Search results

Background: Cadmium (Cd), lead (Pb), and mercury (Hg) cause toxicological renal effects, but the clinical relevance at low-level exposures in general populations is unclear. The objective of this study is to assess the risk of developing end-stage renal disease in relation to Cd, Pb, and Hg exposure. Methods: A total of 118 cases who later in life developed end-stage renal disease, and 378 matched

We report on a theoretical discovery of a generic piezoelectric held in strained core shell compound semiconductor nanowires. We show, using both an analytical model and numerical simulations based on fully electroelastically coupled continuum elasticity theory, that lattice-mismatch-induced strain in an epiraxial core shell nanowire gives rise to an internal electric held along the axis of the na

A leaky lens antenna system for short pulse applications is designed, fabricated and characterized. The antenna has very good phase center stability over large bandwidths. The leaky lens antenna is connected to an in-house wavelet generator to transmit 100 ps pulses centered at 57.5 GHz. It is shown that the antenna preserves the reference pulse shape and has very low dispersion.

The photophysical properties of conjugated polymers (CPs) largely depend on the interactions between the CP and its environment. We present a study of two polymers with identical conjugated backbones, bare and insulated, that showed different fluorescence excitation modulation depth histograms. However, the polarization differences are not related to differences in conformation, as commonly believ

This study analyzed predictors of psychiatric hospitalization in ex-prisoners with substance use problems (N = 4,081) assessed with the Addiction Severity Index and followed post-release for hospitalizations with psychiatric diagnoses (including suicide attempts). Thirty-four percent were hospitalized, and in Cox regression, several substance-related variables predicted hospitalization, including

Single chains of conjugated polymers e.g. MEH-PPV (poly(2-methoxy-5-(2'-ethylhexyloxy)-1,4-phenylenevinylene) have become interesting objects for single molecule spectroscopy (SMS) studies. However, most of the experiments so far were performed without full awareness of the isolation status of the polymer chains in host matrices. We used steady-state and time-resolved fluorescence methods and 2D p

Numerous approaches have been proposed to mimic natural photosynthesis using artificial antenna systems, such as conjugated polymers (CPs), dendrimers, and J-aggregates. As a result, there is a need to characterize and compare the excitation energy transfer (EET) properties of various natural and artificial antennas. Here we experimentally show that EET in single antennas can be characterized by 2

Microscopic colitis (MC) induces gastrointestinal symptoms, which are partly overlapping with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), predominately in middle-aged and elderly women. The etiology is unknown, but association with smoking has been found. The aim of this study was to examine whether the increased risk for smokers to develop MC is a true association, or rather the result of confounding factors

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the association between marital status and lack of internal health locus of control (HLC), taking economic stress and trust into account. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study. METHODS: The public health survey Skåne 2008 is a postal questionnaire study (55% participation rate). A random sample was invited to participate, and 28,198 individuals aged 18-80 years agre

Time resolved absorption spectroscopy has been used to study photoinduced electron injection and charge recombination in Zn-porphyrin sensitized nanostructured TiO(2) electrodes. The electron transfer dynamics is correlated to the performance of dye sensitized solar cells based on the same electrodes. We find that the dye/semiconductor binding can be described with a heterogeneous geometry where t

The influence of exciton-vibrational coupling on the energy level structure, oscillator strength, and relaxation dynamics is investigated for two different excitonic dimer models. As compared with a purely electronic dimer, the inclusion of local vibrational modes within a vibronic dimer gives rise to a complex energy level structure including avoided crossings and changes of the nature of the exc

Background: Sleep disturbances are common among older people (>65 years). Further, long-term use of sedative-hypnotics in older people is associated with morbidity and mortality. However, older people represent a large span of life years, and few studies have included the oldest-old above 85 years. Aim: To investigate and compare sleep quality, use of hypnotics and sleeping habits in different age

Single complex fluorescence polarization spectroscopy is applied to study the peripheral light harvesting antenna (LH2) from photosynthetic purple bacterium Rhodopseudomonas (Rps.) acidophila. The measured two-dimensional excitation-emission polarization plots are used to construct geometric representation for the absorbing B800 and emitting B850 as ellipses. The shape and orientation of the ellip

The few-picosecond (ps) decay of terahertz (THz) photoconductivity typically observed for conjugated polymer:fullerene blends (at excitation fluencies ∼10(15) photons/cm(2) per pulse) is shown to be a result of charge pair annihilation for two polymer:PCBM blends. At a factor of 100 lower excitation density, the THz decay is in the hundreds of ps time scale, implying that very high carrier mobilit

We have studied the influence of three different fullerene derivatives on the charge generation and recombination dynamics of polymer/fullerene bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cell blends. Charge generation in APFO3/[70]PCBM and APFO3/[60]PCBM is very similar and somewhat slower than charge generation in APFO3/[70]BTPF. This difference qualitatively matches the trend in free energy change of elect

A vibronic exciton model is applied to explain the long-lived oscillatory features in the two-dimensional (2D) electronic spectra of the Fenna-Matthews-Olson (FMO) complex. Using experimentally determined parameters and uncorrelated site energy fluctuations, the model predicts oscillations with dephasing times of 1.3 ps at 77 K, which is in a good agreement with the experimental results. These lon

To develop highly efficient molecular photocatalysts for visible light-driven hydrogen production, a thorough understanding of the photophysical and chemical processes in the photocatalyst is of vital importance. In this context, in situ X-ray absorption spectroscopic (XAS) investigations show that the nature of the catalytically active metal center in a (N boolean AND N)MCl2 (M=Pd or Pt) coordina

In joint prosthetic surgery, various methods are used to provide implant stability. We used an injectable bone substitute, composed of calcium sulfate/hydroxyapatite, as bone defect filler to stabilize a tibia prosthesis in an experimental rabbit model. The aim of the study was to investigate and compare the stability of prosthetic fixation with and without the use of an injectable bone substitute

Conjugated polymer/fullerene-based solar cells are, due to their potential flexibility, cost efficiency and low weight, interesting as future alternatives to today’s silicon cells [1]. In these cells, both the dissociation of the polymer exciton into extractable charges, i.e. charges that are free and mobile, and the recombination of the free charges are expected to be crucial in order to obtain h