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Aiming at analyzing the contribution of every part of vegetation concrete system degrading ammonia nitrogen and exploring the nitrogen migration characteristics during denitrification process, 15NH4Cl tracer was used and added to six airtight glass containers in this study. Samples of concrete aggregate, Bahia grass (Paspalum notatum Flüggé), water and air were acquired on the 1std and 8thd. The results showed that the 15N Atom % of air samples had no obvious change. 15N tracer in each kind of samples taking up the percent of the initial dosing quantity were respectively, on the 1std: Bahia grass 3.8%~6.6%, aggregate 11.9%~17.2%, water 2.9%~80.5%, loss 3.3%~3.8%; on the 8thd: Bahia grass 65.3%~68.7%, aggregate 25.6%~26.2%, water 4.6%~4.8%, loss 0.8%~3.9%. Variance of the 15N abundance of each kind of samples indicate that 15NH4Cl tracer added in the culture solution was mainly absorbed by aggregate at early phase (1 d), while by plant assimilation at later phase (8 d). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The impact of metal-to-metal interface on electric-field modified magnetic anisotropy in MgO/Fe/ non-magnetic metal (Ta, Pt, Au) is revealed by density functional calculations. We demonstrate that the contribution from the metal-to-metal interface can be strong enough to dominate the electric field effect on magnetic anisotropy of Fe/MgO-based films, and the strain could also effectively tune the electric field effect. By analyzing the interface states by density of states and band structures, the dependence of the magnetoelectric effect on metal-to-metal interface is elucidated. These results are of considerable interest in the area of electric field controlled magnetic anisotropy and switching. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Opposite to the almost persistent p-type conductivity of the crystalline chalcogenides along the GeTe-Sb2Te3 tie line, n-type Hall mobility is observed in crystalline GeTe/Sb2Te3 superlattice-like material (SLL) with a short period length. We suggest that this unusual carrier characteristic originates from the structural disorder introduced by the lattice strain and dangling bonds at the SLL interfaces, which makes the crystalline SLLs behave like the amorphous chalcogenides. Detailed structural disorder in crystalline SLL has been studied by Raman scattering, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, as well as Variable-energy positron annihilation spectroscopy measurements. Firstprinciples calculations results show that this structural disorder gives rise to three-site junctions that dominate the charge transport as the period length decreases and result in the anomalously signed Hall effect in the crystalline SLL. Our findings indicate a similar tetrahedral structure in the amorphous and crystalline states of SLLs, which can significantly reduce the entropy difference. Due to the reduced entropy loss and increased resistivity of crystalline phase introduced by disorder, it is not surprising that the SLLs exhibit extremely lower RESET current and power consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we investigated the strong perpendicular magnetic anisotropy (PMA) in CoFe/A1- FePt films. In our experiment, after rapid thermal annealing at a low temperature, CoFe (5 nm)/A1- FePt (3 nm) films present an effective PMA energy density up to 7.50×106 erg/cm3. The PMA diminishes when the A1-FePt film thickness increases, indicating that the magnetic anisotropy mainly originates in the interface region of CoFe/A1-FePt films. Moreover, the calculated PMA energy density by first principles is more than 5.51×106 erg/cm3 which is consistent with our experimental results. The calculated results further suggest an enhanced PMA and a lower saturation magnetization of CoFe/A1-FePt films would be obtained by introducing proper strain at the CoFe/ A1-FePt interface region. The CoFe/A1-FePt films have the potential to be applied in low-power and thermally stable perpendicular spintronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report the bandgap and electronic properties of wurtzite ZnO doped with elements IIA or/and IIIA, investigated using both theoretical and experimental methods. With wurtzite ZnO co-doped with B and Mg (denoted as ZnO:[B,Mg]) grown via metalorganic chemical vapor deposition, we have observed that both the bandgap and the conductivity can be widely tunable with the doping levels. From first-principles calculations of wurtzite ZnO:Mg, we show that IIA doping elements have a great impact on the widening of the bandgap. Also, from a newly developed calculation method for investigating the electronic properties of wurtzite ZnO:Al, we have found that IIIA doping elements play an important role in tailoring the conductivity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Recent reports have suggested that long non-coding RNA LBX2 antisense RNA 1 (LBX2-AS1) acts as an important regulator in cancer progression. This study aimed to investigate the clinical significance of LBX2-AS1 in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients and its biological functions. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expressions of LBX2-AS1 were examined in 165 paired NSCLC tissues and adjacent normal tissues from NSCLC patients by qRT-PCR. The clinical significance of LBX2-AS1 was determined using a series of statistical methods. The effects of LBX2- AS1 knockdown on NSCLC cell proliferation, migration, and invasion were investigated by CCK- 8 assays, colony formation assays, EdU proliferation assays, Wound healing assays, and transwell assays. The promotive roles of LBX2-AS1 on Notch1 signal were determined using RTPCR and Western blot. RESULTS: We found that LBX2-AS1 was highly expressed in NSCLC tissues and cell lines. The increased levels of LBX2-AS1 were observed to be positively correlated with TNM stage, histological grade, and lymph node metastasis. Furthermore, the Kaplan-Meier survival curves indicated that patients with higher expressions of LBX2-AS1 had unfavorable overall survival. Lost-of-functions assays revealed that the knockdown of LBX2-AS1 in H1299 and A549 cells inhibited cell proliferation, migration, and invasion. Mechanistic studies revealed that the suppression of LBX2-AS1 resulted in the reduced expressions of Notch1, p21, and Hes1, suggesting that LBX2-AS1 might promote the activation of the Notch pathway. CONCLUSIONS: Our study identified a novel NSCLC-related lncRNA LBX2-AS1, which may represent a novel prognostic biomarker and a potential therapeutic target for NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to investigate the potential effects of microRNA-93-5p (miR-93-5p) on the development of cervical cancer (CC), and to explore the underlying mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: The expression level of miR-93-5p in CC tissues and cells was detected by quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR). Online prediction software and Luciferase reporter assay were used to evaluate the possible target of miR-93-5p. Furthermore, the effects of miR-93-5p on siHa cells were determined by Western blot, Cell Counting Kit-8 (CCK-8), scratch-wound and transwell assays, respectively. RESULTS: In our study, miR-93-5p was found highly expressed in CC tissues and cells. Thrombospondin-2 (THBS2) was predicted and experimentally verified as a direct target of miR-93-5p. Subsequent experiments showed that decreased expression of THBS2 resulting from miR-93-5p up-regulation could significantly promote the proliferation, invasion and migration of siHa cells. At the same time, miR-93-5p remarkably increased the expression of matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) and matrix metal-loproteinase-9 (MMP-9), whereas decreased the expression of extracellular matrix (ECM). CONCLUSIONS: Our research discovered the promotion function of miR-93-5p on CC by targeting THBS2/Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPS) signaling pathway. We revealed that miR-93-5p might be a potential therapeutic target for the treatment of CC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have fabricated Fibonacci [Co/Pt] multilayers with two constituent Co/Pt bilayers, as well as periodic multilayers of the same Co/Pt bilayers, all of which exhibit perpendicular magnetic anisotropy. Magnetic properties of the quasiperiodic and periodic [Co/Pt] multilayers have been studied macroscopically by vibrating sample magnetometry and microscopically by magnetic force microscopy. The Fibonacci [Co/Pt] multilayers show enhanced squareness in magnetic hysteresis loops compared to the corresponding periodic [Co/Pt]n multilayers, due to a smaller density of isolated nucleation sites in the saturation state. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unusual magnetization reversal of [Co(4 Å)/Pt(10 Å)]4 multilayers with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy has been revealed macroscopically by magnetometry measurements and microscopically by magneto-optical Kerr effect microscopy and magnetic force microscopy (MFM) imaging. During the first-order reversal process, the magnetization first decreases, then reaches a plateau, and finally rises back to saturation, corresponding to expanding bubble domains, stationary domains, and fading contrast but unchanged boundary domains, respectively. MFM imaging reveals the existence of many submicron-scaled unreversed channels within the boundary of the “bubble” domains. The magnetization reversal behavior can be accounted for by the evolution of the unusual domain structures in different field regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vortex pinning has been studied for the superconducting Nb film covering ferromagnetic Co/Pt multilayer with perpendicular magnetic anisotropy, in which the magnetization reversal proceeds via domain-wall motion. Large enhancement of pinning in the Nb film has been observed in the final stages of the reversal process, and we demonstrate that it is caused by residual uninverted dendrite-shaped magnetic domains. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Epitaxial ZnO thin films doped with 7% Mn have been made by reactive rf magnetron sputtering onto (1120) sapphire substrates at 400 °C. X-ray diffraction measurements reveal that the Zn[SUB0.93]Mn[SUB0.07]O film has a (0001) wurtzite single-crystal structure with a rocking curve width of 0.98° UV-VIS absorption spectra show a band gap of 3.25 eV for pure ZnO films and 3.31 eV for the Zn[SUB0.93]Mn[SUB0.07]O film with states extending into the gap. The Auger electron spectroscopy shows) (homogeneous distribution of Mn in the film. The magnetic properties of the Zn[SUB0.93]Mn[SUB0.07]O film have been measured by a superconducting quantum interference device magnetometer at various temperatures with fields up to 5 T. No ferromagnetic ordering has been observed at temperature at 5 K. Instead, paramagnetic characteristics with a Curie-Weiss behavior have been observed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hiperco®50 alloy heat treated between 450 and 650 °C exhibits superior mechanical properties. We report the measurements of the ac core loss at various frequencies up to 4500 Hz of the Hiperco®50 alloy samples annealed at 450 and 650 °C. The 650 °C annealed specimens have lower ac core loss than that of the 450 °C annealed ones. The total core loss, consisting of contributions from hysteresis core loss and eddy-current core loss, depends on frequency f as af+bf [SUP2]. The eddy-current loss of a single laminate is minor compared to the hysteresis loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]