2,153 research outputs found
The critical current density of advanced internal-Mg-diffusion-processed MgB2 wires
Recent advances in MgB2 conductors are leading to a new level of performance.
Based on the use of proper powders, proper chemistry, and an architecture which
incorporates internal Mg diffusion (IMD), a dense MgB2 structure with not only
a high critical current density Jc, but also a high engineering critical
current density, Je, can be obtained. In this paper, a series of these advanced
(or second - generation, "2G") conductors has been prepared. Scanning electron
microscopy and associated energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy were applied to
characterize the microstructures and compositions of the wires, and a dense
MgB2 layer structure was observed. The best layer Jc for our sample is 1.07x105
A/cm2 at 10 T, 4.2 K, and our best Je is seen to be 1.67x104 A/cm2 at 10 T, 4.2
K. Optimization of the transport properties of these advanced wires is
discussed in terms of B-powder choice, area fraction, and the MgB2 layer growth
mechanism.Comment: 13 pages, 3 tables, 7 figures (or 8 pp in published version
Drawing induced texture and the evolution of superconductive properties with heat treatment time in powder-in-tube in-situ processed MgB2 strands
Monocore powder-in-tube MgB2 strands were cold-drawn and heat-treated at 600C
and 700C for times of up to 71 hours and structure-property relationships
examined. Drawing-induced elongation of the Mg particles led, after HT, to a
textured macrostructure consisting of elongated polycrystalline MgB2 fibers
separated by elongated pores. The superconducting Tc, Jc and Fp were correlated
with the macrostructure and grain size. Grain size increased with HT time at
both 600C and 700C. Jc and hence Fp decreased monotonically but not linearly
with grain size. Overall, it was observed that at 700C, the MgB2 reaction was
more or less complete after as little as 30 min; at 600C, full reaction
completion did not occur until 71 h. into the HT. Transport, Jct(B) was
measured in a perpendicular applied field, and the magnetic critical current
densities, Jcm\bot(B) and Jcm{\phi}(B), were measured in perpendicular and
parallel (axial) applied fields, respectively. Particularly noticeable was the
premature dropoff of Jcm\bot(B) at fields well below the irreversibility field
of Jct(B). This effect is attributed to the fibrous macrostructure and its
accompanying anisotropic connectivity. Magnetic measurements with the field
directed along the strand axis yielded a critical density, Jcm\bot(B), for
current flowing transversely to the strand axis that was less than and dropped
off more rapidly than Jct(B). In the conventional magnetic measurement, the
loop currents that support the magnetization are restricted by the lower of
Jct(B) and Jcm{\phi} (B). In the present case the latter, leading to the
premature dropoff of the measured Jcm(B) compared to Jct(B) with increasing
field. This result is supported by Kramer plots of the Jcm{\phi} (B) and Jct(B)
data which lead to an irreversibility field for transverse current that is very
much less than the usual transport-measured longitudinal one, Birr,t.Comment: 41 pages, 14 figure
In-vivo optical detection of cancer using chlorin e6 – polyvinylpyrrolidone induced fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy
<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Photosensitizer based fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy is fast becoming a promising approach for cancer detection. The purpose of this study was to examine the use of the photosensitizer chlorin e6 (Ce6) formulated in polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) as a potential exogenous fluorophore for fluorescence imaging and spectroscopic detection of human cancer tissue xenografted in preclinical models as well as in a patient.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>Fluorescence imaging was performed on MGH human bladder tumor xenografted on both the chick chorioallantoic membrane (CAM) and the murine model using a fluorescence endoscopy imaging system. In addition, fiber optic based fluorescence spectroscopy was performed on tumors and various normal organs in the same mice to validate the macroscopic images. In one patient, fluorescence imaging was performed on angiosarcoma lesions and normal skin in conjunction with fluorescence spectroscopy to validate Ce6-PVP induced fluorescence visual assessment of the lesions.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Margins of tumor xenografts in the CAM model were clearly outlined under fluorescence imaging. Ce6-PVP-induced fluorescence imaging yielded a specificity of 83% on the CAM model. In mice, fluorescence intensity of Ce6-PVP was higher in bladder tumor compared to adjacent muscle and normal bladder. Clinical results confirmed that fluorescence imaging clearly captured the fluorescence of Ce6-PVP in angiosarcoma lesions and good correlation was found between fluorescence imaging and spectral measurement in the patient.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Combination of Ce6-PVP induced fluorescence imaging and spectroscopy could allow for optical detection and discrimination between cancer and the surrounding normal tissues. Ce6-PVP seems to be a promising fluorophore for fluorescence diagnosis of cancer.</p
