Direct observation of the spin polarization in Au atomic wires on Si(553)

The spin-resolved electronic band structure of Au-induced metallic atomic wires on a vicinal silicon surface, Si(553), was investigated using spin-and angle-resolved photoelectron spectroscopy. We directly measured the spin polarization of three partially filled one-dimensional metallic bands, a one-third-filled band, and the doublet of nearly half-filled bands. For the half-filled doublet, the strong apparent spin polarization was observed near the Fermi energy with a minor out-of-plane spin component. This observation is consistent with the Rashba-type spin-orbit splitting and with a recent experiment on a similar doublet of Si(557)-Au. In contrast, the one-third-filled band does not show a substantial spin polarization within the experimental accuracy, indicating a much smaller spin splitting, if any. These results are discussed for the origin of the partially filled bands and for the intriguing broken-symmetry ground state observed at low temperature.X11116sciescopu

Bacteria classification using Cyranose 320 electronic nose

Background An electronic nose (e-nose), the Cyrano Sciences' Cyranose 320, comprising an array of thirty-two polymer carbon black composite sensors has been used to identify six species of bacteria responsible for eye infections when present at a range of concentrations in saline solutions. Readings were taken from the headspace of the samples by manually introducing the portable e-nose system into a sterile glass containing a fixed volume of bacteria in suspension. Gathered data were a very complex mixture of different chemical compounds. Method Linear Principal Component Analysis (PCA) method was able to classify four classes of bacteria out of six classes though in reality other two classes were not better evident from PCA analysis and we got 74% classification accuracy from PCA. An innovative data clustering approach was investigated for these bacteria data by combining the 3-dimensional scatter plot, Fuzzy C Means (FCM) and Self Organizing Map (SOM) network. Using these three data clustering algorithms simultaneously better 'classification' of six eye bacteria classes were represented. Then three supervised classifiers, namely Multi Layer Perceptron (MLP), Probabilistic Neural network (PNN) and Radial basis function network (RBF), were used to classify the six bacteria classes. Results A [6 × 1] SOM network gave 96% accuracy for bacteria classification which was best accuracy. A comparative evaluation of the classifiers was conducted for this application. The best results suggest that we are able to predict six classes of bacteria with up to 98% accuracy with the application of the RBF network. Conclusion This type of bacteria data analysis and feature extraction is very difficult. But we can conclude that this combined use of three nonlinear methods can solve the feature extraction problem with very complex data and enhance the performance of Cyranose 320

Prostate-specific extracellular vesicles as a novel biomarker in human prostate cancer

Extracellular vesicles (EVs) may play an important role in cancer development and progression. We aimed to investigate the prognostic potential of prostate-specific EVs in prostate cancer (PCa) patients. Plasma and prostate tissue were collected from patients who underwent surgery for PCa (n = 82) or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH, n = 28). To analyze the quantity of EVs in prostate, we performed transmission electron microscopy (TEM), immuno-TEM with CD63 and prostate-specific membrane antigen (PSMA), and immunofluorescence staining. After EV isolation from plasma, CD63 and PSMA concentration was measured using ELISA kits. PSMA-positive areas in prostate differed in patients with BPH, and low-, intermediate-, and high-risk PCa (2.4, 8.2, 17.5, 26.5%, p < 0.001). Plasma PSMA-positive EV concentration differed in patients with BPH, and low-, intermediate-, and high-risk PCa (21.9, 43.4, 49.2, 59.9 ng/mL, p < 0.001), and ROC curve analysis indicated that plasma PSMA-positive EV concentration differentiated PCa from BPH (AUC 0.943). Patients with lower plasma PSMA-positive EV concentration had greater prostate volume (50.2 vs. 33.4 cc, p < 0.001) and lower pathologic Gleason score (p = 0.025). During the median follow-up of 18 months, patients with lower plasma PSMA-positive EV concentration tended to have a lower risk of biochemical failure than those with higher levels of prostate-specific EVs (p = 0.085).11910Ysciescopu

Effective NSAID treatment indicates that hyperprostaglandinism is affecting the clinical severity of childhood hypophosphatasia

BACKGROUND: Hypophosphatasia (HP) is an inborn error of bone metabolism characterized by a genetic defect in the gene encoding the tissue-nonspecific alkaline phosphatase (TNSALP). There is a lack of knowledge as to how the variability and clinical severity of the HP phenotype (especially pain and walking impairment) are related to metabolic disturbances or impairments, subsequent to the molecular defect. METHODS: We analyzed the changes in clinical symptoms and the prostaglandin (PG) metabolism in response to treatment with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) in six children affected by childhood HP. In addition, by exposing HP fibroblasts to pyridoxal phosphate and/or calcium pyrophosphate in vitro, we analyzed whether the alterations in PG levels are sequelae related to the metabolic defect. RESULTS: Childhood HP patients, who often complain about pain in the lower limbs without evident fractures, have systemic hyperprostaglandinism. Symptomatic anti-inflammatory treatment with NSAIDs significantly improved pain-associated physical impairment. Calcium pyrophosphate, but not pyridoxal phosphate, induced cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) gene expression and PG production in HP and normal fibroblasts in vitro. CONCLUSION: Clinical features of childhood HP related to pain in the lower legs may be, at least in part, sequelae related to elevated PG levels, secondary to the primary metabolic defect. Consequently, NSAID treatment does improve the clinical features of childhood HP

