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The suppression of leakage current via surface passivation plays a critical role for GaSb‐based optoelectronic devices. In this Letter the authors carefully optimise the sulfur passivation parameters for improving the performance of GaSb p–i–n devices. Two competing processes are evaluated during the sulfur passivation process: the hydrolysis of HS– ions that aide surface passivation and the re‐oxidation, respectively. Upon the optimisation of sulfur passivation parameters and subsequent encapsulation with atomic layer deposition Al2 O3, the surface resistivity significantly increased from 4.3 kΩ.cm to 28.6 kΩ.cm, leading to a 19.1 times drop in dark current at room temperature for the GaSb p–i–n structure. This Letter provides a repeatable and stable passivation approach for improving the optoelectronic performance of GaSb‐based devices.

The survey and monitoring system of natural resources is the basis for finding out and monitoring the background data in the new era. The classification standard is an important cornerstone in the survey and monitoring system. The classification standard appears in the whole process of natural resources, such as survey, monitoring, evaluation, planning and control etc. Classification results are widely used in natural resource asset management, territorial space use controlling, ecological protection and restoration. Therefore, only a classification standard with the unified, scientific and practical characteristics is constructed, a survey and monitoring system with “six unifications” can be built. This paper refines the existing status and the main problem of existing classification standards, and then puts forward the construction ideas and three suggestions for the new classification standards, which hoping to provide a reference for local survey and monitoring pilots and national classification standard construction.

We demonstrate a top-down fabricated reconfigurable field effect transistor (RFET) based on a silicon nanowire that can be electrostatically programmed to p- and n-configuration. The device unites a high symmetry of transfer characteristics, high on/off current ratios in both configurations and superior current densities in comparison to other top-down fabricated RFETs. Two NiSi2/Si Schottky junctions are formed inside the wire and gated individually. The narrow omega-gated channel is fabricated by a repeated SiO2 etch and growth sequence and a conformal TiN deposition. The gate and Schottky contact metal work functions and the oxide-induced compressive stress to the Schottky junction are adjusted to result in only factor 1.6 higher p- than n-current for in absolute terms identical gate voltages and identical drain voltages., Comment: Nanowires, Reconfigurable field effect transistors, Polarity control, Electrostatic doping, Silicon on insulator technology, Omega-gates, Multiple-gate devices

This paper addresses the impact performance of explosively formed projectile (EFP) formed by shaped charge (SC) on the concrete targets. Firstly, a series of EFP penetration/perforation test on concrete targets are conducted. By assessing the dimensions of front spalling and rear scabbing craters as well as the penetration borehole, the influences of SC liner material, concrete type and target configuration (monolithic and spaced) on the target damage are experimentally discussed. Secondly, by utilizing the multi-material Arbitrary Lagrange-Euler (ALE) algorithm, Fluid-Structure Interaction (FSI) method and erosion algorithm implemented in the finite element (FE) code LS-DYNA, and describing the concrete targets with the original and modified HJC models, the formation and impact processes of EFP are well reproduced. Furthermore, based on the validated constitutive models and the corresponding parameters, the influences of explosive type, liner configuration and thickness, first concrete panel and air interlayer thicknesses of spaced target on the impact performance of EFP are further discussed. The derived conclusions could provide helpful references for the analysis and design of the concrete protective structures, and the evaluation of the ballistic performance of EFP.

Hepatocarcinogenesis, a multistep process, involves not only genetic mutations but also epigenetic alterations. Widespread of global DNA hypomethylation is accompanied with specific regional hypermethylation especially at tumor suppressor genes' promoters. The aim of this study is to determine the efficacy of combined DNA methylation analysis of a global DNA methylation marker - LINE-1 and a tumor suppressor gene highly associated with the malignancy of HCC- RASSF1A in serum as a novel prognostic marker for diagnosis of early recurrence after curative resection.LINE-1 was hypomethylated in 66.7% (70/105) and RASSF1A promoter was hypermethylated in 73.3% (77/105) of HCC serum DNA samples by methylation specific PCR, but in none of the healthy controls: LINE-1 hypometylation (0/50) and RASSF1A hypermethylation (0/50). A significant association was found between LINE-1 hypomethylation and clinical pathologic features including HBsAg positivity (p=0.009), tumor size (p=0.001) and AFP levels (p

