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Techniques for the cryopreservation of epididymal sperm was are widely used in clinical practice. However, given the unique characteristics of sperm from patients with obstructive azoospermia, epididymal sperm cryopreservation is more difficult because of low count and weak motility; therefore, conventional methods of sperm cryopreservation may not result in the best outcomes. We used the micro-straw method to store small quantities of sperm obtained from patients with severe oligozoospermia or azoospermia and achieved successful deliveries in the previous study. This retrospective study of ICSI cycles included the first ICSI cycles of fresh or frozen/thawed epididymal sperm that were performed in patients suffering from obstructive azoospermia who were admitted to the CITIC-Xiangya Hospital of Reproduction and Genetics of China from June 1, 2015 to June 31, 2019. A total of 2441 patients with obstructive azoospermia were divided according to the use of fresh (n = 2342) or frozen/thawed (n = 99) epididymal sperm. The results showed that the fertilisation rate was higher with fresh epididymal sperm than that with frozen/thawed epididymal sperm (85.14% vs. 79.26%, respectively; p = 0.000). However, the rates of embryo cleavage, high-quality embryos, clinical pregnancy, miscarriage, singletons and birth defect were similar between fresh and frozen/thawed epididymal sperm (98.28% vs. 99.13%, 60.34% vs. 57.29%, 67.90% vs. 70.51%, 8.12% vs. 10.91%, 57.76% vs. 49.09%, 1.59% vs. 1.45%respectively; p = 0.088, 0.109, 0.628, 0.462,0.203 and 0.686). In addition, the short-term cryostorage of small quantities of epididymal sperm did not affect clinical outcomes. The results indicated that in cases of obstructive azoospermia, cryostorage of small quantities epididymal sperm is a reliable option. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In single channel systems, the nonlinear phase noise only comes from the channel itself through self-phase modulation (SPM). In this paper, a fast-nonlinear effect estimation method is proposed based on fractional Fourier transformation (FrFT). The nonlinear phase noise caused by Self-phase modulation effect is accurately estimated for single model 10Gbaud OOK and RZ-QPSK signals with the fiber length range of 0–200 km and the launch power range of 1–10 mW. The pulse windowing is adopted to search the optimum fractional order for the OOK and RZ-QPSK signals. Since the nonlinear phase shift caused by the SPM effect is very small, the accurate optimum fractional order of the signal cannot be found based on the traditional method. In this paper, a new method magnifying the phase shift is proposed to get the accurate optimum order and thus the nonlinear phase shift is calculated. The simulation results agree with the theoretical analysis and the method is applicable to signals whose pulse type has the similar characteristics with Gaussian pulse. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The high κ ZrAlO x gate insulators were deposited by atomic layer deposition on silicon and characterized by the different analytical techniques. The grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD) verifies that ZrAlO x thin films show an amorphous structure. The X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) confirms that the form of ZrAlO x phase improves the electrical properties and stability of the associated devices. Then, all ZrAlO x thin films were integrated in metal-insulator-semiconductor structures to check the electrical capabilities. They all show a low leakage current density (about 1 × 10 −8 A/cm 2 ) under a high electric field of about 2.0 MV/cm, and exhibit a stable capacitance as a function of frequency. Their associated ZTO TFTs were deposited by a radio frequency sputtering, and the influence of the ZrAlO x thickness on the stabilities under positive bias stress and electrical properties is investigated. The 130 nm ZrAlO x based TFT shows the optimized electrical properties (its mobility, threshold voltage, sub-threshold voltage swing and on-off ratio are 12.5 cm 2 /V, 0.3 V, 0.15 V/dec. and 8 × 10 7 and the good stability with 2.5 V threshold voltage shift under the positive bias voltage stress. The better properties of 130 nm ZrAlO x based TFTs are attributed to a less interface trap states and surface scattering center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this work, we report the influence of ZnSnO channel layer sputtering power in the stability of ZnSnO TFTs under negative gate-bias illumination stress (NBIS). The origin of threshold voltage shift results from combined effect of two factors between the