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The use of zirconia for implants and abutments has become more prevalent in implant dentistry as an alternative to the commonly used titanium implants, and peri-implant disease can still affect them. The erbium, chromium-doped:yttrium-scandium-gallium-garnet (Er, Cr:YSGG) laser has emerged as a promising treatment modality. The purposes of this in vitro study were to (1) determine the effects of the laser on the surface roughness of zirconia discs; (2) determine the extent of removal of a single species biofilm, E. coli, on the zirconia discs after applying the laser; (3) determine the amount of cell adhesion and proliferation utilizing fibroblasts on zirconia discs after treatment with the laser. All treatments will be compared with the commonly used ultrasonic instrumentation and hand scalers. For the first aim, gross examination revealed noticeable surface damage on the discs when using ultrasonic and scalers but not for the laser group. For surface roughness, the mean roughness was Pa= 0.623±0.185 μm, 0.762±0.421 μm, 0.740±0.214 μm, and 0.724±0.168 μm for control discs, and discs treated with either the Er,Cr:YSGG laser, ultrasonic instrumentation, and hand scalers respectively. There was no statistical significance among the groups (p=0.628). For bacteria decontamination, there was a statistical significance among the groups (p< 0.0001). Statistical significance was seen between the control group and each of the three treatment groups, favoring the treatment groups (p< 0.0001). Statistical significance was seen when comparing ultrasonic instrumentation and hand scalers (p= 0.000) as well as when comparing the Er,Cr:YSGG laser to hand scalers (p= 0.007), favoring both the ultrasonic instrumentation and Er,Cr:YSGG laser. No significance between the Er,Cr:YSGG laser group and the ultrasonic instrumentation group was noted (p =0.374). When comparing the cell attachment following treatment in each of the three groups and also without treatment (control), there was a statistical significance among the groups (p

The objective of this study is to evaluate titanium decontamination after different protocols while assessing changes in surface roughness, chemical composition, and wettability.Ninety-six smooth (S) and 96 minimally rough (R) titanium microimplants were used. Pristine microimplants were reserved for negative control (S-nC/R-nC, n = 9), while the remaining microimplants were incubated in Escherichia coli culture. Non-decontaminated microimplants were used as positive control (S-pC/R-pC, n = 3). The other microimplants were divided into seven different decontamination protocols (12 S/R per group): 24% EDTA, 2% chlorhexidine (CHL), gauze soaked in 2% chlorhexidine (GCHL), gauze soaked in ultrapure water (GMQ), scaling (SC), titanium brush (TiB), and implantoplasty (IP). Contaminated areas were assessed by scanning electron microscope images, chemical composition by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, wettability by meniscus technique, and roughness by an optical profiler.Higher residual bacteria were observed in R-pC compared with S-pC (P 0.0001). When comparing S and R with their respective pC groups, the best results were obtained with GCHL, SC, TiB, and IP, with no difference between these protocols (P 0.05). Changes in surface roughness were observed after all treatments, with S/R-IP presenting the smoother and a less hydrophilic surface (P 0.05). Apart from IP protocol, all the other groups presented a more hydrophilic surface in R than in S microimplants (P 0.003). All decontamination protocols resulted in a lower percentage of superficial Ti when compared with S/R-nC (P 0.002).All decontamination protocols resulted in changes in roughness, wettability, and chemical composition, but GCHL, SC, TiB, an IP presented the best decontamination outcomes.

Located in tropical and subtropical region, Taiwan is an island with high algal species diversity. In this study, a number of fungal strains were isolated from marine macroalgae collected from northeastern intertidal zone of Taiwan. Preliminary anti-inflammatory screening has shown that the methanolic extracts of solid fermented products of the red alga Mastophora rosea-derived fungal strain Acremonium sp. NTU492 exhibited significant bioactivity. In an attempt to disclose the active principles from this fungal strain, a series of separation and purification was thus undertaken, which has led to the isolation and characterization of seven compounds including four new peptides, namely acrepeptins A-D (1-4), along with previously reported destruxin B (5), guangomide A (6), and guangomide B (7). Their structures were elucidated by spectroscopic analysis and compared with literatures. Of these, acrepeptins A (1) and C (3) showed markedly inhibitory activities on nitric oxide production in lipopolysaccharide-activated microglial BV-2 cells with IC

Selective inhibitors of gut bacterial β-glucuronidases (GUSs) are of particular interest in the prevention of xenobiotic-induced toxicities. This study reports the first structure-activity relationships on potency and selectivity of several iminocyclitols (2-7) for the GUSs. Complex structures of Ruminococcus gnavus GUS with 2-7 explained how charge, conformation, and substituent of iminocyclitols affect their potency and selectivity. N1 of uronic isofagomine (2) made strong electrostatic interactions with two catalytic glutamates of GUSs, resulting in the most potent inhibition (Ki ≥ 11 nM). C6-propyl analogue of 2 (6) displayed 700-fold selectivity for opportunistic bacterial GUSs (Ki = 74 nM for E. coli GUS and 51.8 μM for RgGUS). In comparison with 2, there was 200-fold enhancement in the selectivity, which was attributed to differential interactions between the propyl group and loop 5 residues of the GUSs. The results provide useful insights to develop potent and selective inhibitors for undesired GUSs.

