1,306 research outputs found
Economics of zoonoses surveillance in a ‘One Health’ context: an assessment of Campylobacter surveillance in Switzerland
Observation of the spin Peltier effect
We report the observation of the spin Peltier effect (SPE) in the
ferrimagnetic insulator Yttrium Iron Garnet (YIG), i.e. a heat current
generated by a spin current flowing through a Platinum (Pt)|YIG interface. The
effect can be explained by the spin torque that transforms the spin current in
the Pt into a magnon current in the YIG. Via magnon-phonon interactions the
magnetic fluctuations modulate the phonon temperature that is detected by a
thermopile close to the interface. By finite-element modelling we verify the
reciprocity between the spin Peltier and spin Seebeck effect. The observed
strong coupling between thermal magnons and phonons in YIG is attractive for
nanoscale cooling techniques.Comment: 5 pages, 3 figures, 4 pages supplementary information, 4
supplementary figure
Characterization and transfection properties of lipoplexes stabilized with novel exchangeable polyethylene glycol-lipid conjugates
The positive charge of cationic-lipid/DNA complexes (lipoplexes) renders them highly susceptible to interactions with the biological milieu, leading to aggregation and destabilization, and rapid clearance from the blood circulation. In this study we synthesized and characterized a set of novel amphiphiles, based on N-methyl-4-alkylpyridinium chlorides (SAINTs), to which a PEG moiety is coupled. Plasmids were fully protected in lipoplexes prepared from cationic SAINT-2 lipid and stabilized with SAINT PEGs. Our results demonstrate that SAINT-PEG stabilization is transient, and permits DNA to be released from these lipoplexes. The rate of SAINT PEG transfer from lipoplexes to acceptor liposomes was determined by the nature of the lipid anchor. Increased hydrophobicity, by lengthening the alkyl chain, resulted in a decrease of the rate of DNA release from the lipoplexes. Chain unsaturation had the opposite effect. Similarly, the in vitro transfection potency of lipoplexes containing PEG-SAINT derivatives was sensitive to the length and (un)saturation of the alkyl chain. However, the internalization of SAINT PEG stabilized lipoplexes is determined by their charge, rather than by the concentration of the polymer conjugate. Lipoplexes targeted to cell-surface epithelial glycoprotein 2, by means of a covalently coupled monoclonal antibody, were specifically internalized by cells expressing this antigen. (C) 2003 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved
Searching for plasticity in dissociated cortical cultures on multi-electrode arrays
We attempted to induce functional plasticity in dense cultures of cortical cells using stimulation through extracellular electrodes embedded in the culture dish substrate (multi-electrode arrays, or MEAs). We looked for plasticity expressed in changes in spontaneous burst patterns, and in array-wide response patterns to electrical stimuli, following several induction protocols related to those used in the literature, as well as some novel ones. Experiments were performed with spontaneous culture-wide bursting suppressed by either distributed electrical stimulation or by elevated extracellular magnesium concentrations as well as with spontaneous bursting untreated. Changes concomitant with induction were no larger in magnitude than changes that occurred spontaneously, except in one novel protocol in which spontaneous bursts were quieted using distributed electrical stimulation
Thermoelectric Detection of Ferromagnetic Resonance of a Nanoscale Ferromagnet
We present thermoelectric measurements of the heat dissipated due to ferromagnetic resonance of a Permalloy strip. A microwave magnetic field, produced by an on-chip coplanar strip waveguide, is used to drive the magnetization precession. The generated heat is detected via Seebeck measurements on a thermocouple connected to the ferromagnet. The observed resonance peak shape is in agreement with the Landau-Lifshitz-Gilbert equation and is compared with thermoelectric finite-element modeling. Unlike other methods, this technique is not restricted to electrically conductive media and is therefore also applicable to for instance ferromagnetic insulators
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