little defect-induced trap densities originated from oxygen vacancies and better channel–insulator interface. The kinetic energy of the ions at a proper rf sputtering power is responsible for less defect-induced trap density and better channel–insulator interface. Therefore, the ZnSnO TFT fabricated at 75 W sputtering power shows a better NBIS stability. In addition, the trap density is extracted by temperature-dependent field-effect measurements and it is consistent with the change of stability under NBIS and thermal stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the stability of thin film transistors incorporating sputtered InZnO as the channel layer under negative bias illumination stress. The transfer characteristic for various active layer thicknesses is shifted toward the negative direction under negative bias illumination stress and the device with thicker channel layer shows a slighter V TH negative shift than another device under negative bias illumination stress. In order to investigate channel layer thickness can have a great effect on the trap density and thus affect the V TH shift caused by charge trapping; we use temperature-dependent field-effect measurements method to accurately calculate their trap density. The results show that thicker InZnO channel layer has fewer DOSs, resulting in the decrease of charge trapping and the decrease of photoexcitation generated electron carrier. So the device with thicker channel layer shows a slighter V TH negative shift than another device under negative bias illumination stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Brain PET scanning plays an important role in the diagnosis, prognostication and monitoring of many brain diseases. Motion artifacts from head motion are one of the major hurdles in brain PET. In this work, we propose to use wireless MR active markers to track head motion in real time during a simultaneous PET–MR brain scan and incorporate the motion measured by the markers in the listmode PET reconstruction. Several wireless MR active markers and a dedicated fast MR tracking pulse sequence module were built. Data were acquired on an ACR Flangeless PET phantom with multiple spheres and a non-human primate with and without motion. Motions of the phantom and monkey's head were measured with the wireless markers using a dedicated MR tracking sequence module. The motion PET data were reconstructed using list-mode reconstruction with and without motion correction. Static reference was used as gold standard for quantitative analysis. The motion artifacts, which were prominent on the images without motion correction, were eliminated by the wireless marker based motion correction in both the phantom and monkey experiments. Quantitative analysis was performed on the phantom motion data from 24 independent noise realizations. The reduction of bias of sphere-to-background PET contrast by active marker based motion correction ranges from 26% to 64% and 17% to 25% for hot (i.e., radioactive) and cold (i.e., non-radioactive) spheres, respectively. The motion correction improved the channelized Hotelling observer signal-to-noise ratio of the spheres by 1.2 to 6.9 depending on their locations and sizes. The proposed wireless MR active marker based motion correction technique removes the motion artifacts in the reconstructed PET images and yields accurate quantitative values. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: We established stably transfected insect cell lines containing cDNAs encoding the α and β subunits of human prolyl 4-hydroxylase in both Trichoplusia ni and Drosophila melanogaster S2 cells. The expression level and enzymatic activity of recombinant prolyl 4-hydroxylase produced in the Drosophila expression system were significantly higher than those produced in the T. ni system. We further characterized the involvement of prolyl 4-hydroxylase in the assembly of the three α chains to form trimeric type XXI minicollagen, which comprises the intact C-terminal non-collagenous (NC1) and collagenous domain (COL1), in the Drosophila system. When minicollagen XXI was stably expressed in Drosophila S2 cells alone, negligible amounts of interchain disulfide-bonded trimers were detected in the culture media. However, minicollagen XXI was secreted as disulfide-bonded homotrimers by coexpression with prolyl 4-hydroxylase in the stably transfected Drosophila S2 cells. Minicollagen XXI coexpressed with prolyl 4-hydroxylase contained sufficient amounts of hydroxyproline to form thermal stable pepsin-resistant triple helices consisting of both interchain and non-interchain disulfide-bonded trimers. These results demonstrate that a sufficient amount of active prolyl 4-hydroxylase is required for the assembly of type XXI collagen triple helices in Drosophila cells and the trimeric assembly is governed by the C-terminal collagenous domain. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Effective treatment of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) remains an unmet need. Different subsets of macrophages play differential roles in SLE and the modulation of macrophage polarization away from M1 status is beneficial for SLE therapeutics. Given the pathogenic roles of type I interferons (IFN-I) in SLE, this study investigated the effects and mechanisms of a mitochondria localization molecule ubiquitin specific peptidase 18 (USP18) preserving anti-IFN effects and isopeptidase activity on macrophage polarization. After observing USP18 induction in monocytes from SLE patients, we studied mouse bone marrow-derived macrophages and showed that USP18 deficiency increased M1signal (LPS + IFN-γ treatment)-induced macrophage polarization, and the effects involved the induction of glycolysis and mitochondrial respiration and the expression of several glycolysis-associated enzymes and molecules, such as hypoxia-inducible factor-1α. Moreover, the effects on mitochondrial activities, such as mitochondrial DNA release and mitochondrial reactive oxygen species production were observed. In contrast, the overexpression of USP18 inhibited M1signal-mediated and enhanced interleukin-4 (IL-4)-mediated polarization of macrophages and the related cellular events. Moreover, the levels of USP18 mRNA expression showed tendency of correlation with the expression of metabolic enzymes in monocytes from patients with SLE. We thus concluded that by preserving anti-IFN effect and downregulating M1 signaling, promoting USP18 activity may serve as a useful approach for SLE therapeutics. [Display omitted] [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

During host immune response, an initial and sufficient activation is required to avoid infection and cancer, yet an excessive activation bears the risk of autoimmune reactivity and disease development. This fastidious balance of the immune system is regulated by co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory molecules, also known as immune checkpoints. Both excessive co-stimulation and insufficient co-inhibition can induce the activation and proliferation of autoreactive cells that may lead to the development of autoimmune diseases. During the last decade, a growing number of new immune checkpoint receptors and ligands have been discovered, providing an attractive approach to investigate their implication in the pathogenesis of autoimmune diseases and their potential role as targets for effective therapeutic interventions. In this review, we focus on the roles and underlying mechanisms of co-stimulatory and co-inhibitory receptors and other molecules that function as immune checkpoints in autoimmune diseases such as systemic lupus erythematosus, multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, Sjögren's syndrome, type I diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease. We also summarize previous and current clinical trials targeting these checkpoint pathways in autoimmune diseases and discuss further therapeutic implications and possible risks and challenges. • Co-stimulatory, co-inhibitory molecules and other molecules function as immune checkpoints keep balance of the immune system. • Immune checkpoint molecules participate in preventing or promoting the development of many autoimmune diseases. • There are many clinical trails targeting immune checkpoint molecules for treatment of autoimmune diseases. • Risks and challenges remain when targeting immune checkpoint molecules for treatment of autoimmune diseases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We theoretically study graphene-based ferromagnet/insulator/ p -wave superconductor hybrid structure, where an anomalous zero bias conductance peak (ZBCP) is exhibited. With the exchange field h increased, the zero-bias conductance dips (ZBCDs) for both the p x - and p y -wave situations develop into ZBCPs at h ∕ E F > 1 , which are just contrary to the situation at h ∕ E F < 1. Furthermore, with the enhancement of barrier strength χ , the conversion from the ZBCD to ZBCP is displayed in the region of h ∕ E F > 1 for the p x -wave, whereas the sharp ZBCP remains all the time at any h for the p y -wave. More interestingly, the zero-bias conductance for the p x -wave keeps unchanged upon increasing χ , while for the p y -wave, exhibits periodical modulation of χ. The singular features can be used to not only identify the p -wave superconductivity and spin