This tutorial review discusses a new class of colloidal metal nanoparticles that is able to enhance the efficiencies of surface-enhanced Raman scattering (SERS) by as much as 10(14)-10(15) fold. This ...enormous enhancement allows spectroscopic detection and identification of single molecules located on the nanoparticle surface or at the junction of two particles under ambient conditions. Considerable progress has been made in understanding the enhancement mechanisms, including definitive evidence for the single-molecule origin of fluctuating SERS signals. For applications, SERS nanoparticle tags have been developed based on the use of embedded reporter molecules and a silica or polymer encapsulation layer. The SERS nanoparticle tags are capable of providing detailed spectroscopic information and are much brighter than semiconductor quantum dots in the near-infrared spectral window. These properties have raised new opportunities for multiplexed molecular diagnosis and in vivo Raman spectroscopy and imaging.
We have investigated the spin texture of surface Fermi arcs in the recently discovered Weyl semimetal TaAs using spin- and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy. The experimental results ...demonstrate that the Fermi arcs are spin polarized. The measured spin texture fulfills the requirement of mirror and time-reversal symmetries and is well reproduced by our first-principles calculations, which gives strong evidence for the topologically nontrivial Weyl semimetal state in TaAs. The consistency between the experimental and calculated results further confirms the distribution of chirality of the Weyl nodes determined by first-principles calculations.
When NMC/graphite Li-ion cells are operated at elevated temperature or at a cutoff potential above 4.2 V, electrolyte oxidation becomes increasingly severe leading to gaseous products and other ...oxidized species. These generated gas products and oxidized species can migrate to, and then interact with, the negative electrode. A variety of cell formats (pouch cells, symmetric cells and coin cells) as well as pouch bags, containing only a delithiated positive electrode or a lithiated negative electrode, were used to investigate electrode/electrode interactions. Open circuit potential measurements during high temperature storage, ex-situ measurements of gas volume produced versus time, gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) of the gases produced and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) of the electrodes versus time were performed. During storage at 60°C, pouch bags containing only a lithiated negative electrode and electrolyte produced no gas while charged full pouch cells produced some gas and pouch bags containing only a delithiated positive electrode and electrolyte produced a significant amount of gas. The predominant gas produced in the positive electrode pouch bags was CO2 while virtually no CO2 was detected in the gases evolved in the charged full cell, suggesting that the negative electrode in the full cell consumes CO2 generated at the charged positive electrode. In addition, the impedance of the surface film on the charged positive electrodes in the pouch bags increased at least three times more than the positive electrodes in the charged pouch cells, even though they were both in contact with electrolyte for the same period of time. These impedance results suggest that oxidized species created at the positive electrode in the pouch bag remain in the vicinity of the positive electrode and create a high impedance film possibly a rock salt surface layer, while the same species migrate to the negative and are "consumed" in the pouch cell where the impedance of the positive electrode remains small. These interactions are apparently essential for the health of a NMC/graphite Li-ion pouch cell when operated at an elevated temperature or at a cutoff voltage above 4.2 V.
Objective
This study aimed to evaluate the clinical value of urinary biomarkers including kidney injury molecule-1 (KIM-1), neutrophil gelatinase-associated lipocalin (NGAL), and monocyte ...chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1) in lupus nephritis.
Methods
A total of 109 biopsy-proven lupus nephritis patients were included and 50 healthy individuals were used as normal controls. Urinary KIM-1, NGAL, and MCP-1 levels were measured by ELISA and their correlations with clinical and histological features were assessed. Receiver operating characteristic curves were performed and the Cox regression model was applied to identify prognostic factors associated with renal outcomes.
Results
Active lupus nephritis patients exhibited elevated urinary levels of KIM-1, NGAL, and MCP-1 compared with lupus nephritis patients in remission (P < 0.001) and normal controls (P < 0.001). The urinary KIM-1 level was correlated with pathological tubular atrophy (r = 0.208, P < 0.05) and increased significantly in the presence of interstitial inflammatory lesions (P = 0.031). Urinary KIM-1, NGAL, and MCP-1 levels were higher in patients with active tubulointerstitial lesions than in those with only chronic lesions (P = 0.015, P = 0.230, and P = 0.086, respectively). A combination of KIM-1, NGAL, and MCP-1 was a good indicator for diagnosing active tubulointerstitial lesions (area under the curve: 0.796). The combination of KIM-1 and NGAL was identified as an independent risk factor for renal outcomes (hazard ratio = 7.491, P < 0.05).
