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On account of the uneven level of ecological and environmental protection in the countries along the Belt and Road, infrastructure construction and investment cooperation around natural resource-intensive industries such as steel, energy, and nonferrous metals can easily induce serious ecological problems. It is necessary and practical to provide enterprises with timely and effective ecological circumstantial information of Belt and Road and pilot the establishment of the Belt and Road infrastructure construction activities with appropriate ecological risk prevention and control mechanisms. In this study, we researched the ecological risk level distribution of the countries along the Belt and Road by using ESA global land cover data and ecological risk index mode of land use. Kuwait, one of the most representative countries along the Belt and Road, was selected to analyze its spatial distribution of ecological risk by using ordinary Kriging interpolation. The results show several aspects. There existed high-ranking ecological risks in the following countries: Saudi Arabia in the Middle East, Turkmenistan in the Central Asian, Mongolia in East Asia and Pakistan in South Asia and so on; the medium ecological risks appear in the following countries: Ukraine in Eastern Europe, India, Bangladesh in South Asian, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan in Central Asia the low ecological risk countries mainly include Russia, most Eastern European countries represented by Poland, and most Southeast Asian countries represented by Thailand. In the case, Kuwait's risk level is high in urban areas, medium in desert areas, and low along the Persian Gulf, showing a layered and striped distribution. Most areas in Kuwait are medium ecological risk zones with a relatively small area of high ecological risk and low ecological risk areas clustered in the eastern part of Kuwait. To effectively lower the ecological risk levels of countries along B&R, we suggest establishing B&R ecological risk prevention and control mechanisms while ecological conservation technologies are also worth noting.

Four wide bandgap donor-acceptor (D-A) conjugated polymers, i.e. P-diF2T, P-TT, P-BDT and P-NDT, with bis(5-(2-decyltetradecyl)-[2,3′-bithiophen]-2′-yl)arylenes as D-units and 2-propyl-5,6-difluorobenzo[d][1,2,3]triazole (ffTAZ) as A unit were synthesized for photovoltaic applications. In P-diF2T, P-TT, P-BDT and P-NDT, 3,3′-difluoro-2,2′-bithiophene (diF2T), thieno[3,2-b]thiophene (TT), benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b']dithiophene (BDT) and naphtho[1,2-b:5,6-b']dithiophene (NDT) were used as aryl central units, respectively, to adjust the properties of the polymers. The optical bandgap is 1.83 eV for P-diF2T, 1.85 eV for P-TT, 1.90 eV for P-BDT and 2.04 eV for P-NDT. All four polymers show temperature-dependent aggregation behavior in solution, and their absorption spectra are complementary with that of non-fullerene acceptor (NFA) 3,9-bis(2-methylene-(3-(1,1-dicyanomethylene)-indanone))-5,5,11,11-tetrakis(5-hexylthiophen-2-yl)-dithieno[2,3-d:2′,3′-d′]-s-indaceno[1,2-b:5,6-b′]dithiophene (ITIC-Th). Polymer solar cells (PSCs) based on these polymers and ITIC-Th were fabricated and characterized. Power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) higher than 7% were demonstrated for all polymers. The devices based on P-diF2T exhibited the highest PCE up to 10.08% with a high fill factor (FF) of 0.741. The good photovoltaic performance of P-diF2T is attributed to the synergies of the low-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of the polymer and the favorable microstructures and morphology and thereby high and balanced charge carrier mobilities of the blend films. This study suggested that adjusting aromatic D units together with using alkylthiophene as side chains is an effective approach to design donor polymers for high performance PSCs based on NFA.

A series of naphthalene carbohydrazone based fluorescent chemosensors L1-L4 were developed for the detection of Zn2+ by significant fluorescence enhancement. The binding ratio of the L1-Zn2+ complex was determined by a Job’s plot to be 1:1 and confirmed by ESI–MS studies. The corresponding of the L1-Zn2+ ensemble was elucidated through X-ray crystallography along with spectroscopic studies. Furthermore, the LX-Zn2+ (X = 1–2) complexes can specifically detect pyrophosphate (PPi) in HEPES buffer solution through fluorescence quenching. The detection limit of LX-Zn2+ (X = 1–2) for PPi sensing were calculated to be as low as 2.54 ppb and 0.94 ppb, respectively. In addition, due to their good cell membrane permeability and low cytotoxicity, L1-L4 have been applied to sequentially detect Zn2+ and PPi in living cells. More importantly, the electronic effect of substitute groups on fluorescence signaling have been studied by substituent properties ranging from electron-donating to electron-withdrawing, which sets up a promising strategy for the rational design of fluorescent sensors.

A better energy level alignment between active layer and electrode is crucial in the manufacture of a high-performance all polymer solar cells (all-PSCs). Here, the surface work function of poly[4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophe-ne-alt-3-flu-orothieno[3,4-b]thiophene-2-carboxy-late]:poly[[N,N-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-napthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5,5′-(2,2′-bithiophene)] (PTB7-Th:N2200) active layer could be bi-direction tuned via poor-solvent methanol soaking for different time. Kelvin probe force microscope (KPFM) shows that the methanol treatment made the active layers work function changed from 4.68 eV to 4.52 eV and then turned to 4.81 eV when the soaking time were 0, 40 and 140 s, which lead to the reversal variation of potential barrier between active layers and electrodes. According to the principle of polarity, the stronger polarized polymers N2200 have a stronger solvation effect with polar solvents methanol than PTB7-Th. The results of X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicate that the surface work function reversal mainly come from the change of surface component. Under the driving force of methanol, more N2200 migrated from the bulk phase to surface at first, then left surface and lead to more PTB7-Th appearing on surface. The authigenic buffer layers for different composition were formed in this progress which was responsible to the bi-direction tuning of surface work function. The power conversion efficiency (PCE) of inverted all polymer solar cells experienced a fluctuated progress of decreased first and then increased, and a opposite progress subjected to conventional solar cells that was increased first and then decreased of the PCE. Depending on different treatment time methanol soaking benefits to both inverted and conventional all-PSCs and both PCE of them have over 10% improvement than control device.

