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A nuclear power plant is one of the power sources that shares a large portion of base-load. However, as the proportion of renewable energy increases, nuclear power plants will be required to generate power more flexibly due to the intermittency of the renewable energy sources. This paper reviews a layout thermally integrating the liquid air energy storage system with a nuclear power plant. To evaluate the performance realistically while optimizing the layout, operating nuclear power plant conditions are used. After revisiting the analysis, the optimized performance of the proposed system is predicted to achieve 59.96% of the round-trip efficiency. However, it is further shown that external environmental conditions could deteriorate the performance. For the design of liquid air energy storage-nuclear power plant integrated systems, both the steam properties of the linked plants and external factors should be considered.

Air pollution sensors based on organic transistors have attracted much interest recently; however, the devices suffer from low responsivity and slow response and recovery rates for gas analytes. These shortcomings are attributed to the low charge-carrier mobility of organic semiconductors and to a structural limitation resulting from the use of a thick and continuous active layer. In the present work, we investigated the material properties of a multiscale porous zeolitic imidazolate framework, [Zn(2-methylimidazole)2]n (ZIF-8), and examined its potential as an analyte channel material inserted at an organic-transistor active layer. A series of carbonized zeolitic imidazolate frameworks (ZIFs) were prepared by thermal conversion of ZIF-8 and also studied for comparison. The microstructures, morphologies, and optical/electrical characteristics of polythiophene/ZIF-8 hybrid films were systematically investigated. Organic-transistor-type nitrogen dioxide sensors based on the polythiophene/ZIF-8 hybrid films showed substantially improved sensing properties, including responsivity, response rate, and recovery rate. The electrical conductivity of the carbonized ZIF-8s enhanced the field-effect mobility of the organic transistors; however, the sensing performance was not improved, because of the closed pore structures resulting from the carbonization. These results provide invaluable information and useful insights into the design of transistor-type gas sensors based on organic semiconductor/metal-organic framework hybrid films.

In clinical islet transplantation, hepatic ischemia and insufficient neovascularization of transplanted islets are barriers to islet survival and function. However, hepatocytes have a potency to protect themselves against ischemia. We hypothesized that ischemia/reperfusion preconditioning (IRP) of hepatocytes might beneficially affect islet cells in a coculture system. Primary islets were cocultured with primary hepatocytes, and hepatocyte IRP was conducted by subjecting cells to hypoxic conditions for single 15-minute/30-minute hypoxia, or 2 tandem 15-minute/30-minute hypoxic treatments (hypoxic-normoxic-hypoxic). We show that gene expression levels of insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), transforming growth factor-α (TGF-α), and TGF-β1 in hepatocytes were increased by IRP. IRP hepatocytes secreted hepatocyte growth factor and insulin-like growth factor-1. Coculture of islets with IRP hepatocytes enhanced islet insulin secretion in glucose challenge test and expression of the survival-related gene Bcl-2 and the regenerating gene-1α (Reg-1α). Islets cocultured with the 30-minute double-IRP hepatocytes displayed significantly higher viability in the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide assay and terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase dUTP nick end labeling stain compared with that of islets subjected to 30 minutes of hypoxia. These results suggest that islet coculture with IRP hepatocytes can improve islet survival and insulin secretion.

We investigated the optical reflectance, surface roughness, and sheet resistance of aluminum (Al)/titanium nitride (TiN), titanium (Ti), and tungsten (W) layers on Si substrates, which are available in the CMOS foundry, for organic light-emitting diode (OLED) microdisplays. The devices with different metal anode layers exhibited different hole-injection properties and OLED performances, owing to the different optical and electrical properties of metal anode layers. Based on the OLED characteristics, the Al/TiN layer was selected as an anode layer for OLED microdisplays. A green monochromatic OLED microdisplay panel was designed and implemented using the 0.11-μm CMOS process. The density of pixels was ~2 351 pixels per inch and the panel's active area was 0.7 in in diagonal. The resolution of the panel was 1 280 × 3 × 1 024, corresponding to SXGA. The panel was successfully operated, and the maximal luminance was ~460 cd/m2.

Reactive oxygen species levels in semen with low quality increased from 25% to about 40%. Resveratrol (Res) is a natural grape-derived phytoalexin, and epigallocatechin-3-gallate (EGCG) is the major polyphenol in green tea (Camellia sinensis); both molecules are known to have high levels of antioxidant activity. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of this antioxidant's supplementation on cryopreservation of stallion semen with poor quality. Experiment 1: Experiment design to asses stallions semen quality (n = 3). Arabian stallions were managed for breeding with fresh, extended, or chilled semen during 2 years (in two breeding season) with a resulting per cycle pregnancy rate (103/41 estrus cycle/conception) of 39.80%. A total of 81 ejaculates were collected and evaluated in fresh condition (total and progressive motility, membrane integrity, acrosome defects, morphology, and abnormal DNA condensation). Evaluation of several ejaculates revealed that sperm production and semen quality mostly did not change during the breeding season, maintaining normal sperm production with poor quality. Experiment 2: 18 ejaculates, collected with Missouri model artificial vagina from Arabian stallion (n = 3). Extended semen was centrifuged at 600 × g for 10 minutes. To eliminate individual stallion variability, the resulting sperm pellets were pooled and divided in seven different treatments in a final concentration of 100 × 106 sperm/mL by using semiskimmed milk extender containing no supplements (control), and the following supplements with three different concentrations: Res 5, 10, and 20 μM (Res 1, Res 2, Res 3, respectively) and EGCG 25, 50, 100 μM (EGCG 1, EGCG 2, and EGCG 3, respectively). After thawing, all samples were maintained at 37°C for 10 minutes. Evaluation of motility, plasma membrane integrity, viability, mitochondria activity, DNA fragmentation, and lipid peroxidation was determined. For all semen parameters, the lower concentration of Res (5 μM) and EGCG (25 μM) did not show significant differences compared to control (P > .05). Relative to the control group, Res 2 had better (P