Endozoicomonas, a core bacterial group in corals, may also be a coral symbiont. Endozoicomonas communities often decrease rapidly in corals under heat stress. However, how the bacteria respond to changes in temperature and coral host during heat stress is unknown. Here, we employed the cultivable, dominant species E. montiporae as a working organism to explore how Endozoicomonas responds to heat stress. We designed two experiments to clarify the extent to which E. montiporae is influenced by temperature and coral host. We detected differentially expressed protein (DEP) profiles in this bacterium at 31°C and 33°C compared to 25°C by tandem mass tags-based quantitative proteome analysis. Fifty DEPs, including many heat shock proteins, were detected when the temperature changed. The expression of antioxidant defense proteins and key pyruvate synthase proteins decreased, suggesting that E. montiporae were in a physiology of stress at 33°C. Furthermore, some proteins were differentially expressed because of the heat-stress-treated coral lysate specifically, suggesting that not only heat but also heat-induced host factors can affect the protein expression of the bacterium. This study provides an in-depth analysis of how the molecular mechanisms of Endozoicomonas are affected by heat stress and coral host.

Sulfuric-acid neutralization by motor oils in the presence of ethanol was investigated for the first time by quantitatively visualizing the fate of acid drops in five off-the-shelf commercial motor oils via capillary video-microscopy. For all the oils at room temperature, there was neutralization when ethanol was absent, whereas little neutralization was exhibited when ethanol was present. A very different behavior was exhibited at 100 °C, with rate of acid neutralization being much faster in the presence of ethanol than in absence. With 1% ethanol and temperature of 100 °C, acid droplets were neutralized in 2 min, whereas at room temperature droplets expanded ∼35% in diameter after 60 min with little neutralization. The reported phenomena may affect engine behavior and tribology.

A model liquid hydrocarbon (n-hexadecane) was used to gain insight on the mobilization of non-aqueous phase liquids (NAPLs) trapped in porous formations, important for both enhanced oil recovery (EOR) and oil spill remediation in porous media. Food-grade surfactants lecithin from soy and tween 80 were compared to commercial dispersant Corexit 9500A, for their ability to mobilize the hydrocarbon originally trapped in a water-filled cryolite porous medium. Red dye was added to the n-Hexadecane to improve visualization, and the aqueous phase incorporated different ratios of the surfactants Lecithin and Tween 80 to seek synergistic benefits when the two surfactants are combined. Visual-microscopic flooding experiments carried on a miniature packed bed produced images which were then analyzed using grayscale image analysis. It was determined that a ratio 40:60 by weight of Lecithin to Tween 80 has the best performance in the mobilization of n-hexadecane from the porous media. Furthermore, any (non-optimal) mixture of lecithin and tween 80 exhibited a better (synergistic) performance in n-Hexadecane recovery from the porous media than when applying either surfactant separately.

Sheet metal-based products serve as a major portion of the furniture market and maintain higher quality standards by being competitive. During industrial processes, while converting a sheet metal to an end product, new defects are observed and thus need to be identified carefully. Recent studies have shown scratches, bumps, and pollution/dust are identified, but orange peel defects present overall a new challenge. So our model identifies scratches, bumps, and dust by using computer vision algorithms, whereas orange peel defect detection with deep learning have a better performance. The goal of this paper was to resolve artificial intelligence (AI) as an AI landing challenge faced in identifying various kinds of sheet metal-based product defects by ALDB-DL process automation. Therefore, our system model consists of multiple cameras from two different angles to capture the defects of the sheet metal-based drawer box. The aim of this paper was to solve multiple defects detection as design and implementation of Industrial process integration with AI by Automated Optical Inspection (AOI) for sheet metal-based drawer box defect detection, stated as AI Landing for sheet metal-based Drawer Box defect detection using Deep Learning (ALDB-DL). Therefore, the scope was given as achieving higher accuracy using multi-camera-based image feature extraction using computer vision and deep learning algorithm for defect classification in AOI. We used SHapley Additive exPlanations (SHAP) values for pre-processing, LeNet with a (1 × 1) convolution filter, and a Global Average Pooling (GAP) Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) algorithm to achieve the best results. It has applications for sheet metal-based product industries with improvised quality control for edge and surface detection. The results were competitive as the precision, recall, and area under the curve were 1.00, 0.99, and 0.98, respectively. Successively, the discussion section presents a detailed insight view about the industrial functioning with ALDB-DL experience sharing.

