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Heterotopic ossification of the elbow (HOE) is a complicated pathologic process characterized by extra bone formation in the elbow. Bone formation is a complex developmental process involving the differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells into osteoblasts. The aim of this study was to explore the cellular origin and progression of HOE by single-cell RNA sequencing. We identified 13 clusters of cells in HOE and further analyzed the subclusters for 4 of the main cell types. Six subclusters of osteoblasts, nine subclusters of chondrocytes, six subclusters of fibroblasts, and five subclusters of mononuclear phagocytes (MPs) were identified and analyzed. The new findings on osterix (OSX) and SOX9 expression in osteoblast subclusters and chondrocyte subclusters indicate that HOE is mediated through endochondral ossification. Further identification of the corresponding signature gene sets of distinct subclusters indicated that subclusters of osteoblasts_3, osteoblasts_4, osteoblasts_5, and osteoblasts_6 are relatively more mature during the osteoblastic progression of HOE. The trajectory analysis of the osteoblasts demonstrated that some genes were gradually downregulated, such as CRYAB, CCL3, SFRP4, WIF1, and IGFBP3, while other critical genes were upregulated, such as VCAN, IGFBP4, FSTL1, POSTN, MDK, THBS2, and ALPL, suggesting that these factors may participate in HOE progression. Cell-cell communication networks revealed extensive molecular interactions among the 13 HOE clusters. Ligand-receptor pairs for IL6, COL24A1, COL22A1, VWF, FZD6, FGF2, and NOTCH1 were identified, suggesting that multiple signaling pathways may be involved in HOE. In conclusion, this study provided the cellular atlas for HOE. We have established a greater extent of the heterogeneity of HOE cells than previously known through transcriptomic analysis at the single-cell level. We have observed gradual patterns of signature gene expression during the differentiation and maturation progression of osteoblasts from stem cells in HOE with higher resolution. The cell heterogeneity of HOE deserves further investigation to pave the way for identification of potential targets for HOE early diagnosis and therapeutic treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rack-and-pinion pair with variable transmission ratio can achieve the unity of vehicle steering portability and sensitivity, and effectively reduce vehicle steering energy consumption. Therefore, they have gradually become the standard core components of steering system. However, the gear surface of rack-and-pinion pair with variable transmission ratio is seriously worn under long-term service, which leads to the degradation of performance and cannot achieve the theoretically variable transmission ratio. To solve these problems, a new configuration of rack-and-pinion pair for commercial vehicle with herringbone pure rolling variable transmission ratio is proposed in this paper. The tooth surface mathematical model of the fully-conjugate variable transmission ratio is established based on the variable speed envelope principle, and the formula for calculating pure rolling point of tooth surface with variable transmission ratio is derived. The tooth point deviation equation of fully-conjugate variable transmission ratio is proposed, and the method of constructing pure rolling variable transmission ratio tooth surface is formed. The finite element analysis shows that the design of the pure rolling rack-and-pinion pair with variable transmission ratio has good tooth surface quality without the phenomenon of contact spot intermittent and edge contact during the meshing process, and the contact ellipse center of the tooth surface is located at the theoretical pure rolling point of the tooth surface. The measured transmission ratio curve of the samples is in good agreement with the theoretical variable transmission ratio curve, and the transmission ratio error is within a reasonable range. The contact strips of tooth surface impression test are consistent with those of finite element analysis, which indicates that the designed rack-and-pinion pair with variable transmission ratio has the characteristics of pure rolling and point contact. The tooth surface wear test shows that the wear of pure rolling gear surface with variable transmission ratio is obviously less than that of traditional gear surface with variable transmission ratio. The above tests and simulation indicate the correctness of the design method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rack-and-pinion gear sets with variable transmission ratios have gradually become a standard core component in steering systems, as the harmony between portability and sensitivity in vehicle steering can be achieved with such applications. When the conventional meshing theory is adopted to calculate point clouds of variable-ratio tooth surfaces, drawbacks will occur with respect to unevenness in point cloud density, inaccessible tooth surface boundaries, and point cloud fusion at the interface between the working tooth surface and fillet. Thus, the generated point cloud of variable ratio tooth surfaces is inapplicable for computer-aided engineering (CAE) and plastic forming. In this study, the point cloud reconstruction of pinion tooth surfaces with variable transmission ratio was investigated. Meanwhile, based on the analysis of transient length in contact lines that occur during gear meshing, various criteria were proposed to determine