Gate-tunable Josephson junctions (JJs) are the backbone of superconducting classical and quantum computation. Typically, these systems exploit low-charge-concentration materials and present technological difficulties limiting their scalability. Surprisingly, electric field modulation of a supercurrent in metallic wires and JJs has been recently demonstrated.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA superconductor/normal metal/superconductor Josephson junction is a coherent electron system where the thermodynamic entropy depends on temperature and difference of phase across the weak-link. Here, exploiting the phase-temperature thermodynamic diagram of a thermally isolated system, we argue that a cooling effect can be achieved when the phase drop across the junction is brought from 0 to π in a iso-entropic process. We show that iso-entropic cooling can be enhanced with proper choice of geometrical and electrical parameters of the junction, i.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBackground: High performance anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) IgG assays are crucial for epidemiology.
Objective: To evaluate the performance of 2 prototypes developed for the VIDAS automatic system for detecting anti-HEV IgG, one based on the ORF2 antigen (ORF2 prototype) and the other on the ORF2 and ORF3 antigens (ORF2/3 prototype), with reference to the Wantai anti-HEV IgG assay.
Study Design: The sensitivity of each assay was determined by testing 113 blood samples, 63 from immunocompetent and 50 from immunocompromised patients, with a proven HEV infection defined by detecting HEV RNA.
Nat Nanotechnol
December 2016
Multi-terminal superconducting Josephson junctions based on the proximity effect offer the opportunity to tailor non-trivial quantum states in nanoscale weak links. These structures can realize exotic topologies in several dimensions, for example, artificial topological superconductors that are able to support Majorana bound states, and pave the way to emerging quantum technologies and future quantum information schemes. Here we report the realization of a three-terminal Josephson interferometer based on a proximized nanosized weak link.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFWe have evaluated three anti-hepatitis E virus (anti-HEV) immunoglobulin M (IgM) assays, the EIAgen HEV IgM assay (Adaltis), the HEV IgM enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay 3.0, and the Assure HEV IgM rapid test (MP Diagnostics), for the routine detection of acute genotype 3 HEV. Their sensitivities were fairly good (90%, 88%, and 82%), and their specificities were excellent (100%, 99.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFA total of 431 consecutive patients from the Midi Pyrenees area with acute hepatitis with unknown etiology in 2001-2002 were tested for the presence of immunoglobulin G-class (IgG) anti-hepatitis E virus (HEV) antibodies. Forty-six (10.7%) had anti-HEV IgG, and the results were questionable for a further 17 (3.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFOne hundred and ninetysix post-partum women, in whom lactation was to be prevented, were given under double-blind conditions either placebo or quinestrol 2 mg or 4 mg as a single oral dose within twentyfour hours of delivery. Early assessment of the results gave a failure rate of 58 per cent, 15 per cent and 5 per cent respectively, with statistically significant differences among the three groups of patients. At the follow-up evaluation, which could be made in only about one third of the women, breast troubles were recorded in 20 to 30 per cent, without significant differences among the groups.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFAttual Ostet Ginecol
December 1996
Minerva Fisioter Radiobiol
November 1998