Graphene single crystals with dimensions of up to 0.5 mm on a side were grown by low-pressure chemical vapor deposition in copper-foil enclosures using methane as a precursor. Low-energy electron ...microscopy analysis showed that the large graphene domains had a single crystallographic orientation, with an occasional domain having two orientations. Raman spectroscopy revealed the graphene single crystals to be uniform monolayers with a low D-band intensity. The electron mobility of graphene films extracted from field-effect transistor measurements was found to be higher than 4000 cm2 V−1 s−1 at room temperature.
Field-effect transistors fabricated on graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) often exhibit large hysteresis accompanied by low mobility, high positive backgate voltage corresponding to ...the minimum conductivity point (V min), and high intrinsic carrier concentration (n 0). In this report, we show that the mobility reported to date for CVD graphene devices on SiO2 is limited by trapped water between the graphene and SiO2 substrate, impurities introduced during the transfer process and adsorbates acquired from the ambient. We systematically study the origin of the scattering impurities and report on a process which achieves the highest mobility (μ) reported to date on large-area devices for CVD graphene on SiO2: maximum mobility (μmax) of 7800 cm2/(V·s) measured at room temperature and 12 700 cm2/(V·s) at 77 K. These mobility values are close to those reported for exfoliated graphene on SiO2 and can be obtained through the careful control of device fabrication steps including minimizing resist residue and non-aqueous transfer combined with annealing. It is also observed that CVD graphene is prone to adsorption of atmospheric species, and annealing at elevated temperature in vacuum helps remove these species.
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AhRR) is known to repress aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) signaling, but very little is known regarding the role of the AhRR in vivo.
This study tested the ...role of AhRR in vivo in AhRR overexpressing mice on molecular and toxic end points mediated through a prototypical AhR ligand.
We generated AhRR-transgenic mice (AhRR Tg) based on the genetic background of C57BL/6J wild type (wt) mice. We tested the effect of the prototypical AhR ligand 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD) on the expression of cytochrome P450 (CYP)1A1 and cytokines in various tissues of mice. We next analyzed the infiltration of immune cells in adipose tissue of mice after treatment with TCDD using flow cytometry.
AhRR Tg mice express significantly higher levels of AhRR compared to wt mice. Activation of AhR by TCDD caused a significant increase of the inflammatory cytokines Interleukin (IL)-1β, IL-6 and IL-10, and CXCL chemokines in white epididymal adipose tissue from both wt and AhRR Tg mice. However, the expression of IL-1β, CXCL2 and CXCL3 were significantly lower in AhRR Tg versus wt mice following TCDD treatment. Exposure to TCDD caused a rapid accumulation of neutrophils and macrophages in white adipose tissue of wt and AhRR Tg mice. Furthermore we found that male AhRR Tg mice were protected from high-dose TCDD-induced lethality associated with a reduced inflammatory response and liver damage as indicated by lower levels of TCDD-induced alanine aminotransferase and hepatic triglycerides. Females from both wt and AhRR Tg mice were less sensitive than male mice to acute toxicity induced by TCDD.
In conclusion, the current study identifies AhRR as a previously uncharacterized regulator of specific inflammatory cytokines, which may protect from acute toxicity induced by TCDD.
Vogel CF, Chang WL, Kado S, McCulloh K, Vogel H, Wu D, Haarmann-Stemmann T, Yang GX, Leung PS, Matsumura F, Gershwin ME. 2016. Transgenic overexpression of aryl hydrocarbon receptor repressor (AhRR) and AhR-mediated induction of CYP1A1, cytokines, and acute toxicity. Environ Health Perspect 124:1071-1083; http://dx.doi.org/10.1289/ehp.1510194.
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Dostopno za:
CEKLJ, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
Molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a layered semiconducting material with a tunable bandgap that is promising for the next generation nanoelectronics as a substitute for graphene or silicon. Despite ...recent progress, the synthesis of high‐quality and highly uniform MoS2 on a large scale is still a challenge. In this work, a temperature‐dependent synthesis study of large‐area MoS2 by direct sulfurization of evaporated Mo thin films on SiO2 is presented. A variety of physical characterization techniques is employed to investigate the structural quality of the material. The film quality is shown to be similar to geological MoS2, if synthesized at sufficiently high temperatures (1050 °C). In addition, a highly uniform growth of trilayer MoS2 with an unprecedented uniformity of ±0.07 nm over a large area (> 10 cm2) is achieved. These films are used to fabricate field‐effect transistors following a straightforward wafer‐scale UV lithography process. The intrinsic field‐effect mobility is estimated to be about 6.5±2.2 cm2 V–1 s–1 and compared to previous studies. These results represent a significant step towards application of MoS2 in nanoelectronics and sensing.
A temperature‐dependent synthesis study of large‐area MoS2 by direct sulfurization of evaporated Mo thin films is presented. The resulting film quality is similar to geological MoS2. An unprecedented uniformity of ±0.07 nm over a large area (>10 cm2) is achieved with trilayer MoS2. The estimated intrinsic field‐effect mobility is approximately 6.5 ± 2.2 cm2 V–1 s–1.
Highly uniform large‐area MoS2 is chemically doped using molecular reductants and oxidants. Electrical measurements, photoemission, and Raman spectroscopy are used to study the doping effect and to ...understand the underlying mechanism. Strong work‐function changes of up to ±1 eV can be achieved, with contributions from state filling and surface dipoles. This results in high doping densities of up to ca. 8 × 1012 cm−2.