Rubrene-based electrochemiluminescence (r-ECL) cells with two different solvent systems is prepared, one in a co-solvent system with a mixture of 1,2-dichlorobenzene and propylene carbonate (DCB : PC, v/v 3 : 1) and another in a single solvent system of tetrahydrofuran (THF), as the medium to form a liquid-electrolyte (L-El). By simply changing the solvent systems, from the co-solvent DCB : PC (v/v 3 : 1) to the single solvent THF, with the same amount of electrochemiluminescent rubrene (5 mM) and Li-based salt, a dramatically enhanced brightness of over 30 cd m−2 is observed for the r-ECL cell in L-ElTHF which is approximately 7-times higher than the brightness of 5 cd m−2 observed for the r-ECL in L-ElDCB:PC(v/v 3:1).

Gintonin, a novel ginseng-derived glycolipoprotein complex, has an exogenous ligand for lysophosphatidic acid (LPA) receptors. However, recent lipid analysis of gintonin has shown that gintonin also contains other bioactive lipids besides LPAs, including linoleic acid and lysophosphatidylinositol (LPI). Linoleic acid, a free fatty acid, and LPI are known as ligands for the G-protein coupled receptors (GPCR), GPR40, and GPR55, respectively. We, herein, investigated whether gintonin could serve as a ligand for GPR40 and GPR55, using the insulin-secreting beta cell-derived cell line INS-1 and the human prostate cancer cell line PC-3, respectively. Gintonin dose-dependently enhanced insulin secretion from INS-1 cells. Gintonin-stimulated insulin secretion was partially inhibited by a GPR40 receptor antagonist but not an LPA1/3 receptor antagonist and was down-regulated by small interfering RNA (siRNA) against GPR40. Gintonin dose-dependently induced [Ca2+]i transients and Ca2+-dependent cell migration in PC-3 cells. Gintonin actions in PC-3 cells were attenuated by pretreatment with a GPR55 antagonist and an LPA1/3 receptor antagonist or by down-regulating GPR55 with siRNA. Taken together, these results demonstrated that gintonin-mediated insulin secretion by INS-1 cells and PC-3 cell migration were regulated by the respective activation of GPR40 and GPR55 receptors. These findings indicated that gintonin could function as a ligand for both receptors. Finally, we demonstrated that gintonin contained two more GPCR ligands, in addition to that for LPA receptors. Gintonin, with its multiple GPCR ligands, might provide the molecular basis for the multiple pharmacological actions of ginseng.

Recently, oxy-combustion cycles with CO2 dilution have been of interest to eliminate NOx emission and to facilitate CO2 capture. Theoretically, they are operated in an overall stoichiometric condition. In addition, high pressure is preferred not only for better thermal efficiency but also for easier CO2 capture and storage. In this study, a triple-coaxial-tube was selected as the simplest conceptual design for an oxy-combustion burner at elevated pressure. Flame stabilization, soot emissions, and combustion efficiencies were investigated in relation to variation of the tube size, CO2 dilution ratio, and pressure. As a result, a jet Reynolds number and CO2 diffusion could explain the flame stabilization limits. Soot emission could be reduced at atmospheric pressure when the fuel-tube tip was moved into the middle oxidant tube, which also improved the combustion efficiency. Nevertheless, serious soot emissions recurred at excessive fuel flow rates and at elevated pressures. In such conditions, a lifted flame detached from the fuel-tube tip could be employed by increasing the flow rate or enhancing the CO2 dilution, and the soot emission was reduced again without losing combustion efficiency. Finally, the flame-stabilization mechanisms of the attached flame and of the lifted flame were discussed and optimized designs and operating conditions were proposed for less soot emission and better combustion efficiency at higher pressures.

In a sodium-cooled fast reactor, a sodium-water reaction (SWR) could be occurred at pressure boundaries between the two separated systems, the steam Rankine cycle and the sodium coolant system, which results in a serious problem in the system. Since it has been a design challenge for researchers, as an alternative system, the supercritical CO 2 (S-CO 2 ) Brayton cycle was suggested. To utilize the S-CO 2 Brayton cycle to a SFR, a series of studies on the coupled system have been conducted at Korea Atomic Energy Research Institute (KAERI). The studies were mainly focused on the pressure boundary failure events and their consequences including Na-CO 2 reactions. Prior to the experimental studies, the authors classified the reaction behaviors of Na-CO 2 reaction based on the possible scenarios that could take place at pressure boundaries. Through experimental studies, it was found that the reaction follows typical chemical formulas and it is essentially dependent on the reaction temperature. More importantly, the reaction rate changed drastically at the specific temperatures and the reaction became flammable exceeding a certain temperature. To specify the design conditions of the SFR system coupled with the S-CO 2 Brayton cycle, by means of a dedicated set-up the self-ignition temperature has been evaluated. Exceeding this threshold temperature a significant increase in the reaction speed is observed. We setup an experimental apparatus and a test matrix based on one of possible scenarios where the flammable Na-CO 2 reaction takes place and we installed a visualized chemical reactor to watch reaction phenomenon around the self-ignition temperature. The experimental apparatus was designed to be easy to control heaters, to regulate gas supply, and to measure reaction temperature. Through the experiment, it was found that the flammable temperature of Na-CO 2 reaction lies between 598.3˚C and 599.9˚C and how liquid sodium reacts with gaseous carbon dioxide at these temperatures. The results will be help to set design criteria for the pressure boundary and it will take long time but an appropriate safety system would be introduced.