Irinotecan inhibits cell proliferation and thus is used for the primary treatment of colorectal cancer. Metabolism of irinotecan involves incorporation of β-glucuronic acid to facilitate excretion. During transit of the glucuronidated product through the gastrointestinal tract, an induced upregulation of gut microbial β-glucuronidase (GUS) activity may cause severe diarrhea and thus force many patients to stop treatment. We herein report the development of uronic isofagomine (UIFG) derivatives that act as general, potent inhibitors of bacterial GUSs, especially those of Escherichia coli and Clostridium perfringens. The best inhibitor, C6-nonyl UIFG, is 23,300-fold more selective for E. coli GUS than for human GUS (Ki = 0.0045 and 105 μM, respectively). Structural evidence indicated that the loss of coordinated water molecules, with the consequent increase in entropy, contributes to the high affinity and selectivity for bacterial GUSs. The inhibitors also effectively reduced irinotecan-induced diarrhea in mice without damaging intestinal epithelial cells., Hsien-Ya Lin, Chia-Yu Chen, Ting-Chien Lin and colleagues perform structure-guided modifications of the compound uronic isofagomaine in order to engineer a highly specific and potent inhibitor of gut bacterial β-glucuronidases (GUSs). The authors present eight crystal structures and demonstrate in vivo efficacy of the optimised C6-alkyl derivative inhibitor in mice models. This study may enhance the development of inhibitors of microbial GUS for use in colorectal cancer therapy to minimize the undesired side effects of irinotecan treatment.

In vitro evaluations are essential to gaining a better understanding of re-osseointegration, while reducing animal use and the overall costs of peri-implantitis studies. This pilot study evaluated preosteoblast migration from 3-D-printed scaffolds to decontaminated titanium microimplants, creating a system that tries to mimic the bone–implant interface. Smooth (S) and minimally rough (R) titanium microimplants were incubated in Escherichia coli cultures and divided into six groups according to the decontamination protocol applied: EDTA gel (EDTA); chlorhexidine (CHL); chlorhexidine-soaked gauze (GCHL); scaling (SC); titanium brush (TiB); and implantoplasty (IP). Pristine S and R microimplants were used as the controls (C). After the decontamination procedures, the microimplants were inserted in 3-D-printed polyurethane-based scaffolds previously inoculated with preosteoblast cell cultures. Cellular migration was assessed after 24, 72 and 120 hours by ATP quantification. At the 120-hour time point, there was no statistically significant difference between S-C, S-EDTA, S-CHL, S-GCHL and S-SC ( p > 0.05), and between R-C, R-EDTA and R-GCHL ( p > 0.05). The in vitro model developed in this pilot study successfully demonstrated cell migration on the different decontaminated surfaces. This methodology suggests that on smooth microimplants, EDTA, GCHL, SC and TiB decontamination may have a reduced impact on preosteoblast migration, while on minimally rough microimplants, EDTA and GCHL decontamination affected cell migration the least. However, when selecting a decontamination protocol, the effectiveness of the decontamination per se must also be considered.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the biological efficacy of a unique perpendicular protrusion of type-I collagen (Col-I) from TiO2 nanotubes (NT-EPF surface). We hypothesized that the NT-EPF surface would play bifunctional roles in stimulating platelet-mediated fibroblast recruitment and anchoring fibroblast-derived Col-I to form a perpendicular collagen assembly, mimicking the connective tissue attachment around natural teeth for the long-term maintenance of dental implants. Ti surface modification was accomplished in two steps. First, TiO2 nanotubes (NT) array was fabricated via anodization. Diameters and depths of NTs were controlled by applied voltage and duration. Subsequently, an electrophoretic fusion (EPF) method was applied to fuse Col-I into nanotube arrays in a perpendicular fashion. Surface wettability was assessed by contact angle measurement. The bioactivity of modified TiO2 surfaces was evaluated in terms of NIH3T3 fibroblast attachment, platelet activation, and collagen extension. Early attachment, aggregation, and activation of platelets as well as release of platelet-related growth factors were demonstrated on NT-EPF surfaces. Platelet-mediated NIH3T3 cells migration toward NT-EPF was significantly increased and the attached cells showed a typical fibrous morphology with elongated spindle shape. A direct linkage between pseudopod-like processes of fibroblasts to NT-EPF surfaces was observed. Furthermore, the engineered EPF collagen protrusion linked with cell-derived collagen in a perpendicular fashion. Within the limitation of this in vitro study, the TiO2 nanotube with perpendicular Col-I surface (NT-EPF) promoted better cell attachment, induced a strong platelet activation which suggested the ability to create a more robust soft tissue seal.