We herein report the synthesis and characterization of four asymmetric conjugated oligomers based on polycyclic aromatics, i.e. , 2-(5-hexylselenophen-2-yl)[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (BTBT-S6), 2-(5-hexylfuryl-2-yl)[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (BTBT-F6), 2-(5-hexylselenophen-2-yl)[1]benzoselenopheno[3,2-b][1]benzoselenophene (BSBS-S6) and 2-(5-hexylfuryl-2-yl)[1]benzofuro[3,2-b][1]benzofuran (BFBF-F6), for elucidating the influence of chalcogens on molecular geometries, electronic structures, thin film microstructures and the performance of organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). Compared to the previously reported analogue 2-(5-hexylthiophen-2-yl)[1]benzothieno[3,2-b][1]benzothiophene (BTBT-T6), all four molecules have higher-lying highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy levels. BTBT-S6 and BSBS-S6 (S replaced by Se atoms) display similar mesomorphic behavior and packing motif in solid state. However, BSBS-S6 shows much poorer crystallinity. Only crystal phase was observed for BTBT-F6 and BFBF-F6 (S replaced by O atoms). These two molecules also adopt the molecular arrangements, film growth modes and film morphology distinct from BTBT-S6 and BSBS-S6. Thus, the four molecules exhibited very different OTFT performance. BTBT-S6 showed the highest mobility of 4.68 cm 2 V −1 s −1 and all other three compounds exhibited mobilites lower than 1 cm 2 V −1 s −1 .

Hydrazine has been identified as an environmental contaminant and a probable human carcinogen for its high toxicity. Thus, the development of detection methods for mapping hydrazine in solution and biosystems, particularly in vivo, is of great significance. Here, through firstly exploited 2-thiophenecarbonyl moiety as a recognition unit for hydrazine, a novel near-infrared (NIR) fluorescent probe CyOS is obtained based on hemicyanine. The probe shows high selectivity towards hydrazine over various amino acids and common ions with a significant fluorescence enhancement at 701 nm in the presence of hydrazine. Further, it has a sufficiently low detection limit (0.78 ppb). And most importantly, due to its good cell membrane permeability and low cytotoxicity, CyOS has been applied to monitor and image hydrazine in living cells, tissues and mice. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time to visualize hydrazine in deep living tissues (∼90 μm).

Herein, a new water soluble Ca2+ fluorescence chemosensor based on aggregation-induced emission (AIE) characteristics has been developed, combining the AIE effect of tetraphenylethylene (TPE) and the complexation capability of bidentate pyridine carboxylate. The bidentate pyridine carboxylate group provides the chemosensor with good water-solubility which is important for detection in biological systems. This chemosensor L showed high selectivity for Ca2+ by a turn-on response in almost pure aqueous solution with a detection limit of 51.2 nM. L can be used as a recyclable Ca2+ fluorescent chemosensor in the presence of EDTA. Moreover, the chemosensor L was successfully applied to imaging detection and real-time monitoring of Ca2+ in living cells with low toxicity and good membrane permeability.

The phase separation structure evolution process, i.e. confinement and broke out phenomenon in crystallization/crystallization poly (3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly [[N,N-bis(2-octyldodecyl)-napthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]- alt-5, 5′-(2,2′-bithiophene)] (N2200) blends were controlled by the polymer solution aggregation behavior and relative crystallization degree of each component. In this study, two different molecular weight of P3HT, Mw = 6 kDa and Mw = 55 kDa were selected and blend with N2200 as the model systems. Different molecular weight of P3HT had different crystalline ability in blend films. A similar phase separation of both two polymer blends could form in good solvent chloroform (CF). Marginal solvents and thermal annealing were employed to change the polymer solution aggregation behavior and relative crystallization degree of the two components. On one hand, when p-xylene (pX) was added as the co-solvent to increase the aggregation of P3HT molecules, for P3HT (Mw = 6 kDa)/N2200, the P3HT phase broke the restriction of N2200 phase while there was almost unchanged in P3HT (Mw = 55 kDa)/N2200. On the other hand, during thermal annealing, the P3HT molecule had a stronger molecular moving ability in P3HT (Mw = 6 kDa)/N2200 than that in P3HT (Mw = 55 kDa)/N2200 (the relative crystallization degree of these two polymers in P3HT (Mw = 6 kDa)/N2200 and P3HT (Mw = 55 kDa)/N2200 are 142 and 3, respectively). The pristine phase separation of P3HT (Mw = 6 kDa)/N2200 was destroyed effectively due to the unmatched crystallization degree of the two components and large sized fibrous phase separation was formed during thermal annealing. However, the pristine phase separation was almost unchanged in P3HT (Mw = 55 kDa)/N2200, and the P3HT molecule could partly ordered arrangement, which probably come from the almost matched crystallization degree of these two polymers. The results indicate that it is the Gibbs free energy that controls the phase separation in different relative crystallization degree. And different chain entanglements behavior was likely to be the main source of the morphological stability.

