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In this study, tin oxide (SnO2) films are prepared by using plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) with tetrakis(dimethylamino)tin(IV) (TDMA-Sn) as the Sn metal source and O2/Ar mixture as the oxidant. The plasma power is varied from 1000 to 3000 W to investigate its influence of oxygen vacancies and defects on the SnO2 film properties. The experimental results show that the plasma power plays an important role in the deposition of SnO2 films. Unwanted Sn3O4 formation is observed at both of low and high powers. The optical emission spectra of the plasma with different power are analyzed to obtain the insight of the mechanism of the PEALD SnO2 films growth. The optimal plasma power of 1500 W is found to be very close to the threshold where the oxygen radical intensity starts to sharply increase. Lower and higher powers can lead to insufficient oxidation and strong ion bombardment, respectively, resulting in reduced SnO2 film quality.

C12H8N2O4MoMn, monoclinic, P21/m (no. 11), a = 8.9812(5) Å, b = 6.5212(3) Å, c = 10.6167(6) Å, β = 100.120(6)°, V = 612.13(6) Å3, Z = 2, R gt (F) = 0.0391, wR ref(F 2) = 0.0783, T = 293(2) K.

In this study, nanostructured pyramidal black silicon is prepared by metal assisted chemical etching method, in which the silver nitrate (AgNO3) is used as the metal catalyst. Effects of the concentration of AgNO3 on passivation and optical properties of the black silicon are investigated. The experimental results show that at the AgNO3 concentration of 0.03 M, the nanostructure length is about 300 nm, and the reflectance of the black silicon with a stack of silicon nitride (SiNx) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) is 0.8%, which is comparable to that of the conventional black silicon with micrometer-long nanowires. In addition, an acceptably low surface recombination rate of 42 cm/s can be obtained. Plasma chemical vapor deposited SiNx is deposited well on the top of nanostructures of black silicon, but shows poor coverage at the bottom region. Spatial atomic layer deposited Al2O3 can conformally cover the nanostructures with high passivation quality. Simulation result indicates an improvement of 5.5% of conversion efficiency for the nanostructured pyramidal black silicon solar cell compared to industrial silicon solar cell. The short nanostructured pyramidal surface with low reflectance and high passivation is expected to be helpful for black silicon technology applied to photovoltaic applications.

Berberine is an alkaloid extracted from medicinal plants such as Coptis chinensis and Phellodendron chinense. It possesses anti-inflammatory, anti-tumour and anti-oxidation properties, and regulates Glc and lipid metabolism. This study explored the mechanisms of the protective effects of berberine on barrier function and inflammatory damage in porcine intestinal epithelial cells (IPEC-J2) induced by LPS. We first evaluated the effects of berberine and LPS on cell viability. IPEC-J2 cells were treated with 5 μg/ml LPS for 1 h to establish an inflammatory model, and 75, 150 and 250 μg/ml berberine were used in further experiments. The expression of IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α was measured by RT-PCR. The key proteins of the NF-κB/MAPK signalling pathway (IκBα, p-IκBα, p65, p-p65, c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK), p-JNK, p38, p-p38, ERK1/2 and p-ERK1/2) were detected by Western blot. Upon exposure to LPS, IL-1β, IL-6 and TNF-α mRNA levels and p-IκBα p-p65 protein levels were significantly enhanced. Pre-treatment with berberine reduced the expression of inflammatory factors and was positively correlated with its concentration, and dose dependently inhibited the expression of IκBα, p-IκBα, p-p65, p-p38 and JNK. These results demonstrated that pre-treating intestinal epithelial cells with berberine was useful in preventing and treating diarrhoea induced by Escherichia coli in weaned pigs.

Tantalum (Ta)-doped titanium oxide (TiO2) thin films are grown by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD), and used as both an electron transport layer and hole blocking compact layer of perovskite solar cells. The metal precursors of tantalum ethoxide and titanium isopropoxide are simultaneously injected into the deposition chamber. The Ta content is controlled by the temperature of the metal precursors. The experimental results show that the Ta incorporation introduces oxygen vacancies defects, accompanied by the reduced crystallinity and optical band gap. The PEALD Ta-doped films show a resistivity three orders of magnitude lower than undoped TiO2, even at a low Ta content (0.8–0.95 at.%). The ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy spectra reveal that Ta incorporation leads to a down shift of valance band and conduction positions, and this is helpful for the applications involving band alignment engineering. Finally, the perovskite solar cell with Ta-doped TiO2 electron transport layer demonstrates significantly improved fill factor and conversion efficiency as compared to that with the undoped TiO2 layer.