Preterm labor is associated with inflammation and infection. The mechanisms underlying the role of omega-3 fatty acid in inflammasome activation and prevention of preterm labor remain unknown. We hypothesized that omega-3 fatty acid can reduce the rate of preterm birth induced by infection and trophoblast inflammation. In the present study, we found that inflammasome-related molecules and IL-1β in trophoblasts were activated by TNF-α derived from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-stimulated THP-1 cell-conditioned medium (CM) and recombinant TNF-α protein. The results demonstrated that stimulation with TNF-α caused lysosomal rupture in trophoblasts, which accelerated cathepsin S (CTSS) diffusion from lysosomes to the cytosol and activated NLRP1 (nacht domain-leucine-rich repeat, and pyd-containing protein 1) and absent in melanoma 2 (AIM2) inflammasomes, thereby increasing IL-1β secretion. Moreover, in response to LPS challenge, TNF-α increased trophoblast cell death and decreased cell viability through inflammasome and CTSS activation. Stearidonic acid (SDA; 18:4n−3) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA; 22:6n−3) inhibited inflammasome-related molecule synthesis and CTSS and caspase-1 activation, which further reduced the preterm delivery rate of pregnant mice induced by LPS (92.9 compared with 69.7% (DHA); 92.9 compared with 53.5% (SDA)). Higher expression of TNF-α, IL-1β, prostaglandin E2, and CTSS, but lower resolvin D1 expression, was observed in preterm pregnant mice than in controls. Similarly, resolvin D1 was highly expressed in women with term delivery compared with women with preterm delivery. Thus, SDA and DHA may attenuate macrophage-derived TNF-α inducing CTSS and inflammasome activation, IL-1β secretion, and placental trophoblast cell death. These functions are implicated in the preventive effects of SDA and DHA on preterm labor.

This work highlights the fabrication of nickel‑copper/titanium nitride (Ni-Cu/TiN) for the use in direct methanol fuel cells. Ni-Cu nanoparticles are coated on the surface of TiN film by electrochemical methods. The formation of Ni-Cu/TiN is confirmed by a variety of means such as field-emission scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy. The presence of Ni-Cu on TiN film is further confirmed by cyclic voltammetry. For the electrochemical oxidation of methanol, the electrocatalytic activity of the prepared Ni-Cu/TiN is higher than those of Cu/TiN, Ni/TiN, Ni-Mn/TiN, and Ni-Co/TiN. The stability for the electrochemical oxidation of methanol at Ni-Cu/TiN is better than that of Ni-Cu/glassy carbon electrode. The proposed Ni-Cu/TiN might be beneficial to develop high performance and low manufacturing cost of direct methanol fuel cells.

This paper presents the fabrication of polyaniline and graphene oxide aerogel composite (PGA) thin film-based sensors for H2S gas sensing application. The optical and morphological properties of these composite films were characterised correspondingly by UV–visible spectroscopy and scanning electron microscopy. To prepare the gas sensors, thin films of PANI and PGA composites were deposited onto interdigitated electrodes by spin coating method. The response of these sensors towards H2S gas was evaluated by monitoring the change in electrical conductivity at room temperature under two relative humidity values of 60% RH and 80% RH. The PGA composite thin film-based gas sensors showed a higher response compared with the pure PANI-based sensor. The gas sensor made of PGA-3 showed a good response of 3.87 in 67 s (60% RH), which is 4.6 times higher than that of pure PANI and 2.5 times higher than that of PGA-1 at 1 ppm. The first-principles simulations were carried out to investigate the H2S sensing mechanism of PGA heterostructure. The adsorption of H2S at different locations of pure PANI and PGA composites was analysed. The band gap for PGA showed more significant change after adsorption than that of pure PANI, which indicated the higher sensitivity for detecting H2S.

In this study, we developed an overlay coating of high-entropy alloy (HEA) NiCo 0.6 Fe 0.2 Cr 1.5 SiAlTi 0.2 (C3) via atmospheric plasma spraying. The as-deposited coating is a supersaturated BCC phase except some oxide stringers formed during the spray. However, a plenty of Cr 3 Si phase forms in the coating and cause a large increase of hardness and wear resistance when aged at 800 and 1100 °C. The oxidation weight gain test demonstrates that the coating exhibits oxidation resistance as good as typical NiCrAlY coating at 1100 °C due to the formation of a dense thermally grown oxide layer (TGO) comprising Al 2 O 3 and Cr 2 O 3 . This coating becomes a strong candidate for high-temperature protective layer requiring oxidation and wear resistance.

