Magnetic Field-Induced Strain of Metamagnetic Heusler Alloy Ni41Co9Mn31.5Ga18.5

Ni41Co9Mn31.5Ga18.5 is a re-entrant and metamagnetic Heusler alloy. In order to investigate the magnetic functionality of polycrystalline Ni41Co9Mn31.5Ga18.5, magnetic field-induced strain (MFIS) measurements were performed. A 0.12% MFIS was observed at 340 K and 10 T. Strict MFISs between 330 and 370 K were observed. These magneto-structural variances acted in concert with the metamagnetic property observed by the magnetization measurements and magneto-caloric property observed by the caloric measurements in applied magnetic fields. The MFISs were proportional to the fourth power of the magnetization, and this result is in agreement with Takahashi’s spin fluctuation theory of itinerant electron magnetism. The investigation of time response of the MFIS was performed by means of water-cooled electric magnet, zero magnetic field to 1.66 T in 8.0 s at 354 K. A 2.2×10−4 MFIS was observed, which was 80% of the MFIS in a 60-s mode. This indicates that a high-speed transition has occurred on applying magnetic fields

Magnetocaloric Effects in Metamagnetic Shape Memory Alloys

Recently, metamagnetic shape memory alloys have attracted much attention as candidates for the rare-earth free magnetic refrigerants. These materials undergo the martensitic transformation (MT) at around room temperature accompanied by a significant entropy change. The application of the magnetic field at the low-temperature martensitic phase realizes the magnetic field-induced martensitic transformation (MFIMT). Through the MFIMT, the materials show an unconventional magnetocaloric effect (MCE), which is called inverse magnetocaloric effect (IMCE). In this chapter, the direct measurement system of MCE in pulsed-high-magnetic fields is introduced. With taking the advantage of the fast field-sweep rate of pulsed field, adiabatic measurements of MCE are carried out at various temperatures. Using this technique, the IMCEs of the metamagnetic shape memory alloys NiCoMnIn and NiCoMnGa are directly measured as adiabatic temperature changes in pulsed fields. From the experimental data of MCE for NiCoMnIn, the entropy of spin system in the austenite phase is estimated through a simple mean-field model. By the combination of MCE, magnetization and specific heat measurements, the electronic, lattice and magnetic contributions to the IMCE are individually evaluated. The result for NiCoMnIn demonstrates that lattice entropy plays the dominant role for IMCE in this material

Magnetocaloric and Magnetic Properties of Meta‐Magnetic Heusler Alloy Ni41Co9Mn31.5Ga18.5

Ni41Co9Mn31.5Ga18.5 is a magnetic Heusler alloy, which indicates metamagnetic transition at the reverse martensite transition. In this paper, caloric measurements were performed and discussed about magnetocaloric effect. We also performed magnetization measurements around Curie temperature TC in the martensite phase and analyzed by means of the spin fluctuation theory of itinerant electron magnetism. From the differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) measurements in zero fields, the value of the latent heat λ was obtained as 2.63 kJ/kg, and in magnetic fields the value was not changed. The entropy change ΔS was − 7.0 J/(kgK) in zero fields and gradually increases with increasing magnetic fields. The relative cooling power (RCP) was 104 J/kg at 2.0 T, which was comparable with In doped Ni41Co9Mn32Ga16In2 alloy

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target

Magneto-Structural Properties of Ni2MnGa Ferromagnetic Shape Memory Alloy in Magnetic Fields

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