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Although beneficial associations between cardiorespiratory fitness and cognitive function have been established, whether cardiorespiratory fitness is related to behavioral and neuroelectric indices of performance during a prolonged inhibitory control task remains unknown. Young adults, categorized into High and Low Fitness groups, completed a 60-min Stroop task, while the N1 and P3 components of event-related potentials were measured. The results showed that the High Fitness group demonstrated shorter response times, regardless of the Stroop task congruency or time-on-task, than Low Fitness group. The High Fitness group also exhibited larger P3 amplitudes than the Low Fitness group, but no differences in N1 amplitudes were observed. These findings suggest that cardiorespiratory fitness during young adulthood has beneficial effects on task performance and attention allocation during an inhibitory control task, and these benefits can be sustained for 60 min.

Obesity and cardiorespiratory fitness exhibit negative and positive impacts, respectively, on executive function. Nevertheless, the combined effects of these two factors on executive function remain unclear. This study investigated the combined effects of obesity and cardiorespiratory fitness on response inhibition of executive function from both behavioral and neuroelectric perspectives. Ninety-six young adults aged between 18 and 25 years were recruited and assigned into four groups: the high cardiorespiratory fitness with normal weight (NH), high cardiorespiratory fitness with obesity (OH), low cardiorespiratory fitness with normal weight (NL), and low cardiorespiratory fitness with obesity (OL) groups. The stop-signal task and its induced P3 component of event-related potentials was utilized to index response inhibition. The participants with higher cardiorespiratory fitness (i.e., the NH and OH groups) demonstrated better behavioral performance (i.e., shorter response times and higher accuracy levels), as well as shorter stop-signal response times and larger P3 amplitudes than their counterparts with low cardiorespiratory fitness (i.e., the NL and OL groups). The study provides first-hand evidence of the substantial effects of cardiorespiratory fitness on the response inhibition, including evidence that the detrimental effects of obesity might be overcome by high cardiorespiratory fitness.

In α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazole-propionate (AMPA) receptors, RNA editing and alternative splicing generate sequence variants, and those variants, as in GluA2-4 AMPA receptor subunits, generally show different properties. Yet, earlier studies have shown that the alternatively spliced, flip and flop variants of GluA1 AMPA receptor subunit exhibit no functional difference in homomeric channel form. Using a laser-pulse photolysis technique, combined with whole-cell recording, we measured the rate of channel opening, among other kinetic properties, for a series of AMPA channels with different arginine/glycine (R/G) editing and flip/flop status. We find that R/G editing in the GluA2 subunit modulates the channel properties in both homomeric (GluA2Q) and complex (GluA2Q/2R and GluA1/2R) channel forms. However, R/G editing is only effective in flop channels. Specifically, editing at the R/G site on the GluA2R flop isoform accelerates the rate of channel opening and desensitization for GluA1/2R channels more pronouncedly with the GluA1 being in the flop form than in the flip form; yet R/G editing has no effect on either channel-closing rate or EC50. Our results suggest R/G editing via GluA2R serve as a regulatory mechanism to modulate the function of GluA2R-containing, native receptors involved in fast excitatory synaptic transmission.

With the advent of new technological, the interaction between people and computers has become more and more inseparable. The human-computer interaction (HCI) technology improves the operations in people's lives, and the gesture recognition is the basic operation and is one of the hot research topics. In this paper, we developed a virtual theater system that using gesture to control the changes between different scene using the Myo armband. The proposed system used a deep learning method to classify dynamic gestures, and then send instructions to the virtual theater. By using this system, users can easily control the scenes and objects in the theater developed by Unity and make the virtual stage more enriched during the performance.

The effects of temperature on the dissolution of solid electrolyte interface (SEI) films in the propylene carbonate (PC)-based electrolyte are investigated. The SEI films on the mesocarbon microbeads (MCMB) electrode of the Li|1.0 M LiPF6-PC/DEC (= 7/3, v/v)|MCMB cell are characterized by cyclic voltammetry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), AC impedance, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and Raman spectroscopy. The SEM and electrochemical results show that the MCMB electrode cannot undergo the lithiation and delithiation process at 30 °C due to the co-intercalation of PC and the exfoliation of MCMB. By contrast, the Li∥MCMB cell can be successfully discharged and charged at 0 °C because a PC-based SEI film forms on MCMB. The energy capacity of the MCMB electrode is 281.3 mAh g−1 at 0.2 C. However, the SEI film dissolves in the PC-based electrolyte as the temperature is increased to 30 °C. The results of Raman spectroscopy and XPS also confirm that the composition of the PC-based SEI formed at 0 °C consists of LiF, LixPFy, LixPOyFz, ROLi, and ROCO2Li.