Natural teeth are supported by connective tissue collagen fibers that insert perpendicularly in the tooth cementum. Perpendicular insertion plays an important role in the maintenance of the junction between the oral epithelium and the periodontal connective tissue. Most titanium dental implant surfaces have no micro or macro structure to support perpendicularly oriented collagen attachment. Without this tight biologic seal to resist bacterial invasion and epithelial downgrowth, progressive bone loss in peri-implantitis is seen around dental implants. The purpose of this study was to establish the perpendicularly oriented collagen attachment to titanium oxide nanotube (TNT), and to assess its binding stability. TNT was prepared on the titanium-surface by anodization. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a regularly aligned TNT with an average 67 nm-diameter when anodized at 30 V for 3 h. Subsequently, collagen type I (CoI) was electrophoretically fused to anodic TNT in native polyacrylamide gel system where negatively charged CoI-C term was perpendicularly navigated to TNT. SEM and atomic force microscopy (AFM) were used to analyze CoI on the TiO2 and TNT surface. Several tens of nanometers of CoI protrusion were recorded by AFM. These protrusions may be long enough to be priming sites for cell-secreted CoI. CoI laid parallel to the titanium surface when fused by a chemical linker. Binding resistance of CoI against drastic ultrasonication was measured by Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy attenuated total reflection (FTIR-ATR). The electrophoretically fused CoI in the titanium nanotube (TNT–CoIEPF) showed the significantly greatest binding resistance than the other groups (P

The objective of this study was to investigate whether human placental multipotent mesenchymal stromal cell (hPMSC)-derived Slit2 and endothelial cell Roundabout (Robo) receptors are involved in placental angiogenesis. The hPMSC-conditioned medium and human umbilical vein endothelial cells were studied for Slit2 and Robo receptor expression by immunoassay and RT-PCR. The effect of the conditioned medium of hPMSCs with or without Slit2 depletion on endothelial cells was investigated by in vitro angiogenesis using growth factor-reduced Matrigel. hPMSCs express Slit2 and both Robo1 and Robo4 are present in human umbilical vein endothelial cells. Human umbilical vein endothelial cells do not express Robo2 and Robo3. The hPMSC-conditioned medium and Slit2 recombinant protein significantly inhibit the endothelial cell migration, but not by the hPMSC-conditioned medium with Slit2 depletion. The hPMSC-conditioned medium and Slit2 significantly enhance endothelial tube formation with increased cumulated tube length, polygonal network number and vessel branching point number compared to endothelial cells alone. The tube formation is inhibited by the depletion of Slit2 from the conditioned medium, or following the expression of Robo1, Robo4, and both receptor knockdown using small interfering RNA. Furthermore, co-immunoprecipitation reveals Slit2 binds to Robo1 and Robo4. Robo1 interacts and forms a heterodimeric complex with Robo4. These results suggest the implication of both Robo receptors with Slit2 signaling, which is involved in endothelial cell angiogenesis. Slit2 in the conditioned medium of hPMSCs has functional effect on endothelial cells and may play a role in placental angiogenesis.

This study explored two diffusion approaches, Fick’s law and the dusty gas model (DGM), to assess their differences on modeling methane transport in porous systems. Laboratory experiments were also conducted for methane transport through a nitrogen gas-dry soil column from different source densities. Gas pressures and methane densities at transient state were measured along the column for two transport configurations (horizontal and vertically upward) and compared with the predictions obtained from the DGM- and Fickian-based models. The retardation factor is the only parameter used in the model calibration. The results showed that the methane density profiles predicted by these models fairly matched the measured data and are quite consistent for vertically upward transport of methane. However, the predictions were over the measured ones for horizontal transport of methane. We suspected it is due to incomplete mixing of gas mixture in the inlet chamber since high pressure variations were observed in the horizontal transport experiments. Further, we found that the methane density profile predicted by the Fickian-based model is lagged behind the DGM result for at most 15% of difference in methane density for horizontal transport of methane from a pure methane source.horizontal transport experiments. Further, we found that the methane density profile predicted by the Fickian-based model lagged behind the DGM result for at most 15% of difference in methane density for horizontal transport of methane from a pure methane source.

Epithelial attachment via the basal lamina on the tooth surface provides an important structural defence mechanism against bacterial invasion in combating periodontal disease. However, when considering dental implants, strong epithelial attachment does not exist throughout the titanium-soft tissue interface, making soft tissues more susceptible to peri-implant disease. This study introduced a novel synthetic peptide (A10) to enhance epithelial attachment. A10 was identified from a bacterial peptide display library and synthesized. A10 and protease-activated receptor 4-activating peptide (PAR4-AP, positive control) were immobilized on commercially pure titanium. The peptide-treated titanium showed high epithelial cell migration ability during incubation in platelet-rich plasma. We confirmed the development of dense and expanded BL (stained by Ln5) with pericellular junctions (stained by ZO1) on the peptide-treated titanium surface. In an adhesion assay of epithelial cells on A10-treated titanium, PAR4-AP-treated titanium, bovine root and non-treated titanium, A10-treated titanium and PAR4-AP-treated titanium showed significantly stronger adhesion than non-treated titanium. PAR4-AP-treated titanium showed significantly higher inflammatory cytokine release than non-treated titanium. There was no significant difference in inflammatory cytokine release between A10-treated and non-treated titanium. These results indicated that A10 could induce the adhesion and migration of epithelial cells with low inflammatory cytokine release. This novel peptide has a potentially useful application that could improve clinical outcomes with titanium implants and abutments by reducing or preventing peri-implant disease.