We aimed to investigate whether the cardioprotection of sevoflurane against ischemia–reperfusion (IR) injury is via inhibiting endoplasmic reticulum stress. The rat in vivo model of myocardial IR injury was induced by ligation of the left anterior descending coronary artery. Sevoflurane significantly ameliorated the reduced cardiac function, increased infarct size, and elevated troponin I level and lactate dehydrogenase activity in plasma induced by IR injury. Sevoflurane suppressed the IR-induced myocardial apoptosis. The increased protein levels of glucose-regulated protein 78 and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP) after myocardial IR were significantly reduced by sevoflurane. The protein levels of phosphorylated protein kinase RNA-like endoplasmic reticulum kinase (PERK), phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor 2 (eIF2α), and activating transcription factor 4 (ATF4) were significantly increased in rats with IR and attenuated by sevoflurane treatment. The phosphorylation of Akt was further activated by sevoflurane. The cardioprotection of sevoflurane could be blocked by wortmannin, a PI3K/Akt inhibitor. Our results suggest that the cardioprotection of sevoflurane against IR injury might be mediated by suppressing PERK/eIF2a/ATF4/CHOP signaling via activating the Akt pathway, which helps in understanding the novel mechanism of the cardioprotection of sevoflurane.

In this study, Al2O3 thin films are deposited on p-type silicon using spatial atomic layer deposition with trimethylaluminum and H2O. The films are annealed in atmosphere (ATM), forming gas (FG) and nitrogen (N2) at temperatures of 300–750 °C. Effects of annealing gas ambient and temperature on structural, electrical, and passivation properties of Al2O3/Si are systematically investigated. The experimental results show that the ATM annealing leads to an interfacial silicon oxide more than two times thicker than that of the samples annealed in FG and N2. The ratio of tetrahedral AlO4 to octahedral AlO6 can be correlated to the negative fixed oxide charge density (Qf) near the interface of Al2O3/Si. The 600 °C ATM-annealed sample has the highest Qf of 3.23 × 1012 cm−1 and thus gives the best field effect passivation. The sample annealed in FG at 450 °C has the lowest interface trap density (Dit) of 3.98 × 1011 eV−1 cm−2, indicating that the hydrogen is more effective than oxygen for chemical passivation. Overall, the FG-annealed sample has the highest lifetime of 933.8 μs, showing that chemical passivation is the primary consideration. The ATM annealing requires higher temperatures (~600 °C) to reach the optimal passivation, whereas the FG and N2 annealing temperature is limited to 450 °C to avoid dehydrogenation. Finally, for passivated emitter and rear contact cell fabrication, the cell with FG annealing has the best conversion efficiency of 21.43%, which is 0.17 and 0.54 percentage point higher than that of the cells with ATM and N2 annealing, respectively.

Exogenously administered B-type natriuretic peptide (BNP) has been shown to provide cardioprotection against various heart diseases. However, the underlying mechanisms remain elusive. This study explores whether BNP exerts its cardioprotection against hypoxia/reoxygenation (H/R) injury under high glucose/high fat (HG/HF) conditions in cardiac H9c2 cells and uncovers the underlying mechanisms. Our data revealed that BNP significantly increased the cell viability and decreased the release of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and creatine kinase (CK), with a maximal effect at the BNP concentration of 10−7 mol/L. In addition, by analyzing the activation of cleaved caspase-3 and by Annexin V-FITC/PI staining, we showed that BNP attenuated H/R-induced cell apoptosis in HG/HF conditions. Western blot analysis showed enhanced phosphorylation of protein kinase RNA (PKR)-like endoplastmic reticulum (ER) kinase (PERK) and eukaryotic initiation factor 2α (eIF2α)(one of the three main signaling pathways in endoplastmic reticulum (ER) stress), and increased expression of GRP78 and CHOP proteins (ER stress-related proteins) in H9c2 cells which underwent H/R in HG/HF conditions. Treatment with BNP or 8-Br-cGMP (an analog of cGMP) reversed this activation. However, this effect was significantly weakened by KT-5823, a selective cGMP-dependent protein kinase G (PKG) inhibitor. In addition, similar to BNP, treatment with a specific inhibitor of ER stress tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA) protected the cells against H/R injury exposed to HG/HF conditions. In conclusion, these findings demonstrated that BNP effectively protected cells against H/R injury under HG/HF conditions by inhibiting the ER stress via activation of the cGMP-PKG signaling pathway.

Burdock root is the root of Arctium lappa L., a plant of the compositae family, which has the effects of dispersing wind and heat, detoxifying, and reducing swelling. In order to better control the quality of burdock root, a screening study of quality control indicators was carried out. The current research combines biological activity evaluation with chemical analysis to screen and identify the biologically active compounds of burdock root as chemical components for quality control of herbal medicine. The efficacy of 10 batches of ethanol extracts of burdock roots was evaluated by the tumor inhibition experiment in S180 tumor-bearing mice. Simultaneously, the five main chemical components of these extracts were quantitatively measured by ultra-high performance liquid chromatography combined with triple quadrupole mass spectrometry (UHPLC-QqQ-MS/MS). Pearson correlation analysis was used to establish the relationship between these extracts' biological activity and chemical properties. The results showed that chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, and cynarin were positively correlated with the effect of inhibiting tumor growth, and further bioassays confirmed this conclusion. In conclusion, chlorogenic acid, caffeic acid, and cynarin can be used as quality control markers for burdock root's anti-tumor effect.