GluA2R is the edited isoform at the Q/R site of the AMPA receptor GluA2 subunit. In vivo, GluA2R assembles with other AMPA receptor subunits into a high-conductance, tetrameric complex. Here we study the functional role of GluA2R in the context of GluA1/2R and GluA2Q/2R heteromeric receptors, using whole-cell recording and a laser-pulse photolysis technique. We find the incorporation of GluA2R with GluA1 or GluA2Q slows the channel-opening and channel-closing rates; for GluA2Q/2R, it further lowers EC50, compared to the value of the GluA2Q homomeric channels. When a conserved leucine-to-tyrosine (L → Y) mutation is “placed” in each of these subunits, the L → Y mutation exhibits a greater effect in GluA2R than in GluA1. Together, our results show GluA2R is the dominating isoform that shapes the overall functional properties of the GluA2R-containing channels. Our results further suggest that glutamate most likely binds to GluA2R with an EC50 of ∼0.5 mM, rather than a non-GluA2R subunit in a heteromeric AMPA...

A new thermal cross-linkable hole injection monomer VB-DATA derived from famous m-MTDATA as core peripherally functionalized with styryl (vinylbenzene) moiety as polymerizable group has been synthesized and characterized. The propensity of VB-DATA thin films formation is sensitive to the nature of solvent, in which the dichloroethane solution gave smooth polymeric thin films with surface roughness of RMS ∼0.84 nm by spin-casting followed by thermal treatment at 190 °C. The introduction of oxygen-linked vinylbenzene group shifted HOMO energy level of VB-DATA to −5.1 eV along with good nondispersive hole transport property (μh ∼ 10–6 cm2 V–1 s–1) makes it suitable for serving as HIL on top of ITO electrode. The replacement of PEDOT:PSS by thermally cross-linked VB-DATA films showed comparable OLEDs performance, giving more flexibility on material selection for future OLEDs applications, especially solution-processed ones.

All-conjugated “rod–rod” diblock copolymers are an emerging class of polymeric materials of considerable interest for applications in chemical and biological sensors or as components for optoelectronic devices. Here, we report a novel cationic diblock copolymer containing a neutral polyalkylfluorene block covalently bound to a polar polyfluorene counterpart—poly[9,9-bis(6-trimethylammoniumhexyl)-2,7-fluorene]-b-poly(3-hexyl-2,5-thiophene) (PF6NBr-b-PF8)—which was synthesized in a sequential Suzuki–Miyaura polymerization and was made ionic with trimethylamine in a subsequent quaternization step. The optical properties of this material were investigated by UV/vis and photoluminescence spectroscopies in three different solvents: methanol, THF and THF/methanol 1:1. Atomic force microscopic (AFM) imaging experiments provided evidence for solvent-induced aggregation. The formation of vesicles and spherical particles is observed in layers from THF and methanolic solution.

The electrochemical polymerization conditions for the synthesis of spirobifluorene-based polymer (EF-CN1) films with adequate properties to be applied in an organic light emitting diode (OLED) were studied. We demonstrate that, after optimization in the parameters of electrochemical polymerization, we were able to obtain a conducting polymeric film with very smooth surface, absence of pinholes, and high optoelectronic activity, which was compatible as an efficient hole transporting layer in OLED. The electrochemical deposited polymers, and polymer films obtained through drop casting from solution of chemically synthesized polymer (C-CN1), were characterized and the results compared. The films were studied by cyclic voltammetry, UV–vis, fluorescence spectra, scanning electron mictroscopy, and atomic force microscopy. The built OLEDs achieve current-luminous efficiency and external quantum efficiency of 2.6 cd/A and 0.50%, respectively.

