7 g·h-1) (Nutrimarine Innovation AS, Bergen, Norway), 1.7% intact whey protein (12.4 g·h-1) and 8.3% maltodextrin (60 g·h-1). CHO ingestion was set to a level sufficiently high to ensure maximal CHO uptake at all three test day [1]. Accordingly, the three beverages contained equal amounts RG7112 of CHO, which is a functional prerequisite for any sport beverage. The two protein-containing beverages were supplied with iso-caloric amounts of protein. All three beverages were supplemented

with the same flavour. The participants still reported the different beverages to have distinct tastes. Importantly, however, the identity of the beverages was not at any time revealed to either the participants or to the test leader. Moreover, because the participants had no previous experience with the beverages and did not know their detailed composition, they could not identify the different beverages. Notably, Np is not a purified protein source, but rather consists of proteolyzed tissue. Compared to for example mixtures of casein protein it contains excessive amounts of B-vitamin complexes. Importantly, B-vitamins does not seem to provide an ergogenic effect on endurance performance in humans [24]. Test procedure The cyclists were instructed to refrain from intense exercise for the

48 hours preceding each test. They were also instructed to prepare for each test as if it was a competition event and to prepare for the different test sessions in the same way (i.e. ingesting the same type of meal at a set time interval from the test session). They selleck screening library were restricted from eating food for the 90 min preceding each test and from consuming coffee or other caffeine-containing products for the 4 h preceding each test. The cyclists were cooled with a fan throughout the exercise

bouts. All tests were performed under similar environmental conditions (20-22°C). For each cyclist, the three tests involving ingestion of beverages were performed at approximately the same time of day to avoid circadian variance. All cycling tests were performed on the same Aspartate electromagnetically braked cycle ergometer (Lode Excalibur Sport, Lode B. V., Groningen, the Netherlands), which was adjusted in a standardized manner to each cyclist’s preferred seat height, distance between the seat and the handle bars, and horizontal distance between the tip of the seat and the bottom bracket. Cyclists were allowed to choose their preferred cadence during all cycling tests (no differences were found between test days; data not shown) and they were allowed to use their own shoes and pedals. Test of VO2max and familiarization to the 5-min mean-power test In the first test session, the cyclists performed an incremental cycle ergometer test for determination of VO2max, as previously described by Ronnestad et al. [23]. The session was preceded by 20 min of low intensity warm-up on the cycle ergometer, in which the last part included two 45 s periods at higher intensities.

J Strength Cond Res 2001,15(2):230–234.PubMed 15. Sun J, Aluvila S, Kotaria R, Mayor JA, Walters DE, Kaplan RS: Mitochondrial and plasma membrane citrate transporters: discovery of selective inhibitors and application to structure/function analysis. Mol Cell Pharmacol 2010,2(3):101–110.PubMedCentralPubMed

16. Vescovi JD, Falenchuk O, Wells GD: Blood lactate concentration and clearance in elite swimmers during competition. Int J Sports Physiol Perform 2011,6(1):106–117.PubMed 17. Wells GD, Norris SR: Assessment of physiological capacities of elite athletes & selleck chemicals llc respiratory limitations to exercise performance. Paediatr Respir Rev 2009,10(3):91–98.PubMedCrossRef 18. Wells GD, Plyley M, Thomas S, Goodman L, Duffin J: Effects of concurrent inspiratory and expiratory muscle training on respiratory and exercise performance in competitive swimmers. Eur J Appl Physiol 2005,94(5–6):527–540.PubMedCrossRef 19. Craig A Jr: Breath holding during the turn in competitive swimming. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1986,18(4):402–407.PubMedCrossRef 20. Braun H, Koehler K, Geyer H, Kleiner J, Mester J, Schanzer W: Dietary supplement use among elite young german athletes. International Journal of Sport Nutrition and Exercise Metabolism 2009,19(1):97–109.PubMed 21. Zochowski T, Sporer B, Sleivert G: The effect of acute vs. chronic sodium citrate ingestion on 200m time trial swimming performance check details [abstract].