A parametric study that demonstrates a methodology for determining the optimum bilayer composition in a duplex SiC cladding is discussed. The structural performance of multi-layer SiC cladding design is significantly affected by radial thickness fraction of each layer. This study shows that there exists an optimal composite/monolith radial thickness fraction that minimizes failure probability for a duplex SiC cladding in steady-state operation. An exemplary reference case study shows that the duplex cladding with the inner composite fraction ∼0.4 and the outer CVD-SiC fraction ∼0.6 is found to be the optimal SiC cladding design for the current PWRs with the reference material choice for CVD-SiC and fiber reinforced composite. A marginal increase in the composite fraction from the presented optimal designs may lead to increase structural integrity by introducing some unquantified merits such as increasing damage tolerance. The major factors that affect the optimum cladding designs are temperature gradients and internal gas pressure. Clad wall thickness, thermal conductivity, and Weibull modulus are among the key design parameters/material properties.

Artificial wrinkles have recently been in the spotlight due to their potential use in high-tech applications. A spontaneously wrinkled film can be fabricated from UV-crosslinkable liquid prepolymers. Here, we controlled the wrinkle formation by simply formulating two UV-crosslinkable liquid prepolymers, tetraethylene glycol bis(4-ethenyl-2,3,5,6-tetrafluorophenyl) ether (TEGDSt) and tetraethylene glycol diacrylate (TEGDA). The wrinkles were formed from the TEGDSt/TEGDA formulated prepolymer layers containing up to 30 wt% of TEGDA. The wrinkle formation depended upon the rate of photo-crosslinking reaction of the formulated prepolymers. The first order apparent rate constant, k app , was between ca. 5.7 × 10 −3 and 12.2 × 10 −3 s −1 for the wrinkle formation. The wrinkle structures were modulated within the k app mainly due to variation in the extent of shrinkage of the formulated prepolymer layers with the content of TEGDA.

In order to obtain triplet emitters with high stability and efficiency, three homoleptic iridium(III) compounds — specifically, Ir( tpim ) 3 ( 1 ), Ir( mtpim ) 3 ( 2 ), and Ir( itpim ) 3 ( 3 ), where tpim = 1-([1,1′:3′,1″-terphenyl]-2′-yl)-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1H-imidazole, mtpim = 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-(5′-methyl-[1,1′:3′,1″-terphenyl]-2′-yl)-1H-imidazole, and itpim = 2-(4-fluorophenyl)-1-(5′-isopropyl-[1,1′:3′,1″-terphenyl]-2′-yl)-1H-imidazole — were prepared by one-pot reaction of the corresponding phenylimidazole ligand with an Ir(I) complex as a starting material. Compounds 1 – 3 emit bright sky-blue phosphorescence with λ max = 459–463 nm and phosphorescent quantum efficiencies of 0.38–0.50. Multi-layer phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes using compounds 1 – 3 as the triplet emitters and mCBP (3,3-di(9H-carbazol-9-yl)biphenyl) as the host have been fabricated. Compound 3 doped in the emissive layer demonstrate external quantum efficiency as high as 20.1% at 1000 cd/m 2 . In addition, the device based on compound 1 as an emitter shows a stable lifetime greater than 300 h at 1000 cd/m 2 , which is one of the best results concerning the device lifetime.

New highly twisted rigid blue light-emitting materials were designed, composed of pyrene with a xylene core unit and either naphthalene or phenyl end units. These blue-emitting materials were synthesized via the Suzuki cross-coupling reaction and their structures were confirmed using FT-IR, 1 H NMR, 13 C NMR, and mass spectroscopy. The optical, electrochemical and thermal properties of the materials were investigated. The non-coplanar structure introduced by highly twisted xylene units provides steric hindrance, resulting in very deep blue emission. The fabricated devices exhibited a maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 3.69% with CIE color coordinates (x, y: 0.15, 0.06).

To improve a viewing angle characteristic as well as a light extraction effect, we fabricated nanoporous polymer film (NPF) as a scattering medium as well as a light extraction component. We designed two types of organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) with strong microcavity effect containing two different hole transport layer (HTL) thickness (e.g. 30 nm and 60 nm) to investigate each optical behavior of NPF. Very interestingly, we could observe a significant enhancement of external quantum efficiency (EQE) for each device [30 nm thick HTL : 18.0 %, 60nm thick HTL : 31.6 %] when we attached 125 um thick PET film coated with NPF. Furthermore, NPF successfully suppress the viewing angle dependence to realize ideal angular emission even though it's somehow different from that of Lambertian distribution.

We report on highly efficient blue, orange, and white phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (PHOLEDs) comprising of only two organic layers. Hole transporting 4,4’,4’’-tris(N-carbazolyl)triphenylamine (TcTa) and electron transporting 2-(diphenylphosphoryl) spirofluorene (SPPO1) were used as an emitting host for orange light-emitting bis(3-benzothiazol-2-yl-9-ethyl-9Hcarbazolato) (acetoacetonate) iridium ((btc)2(acac)Ir) and blue light-emitting iridium(III)bis(4,6-difluorophenylpyridinato-N,C2’) picolinate (FIrpic) dopant, respectively. Combining these two orange and blue light-emitting layers, we successfully demonstrated a highly efficient white PHOLEDs with maintaining Commission Internationale de L’Eclairage (CIE) coordinates of (x = 0.373, y = 0.443). Accordingly, we achieved a maximum external quantum, current, and power efficiencies of 12.9 %, 30.3 cd/A, and 30.0 lm/W without out-coupling enhancement.