For a series of p-phenylene-based oligomers terminated with two triphenylamines, their absorption, photoluminescence, and band gaps show a pattern of extensive π-conjugation with increasing array size. Oligomers with large central arrays have greater quantum yields than their small analogues. Cyclic voltammetric (CV) measurements indicated two-step oxidations of the two diphenylamino groups for compounds 1−5 and one-step oxidations for the two amines of large oligomers 6 and 7.

The effect of thermal annealing on the performance of polymer light-emitting diodes (PLEDs) with a cationic conjugated polyelectrolyte as an electron injection layer is investigated. Thermal annealing at 180 °C leads to the loss of ionic content via Hofmann elimination and, hence, increases the device turn-on voltage. The ability to reduce the ionic charge density opens opportunities to design experiments for disentangling the operating mechanism for the reduction of electron injection barriers in PLEDs.

A new dye, SSD1, featuring two donor/acceptor chromophores aligned in a spiro configuration with two anchoring groups separated at a distance of 10.05 Å (closely matching the distance between the adsorption sites of the anatase TiO2 surface) undergoes efficient dye adherence on TiO2 films. A dye-sensitized solar cell incorporating SSD1 exhibited a short-circuit current of 8.9 mA cm-2, an open-circuit voltage of 0.63 V, a fill factor of 0.67, and a power conversion efficiency of 3.75%. Fil: Heredia, Daniel Alejandro. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Instituto para el Desarrollo Agroindustrial y de la Salud. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto para el Desarrollo Agroindustrial y de la Salud; Argentina Fil: Natera, Jose Eduardo. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Química; Argentina Fil: Gervaldo, Miguel Andres. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Química; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Instituto para el Desarrollo Agroindustrial y de la Salud. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto para el Desarrollo Agroindustrial y de la Salud; Argentina Fil: Otero, Luis Alberto. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnologías Energéticas y Materiales Avanzados. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnologías Energéticas y Materiales Avanzados; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Química; Argentina Fil: Fungo, Fernando Gabriel. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnologías Energéticas y Materiales Avanzados. - Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas. Centro Científico Tecnológico Conicet - Córdoba. Instituto de Investigaciones en Tecnologías Energéticas y Materiales Avanzados; Argentina. Universidad Nacional de Río Cuarto. Facultad de Ciencias Exactas Fisicoquímicas y Naturales. Departamento de Química; Argentina Fil: Chi-Yen, Lin. National Taiwan University; China Fil: Wong, Ken-Tsung. National Taiwan University; China

Charge separation in gold/spirobifluorene-based donor (triphenylamine)–acceptor (cyano) bipolar systems has been investigated by contact potential difference and surface photovoltage spectroscopy. Organic films were formed on gold electrode by electrochemical polymerization and by dipping in dye solution. The gold surface work function has been changed over more than 0.4 eV depending on the numbers of electrochemical deposition cycles. Photovoltage effects were analyzed in terms of internal photoemission from Au into organic film, and organic layer light absorption. The energetic differences between the Fermi-level of Au and HOMO levels of organic systems were obtained. The results showed that the electrodeposition is a versatile tool for electrode surface work function tuning.

This paper describes the synthesis of three triaryldiamine derivatives presenting two thermally polymerizable trifluorovinyl ether groups that can be polymerized through thermal curing to form perfluorocyclobutyl (PFCB) polymers. These PFCB polymers, studied using time-of-flight techniques for the first time, exhibited remarkable non-dispersive holetransport properties, with values of lh of ca. 10 � 4 cm 2 V

Hole mobilities of up to 2 × 10−3 cm2 V−1 s−1 of 2,7- and 2,2′-disubstituted spirobifluorene-based triaryldiamine derivatives have been measured using time-of-flight (TOF) techniques. Among these derivatives, 27DPSF (possessing diphenylamino groups attached onto the same biphenyl branch of spirobifluorene) and 22DPASF (possessing extended π-conjugation of the chromophore) exhibited the highest hole mobilities because of their greater intermolecular interactions. The charge transport parameters were extracted, using a Gaussian disorder model (GDM), from detailed temperature- and field-dependent hole mobility measurements. For 2,2′-disubstituted systems possessing different diarylamino groups, the hole mobilities decreased in the order 22DPSF > 22DTSF > 22DBPSF, indicating that spatial hindrance had a crucial effect on the hole transport behavior. To verify these disubstituted spirobifluorene-based amines can be used as HTLs in OLED devices. A standard device was fabricated with the configuration ITO/m-MTDA...