Background Checkpoint blockade immunotherapy has improved metastatic cancer patient survival, but response rates remain low. There is an unmet need to identify mechanisms and tools to circumvent resistance. In human patients, responses to checkpoint blockade therapy correlate with tumor mutation load, and intrinsic resistance associates with pre-treatment signatures of epithelial mesenchymal transition (EMT), immunosuppression, macrophage chemotaxis and TGFβ signaling. Methods To facilitate studies on mechanisms of squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) evasion of checkpoint blockade immunotherapy, we sought to develop a novel panel of murine syngeneic SCC lines reflecting the heterogeneity of human cancer and its responses to immunotherapy. We characterized six Kras-driven cutaneous SCC lines with a range of mutation loads. Following implantation into syngeneic FVB mice, we examined multiple tumor responses to α-PD-1, α-TGFβ or combinatorial therapy, including tumor growth rate and regression, tumor immune cell composition, acquired tumor immunity, and the role of cytotoxic T cells and Tregs in immunotherapy responses. Results We show that α-PD-1 therapy is ineffective in establishing complete regression (CR) of tumors in all six SCC lines, but causes partial tumor growth inhibition of two lines with the highest mutations loads, CCK168 and CCK169. α-TGFβ monotherapy results in 20% CR and 10% CR of established CCK168 and CCK169 tumors respectively, together with acquisition of long-term anti-tumor immunity. α-PD-1 synergizes with α-TGFβ, increasing CR rates to 60% (CCK168) and 20% (CCK169). α-PD-1 therapy enhances CD4 + Treg/CD4 + Th ratios and increases tumor cell pSmad3 expression in CCK168 SCCs, whereas α-TGFβ antibody administration attenuates these effects. We show that α-TGFβ acts in part through suppressing immunosuppressive Tregs induced by α-PD-1, that limit the anti-tumor activity of α-PD-1 monotherapy. Additionally, in vitro and in vivo, α-TGFβ acts directly on the tumor cell to attenuate EMT, to activate a program of gene expression that stimulates immuno-surveillance, including up regulation of genes encoding the tumor cell antigen presentation machinery. Conclusions We show that α-PD-1 not only initiates a tumor rejection program, but can induce a competing TGFβ-driven immuno-suppressive program. We identify new opportunities for α-PD-1/α-TGFβ combinatorial treatment of SCCs especially those with a high mutation load, high CD4+ T cell content and pSmad3 signaling. Our data form the basis for clinical trial of α-TGFβ/α-PD-1 combination therapy (NCT02947165). Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (10.1186/s40425-018-0493-9) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users.

Ever-increasing demands for a higher bandwidth of data in the optical communications augment the operating frequency of components and systems. To accelerate the development of these large-bandwidth technologies, there is a growing demand to characterize the frequency response of optical devices in real time. In this work, we report a method to significantly improve the measurement speed of an optical vector network analyzer (OVNA) with coherent time-stretch (CTS). Single-shot frequency spectrum measurements are enabled by time-stretch technology that maps the spectrum of an optical pulse to the time domain. Compared to single-ended detection, the implementation of coherent detection enables the acquiring of accurate phase information of the signal and also provides the digital processed cancellation of dispersion-induced impairments. By utilizing dispersive time-stretch and digital coherent detection techniques, we demonstrate an ultrafast and wide bandwidth OVNA. We successfully characterize its performance by measuring the frequency response of a micro-ring cavity and a silicon Mach–Zehnder interferometer with 0.07-nm spectral resolution and 0.156-rad phase accuracy over 10-nm bandwidth. Meanwhile, the dynamic responses of the magnitude and phase, and the drift of the resonance wavelength of the micro-ring modulator under thermal tuning, were fully recorded by the CTS-OVNA at a 20-MHz frame rate.

In order to study the blast damage effect of kinetic energy warhead. It is concerned with use the hydro code AUTODYN for the simulation of explosive loading interactions to multilayer runway. A study is presented including an investigation of the effect of blasting depth, layer of runway, boundary of target. Comparisons and analysis are made with crater size, crunch area radius, damage area and the peak pressure. Based on this analysis Based on the theoretical analysis and numerical simulation results, Preliminary rule between explosive effect and influence parameter is obtained. The simulated results have reference value for the design of the penetrator and damage evaluation.