In this work, the effects of nitrous oxide plasma treatment on the negative bias temperature stress of indium tin zinc oxide (ITZO) and indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin film transistors (TFTs) were reported. ITZO TFTs were more suitable for the back channel etched-type device structure because they could withstand both Al- and Cu-acid damage. The initial threshold voltage range could be controlled to within 1 V. The root cause of poor negative bias temperature stress for ITZO was likely due to a higher mobility (∼3.3 times) and more carbon related contamination bonds (∼5.9 times) relative to IGZO. Finally, 65″ active-matrix organic light-emitting diode televisions using the ITZO and IGZO TFTs were fabricated.

Background and aim Atrial fibrillation (AF) is an important cardiovascular disease in the elderly. The association between hyperuricemia and AF is unclear. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the prospective relationship between uric acid and development of AF in a nationally representative cohort of elderly people. Methods and results A total of 1485 elderly people (age ≥ 65 yrs) from the Elderly Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1999–2000) were without AF on “electrocardiography” at baseline. Incident AF events (International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification, ICD-9-CM: 427.31) were identified using data from the National Health Insurance Dataset. Hyperuricemia was defined as levels of uric acid >7.0 mg/dL in men and 6.0 mg/dL in women. A Cox proportional hazards model was used to evaluate the association between hyperuricemia and incident AF. The follow-up period was from 1999 to 2000 to 2008. During the follow-up period (median: 9.16 yrs), 90 AF events occurred (44 in men and 46 in women). Older age, elevated systolic blood pressure, being an ex-smoker, and high uric acid were positively associated with incident AF. Hyperuricemia was positively associated with incident AF in normotensive (age-adjusted hazard ratio (HR): 2.65 and 95% confidence intervals: 1.05–6.69), but not in (1.20:0.74–1.94) hypertensive individuals (systolic blood pressure ≥130 or diastolic blood pressure ≥85 or using hypertensive medicine). A significant association between hyperuricemia and AF (3.78; 1.24–11.59) remained after adjusting for other potential confounders among normotensive older persons. Conclusion Hyperuricemia is associated with the development of AF in elderly people with normal blood pressure.

Synthesis and evaluation of difluorophenylglycinols as new modulators of proteolytic processing of the amyloid-β precursor proteins for Alzheimer's therapies were described. A range of N-substituted (R)- and (S)-difluorophenylglycinols, structured on the amino alcohol framework, were explored by incorporating the arylsulfonyl moieties and various N-substituents. Evans' chiral auxiliary strategy was employed for the asymmetric synthesis of these enantiomeric difluorophenylglycinols. Compounds with effects on the γ-secretase inhibition and ERK-mediated signaling pathways were evaluated on cell-based assays. Among them, N-cyclopropylmethyl derivatives R-12c and R-13c showed modest γ-secretase inhibition as well as ERK-dependent activation.

We have successfully fabricated large sized amorphous indium–gallium–zinc-oxide based active-matrix liquid-crystal displays, which uses Molybdenum/Aluminum/Titanium as source/drain electrode. In this study, an oxygen-rich etch stop layer acts as the oxygen atom supplier and converts the titanium layer into titanium oxide layer, which is found to induce instability of the device. Sample without titanium oxide has an initial threshold voltage shift is less than ±0.1 V after the repeatedly measuring over a period of two weeks. In addition, the IGZO based device demonstrated superior transfer characteristic. This paper established that the stability of the amorphous indium–gallium–zinc-oxide based active-matrix liquid-crystal display can be predicted by Stretched-Exponential model.

The plasma-process-induced damage (PPID) of low-temperature polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) thin-film transistors (TFTs) during the etching of the poly-Si film was investigated in this paper. The results reveal the relationship between the device degradation and the PPID during TFT liquid-crystal-display fabrication. This degradation is caused in part by the damage at the edge of the poly-Si film in plasma exposure. The trapped-state densities Ntrap are measured to clarify the relationship between instability and plasma etching damages. The plasma-process condition substantially affects the PPID of the poly-Si etching process. The main mechanism is the generation of charge trapping states at the poly-Si grain boundary in the damaged edge of the TFT channel active region. The electrical recovery from the plasma damage is also studied with various postetching treatments. Hydrogen-base plasma treatment and laser anneal process are revealed to improve the device characteristics due to reduction of charge trapping states.