The aryl hydrocarbon receptor (AhR) is involved in the regulation of immune responses, T-cell differentiation, and immunity. Here, we show that inflammatory stimuli such as LPS induce the expression ...of AhR in human dendritic cells (DC) associated with an AhR-dependent increase of CYP1A1 (cytochrome P4501A1). In vivo data confirmed the elevated expression of AhR by LPS and the LPS-enhanced 2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (TCDD)-mediated induction of CYP1A1 in thymus of B6 mice. Inhibition of nuclear factor-κB (NF-κB) repressed both normal and LPS-enhanced, TCDD-inducible, AhR-dependent gene expression and canonical pathway control of RelA-regulated AhR-responsive gene expression. LPS-mediated induction of AhR was NF-κB-dependent, as shown in mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEFs) derived from Rel null mice. AhR expression and TCDD-mediated induction of CYP1A1 was significantly reduced in RelA-deficient MEF compared with wild type MEF cells and ectopic expression of RelA restored the expression of AhR and induction of CYP1A1 in MEF RelA null cells. Promoter analysis of the human AhR gene identified three putative NF-κB-binding elements upstream of the transcription start site. Mutation analysis of the AhR promoter identified one NF-κB site as responsible for mediating the induction of AhR expression by LPS and electrophoretic shift assays demonstrated that this NF-κB motif is recognized by the RelA/p50 heterodimer. Our results show for the first time that NF-κB RelA is a critical component regulating the expression of AhR and the induction of AhR-dependent gene expression in immune cells illustrating the interaction of AhR and NF-κB signaling.
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The sandwich approach, whereby an antigen is captured by a primary antibody and detected by a secondary antibody, is commonly used to improve the selectivity and sensitivity of ...enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA). This work details the experimental factors that impact the reliable translation of this sandwich approach to two commonly used electronic biosensors, namely potentiometric and impedimetric biosensors. Previous studies have demonstrated the Debye screening limitations associated with potentiometric biosensors. However, the correlation between the ionic strength of the measurement buffer and the impedimetric biosensing response has not been studied. Potentiometric biosensors were able to successfully detect the primary antibody and the target antigen by decreasing the ionic strength of the phosphate buffered saline (PBS) measurement buffer from 1x PBS to 0.01x PBS. However, the secondary antibody used for the selective signal amplification was not reliably detected. Therefore, the sandwich approach is not viable for potentiometric sensing at biologically relevant ionic strengths, due to the Debye screening effect. Alternatively, decreasing the ionic strength of the measurement buffer allowed for the successful translation of the sandwich approach to impedimetric biosensors. Impedimetric biosensing literature typically attributes a measured increase in the charge transfer resistance to an increase in the thickness of the immobilized biolayer. However, this work highlights the influence that both the charge and thickness of the biolayer have on the transport of the redox couple. Decreasing the ionic strength of the measurement buffer lowers the molecular charge screening effect. This permits the transport of a positively charged redox probe through a negatively charged immobilized biolayer via migration and diffusion. The results demonstrate that the use of a buffer at a lower, yet biologically relevant ionic strength allows for the successful translation of the sandwich approach to impedimetric biosensors.
This work presents the results of gas concentration driven deuterium permeation experiments through chemical vapor deposited graphene on copper. Since the graphene is synthesized directly onto the ...copper, the permeation experiments are able to be performed over a large area (16.62 mm2) without the detrimental impact of transfer-induced tears and holes. Thus, permeation through intrinsic defects of the graphene are probed. The graphene-coated copper shows a reduction in permeation by a factor of ∼28 compared to copper alone. The permeation results are modeled with a composite permeation model. The permeation of copper alone is shown to be proportional to the square root of pressure, whereas the permeation through graphene samples is proportional to pressure. The graphene permeance follows an Arrhenius behavior. The room temperature pore permeation coefficients for the small and large grain graphene samples are ∼7.0 × 10−28±5.0 × 10−28 and ∼1.9 × 10−27±1.4 × 10−27 mol s−1 MPa−1, respectively. These results suggest that grain boundaries are not the main diffusion pathways, and instead other intrinsic defects in the graphene demonstrate less resistance to permeation. This study advances the fundamental understanding of the intrinsic permeation of chemical vapor deposited graphene, as well as the use of graphene in hydrogen isotope permeation barrier applications.
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Atomically thin molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) is a promising two-dimensional semiconductor for high-performance flexible electronics, sensors, transducers, and energy conversion. Here, piezoresistive ...strain sensing with flexible MoS2 field-effect transistors (FETs) made from highly uniform large-area films is demonstrated. The origin of the piezoresistivity in MoS2 is the strain-induced band gap change, which is confirmed by optical reflection spectroscopy. In addition, the sensitivity to strain can be tuned by more than 1 order of magnitude by adjusting the Fermi level via gate biasing.
Coevolutionary interactions are thought to have spurred the evolution of key innovations and driven the diversification of much of life on Earth. However, the genetic and evolutionary basis of the ...innovations that facilitate such interactions remains poorly understood. We examined the coevolutionary interactions between plants (Brassicales) and butterflies (Pieridae), and uncovered evidence for an escalating evolutionary arms-race. Although gradual changes in trait complexity appear to have been facilitated by allelic turnover, key innovations are associated with gene and genome duplications. Furthermore, we show that the origins of both chemical defenses and of molecular counter adaptations were associated with shifts in diversification rates during the arms-race. These findings provide an important connection between the origins of biodiversity, coevolution, and the role of gene and genome duplications as a substrate for novel traits.
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