Conclusion
Urinary KIM-1, NGAL, and MCP-1 levels were associated with kidney injury indices in lupus nephritis. The combination of the three biomarkers showed increased power in predicting tubulointerstitial lesions and renal outcomes.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
Discovery of magnetic Weyl fermions: Dirac fermions split into pairs of Weyl fermions by slow magnetic fluctuations.
Weyl fermions as emergent quasiparticles can arise in Weyl semimetals (WSMs) in ...which the energy bands are nondegenerate, resulting from inversion or time-reversal symmetry breaking. Nevertheless, experimental evidence for magnetically induced WSMs is scarce. Here, using photoemission spectroscopy, we observe that the degeneracy of Bloch bands is already lifted in the paramagnetic phase of EuCd
2
As
2
. We attribute this effect to the itinerant electrons experiencing quasi-static and quasi–long-range ferromagnetic fluctuations. Moreover, the spin-nondegenerate band structure harbors a pair of ideal Weyl nodes near the Fermi level. Hence, we show that long-range magnetic order and the spontaneous breaking of time-reversal symmetry are not essential requirements for WSM states in centrosymmetric systems and that WSM states can emerge in a wider range of condensed matter systems than previously thought.
Two-dimensional topological insulators with a large bulk band gap are promising for experimental studies of quantum spin Hall effect and for spintronic device applications. Despite considerable ...theoretical efforts in predicting large-gap two-dimensional topological insulator candidates, none of them have been experimentally demonstrated to have a full gap, which is crucial for quantum spin Hall effect. Here, by combining scanning tunneling microscopy/spectroscopy and angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy, we reveal that ZrTe5 crystal hosts a large full gap of ∼100meV on the surface and a nearly constant density of states within the entire gap at the monolayer step edge. These features are well reproduced by our first-principles calculations, which point to the topologically nontrivial nature of the edge states.
Global polarization of Ξ and Ω hyperons has been measured for the first time in Au + Au collisions at √sNN = 200 GeV. The measurements of the Ξ− and ... hyperon polarization have been performed by ...two independent methods, via analysis of the angular distribution of the daughter particles in the parity violating weak decay Ξ → Λ + π, as well as by measuring the polarization of the daughter Λ hyperon, polarized via polarization transfer from its parent. The polarization, obtained by combining the results from the two methods and averaged over Ξ− and ... is measured to be ⟨PΞ⟩ = 0.47 ± 0.10(stat) ± 0.23(syst)% for the collision centrality 20%–80%. The ⟨PΞ⟩ is found to be slightly larger than the inclusive Λ polarization and in reasonable agreement with a multiphase transport model. The ⟨PΞ⟩ is found to follow the centrality dependence of the vorticity predicted in the model, increasing toward more peripheral collisions. The global polarization of Ω, ⟨PΩ⟩ = 1.11 ± 0.87(stat) ± 1.97(syst)% was obtained by measuring the polarization of daughter Λ in the decay Ω → Λ + K, assuming the polarization transfer factor CΩΛ = 1.
Topological materials with exotic quantum properties are promising candidates for quantum spin electronics. Different classes of topological materials, including Weyl semimetal, topological ...superconductor, topological insulator and Axion insulator, etc., can be connected to each other via quantum phase transition. For example, it is believed that a trivial band insulator can be twisted into topological phase by increasing spin-orbital coupling or changing the parameters of crystal lattice. With the results of LDA calculation and measurement by angle-resolved photoemission spectroscopy (ARPES), we demonstrate in this work that the electronic structure of SrSn2As2 single crystal has the texture of band inversion near the critical point. The results indicate the possibility of realizing topological quantum phase transition in SrSn2As2 single crystal and obtaining different exotic quantum states.