This study presents the importance of coherency in modeling thermal-hydraulics and mechanical behavior of a solid for an advanced prediction of cladding thermal shock fracture. In water quenching, a solid experiences dynamic heat transfer rate evolutions with phase changes of the fluid over a short quenching period. Yet, such a dynamic change of heat transfer rates has been overlooked in the analysis of thermal shock fracture. In this study, we are presenting quantitative evidence against the prevailing use of a constant heat transfer coefficient for thermal shock fracture analysis in water. We conclude that no single constant heat transfer could suffice to depict the actual stress evolution subject to dynamic fluid phase changes. Use of the surface temperature dependent heat transfer coefficient will remarkably increase predictability of thermal shock fracture of brittle materials. The presented results show a remarkable stress prediction improvement up to 80–90% of the actual stress with the use of the surface temperature dependent heat transfer coefficient. For thermal shock fracture analysis of brittle fuel cladding such as oxidized zirconium-based alloy or silicon carbide during LWR reflood, transient subchannel heat transfer coefficients obtained from a thermal-hydraulics code should be used as input for stress analysis. Such efforts will lead to a fundamental improvement in thermal shock fracture predictability over the current experimental empiricism for cladding fracture analysis during reflood.

One of the promising future nuclear energy systems, the Sodium-cooled Fast Reactor (SFR) has been actively developed internationally. Recently, to improve safety and economics of a SFR further, coupling supercritical CO2 power cycle was suggested. However, there can be a chemical reaction between sodium and CO2 at high temperature (more than 400 °C) when the pressure boundary fails in a sodium–CO2 heat exchanger. To ensure the performance of such a system, it is important to employ a cleaning agent to recover the system back to normal condition after the reaction. When sodium and CO2 react, solid and gaseous reaction products such as sodium carbonate (Na2CO3) and carbon monoxide (CO) appear. Since most of solid reaction products are hard and can deteriorate system performance, quick removal of solid reaction products becomes very important for economic performance of the system. Thus, the authors propose the conceptual method to remove the byproducts with a chemical reaction at high temperature. The chemical reaction will take place between the reaction byproducts and a cleaning agent while the cleaning agent is inert with sodium. Thus, various sodium-based compounds were first investigated and three candidate substances satisfying several criteria were selected; sodium bromate (NaBrO3), sodium chlorate (NaClO3), and sodium tetrafluoroborate (NaBF4). The selected substances were thermally analyzed with the TG/DTA studies. Unfortunately, it was revealed that all candidate substances did not react with Na2CO3 and decomposed before 600 °C. However, since no study has been performed on the issue of cleaning byproducts of Na–CO2 reaction so far, this study provides the basic guideline for the future study and suggests the future research direction and preferred characteristics of cleaning agent of sodium CO2 reaction byproducts.

Highly smooth, refractive, and transparent films have recently received attention in the fields of lighting and display applications for being used as energy saving devices via light extraction. Here, we have prepared a titanium oxide hydrate solution from titanium (IV) butoxide in N, N-dimethyl acetamide (DMAc) and evaluated inorganic films fabricated from the solution. The solution was transparent and homogenous mainly due to the complexation of titanium oxide hydrate with DMAc. The solution was spin-coated on a silicon wafer or a glass plate and dried under nitrogen to create a transparent film. The refractive index of the film was ca.1.97 at a wavelength of 550 nm, even when it was annealed at a low temperature of 150 °C. Atomic force microscope (AFM) results showed that the films were highly smooth and that the root-mean-square ( R a ) values of the film׳s surface roughness were sub-nm scale, irrespective of the film drying condition. We identified our titanium oxide hydrate solution in DMAc as a possible good candidate material for films with a high refractive index and surface evenness.

Using CFD simulations, this study presents: (1) LES and RANS comparisons for a unit cell geometry of heat transferring pebbles in flowing FLiBe; (2) statistical distributions of pebble heat transfer coefficients due to the random packing; (3) development of a heat transfer coefficient correlation for randomly-packed heat transferring pebbles in flowing FLiBe in the representative Fluoride High-temperature Reactor (FHR) operating condition; and (4) comparison of the developed heat transfer coefficient correlation with existing ones obtained in different fluids and pebble sizes. The LES and RANS comparison has shown that the k-ω Shear Stress Transport (SST) with low Reynolds number approach performance gives the best result in comparison to the two eddy-viscosity based k-e and k-ω SST models. The statistical distribution of pebble heat transfer coefficients due to random packing has been quantified; random arrangements of pebbles result in non-negligible uncertainties in heat transfer coefficients following normal distributions. This uncertainty needs to be accounted for fuel temperature prediction in reactor design and analyses. A Nusselt number correlation for the randomly packed heat transferring pebble in flowing FLiBe has been computationally developed: Nu = 0.016Re0.72Pr0.31.

The supercritical carbon dioxide (S-CO2) Brayton power cycle has been receiving worldwide attention due to the high thermal efficiency and compact system configuration. Because of the incompressible liquid like characteristic (e.g. high density, low compressibility) of the CO2 near the critical point (30.98 °C, 7.38MPa), an S-CO2 Brayton cycle can achieve high efficiency by reducing compression work. In order to utilize the S-CO2 power conversion technology in various applications, such as distributed power generation and marine propulsion, air-cooled waste heat removal system is necessary. However, the critical temperature of CO2 (30.98 °C) is an intrinsic limitation on the system minimum temperature. Because of the small difference with atmospheric temperature, a large amount of cooling air flow or a very large heat exchanger is required to reach the target minimum temperature. In this paper, to improve the system efficiency and ease the problem of air-cooled waste heat removal system, the mixture of supercritical CO2 with other fluids has been studied. Also, the preliminary performance test results of CO2 mixture with pre-existing experimental facility are evaluated.