An RNA sample is usually heterogeneous. RNA heterogeneity refers to difference in length or size (i.e., number of nucleotides [nt]), sequence, or alternative but coexisting conformations. Separation and purification of RNA is generally required for investigating the structure and function of RNA, such as RNA catalysis and RNA structure determination by nuclear magnetic resonance or crystallography. Separation and purification of RNA is also required for using RNAs as functional probes and therapeutics as well as building blocks for RNA nanoparticles. Previously established protocols are limited in separating RNAs longer than 25 nt by single-nucleotide resolution. When the length of RNAs becomes longer, single-nucleotide separation of RNAs becomes more challenging. Here we describe protocols, by the use of ion-pair, reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), to extend our ability to separate regular RNAs up to 59 nt with single-nucleotide resolution. For chemically modified RNAs at 2' positions on the ribose, we can resolve RNAs of similar sizes even with a 26 Da difference. This is much less than 320 Da, an average single-nucleotide molecular weight difference.

The synthesis and photophysical, electrochemical, and spectroelectrochemical characterization of a novel donor−acceptor (D−A) bichromophore system composed of two D−A segments linking through a spiro center are reported. The electron-donating (D) moieties are triphenylamine (TPA) groups, whereas the electron-withdrawing (A) moieties are cyano groups. The particular “spiro” configuration that perpendicularly bonds the D−A chromophores by a tetrahedral carbon, impedes orbital interactions between the branches. Thus, the two TPA substituents act independently, rendering an efficient electropolymerization process feasible. The polymer film obtained showed reversible electrochemical oxidation accompanied by strong color changes with high coloration efficiency and contrast ratio, which can be switched by potential modulation. The remarkable electrochromic behavior of the film is clearly interpreted on the basis of spectroelectrochemical studies. A plausible polymerization mechanism involved with the TPA dimeriz...

2'-Fluoro modified RNAs are useful as potential therapeutics and as special substrates for studying RNA function. 2'-Fluoro modified RNAs generally need to be purified after they are prepared either enzymatically or by solid-phase synthesis. Here we introduce a protocol by which 2'-fluoro modified RNAs with 57 and 58 nucleotides can be resolved and purified using ion-pair, reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Because the size of our RNA samples is in the range of many known RNA aptamers of therapeutic values, our protocol should be generally useful.

Juvenile hormone (JH) synthesized and released from endocrine gland corpus allatum (CA) plays an important role in insect metamorphosis, vitellogenesis and reproduction. Glutamate is a major neurotransmitter in the nervous system and its activated receptors possess excitatory and inhibitory forms in muscle fibers of invertebrates. Previously, we have shown that the rise of intracellular calcium through excitatory glutamate receptors, N-methyl-d-aspartate (NMDA) and non-NMDA-type channels stimulates JH synthesis in the cockroach, Diploptera punctata. Here, we demonstrate the occurrence of inhibitory chloride permeable glutamate (GluCl) receptors on CA cell membranes. Application of the GluCl channel activators, ibotenic acid (Ibo) and ivermectin, but not gamma-aminobutyric acid caused a decline in JH synthesis in glands of either high or low activity during the gonadotrophic cycle. Also, while recording the membrane potential of the isolated whole CA glands intracellularly, Ibo induced a hyperpolarizated response. Both changes in the membrane potential and inhibition of JH synthesis could be abolished by the application of the chloride channel blocker picrotoxin. Finally, we found both excitatory and inhibitory glutamate receptors cause antagonistic effects on rates of JH synthesis. These results indicate a novel function of GluCl channels in the inhibition of JH synthesis that could be a potential pathway for developing a new generation of insecticides.

