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Background: Aberrant expression of caveolin-1 (CAV-1) is involved in the pathogenesis of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC); however, the results have been inconsistent due to the small size of sample in the individual study. Methods: We performed a meta-analysis and evaluated the association of CAV-1 protein overexpression and clinicopathological significance by using Review Manager 5.2. Pooled ORs and HR with corresponding CIs were calculated. Results: Nine studies were included in the meta-analysis with 810 HCC and 172 cirrhosis patients. CAV-1 protein overexpression was correlated with the risk of cirrhosis; OR was 3.25, p=0.01. Furthermore, the rate of CAV-1 protein overexpression was significantly higher in HCC with cirrhosis than HCC without cirrhosis, suggesting that the CAV-1 protein overexpression likely initiated carcinogenesis in liver with cirrhosis and subsequently contributed to the progression of HCC. In addition, CAV-1 protein overexpression was strongly associated with poor differentiated HCC and invasion; ORs were 2.61 and 2.71, respectively. CAV-1 protein overexpression was strongly correlated with poor overall survival in patients with HCC; HR was 0.4, p=0.03. Conclusions: In summary, CAV-1 protein overexpression is at risk for liver cirrhosis and HCC derived from cirrhosis, and CAV-1 is also a promising prognostic predictor in HCC.

Many dynamic events exist in real manufacturing systems, such as arbitrary machine breakdowns and dynamic job arrivals, which makes the scheduling problem even more complicated. In this paper, we address a serial-batching scheduling problem with the above dynamic events. Jobs need to be processed on the serial-batching machines of two manufacturers and then transported by vehicles to a customer for further processing. The objective of the scheduling problem is to minimize the makespan, and the problem is proved to be strongly NP-hard. Some structural properties and a lower bound of the problem are also proved or derived. On the basis of job arrival times, we divide the problem into two phases and propose different rules regarding these two phases. Based on these properties and rules, a heuristic algorithm is developed to solve the problem and its worst case performance is analyzed. The heuristic algorithm is tested on a large set of randomly generated problem instances, and the relative gaps between the found lower bound and the solutions of the proposed heuristic algorithm are reported. The experimental results illustrate the high efficiency and effectiveness of the proposed heuristic algorithm compared with other four classic approaches.

The objective of this study is to understand the impairment of learning and memory in mouse after chronic nitrite exposure. The animal model of nitrite exposure in mouse was created with the daily intubation of nitrite in adult healthy male mice for 3 months. Furthermore, the mouse's learning and memory abilities were tested with Morris water maze, and the expression of Synaptophysin and γ-Synuclein was visualized with immunocytochemistry and Western blot. Our results showed that nitrite exposure significantly prolonged the escape latency period (ELP) and decreased the values of the frequency across platform (FAP) as well as the accumulative time in target quadrant (ATITQ) compared to control, in dose-dependent manner. In addition, after nitrite exposure, synaptophysin (SYN) positive buttons in the visual cortex was reduced, in contrast the increase of γ-synuclein positive cells. The results above were supported by Western blot as well. We conclude that nitrite exposure could lead to a decline in mice's learning and memory. The overexpression of γ-synuclein contributed to the synaptic loss, which is most likely the cause of learning and memory impairment. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Environ Toxicol 31: 1720-1730, 2016.

Samarium fluorides and europium fluorides have been successfully synthesized via a salt-assisted sonochemical method in an aqueous solution at room temperature without any templates or organic additives. The morphologies and chemical compositions of as-obtained products changed with the variation of reaction parameters, including the molar ratio of F/Ln (R(F/Ln)) and the concentration of inorganic salt NaNO 3 . The products presented diverse morphologies such as disk, doughnut, sphere, cube, bundle, shuttle, spindle, and tube-like structures. The value of x / y ( r ( x / y )) for Na x Ln y F x +3 y (Ln=Sm, Eu) increased with the increase of R(F/Ln) and NaNO 3 concentration. Photoluminescent properties of europium fluorides have been further investigated via the PL test and proved to be dependent on the morphologies and compositions of the products.

