We fabricate superconductor–graphene– superconductor Josephson junctions with superconducting regions made of lead (Pb). The critical current through graphene may be modulated by the external magnetic field; the resulting Fraunhofer interference pattern shows several periods of oscillations, suggesting that the junction is uniform. Deviations from the perfect Fraunhofer pattern are observed, an...

BACKGROUND The onset of plastic bronchitis (PB) can be debilitating in survivors of Fontan surgery. The rarity of this complication makes designing studies to understand risk factors for PB challenging. This 2-center case-control study aimed to describe patient outcomes and to assess the association of antecedent patient factors with PB development. METHODS AND RESULTS Using center registries...

Lead (Pb)-induced hypertension is characterized by an increase in reactive oxygen species (ROS) and a decrease in nitric oxide (NO). In the present study we evaluated the effect of L-arginine (NO precursor), dimercaptosuccinic acid (DMSA, a chelating agent and ROS scavenger), and the association of L-arginine/DMSA on tissue Pb mobilization and blood pressure levels in plumbism. Tissue Pb levels...

The objectives of this experiment were to determine the effects of graded dietary lead (Pb) concentrations on body weight and Pb concentrations in blood, hair, soft tissues, and urine from pigs and to generate equations for estimating daily Pb intake. Sixteen barrows with initial body weight 36.3 kg (standard deviation = 2.3) were allotted to four dietary treatments that consisted of graded sup...

ALICE is a general-purpose heavy-ion experiment able to identify particles over a wide momentum range thanks to excellent vertexing and tracking performance, low material budget and different Particle IDentification (PID) techniques. In this paper the measurement of the production of identified light flavour particles in pp, p–Pb and Pb–Pb collisions is reported. It is of fundamental importance...

Studies have suggested that plasma lead levels may better reflect the toxicologically labile fraction of circulatory Pb that is more freely available for exchange with target tissues than do Pb levels in whole blood. Studies have also reported an apparent severalfold variation in the relative partitioning of Pb between whole blood and plasma (or serum) for a given whole-blood Pb level. This may...

Historically, the USEPA has only considered water hardness when establishing acute and chronic water quality criteria (WQC) for lead (Pb) in freshwater. Yet, recent evidence suggests that hardness may not be protective during chronic Pb exposure and that other factors (e.g., dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and alkalinity) influence toxicity. In fact, we have recently shown that Ca(2+) (as CaSO(4...

We report progress in using the isotopic composition and concentration of Pb in the dentine and enamel of deciduous teeth to provide a high resolution time frame of exposure to Pb during fetal development and early childhood. Isotope measurements (total Pb and (208)Pb/(206)Pb, (207)Pb/(206)Pb ratios) were acquired by laser ablation inductively coupled mass spectrometry at contiguous 100 micron ...