also Med Sci Sports Exerc 2009,41(5):223–224. Supplement 1 (May 2009)CrossRef 22. McNaughton L, Back K, Palmer G, Strange N: Effects of chronic bicarbonate ingestion on the performance of high intensity work. European Journal of Applied Ahysiology 1999, 80:333–336.CrossRef 23. Potteiger JA, Webster MJ, Nickel GL, Haub MD, Palmer RJ: The effects of buffer ingestion on metabolic factors related to distance running performance. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup

Physiol 1996,72(4):365–371.PubMedCrossRef 24. Bangsbo J, Graham T, Johansen L, Saltin B: Muscle lactate metabolism in recovery from intense exhaustive exercise: impact of light exercise. J Appl Physiol 1994,77(4):1890–1895.PubMed 25. Fournier M, Ricci J, Taylor AW, Ferguson RJ, Montpetit RR, Chaitman BR: Skeletal muscle adaptation in adolescent boys: Sprint and endurance training and detraining. Med Sci Sports Exerc 1982,14(6):453–456.PubMedCrossRef 26. Rimaud D, Messonnier L, Castells J, Devillard X, Calmels P: Effects of compression stockings during exercise and recovery on blood lactate kinetics. Eur J Appl Physiol 2010,110(2):425–433.PubMedCrossRef 27. Pyne D, Trewin C, Hopkins W: Progression and variability of competitive performance of olympic swimmers. J Sports Sci 2004,22(7):613–620.PubMedCrossRef 28. Trewin CB, Hopkins WG, Pyne DB: Relationship between world-ranking and olympic performance of swimmers. J Sports Sci 2004,22(4):339–345.PubMedCrossRef 29.

Process Biochem Selleck ICG-001 2007, 42:1454–1459.CrossRef Competing interests The authors declare that they have no competing interests. Authors’ contributions YL and XD designed the biodegradation experiments and carried out the characterization.

CW and XL participated in Fe3O4 nanoparticles and microbial cell/Fe3O4 biocomposite fabrication. XW and PX made substantial contributions to the conception and design of this paper. XW and YL wrote the paper. All authors read and approved the final manuscript.”
“Background Recently, various non-volatile random access memory (NvRAM) such as magnetic random access memory (MRAM), ferroelectric random access memory (FeRAM), phrase change memory (PCM), and resistive random access memory (RRAM) were widely investigated and discussed for applications in portable electronic products which consisted of low power consumption IC [1], non-volatile memory [2–6], and TFT LCD display [7–10]. To overcome the technical and physical limitation issues of conventional charge storage-based memories [11–18], the resistive

random access memory (RRAM) device which consisted of the oxide-based layer sandwiched by two electrodes was a great potential candidate for the next-generation non-volatile memory because of its superior properties such as low cost, simple structure, fast operation speed, low operation power, and non-destructive readout properties [19–42]. In our previous report, the resistive switching stability and reliability of RRAM device can be improved using a high/low permittivity bilayer structure [43]. Because the permittivity of porous SiO2 film is this website lower than that of SiO2 film, the zirconium metal doped into SiO2 (Zr:SiO2) thin film fabricated by co-sputtering technology and the porous SiO2 buffer layer prepared by inductively coupled plasma (ICP) treatment were executed to form Zr:SiO2/porous below SiO2 RRAM devices in this study. In addition, the resistive switching behaviors

of the Zr:SiO2 RRAM devices using the bilayer structure were improved and investigated by a space electric field concentrated effect. Methods To generate a space electric field concentrated effect in RRAM devices, the porous SiO2 buffer layer in the bilayer Zr:SiO2/porous SiO2 structure was proposed. The patterned TiN/Ti/SiO2/Si substrate was obtained by standard deposition and etching process; after which, 1 μm × 1 μm via holes were formed. After that, the C:SiO2 film was prepared by co-depositing with the pure SiO2 and carbon targets, and the porous SiO2 thin film (about 6 nm) was formed by ICP O2 plasma technology. Then, the Zr:SiO2 thin film (about 20 nm) was deposited on the porous SiO2 thin film by co-sputtering with the pure SiO2 and zirconium targets. The sputtering power was fixed with rf power 200 W and direct current (DC) power 10 W for silicon dioxide and zirconium targets, respectively.