We investigated the variations in solution-processed thin films containing pure diketopyrrolopyrrole-containing oligothiophene (SMDPPEH) or SMDPPEH blended with [6,6]-phenyl C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM) under the different annealing temperatures. The optical properties, microstructures, and surface morphologies of the two types of thin films were characterized with UV–vis absorption spectra, grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), and atomic force microscopy (AFM). SMDPPEH thin film annealed at 100 °C exhibited a blue-shift of absorption maximum (λmax) peaks. GIXRD results of two types of films showed that (100) diffraction peak intensities were enhanced by increasing annealing temperatures and their shapes were changed from dot to arc when annealing temperatures were beyond 100 °C. AFM results showed that the films grain sizes increased as annealing temperature increased. AFM results also showed obvious large-size phase segregation in the films as annealing temperature increased to 125 °C. These results indicated that the crystallinity improved with increasing annealing temperature and a phase transition occurred in SMDPPEH films at the annealing temperature of 100 °C. This phase transition may lead to maximum device performance.

Controlling interfacial composition between the electrodes and the photoactive layer is significant for adjusting the work function and improving the device performance of organic solar cells. Herein, an authigenic buffer layer is generated at the polymer blends surface of poly[4,8-bis(5-(2-ethylhexyl)thiophen-2-yl)benzo[1,2-b:4,5-b′]dithiophe-ne-alt-3-flu- orothieno[3,4-b]thiophene-2-carboxy-late] (PTB7-Th) as donor, poly[[ N , N -bis(2-octyldodecyl)-napthalene-1,4,5,8-bis(dicarboximide)-2,6-diyl]-alt-5, 5′-(2,2′-bithiophene)] (N2200) as acceptor by soaking in poor solvent methanol. The authigenic buffer layer is mainly composed of N2200 molecule since it migrates out from the bulk phase more effectively than PTB7-Th molecule because of the difference of interaction between methanol and N2200, PTB7-Th (strong molecular polarity between N2200 and methanol). X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) shows the content of N element increases. X-ray reflectivity (XRR) shows the thickness of neat N2200 film and the blend films were increased but the thickness of PTB7-Th film not with the increasing of methanol solvent soaking time. On the contrary, Kelvin probe force microscopy (KPFM) results show that the surface work function of blend film changes from 4.70 eV to 4.51 eV when soak into methanol for 40 s compared with pristine film, which suggests the energy barrier of the metal/organic interface decreased from 0.40 eV to 0.21 eV correspondingly. As a result, the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of all polymer solar cells based on the authigenic buffer layer was almost 20% higher than that pristine blends.

An inverse gradient grain size structure (IGSS) was fabricated in 316 L stainless steel by the torsion and subsequent electro-magnetic induction heating (EMIH), where the grain sizes gradually decrease from the surface to the core. The changes in the typical deformation and annealing textures were systematically studied in the torsion samples subjected to EMIH at 750°C and 850°C for different times by electron back scattering diffraction. The results showed that Goss, Brass and cube components are sensitive to temperature, and the content of annealing texture, R and Brass R, increased during EMIH at 850°C, however, the content of deformation textures have small change after EMIH at 750°C and 850°C for 60 s. The density of geometrically necessary dislocations (GNDs) and statistically stored dislocations (SSDs) were investigated by nanoindentation tests, which were performed on the transversal section along the radius. The changes in the density of GNDs and SSDs are similar, both increase first and then decrease from the core to the surface along the radius.

Summary Indoor photovoltaic (IPV) with power output over 100 μW is promising to power the numerous sensor nodes in the Internet of Things (IoT) ecosystem. All polymer photovoltaic has the advantages of excellent thermal stability and superior mechanical properties. In this work, we fabricate the first all-polymer indoor photovoltaic module with the active area of 10 cm2. The module uses polymer donor CD1 and new polymer acceptor PBN-21 with medium optical band gap of 1.9 eV as the active layer. It is processed with eco-friendly solvent tetrahydrofuran and the morphology can be improved by blade coating at 55°C. Under light emitting diode illumination at 1000 lux, the module exhibits a power conversion efficiency of 12.04% and a power output of 367.2 μW. The sufficient power output, high efficiency, excellent stability, and eco-friendly processing indicate that all-polymer indoor photovoltaic is a promising approach to achieve the self-powered of sensor nodes in the IoT ecosystem., Graphical abstract, Highlights • The first all-polymer IPV module with the active area of 10 cm2 was fabricated • The modules were processed with eco-friendly solvent and blade-coating methods • The modules exhibit the PCE of 12.04% and the power output of 367.2 μW at 1000 lux, Energy materials; Energy systems; Polymers

