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A wide-beam microstrip patch antenna and antenna array ranging from 77 to 81 GHz are presented in this study for millimeter-wave applications. A substrate-integrated-waveguide probe-fed patch was developed. For beamwidth enhancement, two I-shaped parasitic elements were placed next to the main patch to establish a three-element subarray. The current directions of the parasitic elements were opposite to that of the main patch, leading to beamwidth enhancement in the $E$ -plane radiation pattern. The proposed I-shaped parasitic element has the advantages of coplanar structure, compact size, and easy adjustment of the induced current. An array-factor method was employed to analyze the effect of the parasitic elements on the beamwidth of the main patch. Three amplitude distributions of the subarray were compared. The distribution of −0.1:1:−0.1 was proved to present the most beamwidth, which can be realized easily by the proposed I-shaped parasitic elements. To achieve both wide beamwidth and high gain, a $1\times8$ patch antenna array with the I-shaped parasitic elements was proposed. The measured results showed that the design can offer a gain of 10.74 dBi and a wide beamwidth of 138° at 79 GHz.

Cu2ZnSnS4 (CZTS) is a promising material for cost-effective thin film solar cells since its suitable band gap energy and large absorption coefficient in visible light region. In this study, we develop a multi-stage hot-pressing process to make a CZTS target, and conduct a pulsed laser deposition to prepare the CZTS thin film. The CZTS target and thin films have been studied to evaluate their properties as an absorption material for the thin film solar cells. Images and composition analysis from electron probe X-ray micro analyzer confirm the porosity and atomic composition of the hot-pressed CZTS target. The X-ray diffraction pattern indicates a better crystallinity of CZTS thin film after annealing at a higher temperature. Analysis from UV–vis spectroscopy on the annealed CZTS thin films suggests a large absorption coefficient in the visible light region and a band gap energy of 1.45 eV.

This study investigated the resistance spot welding (RSW) parameters for an uncoated mild steel sample and two hot-dip galvanized steel samples with different zinc layer thicknesses. Two RSW schemes were considered: a one-step scheme with no pre-heating stage and a two-step scheme comprising a pre-heating stage followed by a main welding stage. The strengths and weldabilities of the weldments were evaluated by peeling tests, cross-tension tests and weld lobe diagrams with welding currents ranging from 5 to 12 kA and welding times of 8–24 cycles. The optimal welding time was found to be 16 cycles. The weldability window shifted to a higher welding current region as the zinc layer thickness increased. Compared to the one-step RSW scheme, the two-step scheme suppressed interfacial failure and achieved a higher peeling load at a lower welding current. For a given welding current, the weldments produced using the two-step scheme had a larger nugget diameter and higher cross-tension load. Overall, the two-step RSW scheme achieved a better welding quality than the one-step scheme irrespective of the zinc layer thickness.

Microglia are the first source of a neuroinflammatory cascade, which seems to be involved in every phase of stroke-related neuronal damage. Two weeks after transient middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO), vehicle-treated rats displayed higher numbers of total ionized calcium-binding adaptor molecule 1 (Iba-1)-positive cells, greater cell body areas of Iba-1-positive cells, and higher numbers of hypertrophic Iba-1-positive cells (with a cell body area over 80 μm2) in the ipsilateral ischemic brain regions including the frontal cortex, striatum, and parietal cortex. In addition, MCAO decreased the number of migrating neuroblasts (or DCX- and 5-ethynyl-2′-deoxyuridine-positive cells) in the cortex, subventricular zone, and hippocampus of the ischemic brain, followed by neurological injury (including brain infarct and neurological deficits). Intravenous administration of human umbilical cord–derived mesenchymal stem cells (hUC-MSCs; 1 × 106 or 4 × 106) at 24 h after MCAO reduced neurological injury, decreased the number of hypertrophic microglia/macrophages, and increased the number of newborn neurons in rat brains. Thus, the accumulation of hypertrophic microglia/macrophages seems to be detrimental to neurogenesis after stroke. Treatment with hUC-MSCs preserved adult newborn neurons and reduced functional impairment after transient cerebral ischemia by reducing the number of hypertrophic microglia/macrophages.