Novel and simple patterning process of quantum dots via transfer printing for active matrix qd-led

© 2020 SID. The next generation of a self-emitting display requires precise and stable patterning techniques to shape Red, Green, and Blue pixels using quantum dots. In this study, we propose the novel and simple transfer printing process for the active matrix QD-LEDs

Frequent Occurrence of Mitochondrial DNA Mutations in Barrett’s Metaplasia without the Presence of Dysplasia

BACKGROUND: Barrett's esophagus (BE) is one of the most common premalignant lesions and can progress to esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA). The numerous molecular events may play a role in the neoplastic transformation of Barrett's mucosa such as the change of DNA ploidy, p53 mutation and alteration of adhesion molecules. However, the molecular mechanism of the progression of BE to EA remains unclear and most studies of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) mutations in BE have performed on BE with the presence of dysplasia. METHODS/FINDINGS: Thus, the current study is to investigate new molecular events (Barrett's esophageal tissue-specific-mtDNA alterations/instabilities) in mitochondrial genome and causative factors for their alterations using the corresponding adjacent normal mucosal tissue (NT) and tissue (BT) from 34 patients having Barrett's metaplasia without the presence of dysplasia. Eighteen patients (53%) exhibited mtDNA mutations which were not found in adjacent NT. mtDNA copy number was about 3 times higher in BT than in adjacent NT. The activity of the mitochondrial respiratory chain enzyme complexes in tissues from Barrett's metaplasia without the presence of dysplasia was impaired. Reactive oxygen species (ROS) level in BT was significantly higher than those in corresponding samples. CONCLUSION/SIGNIFICANCE: High ROS level in BT may contribute to the development of mtDNA mutations, which may play a crucial role in disease progression and tumorigenesis in BE

Construction of a 3He magnetic force microscope with a vector magnet

We constructed a He-3 magnetic force microscope operating at the base temperature of 300 mK under a vector magnetic field of 2-2-9 T in the x-y-z direction. Fiber optic interferometry as a detection scheme is employed in which two home-built fiber walkers are used for the alignment between the cantilever and the optical fiber. The noise level of the laser interferometer is close to its thermodynamic limit. The capabilities of the sub-Kelvin and vector field are demonstrated by imaging the coexistence of magnetism and superconductivity in a ferromagnetic superconductor (ErNi2B2C) at T = 500 mK and by probing a dipole shape of a single Abrikosov vortex with an in-plane tip magnetization. (C) 2016 AIP Publishing LLC.open1111sciescopu

Waterproof Flexible InP@ZnSeS Quantum Dot Light-Emitting Diode

The development of flexible displays for wearable electronics applications has created demand for high-performance quantum dot (QD) light-emitting diodes (QLEDs) based on QD core@shell structures. Emerging indium phosphide (InP)-based core@shell QDs show promise as lighting material in the field of optoelectronics because they are environmentally friendly material, can be produced in a cost-effective manner, and are capable of tunable emission. While efforts have been made to enhance the performance of InP-based QLED, the stabilities of InP@ZnSeS QDs film and InP@ZnSeS-based QLED in water/air are not yet fully understood, limiting their practical applications. Herein, a highly durable, flexible InP@ZnSeS QLED encapsulated in an ultrathin film of CYTOP, a solution-based amorphous fluoropolymer, is demonstrated. The CYTOP-encapsulated green flexible QLED shows an external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 0.904% and a high luminescence of 1593 cd/m2 as well as outstanding waterproof performance. The flexible device emits strong luminescence after being immersed in water for ~20 minutes. Even when subjected to continuous tensile stress with a 5 mm bending radius, the high luminescence is preserved. This waterproof architecture can be a promising strategy for wearable electronics applications

Carbon-nanotube-interfaced glass fiber scaffold for regeneration of transected sciatic nerve.

Carbon nanotubes (CNTs), with their unique and unprecedented properties, have become very popular for the repair of tissues, particularly for those requiring electrical stimuli. Whilst most reports have demonstrated in vitro neural cell responses of the CNTs, few studies have been performed on the in vivo efficacy of CNT-interfaced biomaterials in the repair and regeneration of neural tissues. Thus, we report here for the first time the in vivo functions of CNT-interfaced nerve conduits in the regeneration of transected rat sciatic nerve. Aminated CNTs were chemically tethered onto the surface of aligned phosphate glass microfibers (PGFs) and CNT-interfaced PGFs (CNT-PGFs) were successfully placed into three-dimensional poly(l/d-lactic acid) (PLDLA) tubes. An in vitro study confirmed that neurites of dorsal root ganglion outgrew actively along the aligned CNT-PGFs and that the CNT interfacing significantly increased the maximal neurite length. Sixteen weeks after implantation of a CNT-PGF nerve conduit into the 10mm gap of a transected rat sciatic nerve, the number of regenerating axons crossing the scaffold, the cross-sectional area of the re-innervated muscles and the electrophysiological findings were all significantly improved by the interfacing with CNTs. This first in vivo effect of using a CNT-interfaced scaffold in the regeneration process of a transected rat sciatic nerve strongly supports the potential use of CNT-interfaced PGFs at the interface between the nerve conduit and peripheral neural tissues