Tetragonal chalcopyrite CuIn-(S1−xSex)2 (0 ≤ x ≤ 1) nanocrystals were synthesized by reacting a mixture of CuCl, InCl3, S, and Se in the presence of oleylamine at 265 °C. The S/Se composition ratio in the CuIn(S1−xSex)2 could be tuned across the entire composition range of x from 0 to 1 by modulating the S/Se reactant mole ratio. The tetragonal lattice constants, that is, a and c, increase linearly with the increase of Se content, following Vegard’s law. The band gap energies of CuIn(S1−xSex)2 nanocrystals could be tuned in the range between 0.98 and 1.46 eV and change nonlinearly with respect to x, deriving a bowing parameter of 0.17 eV. In addition, the method developed in this study was scalable to achieve gram-scale production of stoichiometry-controlled CuIn(S1−xSex)2 and CuIn1−xGaxSe2 nanocrystals.

Syncytin is an envelope protein of the human endogenous retrovirus family W (HERV-W). Syncytin is specifically expressed in the human placenta and mediates trophoblast cell fusion into the multinucleated syncytiotrophoblast layer. It is a polypeptide of 538 amino acids and is predicted to be posttranslationally cleaved into a surface (SU) subunit and a transmembrane (TM) subunit. Functional characterization of syncytin protein can aid understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying syncytin-mediated cell fusion. In this report, we studied the structure-function relationship of syncytin in 293T and HeLa cells transiently expressing wild-type syncytin or syncytin mutants generated by linker scanning and deletion mutagenesis. Of the 22 linker-inserted mutants, mutants InS51, InV139, InE156, InS493, InA506, and InL529 were fusogenic, suggesting that regions around amino acids S51, V139, and E156 in the SU subunit and S493, A506, and L529 in the cytoplasmic domain (CTM) of syncytin are flexible in conformation. Of the 17 deletion mutants, nine mutants with deletions in the region from amino acids 479 to 538 were fusogenic. The deletion mutant DelI480, containing only the first four amino acid residues in the cytoplasmic domain, had enhanced fusogenic activity in comparison with the wild-type. In addition, two heptad repeat regions (HRA and B) were defined in the TM subunit of syncytin. A peptide inhibitor derived from the C-terminal heptad repeat region (HRB) was shown to potently inhibit syncytin-mediated cell fusion. Our results suggest that the cytoplasmic domain of syncytin is not essential for syncytin-mediated fusion but may play a regulatory role, and an intramolecular interaction between HRA and B is involved in the fusion process.

Device-level simulation capabilities have been developed to investigate low-frequency noise behavior in p-type Si0.7Ge0.3/Si heterostructure MOS (SiGe p-HMOS) transistors. The numerical model is based on the impedance field method; it accounts for a trap-induced carrier number fluctuation, a layer-dependent correlated mobility fluctuation, and a Hooge mobility fluctuation in the buried and parasitic surface channels, respectively. Simulations based on such models have been conducted for SiGe p-HMOS transistors, and the results have been carefully correlated with experimental data. Quantitative agreement has been obtained in terms of the noise level dependence on gate biases, drain currents, and body biases, revealing the important role of the dual channels in the low-frequency noise behavior of SiGe p-HMOS devices.

AMOLED displays based on metal oxide film as active channel layer are fabricated. To achieve cost-competitive process in OLED manufacturing, solution-processed HIL, HTL and pixilated EML (RGB) layers followed by evaporation process for other layers are demonstrated in this work. Meanwhile, the AMOLED backplanes possessing low power consumption and high frequency were fabricated on metal oxide TFTs with high mobility (23.13 cm2/Vs) technology. A 14” qHD AMOLED in 79 ppi-resolution was realized with IGZO based active matrix panel.

We reported large size amorphous Indium-Gallium-Zinc-Oxide and Indium-Tin-Zinc-Oxide thin film transistors active-matrix organic light-emitting diode television development history in AUO. The Gen6 threshold voltage uniformity can lower than 1.0V. Amorphous Indium-Tin-Zinc-Oxide thin film transistors show a higher mobility of 33.2 cm 2 /VS. Amorphous 56 inches back channel etch type Indium-Tin-Zinc-Oxide active-matrix organic light-emitting diode television is 1st time revealed. Metal-organic chemical vapor deposition system is used to evaluate the new high mobility material. The side-by-side organic light-emitting diode device is realized by fine metal mask. The dam and fill encapsulation method shows a simple process procedure and highly stability. Ink jet printing is adopted to produce a small size full color panel. By the application of compensation pixel circuit, the panel drove by AUO engine shows an excellent characteristic.

