Search

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a common chronic clinical condition and is the main cause of death in humans worldwide. Understanding the genetic and molecular mechanisms involved in the development of CVD is essential to develop effective prevention strategies and therapeutic measures. An increasing number of CVD-related genetic studies have been conducted, including those on the potential roles of microRNAs (miRs). These studies have demonstrated that miR-378 is involved in the pathological processes of CVD, including those of myocardial infarction, heart failure and coronary heart disease. Despite the potential importance of miR-378 CVD, a comprehensive summary of the related literature is lacking. Thus, the present review aimed to summarize the findings of previous studies on the roles and mechanisms of miR-378 in a variety of CVDs and provide an up-to date basis for further r research targeting the prevention and treatment of CVDs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A nitrogen plasma treatment protocol has been applied to carbon nanotubes as a way to modulate their magnetic properties by the microwave plasma chemical vapor deposition method. The nitrogen treatment is a simple and effective strategy to fundamentally affect the magnetic performance of CNTs, which is related to the microwave power and the time of the treatment. The best treatment time is 30 min with the microwave power of 120 W corresponding to the N content (defined N/C atomic ratio in at.%) which is 2.15 at.% and the biggest value of Ms is 0.5227 emu/g. Using Raman, XPS and EDS mapping, it is proved that N exists in CNTs and the pyridine N and amine N bonding configurations contribute to ferromagnetic origin. Our study of N2 plasma treatment doping into CNTs to enhance ferromagnetic properties provides an effective technique for the N doping and massive synthesis of ferromagnetic graphene. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multilayer graphene (MLG) grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is a promising material for electronic and optoelectronic devices. Understanding the stacking configuration and interlayer coupling of MLGs is technologically relevant and of importance for the device applications. Here, we reported a kind of twisted MLGs (tMLGs), in which only one twist angle was revealed from the twist-related modes, R and R'. With increasing the total layer number of N (N > 2), the observed interlayer shear modes in the tMLG flake always follow those of AB-stacked (N-1)LG, while the observed interlayer breathing modes always follow those of AB-stacked NLG, independent of its twist angle. The tMLGs are identified as t(1+ n )LGs, which are formed by stacking one graphene monolayer on the top of AB-stacked n layer graphenes by rotating a certain angle between them. The layer breathing coupling of the t(1+ n )LGs is almost identical to that of mechanically-exfoliated tMLGs, which demonstrates the high quality of MLGs grown by CVD. This study provides an applicable approach to probe the stacking configuration and interlayer coupling of MLGs grown by CVD or related methods. This work also demonstrates the possibility to grow MLG flakes with a fixed stacking configuration, e . g ., t(1+ n )LG, by the CVD method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Using Ca(NO3)2·4H2O, Mg(NO3)2·6H2O, Si(OC2H5)4, LiNO3 and Bi(NO3)3·5H2O as raw materials, CaO–MgO–SiO2 submicron powders were prepared at low temperature by sol–gel method. The crystallization temperature was decreased enormously by the introduction of Li–Bi liquid phase sintering aids into Ca–Mg–Si sol, and the powders with average particle sizes of 80–100nm and 200–400nm were obtained at the calcining temperature of 750°C and 800°C, respectively. The sintering characteristic and dielectric properties of powders calcined at 750°C with different content of powders calcined at 800°C were studied. When the content of powders calcined at 800°C was 10wt%, the dielectric ceramic sintered at 890°C had compact structure, and possessed excellent microwave dielectric properties: ɛ r =7.16, Q × f =25630GHz, τ f =−69.26ppm/°C. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

[Display omitted] • A novel g-C 3 N 4 /SrTiO 3 co-decorated rutile TiO 2 nanorod composite film was fabricated. • g-C 3 N 4 /SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 composite film had an appropriate cascade energy band structure. • The composite film exhibited a highly enhanced visible light absorption capability. • Electron-hole separation and transfer mechanism of the composite film was explained. • The composite film showed excellent photocathodic protection for stainless steel. A highly efficient g-C 3 N 4 /SrTiO 3 co-decorated rutile TiO 2 nanorod composite film photoanode was fabricated on a conductive glass substrate by a three-step synthesis process involving hydrothermal reactions and chemical vapor deposition. The g-C 3 N 4 /SrTiO 3 /TiO 2 composite film with an appropriate cascade energy band structure showed greatly improved visible light absorption and exhibited 4.5 times higher photocurrent density than the undecorated TiO 2 film, resulting from its higher separation and transfer efficiency of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs. Under the white light irradiation, the composite film photoanode made the potential of the coupled 403 stainless steel in a 0.5 M NaCl solution decrease by 680 mV from its free corrosion potential, showing a significantly enhanced photoelectrochemical cathodic protection effect. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self-catalytic growth of Al x Ga 1 − x N nanowires by chemical vapor deposition (CVD) with Ga, Al and NH 3 as the source materials and sapphire (0 0 0 1) as the substrates was studied. The Al mass, the distance between Al and Ga, and the growth temperatures have an influence on the morphologies of the samples. Without Ga, no nanowires are obtained. The Al content x in Al x Ga 1 − x N nanowires hardly changes with the starting mass of Al but slightly decreases with the increase in the growth temperature. We propose that it is Ga that acts as the catalyst during the self-catalytic growth of Al x Ga 1 − x N nanowires since the higher desorption rate of Ga and the N rich condition result in the island growth of GaN on sapphire and the island growth mode favors the formation of nanowires with the incorporation of Al. The Al content x in Al x Ga 1 − x N nanowires relies on the ratio of the saturation vapor pressure of Al to the sum of that of Ga and Al. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: A novel hedgehog-like core/shell structure, consisting of a high density of vertically aligned graphene sheets and a thin graphene shell/a copper core (VGs-GS/CC), has been synthesized via a simple one-step synthesis route using radio-frequency plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (RF-PECVD). Scanning and transmission electron microscopy investigations show that the morphology of this core/shell material could be controlled by deposition time. For a short deposition time, only multilayer graphene shell tightly surrounds the copper particle, while as the deposition time is relative long, graphene sheets extend from the surface of GS/CC. The GS can protect CC particles from oxidation. The growth mechanism for the obtained GS/CC and VGs-GS/CC has been revealed. Compared to VGs, VGs-GS/CC material exhibits a better electron field emission property. This investigation opens a possibility for designing a core/shell structure of different carbon–metal hybrid materials for a wide variety of practical applications. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Systematic investigations were performed on a set of AlInGaN epilayers which were grown on sapphire substrate by metal organic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) at growth rates ranging from 3.2 to 18.0nm/min. Rutherford backscattering and channeling were used to determine the composition and to evaluate the crystalline quality of AlInGaN quaternary epilayers. The results showed a 150nm AlInGaN epilayer with a high crystalline quality () could be grown by optimizing growth rate. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) observations confirmed a clear growth mode transition from three-dimensional growth to two-dimensional growth when the growth rate decreased from 18.0 to 5.8nm/min. The critical growth rate was about 14.0nm/min in our experiments. It was found that the crystalline quality depended strongly on the growth rate, i.e. the crystalline quality was degraded rapidly with increasing growth rate, which was verified by the results of Rutherford backscattering spectroscopy (RBS), High-resolution X-ray diffraction (HR-XRD), AFM, and photoluminescence (PL). The effects of growth rate on the structural and optical properties of AlInGaN epilayers were discussed. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]