Introduction: Reconfigurable field effect transistors (RFET) have the ability to toggle polarity between n- and pconductance at runtime [1], [2]. The here presented multiple independent gate (MIG) RFET expands the device functionality by offering additional logical inputs, valuable for e.g. efficient XOR or majority gate implementations [3], [4] or the here originally presented multiplexer circuit. Moreover, for the first time with a top-down RFET approach equal ON-currents are obtained for every configuration while requiring only one supply voltage (VDD). Working principle: The presented RFET consists of an intrinsic silicon nanowire channel (Fig. 1a). At both ends NiSi₂ is intruded, which has a work function aligned near to the middle of the Si band gap. Each of the resulting Schottky junctions is gated individually (CG1, PG) and additional gates are introduced along the channel (CG2, CG3). The program gate (PG) determines the device’s polarity and has the same potential as the corresponding drain (0 V for hole or VDD for electron conductance). If all control gates (CG1-3) are biased equally, the RFET turns ON Fig. 3a, b, f, g). Whenever any or all CGs are biased equally to the source’s potential, a potential barrier is formed, switching the RFET OFF (Fig. 3c-e, h-j). Hence, the FET works as wired-AND logic gate (Fig. 6a). The fabrication with CMOS compatible processes and materials is based on a 20 nm silicon-on-insulator (SOI) wafer and requires no doping. The nanowire is formed by a reactive ion etch process [5]. By repeated oxidation and HF etching the wire is further rounded and thinned to ca. 60 nm width and 4 nm height. An omega-shaped gate stack of 5 nm SiO₂, and conductive TiN, Ti and Pt surrounds and radially compresses the wire (Fig. 1b). Finally, nickel is deposited at both ends of the wire and atomically abrupt and flat NiSi₂ Schottky junctions are formed (Fig. 1c). Performance: The transfer characteristics in Fig. 4 reveal an ON/OFF ratio of five orders of magnitudes and ONcurrents which are equal regardless of the programmed configuration. Additionally, only one supply voltage is needed for gates and drain. Despite its necessity for the use in complementary logic circuits, this symmetry was never achieved before for top-down fabricated RFETs. For NiSi₂ and Si, the Schottky barrier height is slightly lower for holes than for electrons leading to initially asymmetric ON-currents. However, by the influence of the omega gate stressor on the band structure the electron and hole injection through the Schottky barrier can be equalized as demonstrated in Fig. 2 [6]. Fig. 4 further shows that the minimum subthreshold swing SS and threshold voltage are lower for the switching with CG2 and CG3 than for all combinations including CG1. This is because CG1 directly controls the inlet at the Schottky junction whereas the other gates only build a conventional channel barrier. Having two efficiently switching gates (CG2+3), as demonstrated for the first time, thus improves the efficiency of RFETs. From Fig. 5 it can be seen that the gates’ voltage determines the shape of the output characteristics. Hole dominated currents rise with retard because the injecting Schottky barrier is still non-transparent for tunneling at VD = 0 V. Applications of the device reach from camouflage circuits for hardware secure authentication [7] and fine-grained FPGAs [8] over area and power-delay optimized circuits [3], [4] to novel logic synthesis based on majority-inverter graphs [9]. As a graspable and novel example, the presented device can serve as transmission gate (Fig. 6b) in a multiplexer (MUX) (Fig. 6c, d), which requires program gates at both in- and output. An n-bit MUX can be reduced by every second stage, thus only (2^[n+1]− 2^i)/3 transmission gates are required, with i=1 for odd and i=2 for even numbers of n (with classical CMOS: 2^[n+1] − 2). For a 4-bit MUX this results in altogether 30% less transistors when considering also the select and program signal inverters and the reduced buffer needs (Fig. 6e). Eventually, more gates per transistor can further reduce the transistor count, e.g. for a 5-gate RFET in a 6-bit MUX by even 42%. [1] A. Heinzig et al., Nano Lett., vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 119–124, (2012). [2] M. D. Marchi et al., in Electron Devices Meeting (IEDM), 2012 IEEE International, pp. 8.4.1–8.4.4, (2012). [3] P.-E. Gaillardon et al., in Test Symposium (LATS), 2016 17th Latin-American, pp. 195–200, (2016). [4] J. Trommer et al., in 2016 Design, Automation Test in Europe Conference Exhibition (DATE), pp. 169–174, (2016). [5] M. Simon et al., IEEE Trans. Nanotechnol., vol. 16, no. 5, pp. 812–819, (2017). [6] T. Baldauf et al., Solid-State Electron., vol. 128, pp. 148–154, (2017). [7] Y. Bi et al., in 2014 IEEE 23rd Asian Test Symposium, pp. 342–347, (2014). [8] P. E. Gaillardon et al., IEEE Trans. Very Large Scale Integr. (VLSI) Syst., vol. 23, no. 10, pp. 2187–2197, (2015). [9] L. Amaru et al., Proc. IEEE, vol. 103, no. 11, pp. 2168–2195, (2015).

