Transmission spectra and valley processing of graphene and carbon nanotube superlattices with inter-valley coupling

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Takotsubo cardiomyopathy and sepsis: a systematic review

Takotsubo cardiomyopathy (TTC) is characterized by a systolic dysfunction localized in the apical and medial aspect of the left ventricle. It is usually related to physical or emotional stress. Recent evidence highlighting the role of infection led us to analyze the links between TTC and sepsis. A systematic review of the literature was undertaken to assess any trends in clinical findings, diagnosis, and outcomes in such patients. We identified 23 selected papers reporting a total of 26 patients, having sepsis, in whom TTC occurred. For each case, we collected data identifying population characteristics, source of sepsis, clinical disease description, and the results of cardiovascular investigations. The majority of patients were females (n = 16), mean age was 62.8 (14.0 standard deviation) years, and clinical outcome was favorable in 92.3% of the cases once the management of sepsis was initiated. A better understanding of the mechanisms of sepsis-associated TTC may generate novel strategies to treat the complications of this cardiomyopathy and may even help predict and prevent its occurrence

Food Microstructure and Fat Content Affect Growth Morphology, Growth Kinetics, and Preferred Phase for Cell Growth of Listeria monocytogenes in Fish-Based Model Systems

Food microstructure significantly affects microbial growth dynamics, but knowledge concerning the exact influencing mechanisms at a microscopic scale is limited. The food microstructural influence on Listeria monocytogenes (green fluorescent protein strain) growth at 10°C in fish-based food model systems was investigated by confocal laser scanning microscopy. The model systems had different microstructures, i.e., liquid, xanthan (high-viscosity liquid), aqueous gel, and emulsion and gelled emulsion systems varying in fat content. Bacteria grew as single cells, small aggregates, and microcolonies of different sizes (based on colony radii [size I, 1.5 to 5.0 μm; size II, 5.0 to 10.0 μm; size III, 10.0 to 15.0 μm; and size IV, ≥15 μm]). In the liquid, small aggregates and size I microcolonies were predominantly present, while size II and III microcolonies were predominant in the xanthan and aqueous gel. Cells in the emulsions and gelled emulsions grew in the aqueous phase and on the fat-water interface. A microbial adhesion to solvent assay demonstrated limited bacterial nonpolar solvent affinities, implying that this behavior was probably not caused by cell surface hydrophobicity. In systems containing 1 and 5% fat, the largest cell volume was mainly represented by size I and II microcolonies, while at 10 and 20% fat a few size IV microcolonies comprised nearly the total cell volume. Microscopic results (concerning, e.g., growth morphology, microcolony size, intercolony distances, and the preferred phase for growth) were related to previously obtained macroscopic growth dynamics in the model systems for an L. monocytogenes strain cocktail, leading to more substantiated explanations for the influence of food microstructural aspects on lag phase duration and growth rate. IMPORTANCE Listeria monocytogenes is one of the most hazardous foodborne pathogens due to the high fatality rate of the disease (i.e., listeriosis). In this study, the growth behavior of L. monocytogenes was investigated at a microscopic scale in food model systems that mimic processed fish products (e.g., fish paté and fish soup), and the results were related to macroscopic growth parameters. Many studies have previously focused on the food microstructural influence on microbial growth. The novelty of this work lies in (i) the microscopic investigation of products with a complex composition and/or structure using confocal laser scanning microscopy and (ii) the direct link to the macroscopic level. Growth behavior (i.e., concerning bacterial growth morphology and preferred phase for growth) was more complex than assumed in common macroscopic studies. Consequently, the effectiveness of industrial antimicrobial food preservation technologies (e.g., thermal processing) might be overestimated for certain products, which may have critical food safety implications.acceptedVersio

First-principles study on the electronic and transport properties of periodically nitrogen-doped graphene and carbon nanotube superlattices

Prompted by recent reports on $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ graphene superlattices with intrinsic inter-valley interactions, we perform first-principles calculations to investigate the electronic properties of periodically nitrogen-doped graphene and carbon nanotube nanostructures. In these structures, nitrogen atoms substitute one-sixth of the carbon atoms in the pristine hexagonal lattices with exact periodicity to form perfect $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ superlattices of graphene and carbon nanotubes. Multiple nanostructures of $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ graphene ribbons and carbon nanotubes are explored, and all configurations show nonmagnetic and metallic behaviors. The transport properties of $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ graphene and carbon nanotube superlattices are calculated utilizing the non-equilibrium Green's function formalism combined with density functional theory. The transmission spectrum through the pristine and $\sqrt{3} \times \sqrt{3}$ armchair carbon nanotube heterostructure shows quantized behavior under certain circumstances

Characterization of drought development through remote sensing : a case study in Central Yunnan, China

2013-2014 > Academic research: refereed > Publication in refereed journalVersion of RecordPublishe

Simvastatin inhibits TLR8 signaling in primary human monocytes and spontaneous TNF production from rheumatoid synovial membrane cultures

Simvastatin has been shown to have anti-inflammatory effects that are independent of its serum cholesterol lowering action, but the mechanisms by which these anti-inflammatory effects are mediated have not been elucidated. To explore the mechanism involved, the effect of simvastatin on Toll-like receptor (TLR) signalling in primary human monocytes was investigated. A short pre-treatment with simvastatin dose-dependently inhibited the production of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF) in response to TLR8 (but not TLRs 2, 4, or 5) activation. Statins are known inhibitors of the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway, but intriguingly TLR8 inhibition could not be reversed by addition of mevalonate or geranylgeranyl pyrophosphate; downstream products of cholesterol biosynthesis. TLR8 signalling was examined in HEK 293 cells stably expressing TLR8, where simvastatin inhibited IKKα/β phosphorylation and subsequent NF-κB activation without affecting the pathway to AP-1. Since simvastatin has been reported to have anti-inflammatory effects in RA patients and TLR8 signalling contributes to TNF production in human RA synovial tissue in culture, simvastatin was tested in these cultures. Simvastatin significantly inhibited the spontaneous release of TNF in this model which was not reversed by mevalonate. Together, these results demonstrate a hitherto unrecognized mechanism of simvastatin inhibition of TLR8 signalling that may in part explain its beneficial anti-inflammatory effects

Influence of magnetic disorders on quantum anomalous Hall effect in magnetic topological insulator films beyond the two-dimensional limit

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The sudden change phenomenon of quantum discord

Even if the parameters determining a system's state are varied smoothly, the behavior of quantum correlations alike to quantum discord, and of its classical counterparts, can be very peculiar, with the appearance of non-analyticities in its rate of change. Here we review this sudden change phenomenon (SCP) discussing some important points related to it: Its uncovering, interpretations, and experimental verifications, its use in the context of the emergence of the pointer basis in a quantum measurement process, its appearance and universality under Markovian and non-Markovian dynamics, its theoretical and experimental investigation in some other physical scenarios, and the related phenomenon of double sudden change of trace distance discord. Several open questions are identified, and we envisage that in answering them we will gain significant further insight about the relation between the SCP and the symmetry-geometric aspects of the quantum state space.Comment: Lectures on General Quantum Correlations and their Applications, F. F. Fanchini, D. O. Soares Pinto, and G. Adesso (Eds.), Springer (2017), pp 309-33