Indium oxide (In2O3) film has excellent optical and electrical properties, which makes it useful for a multitude of applications. The preparation of In2O3 film via atomic layer deposition (ALD) method remains an issue as most of the available In-precursors are inactive and thermally unstable. In this work, In2O3 film was prepared by ALD using a remote O2 plasma as oxidant, which provides highly reactive oxygen radicals, and hence significantly enhancing the film growth. The substrate temperature that determines the adsorption state on the substrate and reaction energy of the precursor was investigated. At low substrate temperature (100–150 °C), the ratio of chemically adsorbed precursors is low, leading to a low growth rate and amorphous structure of the films. An amorphous-to-crystalline transition was observed at 150–200 °C. An ALD window with self-limiting reaction and a reasonable film growth rate was observed in the intermediate temperature range of 225–275 °C. At high substrate temperature (300–350 °C), the film growth rate further increases due to the decomposition of the precursors. The resulting film exhibits a rough surface which consists of coarse grains and obvious grain boundaries. The growth mode and properties of the In2O3 films prepared by plasma-enhanced ALD can be efficiently tuned by varying the substrate temperature.

In this study, silicon oxide (SiO2) films were deposited by remote plasma atomic layer deposition with Bis(diethylamino)silane (BDEAS) and an oxygen/argon mixture as the precursors. Oxygen plasma powers play a key role in the quality of SiO2 films. Post-annealing was performed in the air at different temperatures for 1 h. The effects of oxygen plasma powers from 1000 W to 3000 W on the properties of the SiO2 thin films were investigated. The experimental results demonstrated that the SiO2 thin film growth per cycle was greatly affected by the O2 plasma power. Atomic force microscope (AFM) and conductive AFM tests show that the surface of the SiO2 thin films, with different O2 plasma powers, is relatively smooth and the films all present favorable insulation properties. The water contact angle (WCA) of the SiO2 thin film deposited at the power of 1500 W is higher than that of other WCAs of SiO2 films deposited at other plasma powers, indicating that it is less hydrophilic. This phenomenon is more likely to be associated with a smaller bonding energy, which is consistent with the result obtained by Fourier transformation infrared spectroscopy. In addition, the influence of post-annealing temperature on the quality of the SiO2 thin films was also investigated. As the annealing temperature increases, the SiO2 thin film becomes denser, leading to a higher refractive index and a lower etch rate.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) has drawn much attention due to its excellent optical and electrical properties. In this study, ZnO film was prepared by a high-deposition-rate spatial atomic layer deposition (ALD) and subjected to a post-annealing process to suppress the intrinsic defects and improve the crystallinity and film properties. The results show that the film thickness increases with annealing temperature owing to the increment of oxide layer caused by the suppression of oxygen vacancy defects as indicated by the X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) spectra. The film transmittance is seldom influenced by annealing. The refractive index increases with annealing temperature at 300&ndash, 700 &deg, C, possibly due to higher density and crystallinity of the film. The band gap decreases after annealing, which should be ascribed to the decrease in carrier concentration according to Burstein&ndash, Moss model. The carrier concentration decreases with increasing annealing temperature at 300&ndash, C since the oxygen vacancy defects are suppressed, then it increases at 800 &deg, C possibly due to the out-diffusion of oxygen atoms from the film. Meanwhile, the carrier mobility increases with temperature due to higher crystallinity and larger crystallite size. The film resistivity increases at 300&ndash, C then decreases at 800 &deg, C, which should be ascribed primarily to the variation of carrier concentration.

In this study, spatial atomic layer deposition (sALD) is employed to prepare titanium dioxide (TiO2) thin films by using titanium tetraisopropoxide and water as metal and water precursors, respectively. The post-annealing temperature is varied to investigate its effect on the properties of the TiO2 films. The experimental results show that the sALD TiO2 has a similar deposition rate per cycle to other ALD processes using oxygen plasma or ozone oxidant, implying that the growth is limited by titanium tetraisopropoxide steric hindrance. The structure of the as-deposited sALD TiO2 films is amorphous and changes to polycrystalline anatase at the annealing temperature of 450 &deg, C. All the sALD TiO2 films have a low absorption coefficient at the level of 10&minus, 3 cm&minus, 1 at wavelengths greater than 500 nm. The annealing temperatures of 550 &deg, C are expected to have a high compactness, evaluated by the refractive index and x-ray photoelectron spectrometer measurements. Finally, the 550 &deg, C-annealed sALD TiO2 film with a thickness of ~8 nm is applied to perovskite solar cells as a compact electron transport layer. The significantly enhanced open-circuit voltage and conversion efficiency demonstrate the great potential of the sALD TiO2 compact layer in perovskite solar cell applications.

In this study, aluminum oxide (Al2O3) thin films are deposited via spatial atomic layer deposition on p-type silicon wafer. Then, a post-deposition annealing is performed in oxygen to activate the field-effect and chemical passivation. The annealing temperature is varied from 300 °C to 750 °C, and its effect on the structural properties and carrier lifetime of Al2O3/Si is investigated. The results show that at the annealing temperature of 600 °C, the highest minority carrier lifetime obtained is 446.5 μs and maximum surface recombination rate is 22.4 cm/s. Annealing temperatures higher than 600 °C lead to deteriorate surface passivation due to insufficient hydrogen passivation and structural change from AlO4 to AlO6 that cause low oxide fixed charge. Photovoltaic performance is simulated and compared with experimental results. The simulation shows that the p-type passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) solar cell with the Al2O3 single layer annealed at 600 °C can have open-circuit voltage (Voc) of 678 mV and conversion efficiency (η) of 21.96%, while the PERC solar cell with SiNx:H/Al2O3 doubled layer can achieve Voc of 679.7 mV and η of 22.03%, which is very close to the upper limit in the case of ideal rear passivation. The simulation is in a good agreement with the fabricated PERC solar cell showing Voc = 679.2 mV and η = 21.6%.