This suggests that B. burgdorferi has already adapted its growth rate to that permitted by its reduced number of rRNA genes. It thus appears that ascertainment of the biological role of differences in rRNA gene copy number in various bacterial species will require an extensive comparative analysis of the adaptability of bacteria with high and low numbers of rRNA genes to different growth conditions before any clear cut conclusions can be drawn. Two major mechanisms regulating rRNA synthesis in E. coli are growth BI 2536 rate and the stringent response [9, 11]. Our efforts to determine if B. burgdorferi rRNA synthesis was controlled by growth rate at a single temperature have been repeatedly frustrated by the still undefined

nutritional requirements

of B. burgdorferi and the lack of simple culture media for this organism [38, 39]. We previously reported that (p)ppGpp levels in B. burgdorferi grown in BSK did not vary despite 10-fold reductions of yeastolate, neopeptone or rabbit serum EX 527 [18]. We have now found that complete omission of rabbit serum from BSK-H did not affect growth of B. burgdorferi B31 at 34°C (Figure 3) or (p)ppGpp levels at 34°C or 23°C (Figure 4). It was thus not possible to alter B. burgdorferi growth rate at a given temperature by changing the composition of its culture medium [11, 40]. The slower growth of B. burgdorferi B31 at 23°C compared to 34°C correlated well with slower accumulation of total DNA, RNA and protein. Although there was a lag in cell number, total DNA and total protein in cells grown at the lower temperature, the amounts of DNA and protein per cell were similar at both temperatures. As expected, the amount of DNA per rapidly dividing exponential phase cells was higher than in more slowly dividing stationary phase cells. The slower rate of increase in total RNA in stationary phase cultures at the lower temperature also resulted in a significant Interleukin-2 receptor difference

in RNA per cell under these two conditions. Although these results were in agreement with the hypothesis that growth rate regulates rRNA synthesis in B. burgdorferi, further investigation determined that growth phase and not growth rate regulated rRNA levels under these conditions (Figure 5). Importantly, even though B. burgdorferi was grown for up to 11 days in 34°C culture and for 28 days in 23°C culture in our experiments, about 80% of all cells at this stationary phase stage are viable (R. Iyer and I. Schwartz, unpublished results), and non-viability cannot therefore account for the large decrease in rRNA levels in stationary phase in these cultures. Amounts of 16S and 23S rRNA that were first normalized to mRNA amounts for constitutively expressed flaB and then additionally normalized to levels at 23°C and 106 cells/ml were similar in rapidly growing (34°C) and slowly growing (23°C) cultures when compared at the same growth phase; both RNA species decreased as the cultures progressed toward stationary phase (Figure 5).

Actinomycetes 1998, 9:61–65. 39. Vijayakumar R, Muthukumar C, Thajuddin N, Paneerselvam A, Saravanamuthu R: Studies on the diversity of Actinomycetes in

the Palk Strait region of Bay of Bengal, India. Actinomycetologica 2007, 2:59–65.CrossRef 40. Roes LM, Meyer PR: Streptomyces pharetrae sp. nov., isolated from soil from the semi-arid Karoo region. Syst Appl Microbiol 2005, 28:488–493.PubMedCrossRef 41. Tresner HD, Davies MC, Backus EJ: Electron microscopy of Streptomyces spore morphology and role in species differentiation. J Bacteriol 1961, 81:70–80.PubMed 42. IMTECH: Laboratory manual for identification of actinomycetes. Chandigarh: Institute of Microbial Technology; 1998:94. 43. Takizawa M, Colwell RR, Hill RT: Isolation and diversity GW3965 cost of actinomycetes in the Chesapeake Bay. Applied Environ Microbiol 1993, 59:997–1002. 44. Hasegawa T, Yamano T, Yoneda M: Streptomyces inusitatus sp. nov. Int J Syst Bacteriol 1978, 28:407–410.CrossRef 45. find more Shimizu