the validity of the variable-ratio rack-and-pinion design in terms of whether continuous and reverse driving can be achieved. By adopting the proposed methods, the designed variable-ratio pinion tooth surfaces demonstrate point clouds with equidistant distributions and clear boundaries. CAE analysis results also indicate a good quality in gear meshing. The real-time gear meshing status of variable-ratio rack-and-pinion sets is characterized by the transient length of contact lines. The measured variation curves for the transmission ratios of a prototype demonstrate significant consistency with the theoretical curves, indicated by attaining transmission ratio errors within a reasonable range. The validity of the design methods proposed in this study has been verified by the aforementioned results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Liver injury is one of the most severe traffic trauma. The development of accurate liver finite element model is beneficial for improving the biofidelity and validity in crash simulations, aiming to analyze the injury in accidents. 12 human liver finite element models in the current research were constructed from high resolution CT data of a Chinese male 50th percentile human subject, including the main structures like left lobe, right lobe, capsule, parenchyma and falciform ligament. The simulations based on Nava et al. experiment were conducted to validate the models and make comparisons of modeling method accuracy. The results demonstrated that the larger deviation happened to the tetra models due to the stiffer algorithm compared to the hex models, which were more sensitive to element size. The existence of capsule had significant effects on the liver mechanical responses, reducing the liver tissue pressure. Shell elements were more suitable for modeling the capsule. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a progressive neurodegenerative disease that results in cognitive impairment and is often accompanied by anxiety. In this study, we investigated whether the activation of VTAVgat neurons could reduce anxiety in APP/PS1 mice. We hypothesized that acute social defeat stress (SDS) would lead to anxiety in APP/PS1 mice, and that the activation of VTAVgat neurons would alleviate this anxiety. Methods: We exposed APP/PS1 mice to acute SDS and assessed anxiety using the open field test and elevated plus-arm test. Activated VTAVgat neurons was tested by cfos staining. Sleep quality was detected using electroencephalogram after SDS or non-SDS procedure. Sleep duration, sleep latency, and non-rapid eye movement (NREM) percentage were analyzed. VTAVgat neurons were chemogenetically activated by deschloroclozapine. Results: Our results showed that acute SDS led to anxiety in APP/PS1 mice, as evidenced by increased anxiety-related behaviors in the open field and elevated plus-arm tests. Activation of VTAVgat neurons by SDS led to an increase in sleep duration, primarily due to a decrease in sleep latency and an increase in NREMs. However, the quality of sleep was poor. Chemogenetical activation of VTAVgat neurons improved sleep quality and relieved SDS-induced anxiety. Furthermore, the anxiety state correlated negatively with sleep duration and NREM percentage and correlated positively with theta power density in APP/PS1 mice. Discussion: Our study provides evidence that the activation of VTAVgat neurons alleviates SDS-induced anxiety in APP/PS1 mice, suggesting that poor sleep quality may exacerbate anxiety in AD. These findings may have important implications for the treatment of anxiety in AD, as targeting VTAVgat neurons could be a potential therapeutic approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In order to study the possibility of hydroxytyrosol (HT) as a drug, we used SwissADME system to predict ADME of HT and pkCSM system to predict Tox of HT. The results show that hydroxytyrosol meets the Lipinski's five principles of drug-like properties. With strong efficacy and pharmacological activity, HT has high drug-likeness degree. With good bioavailability, it can be easily absorbed by the gastrointestinal tract, though not absorbed by skin. Hydroxytyrosol has not only a strong potency and pharmacological activity, but also no liver toxicity and skin allergy. Tox data predicts that it has mutagenic potential, which may be the result of overreduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Since the outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 in December 2019, more than 8 million cases have occurred worldwide as of June 16, 2020. However, it is important to distinguish COVID-19 from other respiratory infectious diseases, such as influenza. Here, we comparatively described the clinical characteristics of children with COVID-19 and paediatric patients with influenza.Methods: In this retrospective, single-centre study, we reviewed the electronic medical records of 585 paediatric patients with COVID-19 or influenza in Wuhan Children's Hospital, China. Clinical and epidemiological characteristics, laboratory findings, and clinical outcomes were comparatively analysed.Results: The median ages were 6.96 years (IQR, 2-10.81) for children with confirmed COVID-19, 2.67 years (IQR, 1.03-15.25) for those with influenza A and 3.67 years (IQR, 1.62-5.54) for those with influenza B. Fever was a symptom in 84 (34.7%) COVID-19 cases, 132 (70.21%) influenza A cases and 111 (74.50%) influenza B cases. The median length of stay (LOS) was 11 (8-15) days for paediatric COVID-19 patients, 4 (3-6) days for influenza A patients and 