First Principles Investigation of Cold Curves of Metals

The rapid development of better high pressure experimental techniques combined with efficient and accurate density functional calculations of the structural properties of materials provide a new avenue to promote the study of materials at high pressures, which is currently based mostly on simple phenomenological modelling. The progress of experimental results into higher-pressure regimes represents a challenge to the phenomenological approaches, which can be addressed by carefully considered ab initio calculations. We present cold curves of several elements, calculated using different approximations of DFT and compare them with available experimental data. The comparison shows good agreement both in simple single phase and complex multi-phase cases. It suggests that DFT may be used to extrapolate high pressure behaviour of materials beyond the currently possible pressure range, with a robust estimate of the accuracy of the extrapolation based on various DFT implementations.     

Effect of Chemotherapy Cytarabine and Acute Myeloid Leukemia on the Development of Spermatogenesis at the Adult Age of Immature Treated Mice

Acute myeloid leukemia (AML) accounts for around 20% of diagnosed childhood leukemia. Cytarabine (CYT) is involved in the AML treatment regimen. AML and CYT showed impairment in spermatogenesis in human and rodents in adulthood. We successfully developed an AML disease model in sexually immature mice. Monocytes and granulocytes were examined in all groups: untreated control, AML alone, CYT alone and AML+CYT (in combination). There was a significant increase in the counts of monocytes and granulocytes in the AML-treated immature mice (AML) compared to the control, and AML cells were demonstrated in the blood vessels of the testes. AML alone and CYT alone impaired the development of spermatogenesis at the adult age of the AML-treated immature mice. The damage was clear in the structure/histology of their seminiferous tubules, and an increase in the apoptotic cells of the seminiferous tubules was demonstrated. Our results demonstrated a significant decrease in the meiotic/post-meiotic cells compared to the control. However, CYT alone (but not AML) significantly increased the count of spermatogonial cells (premeiotic cells) that positively stained with SALL4 and PLZF per tubule compared to the control. Furthermore, AML significantly increased the count of proliferating spermatogonial cells that positively stained with PCNA in the seminiferous tubules compared to the control, whereas CYT significantly decreased the count compared to the control. Our result showed that AML and CYT affected the microenvironment/niche of the germ cells. AML significantly decreased the levels growth factors, such as SCF, GDNF and MCSF) compared to control, whereas CYT significantly increased the levels of MCSF and GDNF compared to control. In addition, AML significantly increased the RNA expression levels of testicular IL-6 (a proinflammatory cytokine), whereas CYT significantly decreased testicular IL-6 levels compared to the control group. Furthermore, AML alone and CYT alone significantly decreased RNA expression levels of testicular IL-10 (anti-inflammatory cytokine) compared to the control group. Our results demonstrate that pediatric AML disease with or without CYT treatment impairs spermatogenesis at adult age (the impairment was more pronounced in AML+CYT) compared to control. Thus, we suggest that special care should be considered for children with AML who are treated with a CYT regimen regarding their future fertility at adult age.     

Characterization of channel hot electron injection by thesubthreshold slope of NROMTM device

Channel hot electron (CHE) injection, is widely used as main programming method in flash products. The spatial distribution could only be measured indirectly through stress-based experiments. A simple measurement technique to spatially characterize CHE injection is presented. It is shown that subthreshold slope degradation during programming of NROM^TM device provides the location and distribution of the injected electrons. It is shown that injection takes place mostly above the drain region and thus, results in subthreshold slope degradation. It is further shown, based on two-dimensional modeling, that charge distribution width is narrower than 40 nm     

Leakage of relevant information to innocent examinees in the GKT: An attempt to reduce false-positive outcomes by introducing target stimuli.

