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Ferroelectric HfO2 has attracted much attention owing to its superior ferroelectricity at an ultra-thin thickness and good compatibility with Si-based complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) technology. However, the crystallization of polar orthorhombic phase (o-phase) HfO2 is less competitive, which greatly limits the ferroelectricity of the as-obtained ferroelectric HfO2 thin films. Fortunately, the crystallization of o-phase HfO2 can be thermodynamically modulated via interfacial stress engineering. In this paper, the growth of improved ferroelectric Al doped HfO2 (HfO2:Al) thin films on (111)-oriented Si substrate has been reported. Structural analysis has suggested that nonpolar monoclinic HfO2:Al grown on (111)-oriented Si substrate suffered from a strong compressive strain, which promoted the crystallization of (111)-oriented o-phase HfO2 in the as-grown HfO2:Al thin films. In addition, the in-plane lattice of (111)-oriented Si substrate matches well with that of (111)-oriented o-phase HfO2, which further thermally stabilizes the o-phase HfO2. Accordingly, an improved ferroelectricity with a remnant polarization (2 P r) of 26.7 μC/cm2 has been obtained. The results shown in this work provide a simple way toward the preparation of improved ferroelectric HfO2 thin films. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anti-icing is a technology urgently needed for human society to take production activities in high altitude and cold regions. Superhydrophobic coating is widely used to prevent important facilities from icing, such as power lines, building roof and aircraft skin. In this work a superhydrophobic coating was prepared on 7075 aluminium alloy surface by laser texturing and coating with a perfluorodecyltrichlorosilane (FDTS) selfassembled molecule. A falling droplet impacted the FDTS superhydrophobic coating and froze on it. Then continuous freezing and thawing were carried out on the FDTS superhydrophobic coating. The result shows that the adhesion between FDTS superhydrophobic coating and droplet is extremely small. Droplet can bounce off the surface, even in cold weather. Freezing of droplet on the FDTS superhydrophobic coating lasts 582 seconds, much longer than that of unmodified 7075 aluminium alloy surface. Also, the FDTS superhydrophobic coating has high wear resistance and can resist freezing and thawing permanently. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to explore the effect of microRNA-424-5p on the proliferation and apoptosis of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells, and to investigate its influence on the expression of ITGB1 and potential regulatory mechanism. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Quantitative Real Time-Polymerase Chain Reaction (qRT-PCR) was used to detect the level of microRNA-424-5p in 44 paired NSCLC tissues and adjacent tissues. The relation between microRNA-424-5p expression and NSCLC clinical indicators was analyzed. Subsequently, microRNA-424-5p mimics and inhibitors were transfected into NSCLC cells to construct microRNA-424-5p overexpression or knockdown models, respectively. QRTPCR was used to further verify the transfection efficiency. A series of experiments, including cell counting kit-8 (CCK-8) assay, colony formation, 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine (EdU), and flow cytometry were used to analyze the effect of microRNA-424-5p on the biological function of NSCLC A549 and H358 cells. Finally, the potential association between microRNA-424-5p and its downstream gene ITGB1 was explored through luciferase reporter gene assay and cell recovery experiment. RESULTS: QRT-PCR results showed that microRNA-424-5p level was significantly lower in NSCLC tissues than that of adjacent normal tissues. Compared with patients with high expression of microRNA-424-5p, the pathological stage of those with low expression of microRNA-424-5p was significantly higher. In vitro experiments showed that microRNA-424-5p overexpression remarkably decreased cell proliferation and increased cell apoptosis, which were further validated in microRNA-424-5p inhibitor group. Subsequently, ITGB1 expression was found significantly up-regulated in NSCLC cell lines and tissues. Meanwhile, ITGB1 expression was negatively correlated with microRNA-424-5p level. In addition, a recovery experiment indicated that overexpression of ITGB1 could counteract the effect of microRNA-424-5p mimics on the proliferation and apoptosis of NSCLC cells. All these findings revealed that microRNA-424-5p and ITGB1 affected the malignant progression of NSCLC. CONCLUSIONS: MicroRNA-424-5p was closely correlated with the pathological stage and poor prognosis of NSCLC, thereby inhibiting the occurrence and development of NSCLC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Nerve growth factor (NGF), which is required for the survival and differentiation of the nervous system, has been proved to play important roles in male reproductive physiology. Several studies have focused on the roles of NGF in the testes. However, no study has reported on the mechanism of paracrine and autocrine actions of NGF in Sertoli cells. This study showed that NGF stimulated mitochondrial activity and biogenesis in TM4 Sertoli cells. Moreover, our results demonstrated that peroxisome proliferator‐activated receptor‐gamma coactivator‐1α is a possible downstream key target of the NGF signalling pathway. In a 3‐nitropropionic acid cell model, NGF treatment attenuated mitochondrial activity defect and depolarisation. This NGF‐triggered signalling may help in discovering new therapeutic targets for certain male infertility disorders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aiming at the problem that along a special passenger railway line, the soft soil foundation is widely distributed and the thickness is generally quite deep, leading to diverse foundation reinforcement methods, and in order to ensure required stability and post-construction settlement of soft subgrade, field tests of surcharge pre-loading were carried out in concurrence with field observations. The generalized Kelvin rheological model was employed for foundation parameter inversion and numerical simulation on track-laying construction as well as post-construction settlement prediction were also performed. Results of numerical inversion showed that the foundation parameters were reasonable and reliable and the post-construction settlement was significantly reduced after three months of pre-loading. Several influential factors related to post-construction settlement are highlighted including standing time after roadbed completion, pre-loading height and pre-loading time. It shows that the longer the standing time, the smaller the settlement, and an increase in pre-loading height and time may accelerate the foundation consolidation, thus reducing post-construction settlement. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

OBJECTIVE: Down-regulation of miR-138 is observed in a variety of cancers, which suggests that miR-138 may be involved in cancer pathogenesis. Our current work aimed to evaluate the effects of miR-138 in adriamycin (ADM)-resistant human NSCLC cells. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Cell proliferation was determined by MTT assay. Real-time PCR and western blot were performed to detect the mRNA and protein expression levels. The target of miR-138 was validated by luciferase activity assay. RESULTS: Compared with the chemosensitive parental cells, miR-138 was remarkably decreased in A549/ADM and NCI-H23/ADM cells. Ectopic expression of miR-138 sensi t ized chemoresistant tumor cells to ADM administration. In addition, the epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) related markers E-cadherin or vimentin was up-regulated or down-regulated upon the overexpression of miR-138 in NSCLC cells. Further studies identified zinc finger Ebox-binding homeobox 2 (ZEB2) as the target of miR-138 and up-regulation of miR-138 suppressed the mRNA and protein expression of ZEB2. Notably, luciferase reporter assay confirmed that ZEB2 was a direct target of miR-138. CONCLUSIONS: Our study demonstrates that miR-138 sensitizes NSCLC cells to ADM via EMT, suggesting that miR-138 might be a potential therapeutic target for drug-resistant NSCLC patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]