LTCBDE combined with or without modified techniques is safe and efficacious for the management of gallstones and concomitant, even large, common bile duct (CBD) stones. To describe the surgical indications and procedure strategies of laparoscopic transcystic common bile duct exploration (LTCBDE), a retrospective analysis of 205 patients with concomitant gallstones and CBD stones treated using LTCBDE between June 2008 and June 2015 was performed. Clinical data on disease characteristics, methods for cystic duct incision and CBD stone extraction (with or without laser lithotripsy), and surgical outcomes were collected and reviewed. CBD stones were successfully cleared in all patients. No patient was converted to choledochotomy or laparotomy. The cystic duct diameter ranged 3–8 mm, and 85 patients with cystic duct diameter ≥ 5 mm. The mean time for CBD stone extraction was 25.3 min, with the operative time ranged from 63 to 170 min. Lithotripsy was used in 74 (36.1%) patients among which 26 patients with cystic duct diameter ≥ 5 mm. Estimated blood loss during surgery was 10–120 ml per patient, and no intra-operative blood transfusions were needed. The mean postoperative hospital stay was 5.1 (range 3–7) days, and postoperative complications developed in seven patients. No bile duct injury, stricture, remnant, recurrent stones, or other adverse events were observed during the mean follow-up of 8 months. Based on preoperative MRCP and intra-operative IOC findings about cystic duct diameter, the diameter of CBD, CBD stone size, we summarized and proposed the surgical indications and suitable techniques and strategies during LTCBDE.

A series of simulations were carried out to investigate the residual stress induced in the photovoltaic laminate during the cooling process after lamination with a global model and several submodels. The simulations focus separately on the effects of the cooling rate, the cell layout and anisotropy on the residual stress and deformation of the photovoltaic laminate in a comparative manner with the finite element method. The results have shown that significant stress concentration and twist occurs in the interconnection region in the cell. In addition, different cooling rates, cell layouts and anisotropy only influence the largest stress rather than the stress distribution and deformation. Therefore, the results of a uniform stationary isotropic model with fewer cells can provide enough insight into the stress distribution in real photovoltaic laminates and the modified largest first principal stress can be used for design and verification.

To achieve an excellent rectification for molecular rectifiers has been an unmet goal to date. Here, we report calculated results on high-performance molecular rectifiers, where two semi-infinite graphene electrodes are periodically doped with boron and nitrogen atoms, respectively. It is surprising to find that there exists a particular coupling selection for energy bands of electrodes to the central molecule and unique bias-polarity-dependent band matching relations between two electrodes, leading to an unexpectedly high rectification ratio (>109) in a large bias region. This is a much higher value than that for macroscopic p–n junction diodes (105–107), and typical behaviors for conventional diodes are also clearly observed. The robust rectifications are further tested by varying the length and type of molecules, doping concentrations, and width of electrodes.

The dynamic responses and blast resistance of all-metallic sandwich plates with functionally graded close-celled aluminum foam cores are investigated using finite element simulations, and compared with those of ungraded single-layer sandwich plates. Upon validating the numerical approach using existing experimental data and introducing the present computational model, different graded sandwich plates under air blast loading are analyzed in terms of deformation and blast resistance. The effects of face-sheet arrangements and interfacial adhesion strength between different foam layers are quantified. The results demonstrate that relative to conventional ungraded plates subjected to identical air blast loading, the graded plates possess smaller central transverse deflection and superior blast resistance, with further improvement achievable by optimizing the foam core arrangement. The blast resistance of both graded and ungraded sandwich plates subjected to the constraint of equivalent mass is also explored.

PURPOSE:: To assess the intraobserver and interobserver variability of new software for the analysis of anterior chamber-angle images obtained using ultrasound biomicroscopy (UBM). PATIENTS AND METHODS:: Consecutive UBM images of 4 quadrants (the superior, the nasal, the temporal, and the inferior) of 30 primary angle-closure suspects (PACSs) and 30 normal subjects with open angles were selected. Two observers used the new UBM image analysis software to calculate the following parameters on 2 separate occasions: angle opening distance (AOD), trabecular-iris angle (TIA), angle recess area (ARA), trabecular-ciliary process distance (TCPD), iris-ciliary process distance (ICPD), and iris thickness (IT). Intraobserver and interobserver reproducibility were measured using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and Bland-Altman plots. RESULTS:: For intraobserver measurements in PACS, the range of ICC for AODs, TIAs, ARAs, TCPDs, ICPDs, and ITs in the 4 quadrants were 0.77 to 0.94, 0.80 to 0.92, 0.82 to 0.94, 0.51 to 0.73, 0.42 to 0.78, and 0.76 to 0.89; in open angles, these were 0.83 to 0.94, 0.80 to 0.93, 0.84 to 0.93, 0.57 to 0.89, 0.57 to 0.84, and 0.70 to 0.95. For interobserver measurements in PACS, the range of ICC for AODs, TIAs, ARAs, TCPDs, ICPDs, and ITs in the same quadrants as above were 0.52 to 0.89, 0.65 to 0.92, 0.68 to 0.92, 0.22 to 0.80, 0.48 to 0.93, and 0.29 to 0.75; in open angles, these were 0.57 to 0.87, 0.60 to 0.86, 0.64 to 0.90, 0.27 to 0.94, 0.56 to 0.93, and 0.28 to 0.66. CONCLUSIONS:: Angle width (AOD, TIA, and ARA) and IT of both PACS and open angles could be reliably measured by the same observer; interobserver measurements and those related to the ciliary process (TCPD and ICPD) were more variable. For the current version of this software, we recommend measurements of anterior chamber parameters by the same observer.