5 (3-6) days for influenza B patients. Twenty-six (13.98%) influenza A patients and 18 (12.59%) influenza B patients presented with decreased white blood cell counts, while 13 (5.33%) COVID-19 patients presented with decreased white blood cell counts. Eight (3.28%) COVID-19 patients, 23 (12.71%) influenza A patients and 21 (14.79%) influenza B patients experienced lymphocytopenia. Acute cardiac injury occurred in 18 (7.29%) COVID-19 patients, while 37 (19.68%) influenza A and 27 (18.12%) influenza B patients had acute cardiac injury.Conclusion: In this study, the illnesses of children with COVID-19 were demonstrated to be less severe than those of paediatric patients with influenza, and COVID-19 patients had milder illness and fewer complications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel high step-up DC–DC converter with a three-winding-coupled-inductor and an output capacitor in series is proposed in this study. By charging for two windings of dotted terminal connection in series by input source, the proposed converter can achieve a higher gain by using smaller turns ratios when the active switch is turned on. The passive clamping circuits are introduced for not only recycling leakage energy but also alleviating voltage spike on the main switch effectively. Meanwhile, the reverse-recovery problem of the diode is alleviated by the leakage inductor. Thus, the efficiency can be improved. In addition, output capacitors are in series to provide energy so that the volume of the output capacitor is reduced. The operating principle and steady-state analyses of the proposed converter are discussed in detail. Then, the performance of the proposed converter is compared with existing converters. Finally, a prototype circuit is built with a 40-V input voltage, 380-V output voltage, and 400-W output power to verify the performance of the proposed converter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel glycidyl resin 2,7-bis(β-epoxypropylthio)thianthrene (4SEP) with high refractive index was synthesized and characterized by ¹HNMR, FT IR and FD-MS analyses. The kinetics of 4SEP cured with methylhexahydrophthalic anhydride (MeHHPA) was investigated by nonisothermal differential scanning calorimetry. The results revealed that the reactivity of 4SEP was higher compared with that of diglycidyl ether of bisphenol A (DGEBA) due to the weakened electron-withdrawing effect of thioether on the epoxy group. The thermal properties and refractive index of 4SEP/MeHHPA were investigated with differential scanning calorimetry, thermogravimetric analyses, Abbe refractometer, prism coupler, and compared with those of the DGEBA/MeHHPA. Experimental results showed that, due to the introduction of thianthrene and thioether units, the glass transition temperature (Tg) was slightly enhanced, while the thermal stability was reduced. The refractive index of 4SEP was over 1.7000, and the refractive index of 4SEP/MeHHPA was up to 1.6808. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A foreword to 'Care in Higher Education English Language Teaching' is presented.

In the present study, the effect of nisin on the growth and heat resistance of five isolates and three reference strains from three species of Alicyclobacillus in kiwi fruit juice was investigated. The three Alicyclobacillus acidoterrestris strains and the Alicyclobacillus herbarius isolate C-ZJB-12-55 could multiply below 5 IU/mL of nisin. The growth of all strains could be inhibited by 20 IU/mL of nisin. When no nisin added, the average D90C values of the strains ranged from 12.43 to 37.36 min. The average D90C values decreased with the increase of nisin concentration, and the decrements ranged from 0.41 to 16.48 min for different strains when the concentration of nisin increased to 100 IU/mL. The growth conditions and heat resistance of strains from A. acidoterrestris were the best among test strains, followed by A. herbarius strains. Strains from Alicyclobacillus contaminans could not grow even in kiwi fruit juice without nisin added. Practical Applications Alicyclobacillus are a group of bacteria which can cause the spoilage of juice and beverage products, and nisin is a widely used food preservative. This study first proved that nisin can weaken the heat resistance of the spores of Alicyclobacillus in kiwi fruit juice during the pasteurization procedure, and inhibit the germination of the spores as well as the growth of the germinated vegetative cells during the subsequent procedures. These results would be useful to the kiwi fruit juice industry to control the contamination of Alicyclobacillus and also have practical value for other juice and beverage industries against Alicyclobacillus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to assess the relationship between trait mindfulness and mood and to examine whether the relationship is mediated by mind wandering. Eighty-two individuals (M age=24.27 years, SD=5.64, 18 men, 22%) completed a series of measures including the Five-Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire, the Profile of Mood States Questionnaire, and Meditation Breath Attention Exercise. Results showed that the level of mindfulness was significantly correlated with positive and negative mood, and the association between mindfulness and negative mood was mediated by mind wandering. This study indicated the important role of mind wandering in the relation between mindfulness and negative mood. Limitations and future research directions are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Previous research has shown that the effects of mindfulness-based interventions and increased trait mindfulness are associated with reduced stress. Further research is needed to understand the mechanisms by which mindfulness-based interventions exert their beneficial effect on decreased stress. The purpose of the present study was to examine the role of self-acceptance in the relationship between trait mindfulness and perceived stress among a sample of 132 students from Beijing, China. Results revealed that self-acceptance was found to partially mediate the relationship between mindfulness and stress. Limitations, clinical implications, and directions for future research are identified. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Situated within a Systemic Functional Linguistics genre paradigm, this study adopted a function-based linguistic approach to examine the argument structures in English writing produced by Chinese university students of English as foreign language (EFL). Their English writing was contrasted with three other sets of argumentative essays in order to explore differences and similarities in the use of argument structures. The four sets of essays were produced by three groups of university students: native English- and Chinese-speaking university students and Chinese university EFL students. Participants' interviews and questionnaire responses were also collected. The study found that most native English-speaking participants used an analytical arguing strategy, while most Chinese-speaking university participants preferred a hortatory argument structure both in their English and Chinese writing. It was also found that Chinese participants' English writing was influenced by both English and Chinese. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Magnetizing roasting is an important pre-treatment technique for beneficiation of hematite and limonite ores. Reduction mechanisms of these iron minerals have been fully studied while the mechanism of reduction of chlorite is not well understood. In this study, a reduction roasting study examining the phase change of chlorite with roasting temperature was undertaken. The major finding from this study was that chlorite partially was reduced to magnetite by carbon at 750 °C, and the newly formed magnetite was finely disseminated within quartz and olivine. It was demonstrated that these locked magnetite particles would be reported to iron concentrate by low intensity magnetic separation resulting in high impurity content, especially SiO2 and Al2O3 contents in the concentrate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

H∞ cluster synchronization problem for a class of neutral complex dynamical networks (NCDNs) with Markovian switching is investigated in this paper. Both the retarded and neutral delays are considered to be interval mode dependent and time varying. The concept ofH∞ cluster synchronization is proposed to quantify the attenuation level of synchronization error dynamics against the exogenous disturbance of the NCDNs. Based on a novel Lyapunov functional, by employing some integral inequalities and the nature of convex combination, mode delay-range-dependent H∞ cluster synchronization criteria are derived in the form of linear matrix inequalities which depend not only on the disturbance attenuation but also on the initial values of the NCDNs. Finally, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed theoretical results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The certain and uncertain neutral systems with time-delay and saturating actuator are considered in this paper. In order to analyse and optimize the system, auxiliary functions are presented based on additive decomposition approach and the relationship among them is discussed. As the novel stability criterion, two sufficient conditions are obtained for asymptotic stability of the neutral systems. Furthermore, the paper gives the stability analysis algorithm and optimality algorithm to optimize the result. Finally, from the two-stage dissolution tank of solid caustic soda in a chemical plant, three numerical examples are implemented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The certain and uncertain neutral systems with time-delay and saturating actuator are considered in this paper. In order to analyse and optimize the system, auxiliary functions are presented based on additive decomposition approach and the relationship among them is discussed. As the novel stability criterion, two sufficient conditions are obtained for asymptotic stability of the neutral systems. Furthermore, the paper gives the stability analysis algorithm and optimality algorithm to optimize the result. Finally, from the two-stage dissolution tank of solid caustic soda in a chemical plant, three numerical examples are implemented to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is concerned with the asymptotic stability analysis for a class of neutral systems with time-delay and saturating actuators, which is further to reduce the conservatism of neutral system. Based on themodel transformation and the delay-dividing approach, a new type of augmented Lyapunov functional is constructed, which has fully exploited the information on the lower bound of the delay. Then the delay-dependent conditions for asymptotic stability are derived by applying some integral inequalities and Lyapunov theory. Finally, numerical examples are provided to show that the proposed results significantly improve the allowed upper bounds of the delay size over some existing ones