264 research outputs found
The principle of a virtual multi-channel lock-in amplifier and its application to magnetoelectric measurement system
This letter presents principles and applications of a virtual multi-channel
lock-in amplifier that is a simple but effective method to recover small ac
signal from noise with high presison. The fundamentals of this method are based
on calculation of cross-correlation function. Via this method, we successfully
built up a magnetoelectric measurement system which can perform precise and
versatile measurements without any analog lock-in amplifier. Using the virtual
multi-channel lock-in amplifier, the output of the magnetoelectric measurement
system is extensively rich in magnetoelectric coupling behaviors, including
coupling strength and phase lag, under various dc bias magnetic field and ac
magnetic field.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figures. To be submitted to Rev. Sci. Instr
Planty Organic: voortgang 2018
Planty Organic is a project and an experimental field in which an arable farming system is developed based on 100% nitrogen input by fixation and non-ploughing. It is started in 2012. An evaluation report has been published (Van der Burgt et al., 2017b) on the period 2012-2016. The system can be used to earn new knowledge that can be applied in the organic or conventional agriculture, on the themes of nitrogen-, phosphorus- or soil-dynamics.This report focuses on the 2018 practice and results, referring to the evaluation report. The 2018 experiences confirm the system performance as described in the evaluation. All goals are achieved: it is a productive system with a high nitrogen efficiency and a very low environmental and climate impact.The production in 2017 was roughly the level as it is expected in the evaluation. This is confirmed in a system simulation with the Ndicea model. It is not plausible that the 2017 production level will be continuously realized. Research questions remain on the internal nutrient dynamics (nitrogen and phosphorus), soil life, rooting systems and CO2 footprint
Ni-PZT-Ni Trilayered Magnetoelectric composites Synthesized by Electro-deposition
We report the high strength of magnetoelectric (ME) coupling of trilayered
composites prepared by electro-deposition. The ME coupling of Ni-lead zirconate
titanate (PZT)-Ni trilayered structure was measured ranged from1 kHz to 120
kHz. The trilayered composites exhibit high magnetoelectric voltage coefficient
because of good bonding between piezoelectric and magnetostrictive layers. The
maximum magnetoelectric voltage coefficient can be up to 33 V/cm Oe at the
electromechanical resonance frequency. This magnetoelectric effect shows
promising application in transducers for magnetoelectric energy conversion.Comment: 13 pages, 4 figure
Monitoring glycation levels of a bispecific monoclonal antibody at subunit level by ultrahigh resolution MALDI FT-ICR mass spectrometry
Bispecific monoclonal antibodies (BsAbs) are engineered proteins with multiple functionalities and properties. The "bi-specificity" of these complex biopharmaceuticals is a key characteristic for the development of novel and more effective therapeutic strategies. The high structural complexity of BsAbs poses a challenge to the analytical methods needed for their characterization. Modifications of the BsAb structure, resulting from enzymatic and non-enzymatic processes, further complicate the analysis. An important example of the latter type of modification is glycation, which can occur in the manufacturing process, during storage in formulation or in vivo after application of the drug. Glycation affects the structure, function and stability of monoclonal antibodies, and consequently, detailed analysis of glycation levels is required. Mass spectrometry (MS) plays a key role in the structural characterization of monoclonal antibodies and top-down, middle-up and middle-down MS approaches are increasingly used for the analysis of modifications. Here, we apply a novel middle-up strategy, based on IdeS digestion and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance (FT-ICR) MS, to analyze all six different BsAb subunits in a single high-resolution mass spectrum, namely two light chains, two half fragment crystallizable regions and two Fd’ regions, thus avoiding upfront chromatography. This method was used to monitor glycation changes during a 168h forced-glycation experiment. In addition, hot spot glycation sites were localized using top-down and middle-down MALDI-in-source decay FT-ICR MS, which provided complementary information compared to standard bottom-up MS
Fragmentation processes of ionized 5-fluorouracil in the gas phase and within clusters
We have measured mass spectra for positive ions produced from neutral 5-fluorouracil by electron impact at energies from 0 to 100 eV. Fragment ion appearance energies of this (radio-)chemotherapy agent have been determined for the first time and we have identified several new fragment ions of low abundance. The main fragmentations are similar to uracil, involving HNCO loss and subsequent HCN loss, CO loss, or FCCO loss. The features adjacent to these prominent peaks in the mass spectra are attributed to tautomerization preceding the fragmentation and/or the loss of one or two additional hydrogen atoms. A few fragmentions are distinct for 5-fluorouracil compared to uracil, most notably the production of the reactive moiety CF+. Finally, multiphoton ionization mass spectra are compared for 5-fluorouracil from a laser thermal desorption source and from a supersonic expansion source. The detection of a new fragment ion at 114 u in the supersonic expansion experiments provides the first evidence for a clustering effect on the radiation response of 5-fluorouracil. By analogy with previous experiments and calculations on protonated uracil, this is assigned to NH3 loss from protonated 5-fluorouracil