Sera anti-enteric neuronal antibodies (AENA), neuronal inflammation, and degeneration in myenteric plexus in patients with irritable bowel syndrome (IBS) were reported. Effects of sera AENA in patients with IBS are unclear.Patients with IBS met Rome III criteria were enrolled. Controls included healthy subjects (HS) and patients with slow transit functional constipation, inflammatory bowel disease, chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, and autoimmune diseases. Indirect immunofluorescence was used to detect AENA. Anti-enteric neuronal antibodies intensities were termed as "1" = weak fluorescence (mild positive); "2" = moderate fluorescence (moderate positive); "3" = very high fluorescence (intensive positive). Intensities of ≥1 were defined as positive and ≥2 were defined as obvious positive. Cultured myenteric neurons of small intestine from guinea pigs and human SH-Sy5Y cells were incubated with fetal bovine serum (FBS), HS sera, or IBS sera with or without AENA. Indirect immunofluorescence with anti-PGP9.5/DAPI/anti-active caspase-3 or TUNEL, Western blot, and flow cytometry were used to detect apoptosis.Overall, 293 patients with IBS were enrolled (41.7 ± 11.5 years). AENA-positive and obvious positive rates in IBS were higher than HS (76.8% vs 33%; 43.7% vs 7%; all P 0.001). Myenteric neurons incubated with AENA moderate or intensive positive IBS sera showed higher rates of anti-active caspase-3 and TUNEL-positive cells than HS or FBS (20% ± 7.3% and 35% ± 13.3% vs 4.3% ± 1.5% and 0.9% ± 0.4%, respectively; 6.2% ± 2.0% and 10.2% ± 4.6% vs 1.3% ± 1.9% and 0.5%±0.5%, respectively; all P 0.05). Human SH-Sy5Y cells incubated with AENA moderate or intensive positive IBS sera showed increased cleaved caspase-3 and Bax expression and decreased Bcl-2 expression. Flow cytometry showed apoptosis rates of these two groups were higher than that of AENA mild positive, negative, HS, and FBS (7.6%±0.8% and 10.7%±1.3% vs 5.0%±0.8%, 3.8%±0.3%, 3.4%±0.2% and, 2.8%±0.2%, P 0.05).The AENA obvious positive rate in patients with IBS was higher than HS, and sera with higher levels of AENA promoted neuronal apoptosis. AENA-mediated neuropathy might exist in a subset of patients with IBS.

This paper investigates a three-stage supply chain scheduling problem in the application area of aluminium production. Particularly, the first and the third stages involve two factories, i.e., the extrusion factory of the supplier and the aging factory of the manufacturer, where serial batching machine and parallel batching machine respectively process jobs in different ways. In the second stage, a single vehicle transports jobs between the two factories. In our research, both setup time and capacity constraints are explicitly considered. For the problem of minimizing the makespan, we formalize it as a mixed integer programming model and prove it to be strongly NP-hard. Considering the computational complexity, we develop two heuristic algorithms applied in two different cases of this problem. Accordingly, two lower bounds are derived, based on which the worst case performance is analyzed. Finally, different scales of random instances are generated to test the performance of the proposed algorithms. The computational results show the effectiveness of the proposed algorithms, especially for large-scale instances.

Phase transitions in correlated materials can be manipulated at the nanoscale to yield emergent functional properties, promising new paradigms for nanoelectronics and nanophotonics. Vanadium dioxide (VO

The available findings concerning the association between branched-chain amino acids (BCAAs)—particularly leucine—and insulin resistance are conflicting. BCAAs have been proposed to elicit different or even opposite effects, depending on the prevalence of catabolic and anabolic states. We tested the hypothesis that leucine supplementation may exert different effects at different stages of insulin resistance, to provide mechanistic insights into the role of leucine in the progression of insulin resistance. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were fed a normal chow diet, high-fat diet (HFD), HFD supplemented with 1.5% leucine, or HFD with a 20% calorie restriction for 24 or 32 weeks. Leucine supplementation led to abnormal catabolism of BCAA and the incompletely oxidized lipid species that contributed to mitochondrial dysfunction in skeletal muscle in HFD-fed rats in the early stage of insulin resistance (24 weeks). However, leucine supplementation induced no remarkable alternations in BCAA catabolism, but did enhance mitochondrial biogenesis with a concomitant improvement in lipid oxidation and mitochondrial function during the hyperglycaemia stage (32 weeks). These findings suggest that leucine trigger different effects on metabolic signatures at different stages of insulin resistance, and the overall metabolic status of the organisms should be carefully considered to potentiate the benefits of leucine.

Myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (IR) injury is one of the most prevalent cardiovascular diseases, known for its high mortality and morbidity worldwide. Based on pre-existing evidence, LGALS3 has been found to be closely associated with cardiac diseases. Hence, the objective of our study is to explore the potential function of KCNQ1OT1/microRNA-204-5p (miR-204-5p)/ LGALS3 axis on myocardial IR injury and the underlying mechanism. A myocardial IR injury mouse model was established in vivo and an in vitro cardiomyocyte model was induced by hypoxia/Reoxygenation exposure. Next, gain- and loss-of-function experiments were employed in order to measure the viability and apoptosis of cardiomyocytes and the area of ischemic infarct by CCK-8, TUNEL staining and Evans blue/TTC double staining. LGALS3 was found to be highly expressed in myocardial IR injury. The downregulation of LGALS3 resulted in the alleviation of myocardial IR injury in mouse models. In addition, KCNQ1OT1 could promote the LGALS3 expression by binding to miR-204-5p, which led to aggravated myocardial IR injury. In conclusion, KCNQ1OT1 binds to miR-204-5p to exacerbate myocardial IR injury in mice through the up-regulation of LGALS3, providing a novel insight for myocardial IR injury treatment.

Background: Sustained Inflations (SI) and Intermittent Positive Pressure Ventilation (IPPV) are two interventions to prevent Bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD). The aim of this study is to assess the effect of these two interventions. Methods: The databases of PubMed, EMBASE, and Cochrane Central Register of Controlled Trials (CENTRAL) will be comprehensively searched from inception to September 2019. All RCTs and quasi-RCTs which compare the efficacy of SI vs IPPV among preterm infants are eligible. We will assess the methodological quality using the Cochrane Handbook version 5.1.0. A meta-analysis will be performed using RevMan 5.3 software and the results will be presented using risk ratios (RRs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs). Conclusions: This study will provide strong evidence for assessing the effect of SI and IPPV on BPD or death among preterm infants. PROSPERO registration number: CRD42019135816.

This paper investigates a products and vehicles scheduling problem in a two-stage supply chain environment, where jobs first need to be processed on the serial batching machines of multiple manufacturers distributed in various geographic zones and then transported by vehicles to a customer for further processing. The size and processing time of jobs are varying with the difference of types, and each batch takes a setup time before being processed. The problem of minimizing the makespan is formalized as a mixed integer programming model and proved to be NP-hard. In addition, the structural properties and lower bound of the problem are analyzed and inferred. Then a modified gravitational search algorithm (MGSA) is proposed to solve the problem. In the developed MGSA, several improvement strategies and the batching mechanism DP-H are introduced. The effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed MGSA are demonstrated and compared with a particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm and a genetic algorithm (GA). Besides, the error ratios between the lower bound and the best found solutions are reported. The experimental results indicate that the proposed MGSA is more robust and outperforms PSO and GA on the studied two-stage supply chain scheduling problem.

A new method for Cr(VI) (0.025–8.00 mg/L) determination based on the reaction of Cr(VI) and 2,2’-azino-bis(3-ethylbenzothiazoline-6-sulfonate) (ABTS) in aqueous solutions was developed. The colorless ABTS reacted with Cr(VI) under strong acidic conditions ([H+] = 3.0 or 6.0 M) producing a stable colored radical ABTS+, which could be measured spectrophotometrically at 415, 649 or 732 nm. The absorbance increase at these three wavelengths for ABTS+ generation were all linear (less than 1.0% deviation) with respect to the amount of added Cr(VI) and the sensitivity were 1.099 × 105, 3.720 × 104, and 4.150 × 104 M−1 cm−1 of added Cr(VI) at 415, 649 or 732 nm, respectively. Cr(VI) of 0.025 mg/L below the discharge standard of drinking water could be detected with the method quantitatively and 0.002 mg/L Cr(VI) was determined qualitatively. The molar absorptivity of ABTS+ generated was determined to be (3.69 ± 0.01) × 104 M−1 cm−1 at 415 nm and the reaction between Cr(VI) and ABTS had a stoichiometric factor of 1:3 in excess of ABTS. The absorbance of generated ABTS+ was found to be stable in deionized water or wastewater and Cr(VI) spiked in wastewater could be determined accurately. The ABTS method also had a good anti-interference performance against Co(II) ions. Moreover, the ABTS method could be successfully used in the Cr(VI)-S(IV) system for Cr(VI) determination.

