961 research outputs found

    Role of Autophagy in Parkinson’s Disease

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    (In,Ga)N/GaN microcavities with double dielectric mirrors fabricated by selective removal of an (Al,In)N sacrificial layer

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    Comparable microcavities with 3/2 (~240 nm) active regions containing distributed (In,Ga)N quantum wells, grown on GaN substrates and bounded by two dielectric mirrors, have been fabricated by two different routes: one using laser lift-off to process structures grown on GaN-on-sapphire templates and the second using freestanding GaN substrates, which are initially processed by mechanical thinning. Both exploit the properties of an Al0.83In0.17N layer, lattice matched to the GaN substrate and spacer layers. In both cases cavity quality factors >400 are demonstrated by measurements of the cavity-filtered room-temperature excitonic emission near 410 nm

    Modulating the catalytic activity of enzyme-like nanoparticles through their surface functionalization

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    The inclusion of transition metal catalysts into nanoparticle scaffolds permits the creation of catalytic nanosystems (nanozymes) able to imitate the behaviour of natural enzymes. Here we report the fabrication of a family of nanozymes comprised of bioorthogonal ruthenium catalysts inserted in the protective monolayer of gold nanoparticles. By introducing simple modifications to the functional groups at the surface of the nanozymes, we have demonstrated control over the kinetic mechanism of our system. Cationic nanozymes with hydrophobic surface functionalities tend to replicate the classical Michaelis Menten model, while those with polar groups display substrate inhibition behaviour, a key mechanism present in 20% of natural enzymes. The structural parameters described herein can be used for creating artificial nanosystems that mimic the complexity observed in cell machinery. © 2018 The Royal Society of Chemistry

    Unintentional F doping of the surface of SrTiO3(001) etched in HF acid -- structure and electronic properties

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    We show that the HF acid etch commonly used to prepare SrTiO3(001) for heteroepitaxial growth of complex oxides results in a non-negligible level of F doping within the terminal surface layer of TiO2. Using a combination of x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and scanned angle x-ray photoelectron diffraction, we determine that on average ~13 % of the O anions in the surface layer are replaced by F, but that F does not occupy O sites in deeper layers. Despite this perturbation to the surface, the Fermi level remains unpinned, and the surface-state density, which determines the amount of band bending, is driven by factors other than F doping. The presence of F at the STO surface is expected to result in lower electron mobilities at complex oxide heterojunctions involving STO substrates because of impurity scattering. Unintentional F doping can be substantially reduced by replacing the HF-etch step with a boil in deionized water, which in conjunction with an oxygen tube furnace anneal, leaves the surface flat and TiO2 terminated.Comment: 18 pages, 7 figure

    Some effects of different constitutive laws on simulating mitral valve dynamics with FSI

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    In this paper, three different constitutive laws for mitral leaflets and two laws for chordae tendineae are selected to study their effects on mitral valve dynamics with fluid-structure interaction. We first fit these three mitral leaflet constitutive laws and two chordae tendineae laws with experimental data. The fluid-structure interaction is implemented in an immersed boundary framework with finite element extension for solid, that is the hybrid immersed boundary/finite element(IB/FE) method. We specifically compare the fluid-structure results of different constitutive laws since fluid-structure interaction is the physiological loading environment. This allows us to look at the peak jet velocity, the closure regurgitation volume, and the orifice area. Our numerical results show that different constitutive laws can affect mitral valve dynamics, such as the transvalvular flow rate, closure regurgitation and the orifice area, while the differences in fiber strain and stress are insignificant because all leaflet constitutive laws are fitted to the same set of experimental data. In addition, when an exponential constitutive law of chordae tendineae is used, a lower closure regurgitation flow is observed compared to that of a linear material model. In conclusion, combining numerical dynamic simulations and static experimental tests, we are able to identify suitable constitutive laws for dynamic behaviour of mitral leaflets and chordae under physiological conditions

    Cycle-Consistent Generative Adversarial Network: Effect on Radiation Dose Reduction and Image Quality Improvement in Ultralow-Dose CT for Evaluation of Pulmonary Tuberculosis