BiForce Toolbox: powerful high-throughput computational analysis of gene-gene interactions in genome-wide association studies
Genome-wide association studies (GWAS) have discovered many loci associated with common disease and quantitative traits. However, most GWAS have not studied the gene–gene interactions (epistasis) that could be important in complex trait genetics. A major challenge in analysing epistasis in GWAS is the enormous computational demands of analysing billions of SNP combinations. Several methods have been developed recently to address this, some using computers equipped with particular graphical processing units, most restricted to binary disease traits and all poorly suited to general usage on the most widely used operating systems. We have developed the BiForce Toolbox to address the demand for high-throughput analysis of pairwise epistasis in GWAS of quantitative and disease traits across all commonly used computer systems. BiForce Toolbox is a stand-alone Java program that integrates bitwise computing with multithreaded parallelization and thus allows rapid full pairwise genome scans via a graphical user interface or the command line. Furthermore, BiForce Toolbox incorporates additional tests of interactions involving SNPs with significant marginal effects, potentially increasing the power of detection of epistasis. BiForce Toolbox is easy to use and has been applied in multiple studies of epistasis in large GWAS data sets, identifying interesting interaction signals and pathways
Variable Carbon Catabolism among Salmonella enterica Serovar Typhi Isolates
BACKGROUND: Salmonella enterica serovar Typhi (S. Typhi) is strictly a human intracellular pathogen. It causes acute systemic (typhoid fever) and chronic infections that result in long-term asymptomatic human carriage. S. Typhi displays diverse disease manifestations in human infection and exhibits high clonality. The principal factors underlying the unique lifestyle of S. Typhi in its human host during acute and chronic infections remain largely unknown and are therefore the main objective of this study. METHODOLOGY/PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: To obtain insight into the intracellular lifestyle of S. Typhi, a high-throughput phenotypic microarray was employed to characterise the catabolic capacity of 190 carbon sources in S. Typhi strains. The success of this study lies in the carefully selected library of S. Typhi strains, including strains from two geographically distinct areas of typhoid endemicity, an asymptomatic human carrier, clinical stools and blood samples and sewage-contaminated rivers. An extremely low carbon catabolic capacity (27% of 190 carbon substrates) was observed among the strains. The carbon catabolic profiles appeared to suggest that S. Typhi strains survived well on carbon subtrates that are found abundantly in the human body but not in others. The strains could not utilise plant-associated carbon substrates. In addition, α-glycerolphosphate, glycerol, L-serine, pyruvate and lactate served as better carbon sources to monosaccharides in the S. Typhi strains tested. CONCLUSION: The carbon catabolic profiles suggest that S. Typhi could survive and persist well in the nutrient depleted metabolic niches in the human host but not in the environment outside of the host. These findings serve as caveats for future studies to understand how carbon catabolism relates to the pathogenesis and transmission of this pathogen
Fatigue in patients with chronic disease:results from the population-based Lifelines Cohort Study
(1) To evaluate the prevalence of severe and chronic fatigue in subjects with and without chronic disease; (2) to assess to which extent multi-morbidity contributes to severe and chronic fatigue; and (3) to identify predisposing and associated factors for severe and chronic fatigue and whether these are disease-specific, trans-diagnostic, or generic. The Dutch Lifelines cohort was used, including 78,363 subjects with (n = 31,039, 53 ± 12 years, 33% male) and without (n = 47,324, 48 ± 12 years, 46% male) ≥ 1 of 23 chronic diseases. Fatigue was assessed with the Checklist Individual Strength-Fatigue. Compared to participants without a chronic disease, a higher proportion of participants with ≥ 1 chronic disease were severely (23% versus 15%, p < 0.001) and chronically (17% versus 10%, p < 0.001) fatigued. The odds of having severe fatigue (OR [95% CI]) increased from 1.6 [1.5–1.7] with one chronic disease to 5.5 [4.5–6.7] with four chronic diseases; for chronic fatigue from 1.5 [1.5–1.6] to 4.9 [3.9–6.1]. Multiple trans-diagnostic predisposing and associated factors of fatigue were found, explaining 26% of variance in fatigue in chronic disease. Severe and chronic fatigue are highly prevalent in chronic diseases. Multi-morbidity increases the odds of having severe and chronic fatigue. Several trans-diagnostic factors were associated with fatigue, providing a rationale for a trans-diagnostic approach
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