Objective: Veterans evaluated at the WRIISC present with multiple and chronic health conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), pain, and fatigue. These patients often experience poor symptom relief. A pilot project was designed to determine whether such veterans would practice yoga as an adjunct to conventional medical care. We also used a range of standard screening measures to examine the health profile of individuals. Methods: Veterans were referred by VA clinicians to a WRIISC yoga clinic established in 2009. Two classes were offered per week. Veterans were assessed at baseline and after 12 classes with the PTSD Ch ecklist (PCL), Short F orm McGill Pain Questionnaire (SF-12), and the Flinders Fatigue Scale (FFS). Results: There have been 293 patient referrals so far and more than 1,824 yoga contact hours. Detailed data were collected on 10 veterans age 53–85 yrs (6 males). The screening instruments revealed nonsignificant benefits of yoga across the classes (p > .05). Furthermore, the PCL scores showed that four patients (40%) screened positive for PTSD (mean severity score = 40.9, range = 18–70). In addition, the PCL showed positive correlations with measures of pain (FS-12; Spearman’s rho = .76, p < .01), and chronic fatigue (FFS; Spearman’s rho = .94, p < .001). Similar results were found for equivalent correlations after 12 yoga classes. Conclusion: This pilot study demonstrates that veterans accept yoga as a complementary treatment to their regular medical care. Of possible significance is the observation that 40% of the patients screened positive for PTSD. The reasons for this are not clear but may be because such patients were referred at a higher rate. It is also possible that PTSD patients seek out yoga classes as an effective means of treating their symptoms. The strong correlations between measures of PTSD, pain, and fatigue suggest far-reaching implications for the integration of yoga in the treatment of veterans with a broad array of disorders exacerbated by stress. 2. Yoga-based Psychotherapy Group With Urban Youth Exposed to Trauma

In this study, a novel feature extraction scheme was proposed for engine fault diagnosis utilizing the generalized S-transform combined with the non-negative tensor factorization (NTF). To represent the information of the non-stationary vibration signals acquired from engine, the generalized S-transform was used to get a time–frequency distribution with enhanced energy concentration. Meanwhile, a newly developed technique called NTF, which can preserve more structure information hiding in original two-dimensional matrices compared to the non-negative matrix factorization (NMF), was adopted to extract more informative features from the time–frequency matrices. Five operating states of engine were tested in an experiment for evaluating the proposed feature extraction scheme. Four different types of learning algorithms were employed to conduct the fault classification task. The NMF technique was also used for feature extraction and compared with the NTF approach. The experimental results have demonstrated that the proposed feature extraction scheme can achieve a satisfactory performance when applied to diagnose the engine faults.

Background and study aim: Endoscopic therapy of brisk upper gastrointestinal bleeding remains challenging. A proprietary nanopowder (TC-325) has been proven to be effective in high pressure bleeding from external wounds. The efficacy and safety of TC-325 were assessed in a survival gastrointestinal bleeding animal model. Method: 10 animals were randomized to treatment or sham. All animals received intravenous antibiotics, H2-blockers and heparin (activated clotting time 2 × normal). In a sterile laparotomy the gastroepiploic vessels were dissected, inserted through a 1-cm gastrotomy, and freely exposed in the gastric lumen, and the exposed vessel lacerated by needle knife. The treatment group received TC-325 by a modified delivery catheter while the sham group received no endoscopic treatment. Time to hemostasis, and mortality at 60 minutes, 24 hours, 48 hours, and 7 days were noted. Necropsy was performed in all animals. Results: Spurting arterial bleeding was achieved in all animals. No control animal showed hemostasis within the first hour compared with 100 % (5 / 5) in the treatment arm (mean 13.8 minutes, P < 0.0079). Durable hemostasis was achieved with no evidence of rebleeding after 1 and 24 hours in 80 % (4 / 5) of the treated animals compared with none in the control group ( P < 0.0098). None of the control animals survived more than 6 hours. Necropsy at 1 week in treated animals revealed healed gastrotomy without foreign body granuloma or embolization to the lung or brain. Conclusion: TC-325 is safe and highly effective in achieving hemostasis in an anticoagulated severe arterial gastrointestinal bleeding animal model.