M, Nakagawa Y, Sato Y, Furumai T, Igarashi Y, Onaka H, Yoshida R, Kunch H: Studies on endophytic actinomycetes (1) Streptomycetes sp. Isolated from Rhododendron and its antimicrobial activity. J Gen Pl Pathol 2000, 66:360–366.CrossRef 46. Baltz RH: Antimicrobials from Actinomycetes: back to the future. Microbe 2007, 2:125–131. 47. Moran R, Gonzalez I, Genilloud O: New genus-specific primers for the PCR identification of members of the genera Pseudonocardia and Saccaropolyspora . Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 1999, 49:149–162. 48. Ilic SB, Kontantinovic SS, Todorovic ZB: UV/VIS analysis and antimicrobial activity of Streptomyces isolates. Facta Univ Med Biol 2005, 12:44–46. 49. Grein A, Meyers SP: Growth characteristics and antibiotic production of actinomycetes isolated from littoral sediments and materials suspended in sea water. J Bacteriol 1958, l76:457–463. 50. Rosenberg E, Ron EZ: Natural roles of biosurfactants. Environ Microbiol 2001, 2-hydroxyphytanoyl-CoA lyase 3:229–236.PubMedCrossRef 51. Gandhimathi R, Seghal Kiran G, Hema TA, Selvin J, Rajeetha R, Shanmughapriya

S: Production and characterization of lipopeptide biosurfactant by a sponge-associated marine actinomycetes Nocardiopsis alba MSA10. Bioprocess Biosyst Eng 2009, 32:825–835.PubMedCrossRef 52. Singh P, Thumar JT, Gohel SD, Purohit MK: Molecular diversity and enzymatic potential of salt-tolerent alkaliphilic actinomycetes. In Curr Res Technol Education Topics in Appl Microbiol Microbial Biotechnol Edited by: Mendez A. 2010. 53. Luo HY, Wang YR, Miao LH, Yang PL, Shi PJ, Fang CX, Yao B, Fan YL: Nesterenkonia alba sp. nov., an alkaliphilic actinobacterium isolated from the black liquor treatment system of a cotton pulp mill. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2009, 59:863–868.PubMedCrossRef 54. Chen YG, Wang YX, Zhang YQ, Tang SK, Liu ZX, Xiao HD, Xu LH, Cui XL, Li WJ: Nocardiopsis litoralis sp. nov., a halophilic marine actinomycete isolated from a sea anemone. Int J Syst Evol Microbiol 2009, 59:2708–13.PubMedCrossRef 55.

Distribution of genes encoding MSCRAMM-like proteins, putative

virulence genes, antibiotic resistance determinants, and CRISPRs Previous studies of E. faecium TX16 identified 15 genes encoding LPXTG family cell-wall anchored proteins with MSCRAMM-like features, such as immunoglobulin-like folding; 11 of these were found in four gene clusters, each predicted/demonstrated to encode a different pilus, and four were found as individual MSCRAMM-encoding genes [18, 21, 22]. Our search for these genes in 21 unique E. faecium draft genomes in this study found all of the MSCRAMM-encoding genes to be widely distributed except fms18 (ecbA) and fms15 which were only in HA-clade isolates (although some are present as variants or pseudogenes Linsitinib clinical trial within the HA-clade) (Additional file 8: Table S5). Moreover, our analysis revealed that ebpA-ebpB-ebpC fm fms14-fms17-fms13 fms20, scm, and fms18 (the latter present in only HA isolates) all have sequence variants in some of the 21 strains, with identities of the encoded variant proteins ranging from 39% (fms20 homolog) to 94% (ebpC) versus their counterparts in TX16 (Additional file 8: Table S5). In general, most of the MSCRAMMS followed the CA/HA clade groupings

