•Li+, Na+, and K+ codoped LuYAG: 1.2% Pr crystals were grown by Czochralski method.•Changing growth geometry, translation and rotation rate mitigates cracking in LuYAG.•Codoping with monovalent ions ...improves light yield, energy resolution, decay time.•Enhanced properties are associated with the removal of charge carrier trap at 300 K.
In this paper, we explore codoping with monovalent ions: Li+, Na+, and K+, as a method of altering the scintillation properties of praseodymium-doped (Lu0.75Y0.25)3Al5O12 (LuYAG: Pr3+) single crystals. Substantial effort was given to optimizing the growth process to mitigate cracking which occurred in the LuYAG crystals beginning around the shoulder region and continuing throughout the boule. Growth parameters such as the translation and rotation rate, cool down duration, and boule geometry were altered to successfully address this challenge. Scintillation light yield, energy resolution, and scintillation decay time were measured for each of these crystals. It was discovered that monovalent codoping significantly improved scintillation light yield by at least 50%; accelerated and increased the weight of the fast component of scintillation decay; and enhanced energy resolution to values of as low as 3.8%, the best energy resolution reported for an oxide scintillator to date. The enhancements in scintillation performance are related to the effect of monovalent codoping on the formation of defects, in particular oxygen vacancies, within the LuYAG matrix and is proven via thermoluminescence and afterglow measurements.
Lithium codoping has emerged as an effective strategy to enhance the light yield of oxide scintillators for radiation detection applications, but the understanding of the actual role played by Li+ ...remains unclear. In this work, we comprehensively study the effects of Li codoping on optical and scintillation properties of Lu2SiO5:Ce (LSO:Ce) single crystals and reveal the critical role of site occupancy of Li. High-quality LSO:Ce single crystals codoped with 0.05, 0.1, and 0.3 at. % Li ions were grown by the Czochralski method. The optical absorption spectra confirm nonconversion of stable Ce3+ to Ce4+ in Li-codoped LSO:Ce regardless of the Li codoping concentration. The photoluminescence decay kinetics suggest an enhanced ionization of the excited 5d1 state of Ce3+ centers in highly codoped samples. A simultaneous improvement of scintillation light yield, decay time, and afterglow is achieved in LSO:Ce codoped with low concentrations of Li. The preferential occupation of Li at interstitial spaces and lutetium sites is proven to rely on its codoping concentration by using the 7Li nuclear magnetic resonance technique. The concentration-dependent site occupancy of Li alters the defect structures of LSO:Ce, in particular resulting in a distinct change in the number of cerium spatially correlated oxygen vacancies confirmed by thermoluminescence and afterglow measurements.
The Divertor Tokamak Test (DTT) facility needs a large amount of heating power to study the problem of power exhaust in reactor-relevant conditions. Among the additional heating systems, the ion ...cyclotron resonance heating (ICRH) is characterized by radio frequency (RF) components based on standard technology and well-assessed solutions due to the tight schedule of the DTT construction. Considering the harsh fusion operating conditions, the ICRH antenna design involves different and interacting physical fields to be managed by the systems engineering (SE) approach. Therefore, following step by step this methodology, the design started with the definition of the main requirements of the whole system. Then, the main functions have been identified with the aim to define the logical architecture of the whole antenna structure. In the end, a preliminary 3-D parametric model of the ICRH antenna with its subsystems has been developed adopting a top-down modeling approach in the CATIA V5 environment provided by Dassault Systemes. Key aspects of the 3-D model are the clear definition of the position in the available space of all subsystems and of their interfaces, and its parametrization. They allow to quickly implement the modifications required by the multiple iterations between the geometrical modeling environment and several multiphysics simulation environments to check the compliance with mechanical, electrical, thermofluid dynamics, and remote handling requirements.
Sugar transport and partitioning play key roles in the regulation of plant development and responses to biotic and abiotic factors. During plant/pathogen interactions, there is a competition for ...sugar that is controlled by membrane transporters and their regulation is decisive for the outcome of the interaction. SWEET sugar transporters are the targets of extracellular pathogens, which modify their expression to acquire the sugars necessary to their growth (Chen et al., 2010). The regulation of carbon allocation and sugar partitioning in the interaction between grapevine (
) and its pathogens is poorly understood. We previously characterized the SWEET family in
and showed that SWEET4 could be involved in resistance to the necrotrophic fungus
in Arabidopsis (Chong et al., 2014). To study the role of VvSWEET4 in grapevine, we produced
cv. Syrah hairy roots overexpressing
under the control of the CaMV 35S promoter (
). High levels of
expression in hairy roots resulted in enhanced growth on media containing glucose or sucrose and increased contents in glucose and fructose. Sugar uptake assays further showed an improved glucose absorption in
overexpressors. In parallel, we observed that
expression was significantly induced after infection of wild type grapevine hairy roots with
, a soilborne necrotrophic pathogen. Importantly, grapevine hairy roots overexpressing
exhibited an improved resistance level to
infection. This resistance phenotype was associated with higher glucose pools in roots after infection, higher constitutive expression of several genes involved in flavonoid biosynthesis, and higher flavanol contents. We propose that high sugar levels in
hairy roots provides a better support to the increased energy demand during pathogen infection. In addition, high sugar levels promote biosynthesis of flavonoids with antifungal properties. Overall, this work highlights the key role of sugar transport mediated by SWEET transporters for secondary metabolism regulation and pathogen resistance in grapevine.
