Deposition of semiconductors on bendable substrates is a crucial step toward flexible circuitry and deposition by a roll-to-roll process. Since most bendable substrates have limited temperature ...stability (normally degradation starts between 150 °C and 300 °C), processing temperatures are typically below that of rigid substrates. Amorphous oxide semiconductors (AOSs) such as indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) can be fabricated at room temperature (RT) and exhibit electron mobilities >10 cm2 V−1 s−1 being a pre-requisite for application in backplanes of displays. While IGZO is already commercially exploited, the search for alternative materials is highly relevant because indium and gallium are rare and expensive. Zinc tin oxide (ZTO) is a promising AOS since zinc and tin are highly abundant and cheap. In this letter, we discuss RT-fabricated n-type ZTO thin films used as the channel material in flexible inverter circuits based on junction field-effect transistors. RT-fabricated nickel oxide is used as a semitransparent p-type gate material. The devices are fabricated on flexible polyimide and exhibit an excellent peak gain magnitude of 464 and uncertainty level as low as 130 mV at a supply voltage of only 3 V. They are characterized before and after bending at various radii. Even after bending at 2 mm radius, the inverters behave still very well.
Bacterial processes in soil, including biodegradation, require contact between bacteria and substrates. Knowledge of the three-dimensional spatial distribution of bacteria at the microscale is ...necessary to understand and predict such processes. Using a soil microsampling strategy combined with a mathematical spatial analysis, we studied the spatial distribution of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) degrader microhabitats as a function of 2,4-D degrader abundance. Soil columns that allowed natural flow were percolated with 2,4-D to increase the 2,4-D degrader abundance. Hundreds of soil microsamples (minimum diameter, 125 micrometer) were collected and transferred to culture medium to check for the presence of 2,4-D degraders. Spatial distributions of bacterial microhabitats were characterized by determining the average size of colonized soil patches and the average number of patches per gram of soil. The spatial distribution of 2,4-D degrader microhabitats was not affected by water flow, but there was an overall increase in colonized patch sizes after 2,4-D amendment; colonized microsamples were dispersed in the soil at low 2,4-D degrader densities and clustered in patches that were more than 0.5 mm in diameter at higher densities. During growth, spreading of 2,4-D degraders within the soil and an increase in 2,4-D degradation were observed. We hypothesized that spreading of the bacteria increased the probability of encounters with 2,4-D and resulted in better interception of the degradable substrate. This work showed that characterization of bacterial microscale spatial distribution is relevant to microbial ecology studies. It improved quantitative bacterial microhabitat description and suggested that sporadic movement of cells occurs. Furthermore, it offered perspectives for linking microbial function to the soil physicochemical environment.
The ultrafast structural dynamics of water following inner-shell ionization is a crucial issue in high-energy radiation chemistry. We have exposed isolated water molecules to a short X-ray pulse from ...a free-electron laser and detected momenta of all produced ions in coincidence. By combining experimental results and theoretical modeling, we can image dissociation dynamics of individual molecules in unprecedented detail. We reveal significant molecular structural dynamics in H2O2+, such as asymmetric deformation and bond-angle opening, leading to two-body or three-body fragmentation on a timescale of a few femtoseconds. We thus reconstruct several snapshots of structural dynamics at different time intervals, which highlight dynamical patterns that are relevant as initiating steps of subsequent radiation-damage processes.
This study determined excess mortality and length of hospital stay (LOS) attributable to bloodstream infection (BSI) caused by third-generation-cephalosporin-resistant Escherichia coli in Europe.
A ...prospective parallel matched cohort design was used. Cohort I consisted of patients with third-generation-cephalosporin-resistant E. coli BSI (REC) and cohort II consisted of patients with third-generation-cephalosporin-susceptible E. coli BSI (SEC). Patients in both cohorts were matched for LOS before infection with patients free of the respective BSI. Thirteen European tertiary care centres participated between July 2007 and June 2008.