From the efforts of many researchers and engineers related to the S-CO2 Brayton cycle technology development, the S-CO2 Brayton cycle is now considered as one of the key power technologies for the future. Since the S-CO2 Brayton cycle has advantages in economics due to high efficiency and compactness of the system, various industries have been trying to develop baseline technology on the design and analysis of the S-CO2 Brayton cycle components. According to the previous researches on the S-CO2 Brayton cycle component technology, the treatment of a thermodynamic property near the critical point of CO2 is one of the main concerns since conventional design and analysis methodologies cannot be used for the near critical point region. Among many thermodynamic properties, the stagnation to static condition conversion process is important since the flow in a compressor is at high flow velocity. In this paper, the impact of various stagnation to static conversion methods on the S-CO2 compressor design near the critical point will be evaluated. From the evaluation, the limitation of a certain stagnation to static conversion method will be discussed to provide a guideline for the future S-CO2 compressor designers.

For environmental reason, buildings increasingly install smart windows, which can dim incoming daylight based on active electrochromic devices (ECDs). In this work, multi-layered graphene (MLG) was investigated as an ECD window electrode, to minimize carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions by decreasing the electricity consumption for building space cooling and heating and as an alternative to the transparent conductor tin-doped indium oxide (ITO) in order to decrease dependence on it. Various MLG electrodes with different numbers of graphene layers were prepared with environmentally friendly poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrene-sulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS) to produce ECD cells. Tests demonstrated the reproducibility and uniformity in optical performance, as well as the flexibility of the ECD fabrication. With the optimized MLG electrode, the ECD cells exhibited a very fast switching response for optical changes from transparent to dark states of a few hundred msec.

Background It is necessary to store the transplantable sources for a certain period during the variety of manipulation processing steps. The method used to preserve (depending on conditions of solvent, temperature, periods, density, and physical impulse, etc.) can affect the safety and efficacy of the samples. Supercooling refers to a phenomenon of lowering the temperature below its freezing point without freezing. We investigated the possibility of supercooling for the preservation of cells and organs according to the limited conditions. Method The viability of mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from the intra-abdominal fat of the New Zealand white rabbit were observed, and the neonatal rat kidneys were maintained in histidine-tryptophan-ketoglutarate solution and stored at various temperatures for 48 hours. The supercooling refrigerator was used for −2 °C and −5 °C in controlled preservation conditions. We observed and compared histopathological changes of samples at each temperature condition. Results As time passed, the number of rabbit MSCs decreased in each group with storage temperature. At room temperature, the number of viable MSCs decreased rapidly, but the number of MSCs tended to decrease slowly in the cooling and supercooling groups. The rat kidneys preserved on supercooling temperature at −2 °C tended to have the least damage on the cortex and medulla parenchyma. Conclusions The difference in damage of transplantable sources by storage temperature conditions is the evidence that effectiveness may depend on the storage method. It is necessary to determine further optimal supercooling temperature of the preservation methods with various cells, tissues, and organs in the future.

Although SIGN-R1-mediated complement activation pathway has been shown to enhance the systemic clearance of apoptotic cells, the role of SIGN-R1 in the clearance of radiation-induced apoptotic cells has not been characterized and was investigated in this study. Our data indicated that whole-body γ-irradiation of mice increased caspase-3(+) apoptotic lymphocyte numbers in secondary lymphoid organs. Following γ-irradiation, SIGN-R1 and complements (C4 and C3) were simultaneously increased only in the mice spleen tissue among the assessed tissues. In particular, C3 was exclusively activated in the spleen. The delayed clearance of apoptotic cells was markedly prevalent in the spleen and liver of SIGN-R1 KO mice, followed by a significant increase of CD11b(+) cells. These results indicate that SIGN-R1 and complement factors play an important role in the systemic clearance of radiation-induced apoptotic innate immune cells to maintain tissue homeostasis after γ-irradiation.

The new assymmetric limb-structured blue light emitting material, composed of anthracene main core, naphthalene units at 9, 10-position of anthracene and xylene units at 2,3-positon of anthracene, was designed and synthesized. The three-dimensional structure from theoretical calculation was characterized to elucidate non-copolar structure with inhibited intermolecular interaction. The limb-structured blue material was thermally stable up to 373 degrees C with T(g) of 143 degrees C. ITO/TAPC/CBP (3% BMPNA)/Bphen/LiF/Al device exhibits the maximum quantum efficiency of 3.42% and maximum current efficiency of 3.07 cd/A with deep blue emission of (0.141, 0.115) CIE coordinates.

Due to the very low light extraction efficiency of conventional organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs), the application of OLEDs for next-generation lighting remains limited. Therefore, in order to enhance the light extraction efficiencies that result in improving the luminous efficacy (LE, lm W−1) and external quantum efficiency (ηEQE, %) of OLEDs, three different geometrically profiled, negatively nanostructured periodic semi-pyramid polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) layers are used to create a hole at depths of 500 nm, 650 nm, and 1000 nm; these are designated as the polymeric lighting extraction film (PLEF) I, PLEF II, and PLEF III, respectively. These layers are placed directly on the backside of the green emissive bottom-emitting OLED (BE-OLED) glass substrates as an outcoupling enhancement PLEF that improves the glass substrate/air interface. Through the simple combination with three different nanostructures on each green emissive BE-OLED, a maximum enhancement of up to 50% is achieved in the LE and ηEQE measured at the same brightness, which is 1.5 times higher than the reference green emissive BE-OLED without a PLEF. Therefore, global energy saving can be achieved through reducing the power consumption by up to 30% possibly estimated from LE using the integrated PLEFs.

