Crossover from weak anti-localization to weak localization in inkjet-printed Ti3C2Tx MXene thin-film

Two-dimensional (2D) transition metal carbides/nitrides or "MXenes" belong to a diverse-class of layered compounds, which offer composition- and electric-field-tunable electrical and physical properties. Although the majority of the MXenes, including Ti3C2Tx, are metallic, they typically show semiconductor-like behaviour in their percolated thin-film structure; this is also the most common structure used for fundamental studies and prototype device development of MXene. Magnetoconductance studies of thin-film MXenes are central to understanding their electronic transport properties and charge carrier dynamics, and also to evaluate their potential for spin-tronics and magnetoelectronics. Since MXenes are produced through solution processing, it is desirable to develop deposition strategies such as inkjet-printing to enable scale-up production with intricate structures/networks. Here, we systematically investigate the extrinsic negative magnetoconductance of inkjet-printed Ti3C2Tx, MXene thin-films and report a crossover from weak anti-localization (WAL) to weak localization (WL) near 2.5 K. The crossover from WAL to WL is consistent with strong, extrinsic, spin-orbit coupling, a key property for active control of spin currents in spin-orbitronic devices. From WAL/WL magnetoconductance analysis, we estimate that the printed MXene thin-film has a spin orbit coupling field of up to 0.84 T at 1.9 K. Our results and analyses offer a deeper understanding into microscopic charge carrier transport in Ti3C2Tx, revealing promising properties for printed, flexible, electronic and spinorbitronic device applications

Sleep Duration, Sleep Quality, and the Development of Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease:A Cohort Study

INTRODUCTION: The longitudinal relationship between sleep duration, sleep quality, and the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is unknown. We aimed to examine the association between sleep duration, sleep quality, and NAFLD development.METHODS: Using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index, sleep duration and quality were evaluated for 143,306 NAFLD-free Korean adults with a mean age of 36.6 years, who were followed for an average of 4.0 years. Hepatic steatosis (HS) was assessed using ultrasonography and liver fibrosis by the fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4) or the NAFLD fibrosis score. Flexible parametric proportional hazard models were used to determine the hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals.RESULTS: There were 27,817 subjects with incident HS, of whom 1,471 had incident HS plus intermediate/high FIB-4. Multivariable-adjusted HRs (95% confidence intervals) for incident HS comparing sleep durations of ≤5, 6, 8, and ≥ 9 hours with 7 hours were 1.19 (1.14-1.23), 1.07 (1.04-1.10), 0.98 (0.94-1.02), and 0.95 (0.87-1.03), respectively. The corresponding HRs for incident HS plus intermediate/high FIB-4 were 1.30 (1.11-1.54), 1.14 (1.01-1.29), 1.11 (0.93-1.33), and 1.08 (0.71-1.63). The association between sleep duration and HS plus intermediate/high FIB-4 was inverse in individuals with good sleep quality but tended to be U-shaped in those with poor sleep quality. The results were similar if FIB-4 was replaced by the NAFLD fibrosis score.DISCUSSION: In young adults, short sleep duration was independently associated with an increased risk of incident NAFLD with or without intermediate/high fibrosis score, suggesting a role for inadequate sleep quantity in NAFLD risk and severity.</p

Decrease in sleep duration and poor sleep quality over time is associated with an increased risk of incident non-alcoholic fatty liver disease

The impact of changes in sleep duration and sleep quality over time on the risk of nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is not known. We investigated whether changes in sleep duration and in sleep quality between baseline and follow-up are associated with the risk of developing incident NAFLD. The cohort study included 86,530 Korean adults without NAFLD and with a low fibrosis score at baseline. The median follow-up was 3.6 years. Sleep duration and quality were assessed using the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index. Hepatic steatosis (HS) and liver fibrosis were assessed using ultrasonography and the fibrosis-4 index (FIB-4). Cox proportional hazard models were used to determine hazard ratios (HRs) and 95% confidence intervals (Cis). A total of 12,127 subjects with incident HS and 559 with incident HS plus intermediate/high FIB-4 was identified. Comparing the decrease in sleep duration of &gt;1 h, with stable sleep duration, the multivariate-adjusted HR (95% CIs) for incident HS was 1.24 (1.15–1.35). The corresponding HRs for incident HS plus intermediate/high FIB-4 was 1.58 (1.10–2.29). Comparing persistently poor sleep quality with persistently good sleep quality, the multivariate-adjusted HR for incident HS was 1.13 (95% CI, 1.05–1.20). A decrease in sleep duration or poor sleep quality over time was associated with an increased risk of incident NAFLD, underscoring an important potential role for good sleep in preventing NAFLD risk.</p