Cohort I consisted of 111 REC patients and 204 controls and cohort II consisted of 1110 SEC patients and 2084 controls. REC patients had a higher mortality at 30 days (adjusted odds ratio = 4.6) and a higher hospital mortality (adjusted hazard ratio = 5.7) than their controls. LOS was increased by 8 days. For SEC patients, these figures were adjusted odds ratio = 1.9, adjusted hazard ratio = 2.0 and excess LOS = 3 days. A 2.5 times 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 0.9-6.8 increase in all-cause mortality at 30 days and a 2.9 times (95% CI 1.2-6.9) increase in mortality during entire hospital stay as well as an excess LOS of 5 days (95% CI 0.4-10.2) could be attributed to resistance to third-generation cephalosporins in E. coli BSI.
Morbidity and mortality attributable to third-generation-cephalosporin-resistant E. coli BSI is significant. If prevailing resistance trends continue, high societal and economic costs can be expected. Better management of infections caused by resistant E. coli is becoming essential.
In the context of their offer of interdisciplinary multimodal pain therapy (day-patient and inpatient), hospitals repeatedly have to contend with strict detailed checks of the procedure codes (OPS ...8-918.xx; 8-91c) by health insurers and the medical service. The necessity of day-patient or inpatient treatment in the respective sector, documented therapy components, and the qualifications of the therapists are regularly reviewed. On 27 October 2020, the Federal Social Court ruled on the specific qualification of psychological psychotherapists (BSG, 27 October 2020, Ref.: B 1 KR 25/19 R). The ruling and its potential impact are explained and discussed in this overview.
The spatial and genetic unit of bacterial population structure is the clone. Surprisingly, very little is known about the spread of a clone (spatial distance between clonally related bacteria) and ...the relationship between spatial distance and genetic distance, especially at very short scale (microhabitat scale), where cell division takes place. Agrobacterium spp. Biovar 1 was chosen because it is a soil bacterial taxon easy to isolate. A total of 865 microsamples 500 micrometer in diameter were sampled with spatial coordinates in 1 cm3 of undisturbed soil. The 55 isolates obtained yielded 42 ribotypes, covering three genomic species based on amplified ribosomal DNA restriction analysis (ARDRA) of the intergenic spacer 16S-23S, seven of which contained two to six isolates. These clonemates (identical ARDRA patterns) could be found in the same microsample or 1 cm apart. The genetic diversity did not change with distance, indicating the same habitat variability across the cube. The mixing of ribotypes, as assessed by the spatial position of clonemates, corresponded to an overlapping of clones. Although the population probably was in a recession stage in the cube (10(3) agrobacteria g-1), a high genetic diversity was maintained. In two independent microsamples (500 micrometer in diameter) at the invasion stage, the average genetic diversity was at the same level as in the cube. Quantification of the microdiversity landscape will help to estimate the probability of encounter between bacteria under realistic natural conditions and to set appropriate sampling strategies for population genetic analysis.
Methods The aim of our study was to analyse serum levels of four depot antipsychotics administrated in standard dosage regimens. Serum levels were measured by LC-MS/MS method before drug application ...(trough level) and except risperidone also 1 week after drug administration in first half of the year 2015.