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    OBJECTIVE: To investigate the image quality of ultralow-dose CT (ULDCT) of the chest reconstructed using a cycle-consistent generative adversarial network (CycleGAN)-based deep learning method in the evaluation of pulmonary tuberculosis. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between June 2019 and November 2019, 103 patients (mean age, 40.8 ± 13.6 years; 61 men and 42 women) with pulmonary tuberculosis were prospectively enrolled to undergo standard-dose CT (120 kVp with automated exposure control), followed immediately by ULDCT (80 kVp and 10 mAs). The images of the two successive scans were used to train the CycleGAN framework for image-to-image translation. The denoising efficacy of the CycleGAN algorithm was compared with that of hybrid and model-based iterative reconstruction. Repeated-measures analysis of variance and Wilcoxon signed-rank test were performed to compare the objective measurements and the subjective image quality scores, respectively. RESULTS: With the optimized CycleGAN denoising model, using the ULDCT images as input, the peak signal-to-noise ratio and structural similarity index improved by 2.0 dB and 0.21, respectively. The CycleGAN-generated denoised ULDCT images typically provided satisfactory image quality for optimal visibility of anatomic structures and pathological findings, with a lower level of image noise (mean ± standard deviation [SD], 19.5 ± 3.0 Hounsfield unit [HU]) than that of the hybrid (66.3 ± 10.5 HU, p 0.908). The CycleGAN-generated images showed the highest contrast-to-noise ratios for the pulmonary lesions, followed by the model-based and hybrid iterative reconstruction. The mean effective radiation dose of ULDCT was 0.12 mSv with a mean 93.9% reduction compared to standard-dose CT. CONCLUSION: The optimized CycleGAN technique may allow the synthesis of diagnostically acceptable images from ULDCT of the chest for the evaluation of pulmonary tuberculosis

    Cold Nuclear Matter Effects on Dijet Productions in Relativistic Heavy-ion Reactions at LHC

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    We investigate the cold nuclear matter(CNM) effects on dijet productions in high-energy nuclear collisions at LHC with the next-to-leading order perturbative QCD. The nuclear modifications for dijet angular distributions, dijet invariant mass spectra, dijet transverse momentum spectra and dijet momentum imbalance due to CNM effects are calculated by incorporating EPS, EKS, HKN and DS param-etrization sets of parton distributions in nucleus . It is found that dijet angular distributions and dijet momentum imbalance are insensitive to the initial-state CNM effects and thus provide optimal tools to study the final-state hot QGP effects such as jet quenching. On the other hand, the invariant mass spectra and the transverse momentum spectra of dijet are generally enhanced in a wide region of the invariant mass or transverse momentum due to CNM effects with a feature opposite to the expected suppression because of the final-state parton energy loss effect in the QGP. The difference of EPS, EKS, HKN and DS parametrization sets of nuclear parton distribution functions is appreciable for dijet invariant mass spectra and transverse momentum spectra at p+Pb collisions, and becomes more pronounced for those at Pb+Pb reactions.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figure

    Partial Wave Analysis of J/ψ→γ(K+K−π+π−)J/\psi \to \gamma (K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-)

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    BES data on J/ψ→γ(K+K−π+π−)J/\psi \to \gamma (K^+K^-\pi^+\pi^-) are presented. The K∗Kˉ∗K^*\bar K^* contribution peaks strongly near threshold. It is fitted with a broad 0−+0^{-+} resonance with mass M=1800±100M = 1800 \pm 100 MeV, width Γ=500±200\Gamma = 500 \pm 200 MeV. A broad 2++2^{++} resonance peaking at 2020 MeV is also required with width ∼500\sim 500 MeV. There is further evidence for a 2−+2^{-+} component peaking at 2.55 GeV. The non-K∗Kˉ∗K^*\bar K^* contribution is close to phase space; it peaks at 2.6 GeV and is very different from K∗K∗ˉK^{*}\bar{K^{*}}.Comment: 15 pages, 6 figures, 1 table, Submitted to PL
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