This paper presented the preparation of ZnS-AgIn5S8/fluoropolymer fiber composites and their performance for H2 evolution from splitting of water under similar sunlight irradiation. The scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images showed that ZnS-AgIn5S8 particles were loaded on the fiber surface by hydrothermal synthesis. The average rate of H2 evolution of ZnS-AgIn5S8 powders slightly decreased, while the average rate of H2 evolution of ZnS-AgIn5S8/fluoropolymer fiber composites increased from the first to the third run. The average rate of H2 evolution using ZnS-AgIn5S8/fluoropolymer fiber composites as catalyst was 2.0 times higher than that of ZnS-AgIn5S8 powders in the third run.

A novel gold nanoparticle (AuNP)-based optical sensing system has been developed for the detection of myoglobin (Mb), which is of significant importance for early disease diagnosis. Two thiol molecules containing an iminodiacetic acid moiety (IDA) were synthesized. This detection is based on the Mb-induced aggregation of IDA-functionalized AuNPs resulting from the structures of Mb sandwiched between the functionalized AuNPs via Cu(2+) bridges in the coordination interactions of IDA-Cu(2+)-histidine residues available on the Mb surface, which was confirmed by UV-vis spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, and matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometry. The induction aggregation resulted in a red shift in plasmon resonance band of the AuNPs concomitant with a change in solution color from red to purple. The qualitative and quantitative detections of Mb can be achieved by colorimetric observations and UV-vis spectral measurements, respectively. The selectivity of protein assay with the functionalized AuNPs was further investigated, and it is found that the optical sensing of histidine-rich proteins is closely related to number and distribution of surface histidine residues as well as size of proteins.

This paper focuses on the preparation of ZnIn 2 S 4 /fluoropolymer fiber composites and their performance for H 2 evolution from splitting of water using Xe lamp irradiation. Hexafluorobutyl acrylate- co -methacrylic acid (poly(HFBA- co -MAA)) is synthesized by a solution polymerization. Next, the fluoropolymer fibers, which have around 100 nm in average diameter, of poly(HFBA- co -MAA) and polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) mixtures are obtained by electrospinning. Then, zinc and indium ions are introduced onto the fiber surface by coordinating with carboxyls of MAA. After that, sulfide ions are incorporated to react with zinc and indium ions by a hydrothermal synthesis. Thus, ZnIn 2 S 4 particles of around 800 nm in average size, are obtained and well loaded on the fiber surface. The absorption edge of ZnIn 2 S 4 /fluoropolymer fiber composites is at 510 nm within the visible-light region. Photocatalytic H 2 evolution from water was investigated using Xe lamp. It was found that the average rate of H 2 evolution of ZnIn 2 S 4 powders gradually decreased, while the average rate of H 2 evolution of ZnIn 2 S 4 /fluoropolymer fiber composites increased from the first to the third run. The average rate of H 2 evolution using the ZnIn 2 S 4 /fluoropolymer fiber composites as the catalyst achieved 9.1 mL/h in the third run.

Statistical studies on the scanning electron microscope (SEM) images of two-dimensional photonic crystal (PhC) slab cavities show that fabrication errors in the size and position of etched air holes follow Gaussian distribution. The influences on the characteristics of PhC cavities are then investigated and compared with those caused by fabrication error with widely-accepted uniform distribution through finite-difference time domain (FDTD) simulation. As expected, Gaussian distribution in fabrication error has more significant impact on cavity characteristics than uniform distribution simply by their difference in the fourth moment.

We demonstrate 51.5625Gbps PAM4 transmission over ≥ 150 m next generation wide band MMF using SWDM TOSAs from 850 nm to 940 nm indicating an aggregated 206.25 Gb/s speed achievable on a single WBMMF.

To investigate the effects of different microenvironments on the differentiation of mouse induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) into neuron-like cells.Mouse iPSCs were cultured in suspension and became embryoid bodies (EBs), and then the EBs were randomly divided into all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) group, brain slice co-culture group, and brain tissue homogenate supernatant group. The above three groups were induced to differentiate into neuron-like cells. Morphological changes were observed under an inverted microscope. Immunofluorescence staining technology was used for cell identification. The expressions of nestin, microtubule-associated protein 2 (MAP2) and glial fibrillary acidic protein (GFAP) were detected by Western blotting.The three different culture conditions could all induce mouse iPSCs to differentiate into neuron-like cells. These neuron-like cells could be marked by neuron markers like nestin and MAP2. The levels of nestin, MAP2 and GFAP proteins in the ATRA group were significantly higher than those in both the brain slice co-culture group and the brain tissue homogenate supernatant group, but there was no significant difference between the brain slice co-culture group and the brain tissue homogenate supernatant group.Both brain slice microenvironment and brain tissue homogenate supernatant can induce the differentiation of mouse iPSCs into neuron-like cells, but the effect is inferior to ATRA.