The objective of this pilot study was to determine the preliminary efficacy of a novel ophthalmic suspension containing povidone-iodine 0.4% and dexamethasone 0.1% in the treatment of adenoviral conjunctivitis. A prospective, open-label, single-armed, phase II clinical trial in humans. Eligible patients with the clinical signs and symptoms of acute conjunctivitis who tested positive for adenoviral antigen by Rapid Pathogen Screening (RPS) Adeno Detector™ were enrolled in a single treatment arm consisting of a combination povidone-iodine 0.4%/dexamethasone 0.1% sterile ophthalmic suspension given four times daily for a minimum of 5 days. RPS Adeno Detector testing was performed at baseline and at each follow-up visit along with ocular fluid sampling by conjunctival swabs. Subsequent analysis performed on all swabs included both adenoviral titer by quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) and cell culture with confirmatory immunofluorescence (CC-IFA). The primary endpoint was clinical resolution of conjunctival injection and discharge. Secondary measures included reduction of qPCR titers and eradication of infectious virus as determined by CC-IFA. A total of nine eyes of six patients with clinical signs and symptoms of acute viral conjunctivitis and a positive RPS Adeno Detector test result were enrolled in the study. In eight/nine eyes enrolled in the study, clinical resolution was observed by day 3 or day 4. In six/six eyes with detectable adenovirus by qPCR, significant reduction in viral titer was seen by day 3, day 4, or day 5. In five/six eyes with infectious virus confirmed by CC-IFA at enrollment, elimination of infectivity was achieved by day 4 or day 5. One patient was lost to follow-up. An ophthalmic suspension containing povidone-iodine 0.4% and dexamethasone 0.1% may be a useful agent in the treatment of acute RPS Adeno Detector-positive conjunctivitis. A further placebo-controlled study with a larger number of patients is warranted.

Background and purpose: In Dahl S rats, high salt increases activity of the tissue renin-angiotensin-aldosterone system (RAAS) in the CNS, heart and kidneys. Here, we assessed the effects of chronic angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibition on salt-induced hypertension and cardiovascular and renal hypertrophy and fibrosis, relative to the extent of ACE blockade.

To explore the mechanism whereby stem cell factor (SCF) and granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) jointly mobilize bone marrow stem cells (BMSCs) and promote kidney repair, male Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly assigned into 4 groups. In the treatment control group, rats were administered SCF (200 μg·kg(-1)·day(-1)) and G-CSF (50 μg·kg-1·day-1) for 5 days. In the treatment group, RIRI models were established, and 6 h later, SCF (200 μg·kg(-1)·day(-1)) and G-CSF (50 μg·kg(-1)·day(-1)) were administered for 5 days. In the model and treatment groups, tubular epithelial cell degeneration and necrosis were noticed, but the extent of repair in the treatment group was significantly better than in the model group. Five days after the operation, renal tissue CD34+ cells significantly increased in the model and treatment groups compared with the control and treatment control groups. HIF-1α, VEGF, and EPO expression in treatment groups increased significantly compared with the other groups. HIF- 1α, VEGF, EPO expression in the treatment control group increased significantly compared with the control group. Joint use of SCF and G-CSF increased the number of BMSCs in damaged kidney tissue and reduced the degree of renal tissue damage. BMSCs promote increased HIF-1α expression in renal tissue. Increased kidney tissue HIF- 1α and its target gene products VEGF and EPO expression possibly induce SCF and G-CSF to promote acute tubular necrosis repair.

After an ordinary mesa is fabricated on a piece of single crystal Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8þd, another ion milling concentrating on the center of the mesa is carried out, resulting in a U-shaped structure with a very thin stack of intrinsic Josephson junctions sitting at its bottom. By using low energy in the milling and reducing the etching rates, we can control the junction number precisely and even a single intrinsic Josephson junction can be fabricated. The I–V characteristics for 4-, 3-, and 1-junction arrays are shown here to support the argument. In the last case (a single junction), some typical structures are believed to be attributable to the behavior of a superconductor–insulator–superconductor (S–I–S) junction with an IcRn product of 7.2 mV at 4.2 K, and a suppressed energy gap structure of D ¼ 12 meV. Various microwave-induced steps are observed in the frequency range of 1–20 GHz. � 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Inelastic coherent neutron scattering experiments have been performed to study the low-frequency structural excitations in single crystals of the incommensurate superconducting Bi2Sr2CuO6 + δ (Bi-2201) system. As in the Bi-2212 family, the observation of two well-defined propagating "acoustic-like" branches around the main Bragg reflections reflects its composite nature. The two modes naturally correspond to the separate motions of the two sublattices. Constant-Q scans reveal a rapid evolution of the dynamical structure factor with the wave vector.