High‐resolution gridded daily data sets are essential for natural resource management and the analyses of climate changes and their effects. This study aims to evaluate the performance of 15 simple ...or complex interpolation techniques in reproducing daily precipitation at a resolution of 1 km2 over topographically complex areas. Methods are tested considering two different sets of observation densities and different rainfall amounts. We used rainfall data that were recorded at 74 and 145 observational stations, respectively, spread over the 5760 km2 of the Republic of Cyprus, in the Eastern Mediterranean. Regression analyses utilizing geographical copredictors and neighboring interpolation techniques were evaluated both in isolation and combined. Linear multiple regression (LMR) and geographically weighted regression methods (GWR) were tested. These included a step‐wise selection of covariables, as well as inverse distance weighting (IDW), kriging, and 3D‐thin plate splines (TPS). The relative rank of the different techniques changes with different station density and rainfall amounts. Our results indicate that TPS performs well for low station density and large‐scale events and also when coupled with regression models. It performs poorly for high station density. The opposite is observed when using IDW. Simple IDW performs best for local events, while a combination of step‐wise GWR and IDW proves to be the best method for large‐scale events and high station density. This study indicates that the use of step‐wise regression with a variable set of geographic parameters can improve the interpolation of large‐scale events because it facilitates the representation of local climate dynamics.
Key Points
Interpolation of daily rainfall data using 15 spatial interpolation methods
Relative skill of interpolation techniques depends on observation density
High and low rainfall events should be treated with different techniques
The relationship between mesh weight and host tissue reaction has, so far, not been fully investigated. Lightweight meshes (LWM) are thought to give less inflammatory response compared with ...heavyweight meshes (HWM). The present study is a randomized, controlled, double-blind clinical trial performed in 61 patients who underwent an elective inguinal hernioplasty. The primary outcome of the study was to investigate the relationship between total amount of prosthetic material (polypropylene), immunological reaction, and oxidative stress. The study was double-blinded. Sixty-one patients were recruited for the study and randomly assigned to 2 groups (groups A and B). Levels of inflammation markers (interleukin-6 IL-6 and tumor necrosis factor-α TNF-α) and oxidative stress markers (reduced glutathione GSH and lipid hydroperoxides LOOH) were determined preoperatively and after undergoing inguinal hernioplasty (after 6, 72, and 288 hours), respectively, with LWM and HWM. There was no significant difference in IL-6 levels between HWM and LWM (P = 0.3, 0.7, 0.8 after 6, 72, and 288 hours, respectively). A statistically significant difference was found after 72 hours for TNF-α (P = 0.01), for GSH after 6 hours (P < 0.01), and after 6 and 72 hours for LOOH (P = 0.05, 0.01, respectively). Oxidative stress occurred at earlier time points and was pore accentuated HWM versus LWM and prodromal to TNF-α increase.Also, in randomized clinical trial, the use of LWM gives advantages in terms of less inflammatory response when compared with HWM. Moreover, there is a significant higher oxidative stress after implantation of HWM. The intensity of oxidative stress seems to be strongly related to the amount of implanted polypropylene. (
NCT01090284).
The characteristics of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTb) disease are still obscure in patients with solid tumours, as well as the benefits of screening and treating latent tuberculosis infection ...(LTBI) in these patients. Our objective was to trace the clinical profile of these individuals and assess the mortality predictors related to tuberculosis (TB).
We reviewed the medical records of 126 patients with solid tumours malignancy and who developed TB disease between January 2009 and April 2018 at a cancer referral centre.
The most common locations of malignancy were head and neck, with squamous cell carcinoma being the most frequent histological type, the majority (97/126) presenting locally invasive tumours (T3 or T4). A total of 120 had TB pulmonary and the microbiological diagnosis was performed in 103/126. The following variables were associated with the risk of death from TB: DPOC lung cancer, BMI, malnutrition, metastasis and ECOG 3 or 4. Previous chemotherapy treatment was a protective factor.
Male, usage of alcohol and smoking were the most predominant patients characteristics in our sample. In the multivariate analysis, lung cancer, presence of metastasis and ECOG ≥ 3 were associated with death from TB.
ABSTRACT
The evolution of the gravitational potentials on large scales due to the accelerated expansion of the Universe is an important and independent probe of dark energy, known as the integrated ...Sachs–Wolfe (ISW) effect. We measure this ISW effect through cross-correlating the cosmic microwave background maps from the Planck satellite with a radio continuum galaxy distribution map from the recent Rapid ASKAP Continuum Survey (RACS). We detect a positive cross-correlation at $\sim 2.8\, \sigma$ relative to the null hypothesis of no correlation. We parametrize the strength of the ISW effect through an amplitude parameter and find the constraints to be $A_{\mathrm{ISW}} = 0.94^{+0.42}_{-0.41}$, which is consistent with the prediction of an accelerating universe within the current concordance cosmological model, ΛCDM. The credible interval on this parameter is independent of the different bias models and redshift distributions that were considered when marginalizing over the nuisance parameters. We also detect a power excess in the galaxy autocorrelation angular power spectrum on large scales (ℓ ≤ 40), and investigate possible systematic causes.
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