.0066663PLoS ONE86-POLN

Superconductivity in carbon nanotube ropes

We investigate the conditions in which superconductivity may develop in ropes of carbon nanotubes. It is shown that the interaction among a large number of metallic nanotubes favors the appearance of a metallic phase in the ropes, intermediate between respective phases with spin-density-wave and superconducting correlations. These arise in samples with about 100 metallic nanotubes or more, where the long-range Coulomb interaction is very effectively reduced and it may be overcome by the attractive interaction from the exchange of optical phonons within each nanotube. We estimate that the probability for the tunneling of Cooper pairs between neighboring nanotubes is much higher than that for single electrons in a disordered rope. The effect of pair hopping is therefore what establishes the intertube coherence, and the tunneling amplitude of the Cooper pairs dictates the scale of the transition to the superconducting state.Comment: 12 page

Complementary analysis to de-convolute co-located contaminants in marine archaeological bricks

Marine archaeological artefacts contain unexpected compounds due to prolonged exposure to the sea. These can remain dormant and embedded within materials until a change in their surrounding environment, such as exposure to oxygen, prompts a transformation. These changes can pose a problem, as acidic compounds are formed which disintegrate the material, or crystals form which physically break the artefact apart. The extent of these transformations is highly heterogeneous due to its dependence on the ability for oxygen to reach and catalyse these reactions. Additionally, these transformations are heavily dependent on the environment the artefact is exposed to, and the pathways available for ingress, either naturally or through previous degradation. This results in materials with a range of different compounds which are often co-located on the macro, micro and nano-scale. Trying to de-convolute these compounds is challenging, and usually requires a suite of complementary techniques to achieve. Here we report on damaging salts found within marine archaeological bricks and show how it is only possible to qualitatively and quantitatively understand what is present by employing a range of analytical techniques, such as XRD, SEM-EDS and SR-XPD. The marine archaeological bricks studied were found to contain a range of different sulfate-based salts, which had grown crystals in preferred orientations. This provides information which will guide further conservation strategies such as how these bricks are stored, conserved and protected in the future

There's more than one way to sell a security: the Treasury's auction experiment

Government securities

Genes of the antioxidant system of the honey bee: annotation and phylogeny

Antioxidant enzymes perform a variety of vital functions including the reduction of life-shortening oxidative damage. We used the honey bee genome sequence to identify the major components of the honey bee antioxidant system. A comparative analysis of honey bee with Drosophila melanogaster and Anopheles gambiae shows that although the basic components of the antioxidant system are conserved, there are important species differences in the number of paralogs. These include the duplication of thioredoxin reductase and the expansion of the thioredoxin family in fly; lack of expansion of the Theta, Delta and Omega GST classes in bee and no expansion of the Sigma class in dipteran species. The differential expansion of antioxidant gene families among honey bees and dipteran species might reflect the marked differences in life history and ecological niches between social and solitary species

Unconventional MBE Strategies from Computer Simulations for Optimized Growth Conditions

We investigate the influence of step edge diffusion (SED) and desorption on Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE) using kinetic Monte-Carlo simulations of the solid-on-solid (SOS) model. Based on these investigations we propose two strategies to optimize MBE growth. The strategies are applicable in different growth regimes: During layer-by-layer growth one can exploit the presence of desorption in order to achieve smooth surfaces. By additional short high flux pulses of particles one can increase the growth rate and assist layer-by-layer growth. If, however, mounds are formed (non-layer-by-layer growth) the SED can be used to control size and shape of the three-dimensional structures. By controlled reduction of the flux with time we achieve a fast coarsening together with smooth step edges.Comment: 19 pages, 7 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.