Areca (betel) was recently proved a carcinogenic substance by the International Agency for Research on Cancer. However, the signaling impact of areca in oral keratinocyte is still obscure. Mitogen-activated protein kinase superfamilies, including extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK), c-Jun N-terminal kinases (JNK) and p38, together with transcription factor NF-kappaB, are important signaling elements. We examined the activation of these signaling pathways in OECM-1 and SAS oral keratinocytes, treated with ripe areca nut extract (ANE). In both cells, a rapid increase in JNK1 activity at 0.5 hr was noted following treatment of ANE. ERK was profoundly activated during 0.5-2 hr in OECM-1 cells. Contrasting p38 activity was noted in these 2 cells. In both cells, ANE also activated NF-kappaB pathway in a biphasic manner, particularly for SAS cells. NF-kappaB was activated by approximately 2- to 4-fold at 0.5-1 hr and a plateau or slight decrease of activity existed between 1 and 6 hr. Later, another higher episode of NF-kappaB activity was raised. This was accompanied with the rapid degradation in cytosolic IkappaBalpha as well as an increase of nuclear NF-kappaB in both cells. ANE treatment did not activate epidermal growth factor receptor signaling system, but blockage of NF-kappaB activation rendered the suppression of ANE-modulated COX-2 upregulation in OECM-1. This study identified that ANE affected interactive signaling systems in oral keratonocytes that could be the pathogenetic basis for areca.

Animal cells and cell lines, such as HEK-293 cells, are commonly cultured at 37°C. These cells are often used to express recombinant proteins. Having a higher expression level or a higher protein yield is generally desirable. As we demonstrate in this study, dropping culture temperature to 33°C, but not lower, 24 hours after transient transfection in HEK-293S cells will give rise to ~1.5-fold higher expression of green fluorescent protein (GFP) and α-amino-3-hydroxy-5-methyl-4-isoxazolepropionic acid (AMPA) receptors. By following the time course of the GFP-expressing cells growing at 37°C and 33°C from 24 hours after transfection (including 19 hours recovery at 37°C in the normal growth medium), we found that a mild hypothermia (i.e., 33°C) reduces the growth rate of HEK-293S cells, while increasing cellular productivity of recombinant proteins. As a result, green cells remain undivided in a longer period of time. Not surprisingly, the property of a recombinant protein expressed in the cells grown at 33°C is unaffected, as shown by the use of AMPA receptors. We further demonstrate with the use of PC12 cells that this method may be especially useful when a recombinant protein is difficult to express using a chemical-based, transient transfection method.

An RNA sample is usually heterogeneous. RNA heterogeneity refers to difference in length or size (i.e., number of nucleotides [nt]), sequence, or alternative but coexisting conformations. Separation and purification of RNA is generally required for investigating the structure and function of RNA, such as RNA catalysis and RNA structure determination by nuclear magnetic resonance or crystallography. Separation and purification of RNA is also required for using RNAs as functional probes and therapeutics as well as building blocks for RNA nanoparticles. Previously established protocols are limited in separating RNAs longer than 25 nt by single-nucleotide resolution. When the length of RNAs becomes longer, single-nucleotide separation of RNAs becomes more challenging. Here we describe protocols, by the use of ion-pair, reverse-phase high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC), to extend our ability to separate regular RNAs up to 59 nt with single-nucleotide resolution. For chemically modified RNAs at 2' positions on the ribose, we can resolve RNAs of similar sizes even with a 26 Da difference. This is much less than 320 Da, an average single-nucleotide molecular weight difference.

The influence of collector aspect ratio on the collector efficiency of upward type baffled solar air heaters has been investigated theoretically. With constant collector area, the collector efficiency increases with collector aspect ratio. This is the same results as those obtained in the previous work for flat plate solar air heaters without fins and baffles. Although the collector efficiency of baffled solar air heaters is larger than that of flat plate heaters without fins and baffles, the improvement of collector efficiency by increasing the collector aspect ratio is the reverse.

The effect of collector aspect ratio on the collector efficiency of baffled solar air heaters has been investigated theoretically. With constant collector area, the collector efficiency increases when the collector aspect ratio increases. This is the same results as those obtained in the previous work for flat-plate solar air heaters without fins and baffles. Although the collector efficiency of baffled solar air heaters is larger than that of flat-plate heaters without fins and baffles, the improvement of collector efficiency by increasing the collector aspect ratio is reverse.

The effect of collector aspect ratio on the collector efficiency of upward-type flat-plate solar air heaters has been investigated theoretically and experimentally. The theoretical predictions agree reasonably well with experimental results. With constant collector area, the collector efficiency increases with collector aspect ratio. Considerable improvement in collector efficiency of solar air heaters is obtained with air flowing over, instead of under, the absorbing plate.