Electric-Field-Driven Nanosecond Ferroelastic-Domain Switching Dynamics in Epitaxial Pb(Zr,Ti)O_{3} Film.

Epitaxial oxide ferroelectric films exhibit emerging phenomena arising from complex domain configurations even at pseudoequilibrium, including the creation of domain states unfavored in nature and abrupt piezoelectric coefficients around morphotropic phase boundaries. The nanometer-sized domain configurations and their domain switching dynamics under external stimuli are directly linked to the ultrafast manipulation of ferroelectric thin films; however, complex domain switching dynamics under homogeneous electric fields has not been fully explored, especially at the nanosecond timescale. This Letter reports the nanosecond dynamics of ferroelastic-domain switching from the 90° to 180° direction using time-resolved x-ray microdiffraction under homogeneous electric fields onto an epitaxial Pb(Zr_{0.

Simultaneous fabrication of very high aspect ratio positive nano- to milliscale structures.

A simple and inexpensive technique for the simultaneous fabrication of positive (i.e., protruding), very high aspect (>10) ratio nanostructures together with micro- or millistructures is developed.

Identification of a novel CHEK2 variant and assessment of its contribution to the risk of breast cancer in French Canadian women.

Background: BRCA1 and BRCA2 account for the majority of the known familial breast cancer risk, however, the impact of other cancer susceptibility genes largely remains to be elucidated. Checkpoint Kinase 2 (CHEK2) is an important signal transducer of cellular responses to DNA damage, whose defects have been associated with an increase in breast cancer risk. Previous studies have identified low penetrance CHEK2 alleles such as 1100delC and I157T, as well as variants such as S428F in the Ashkenazi Jewish population and IVS2 + 1G>A in the Polish population.

Identification and characterization of novel SNPs in CHEK2 in Ashkenazi Jewish men with prostate cancer.

Checkpoint kinase 2 (CHEK2) is a protein involved in arresting cell cycle in response to DNA damage. To investigate whether it plays an important role in the development of prostate cancer (PRCA) in the Ashkenazi Jewish (AJ) population, we sequenced CHEK2 in 75 AJ individuals with prostate, breast, or no cancer (n=25 each). We identified seven coding SNPs (five are novel) that changed the amino-acid sequence, resulting in R3W, E394F, Y424H, S428F, D438Y, P509S, and P509L.

The residual pattern of double thin-film over-etching for the fabrication of continuous patterns with dimensions varying from 50 nm to millimeters over a large area.

Attempts at heavy edge over-etching of a single thin film under a photoresist to leave behind a residual smaller patterned line as a mask for nanostructure fabrication frequently fail due to detachment of the photoresist above it. We have accordingly developed a technique named 'residual pattern of double thin-film over-etching' (RDTO) to obtain a nanoscale residual pattern of the bottom thin film after extensive edge over-etching. When Au and Cr were used as the top and bottom thin films, respectively, heavy over-etching of Cr for use as a mask for nanopatterning of the underlying silicon substrate was feasible.