with a variant representing each clade. Variant 1 of the fms11-fms19-fms16 locus was strictly found in the HA-clade, and variant 2 in the CA-clade except for 1,231,501 which only had one of the three proteins (fms16) as a CA-variant, suggesting recombination by this isolate. Variant 1 of Dichloromethane dehalogenase fms14-fms17-fms13 find more was found in all but one HA clade isolate (1,231,408, a hybrid of HA and CA clades, has variant 2) and variant 2 in all 5 CA-clade strains. Variant 1 of scm was found to be exclusively carried by all 16 HA clade strains and variant 2 by 4 of the 5 CA clade strains. Although the differences between these MSCRAMMs in CA- vs. HA-clade strains are generally greater (ranging from 2 to 27% with an average of 10%) than the differences (3–4%) previously reported for the clade-specific differences in a set of core genes that excluded predicted surface proteins,

they are comparable to the differences seen in several other surface proteins that have been studied [33, 57]. Interestingly, the majority of HA clade strains (12/16, including TX16) were found to have variant 1 of the ebp pilus operon, while variant 2 was exclusively found in the 5 CA-clade strains in addition to variant 1 in three of the five isolates. In contrast, variation within fms20 was restricted to the HA clade; all CA clade isolates carried fms20 variant 1, but the percent identity between these two variants is much smaller (39%), possibly indicating the need for a new gene name. Also of note was the acm gene, which is present as a pseudogene in all of the CA-clade isolates except 1,141,733 which is the only CA-clade isolate that is from a hospitalized patient; acm pseudogenes were also found in non-CC17 HA-clade isolates.

The structures of the ZnO NPs and NRs layers grown on the In/Si NWs were characterized

by HRTEM. Figure 4a shows a TEM micrograph of a ZnO NPs decorating NWs prepared at 0.5 h of ZnO deposition time. Hexagonal shaped ZnO NPs with different sizes from 10 to 40 nm were observed on the surface of the Si NWs. A magnified HRTEM micrograph of the open square area in Figure 4a is displayed in Figure 4b. A lattice-resolved HRTEM image (inset of Figure 4b) shows the crystal lattice at the interface of Si and ZnO structures. The estimated lattice spacing at two different locations for Si(111) and ZnO(100) crystallographic planes are 3.1 and 2.8 Å, respectively. The average sizes of ZnO NPs measured by the TEM system VX-680 cell line increased to approximately 60 ± 10 nm, which corresponds to the increase of the ZnO growth time to 1 h. The TEM micrograph (Figure 4c) shows the Si NWs are mostly covered by the ZnO NPs. The HRTEM micrograph (Figure 4d) shows the high crystallinity of the grown ZnO NPs. A set of measured lattice spacing with values of approximately 2.8 and 2.5 Å TSA HDAC confirms to the ZnO(100) and (101) crystal planes given by the FFT pattern shown in the inset of Figure 4d. These crystal planes have also been reported by other researchers as a favorable orientation

for ZnO NPs grown on Si NWs [17, 21]. The Si/ZnO hierarchical core-shell NW consists of multiple ZnO NRs which grew laterally from the side of the Si/ZnO core-shell NWs, as revealed in Figure 4e. The lattice-resolved HRTEM image in Figure 4f shows a lattice spacing of approximately 2.6 Å which corresponds to ZnO(002) crystallographic plane. FFT pattern (inset of Figure 4f) indicates that the ZnO NRs are growing along the direction of [0001]. This corresponds with the observation of the growth direction for branching ZnO NRs on the Si wire [27] and undoped ZnO cores previously reported [46]. Figure 4 HRTEM analysis on the Si/ZnO heterostructure NWs. ADP ribosylation factor TEM and HRTEM micrographs of Si/ZnO

core-shell NWs prepared at different ZnO growth time of (a, b) 0.5, (c, d) 1, and (e, f) 1.5 h. Magnified HRTEM micrographs from (b) and (d) are inserted in the respective figures. FFT patterns inserted in (d) and (f) are converted from the appropriate HRTEM micrographs. The crystal structures of the samples were studied using XRD. Figure 5 shows the XRD pattern of the Si/ZnO core-shell NWs prepared at the ZnO growth duration of 1 and 2 h. The Si diffraction peaks are indexed to a face-centered cubic structure [31], while ZnO diffraction peaks are matched to the structure of wurtzite (JCPDS card: 36–1451). The XRD pattern for ZnO nanostructures formed on Si NWs at ZnO growth time of 1 h revealed a similar structure as bulk ZnO [47] with the strongest diffraction peak being at ZnO(101) crystal plane.