Polyamic acid (PAA) fiber derived from 3,3′,4,4′-biphenyltetra-carboxylic dianhydride and p -phenylenediamine is prepared via dry-jet wet-spinning method. Polyimide (PI) fibers are obtained by applying two kinds of thermal treatment procedures on the PAA fibers. The evolution of fiber structure during thermal treatments is traced. And the influence of fiber structure on the mechanical properties is also studied. In Procedure I, the PAA fibers are heated from room temperature to 400 °C at 5 °C/min. As temperature increases from room temperature to 125 °C, relaxation behavior of PAA chains happens at first. Then, from 125 to 300 °C, imidization reaction occurs. Meanwhile, before the temperature reaches 250 °C, a significant degradation of PAA chains exists and makes the fibers too weak to measure. Crystals in fiber begin to form as temperature exceeds 250 °C and totally complete at 350 °C. The fracture strength and initial modulus of fiber are significantly improved with the formation of crystals and finally reach 0.83 GPa and 48.4 GPa at 400 °C, respectively. In Procedure II, the PAA fibers are isothermally treated at 250, 300, 350 and 400 °C for different times. When treated at 400 and 350 °C, both imidization and crystallization in fiber can happen simultaneously and complete in tens of seconds because of the high mobility of the polymer chains. While as treated at 300 and 250 °C, both these two processes are slowed down and the formation of crystals lags behind the imidization process. High crystallinity can be obtained under higher treatment temperature in a very short time. The mechanical properties of fiber highly depend on the treatment temperature rather than the treatment time. The fibers treated at 400 °C for 60 s show the highest fracture strength and initial modulus of 1.4 GPa and 70.0 GPa, respectively.

Targeted expression of gene technique is an important therapeutic strategy for lung cancer. MicroRNA-7 has been well documented as a promising tumor suppressor but never been test in specific gene-promoter-targeted expression in cancer gene therapy. Here, we first evaluated the efficacy of miR-7 expression operated by the promoter of TTF-1, a lineage-specific oncogene in lung cancer, in vitro using an eukaryotic vector of TTF-1-promoter-operated expression of miR-7 (termed as p-T-miR-7). Interestingly, using a nude mice model, the growth and metastasis of human lung cancer cells in vivo were significantly reduced in remote hypodermic injection of the p-T-miR-7 group, accompanied by increased expression of miR-7 and reduced transduction of the Akt and Erk pathway in situ. Mechanism aspect, global gene expression analysis showed that downregulation of NDUFA4, a novel target of miR-7, contributed to the effects of miR-7 expression operated by TTF-1 promoter on the growth and metastasis of human lung cancer cells, as well as altered transduction of the Akt and Erk pathway. Finally, there was no significant difference in weight or histopathology of other organs. These data provided a basis for development of novel modality of miRNA-based targeted expression therapy against clinical lung cancer. Keywords: miR-7, TTF-1, 95D cells, lung cancer, growth, NDUFA4

Growth of rubrene thin films at room temperature on bare SiO 2 substrates and on top of a α-quaterthiophene (α-4T) inducing layer on SiO 2 substrates was investigated. The rubrene thin films and α-4T inducing layers were prepared by vacuum deposition method and were characterized by atomic force microscopy and X-ray diffraction. Rubrene thin films directly deposited on SiO 2 substrates had a number of holes on their surface, while the ones grown on top of a α-4T inducing layer on SiO 2 substrates exhibited highly ordered morphology and structure. It was found that large-area and ordered rubrene thin films could properly match with the α-4T inducing layers in the prepared heterostructures. Two different rubrene film growth mechanisms were observed from results obtained for films with different thicknesses. We conclude that rubrene thin films prepared at low temperature using α-4T inducing layer on SiO 2 substrates hold a great promise of application in large-area and flexible displays.

Organic field-effect transistors (OFETs) based on organic semiconductor material 2,7-dioctyl[1]benzothieno[3,2- b ] benzothiophene (C8BTBT) as the active layer were fabricated by using organic molecular beam deposition (OMBD) and solution-processed methods, in which the C8BTBT thin-film morphology could be well controlled. In OMBD method, C8BTBT thin-film morphology could be controlled by the thickness of organic semiconductor layer and the deposition rate, of which the high-quality C8BTBT thin film was obtained at a thickness of about 20 nm and at a deposition rate of 1.2 nm/min, resulting in an obvious mobility improvement from 2.8 × 10 −3 cm 2 V −1 s −1 to 1.20 cm 2 V −1 s −1 . While in the solution-processing, C8BTBT thin-film morphology and thickness are related to the spin-coating speed and the substrate position in spin coater, i.e. , in-centre and off-centre position. The off-centre spin-coating with an optimized speed produced large-size domain C8BTBT thin film and accordingly resulted in a mobility of 1.47 cm 2 V −1 s −1 . Furthermore, an additive polystyrene (PS) was added into C8BTBT solution could further improve the thin-film morphology with more metal-stable phase as well as improve the interface contact with the substrate SiO 2 , resulting in the highest mobility up to 3.56 cm 2 V −1 s −1 . The research suggested that C8BTBT-based OFETs with the mobility over 1.20 cm 2 V −1 s −1 could be fabricated by using both OMBD and solution-processed methods through the thin-film morphology and structure optimization, which shows the potential applications in high-performance flexible and printed electronics.