With etching rates of argon ion milling greatly reduced, the conventional fabrication process of mesa-structured intrinsic Josephson junctions is improved by precisely controlling and measuring the parameters of the fabrication, which include the thickness of metal layers and the time and etching rates of argon ion milling. We have obtained intrinsic Josephson junctions of mesa structure, in which the number of junctions ranges from 3 to 12 and is controllable with the error within ±1. The thickness of the Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8+x layer damaged by the etching process is about 2.7 nm, which also contributes to the junction number in intrinsic Josephson junctions. The critical current of each junction in the intrinsic Josephson junctions is consistent except for a surface junction, which shows a nonlinear resistance in the current–voltage (I–V) curves. With the fabrication of two top electrodes on the mesa and four-probe measurement, the surface junction is eliminated and the standard supercurrent is registered in the I–V curves.

The resistance standard maintained at the Electrotechnical Laboratory (ETL, Japan) is based on the resistance of the second plateau of the quantized Hall resistance, RH(2). A resistance ratio bridge with a cryogenic current comparator (CCC) is used for the measurements. The typical relative standard uncertainty in measuring a 1 ? resistor is estimated to be about 4 ? 10-9. The resistance standard maintained at the National Institute of Metrology (NIM, China) is based on the average value of six wire-wound 1 ? resistors. It was monitored using the ETL quantum Hall effect (QHE) resistance standard in 1992, 1996 and 2000 by bringing 1 ? resistors from the NIM to the ETL or from the ETL to the NIM. The drift rate of the standard was measured to be -0.024 ??/year. The NIM has developed a CCC bridge. The typical relative standard uncertainty in measuring a 1 ? resistor using this CCC bridge and the QHE system of the NIM is estimated to be about 7 ? 10-9. The NIM QHE system was compared with the ETL QHE resistance standard by bringing three 1 ? resistors from the ETL to the NIM. Differences in the measurements were (+3.9 ? 8.9) n?, (+1.0 ? 9.9) n? and (-0.9 ? 9.1) n?, respectively.

Correction to: Cell Death and Disease (2014) 5, e1116; doi:10.1038/cddis.2014.82; published online 13 March 2014 Since the publication of this paper, it has been noted that affiliations 2 and 3 have been assigned incorrectly. Affiliation 2 should read ‘Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, JiangsuKey Laboratory of Neuroregeneration, Nantong University, Nantong, People’s Republic of China’, while affiliation 3 should read ‘Tenth People’s Hospital Affiliated to Tongji University, Shanghai, People’s Republic of China’.

As it is known, track transportation can be divided into track system above and track system below. While the train is moving, the parts above and below are subject to interaction and influence. The shortcoming of dynamic analysis in the past cannot usually reflect how the substructure of track including subgrade affects the running train. The analysis mentioned above indicates that the track damage involves not only the failure in strength of components but also the overdeformation or intolerable settlement of the system below track. So, in connection with the train running, taking track–subgrade as a part of vibration structure of the vehicle model, a vehicle–subgrade model of vertical coupled system has been presented. In this paper, the interactions between the vehicle running quality and the subgrade design parameters have been investigated in systematic concept and from the viewpoint of systematic matching.

We present neutron scattering investigations of the structural dynamical properties of the aperiodic layered compound, Bi2Sr2CaCu2O8 + δ. Acoustic phonons behave identically around the assumed average structure Bragg reflection and around the first satellite. This observation proves that the collective dynamics related to the incommensurate structure are quite different from what is expected in a modulated incommensurate model. Our data indicate two acoustic-like longitudinal branches along the incommensurate direction. Such behavior is compatible with a composite incommensurate structure where these two Bragg peaks correspond to the main reflections of each subsystem.

Optical and structural investigations of InAs quantum dots (QDs) covered by InxGa1-xAs (0 less than or equal to x less than or equal to 0.3) overgrowth layer have been systematically reported. The decrease of strain in the growth direction of InAs quantum dots covered by InGaAs layer instead of GaAs is demonstrated by transmission electron microscopy experiments. In addition, the atomic force microscopy measurement shows that the surface of InAs islands with 3-nm-thick In0.2Ga0.8As becomes flatter. However, the InGaAs islands nucleate on the top of quantum dots during the process of InAs islands covered with In0.3Ga0.7As. The significant redshift of the photoluminescence peak energy and reduction of photoluminescence linewidth of InAs quantum dots covered by InGaAs are observed. The energy gap change of InAs QDs covered by InGaAs could be explained in terms of reducing strain, suppressing compositional mixing, and increasing island height. (C) 2000 American Institute of Physics. [S0021-8979(00)04018-4].