Genetics of ischaemic stroke among persons of non-European descent: a meta-analysis of eight genes involving approximately 32,500 individuals

BACKGROUND: Ischaemic stroke in persons of European descent has a genetic basis, but whether the stroke-susceptibility alleles, the strength of any association, and the extent of their attributable risks are the same in persons of non-European descent remains unanswered. Whether ethnicity itself has a relevant or substantial contribution on those effect estimates is controversial. Comparative analyses between the ethnic groups may allow general conclusions to be drawn about polygenic disorders. METHODS AND FINDINGS: We performed a literature-based systematic review of genetic association studies in stroke in persons of non-European descent. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were determined for each gene-disease association using fixed and random effect models. We further performed a comparative genetic analysis across the different ethnic groups (including persons of European descent derived from our previous meta-analysis) to determine if genetic risks varied by ethnicity. Following a review of 500 manuscripts, eight candidate gene variants were analysed among 32,431 individuals (12,883 cases and 19,548 controls), comprising mainly Chinese, Japanese, and Korean individuals. Of the eight candidate genes studied, three were associated with ischaemic stroke: the angiotensin I converting enzyme (ACE) insertion/deletion (I/D) polymorphism with a mean OR of 1.90 (95% CI 1.23-2.93) in the Chinese and 1.74 (95% CI 0.88-3.42) in the Japanese; the summary OR for the C677T variant of 5,10-methylenetetrahydrofolate reductase (MTHFR) was 1.18 (95% CI 0.90-1.56) in Chinese and 1.34 (95% CI 0.87-2.06) in Koreans; and the pooled OR for the apolipoprotein E (APOE) gene was 2.18 (95% CI 1.52-3.13) in Chinese and 1.51 (95% CI 0.93-2.45) in Japanese. Comparing the commonly investigated stroke genes among the Asian groups against studies in persons of European descent, we found an absence of any substantial qualitative or quantitative interaction for ORs by ethnicity. However, the number of individuals recruited per study in the studies of persons of non-European descent was significantly smaller compared to studies of persons of European descent, despite a similar number of studies conducted per gene. CONCLUSIONS: These data suggest that genetic associations studied to date for ischaemic stroke among persons of non-European descent are similar to those for persons of European descent. Claims of differences in genetic effects among different ethnic populations for complex disorders such as stroke may be overstated. However, due to the limited number of gene variants evaluated, the relatively smaller number of individuals included in the meta-analyses of persons of non-European descent in stroke, and the possibility of publication bias, the existence of allele variants with differential effects by ethnicity cannot be excluded

Lossless hybridization between photovoltaic and thermoelectric devices

The optimal hybridization of photovoltaic (PV) and thermoelectric (TE) devices has long been considered ideal for the efficient harnessing solar energy. Our hybrid approach uses full spectrum solar energy via lossless coupling between PV and TE devices while collecting waste energy from thermalization and transmission losses from PV devices. Achieving lossless coupling makes the power output from the hybrid device equal to the sum of the maximum power outputs produced separately from individual PV and TE devices. TE devices need to have low internal resistances enough to convey photo-generated currents without sacrificing the PV fill factor. Concomitantly, a large number of p-n legs are preferred to drive a high Seebeck voltage in TE. Our simple method of attaching a TE device to a PV device has greatly improved the conversion efficiency and power output of the PV device (~30% at a 15°C temperature gradient across a TE device)