We demonstrated the crystallization assisted microphase separation of all-conjugated diblock copolymers poly (2,5-dihexyloxy- p -phenylene)-block-(3-hexylthiophene) (PPP-b-P3HT, denoted as BmTn). The crystallization and microphase separation are summarized in terms of the difference of aggregation in solvent and the crystallization temperatures of two blocks, respectively. B39T18 and B41T44 were selected, and crystalline nanowires were formed for B39T18 cast from non-selective solvent via the crystallization of PPP block overwhelming P3HT block. However, both microphase separation and crystallization occurred from selective solvent for PPP block, due to the enhanced aggregation of P3HT block governed by solvophobic interactions. The morphological evolution of B41T44 with equivalent crystallization capacity displayed an opposite result. The lamellar nanostructures formed in films were cast from non-selective solvent and the crystallization breakout microphase separation was formed from selective solvent. Besides, the evolution and phase transition in the thermal annealing process indicated that the PPP crystallized confined from the molten in the P3HT crystalline region, and then the P3HT breakout crystallized primarily and microphase separation with the molten PPP occurred.

Effective lubricant replenishment to the lubrication track is highly expected for the purpose of lubricating film formation. In this paper, a novel lubricant replenishment mechanism is investigated. It is found that when velocities of the two bounding surfaces are angled, the lubricant adjacent to the track is efficiently moved back, and the inlet oil reservoir is enhanced considerably. The patterns of the inlet reservoir vary with disc revolutions, entrainment velocities, included angles of the surface velocities as well as lubricant feeding amount. The inlet lubricant supply and film formations by the grease are compared to those by its base oil, and the differences are analyzed from a perspective of lubricant transportations.

The paper aims to explore the association between CEO-board social ties and accounting conservatism. We found there is a negative relationship between CEO-board social ties and accounting conservatism. It implies that more CEO-board social ties reduce board’s monitoring function and encourage CEO’s tendency to adopt less conservative principles for their own personal gains. We also found the mediating effect of the quality of internal control system between CEO-board ties and accounting conservatism. This piece of finding further implies that the internal control system decided by the board could be the means via which CEO realizes less conservative principles. Contributions, limitations, and implications to corporate governance as well as security exchange commission are also discussed.

Inverted organic solar cells (OSCs) have been fabricated using MoO3 doped N,N'-bis-(1-naphthyl)-diphenyl-1,1′-biphenyl-4,4′-diamine (NPB:MoO3), MoO3 doped 4,4′-N,N'-dicarbazole-biphenyl (CBP:MoO3), and combined CBP:MoO3/NPB:MoO3 as anode modifying layers (AMLs), respectively. The CBP:MoO3/NPB:MoO3/anode increases fill factor of device than the NPB:MoO3/anode and CBP:MoO3/anode, mostly because the former enhances hole injection into photoactive layer than the latter two. The CBP:MoO3/NPB:MoO3/anode and CBP:MoO3/anode increase open-circuit voltage of device than the NPB:MoO3/anode, due to the larger work function of CBP:MoO3 than that of NPB:MoO3. It is also found that combined CBP:MoO3/NPB:MoO3 enhances short-circuit current density of device than single NPB:MoO3 and CBP:MoO3, mainly ascribed to the fact that the former improves absorptance of device than the latter two. As a result, the CBP:MoO3/NPB:MoO3/anode improves power conversion efficiency of device than the NPB:MoO3/anode and CBP:MoO3/anode. We present a useful concept to develop high-performance AMLs for inverted OSCs.

Many studies have shown that LPS mainly activates four signal transduction pathways to induce inflammation, namely the p38, ERK1/2, JNK and IKK/NF-κB pathways. Studies have demonstrated that 5'-AMP-induced hypothermia (AIH) exhibits high anti-inflammatory capabilities. In this study, we explore that how AIH inhibits the inflammatory response. Wistar rats were divided into five groups: a control group, an LPS group, a 5'-AMP pre-treatment group, a 5'-AMP post-treatment group and a 5'-AMP group. For each group, plasma and lung were collected from the rats at 6h and 12h after LPS injection. ELISA assays were used to detect plasma levels of CD14, CRP and MCP-1. Inflammatory pathway activation and TLR4 expression were assayed separately by Western blot analysis and immunohistochemistry. Our results showed that rats treated with AIH either before or after an LPS-challenge had a significant decrease in plasma levels of CD14, CRP and TLR4 compared with rats that received LPS only. Western blot analysis showed that AIH inhibited the activation of extracellular signal-regulated kinases (ERK) 1/2, p38, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK) and NF-κB in inflammatory rats. Our study concluded that AIH attenuated LPS-induced inflammation mainly by inhibiting activation on the ERK1/2, p38, JNK and NF-κB signaling pathways.

Male gonad development is initiated by the aggregation of pre-Sertoli cells (SCs), which surround germ cells to form cords. Several attempts to reconstruct testes from dissociated testicular cells have been made; however, only very limited morphogenesis beyond seminiferous cord formation has been achieved. Therefore, we aimed to reconstruct seminiferous tubules using a 3-dimensional (D) re-aggregate culture of testicular cells, which were dissociated from 6-dpp neonatal mice, inside a collagen matrix. We performed a short-term culture (for 3 days) and a long-term culture (up to 3 wks). The addition of KnockOut Serum Replacement (KSR) promoted (1) the enlargement of SC re-aggregates; (2) the attachment of peritubular myoid (PTM) cells around the SC re-aggregates; (3) the sorting of germ cells inside, and Leydig cells outside, seminiferous cord-like structures; (4) the alignment of SC polarity inside a seminiferous cord-like structure relative to the basement membrane; (5) the differentiation of SCs (the expression of the androgen receptor); (6) the formation of a blood-testis-barrier between the SCs; (7) SC elongation and lumen formation; and (8) the proliferation of SCs and spermatogonia, as well as the differentiation of spermatogonia into primary spermatocytes. Eventually, KSR promoted the formation of seminiferous tubule-like structures, which accompanied germ cell differentiation. However, these morphogenetic events did not occur in the absence of KSR. This in vitro system presents an excellent model with which to identify the possible factors that induce these events and to analyze the mechanisms that underlie cellular interactions during testicular morphogenesis and germ cell differentiation.