polarization in graphene but also pave the way to a new class of tunable superconducting spintronic devices based on large-scale graphene. • An anomalous zero bias conductance peak (ZBCP) is exhibited in this hybrid structure. • With the exchange field h increased at h ∕ E F > 1 , the zero-bias conductance dips (ZBCDs) for both the p x - and p y -wave situations develop into ZBCPs, which are just contrary to those for h ∕ E F < 1. • With the increase of χ , the conductance gets an enhancement at the edge (corresponding to e V ∕ Δ 0 = 1) for p x -wave SC junction, which is not exhibited for the p y -wave situation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Atherosclerosis is a chronic inflammatory disease and represents the leading cause of morbidity and mortality throughout the world. Accumulating evidences have showed that Dihydrocapsaicin (DHC) has been found to exert multiple pharmacological and physiological effects. Nevertheless, the effects and possible mechanism of DHC on proinflammatory response remain largely unexplained. Methods and results We found that DHC markedly upregulated NFIA and suppressed NF-κB expression in THP-1 macrophages. Up-regulation of proinflammatory cytokines induced by LPS including TNF-α, IL-1β and IL-6 were markedly suppressed by DHC treatment. We also observed that protein level of NFIA was significantly increased while NF-κB and proinflammatory cytokines were decreased by DHC treatment in apoE −/− mice. Lentivirus-mediated overexpression of NFIA suppressed NF-κB and proinflammatory cytokines expression both in THP-1 macrophages and plaque tissues of apoE−/− mice. Moreover, treatment with lentivirus-mediated overexpression of NFIA made the down-regulation of DHC on NF-κB and proinflammatory cytokines expression notably accentuated in THP-1 macrophages and apoE −/− mice. In addition, treatment with siRNA targeting NF-κB accentuated the suppression of proinflammatory cytokines by lentivirus-mediated overexpression of NFIA. Conclusion These observations demonstrated that DHC can significantly decrease proinflammatory cytokines through enhancing NFIA and inhibiting NF-κB expression and thus DHC may be a promising candidate as an anti-inflammatory drug for atherosclerosis as well as other disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the damping performance of a novel dynamic vibration absorber that exploits the first kind of levitation characteristics of ferrofluid. The dynamic vibration absorber consists of a nonmagnetic container, a copper block, a small amount of ferrofluid, and three permanent magnets (top magnet, bottom magnet, and annular magnet). Under the influence of gravity, the copper block will deviate from the center of the container and generate an initial eccentricity between itself and the container. The dependence of the mass of the ferrofluid on the initial eccentricity is investigated in detail. When an external vibration occurs, the initial eccentricity will cause an included angle with a range of 0 ∘ ∼ 90°. The damping performance of the ferrofluid dynamic vibration absorbers without and with the top magnet are tested by the free oscillation of a copper plate under two included angles: 0°and 90°, respectively. In addition, the mechanism of damping performance affected by the mass of the ferrofluid is discussed based on the ferrohydrostatic relation of ferrofluid. • The damping performance of a ferrofluid dynamic vibration absorber is presented. • The levitation state of the nonmagnetic inertial mass block is investigated. • The highest time percentage of vibration attenuation is 87.22%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Boron doped InZnO (BIZO) thin film has been fabricated via solution process and the effect of boron addition on the properties of BIZO thin film is investigated with the glancing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), the atomic force microscopy (AFM) and UV–vis spectrophotometer. The XPS spectra show that the oxygen vacancies in IZO semiconductor materials are effectively suppressed by boron contents due to high Lewis acid strength and strong bonding dissociation energy of B O. Moreover, the associated application in TFTs has also been fabricated by solution process and the thermal stability and electrical properties of solution processed BIZO-TFTs are investigated to confirm the decrease of oxygen vacancies in IZO materials. Meanwhile, the capacitance voltage measurement and the density of states are carried out to further investigate the enhanced electrical performance and thermal stability of TFTs due to the suppression of oxygen vacancies. Thus, the B doping is an effective method to suppress the generation of oxygen vacancies in IZO materials and to improve the thermal stability of solution processed BIZO-TFTs. Highlights • Influence of boron composition on oxygen vacancy of BInZnO thin films. • Thermal stability of BInZnO TFTs. • Solution processed BIZO thin films and BIZO-TFTs. • CV measurement and the DOS. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Baseline blood concentrations of metals are important references for monitoring metal exposure in environmental and occupational settings. The purpose of this study was to determine the blood levels of manganese (Mn), copper (Cu), zinc (Zn), lead (Pb), and cadmium (Cd) among the residents (aged 12–60 years old) living in the suburb southwest of Beijing in China and to compare the outcomes with reported values in various developed countries. Blood samples were collected from 648 subjects from March 2009 to February 2010. Metal concentrations in the whole blood were determined by ICP-MS. The geometric means of blood levels of Mn, Cu, Zn, Pb and Cd were 11.4, 802.4, 4665, 42.6, and 0.68 µg/L, respectively. Male subjects had higher blood Pb than the females, while the females had higher blood Mn and Cu than the males. There was no gender difference for blood Cd and Zn. Smokers had higher blood Cu, Zn, and Cd than nonsmokers. There were significant age-related differences in blood levels of all metals studied; subjects in the 17–30 age group had higher blood levels of Mn, Pb, Cu, and Zn, while those in the 46–60 age group had higher Cd than the other age groups. A remarkably lower blood level of Cu and Zn in this population as compared with residents of other developed countries was noticed. Based on the current study, the normal reference ranges for the blood Mn were estimated to be 5.80–25.2 μg/L; for blood Cu, 541–1475 μg/L; for blood Zn, 2349–9492 μg/L; for blood Pb, <100 μg/L; and for blood Cd, <5.30 μg/L in the general population living in Beijing suburbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In situ microprobe Raman and XRD techniques were used to follow the oxidation state of Rh/Al2O3 and Ru/Al2O3 catalysts during the catalytic ignition process of the partial oxidation of methane (POM) to synthesis gas. It was found that the catalyst was in the fully oxidized state before ignition of the POM reaction, and abruptly changed its oxidation state at the temperature at which the POM reaction started. After the POM reaction was ignited, the amount of Rh2O3 or RuO2 in the catalyst at the entrance of the catalyst bed was below the detection level of Raman spectroscopy. Due to the greater Mrength of Rud with Rhce:inf loc="post">2O3 demonstrated a greater tendency to oxidize than Rh/Al2O3 under the POM conditions. This factor affects the oxygen coverage on the two catalysts under reaction conditions and consequently affects the pathways of synthesis gas formation. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Shuttle-like α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles have been successfully synthesized via a new soft-template route using polyethylene glycol (PEG) as polymer, cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) as surfactant and FeCl3·6H2O as iron source materials. Meanwhile, spherical α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles are also fabricated under the similar conditions without surfactant and polymer. The resultant products are characterized by means of thermalgravimetric analysis (TGA), powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), infrared (IR) spectroscopy, transmission electron micrograph (TEM), X-ray photoelectron spectra (XPS) and magnetization measurements. The homogeneous α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles with shuttle-like shape have an average length of 120nm and a mean diameter of about 50nm in the middle part (an average aspect ratio of about 2.5) whereas spherical α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles have a mean particle diameter of about 35nm. Magnetic hysteresis measurements reveal that shuttle-like α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles display normal ferromagnetic behaviors while spherical α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles exhibit weak ferromagnetic behaviors at room temperature. The two types of α-Fe2O3 exhibit hysteretic features with the remanence and coercivity of 0.156 emu/g and 664Oe, 0.048 emu/g and 110Oe, respectively. The higher remanent magnetization and coercivity of shuttle-like α-Fe2O3 nanoparticles may be associated with the aspect ratio of α-Fe2O3 since shape anisotropy would exert a tremendous influence on their magnetic properties. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]