Hafnium oxide (HfO2) thin films have received significant attention due to its excellent properties, such as large band gap, good thermodynamic stability, high density and high dielectric constant. The post-annealing temperature is also essential to their properties and application possibilities. In this work, HfO2 thin films were prepared on p-type silicon (100) substrates by remote plasma atomic layer deposition using tetrakis (ethylmethylamino) hafnium and remote oxygen plasma at 250 °C. The effect of rapid thermal annealing on the properties of the thin films was investigated using grazing incidence X-ray diffraction (GIXRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and field-emission transmission electron microscope (FE-TEM). FE-TEM and GIXRD results show that the as-deposited films are mostly amorphous and the crystallization initiates at about 500 °C. They also unveil a positive correlation between interface properties of the HfO2 thin films and a dependence of the crystallinity on annealing temperature.

Nitrate-dependent anaerobic iron oxidation (NAIO) is a chemolithotrophic bioprocess that converts nitrate to nitrogen gas using zero-valent/ferrous iron, making it valuable for autotrophic denitrification. Seeding sludge is vital for the application of NAIO process, but scarce information is available about the capability of active sludge. In this work, activated sludge (AS) and anaerobic granular sludge (AGS) were investigated for their NAIO performance, and AGS was preferred as inocula after systematic evaluation on three aspects. AGS demonstrated higher nitrogen removal performance with nitrate removal rate of 0.20 ± 0.02 kg-N/(m3·d) and removal efficiency of 95.58 ± 2.29%. The AGS system showed robustness facing NAIO operation conditions, exhibiting stable sludge characteristics (e.g. particle size and shape factors) with variation range of −14.75% to +26.43%. The AGS system demonstrated high economical efficiency with lower iron consumption for nitrate removal and higher iron content for resource recycling. 16S rRNA gene high-throughput sequencing was applied to investigate the microbial community. Nitrosomonadales_unclassified, Geothrix in AS and Nitrosomonadales_unclassified, Desulforhabdus in AGS were supposed to play important roles in NAIO process. The present work clarifies about the choice of seeding sludge for the application of the chemolithotrophic NAIO process and for the development of biotechnology.

Background There is a lack of proper animal models to study keloid formation. Aim To create three-dimensional poly lactic-co-glycolic acid (PLGA) scaffolds containing autologous platelet-rich plasma (PRP) as an in vitro culture environment for keloid fibroblasts (KL), and to study their implantation into nude mice to mimic the process of keloid formation. Methods Normal fibroblasts (FB) and KL cells were isolated from surgical specimens and transduced with lentivirus loaded with green fluorescent protein (GFP) and luciferase genes. The FB and KL cells were three-dimensionally cultured for 14–18 days in PLGA scaffolds containing PRP. Ten mice were implanted with KL cells in their left forelimbs(KL), and FB-scaffolds (FB + PLGA) in their right forelimbs. An additional ten mice were implanted with PLGA scaffolds without cells (PLGA) in their left forelimbs, and KL-scaffolds (KL + PLGA) in their right forelimbs. Graft volume and collagen content were analyzed 120 days after the implantation. Results in vivo luminescence cell imaging showed that the FB cells proliferated in the PLGA scaffolds within 60 days after implantation, and reached a plateau afterwards until 120 days after implantation. The KL cells continuously proliferated in the PLGA scaffolds until 120 days after implantation. The KL + PLGA group showed higher graft volumes than the FB + PLGA group 120 days after the implantation (median volume, 166.95 vs. 63.34 mm3); however, the difference is not statistically significant (P = 0.743), due to a large variation of the graft volume within each group. Furthermore, Sirius red staining revealed increased collagen I deposition, and immunohistochemistry showed large-scale accumulation of α-smooth muscle actin (α-SMA), collagen I, and collagen III in the KL + PLGA grafts. Conclusion The three-dimensional PLGA scaffold containing PRP supports keloid fibroblast growth and contributes to keloid formation in a nude mouse model.

Aluminum-doped ZnO (AZO) films are prepared by using spatial atomic layer deposition (ALD). The precursors of trimethylaluminum (TMA) and diethylzinc (DEZ) are concurrently introduced into the deposition region. The amount ratio of TMA to DEZ vapor molecules is controlled by varying the temperature of the precursor bubblers from 5° to 77 °C. It is found that the Al doping level can be predicted using the amount ratio of TMA to DEZ output vapors. The film prepared at the bubbler temperature of 41 °C exhibits an Al content of ~1% and a low resistivity of 3.5 × 10−4 Ω-cm comparable to indium tin oxide films. Furthermore, the Al-doping efficiency is as high as 73%. This study is useful in applying the ALD technique to films with multicomponent oxides.