Oxide electronic materials provide a plethora of possible applications and offer ample opportunity for scientists to probe into some of the exciting and intriguing phenomena exhibited by oxide ...systems and oxide interfaces. In addition to the already diverse spectrum of properties, the nanoscale form of oxides provides a new dimension of hitherto unknown phenomena due to the increased surface-to-volume ratio. Oxide electronic materials are becoming increasingly important in a wide range of applications including transparent electronics, optoelectronics, magnetoelectronics, photonics, spintronics, thermoelectrics, piezoelectrics, power harvesting, hydrogen storage and environmental waste management. Synthesis and fabrication of these materials, as well as processing into particular device structures to suit a specific application is still a challenge. Further, characterization of these materials to understand the tunability of their properties and the novel properties that evolve due to their nanostructured nature is another facet of the challenge. The research related to the oxide electronic field is at an impressionable stage, and this has motivated us to contribute with a roadmap on 'oxide electronic materials and oxide interfaces'. This roadmap envisages the potential applications of oxide materials in cutting edge technologies and focuses on the necessary advances required to implement these materials, including both conventional and novel techniques for the synthesis, characterization, processing and fabrication of nanostructured oxides and oxide-based devices. The contents of this roadmap will highlight the functional and correlated properties of oxides in bulk, nano, thin film, multilayer and heterostructure forms, as well as the theoretical considerations behind both present and future applications in many technologically important areas as pointed out by Venkatesan. The contributions in this roadmap span several thematic groups which are represented by the following authors: novel field effect transistors and bipolar devices by Fortunato, Grundmann, Boschker, Rao, and Rogers; energy conversion and saving by Zaban, Weidenkaff, and Murakami; new opportunities of photonics by Fompeyrine, and Zuniga-Perez; multiferroic materials including novel phenomena by Ramesh, Spaldin, Mertig, Lorenz, Srinivasan, and Prellier; and concepts for topological oxide electronics by Kawasaki, Pentcheva, and Gegenwart. Finally, Miletto Granozio presents the European action 'towards oxide-based electronics' which develops an oxide electronics roadmap with emphasis on future nonvolatile memories and the required technologies. In summary, we do hope that this oxide roadmap appears as an interesting up-to-date snapshot on one of the most exciting and active areas of solid state physics, materials science, and chemistry, which even after many years of very successful development shows in short intervals novel insights and achievements. Guest editors: M S Ramachandra Rao and Michael Lorenz
Aims
Temporal changes in patient selection and major technological developments have occurred in the field of left ventricular assist devices (LVADs), yet analyses depicting this trend are lacking ...for Europe. We describe the advances of European LVAD programmes from the PCHF‐VAD registry across device implantation eras.
Methods and results
Of 583 patients from 13 European centres in the registry, 556 patients (mean age 53 ± 12 years, 82% male) were eligible for this analysis. Patients were divided into eras (E) by date of LVAD implantation: E1 from December 2006 to December 2012 (6 years), E2 from January 2013 to January 2020 (7 years). Patients implanted more recently were older with more comorbidities, but less acutely ill. Receiving an LVAD in E2 was associated with improved 1‐year survival in adjusted analysis (hazard ratio HR 0.58, 95% confidence interval CI 0.35–0.98; p = 0.043). LVAD implantation in E2 was associated with a significantly lower chance of heart transplantation (adjusted HR 0.40, 95% CI 0.23–0.67; p = 0.001), and lower risk of LVAD‐related infections (adjusted HR 0.64, 95% CI 0.43–0.95; p = 0.027), both in unadjusted and adjusted analyses. The adjusted risk of haemocompatibility‐related events decreased (HR 0.60, 95% CI 0.39–0.91; p = 0.016), while heart failure‐related events increased in E2 (HR 1.67, 95% CI 1.02–2.75; p = 0.043).
Conclusion
In an analysis depicting the evolving landscape of continuous‐flow LVAD carriers in Europe over 13 years, a trend towards better survival was seen in recent years, despite older recipients with more comorbidities, potentially attributable to increasing expertise of LVAD centres, improved patient selection and pump technology. However, a smaller chance of undergoing heart transplantation was noted in the second era, underscoring the relevance of improved outcomes on LVAD support.
Multiple factors influencing the outcomes of left ventricular assist device (LVAD) patients. BTT, bridge to transplantation; CIED, cardiac implantable electronic device; CRT, cardiac resynchronization therapy; DT, destination therapy; GDMT, guideline‐directed medical therapy; HMII, HeartMate II; HM3, HeartMate 3; HTx, heart transplantation; HVAD, HeartWare; ICD, implantable cardioverter‐defibrillator; MCS, mechanical circulatory support; RV, right ventricle.
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