However, all of the primer sets used

in these studies, which targeted three different variable regions of the 16S gene-the V4 region in the current study, V5 [22], and V6 regions [23, 24]-were shown in silico to cover the Bacteroidetes species, and the V4 primers were tested experimentally against genomic DNA from known Bacteroides isolates and shown to amplify 16 s rDNA. It is likely that members of the Bacteroidetes are also part of the core microbiome of porcine tonsils, despite the lack of evidence in our current data. While there were clear and strong similarities between the core microbiomes of all of the groups examined, there were also unique differences in minor genera found or missing from particular groups. https://www.selleckchem.com/products/elacridar-gf120918.html These differences can not readily be explained by differences in overall herd management or antibiotic p38 protein kinase usage in the groups (no antibiotics in Herd 1 time 1, Tylan in Herd 1 time 2, and Tylan plus Pulmotil in Herd 2). For example, reads identified as Arcanobacterium were found in all Herd 2 samples, and comprised 0.93% of the reads from that herd, but were not found in any Herd 1 sample. In contrast, reads identified

as Treponema were found in all but one sample from Herd 1, but not in any sample from Herd 2, and Chlamydia were found in Herd 1 tissue samples but not in Herd 2 samples. Lactobacillus was abundant in most samples from both Herd 1 time 1 and Herd 2, but was rare in Herd 1 time 2 samples. Pelosinus was abundant only in

Herd 1 time 1, not Herd 2 or Herd 1 time 2 samples. There were many other genera found in small numbers in 1-2 animals per group that were unique to that group, such as Polynucleobacter and Geobacter in Pig D from Herd 1 time 1 (Additional file 5), but no others that could be found in most animals in one group but not in animals of another group. These results indicate that, despite the small sample number, we can identify differences in the minor genera found in the two different herds. One goal of this project was to test tonsil brushes as an alternative, non-invasive method to collect tonsil samples, eliminating the need to euthanize animals to SB-3CT collect tonsil tissue. The Jaccard analysis (Figure 4) clearly indicated that all samples from the second sampling of Herd 1 were more similar to each other than to samples from Herd 1 and 2. We could detect differences between the brush and tissue extraction procedures as indicated in Figure 5, but the difference was small based on the range of eigenvalues. The detected statistical differences were a consequence of an increase in the percentage of reads identified as Actinobacillus, fewer sequences of Fusobacterium, Veillonella, and Peptostreptococcus), and no detectable sequences from the obligate intracellular pathogen Chlamydia in the brush specimens.

Penetrating abdominal or pelvic trauma may also be associated with significant haemorrhage from non-visceral arteries as shown in figure 1. Figure 1 a) Axial arterial phase contrast enhanced see more CT in a 23 year old man following a stab wound to the left buttock demonstrates haematoma within the gluteus muscles. Contrast enhancement medially (arrow) represents active haemorrhage

from the superior gluteal artery (Somatom sensation, 24 slice,Siemens, Erlangen, Germany). b) A Cobra catheter was negotiated into the posterior (somatic) left internal iliac artery from an ipsilateral approach. Active haemorrhage from a branch of the superior gluteal artery was demonstrated. c) A microcatheter system (Progreat) was negotiated into the bleeding vessel and 2 microcoils (Boston Scientific vortex fibred) were deployed (arrows). This completely abolished the bleeding with good perfusion of the buttock post procedure. The first large study