In this paper, indium oxide (In2O3) thin films are prepared by plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) using cyclopentadienylindium(I) (InCp) as the metal precursor and O2 plasma as the oxidant. The mechanism and effects of annealing temperature under the air atmosphere on optical, structural, and electrical properties of the films are investigated. The experimental results show that both of the as-deposited and annealed films are polycrystalline bixbyite-cubic structure. No significant influences on the optical properties are observed when the annealing temperature increases from 300 to 600 °C. However, it is confirmed the filling of oxygen vacancy defects by the in-diffused oxygen atoms from the annealing ambient. The carbon impurities resulting from the incompletely reacted InCp are found to be at the interstitial sites in the In2O3 lattice, which can be greatly removed by the annealing treatment. As a consequence, the electrical resistivity increases with increasing annealing temperature mainly related to the reduced carrier concentration. This paper is helpful for PEALD In2O3 films to be applied to optoelectronic devices where the suppression of the oxygen defects, carrier concentration, and carbon impurities are required.

A novel blue InGaN-chip-based red-emitting phosphor Pr3+: LaBMO6 (M = W, Mo) in pure phase were synthesized via conventional solid-state reaction in air and the photoluminescence properties of the phosphor were investigated for the application in white LEDs. The as-synthesized phosphors were characterized by the X-ray diffraction; diffuse reflection spectra, photoluminescence excitation and emission spectra, the Commission International de L'Eclairage (CIE) chromaticity coordinates and temperature-dependent emission spectra. Orangish red emission band around 575–625 nm was observed in Pr3+-doped LaBMO6 (M = W, Mo) upon 445 nm excitation. Fluorescence concentration quenching in Pr3+-doped LaBMoO6 were observed and the critical distance between Pr3+ ions for energy transfer was calculated to be 8.369 nm. The CIE chromaticity coordinates of Pr3+-doped LaBMoO6 were located in the red spectral region and the temperature-dependent luminescence spectra indicated that Pr3+-doped LaBMoO6 show good thermal stability. All results demonstrated the developed Pr3+-doped LaBMO6 (M = W, Mo) was a novel red phosphor.

In this study, needle-like and pyramidal hybrid black silicon structures were prepared by performing metal-assisted chemical etching (MACE) on alkaline-etched silicon wafers. Effects of the MACE time on properties of the black silicon wafers were investigated. The experimental results showed that a minimal reflectance of 4.6% can be achieved at the MACE time of 9 min. The height of the nanostructures is below 500 nm, unlike the height of micrometers needed to reach the same level of reflectance for the black silicon on planar wafers. A stacked layer of silicon nitride (SiNx) grown by inductively-coupled plasma chemical vapor deposition (ICPCVD) and aluminum oxide (Al2O3) by spatial atomic layer deposition was deposited on the black silicon wafers for passivation and antireflection. The 3 min MACE etched black silicon wafer with a nanostructure height of less than 300 nm passivated by the SiNx/Al2O3 layer showed a low surface recombination rate of 43.6 cm/s. Further optimizing the thickness of ICPCVD-SiNx layer led to a reflectance of 1.4%. The hybrid black silicon with a small nanostructure size, low reflectance, and low surface recombination rate demonstrates great potential for applications in optoelectronic devices.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the protective effects of fucoidan on Lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced acute lung injury (ALI) in mice. The mice were divided into the control, LPS, and LPS + fucoidan (20, 40, or 80 mg/kg) groups. LPS was given by intracheal instillation and fucoidan was given 1 h before LPS treatment. Myeloperoxidase (MPO) activity, malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD), reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione (GSH) contents, and inflammatory cytokine production were detected. The results showed that LPS-induced TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6 production, lung wet/dry (W/D) ratio, ROS, MDA content, and MPO activity were suppressed by fucoidan. The levels of SOD and GSH were increased by fucoidan. Meanwhile, LPS-induced nuclear factor kappa-B (NF-κB) activation was dose-dependently attenuated by fucoidan. Furthermore, fucoidan increased the expression of nuclear factor erythroid-2 related factor 2 (Nrf2), Glycogen synthase kinase3β (GSK-3β), and heme oxygenase (HO-1). In vitro, the results demonstrated that fucoidan or GSK-3β inhibitor significantly inhibited LPS-induced TNF-α production in A549 cells. And the inhibition of fucoidan on TNF-α production was blocked by Nrf2 siRNA. This study showed fucoidan protected mice against LPS-induced ALI through inhibiting inflammatory and oxidative responses via regulating GSK-3β-Nrf2 signaling pathway.