In order to understand the mechanisms of alcohol-induced neuroapoptosis through the ceramide pathway, sphingomyelin synthase 2 knockout (SMS2-/-) mice were used to make the prenatal alcohol exposure model, and the role of ceramide regulation on alcohol-induced neuroapoptosis was studied in the offspring. Initially the levels of serum sphingomyelin (SM) were detected with enzymatic method in P0 pups after alcohol exposure in parents. Then the apoptosis of mossy cells in the offspring hippocampus was investigated after prenatal alcohol exposure with immunohistochemistry and TUNEL assay. Finally the expression of activated Caspase 8 and activated Caspase 3 in the offspring hippocampus was detected with Western blot analysis. Our results showed that SM levels were down-regulated in a dose-dependent manner (p

This chapter investigates a novel multi-objective model of a batch scheduling problem with constraint of the mould capability, and the objective is to minimize both the total completion time of the jobs and the total cost of the moulds. It is extremely difficult to obtain an optimal solution to this type of complex problems in a reasonable computational time. In view of this, this chapter presents a new multi-objective algorithm based on the features of Gravitational Search Algorithm to find Pareto optimal solutions for the given problem. In the proposed algorithm a novel Pareto frontier adjustment strategy is designed and proven to improve the convergence of solutions and increase convergence speed. We examined a set of test problems to validate the high efficiency of the proposed multi-objective gravitational search algorithm based on a variety of metrics. Finally, a multi-attribute decision making method is employed to determine the trade-off solutions derived from the Pareto optimal set and thus solve the problem optimally.

Iliac arteriovenous fistula (AVF) usually manifests in a wide range of symptoms similar to typical deep venous thrombosis (DVT), which often lead to delayed diagnosis or misdiagnosis. We reported a 51-year old woman who was performed lumbar discectomy and showed a progressive abdominal distention, dyspnea, and swollen left leg. She was initially diagnosed as deep vein thrombosis and the fi nal diagnosis was arteriovenous fistula. Th e fistula was successfully sealed by an endovascular covered stent. No further recurrence was found aft er a half year's follow-up. Th is article summarized the experience regarding iliac arteriovenous fistula misdiagnosed, and discussed the differential diagnosis between arteriovenous fistula and pulmonary thromboembolism caused by deep vein thrombosis.

We report here electrically-pumped membrane reflector surface-emitters on silicon based on transferred InGaAsP QW structures sandwiched in between two single-layer Fano resonance photonic crystal membrane reflectors on silicon substrate.

Biofunctionalized graphene-gold nanoparticle (AuNP) hybrids were prepared using a facile approach of in situ growth, with homogeneous distribution of AuNPs on the graphene nanosheets. Hemoglobin (Hb) was immobilized on the graphene-AuNP composites to fabricate biosensors for determination of nitrite (NO 2 − ). A pair of well-defined redox peaks was observed for Hb immobilized on the graphene-AuNP hybrids with a formal potential ( E 0′ ) of −0.314 V in 0.1 M phosphate buffered saline (0.15 M NaCl, pH 7.0). The novel biosensors exhibited many advantages, such as wide linear response range (from 0.05 to 1000 µM, R 2 =0.997), low detection limit (0.01 µM, a signal to noise ratio of 3), high sensitivity (0.15 μA μM −1 cm −2 ), and excellent selectivity. These constructed biosensors were further used for determination of nitrite in pickled radish. The results obtained were in good agreement with those using spectrophotometry based on the National Food Safety Standard (GB 5009.33-2010), which indicates that these novel and sensitive biosensors have promising application for determination of nitrite in food.

The authors report here a method of protecting the sidewall for the selective release of InGaAsP quantum-well (QW) heterostructure from InP substrates. An intact sidewall secured by SiO2 was demonstrated during the sacrificial layer selective etching, resulting in the suspended InGaAsP QW membranes which were later transferred to the Si substrate with polydimethylsiloxane stamp. The quality of the transferred InGaAsP QW membranes has been validated through photoluminescence and EL measurements. This approach could extend to arbitrary targeting substrate in numerous photonics and electronics applications.