Polymorphs of vanadyl-phthalocyanine (VOPc) films were realized on the polymer-modified substrates. Balanced ambipolar transport was observed in the Phase II of VOPc film on the PMMA modified substrate, while only electron transport was obtained on PVA layer. The different transport behavior is believed to be original from their crystalline structures, which may lead to their different energy-band structures.

Activation of the slit diaphragm protein nephrin induces actin cytoskeletal remodeling, resulting in lamellipodia formation in podocytes in vitro in a phosphatidylinositol-3 kinase-, focal adhesion kinase-, Cas-, and Crk1/2-dependent fashion. In mice, podocyte-specific deletion of Crk1/2 prevents or attenuates foot process effacement in two models of podocyte injury. This suggests that cellular mechanisms governing lamellipodial protrusion in vitro are similar to those in vivo during foot process effacement. As Crk1/2-null mice developed and aged normally, we tested whether the Crk1/2 paralog, CrkL, functionally complements Crk1/2 in a podocyte-specific context. Podocyte-specific CrkL-null mice, like podocyte-specific Crk1/2-null mice, developed and aged normally but were protected from protamine sulfate-induced foot process effacement. Simultaneous podocyte-specific deletion of Crk1/2 and CrkL resulted in albuminuria detected by 6 weeks postpartum and associated with altered podocyte process architecture. Nephrin-induced lamellipodia formation in podocytes in vitro was CrkL-dependent. CrkL formed a hetero-oligomer with Crk2 and, like Crk2, was recruited to tyrosine phosphorylated nephrin. Thus, Crk1/2 and CrkL are physically linked, functionally complement each other during podocyte foot process spreading, and together are required for developing typical foot process architecture.

The novel solid acid with both sulfonic and! carbonyl acid groups has been synthesized from 3-((2-sulfoethoxy) carbonyl)acrylic acid and tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS). The catalytic activities were investigated through the acetalization. The results showed that the novel solid acid was very efficient for the reactions with the high yields. The high acidity, high stability and reusability were the key feature of the novel solid acid. Moreover, the sulfonic and carbonyl acid groups could cooperate during the catalytic process, which improved its catalytic activities. The catalyst shows recyclability, and hold great potential for replacement of homogeneous catalysts.

The widespread trend among firms in the tourism and hospitality industry to adopt an asset-light strategy has enabled the U.S. tourism industry to grow rapidly by shaving off fixed assets. Our paper explores why an asset-light strategy is necessary from the perspective of cost management. Because cost is very “sticky,” meaning it does not change proportionally with changes in revenue, and change in cost is usually lagged, higher cost stickiness leads to lower financial performance. We found that cost stickiness does exist in the tourism and hospitality industry, and an excess of assets is its main determinant. Moreover, we found that management adjusts the amount of assets to reduce the effects of cost stickiness, and these adjustments are much more significant in revenue-declining years. Contributions, limitations, and practical implications are also discussed.

The P3HT thin films were made by novel solvent vapor assisted spin-coating method that adds several opened bottles of solvent into spin-coater and seals it with a lid. Such thin films directly had broader absorption and higher crystallinity. The corresponding thin film transistor had higher mobility of 0.041 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) contrasting to 0.007 cm(2) V-1 s(-1) of device based on P3HT thin film made by normal spin-coating. Compared with the solvent vapor annealed P3HT thin film made by normal spin-coating, the thin film made by solvent vapor assisted spin-coating has similar absorption spectrum, X-ray diffraction and device performance, which demonstrates that such novel method is equivalent to the combination of normal spin-coating and solvent vapor annealing. However the fabrication is more simple and the process time is reduced from several hours to several tens of seconds, which is more beneficial for actual mass production. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Although sulfite (SO3(2-)) is commonly used as an antimicrobial agent and preservative in foods, medicines and wine, it has also been listed as an important risk factor for the initiation and progression of liver diseases due to oxidative damage. In general, apoptosis that is induced by oxidative stress is triggered by increases in p53 and alterations in Mdm2 and Bcl-2. However, the level of involvement of the p53 signaling pathway, which has been shown to be upregulated in some animal studies, in hepatocyte death remains unclear. To examine the response of the p53 signaling pathway to stimulation with different concentrations of sulfite, a time course study of p53, Mdm2, and Bcl-2 expression was conducted in an immortalized hepatic cell line, HL-7702. When the HL-7702 cells were cultured in the presence of Na2SO3, the cell viability was significantly decreased after 24h compared to that of the control group (0mmol/L) (p0.05). Meanwhile, aspartate aminotransferase (AST) and alanine aminotransferase (ALT) levels in the supernatants of HL-7702 cells were significantly increased following Na2SO3 administration. Interestingly, the expression of p53 and p-p53 (Ser15) remained unchanged. In addition, no obvious alterations in Mdm2 and Bcl-2 expression were observed in HL-7702 cells that had been stimulated with various concentrations of sulfite. To further investigate the detailed mechanism underlying sulfite toxicity, caspase-3, PCNA and RIP1 expression in HL-7702 cells was studied. The expression levels of caspase-3 and PCNA were unchanged, but RIP1 expression was increased significantly after 24h of exposure. In light of this evidence, we propose that sulfite is cytotoxic to hepatocytes, but this cytotoxicity is not achieved by direct interruption of the p53 signaling pathway. In addition, we propose that an alternative necrotic process underlies hepatocellular death following sulfite exposure.

