Skyrmion-(Anti)Vortex Coupling in a Chiral Magnet-Superconductor Heterostructure.

We report experimental coupling of chiral magnetism and superconductivity in [IrFeCoPt]/Nb heterostructures. The stray field of skyrmions with radius ≈50  nm is sufficient to nucleate antivortices in a 25 nm Nb film, with unique signatures in the magnetization, critical current, and flux dynamics, corroborated via simulations. We also detect a thermally tunable Rashba-Edelstein exchange coupling in the isolated skyrmion phase.

The Effect of Environmental Conditions on the Physiological Response during a Stand-Up Paddle Surfing Session.

Stand Up Paddleboard (SUP) surfing entails riding breaking waves and maneuvering the board on the wave face in a similar manner to traditional surfing. Despite some scientific investigations on SUP, little is known about SUP surfing. The aim of this study was to investigate the physiological response during SUP surfing sessions and to determine how various environmental conditions can influence this response.

Spin-droplet state of an interacting 2D electron system.

We report thermodynamic magnetization measurements of two-dimensional electrons in several high-mobility Si metal-oxide-semiconductor field-effect transistors. We provide evidence for an easily polarizable electron state in a wide density range from insulating to deep into the metallic phase. The temperature and magnetic field dependence of the magnetization is consistent with the formation of large-spin droplets in the insulating phase.

A magnetically focused molecular beam of ortho-water.

Like dihydrogen, water exists as two spin isomers, ortho and para, with the nuclear magnetic moments of the hydrogen atoms either parallel or antiparallel. The ratio of the two spin isomers and their physical properties play an important role in a wide variety of research fields, ranging from astrophysics to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). Unlike ortho and para H(2), however, the two water isomers remain challenging to separate, and as a consequence, very little is currently known about their different physical properties.

Detection of non-Gaussian fluctuations in a quantum point contact.

An experimental study of current fluctuations through a tunable transmission barrier, a quantum point contact, is reported. We measure the probability distribution function of transmitted charge with precision sufficient to extract the first three cumulants. To obtain the intrinsic quantities, corresponding to voltage-biased barrier, we employ a procedure that accounts for the response of the external circuit and the amplifier.

Measurement of counting statistics of electron transport in a tunnel junction.

We present measurements of the time-dependent fluctuations of electrical current in a voltage-biased tunnel junction. We were able to simultaneously extract the first three moments of the current counting statistics. Detailed comparison of the second and the third moments reveals that the statistics is accurately described as Poissonian, expected for spontaneous current fluctuations due to electron charge discreteness, realized in tunneling transport at negligible coupling to environment.

Cooling of electrons in a silicon inversion layer.

Low temperature cooling of two-dimensional electrons in silicon-metal-oxide semiconductor field effect transistors is studied experimentally and found to be more effective than expected from the bulk electron-phonon coupling in silicon. The extracted heat transfer rate to phonons depends cubically on electron temperature, suggesting that piezoelectric coupling, which is absent in bulk silicon, dominates over deformation potential. As a result, at 100 mK, electrons farther than approximately 100 microm from the contacts are mostly cooled by phonons.

Clinical utility of the polymerase chain reaction to diagnose Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection.

The diagnosis of Mycoplasma pneumoniae infection currently relies on serological methods which may be slow to produce diagnostic results and may be inconvenient for both the clinician and the patient. This study was designed to assess whether or not the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a useful additional diagnostic method. Comparison was therefore made with serology as it is routinely practiced.

Comparison of nasopharyngeal aspirates and throat swab specimens in a polymerase chain reaction-based test for Mycoplasma pneumoniae.

Nasopharyngeal aspirates and throat swab specimens were compared in a polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-based test for Mycoplasma pneumoniae. The pathogen was detected in 50% and 45% of throat swab specimens and aspirates, respectively. However, in specimens negative for Mycoplasma pneumoniae by PCR, amplification inhibitors were detected in 0% and 36% of throat specimens and aspirates, respectively.

[Human diseases caused by leptospirae of the canicola serogroup in the Krasnodar Territory].

During the period of 34 years (1957-1990) diseases caused by leptospires of the serogroup canicola were confirmed in 2.7% of the total number of patients. The analysis revealed that in the presence of epidemic outbreaks Leptospira infection caused by bacteria of the serogroup canicola occurred 1.

The effects of RU 41.740, a glycoprotein immunomodulating agent derived from Klebsiella pneumoniae, on intra-abdominal abscess formation in mice.

The prophylactic and therapeutic efficacies of the immunomodulating agent RU 41.740 (a glycoprotein extract from Klebsiella pneumoniae) were studied in a murine model of intra-abdominal abscess formation with Bacteroides fragilis, Escherichia coli, and bran as an abscess-potentiating agent. Parenteral injection of RU 41.

[Identification of a protein product of a novel human gene SON and the biological effect upon administering a changed form of this gene into mammalian cells].

We have investigated the functional activity of human son gene, that possesses the homology to mos and myc genes. Specific antibodies (antiserum) were raised to synthetic peptide, that corresponds to son-protein 943-963 amino acid residues. With this antiserum the presence of son-protein was showed in lysates of cultured human cells transformed by adenovirus type 5, RAT 2 cells and primary human embryonic fibroblasts.

The use of syngeneic cells producing human somatotropic hormone (hSTH) for immunization of mice and development of hybridomas.

We studied the possibility of syngeneic cells expressing heterologous protein being used for sensitization of mice and production of hybridomas. Recombinant retroviral vector containing cloned human somatotropic hormone (hSTH) gene was used to express hSTH in BALB/3T3 cells. BALB/c mice were injected intrasplenically (i/s) or combination of intraperitoneally (i/p) and intrasplenically with hSTH-producing cells.

[Expression of human growth hormone in cultured mouse fibroblasts].

The new system for the transfer and expression of foreign genes based on retroviral vectors pPS-neo, conferring neomycin resistance was constructed. The BALB/c mouse cell lines producing highly active human growth hormone (more than 7 micrograms/ml into culture medium) were constructed using these vectors. An antibody column was used to purify the growth hormone from cell culture medium.

Response of a 'susceptible' Escherichia coli to metronidazole therapy: an investigation using experimental subcutaneous abscesses.

Earlier experiments under anaerobic conditions in vitro had indicated that Gram-negative facultative anaerobes were susceptible to therapeutically attainable concentrations of metronidazole. This prompted us to study the response of one such strain to metronidazole therapy. Mice with 3-day-old subcutaneous abscesses induced by 'susceptible' Escherichia coli (accompanied by potentiating agent and obligately anaerobic Bacteroides fragilis) were given metronidazole by mouth (250 mg/kg/dose 12 hourly) either as a two- or a four-dose course.

Effect of metronidazole on Escherichia coli in the presence of Bacteroides fragilis: an investigation in mice.

The observation that, in rats, metronidazole exhibited antimicrobial activity against resistant Escherichia coli (when this was accompanied by susceptible Bacteroides fragilis) prompted us to attempt to reproduce this phenomenon in another species and under other experimental conditions. In experiment 1, mice injected intraperitoneally with an E. coli/B.

Effect of Bacteroides fragilis on the peritoneal clearance of Escherichia coli in mice.

A report that Bacteroides fragilis inhibited the killing of facultative anaerobes by human leukocytes in vitro prompted us to look for such inhibition in the peritoneal cavities of mice. No evidence that this phenomenon was operative could be found.

Mycobacteria of the intracellulare-scrofulaceum group in soils from the Adelaide area.

Soil samples from the Adelaide area--where organisms belonging to the Mycobacterium intracellulare-scrofulaceum (MIS) group are rarely encountered in sputum of persons under investigation of pulmonary mycobacterial disease--were examined for the MIS group. Thirty-one per cent were positive for MIS organisms and 17% were positive for MIS serotypes known to be disease-associated. Comparison with an earlier study of soils from the Brisbane area--where this group of organisms is frequently isolated from sputum of persons under investigation for pulmonary mycobacterial disease--suggests that the disease-associated MIS serotypes are significantly more common in the environment of the Brisbane area.

Serological examination of some strains that are in the Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare-scrofulaceum complex but do not belong to Schaefer's serotypes.

One hundred strains belonging to the Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare-scrofulaceum (MAIS) complex but not agglutinating with antisera type-specific for Schaefer's 23 MAIS serotypes were examined using antisera against seven other such strains. Four of the 100 strains were found to be of the same serotype as one of the 7 against which antisera were prepared; 4 other strains were of the same serotype as another of those against which antisera were prepared. Although the strains against which antisera were prepared were serologically distinct from each other, no strains serologically identical to 5 of them were found.