in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By drawing the on APPRAISAL Theory (Martin & White, 2005), an analytical framework within Systemic Functional Linguistics (SFL) for interpersonal meanings, this article reports on a case study that investigated the use of evaluative language between the high- and low-rated English argumentative essays by two Chinese university EFL students. The study found that the high-rated essay successfully employed appraisal values to foreground authorial voice and position readers, thus manipulating arguability of utterances and building strong persuasion. The study suggests that more attention should be given to the teaching of EFL/ESL writing from an interpersonal perspective and proposes the necessity of explaining EFL/ESL students' use of evaluative language from both linguistic and socio-cultural perspectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The problem of exponential stability for the uncertain neutral Markovian jump systems with interval time-varying delays and nonlinear perturbations is investigated in this paper. This study starts from the corresponding nominal systems with known and partially unknown transition rates, respectively. By constructing a novel augmented Lyapunov functional which contains tripleintegral terms and fully utilizes the bound of the delay, the delay-range-dependent and rate-dependent exponential stability criteria are developed by the Lyapunov theory, reciprocally convex lemma, and free weighting matrices. Then, the results about nominal systems are extended to the uncertain case. Finally, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponential synchronization and sampled-data controller problem for a class of neutral complex dynamical networks (NCDNs) with Markovian jump parameters, partially unknown transition rates and delays, is investigated in this paper. Both the discrete and neutral delays are considered to be interval mode dependent and time varying, while the sampling period is assumed to be time varying and bounded. Based on a new augmented stochastic Lyapunov functional, the delay-range-dependent and rate-dependent exponential stability conditions for the closed-loop error system are obtained by the Lyapunov-Krasovskii stability theory and reciprocally convex lemma. Then according to the proposed exponential stability conditions, the sampled-data synchronization controllers are designed in terms of the solution to linear matrix inequalities that can be solved effectively by using Matlab. Finally, numerical examples are given to demonstrate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The exponential stability of neutral Markovian jump systems with interval mode-dependent time-varying delays, nonlinear perturbations, and partially known transition rates is investigated. A novel augmented stochastic Lyapunov functional is constructed, which employs the improved bounding technique and contains triple-integral terms to reduce conservativeness; then the delay-range-dependent and rate-dependent exponential stability criteria are developed by Lyapunov stability theory, reciprocally convex lemma, and free-weighting matrices. The corresponding results are extended to the uncertain case. Finally, numerical examples are given to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed methods. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The delay-range-dependent stochastic stability for uncertain neutral Markovian jump systems with interval time-varying delays is studied in this paper. The uncertainties under consideration are assumed to be time varying but norm bounded. To begin with the nominal systems, a novel augmented Lyapunov functional which contains some triple-integral terms is introduced. Then, by employing some integral inequalities and the nature of convex combination, some less conservative stochastic stability conditions are presented in terms of linear matrix inequalities without introducing any free-weighting matrices. Finally, numerical examples are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness and to show that the proposed results significantly improve the allowed upper bounds of the delay size over some existing ones in the literature. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As a transcription factor belonging to the basic helix-loop-helix leucine-zipper subgroup, AP-4 can control target gene expression by altering cell signal transduction, and regulate growth, development, and cell apoptosis. Under pathological circumstances, it is involved in tumorigenesis. Herein, immunohistochemistry and real-time PCR were used to detect the transcription factor AP-4 expression in gastric cancer, and these data were examined for correlation with histology, pTNM stage, and prognosis. The AP-4 expression rate was 83.67% in a total of 98 gastric cancer tissues, which was significantly higher than 40.91% in non-neoplastic tissues; AP-4 mRNA relative expression shows a significant difference between gastric cancer and normal tissues, and AP-4 expression has a significantly positive correlation with the depth of tumor invasion ( P < 0.0001), degree of tumor differentiation ( P = 0.0058), lymph node metastasis ( P = 0.0255), and pTNM stage ( P = 0.001). Survival analysis showed that AP-4-positive patients' median survival time (12.60 months) was significantly shorter than that (41.40 months) of AP-4-negative patients. AP-4 expression in gastric cancer is associated with clinicopathological parameters of gastric cancer, such as differentiation, lymph node metastasis, depth of invasion ( P = 0.0010), and pTNM stage. What's more, AP-4 overexpression indicated a worse prognosis for patients. So AP-4 may be a molecular marker to predict the progression and prognosis of the tumor. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: AP-4 belongs to the basic helix-loop-helix leucine-zipper subgroup; it controls target gene expression, regulates growth, development and cell apoptosis and has been implicated in tumorigenesis. Our previous studies indicated that AP-4 was frequently overexpressed in gastric cancers and may be associated with the poor prognosis. The purpose of this study is to examine whether silencing of AP-4 can alter biological characteristics of gastric cancer cells. Methods: Two specific siRNAs targeting AP-4 were designed, synthesized, and transfected into gastric cancer cell lines and human normal mucosa cells. AP-4 expression was measured with real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot. Cell proliferation and chemo-sensitivity were detected by CCK-8 assay. Cell cycle assay and apoptosis assay were performed by flow cytometer, and relative expression of cell cycle regulators were detected by real-time quantitative PCR and Western blot, expression of the factors involved in the apoptosis pathway were examined in mRNA and protein level. Results: The expression of AP-4 was silenced by the siRNAs transfection and the effects of AP-4 knockdown lasted 24 to 96 hrs. The siRNA-mediated silencing of AP-4 suppressed the cellular proliferation, induced apoptosis and sensitized cancer cells to anticancer drugs. In addition, the expression level of p21, p53 and Caspase-9 were increased when AP-4 was knockdown, but the expression of cyclin D1, Bcl-2 and Bcl-xL was inhibited. It didn't induce cell cycle arrest when AP-4 was knockdown in p53 defect gastric cancer cell line Kato-III. Conclusions: These results illustrated that gene silencing of AP-4 can efficiently inhibited cell proliferation, triggered apoptosis and sensitized cancer cells to anticancer drugs in vitro, suggesting that AP-4 siRNAs mediated silencing has a potential value in the treatment of human gastric cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on the application of a bilayer polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)/ZrO2 dielectric in copper phthalocyanine (CuPc) organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). By depositing a PMMA layer on ZrO2, the leakage of the dielectric is reduced by one order of magnitude compared to single-layer ZrO2. A high-quality interface is obtained between the organic semiconductor and the combined insulators. By integrating the advantages of polymer and high-k dielectrics, the device achieves both high mobility and low threshold voltage. The typical field-effect mobility, threshold voltage, on/off current ratio, and subthreshold slope of OFETs with bilayer dielectric are 5.6 × 10-2 cm²/V · s, 0.8 V, 1.2 × 10³, and 2.1 V/dec, respectively. By using the bilayer dielectrics, the hysteresis observed in the devices with single-layer ZrO2 is no longer present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research was designed to explore the differences in behaviour, cognition and emotion between college students in Beijing and Suzhou, who were under different external stresses during the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) prevalence time in China from 22 April to 23 June, 2003. A ‘Psychological responses questionnaire on SARS’ designed by the authors was filled out by subjects. A total of 268 valid cases were collected in Beijing through e-mails or websites, and 397 valid copies were collected in Suzhou through pencil-and-paper tests. The two groups differed in their behaviours, cognitions and emotions. Cognitive and behavioural responses of the Beijing sample changed along with the time and the epidemic situation, and so did the negative emotions of the Suzhou sample. Path analysis of the Beijing sample found support for the mediating effects of the cognition on the relationships of stress and the emotional and behavioural responses, while the results of the Suzhou sample did not. Differences between the two samples are discussed. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this letter, the effect of the interface on the electrical characteristics of a rectifier based on an organic diode with pentacene as the electroactive layer is studied. It was found that the ON/OFF ratio had a strong correlation with the interface effect (i.e., the bottom electrode material). The rectification ratio was improved to 2 x 106 at 5 V by modifying the bottom electrode with copper tetracyanoquinodimethane. The ac rectification frequency exceeded 13.56 MHz, which is a main requirement for an organic radio-frequency identification application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, organic thin film transistors based on titanyl phthalocyanine were fabricated on octadecyltrichlorosilane (OTS) stripe modified Si/SiO2substrates. The p-type transistor exhibited high performance with a hole mobility of ∼4.25 cm2V−1s−1and an on/off ratio greater than 3.1 × 107on 1 µm wide OTS stripe modified substrates. The charge transport anisotropy was observed in devices fabricated with channels parallel and perpendicular to the OTS stripes, indicating that the molecular orientation was optimized and arranged in a more ordered style. The high performance of the devices showed their potential for application in organic circuits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]