The carrier injection efficiencies of organic light-emitting diodes with a multilayer graphene (MLG) anode were compared for different hole injection layers (HIL). The energy level alignments at the hole injecting interface were also studied by using the ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS). We employed 1,1-bis[4-[N,N′-di(p-tolyl)amino]phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC) as the hole transporting materials, while N,N′-bis(naphthalen-1-yl)-N,N′-bis(phenyl)benzidine (NPB) or 1,4,5,8,9,12-hexaaza-triphenylene-2,3,6,7,10,11-hexacarbonitrile (HAT-CN) was used as the HIL. The current–voltage characteristics of hole-only devices showed that the MLG anode was only slightly inferior to the indium-tin oxide (ITO) anode in hole injection performance for all the HIL layers. The best efficiency was observed for both MLG and ITO anodes with HAT-CN HIL. We compared UPS-measured energy level alignment of TAPC/HIL/MLG interface for different HILs and concluded that the unique charge generation interface at TAPC/HAT-CN played a crucial role for the improved performance of HAT-CN HIL.

We report that a potassium borohydride (KBH4)-doped 1,3,5-tri(m-pyrid-3-yl-phenyl)benzene (TmPyPB) layer can be utilized as an efficient electron-injection layer (EIL) for the inverted bottom-emission organic light-emitting diodes (IBE-OLEDs). The KBH4-doped EIL in the IBE-OLEDs having tris(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III) as a green phosphorescent dopant show a lower turn-on voltage (∼7 V) and about two times higher efficiency (∼13.9% and 44.5 cd A−1 at 0.63 mA cm−2) compared with the device without the KBH4-doped EIL. Furthermore, the KBH4-doped EIL rarely affects the electroluminescence spectrum of the device. The KBH4-doped TmPyPB films with different doping ratios are also analyzed by using electron-only devices (EODs) and X-ray photoemission spectroscopy. As the doping ratio of the KBH4 increases, the current of the EOD and the amounts of potassium increase. This result indicates that the potassium improves the electron-injection ability of an organic electron-transport layer. Therefore, the KBH4-doped EIL can be utilized as an effective EIL in the inverted structure OLEDs.

We have evaluated high refractive index organic–inorganic hybrid films fabricated from a solution prepared from triethylene glycol and titanium(IV) butoxide in N,N-dimethyl acetamide (DMAc). The organic–inorganic hybrid solution in DMAc is homogeneous and stable. The solution was spin-coated on a silicon wafer and a glass plate and dried under nitrogen to give a transparent film. The refractive index (n), transparency, and thickness of the hybrid films fabricated from the solution varied as the film drying conditions and feeding mole ratios between the organic and inorganic compounds were varied. The film drying condition was observed to have a strong influence on the surface evenness of the films. The refractive indices of the films were between 1.62 and 2.16 at a wavelength of ca. 600 nm. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) results showed that the films were very smooth and that the root-mean-square values (Ra) of the surface roughness of the films were between 0.25 and 2.37 nm depending on the film drying conditions. Values for n and Ra of the hybrid film were 2.06 and 0.25 nm, respectively, when it was annealed at 250 °C. The film transparency and thickness increased with decreasing the annealing temperature. We identify our organic–inorganic hybrid solutions as possible good candidate materials for films with high refractive index and surface evenness.

Background The importance of drug repositioning has been gaining attention in the last few years, allowing existing pharmaceutical products to be reevaluated for potential alternative therapeutic applications. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of fragmin/protamine microparticles (F/P MPs) on cell aggregates under the concept of drug repositioning. Methods Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) and embryonic rat heart-derived cardiac H9C2 cells were mixed with D-PBS, basal medium, fragmin, protamine, and F/P MPs to manufacture aggregates intended for cell transplantation. To evaluate their adhesive properties as cell carriers, we injected combinations of MSC aggregates into cartilage tissue, observing their leakage from the implantation site. Results Our data demonstrated that MSCs and H9C2 cells mixed with F/P MPs rapidly produced large, viscous cellular aggregates. F/P MPs were bound to the surface of MSCs and H9C2 cells; thus, F/P MPs induced the formation of F/P MP–cell aggregates. Cell aggregates were prevented from leaking from the transplanted site. Conclusion Aggregation induced by F/P MPs may improve the efficiency of cell therapy, a novel method for transplantation.

Background Before cell or tissue transplantation, cells or tissues have to be maintained for a certain period in vitro using culture medium and methods. Most culture media contain substances such as pH indicators and buffers. It is not known whether some of these substances are safe for subsequent application in the transplantation of cells or tissues into the human body. We investigated culture media and methods with respect to the safety of the components in future transplantation applications. Methods A modified culture medium—medical fluid-based culture medium (FCM)—was designed by using various fluids and injectable drugs that are already currently permitted for use in clinical medicine. Medium components necessary for optimal cell growth were obtained from approved drugs. FCM was manufactured with adjusted final concentrations of the medium components similar to those in commercial Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium (DMEM). In particular, 1029.40 mg/L amino acids, approximately 88.85 mg/L vitamins, 13,525.77 mg/L inorganic salts, and 4500 mg/L D-glucose comprise the high-glucose FCM. Next, human fat synovium-derived mesenchymal stem cells and rat H9c2 (2-1) cells were cultured under 2 conditions: (1) DMEM-high glucose (HG), an original commercial medium, and (2) optimized FCM-HG. We assessed the morphologies and proliferation rates of these cells. Results We observed that FCM-HG was able to induce the growth of FS-MSC and commercially available H9c2 cell. The morphologies and proliferation patterns of these cells cultured under FCM-HG showed no differences compared with cells grown in DMEM-HG. Conclusion Our data suggest that FCM, which we developed for the first time according to the concept of drug repositioning, was a useful culture medium, especially in cultured cells intended for human cell transplantation.

Two series of new green phosphorescent polymers bearing a bis(2-phenylpyridine)iridium(III)(dibenzoylmethane) [(ppy)2Irdbm] complex were designed and synthesized. Polycarbazole (PCbz) derivative or polyfluorene with pendant carbazole groups (PFCbz) were employed as host polymers for the iridium complex. The iridium complex monomer was copolymerized with the host monomers using varying monomer ratios via a Yamamoto coupling reaction. Efficient energy transfer from host to dopant unit was observed by increasing the ratio of the iridium guest in the copolymers. Electroluminescent devices with the configuration ITO/ PEDOT:PSS/polymer/BmPyPB/LiF/Al were fabricated and characterized. The phosphorescent polymers composed of the iridium complex guest and polyfluorene with carbazole pendants as a host performed better than the polymers composed of the same guest and the main chain polycarbazole host. A maximum external quantum efficiency of 0.73%, a luminous efficiency of 1.21 cd/A, and a maximum luminance of 372 cd/m 2 were obtained from a device fabricated using one of the synthesized copolymers.

High color rendering white organic light-emitting devices (WOLEDs) were developed using a broad-bandwidth red phosphorescent iridium complex, bis[2-(1-naphthyl)benzothiazolato-N,C2′]iridium(III) acetylacetonate [Ir(absn)2(acac)]. The red phosphorescent emitter Ir(absn)2(acac) was used to fabricate blue–red and blue–green–red WOLEDs by combining blue-emitting bis[2-(4,6-difluorophenyl)pyridinato-N,C2′]iridium(III) picolinate (FIrpic) and green-emitting tris-fac-(2-cyclohexenylpyridine) iridium (III) [Ir(chpy)3] in multiple-emissive layers. Mixed host emissive layers were employed using a hole-transport-type host 4,4′,4″-tris(N-carbazolyl)triphenylamine (TCTA) and an electron-transport-type host 2,6-bis[3-(carbazol-9-yl)phenyl]pyridine (DCzPPy) for efficient charge carrier injection. Di-[4-(N,N-ditolyl-amino)-phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC) and 1,3-bis(3,5-dipyrid-3-yl-phenyl)benzene (BmPyPB) were used as the hole and electron transporting layers, respectively. The effects of the emissive layer thickness and the doping ratios of different color dopants on WOLED performances were investigated. The WOLED based on ITO/TAPC/TCTA:FIrpic (10%):Ir(absn)2(acac) (4%)/TCTA:Ir(chpy)3 (9%, 6 nm)/DCzPPy:FIrpic (13%):Ir(absn)2(acac) (4%)/BmPyPB/LiF/Al exhibited an external quantum efficiency of 10.7%, a power efficiency of 23.0 lm/W, a very high color rendering index (CRI) of 88.1, and a correlated color temperature (CCT) of 2629 K at 1000 cd/m2.

We investigate the optical and barrier properties of thin-film encapsulations (TFEs) for transparent organic light-emitting diodes (TOLEDs). To improve the barrier property of OLEDs, the number of dyads (Al2O3/polymer) and the thickness of polymer layer in the TFE structure are required to be increased. It is, however, demonstrated that a sharp dip appears in the transmittance of TFE films due to the interference of light caused by organic/inorganic multi-layered configuration, resulting in a dip in the top emission spectrum of TOLEDs. We have found that such a transmittance dip deepens when the number of dyads is large. What is worse, the number of transmittance dips and their sharpness are raised with increased thickness of the polymer layer. When the number of dyads is small, however, the effect of the polymer layer thickness on such a transmittance dip is weak. Therefore, we have addressed that the number of dyads needs to be reduced, but the thickness of the polymer layer should be increased to meet both optical and barrier properties of TOLEDs at the same time.

We investigate the light-emitting performances of blue phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes (PHOLEDs) with three different electron injection and transport materials, that is, bathocuproine(2,9-dimethyl-4,7diphenyl-1,10-phenanthroline) (Bphen), 1,3,5-tri(m-pyrid3-yl-phenyl)benzene (Tm3PyPB), and 2,6-bis(3-(carbazol9-yl)phenyl)pyridine (26DCzPPy), which are partially doped with cesium metal. We find that the device characteristics are very dependent on the nature of the introduced electron injection layer (EIL) and electron transporting layer (ETL). When the appropriate EIL and ETL are combined, the peak external quantum efficiency and peak power efficiency improve up to 20.7% and 45.6 lm/W, respectively. Moreover, this blue PHOLED even maintains high external quantum efficiency of 19.6% and 16.9% at a luminance of 1,000 cd/m 2 and 10,000 cd/m 2 , respectively.

A linear stability model was formulated to analyze the perturbation of solid polymer surfaces. Surface energy and thermal stress were considered as the main variables. The surface tends to more unstable as the temperature increase. This is interpreted as the dominancy of the lattice vacancy diffusion over surface mass diffusion and the increase in thermal stress.

