H2-Sensing Performance of 2D WO3 Nanostructure—Effect of Anodization Parameter

In this work, we investigate the effect of HNO3 anodizing solution concentration ranging from 1.5 to 3 M on H2-sensing performance of 2D WO3 nanostructures prepared by anodizing sputtered tungsten films. The thickness of WO3 nanosheets was found to reduce while the crystallinity degraded with increasing HNO3 concentration. However, the nanosheets anodized in 2 M HNO3 exhibited the highest response of 43.4 to 1 vol % H2, which was one order of magnitude larger than those fabricated with other concentrations at the optimal operating temperature of 350 °C. In addition, the optimal nanostructures displayed good H2 selectivity against NO2, CH4, C2H2 and C2H5OH

Preferentially oriented Fe-doped CaCu3Ti4O12 films with high dielectric constant and low dielectric loss deposited on LaAlO3 and NdGaO3 substrates

The colossal dielectric constant of calcium copper titanate (CCTO) thin films is generally accompanied by high dielectric losses which limit its potential for electronic miniaturization. Strategies for reducing the dielectric loss while keeping large dielectric constants are needed for various electrical applications of CCTO. This work aims to reduce the loss by means of doping preferentially oriented CCTO films with Fe3+ ions. Highly oriented undoped and Fe-doped calcium copper titanate (Fe-doped CCTO) thin films were fabricated by synthesizing CCTO on LaAlO3(1 0 0) and NdGaO3(1 0 0) substrates via a sol-gel spin casting method. The films with different Fe-doping concentrations (0, 1.6 and 2.6 wt%) were structurally and chemically characterized via energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. X-Ray Diffraction (XRD) patterns confirmed that our doped CCTO films had a cubic perovskite structure with well-defined preferential orientations of (h00) and (hh0) on LAO and NGO substrates, respectively. Preferentially oriented films having room temperature dielectric constants on the order of 1000 in conjunction with values of loss tangent smaller than 0.012 in the frequency range of 50 Hz-2 MHz were achieved. Temperature dependence of the dielectric constant and loss tangent revealed that Fe-doping decreased the dielectric loss via the lowering of the electrical conduction through CCTO grains.Fil: Pongpaiboonkul, Suriyong. Chulalongkorn University; TailandiaFil: Daniels, Thitima M.. National Electronics and Computer Technology Center; TailandiaFil: Hodak, Jose Hector. Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Oficina de Coordinación Administrativa Ciudad Universitaria. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía. Universidad de Buenos Aires. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales. Instituto de Química, Física de los Materiales, Medioambiente y Energía; ArgentinaFil: Wisitsoraat, Anurat. National Electronics and Computer Technology Center; TailandiaFil: Hodak, Satreerat K.. Chulalongkorn University; Tailandi

3D Graphene-Carbon Nanotubes-Polydimethyl Siloxane Flexible Electrodes for Simultaneous Electrochemical Detections of Hg, Pb and Cd

In this work, the effect of CNTs content in 3D graphene-PDMS-CNTs electrodes were systematically studied for simultaneous determination of Hg, Pb and Cd by differential pulse anodic stripping voltammetry. The composites were formed by dip coating CVD graphene on Ni foam in CNTs-dispersed PDMS solution with varying CNTs concentrations. The optimal CNTs content was found to be ~0.5 mg/mL for all analytes. The optimal graphene-PDMS-CNTs electrode showed good analytical performances with sharp well-separated peaks of Pb, Hg and Cd in the concentration range of 100–500 μg/L. Therefore, the graphene-PDMS-CNTs electrode is highly promising for multiple detections of heavy metal pollutants

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Altres ajuts: Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC); Illumina; LifeArc; Medical Research Council (MRC); UKRI; Sepsis Research (the Fiona Elizabeth Agnew Trust); the Intensive Care Society, Wellcome Trust Senior Research Fellowship (223164/Z/21/Z); BBSRC Institute Program Support Grant to the Roslin Institute (BBS/E/D/20002172, BBS/E/D/10002070, BBS/E/D/30002275); UKRI grants (MC_PC_20004, MC_PC_19025, MC_PC_1905, MRNO2995X/1); UK Research and Innovation (MC_PC_20029); the Wellcome PhD training fellowship for clinicians (204979/Z/16/Z); the Edinburgh Clinical Academic Track (ECAT) programme; the National Institute for Health Research, the Wellcome Trust; the MRC; Cancer Research UK; the DHSC; NHS England; the Smilow family; the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences of the National Institutes of Health (CTSA award number UL1TR001878); the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania; National Institute on Aging (NIA U01AG009740); the National Institute on Aging (RC2 AG036495, RC4 AG039029); the Common Fund of the Office of the Director of the National Institutes of Health; NCI; NHGRI; NHLBI; NIDA; NIMH; NINDS.Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care or hospitalization after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes-including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)-in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease