Link between supercurrent diode and anomalous Josephson effect revealed by gate-controlled interferometry.

In Josephson diodes the asymmetry between positive and negative current branch of the current-phase relation leads to a polarity-dependent critical current and Josephson inductance. The supercurrent nonreciprocity can be described as a consequence of the anomalous Josephson effect -a φ-shift of the current-phase relation- in multichannel ballistic junctions with strong spin-orbit interaction. In this work, we simultaneously investigate φ-shift and supercurrent diode efficiency on the same Josephson junction by means of a superconducting quantum interferometer.

Pain Frequency and Health Care Utilization Patterns in Women with Sickle Cell Disease Experiencing Menstruation-Associated Pain Crises.

Pain crises in sickle cell disease (SCD) lead to high rates of health care utilization. Historically, women have reported higher pain burdens than men, with recent studies showing a temporal association between pain crisis and menstruation. However, health care utilization patterns of SCD women with menstruation-associated pain crises have not been reported.

Sharpness of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless Transition in Disordered NbN Films.

We present a comprehensive investigation of the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition in ultrathin strongly disordered NbN films. Measurements of resistance, current-voltage characteristics, and kinetic inductance on the very same device reveal a consistent picture of a sharp unbinding transition of vortex-antivortex pairs that fit standard renormalization group theory without extra assumptions in terms of inhomogeneity. Our experiments demonstrate that the previously observed broadening of the transition is not an intrinsic feature of strongly disordered superconductors and provide a clean starting point for the study of dynamical effects at the Berezinskii-Kosterlitz-Thouless transition.

Evaluation and management of hypotensive patients in the emergency department.

Hypotension can be a sign of significant underlying pathology, and if it is not rapidly identified and addressed, it can contribute to organ injury. Treatment of hypotension is best targeted at the underlying etiology, although this can be difficult to discern early in a patient's disease course. Expedited bedside evaluation with rapid initiation of treatment based on the most likely underlying etiology is paramount, followed by serial reassessment of the patient's condition.

Cardiac decompensation of patients before transcatheter aortic valve implantation-clinical presentation, responsiveness to associated medication, and prognosis.

Aims: Cardiac decompensation (CD) in patients with aortic stenosis is a "red flag" for future adverse events. We classified patients undergoing transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) into those with acute, prior, or no prior CD at the timepoint of TAVI and compared their clinical presentation, prognosis, and effects of the prescribed medication during follow-up.

Methods: Retrospective analysis of patients of one center fulfilling the criteria of 30-day device success after transfemoral TAVI.

Sign reversal of the Josephson inductance magnetochiral anisotropy and 0-π-like transitions in supercurrent diodes.

The recent discovery of the intrinsic supercurrent diode effect, and its prompt observation in a rich variety of systems, has shown that non-reciprocal supercurrents naturally emerge when both space-inversion and time-inversion symmetries are broken. In Josephson junctions, non-reciprocal supercurrent can be conveniently described in terms of spin-split Andreev states. Here we demonstrate a sign reversal of the Josephson inductance magnetochiral anisotropy, a manifestation of the supercurrent diode effect.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa responds to altered membrane phospholipid composition by adjusting the production of two-component systems, proteases and iron uptake proteins.

Membrane protein and phospholipid (PL) composition changes in response to environmental cues and during infections. To achieve these, bacteria use adaptation mechanisms involving covalent modification and remodelling of the acyl chain length of PLs. However, little is known about bacterial pathways regulated by PLs.

Supercurrent diode effect and magnetochiral anisotropy in few-layer NbSe.

Nonreciprocal transport refers to charge transfer processes that are sensitive to the bias polarity. Until recently, nonreciprocal transport was studied only in dissipative systems, where the nonreciprocal quantity is the resistance. Recent experiments have, however, demonstrated nonreciprocal supercurrent leading to the observation of a supercurrent diode effect in Rashba superconductors.

Pain Burden in the CASiRe International Cohort of Sickle Cell Patients: United States and Ghana.

Objectives: Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) is a genetic blood disorder affecting over 1 million people globally. The aim of this analysis is to explore the pain burden of patients with SCD in two countries: the United States and Ghana.

Methods: The Consortium for the Advancement of Sickle Cell Research (CASiRe) was created to better understand the clinical severity of patients with SCD worldwide.

Effect of Rashba and Dresselhaus spin-orbit coupling on supercurrent rectification and magnetochiral anisotropy of ballistic Josephson junctions.

Simultaneous breaking of inversion- and time-reversal symmetry in Josephson junction (JJ) leads to a possible violation of the() = -(-) equality for the current-phase relation. This is known as anomalous Josephson effect and it produces a phase shiftin sinusoidal current-phase relations. In ballistic JJs with non-sinusoidal current phase relation the observed phenomenology is much richer, including the supercurrent diode effect and the magnetochiral anisotropy (MCA) of Josephson inductance.

Quantum Transport of Particles and Entropy.

A unified view on macroscopic thermodynamics and quantum transport is presented. Thermodynamic processes with an exchange of energy between two systems necessarily involve the flow of other quantities. These flows are first analyzed using a simple drift-diffusion model, which includes the thermoelectric effects, and connects the various transport coefficients to certain thermodynamic susceptibilities and a diffusion coefficient.

Supercurrent rectification and magnetochiral effects in symmetric Josephson junctions.

Transport is non-reciprocal when not only the sign, but also the absolute value of the current depends on the polarity of the applied voltage. It requires simultaneously broken inversion and time-reversal symmetries, for example, by an interplay of spin-orbit coupling and magnetic field. Hitherto, observation of nonreciprocity was tied to resistivity, and dissipationless non-reciprocal circuit elements were elusive.

Substrate Access Mechanism in a Novel Membrane-Bound Phospholipase A of Concordant with Specificity and Regioselectivity.

PlaF is a cytoplasmic membrane-bound phospholipase A from that alters the membrane glycerophospholipid (GPL) composition and fosters the virulence of this human pathogen. PlaF activity is regulated by a dimer-to-monomer transition followed by tilting of the monomer in the membrane. However, how substrates reach the active site and how the characteristics of the active site tunnels determine the activity, specificity, and regioselectivity of PlaF for natural GPL substrates have remained elusive.

Supercurrent and Phase Slips in a Ballistic Carbon Nanotube Bundle Embedded into a van der Waals Heterostructure.

We demonstrate long-range superconducting correlations in a several-micrometers-long carbon nanotube bundle encapsulated in a van der Waals stack between hBN and NbSe. We show that a substantial supercurrent flows through the nanotube section beneath the NbSe crystal as well as through the 2 μm long section not in contact with it. The large in-plane critical magnetic field of this supercurrent is an indication that even inside the carbon nanotube Cooper pairs enjoy a degree of paramagnetic protection typical of the parent Ising superconductor.

Global geographic differences in healthcare utilization for sickle cell disease pain crises in the CASiRe cohort.

Background: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is characterized by frequent, unpredictable pain episodes and other vaso-occlusive crises (VOCs) leading to significant healthcare utilization. VOC frequency is often an endpoint in clinical trials investigating novel therapies for this devastating disease.

Procedure: The Consortium for the Advancement of Sickle Cell Research (CASiRe) is an international collaboration investigating clinical severity in SCD using a validated questionnaire and medical chart review standardized across four countries (United States, United Kingdom, Italy and Ghana).

Narrow-band high-lying excitons with negative-mass electrons in monolayer WSe.

Monolayer transition-metal dichalcogenides (TMDCs) show a wealth of exciton physics. Here, we report the existence of a new excitonic species, the high-lying exciton (HX), in single-layer WSe with an energy of ~3.4 eV, almost twice the band-edge A-exciton energy, with a linewidth as narrow as 5.

Josephson Inductance as a Probe for Highly Ballistic Semiconductor-Superconductor Weak Links.

We present simultaneous measurements of Josephson inductance and dc transport characteristics of ballistic Josephson junctions based upon an epitaxial Al-InAs heterostructure. The Josephson inductance at finite current bias directly reveals the current-phase relation. The proximity-induced gap, the critical current and the average value of the transparency τ[over ¯] are extracted without need for phase bias, demonstrating, e.

A promiscuous ancestral enzyme´s structure unveils protein variable regions of the highly diverse metallo-β-lactamase family.

The metallo-β-lactamase fold is an ancient protein structure present in numerous enzyme families responsible for diverse biological processes. The crystal structure of the hyperthermostable crenarchaeal enzyme Igni18 from Ignicoccus hospitalis was solved at 2.3 Å and could resemble a possible first archetype of a multifunctional metallo-β-lactamase.

Age of first pain crisis and associated complications in the CASiRe international sickle cell disease cohort.

Pain is a hallmark of Sickle Cell Disease (SCD) affecting patients throughout their life; the first pain crisis may occur at any age and is often the first presentation of the disease. Universal newborn screening identifies children with SCD at birth, significantly improving morbidity and mortality. Without early screening, diagnosis is generally made after disease manifestations appear.

Annual Academy of Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia (ASCAT) conference: a summary of the proceedings.

The fourteenth annual ASCAT conference was held 21-23 October 2019. The theme of the conference was 'Sickle Cell and Thalassaemia disorders new treatment horizon; while ensuring patient safety and delivering excellence in routine patient care.' Over the three-day conference, topics on current and novel models of care, advances in bone marrow transplant and gene therapy, as well as the psychosocial aspects of mind, body and health related quality of life were discussed.

An Analysis of Racial and Ethnic Backgrounds Within the CASiRe International Cohort of Sickle Cell Disease Patients: Implications for Disease Phenotype and Clinical Research.

Millions are affected by sickle cell disease (SCD) worldwide with the greatest burden in sub-Saharan Africa. While its origin lies historically within the malaria belt, ongoing changes in migration patterns have shifted the burden of disease resulting in a global public health concern. We created the Consortium for the Advancement of Sickle Cell Research (CASiRe) to understand the different phenotypes of SCD across 4 countries (USA, UK, Italy, and Ghana).

A study of the geographic distribution and associated risk factors of leg ulcers within an international cohort of sickle cell disease patients: the CASiRe group analysis.

Vasculopathy is a hallmark of sickle cell disease ultimately resulting in chronic end organ damage. Leg ulcer is one of its sequelae, occurring in ~ 5-10% of adult sickle cell patients. The majority of leg ulcer publications to date have emanated from single center cohort studies.

Shaping Electron Wave Functions in a Carbon Nanotube with a Parallel Magnetic Field.

A magnetic field, through its vector potential, usually causes measurable changes in the electron wave function only in the direction transverse to the field. Here, we demonstrate experimentally and theoretically that, in carbon nanotube quantum dots combining cylindrical topology and bipartite hexagonal lattice, a magnetic field along the nanotube axis impacts also the longitudinal profile of the electronic states. With the high (up to 17 T) magnetic fields in our experiment, the wave functions can be tuned all the way from a "half-wave resonator" shape with nodes at both ends to a "quarter-wave resonator" shape with an antinode at one end.

Coherent population trapping by dark state formation in a carbon nanotube quantum dot.

Illumination of atoms by resonant lasers can pump electrons into a coherent superposition of hyperfine levels which can no longer absorb the light. Such superposition is known as a dark state, because fluorescent light emission is then suppressed. Here we report an all-electric analogue of this destructive interference effect in a carbon nanotube quantum dot.

Examining the Impact of a Novel Blood Glucose Monitor With Color Range Indicator on Decision-Making in Patients With Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes and its Association With Patient Numeracy Level.

Background: Many patients struggle to interpret and respond appropriately to the numerical blood glucose results displayed on their meter, with many regularly taking no action or self-care adjustment for out-of-range results. We recently reported that a glucose meter that provides automatic onscreen information using a color range indicator (ColorSure Technology) improved the ability of patients to categorize their blood glucose results.

Objective: The objective of this study was to examine how ColorSure Technology (or color) affected patient decision making on blood glucose results and how patient numeracy levels influenced such decisions.