We designed and synthesized a novel yellow-emitting iridium complex, bis[2-(9-ethyl-9H-carbazol-3-yl)-benzothiazole]iridium(III) acetoacetonate [(Btc) 2 Ir(acac)], for use in phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. The synthesized compound was characterized by 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR. Photophysical and electrochemical studies revealed photoluminescence emission at 555 nm (in solution) with a band gap energy of 2.37 eV. The phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes based on ITO/PEDOT:PSS/α-NPD/TCTA/CBP:(Btc) 2 Ir(acac)(8%)/BCP/Alq 3 /LiF/Al exhibited a yellow emission at 562 nm with a high luminous efficiency of 35.4 cd/A, a maximum external quantum efficiency of 12.9% at 7.4 V, and a very outstanding luminance of 100,048 cd/m 2 . Because of its high electroluminescent performance, efficient white phosphorescent organic light-emitting devices using this new iridium complex in the structure of ITO/TAPC/DCzPPy(x%):FIrpic(14%):(Btc) 2 Ir(acac)(y%)/Bphen/LiF/Al were fabricated. The device, with a new iridium(III) complex doping concentration of 0.15%, exhibited a maximum luminous efficiency as high as 41.6 cd/A at 5 V, CIE coordinates of (0.34, 0.46), a maximum luminance of 25,010 cd/m 2 , and a maximum power efficiency of 28.9 lm/W, respectively.

We report on white transparent organic light emitting diode (TOLED) with double layered capping layer (CL), 1,1-bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC) and ZnSe. By introducing the double layered CL, total efficiency was improved by 27% to have 90% of that of conventional bottom-emissive device. The achievement of highly improved efficiency was interpreted as the synergetic effect of constructive interference and maximized reflectance of CL. By adjusting the reflectance of the CL, it was possible to choose the emissions direction selectively and achieve spectral matching between top and bottom emissions as well as enhanced total efficiency in white TOLED.

We developed highly efficient phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes (PHOLEDs) using iridium(III) complex, fac-tris[4-methyl-2-2(4'-trimethylsilylphenyl)pyridine] [Ir(msippy)3]. PHOLEDs based on Ir(msippy)3 complex exhibit the yellowish-green emission with CIE color coordinates of (0.31,0.64). These device performances were compared with those of the green emitting Ir(ppy)3-based devices. The higher external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 25.6% and the current efficiency of 84.4 cd/A were achieved for Ir(msippy)3-based device. The results show that the complete energy and/or charge transfer from the host to Ir(msippy)3 dopant in the emitting layer (EML) of the device resulted in the higher device efficiencies compared with those of Ir(ppy)3-based devices.

In transparent organic light-emitting diodes (TOLEDs), the asymmetry in the optical paths causes difference between the bottom and top emitting lights, both in emissions and spectral distributions. Capping layers (CLs) can be used as an optical functional to enhance the emissions and adjust the spectral distributions. Here, we report on the optical effects of an organic CL, 1,1-bis[(di-4-tolylamino)phenyl]cyclohexane (TAPC), on the characteristics of TOLEDs Both simulated and experimental results are presented. We demonstrate the possibility of improving the total emission and achieving spectral matching of bottom and top emissions by varying the CL thickness. The optical effects of CLs have been interpreted from interference perspectives. Finally, we have presented a guideline that is practically useful in designing high-performance TOLEDs with CLs.

New highly twisted and rigid blue materials composed of anthracene with xylene as the core unit and either naphthalene or phenyl end units were synthesized. Non-doped devices using BDNA displayed 5.26% maximum external quantum efficiency with CIE color coordinates (x, y: 0.159, 0.072).

We developed highly efficient yellowish-green emitting phosphorescent organic light emitting diodes based on tris[4-methyl-2-2(4′-trimethylsilylphenyl)pyridine] [Ir(msippy)3]. The device showed electroluminescence emission from the dopant emitter at 521 nm with CIE color coordinates of (0.32, 0.62). We investigated the roll of 4,4′,4″-Tris(carbazol-9-yl)triphenylamine (TcTa) interlayer between hole transporting and emissive layers on the higher device performances using different hole transporting materials. TcTa interlayer in the device using Di-[4-(N,N-ditolyl-amino)-phenyl]cyclohexane as hole transporting layer confines the excitons within the emissive layer and improves the charge balance, resulting in higher device external quantum efficiency of 25.6% and current efficiency of 84.4 cd/A with improved efficiency roll-off.

Sulfur–iodine (SI) cycle should overcome many engineering challenges to commercialize and prove its feasibilities to compete other thermo-chemical cycles. Some critical issues such as structural material, harsh operating condition and high capital costs were considered obstacles to be actualized. Operating SI cycle at low-pressure is one of the solutions to actualize the cycle. The flash operation with over-azeotropic HI at low pressure does not require temperature and pressure as high as those in the existing methods as well as heating for separation. The operation in low pressure reduces corrosion problems and enables us to use flexible selection of structural material. We devised an intermediate heat exchanging–depressurizing loop to eliminate high operating pressure in the hydrogen side as well as a large pressure difference between the reactor side and the hydrogen side. Molten salts are adequate candidates as working fluids under the high-temperature condition with homogeneous phase during pressure changing process. Using molten salts, 2.20–4.65 MW of pumping work is required to change the pressure from 1 bar to 7 MPa. We selected BeF2-containing salts as the possible candidates based on preliminary economic and thermal hydraulic consideration.

This paper studies the electrical characteristics of solution-processed organic photosensors (OPSs) made from organic materials of poly-3-hexylthiophene (P3HT) and [6,6]-phenyl-C61 butyric acid methyl ester (PCBM), with four-type of interdigitated electrodes for achieving high photo-sensing performances. The thin layers of organic material are deposited by spin-coating methods. The current of the OPSs through the semiconductor organic films is measured under light intensities ranging from dark to 300 mW/cm 2 . At 10 V bias and 300 mW/cm 2 illumination, the currents obtained from pristine P3HT and blended P3HT/PCBM, both spin-coated, are 6.9 × 10 − 5 mA, and 3.6 × 10 − 5 mA, respectively. Finally, in order to evaluate the response characteristics under illumination, the current characteristics of the OPS are measured as a function of time and results confirm good reproducibility and fast response times of the OPSs.