A clinical study of nolatrexed dihydrochloride (AG337, Thymitaq(TM)) in combination with paclitaxel was performed. The aims were to optimize the schedule of administration and determine any pharmacokinetic (PK) interactions between the two drugs. In vitro combination studies were performed to assist with schedule optimization. Three patients were entered on each of three different schedules of administration of the two drugs: (1) paclitaxel 0-3 h, nolatrexed 24-144 h; (2) nolatrexed 0-120 h, paclitaxel 48-51 h; (3) nolatrexed 0-120 h, paclitaxel 126-129 h. Paclitaxel was administered at a dose of 80 mg m(-2) over 3 h and nolatrexed at a dose of 500 mg m(-2) day(-1) as a 120-h continuous intravenous infusion. Plasma concentrations of both drugs were determined by high performance liquid chromatography. in vitro growth inhibition studies using corresponding schedules were performed using two head and neck cancer cell lines. In both HNX14C and HNX22B cell lines, synergistic growth inhibition was observed on schedule 2, whereas schedules 1 and 3 demonstrated antagonistic effects. In the clinical study, there was no effect of schedule on the pharmacokinetics of nolatrexed. However, patients on schedules 1 and 3 had a higher clearance of paclitaxel (322-520 mi min(-1) m(-2)) than those on schedule 2 (165-238 mi min(-1) m(-2)). Peak plasma concentrations (1.66-1.93 vs 0.86-1.32 mu M) and areas under the curve (392-565 vs 180-291 mu M min(-1)) of paclitaxel were correspondingly higher on schedule 2. The pharmacokinetic interaction was confirmed by studies with human liver microsomes, nolatrexed being an inhibitor of the major routes of metabolism of paclitaxel. Toxicity was not schedule-dependent. Nolatrexed and paclitaxel may be safely given together when administered sequentially at the doses used in this study. Studies in vitro suggest some synergy, however, due to a pharmacokinetic interaction, paclitaxel doses should be reduced when administered during nolatrexed infusion. (C) 2000 Cancer Research Campaign.

Control of the source and analysis of the polarization properties of the reflected light in a laser rangefinder based on triangulation offer a potential solution to the problem of distinguishing the primary laser stripe from unwanted inter-reflections caused by holes and concavities on metal surfaces. In this paper, the established polarization theory of first and subsequent inter-reflections from metallic surfaces is reviewed. This provides a point of comparison for ellipsometric measurements which verify the particular applicability of the microfacet surface model in our context. We demonstrate how a conventional laser rangefinder can be modified to discriminate between primary and secondary reflections. However, our experiments on third and subsequent reflections show that more complex models are required to provide complete resolution of the problem. Furthermore, error analysis demonstrates the requirement for very precise control of the source and receiving optoelectronics. We conclude by demonstrating the acquisition of a depth image with and without polarization optics and discuss the significance of our results for laser depth measurement.

According to the actual conditions in our country at present that the campus network has multiple exports, in order to reduce the cost of computer network, and provide high reliability and scalability, this paper based on the Linux operating system, through changing the strategy routing algorithm, implements the null-routing strategies based on attack test and routing strategies based on cost, meanwhile, modifies the process flow of data packets through Linux kernel, to improve the performance of the routing. In practical application, the system operation is proven to be safe, reliable and stable.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: We have developed a new thermosensitive liquid embolic agent, PIB nanogel, that can be solidified at body temperature. We thus further investigated the distribution, durability of vascular occlusion, and inflammatory reactions of PIB in embolization of the renal artery of rabbits. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The bilateral renal arteries of 9 rabbits were first embolized with PIB at different injection rates. The distribution pattern of PIB was investigated by contact radiography and histology 1 hour after embolization. The right renal arteries of 20 rabbits were then embolized with PIB at the proper injection rate. Angiography and pathologic examination of the kidneys were performed at 1 week and 1, 2, and 3 months after embolization to evaluate the long-term outcomes. RESULTS: With the injection rate increasing, PIB could reach the more distal branch of the renal artery. The proper injection rate was chosen as 0.10 mL/s due to the homogeneous distribution of PIB from the main renal artery to the precapillary level at this rate. During a 3-month follow-up observation period, no angiographic recanalization was observed. Histologically, we found no disruption of the vessel wall or subintimal bleeding, no extravasation of PIB, and no evidence of neovascularization. Moreover, there was only a mild inflammatory response, manifested by few lymphocytic and monocellular infiltration, without foreign body granuloma formation. CONCLUSIONS: Embolization of the renal artery with PIB was easy and controllable, which could lead to a homogeneous and persistent occlusion without severe inflammatory changes. PIB might be a suitable material for intravascular embolization.