The purpose of the present study was to explore aging-associated cardiac dysfunction and the possible mechanism by which swimming exercise modulates cardiac dysfunction in aged mice. Aged mice were divided into two groups: i) Aged mice; and ii) aged mice subjected to swimming exercises. Another cohort of 4-month-old male mice served as the control group. Cardiac structure and function in mice were analyzed using hematoxylin and eosin staining, and echocardiography. The levels of oxidative stress were determined by measuring the levels of superoxide dismutase, malondialdehyde and reactive oxygen species (ROS). Levels of the endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress-related protein PKR-like ER kinase, glucose-regulated protein 78 and C/EBP homologous protein were determined to evaluate the level of ER stress. The aged group exhibited an abnormal cardiac structure and decreased cardiac function, both of which were ameliorated by swimming exercise. The hearts of the aged mice exhibited pronounced oxidative and ER stress, which were ameliorated by exercise, and was accompanied by the reactivation of myocardial cGMP and suppression of cGMP-specific phosphodiesterase type 5 (PDE5). The inhibition of PDE5 attenuated age-induced cardiac dysfunction, blocked ROS production and suppressed ER stress. An ER stress inducer abolished the beneficial effects of the swimming exercise on cardiac function and increased ROS production. The present study suggested that exercise restored cardiac function in mice with age-induced cardiac dysfunction by inhibiting oxidative stress and ER stress, and increasing cGMP-protein kinase G signaling.

In this study, amorphous films of molybdenum oxide (MoOx) had been prepared by plasma enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) technique using molybdenum hexacarbonyl (Mo(CO)6) as a metal precursor and the mixture gas of O2/Ar as reactants. The influence of plasma power from 1000–3000 W on PEALD-MoOx films’ structure properties was investigated, and the deposition mechanism was proposed. Based on the results, the plasma power playing a crucial role in depositing MoOx films is concluded. A maximum deposition rate of MoOx films is 0.76 A/cycle, which is achieved at the optimal plasma power of 2000 W owing to the enhancement of plasma radicals’ intensity. The Mo5+ and Mo6+ oxidation states that emerged in all the films were illustrated by x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy studies, which means oxygen deficiency in substoichiometric MoOx films. The proportion of no-lattice oxygen decreases first and then increases with the increase of the plasma power. A low power and a high power may lead to deficient oxidation and obvious ion bombardment effect, respectively, which lead to the reduction of MoOx film quality, as indicated by the refractive index, atomic force microscopy, and scanning electron microscopy. The clarification of the effect of plasma power on PEALD-MoOx thin films is greatly beneficial to the application in high performance electronic devices.

With the continuous development of nanotechnology, people have higher and higher requirements for the performances of nanomaterials. In the past few decades, researchers have used various methods to prepare nanomaterials with different dopants, and studied their optical and electrical properties. Nanomaterials with ferromagnetic properties have a wide range of applications, and there have been many reports about the ferromagnetic properties of doped magnetic elements. However, there have been few reports about Cr-doped ZnS and CdS. In order to obtain Cr-doped ZnS and CdS nanosheets with room temperature ferromagnetism, in this paper, using ethanolamine (EA) and ethylenediamine (EN) as mixed solvents, ZnS and CdS semiconductor nanostructures doped with different amounts of chromium are successfully prepared in S, ZnO and CdO sources by simple solvent thermal method. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) measurements show that the ZnS and CdS nanostructure have a wurtzite structure. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) images show the morphologies of ZnS and CdS with different chromium content. When the content of Cr is 4.31 at% or 7.25 at%, the thickness of Cr-doped ZnS nanosheets is about 210–290 nm, and the morphology of undoped ZnS is composed of sub-morphologies of relatively thick nanosheets. The morphologies of CdS doped with different amounts of Cr are composed of sub-morphologies of snowflake like nanosheets with thickness of about 120–190 nm. Energy dispersive spectrometer (EDS) is used to observe the product composed of Cr, Zn, Cd, and S. The EDS measurement and calculation of the Cr content in Cr-doped ZnS nanosheets are 4.31 at% and 7.25 at% respectively, and those of the Cr content in Cr-doped CdS nanosheets are 1.84 at% and 2.12 at%. The vibration sample magnetometer(VSM) measurements show that ZnS doped with chromium exhibits ferromagnetism at room temperature, while the undoped ZnS exhibits diamagnetism at room temperature. The values of saturation magnetization Ms of Cr-doped ZnS nanosheets with Cr = 4.31 at% and 7.25 at% are 2.314 and 5.683 (10–3 emu/g), and the coercivity values of Hc are 54.721 and 88.441 Oe, respectively. The ferromagnetism of pure CdS is weak, while that of Cr-doped CdS is enhanced at room temperature. The saturation magnetization Ms values of Cr-doped CdS nanosheets with Cr = 0, 1.84 at% and 2.12 at% are 0.854, 2.351 and 7.525(10–3 emu/g), respectively, and the coercivity values of Hc are 74.631, 114.372 and 64.349 Oe, respectively. The values of saturation magnetization of ZnS and CdS increases with the Cr doping increasing. The ferromagnetism of Cr-doped ZnS at room temperature is confirmed by the experimental result, which is consistent with the ferromagnetism of Cr-doped ZnS calculated by the first principle. The origin of ferromagnetism of Cr-doped CdS is related to the doping of Cr in CdS lattice.