IgA N- and O-glycosylation profiling reveals no association with the pregnancy-related improvement in rheumatoid arthritis
Background: The Fc glycosylation of immunoglobulin G (IgG) is well known to associate with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) disease activity. The same may be true for other classes of Igs. In the present study, we sought to determine whether the glycosylation of IgA was different between healthy subjects and patients with RA, as well as whether it was associated with RA disease activity, in particular with the pregnancy-associated improvement thereof or the flare after delivery. Methods: A recently developed high-throughput method for glycoprofiling of IgA1 was applied to affinity-captured IgA from sera of patients with RA (n = 252) and healthy control subjects (n = 32) collected before, during and after pregnancy. Results: IgA1 O-glycans bore more sialic acids in patients with RA than in control subjects. In addition, levels of bisecting N-acetylglucosamine of the N-glycans at asparagine 144 were higher in the patients with RA. The levels of several N-glycosylation traits were shown to change with pregnancy, similar to what has been shown before for IgG. However, the changes in IgA glycosylation were not associated with improvement or a flare of disease activity. Conclusions: The glycosylation of IgA differs between patients with RA and healthy control subjects. However, our data suggest only a minor, if any, association of IgA glycosylation with RA disease activity
Correspondence : In support of the IES method of evaluating light source colour rendition
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Theory of low frequency magnetoelectric coupling in magnetostrictive-piezoelectric bilayers
A theoretical model is presented for low-frequency magnetoelectric (ME)
effects in bilayers of magnetostrictive and piezoelectric phases. A novel
approach, the introduction of an interface coupling parameter k, is proposed
for the consideration of actual boundary conditions at the interface. An
averaging method is used to estimate effective material parameters. Expressions
for ME voltage coefficients are obtained by solving elastostatic and
electrostatic equations. We consider both unclamped and rigidly clamped
bilayers and three different field orientations of importance: (i) longitudinal
fields in which the poling field, bias field and ac fields are all parallel to
each other and perpendicular to the sample plane; (ii) transverse fields for
magnetic fields parallel to each other and perpendicular to electric fields,
and (iii) in-plane longitudinal fields for all the fields parallel to each
other and to the sample plane. The theory predicts a giant ME coupling for
bilayers with cobalt ferrite (CFO), nickel ferrite (NFO), or lanthanum
strontium manganite (LSMO) for the magnetostrictive phase and barium titanate
(BTO) or lead zirconate titanate (PZT) for the piezoelectric phase.Comment: To be published in Physical Review B, August 1, 200
Pulsed Magnetic Field Measurements of the Composite Fermion Effective Mass
Magnetotransport measurements of Composite Fermions (CF) are reported in 50 T
pulsed magnetic fields. The CF effective mass is found to increase
approximately linearly with the effective field , in agreement with our
earlier work at lower fields. For a of 14 T it reaches , over 20
times the band edge electron mass. Data from all fractions are unified by the
single parameter for all the samples studied over a wide range of
electron densities. The energy gap is found to increase like at
high fields.Comment: Has final table, will LaTeX without error
Magnetotransport in a pseudomorphic GaAs/GaInAs/GaAlAs heterostructure with a Si delta-doping layer
Magnetotransport properties of a pseudomorphic
GaAs/Ga0.8In0.2As/Ga0.75Al0.25As heterostructure are investigated in pulsed
magnetic fields up to 50 T and at temperatures of T=1.4 K and 4.2 K. The
structure studied consists of a Si delta-layer parallel to a Ga0.8In0.2As
quantum well (QW). The dark electron density of the structure is n_e=1.67x
10^16 m^-2. By illumination the density can be increased up to a factor of 4;
this way the second subband in the Ga0.8In0.2As QW can become populated as well
as the Si delta-layer. The presence of electrons in the delta-layer results in
drastic changes in the transport data, especially at magnetic fields beyond 30
T. The phenomena observed are interpreted as: 1) magnetic freeze-out of
carriers in the delta-layer when a low density of electrons is present in the
delta-layer, and 2) quantization of the electron motion in the two dimensional
electron gases in both the Ga0.8In0.2As QW and the Si delta-layer in the case
of high densities. These conclusions are corroborated by the numerical results
of our theoretical model. We obtain a satisfactory agreement between model and
experiment.Comment: 23 pages, RevTex, 11 Postscript figures (accepted for Phys. Rev. B
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