Polyoctylfluorene thin films were made using novel solvent vapor assisted spin-coating method, which adds solvent into spin-coater and seal it for several minutes before spin-coating to form a solvent vapor atmosphere. The absorption, photoluminescence spectra, electroluminescence spectra and X-ray diffraction patterns demonstrate that β phase directly generate in such thin film while the thin film made by using normal method is amorphous, which means such method combines normal spin-coating and solvent vapor annealing together into one simply and fast process. The brightness and efficiency of related electroluminescence device are also enhanced due to the self-dopant effect.

The film morphology, structure, and electrical properties of lead phthalocyanine (PbPc) epitaxially grown on 5,5 ''-bis(3'-fluoro-biphenyl-4-yl)-2,2':5',2 ''-terthiophene (m-F2BP3T) inducing layer substrates were systematic investigated. The morphologies of PbPc films sensitively depend on the thickness of the inducing layer and substrate temperature. All the epitaxial PbPc films with high quality presented the triclinic form with a variation of the out-of-plane orientation. The field-effect mobility of the epitaxial PbPc films was 0.05-0.31 cm(2)/V s, which was significantly improved by 1-2 orders of magnitude compared to the traditional films. The evolution of the device performance is the synergistic effect of the morphology and out-of-plane orientation of the triclinic form of PbPc. The higher quality of the films and the smaller ratio of (100)/(001), the higher device performance is. A clear relationship between the morphology, structure, and the performance of epitaxial PbPc-based organic field-effect transistors was reported. (C) 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

As spin-coating polyoctylfluorene (PFO) thin films were thermally annealed at various temperatures and their photoluminescence, electroluminescence and crystalline nanostructure was characterized. α phase PFO generate when annealing temperature reaches 80 °C and the performance of corresponding electroluminescence device was dramatically enhanced due to the self-doping effect. As the annealing temperature increases, the photoluminescence and electroluminescence decrease. Both in out-of-plane and in-plane grazing incident X-ray diffraction pattern the PFO thin film annealed at higher temperature has stronger diffraction peaks, indicating higher degree of crystallinity. The formation of vacancy defects and increase of interface roughness in crystalline process is considered as the reason for the reduction of luminescence. These results show that the electro-optical properties of PFO can be enhanced through controlling annealing temperature to form α phase PFO in low degree of crystallinity.

PFO thin films made of toluene solution dissolved for 12, 30 and 80 min at 55 °C were prepared and then treated by solvent vapor annealing or thermal annealing. Their absorption, photoluminescence, electroluminescence and morphology were characterized. The results show that the thin film made of solution dissolved for short time contains trace β phase PFO that lead to unusual emission. After solvent vapor annealing or thermal annealing, luminescence of such thin film is lower than that made of solution dissolved for long time. The surface morphology shows that such thin film contains large aggregations with size of 120 × 80 nm, which is in line with the light scattering results of 120 nm large particles in the solution, indicating the difference of luminescence originate from the residue aggregations. Such aggregations will lead to stronger diffraction peak in the in-plane GIXRD and weaker diffraction peak in the out-of-plane GIXRD, which indicates they have more ordered structure in main chain direction that will hinder the formation of ordered packing of PFO molecular chains in out-of-plane direction. These results demonstrate that the PFO solution needs to be dissolved for enough time to realize repeatment of high quality light-emitting device for actual massive application.

β phase polyoctylfluorene thin films were obtained by exposure to toluene vapor for various annealing times or dipping into a THF/methanol mixture. The photoluminescence and electroluminescence of PFO thin films decrease with increasing annealing time. Grazing incident X-ray diffraction of the thin films indicates that more and larger β phase crystallites will be generated in thin film exposed for longer time, which will lead to more defects that reduce photoluminescence and electroluminescence. By analyzing the mechanism of formation of β phase, we assume that the defects mainly come from the formation of out-of-plane crystalline structure. The assumption is confirmed by higher photoluminescence of β phase polyoctylfluorene thin film achieved by dipping into a THF/methanol mixture that has less out-of-plane crystalline structure.

Interferon regulatory factor (IRF) family members, especially interferon regulatory factor-1 (IRF-1) and interferon regulatory factor-8 (IRF-8 or ICSBP), play important roles in interferon signaling in a wide range of host responses to infection and tumor growth. Interleukin-27 (IL-27), as a member of the IL-12 cytokine family, not only acts as a proinflammatory cytokine that regulates the differentiation of naive T helper cells but also possesses anti-inflammatory properties. IL-27 consists of EBI3 (Epstein-Barr virus-induced gene 3) and p28 subunits. Our previous work has shown that IRF-1 regulates IL-27 p28 gene transcription by specifically binding to the IRF-1 response element in the p28 promoter. In this study, we found that IRF-8-deficient macrophages were highly defective in the production of IL-27 p28 at both mRNA and protein levels. Circulating IL-27 p28 in serum was also decreased in IRF-8(-/-) mice in a septic shock model. Lipopolysaccharide, as a potent inducer of IL-27 p28 expression, could activate IRF-8 expression in a MyD88-dependent pathway, which in turn induced p28 gene transcription through NF-kappaB and/or IRF-8. Transcriptional analyses revealed that IRF-8 activated p28 gene transcription through binding to a site located at -57 to -48 in the p28 promoter overlapping the IRF-1 binding site. Consistent with this observation, overexpression of both IRF-8 and IRF-1 additively activated IL-27 p28 promoter. This study provides further mechanistic information regarding how signals initiated during innate and adaptive immune responses synergize to yield greater IL-27 production and sustained cellular immunity.