New red-emitting phosphors Pr3+, M+:SrB4O7 (M=Li, Na, K) in pure phase were synthesized via high-temperature solid-state reaction. Luminescent properties of those phosphors were characterized in detail. Pr3+, M+:SrB4O7 (M=Li, Na, K) can be excited under the range of 430–500 nm excitation, which covers the emission spectra of blue InGaN chip, exhibits pure red emission bands centered at 605 and 662 nm. The alkali-metal Li+, Na+, or K+ acting as charge compensators can improve fluorescent emission intensities of Pr3+ ions, and Pr3+, Na+:SrB4O7 shows the strongest emission intensities among those phosphors. Concentration quenching could be attributed to electric dipole–dipole interaction among Pr3+ ions. The temperature-dependent luminescence indicated Pr3+, Na+:SrB4O7 shows highly thermal stability. Those work suggests that Pr3+, M+:SrB4O7 (M=Li, Na, K) as thermally stable red-emitting phosphor might be potentially applied in WLED.

We predict spontaneous polarization of $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3 can achieve a high density of 1014 cm−2 two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) at the interface of $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3 and ${m}$ -AlN ( ${m}$ -GaN) without doping. Based on the accurately calculated bandgap alignment of $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3, AlN and GaN, we find that the critical thickness of the $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3 to form a mobile 2DEG at the interface on ${m}$ -AlN and ${m}$ -GaN substrates is around 1.8 nm, which is much thinner than AlGaN due to its large potential shift. The depletion mode high-electron-mobility transistors (HEMTs) based on $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3 are also investigated. The results show that the saturation currents of $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3 HEMTs devices are much larger than that of typical AlGaN HEMTs. For the emerging problem of large leakage current from $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3 HEMTs device, we present a novel method that can significantly suppress the off-state leakage current of the device by growing an ultrathin AlGaN layer on the top surface of $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3. Therefore, our results can provide a theoretical basis for the potential applications of $\varepsilon $ -Ga2O3 in fabricating HEMTs for high-power and high-frequency applications.

The fibrotic response of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) takes responsibilities in atherosclerosis. Advanced glycation end products (AGEs) induce and promote the fibrotic responses of VSMCs. Matrine shows potent anti-fibrotic and cardio-protective effects. This study was aimed to investigate the underlying mechanisms of matrine's inhibitory effects on AGEs-induced VSMCs fibrotic responses. Cultured human coronary smooth muscle cells (HCSMCs) were pre-treated with matrine and exposed to AGEs. Specific siRNA was used to silence polymerase delta interacting protein 2 (Poldip2) expression. Sircol collagen assay was used to assess collagen content. Protein expression and phosphorylation levels were determined by Western blotting. Matrine pre-treatment significantly reduced collagen content, increased smooth muscle myosin heavy chain 11 (MYH11) and Poldip2 expression, decreased expressions of collagen I, β1-integrin, phsphoinositide-3-kinase (PI3K) and nuclear phosphorylated p70S6k, and reduced phosphorylation levels of protein kinase B (Akt) and mechanistic target of rapamycin (mTOR) in HCSMCs exposed to AGEs in a concentration dependent manner. Specific siRNA effectively silenced Poldip2 expression and impaired matrine's effect on collagen content, expressions of MYH11, collagen I, β1-integrin, PI3K, nuclear p-p70S6k and phosphorylation levels of Akt and mTOR in HCSMCs exposed to AGEs. Matrine suppresses AGEs- induced fibrotic responses in HCSMCs via regulating Poldip2/mTOR signaling pathway.

Recombination of charge carriers at silicon surfaces is one of the biggest loss mechanisms in crystalline silicon (c-Si) solar cells. Hafnium oxide (HfO2) has attracted much attention as a passivation layer for n-type c-Si because of its positive fixed charges and thermal stability. In this study, HfO2 films are deposited on n-type c-Si using remote plasma atomic layer deposition (RP-ALD). Post-annealing is performed using a rapid thermal processing system at different temperatures in nitrogen ambient for 10 min. The effects of post-annealing temperature on the passivation properties of the HfO2 films on c-Si are investigated. Personal computer one dimension numerical simulation for the passivated emitter and rear contact (PERC) solar cells with the HfO2 passivation layer is also presented. By means of modeling and numerical computer simulation, the influence of different front surface recombination velocity (SRV) and rear SRV on n-type silicon solar cell performance was investigated. Simulation results show that the n-type PERC solar cell with HfO2 single layer can have a conversion efficiency of 22.1%. The PERC using silicon nitride/HfO2 stacked passivation layer can further increase efficiency to 23.02% with an open-circuit voltage of 689 mV.

