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Background Improvements in the early osseointegration of titanium implants require investigations on the bone-implant interface, which is a critical and complex challenge. The surface cleanliness of titanium implants plays an important role at this interface. However, the implant surface would inevitably absorb contamination such as organic hydrocarbons, which is not conductive to the establishment of early osseointegration. Herein, an optimized approach for removing contamination from titanium surfaces was studied. Methods The TiO2-B＠anatase NWs (nanowires) were prepared on titanium substrates through a hydrothermal process. A methylene blue degradation experiment was performed to assess the photodegradation activity. The cleaning effect of the photocatalysis of TiO2-B＠anatase NWs on a titanium surface and the cellular early response was determined by analyzing cell morphology, attachment, proliferation and differentiation. Results The results indicated that the photocatalysis of TiO2-B＠anatase NWs could effectively remove hydrocarbons on titanium surfaces without sacrificing the favourable titanium surface morphology. The methylene blue degradation experiment revealed that the photocatalysis of TiO2-B＠anatase NWs had powerful degradation activity, which is attributed to the presence of strong oxidants such as ·OH. In addition, compared to the merely ultraviolet-treated titanium surfaces, the titanium surfaces treated after the NWs photocatalytic cleaning process markedly enhanced cellular early response. Conclusion The photocatalysis of TiO2-B＠anatase NWs for the removal of contamination from titanium surfaces has the potential to enable the rapid and complete establishment of early osseointegration.

By 5-h reaction of cis-[RuIICl2(DMSO)4] (M2) with K10[α2-P2W17O61] (M3) in ice-cooled, HCl-acidic aqueous solution, a water-soluble 1:2-type diamagnetic ruthenium(II) complex of formula K18[RuII(DM...

This study aims to investigate the developmental status of rural Chinese children, the extent of interactive parenting they receive, and the relation between the two. A sample of 448 six to eightee...

To discuss the possibility of fundamental frequency (F0) and formant frequency (FF) to generally differentiate the sources of snoring sounds determined by drug-induced sleep endoscopy (DISE).A total of 74 snoring subjects underwent DISE and snoring sounds were recorded simultaneously. The noise-suppressed snoring sounds were analyzed and classified into different groups based on the sources of vibration identified by DISE. F0 and FFs were calculated.Totally, 516 snoring sounds from three vibrating sources (the palate, combined the palate and the lateral wall, the lateral wall) of 47 patients were divided into three groups then analyzed. The levels of F0 and FFs for each group follow the order: Group 1 Group 2 Group 3. There was statistical difference between Group 1 and other groups in F0 and F2 (p .05). The area under the receiver-operator curves (AUC) was F0, at 0.727, and the cut-off value was 134.2 Hz; and F2, at 0.654, and the cut-off value was 2028.0 Hz.F0 and the second formant frequency (F2) are found to be significantly lower in palatal snoring sound. F0 might be a significant in distinguishing palatal snoring sound from non-palatal snoring sound. F2 is more significant than F1 and F3 in identifying the sources of the snoring sounds but is less sensitive than F0.

Two new hybrid compounds with chemical formulas [Co(L1)2(H2O)2]2[SiW12O40]·6H2O (1) and [Cu2(C9H22 N)2(L2)2][SiW12O40]·2H2O (2) (L1 = 3,3′-diamino-5,5′-bis(1H-1,2,4-triazole), L2 = 1,2-bis(3-(2-pyridyl)pyrazole-1-ylmethyl)benzene, C9H22 N = tripropylamine) were prepared in a hydrothermal reaction system containing Keggin-type polyoxometalates (POMs), transition metal (TM) salts (cobalt salts and copper salts), and chelate L1/L2 ligands. X-ray structural analysis reveals that 1 and 2 possess 3-D supramolecular host frameworks with large cavities and the polyoxoanions SiW12 reside in these cavities as the guest templates. The photocatalytic activities of 1 and 2 were investigated. Both compounds show efficient catalytic activity for degradation of RhB with 1 > 2. The loading amount of the POM units and the structural features of these POM-based organic-inorganic hybrid compounds may be necessary factors that affect the activity of catalysts in the photocatalytic degradation.

H-related defects have been investigated in Ga-doped ZnO thin films deposited by RF magnetron sputtering at room temperature in Ar+H2 ambient. When the flow ratio of H2/(Ar+H2) increases from 0 to 4%, the resistivity significantly decreases from 1·94 × 10−2 to 5·69 × 10−4 Ω cm. X-ray diffraction and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy results show that it should not be ascribed to the films’ crystalline quality, the chemical states and substitutional situation of Ga and Zn. It is suggested that there are a large number of acceptors in the films, the major role of H is to passivate the acceptors but H-donors themselves do not play a significant role. These acceptor-like defects are located at grain boundaries (dangling bonds) and in bulk (VZn and/or GaZn–VZn). Post-growth annealing experiment and optical transmittance results exhibit that the passivated acceptors are mainly at grain boundaries rather than in bulk.

Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were synthesised on quartz glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method at different oxygen flowrates. The structure, composition, optical and electrical properties in the films were investigated. The result of surface profiler shows that with the increase in oxygen flowrate from 10 to 70 sccm, the films’ thickness increases from 526 to 706 nm. X-ray diffraction results show that the crystalline quality of the films is improved with the increase in oxygen flowrate; energy dispersive spectroscopy results exhibit that the Al content in the films increases from 4·32 to 6·45% with the increase in oxygen flowrate. The former leads to the weakening of grain boundary scattering; consequently, Hall mobility will increase, and the latter results in the increase in carrier concentration. As a result, the electrical resistivity in AZO films decreases from 10·92×10−3 to 2·34×10−3 Ω cm with increasing the oxygen flowrate. Moreover, the increase in carrier concentration...

Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin films were synthesised on single crystal silicon and quartz glass substrates by pulsed laser deposition method at different O2 partial pressure. The structure, composition, optical and electrical properties in AZO thin films were investigated. With the increase in O2 partial pressure, the crystalline quality of AZO thin films becomes poor, and the Al content in the films decreases from 6·3 to 4·3%. The former leads to the enhancement of grain boundary scattering, consequently Hall mobility will decrease. While the latter results in the decrease of carrier concentration. As a result, the electrical resistivity in AZO thin films increases from 2·18×10−4 to 13·40×10−4 Ω cm with increasing the O2 partial pressure. The increase of carrier concentration induces the widening of optical band gap due to the Burstein-Moss effect with the increase of O2 partial pressure. For AZO thin films grown by PLD method, the control of O2 partial pressure is a simple method to adjust the electri...

Al doped ZnO (AZO) thin films are of significant interest for flat panel displays, solar cells, etc. In this regard, AZO films were prepared in Ar atmosphere by radio frequency magnetron sputtering with an AZO (2 wt-%Al2O3) ceramic target at room temperature. To investigate the influence of hydrogen related defects on the structure and optoelectronic properties in AZO films, the prepared films were annealed in Ar+H2 ambient at different temperatures (100–500°C). The results show that the films’ crystallinity becomes better and the resistivity decreases with the increase in annealing temperature. The lowest resistivity of 2·79×10−3 Ω cm is obtained after 500°C hydrogen annealing, which decreases by about four orders of magnitude compared to the resistivity of as deposited film. The improvement of electrical properties is attributed to the formation of H related defects and desorption of weakly bonded oxygen species near grain boundaries in AZO films after H2 annealing treatment, and the correspondi...

Drug addiction is a chronic brain disease that is a serious social problem and causes enormous financial burden. Because mitochondrial abnormalities have been associated with opiate addiction, we examined the effect of morphine on mtDNA levels in rat and mouse models of addiction and in cultured cells. We found that mtDNA copy number was significantly reduced in the hippocampus and peripheral blood of morphine-addicted rats and mice compared with control animals. Concordantly, decreased mtDNA copy number and elevated mtDNA damage were observed in the peripheral blood from opiate-addicted patients, indicating detrimental effects of drug abuse and stress. In cultured rat pheochromocytoma (PC12) cells and mouse neurons, morphine treatment caused many mitochondrial defects, including a reduction in mtDNA copy number that was mediated by autophagy. Knockdown of the Atg7 gene was able to counteract the loss of mtDNA copy number induced by morphine. The mitochondria-targeted antioxidant melatonin restored mtDNA content and neuronal outgrowth and prevented the increase in autophagy upon morphine treatment. In mice, coadministration of melatonin with morphine ameliorated morphine-induced behavioral sensitization, analgesic tolerance and mtDNA content reduction. During drug withdrawal in opiate-addicted patients and improvement of protracted abstinence syndrome, we observed an increase of serum melatonin level. Taken together, our study indicates that opioid addiction is associated with mtDNA copy number reduction and neurostructural remodeling. These effects appear to be mediated by autophagy and can be salvaged by melatonin.

Using the phase space method, we study the quantum interference through a Mach–Zehnder interferometer with an arbitrary-photon Fock state and a coherent state as two inputs. The statistical properties, in terms of the Wigner function, average photon number, photon number distribution and parity, are derived analytically for the field of the individual output port. These results indicate that the output state is actually a statistical mixture between a bunch of Fock state and coherent states. In addition, the phase sensitivity is also examined by using the detection scheme of intensity difference measurement.

Six coordination compounds constructed by two structurally related flexible nitrogen-containing polycarboxylate ligands 2,2′-(2,2′-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(oxy))bis(2,1-phenylene))bis(methylene)bis(azanediyl)dibenzoic acid (H2L1) and 5,5′-(2,2′-(ethane-1,2-diylbis(oxy))bis(2,1-phenylene))bis(methylene)bis(azanediyl)diisophthalic acid (H4L2) have been synthesized: [Ni(H2O)6] · L1 · (C2H5OH)0.5 · H2O (1), [Co(L1)(L3)] · CH3OH (2), [Ni(L1)(L3)] · CH3OH (3), [Zn(L1)(L3)] · CH3OH (4), [Cd(L1)(L3)] · CH3OH (5), and [Zn(L2)0.5(phen)] · C2H5OH (6), where L3 = 3,4 : 9,10 : 17,18 : 23,24-tetrabenzo-1,12,15,26-tetraaza-5,8,19,22-tetraoxacyclooctacosan and phen = 1,10-phenanthroline. The crystal structures have been determined by single-crystal X-ray diffraction. Compound 1 displays a discrete structure, which is further linked by hydrogen bonds to form a 2-D supramolecular layer. Compounds 2–5 display similar structures. These compounds possess 1-D meso-chain structures linked by L1 and metals. The C–H ··· π interactions...