Pure YSZ (8 mol% yttria stabilized zirconia) and Fe-doped (2 mol% and 4 mol%) YSZ electrolytes were prepared and sintered at 1200 °C and 1400 °C, respectively by solid state method. Their crystal structure, microstructure, sintering behavior, electrical conductivity, and performance as SOFC electrolyte were investigated. Fe can be dissolved into YSZ lattice and decrease the lattice parameter. When sintered at 1200 °C, Fe dopant can make the YSZ electrolyte denser and increase its total conductivity. When sintered at 1400 °C, the total conductivities of samples decrease for higher Fe dopant concentrations though the densities of samples increase. All the SOFCs with Fe-doped YSZ electrolytes show better performance than those with Fe-free electrolytes. The mechanisms of the effect of Fe doping on the properties of YSZ were analyzed.

A series of seven ruthenium complexes with different ligands were synthesized and their optical, electrochemical and photoluminescent properties were characterized. Electroluminescent properties of these complexes were further evaluated using a light-emitting electrochemical cell with a configuration of indium tin oxide (ITO)/complex (100 nm)/Au (100 nm). Tunable photoluminescence (PL) and electroluminescence (EL) from 630 to 1040 nm have been achieved by adjusting the LUMO and HOMO levels of ruthenium complexes.

Shu-Mai-Tang (SMT) is a traditional Chinese medicine for treatment of ischemic heart disease. The effect of SMT on inflammation-induced myocardial fibrosis, left ventricular (LV) remodeling, and the potential mechanism in myocardial ischemia (MI) rats were investigated. Rats with ligated left anterior descending coronary artery (MI model) were randomly divided into three groups (SMTL, SMTH, and MIR). A group undergoing Sham operation (Sham; n=16) was also included. SMT (342 or 1710 mg/kg for SMTL or SMTH groups, respectively) was orally administered daily for 1 and 6 weeks. Cardiac function, myocardial fibrosis, serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNFalpha) concentration, the cardiac expressions of phosphorylated p38 MAPK and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinase (TIMP)-1 and TNFalpha were examined by echocardiography, histological staining, radioimmunoassay, western blot, respectively. In the present study, significant reduced myocardial fibrosis, as well as decreased phospho-p38 MAPK, TIMP-1, and TNFalpha proteins, and serum TNFalpha level, accompanied by improved cardiac function in the SMT-treated rats in a dose-dependent manner as compared with the MIR. These results suggested that SMT could anti-inflammation-induced myocardial fibrosis and reverse LV remodeling in MI rats, and the mechanism may be related to the effect of SMT on inhibiting p38 MAPK signaling pathway.

Cuprous oxide (Cu 2 O) thin films were formed on indium-doped tin oxide (ITO) covered glass substrates by cathodic deposition of cupric acetate. The influence of additives on crystal morphology of Cu 2 O was studied in acetate bath. We found that the simple salts contained Cl − ions in electrolyte could change the crystal morphology. It was shown that the morphology evolved from star like to cube like by increasing the concentration of Cl − ions of the capping agents, which indicated that Cu 2 O crystal morphology varied with the Cl − ions concentration.

New nanocomposite materials with large optical nonlinearity are important for the development and miniaturizing of active components and integrated circuits for all-optical signal processing and computing. To enable on-chip integration with silicon microelectronics nonlinear signal processing components compatible with silicon nanophotonics need to be developed. In this paper, we study the nonlinear optical response of silicon-based photonic bandgap (PBG) structures filled with PbSe quantum dot (QD) materials and experimentally demonstrate the feasibility of a new class of nonlinear nanophotonic devices for all-optical signal processing based on such microstructures. Active tuning is demonstrated for both out-of-plane components, with one-dimensional porous silicon PBG microcavities and in-plane components, using one-dimensional PBG waveguide-based microresonators.

In this work, a TiO 2 photocatalytic sensor was prepared and utilized into flow injection analysis (FIA) for chemical oxygen demand (COD) determination. With a positive bias potential of 0.4 V (vs. Ag/AgCl) applied to the sensor and a 12-W quartz UV lamp illuminating it, photocurrent, due to the charge transfer at the interface of TiO 2 sensor and the passing solution, was recorded and its change (Δ I Photo ) caused by the detected sample was calculated to characterize the COD value of the sample. Under the optimizing conditions, the sensor responded linearly to the COD of d -glucose solution in the range of 0.5–235 mg/L, with a linear correlation coefficient of 0.9998. Its application in artificial wastewater analysis has achieved results in good agreement with those from the conventional dichromate method; meanwhile, the process requires no hypertoxic reagents and less analysis time, suggesting that it would be another appropriate method for COD determination in water assessment.