of the use of embolisation in both blunt and penetrating abdominal trauma demonstrated a similar success rate of over 90% [18]. There was no difference between the success rates of embolisation for both. In over half the patients with penetrating trauma embolisation was used successfully after operative management failed to achieve haemostasis. The use of angiographic embolisation PI3K inhibitor as a first-line treatment modality or as an adjunct to difficult surgery is supported by other studies [19]. Interventional radiology techniques In the context of expanding the role of NOM of abdominal trauma interventional radiology is used to control haemorrhage, either acutely or to prevent re-bleeding from pseudo aneurysms or in a post surgical patient. The use of modern low osmolar contrast media (LOCM) for MDCT or angiography carries a small risk; mortality of 1 in 170,000 and severe or life threatening reactions of 1 in 40,000. In addition, if a patient has existing Amino acid acute renal failure

or severe chronic renal insufficiency, there is a risk of contrast induced nephropathy (CIN) of 5 to 50%. CIN is usually transitory and its significance is uncertain [20]. In the context of life threatening haemorrhage and in comparison to surgical morbidity for these patients, the risk of CIN would appear to be acceptable. Occlusion balloons placed selectively and temporarily within internal iliac arteries, main visceral vessels or even within the aorta can be useful temporising measures. If there has been direct arterial trauma then assuming suitable anatomy stent graft or covered stent placement can provide a means to control the haemorrhage whilst preserving end organ blood supply. However, for solid organ haemorrhage embolisation is the most frequently used interventional technique. Many different types of embolic materials are available (Table 1).

After deposition, the cryostat and the samples reached RT in a natural heat exchange process lasting up to 12 h and then the chamber was filled with nitrogen. Before morphology characterization in ambient conditions, the samples were kept in an Ar (6 N) atmosphere. Scanned AFM images Atomic force microscope (AFM) measurements under tapping mode in air were carried out utilizing an Ntegra NT-MDT microscope (Moscow, Russia) equipped with sharp etalon probes with 10-nm tip curvature radius and 5:1 aspect ratio.

Such probes are Selleck BLZ945 characterized by highly reproducible parameters: typical dispersion of probe resonant frequency is ±10% and typical dispersion of force constant is ±20%. The resonant frequency of the probes is equal to 140 kHz, which corresponds to a force constant of 3.5 N/m. To calibrate AFM scanner movements along the z-axis, highly oriented pyrolytic graphite was used. Calibration in the lateral direction was performed using a three-dimensional array of rectangles with 3-μm period. X-ray reflectometry and diffractometry The structure of thin films was analyzed by X-ray reflectometry; the measurements were performed using the Bruker

Discover D8 X-ray diffractometer (Madison, WI, USA) with Cu Kα line source of wavelength 0.15405 nm and point detector. The monochromatic parallel beam was formed by a parabolic Goebel mirror. The data analysis was based on finding the proper electron density profile, whose Fourier transform would match the recorded www.selleckchem.com/PARP.html X-ray reflectometry (XRR) pattern. To fit the data, a ‘box model’

was used. Data fitting was performed using Leptos 4.02 software package provided by Bruker. The thickness and density of Ag and Ge layers as well as Ge/Ag and Ag/air surface roughness aminophylline were free parameters in the fitting procedure. The wide-angle X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements were done with the Bruker GADDS system equipped with 2D Vantec 2000 detector. Results and discussion Effect of thermal expansion Deposition of metal layers on cooled dielectric substrates poses a question about the relationship between the dimensional stability of structures and temperature change. A mismatch of thermal expansion coefficients of layers gives rise to intrinsic stress that may result in metal film cracking. The thermal expansion coefficient of silver α Ag varies from 13.38 at 85 K to 18.8 [μm/m K] at RT [23]. At temperatures from 90 to 295 K, the expansion coefficient of sapphire α sapphire in the (0001) plane increases from 3.3 to 6.5 [μm/m K] [24]. The temperature difference between the cooled substrates and RT (at which samples are usually removed from the vacuum chamber) can be as much as 200°.