Hyperhomocysteinemia and cognitive impairment both predict mortality and partly because of dietary associations. We have hypothesized that for, nutritional reasons, homocysteine and cognition may act jointly to determine elder survival. In a Nutrition and Health Survey in Taiwan (1999-2000), some 1412 representative elderly were followed up for mortality up to 10 years. Cognition was assessed by the Short Portable Mental Status Questionnaire. Food and B vitamin intakes with their biomarkers, and plasma homocysteine, were measured at baseline. The possible effects of cognition on homocysteine-associated mortality were ascertained with Cox proportional-hazards models. Homocysteine was higher in those who were older, male, and single, consumed less fish and tea, and with alcohol and smoking. In models adjusted for these variables, when homocysteine exceeded 14.5 μmol/L, mortality was 1.80-fold more than when

Mitochondrial dysfunction and associated apoptosis have been reported in the pathogenesis of neuron degeneration. The effects of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA) and arachidonic acid (AA) on the mitochondrial membrane potential, mitochondrial biogenesis, and mitochondrial function of rat C6 glioma cells were determined in this study. Increased cytochrome c release and activated caspase-3 expression were determined in cells treated with >20 microM C(2) ceramide. There were significant repressive effects on ceramide-induced cell death with 25-100 microM EPA and 25 microM AA pretreatment. However, significantly increased membrane potentials were detected in cells pretreated with 25 and 50 microM EPA compared to ceramide-treated cells, but not in AA pretreatment groups. In cells pretreated with EPA, ATP production loss was prevented from ceramide-induced mitochondrial dysfunction. In mitochondrial biogenesis related assay, both EPA and AA enhanced peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma-coactivator-1alpha (PGC-1alpha) and mitochondrial transcription factor A (Tfam) transcriptional activities. However, elevated PGC-1alpha transcriptional activities in groups pretreated with 25, 50, and 100 microM EPA and only in the 100 microM AA group were analyzed. The Tfam transcriptional activities were enhanced in groups pretreated with 25 and 50 microM EPA and AA. Increased NADH dehydrogenase subunit 6 (ND6) mRNA expression was determined in cells pretreated with 25 and 50 microM EPA and 25 microM AA. Elevated protein levels of Tfam, flavoprotein, and cytochrome oxidase subunit III (COX III) were determined in cells pretreated with 25 and 50 microM EPA. The EPA-provided a more protective effect than AA against ceramide-induced cell death, which might mainly be due to maintaining the membrane potential and sustaining the mitochondrial ATP production function. EPA has more potential to elevate mitochondrial biogenesis through enhanced PGC-1alpha, and Tfam transcriptional activities may provide partial protection against ceramide cytotoxicity.

To further device scaling, a new hetero-channel MOS device is considered. A novel Ge/SiGe/Si lateral hetero-channel p- FET that can significantly reduce band-to-band tunnelling (BTBT) leakage, retain high current drivability, and good electrostatics is introduced in this paper. Through detailed BTBT model in PDE simulators the on-current and off current in p- FETs are analyzed. The simulation results show one-order of magnitude reduction (>20) in minimum off current and high drive current. Lateral hetero-channel p-FET provides a promising solution for future highly scaled CMOS technology. Index Terms — SiGe; field effect transistor; BTBT leakage; device scaling

The importance of the amino acid sequence in the C-terminal domain of penicillin-binding protein 5 (PBP5) and the levels of PBP5 expression to ampicillin resistance of Taiwan clinical isolates of Enterococcus faecium were studied. Sequence data revealed the existence of 12 amino acid sequence variants within the C-terminal domain of PBP5 in the 33 tested isolates (ampicillin minimum inhibitory concentrations (MICs) 1 mg/L to >256 mg/L). Western blot analyses of the levels of PBP5 showed that, with few exceptions, lower amounts of PBP5 were present in the susceptible strains than in the resistant strains. More importantly, a significant correlation (P=0.004, Fisher's exact test) between the expression of PBP5 and ampicillin resistance was detected. Point mutations in PBP5, including addition of aspartic acid or serine after position 466 and change of methionine to alanine or threonine at position 485, alanine or isoleucine to threonine at position 499 and glutamate to valine at position 629, were found to be significantly associated with ampicillin resistance. A significant correlation was obtained for the combined mutation (alleles 10 and 11), suggesting that combined mutation of PBP5 can be a marker for ampicillin resistance of E. faecium.

This letter investigates asymmetrical degradation behavior induced by the self-heating effect in InGaZnO thin-film transistors. Both the surrounding oxide and other thermal insulating material, as well as the low thermal conductivity of the InGaZnO layer itself, cause the self-heating effect in InGaZnO thin-film transistors. The heated channel layer enhances threshold voltage shift, and the evolution of threshold voltage shift is found to be dominated by charge-trapping effect. Moreover, a non-uniform distribution of channel carrier concentration leads to an uneven temperature distribution through the InGaZnO active layer and results in the asymmetrical degradation behavior after self-heating operation.