The issue of potential-induced degradation (PID) has gained more concerns due to causing the catastrophic failures in photovoltaic (PV) modules. One of the approaches to diminish PID is to modify the anti-reflection coating (ARC) layer upon the front surface of crystalline silicon solar cells. Here, we focus on the modification of ARC films to realize PID-free step-by-step through three delicate experiments. Firstly, the ARC films deposited by direct plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) and by indirect PECVD were investigated. The results showed that the efficiency degradation of solar cells by indirect PECVD method is up to −33.82%, which is out of the IEC 62804 standard and is significantly more severe than by the direct PECVD method (−0.82%). Next, the performance of PID-resist for the solar cell via indirect PECVD was improved significantly (PID reduced from −31.82% to −2.79%) by a pre-oxidation step, which not only meets the standard but also has higher throughput than direct PECVD. Lastly, we applied a novel PECVD technology, called the pulsed-plasma (PP) PECVD method, to deal with the PID issue. The results of the HF-etching rate test and FTIR measurement indicated the films deposited by PP PECVD have higher potential against PID in consideration of less oxygen content in this film. That demonstrated the film properties were changed by applied a new control of freedom, i.e., PP method. In addition, the 96 h PID result of the integrated PP method was only −2.07%, which was comparable to that of the integrated traditional CP method. In summary, we proposed three effective or potential approaches to eliminate the PID issue, and all approaches satisfied the IEC 62804 standard of less than 5% power loss in PV modules.

Cr(VI) causes severe kidney damage. The patient's renal function could gradually recover by spontaneous kidney regeneration. The molecular effect of Cr(VI) on recovery of kidney cells, however, has not been clearly elucidated. Here we show that Cr(VI) induces expression of mesenchymal and stem cell markers, cell markers, such as paxillin, vimentin, α‐SMA, nanog, and CD133 of HK‐2 cells. Moreover, Cr(VI) activates epithelial‐to‐mesenchymal transition (EMT). By revealing that levels of dihydrodiol dehydrogenase were promptly reduced following Cr(VI) challenge, our data suggested that DDH could be involved in a Cr(VI)‐related oxidation to generate massive reactive oxygen species and H2O2, and to create intracellular hypoxia, which then increased levels of SUMO‐1 activating enzyme subunit 2, and sumoylation of eukaryotic elongation factor‐2, to mediate the subsequent molecular and cellular responses, e.g., expression of mesenchymal and stem cell markers. Pretreatment with vitamin C reduced Cr(VI)‐related cellular effects. However, no evident effect was observed when vitamin C was added following Cr(VI) challenge. © 2015 The Authors. Molecular Carcinogenesis published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc.

The flavivirus envelope protein is the dominant antigen in eliciting neutralizing antibodies and plays an important role in inducing immunologic responses in the infected host. We have determined the solution structure of the major antigenic domain (domain III) of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) envelope protein. The JEV domain III forms a beta-barrel type structure composed of six antiparallel beta-strands resembling the immunoglobulin constant domain. We have also identified epitopes of the JEV domain III to its neutralizing antibody by chemical shift perturbation measurements. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments are performed to confirm the NMR results. Our study provides a structural basis for understanding the mechanism of immunologic protection and for rational design of vaccines effective against flaviviruses.

The purpose of this study is to reduce the glass substrate reflectivity over a wide spectral range (400-1200 nm) without having high reflectivity in the near-infrared region. After making porous SiO₂/MgF₂ double-layer antireflection (DLAR) thin film structure, the superstrate-type silicon-based tandem cells are added. In comparison to having only silicon-based tandem solar cells, the short-circuit current density has improved by 6.82% when porous SiO₂/MgF₂ DLAR thin film is applied to silicon-based tandem solar cells. This study has demonstrated that porous SiO₂/MgF₂ DLAR thin film structure provides antireflection properties over a broad spectral range (400-1200 nm) without having high reflectivity at near-infrared wavelengths.

The flavivirus envelope protein is the dominant antigen in eliciting neutralizing antibodies and plays an important role in inducing immunologic responses in the infected host. We have determined the solution structure of the major antigenic domain (domain III) of the Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) envelope protein. The JEV domain III forms a beta-barrel type structure composed of six antiparallel beta-strands resembling the immunoglobulin constant domain. We have also identified epitopes of the JEV domain III to its neutralizing antibody by chemical shift perturbation measurements. Site-directed mutagenesis experiments are performed to confirm the NMR results. Our study provides a structural basis for understanding the mechanism of immunologic protection and for rational design of vaccines effective against flaviviruses.