Whole-genome, transcriptome, and methylome analyses provide insights into the evolution of platycoside biosynthesis in Platycodon grandiflorus, a medicinal plant

Triterpenoid saponins (TSs) are common plant defense phytochemicals with potential pharmaceutical properties. Platycodon grandiflorus (Campanulaceae) has been traditionally used to treat bronchitis and asthma in East Asia. The oleanane-type TSs, platycosides, are a major component of the P. grandiflorus root extract. Recent studies show that platycosides exhibit anti-inflammatory, antiobesity, anticancer, antiviral, and antiallergy properties. However, the evolutionary history of platycoside biosynthesis genes remains unknown. In this study, we sequenced the genome of P. grandiflorus and investigated the genes involved in platycoside biosynthesis. The draft genome of P. grandiflorus is 680.1Mb long and contains 40,017 protein-coding genes. Genomic analysis revealed that the CYP716 family genes play a major role in platycoside oxidation. The CYP716 gene family of P. grandiflorus was much larger than that of other Asterid species. Orthologous gene annotation also revealed the expansion of beta -amyrin synthases (bASs) in P. grandiflorus, which was confirmed by tissue-specific gene expression. In these expanded gene families, we identified key genes showing preferential expression in roots and association with platycoside biosynthesis. In addition, whole-genome bisulfite sequencing showed that CYP716 and bAS genes are hypomethylated in P. grandiflorus, suggesting that epigenetic modification of these two gene families affects platycoside biosynthesis. Thus whole-genome, transcriptome, and methylome data of P. grandiflorus provide novel insights into the regulation of platycoside biosynthesis by CYP716 and bAS gene families

Photonic hydrogel sensors

Analyte-sensitive hydrogels that incorporate optical structures have emerged as sensing platforms for point-of-care diagnostics. The optical properties of the hydrogel sensors can be rationally designed and fabricated through self-assembly, microfabrication or laser writing. The advantages of photonic hydrogel sensors over conventional assay formats include label-free, quantitative, reusable, and continuous measurement capability that can be integrated with equipment-free text or image display. This Review explains the operation principles of photonic hydrogel sensors, presents syntheses of stimuli-responsive polymers, and provides an overview of qualitative and quantitative readout technologies. Applications in clinical samples are discussed, and potential future directions are identified

A Case of Amyloidosis Presenting as Chronic Cholecystitis, Misdiagnosed as Polymyalgia Rheumatica

Amyloidosis is a rare disease defined by extracellular deposits of amorphous fibrillar proteins, derived from aggregations of misfolded proteins. Localization of amyloidosis in the gallbladder is uncommon; only eight cases have been reported. We describe a case of amyloidosis diagnosed by cholecystectomy, which possibly also affected the liver and kidney. The patient was misdiagnosed with polymyalgia rheumatica, but after a cholecystectomy to treat chronic cholecystitis, we ultimately diagnosed him with amyloidosis. We review amyloidosis with gallbladder involvement in the literature. (Korean J Gastroenterol 2016;68:49-53

Pure Spin Currents Driven by Colossal Spin-Orbit Coupling on Two-Dimensional Surface Conducting SrTiO3

Spin accumulation is generated by passing a charge current through a ferromagnetic layer and sensed by other ferromagnetic layers downstream. Pure spin currents can also be generated in which spin currents flow and are detected as a nonlocal resistance in which the charge current is diverted away from the voltage measurement point. Here, we report nonlocal spin-transport on two-dimensional surface-conducting SrTiO3 (STO) without a ferromagnetic spin-injector via the spin Hall effect (and inverse spin Hall effect). By applying magnetic fields to the Hall bars at different angles to the nonlocal spin-diffusion, we demonstrate an anisotropic spin-signal that is consistent with a Hanle precession of a pure spin current. We extract key transport parameters for surface-conducting STO, including: a spin Hall angle of gamma approximate to (0.25 +/- 0.05), a spin lifetime of tau similar to 49 ps, and a spin diffusion length of lambda(s) approximate to (1.23 +/- 0.7) mu m at 2 K