In this paper, a three-layer trust conceptive framework for cloud is introduced, which is including both the validity of the “hard trust” guaranteed by security mechanisms and technical devices, and “soft trust” ensured by social, legal and human factors. In addition, the trust relationship between consumers and cloud venders is considered in our framework. Through the combination and integration of the three layer trust in the framework, the gap between these trust factors can be bridged.

During the past few decades, a large extension in the delivery and process capability of network resources have evoked the demand of high available, reliable, security, customized, networked and toward Multi-Source Information Service(MSIS). Accordingly, Cloud Computing has been one of the research hotspots in computer science and network engineering area, which is a revolution of computing paradigm whereby all the resources in the network as a huge resource pool are delivered as integrated and on-demand services in the form of, i.e. CaaS, MaaS, SaaS, PaaS, IaaS, etc. Besides, the services provided in Cloud Computing are largely oriented to the requirement of information services today. Thus, Cloud Computing provides an opportunity of development and environment for new service pattern of MSIS. This purpose of this article is to put forward some issues associated with Cloud Computing and the nature part of the relation between MSIS and Cloud Computing, and to propose a novel view of information service concept that is characterized by multi-source in the service process model and service management, which combines the top-down and bottom-up process approaches into an integrated one by using an information exchange platform provided by the cloud.

(1) Engineering Research Center of Open Source Software and Real-time Systems, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou, Gansu, 730000, China

We used transmission electron microscopy to study ultrastructural changes accompanying synaptogenesis in the fetal and postnatal mouse visual cortex (primary visual cortex). Immunostaining and DiI diolistic assay were also employed in order to evaluate synaptophysin expression and dendritic spine development. Nascent synapses were seen as early as E15, although these were immature and were composed of a presumed presynaptic terminal with pleiomorphic vesicles in the vicinity of a partner cell body or projection. The postsynaptic plasmalemma remained unspecialized and the gap between pre- and post-synaptic plasmalemmas was only 5-10nm, significantly narrower than the mature synaptic cleft. With increasing age there was gradual thickening of both the pre- and post-synaptic membranes, with widening of the synaptic cleft to 15-20 nm. Ultrastructurally mature synapses were not seen until P7; at this time both Gray's type I and II could be observed. Synaptogenesis correlated with the development of synaptic spines and synaptophysin expression. Because synapse maturation was synchronous with dendritic spine differentiation, synaptic specialization may be dependent on dendritic spine maturation and the expression of presynaptic vesicle components. In the meantime, the study also indicated that the synaptogenesis was connected with the development and maturation of neocortex.

To investigate the pattern of neural differentiation and synaptogenesis in the mouse retina, immunolabeling, BrdU assay and transmission electron microscopy were used. We show that the neuroblastic cell layer is the germinal zone for neural differentiation and retinal lamination. Ganglion cells differentiated initially at embryonic day 13 (E13), and at E18 horizontal cells appeared in the neuroblastic cell layer. Neural stem cells in the outer neuroblastic cell layer differentiated into photoreceptor cells as early as postnatal day 0 (P0), and neural stem cells in the inner neuroblastic cell layer differentiated into bipolar cells at P7. Synapses in the retina were mainly located in the outer and inner plexiform layers. At P7, synaptophysin immunostaining appeared in presynaptic terminals in the outer and inner plexiform layers with button-like structures. After P14, presynaptic buttons were concentrated in outer and inner plexiform layers with strong staining. These data indicate that neural differentiation and synaptogenesis in the retina play important roles in the formation of retinal neural circuitry. Our study showed that the period before P14, especially between P0 and P14, represents a critical period during retinal development. Mouse eye opening occurs during that period, suggesting that cell differentiation and synaptic formation lead to the attainment of visual function.

Polycrystalline GeSn thin films on Si substrates with a Sn composition up to 4.5% have been fabricated and characterized. The crystalline structure, surface morphology, and infrared (IR) absorption coefficient of the annealed GeSn thin films were carefully investigated. It was found that the GeSn thin films with a Sn composition of 4.5% annealed at 450 °C possessed a desirable polycrystalline structure according to X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses and Raman spectroscopy analyses. In addition, the absorption coefficient of the polycrystalline GeSn thin films in the IR region was significantly better than that of the single crystalline bulk Ge.