This study focused on the Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT)—a psychophysiological detection method based on a series of multiple-choice questions, each having one relevant and several neutral (control) alternatives. The study examined a new method designed to reduce false-positive outcomes due to leakage of relevant items to innocent suspects by introducing target items (i.e., items known to all examinees but unrelated to the crime) to which participants have to respond (e.g., by pressing a key) while answering the GKT questions. Informed innocent participants showed relatively larger electrodermal responses to the critical items than uninformed participants, but not as large as the responses made by guilty participants. No differences between informed and uninformed innocent participants were obtained with a respiration measure. The use of the target items tended to reduce the differences between informed and uninformed innocent participants. The results further demonstrated that electrodermal responding to the relevant items was correlated with memory of these items. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Involvement of Cytokines and Hormones in the Development of Spermatogenesis In Vitro from Spermatogonial Cells of Cyclophosphamide-Treated Immature Mice

Aggressive chemotherapy treatment may lead to male infertility. Prepubertal boys do not produce sperm at this age, however, they have spermatogonial stem cells in their testes. Here, we examined the effect of intraperitoneal injection of cyclophosphamide (CP) on the capacity of immature mice (IM) to develop spermatogenesis in vivo and in vitro [using methylcellulose culture system (MCS)]. Our results show a significant decrease in testicular weight, total number of testicular cells, and the number of Sertoli, peritubular, premeiotic, and meiotic/post-meiotic cells, but an increase in the percentages of damaged seminiferous tubules in CP-treated IM compared to control. The functionality of Sertoli cells was significantly affected. The addition of testosterone to isolated cells from seminiferous tubules of CP-treated IM significantly increased the percentages of premeiotic (CD9-positive cells) and meiotic/post-meiotic cells (ACROSIN-positive cells) developed in MCS compared to control. The addition of FSH did not affect developed cells in MCS compared to control, but in combination with testosterone, it significantly decreased the percentages of CD9-positive cells and ACROSIN-positive cells. The addition of IL-1 did not affect developed cells in MCS compared to control, but in combination with testosterone, it significantly increased the percentages of VASA-positive cells and BOULE-positive cells compared to IL-1 or testosterone. Addition of TNF significantly increased only CD9-positive cells in MCS compared to control, but in combination with testosterone, it significantly decreased ACROSIN-positive cells compared to testosterone. Our results show a significant impairment of spermatogenesis in the testes of CP-treated IM, and that spermatogonial cells from these mice proliferate and differentiate to meiotic/post-meiotic cells under in vitro culture conditions.     

Effects of questions' repetition and variation on the efficiency of the Guilty Knowledge Test: A reexamination.

The effect of question repetition and variation on the efficiency of the Guilty Knowledge Test (GKT), based on electrodermal and respiration measures, was examined in a between-subjects experiment with 3 conditions. Each participant was presented with a sequence of 12 biographical questions. In Condition 1, a single question was repeated 12 times; in Condition 4, each of 4 different questions was repeated 3 times; and in Condition 12, 12 different questions were used. A monotonic relationship between the number of different questions used and detection efficiency was observed only with the electrodermal measure (the areas under the receiver operating characteristic curves, obtained with this measure in Conditions 1, 4, and 12 were .68, .81, and .99, respectively). These results demonstrate that a GKT based on multiple questions is superior to the use of many repetitions of a single or a few questions, and it can reach an almost perfect detection efficiency. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

The Role of Heteroatoms Leading to Hydrogen Bonds in View of Extended Chemical Stability of Organic Semiconductors

The major challenge in organic electronics concerns the stability of organic semiconductor materials which affects the operational lifetime of devices. Recent reports have shown that hydrogen‐bonded pigments of the indigoid family are air‐ and moisture resistant. The magenta pigment quinacridone, a hydrogen‐bonded molecule in the solid state with a pentacene like frame, is a perfect example for extraordinary chemical stability. Here, studies using in situ spectroscopic methods comparing quinacridone and pentacene are presented. A different spectral response of their radical cations is observed upon chemical doping. While in pentacene the barrier between doping and irreversible overoxidation is small, this stability toward overoxidation is increased by the heteroatomic structure, leading to hydrogen‐bonded quinacridone. This work provides insight into molecular design principles that may lead to next‐generation organic semiconductors with enhanced stability and performance.