Although there are several case reports of facial skin ischemia/necrosis caused by hyaluronic acid filler injections, no systematic study of the clinical outcomes of a series of cases with this complication has been reported.The authors report a study of 20 consecutive patients who developed impending nasal skin necrosis as a primary concern, after nose and/or nasolabial fold augmentation with hyaluronic acid fillers. The authors retrospectively reviewed the clinical outcomes and the risk factors for this complication using case-control analysis.Seven patients (35 percent) developed full skin necrosis, and 13 patients (65 percent) recovered fully after combination treatment with hyaluronidase. Although the two groups had similar age, sex, filler injection sites, and treatment for the complication, 85 percent of the patients in the full skin necrosis group were late presenters who did not receive the combination treatment with hyaluronidase within 2 days after the vascular complication first appeared. In contrast, just 15 percent of the patients in the full recovery group were late presenters (p = 0.004).Nose and nasolabial fold augmentations with hyaluronic acid fillers can lead to impending nasal skin necrosis, possibly caused by intravascular embolism and/or extravascular compression. The key for preventing the skin ischemia from progressing to necrosis is to identify and treat the ischemia as early as possible. Early (2 days) combination treatment with hyaluronidase is associated with the full resolution of the complication.Therapeutic, IV.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the applicability of spray drying in the production of high-viability powder of L. plantarum BM-1. Firstly, in order to improve the survival of L. plantarum BM-1 during spray drying, different protectants were added before drying. The results showed that the highest survival rate of 75.70% and the lowest moisture content of 3.67% were achieved with the combination of reconstituted skim milk (RSM) and equal weight sucrose as protective agent. The cell counts reduction of free L. plantarum BM-1 was 2.58 log CFU/ml after exposure to 60°C for 1 min, whereas the reduction in spray-dried cells protected by RSM and sucrose was only 0.08 log CFU/ml. After 120-min incubation in simulated gastric condition, cell counts of free L. plantarum BM-1 decreased approximately 1.4 log CFU/ml, whereas no significant (p > 0.05) reduction in spray-dried cells was observed. Compared to the free cells, the spray-dried cells also showed higher survival under bile salts stress. In addi...

A series of novel pyrazoline-containing derivatives (15-47) has been designed, synthesized and evaluated for their biological activities. Among them, compound 18 displayed the most potent antiproliferative activity against A549, MCF-7 and HepG-2 cells line (IC50 = 0.07 μM, 0.05 μM, 0.03 μM, respectively) and the tubulin polymerization inhibitory activity (IC50 = 1.88 μM), being comparable to CA-4. Furthermore, we also tested that compound 18 was a potent inducer of apoptosis in HepG-2 cells and it had cellular effects typical for microtubule interacting agents, causing accumulation of cells in the G2/M phase of the cell cycle. These studies, along with molecular docking, provided a new molecular scaffold for the further development of antitumor agents that target tubulin.

Diabetes mellitus increases morbidity/mortality of ischemic heart disease. Although atrial natriuretic peptide and C-type natriuretic peptide reduce the myocardial ischemia-reperfusion damage in nondiabetic rats, whether vasonatrin peptide (VNP), the artificial synthetic chimera of atrial natriuretic peptide and C-type natriuretic peptide, confers cardioprotective effects against ischemia-reperfusion injury, especially in diabetic patients, is still unclear. This study was designed to investigate the effects of VNP on ischemia-reperfusion injury in diabetic rats and to further elucidate its mechanisms. The high-fat diet-fed streptozotocin-induced diabetic Sprague-Dawley rats were subjected to ischemia-reperfusion operation. VNP treatment (100 μg/kg iv, 10 min before reperfusion) significantly improved the instantaneous first derivation of left ventricle pressure (±LV dP/d tmax) and LV systolic pressure and reduced LV end-diastolic pressure, apoptosis index, caspase-3 activity, plasma creatine kinase (CK), and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities. Moreover, VNP inhibited endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress by suppressing glucose-regulated protein 78 (GRP78) and C/EBP homologous protein (CHOP). These effects were mimicked by 8-bromine-cyclic guanosinemonophosphate (8-Br-cGMP), a cGMP analog, whereas they were inhibited by KT-5823, the selective inhibitor of PKG. In addition, pretreatment with tauroursodeoxycholic acid (TUDCA), a specific inhibitor of ER stress, could not further promote the VNP's cardioprotective effect in diabetic rats. In vitro H9c2 cardiomyocytes were subjected to hypoxia/reoxygenation and incubated with or without VNP (10−8mol/l). Gene knockdown of PKG1α with siRNA blunted VNP inhibition of ER stress and apoptosis, while overexpression of PKG1α resulted in significant decreased ER stress and apoptosis. VNP protects the diabetic heart against ischemia-reperfusion injury by inhibiting ER stress via the cGMP-PKG signaling pathway. These results suggest that VNP may have potential therapeutic value for the diabetic patients with ischemic heart disease.

Objective To clarify the antipyretic effect of the Chinese materia medica, Violae Herba ( Viola yedoensis ), and its active fractions by examining the effects of V. yedoensis extracts with differing polarities on body temperature, total white blood cell (WBC) count, WBC differential count, and total serum complement of rabbits with lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-induced fever. Methods The rabbits were treated with water and ethanolic extracts of V. yedoensis, as well as petroleum ether, ethyl acetate, and n-butanol fractions of the ethanolic extract at low-, mid- and high- doses. The LPS was injected via the ear vein of rabbits in model and treatment groups 30 min post-gavage. Their body temperature was measured at 0.5, 1.0, 1.5, 2.0, 2.5, 3.0, 3.5, 4.0, 4.5, 5.0, 5.5, and 6.0 h after the LPS challenge to calculate the temperature changes and thermal response index. After the last temperature measurement, blood samples were collected to determine the blood cell counts and total serum complement (CH50) level. Results Compared with the model group, body temperature was significantly lower in the low-dose ethanolic extract group, low- and mid-dose petroleum ether fraction groups, and all three ethyl acetate fraction groups. Serum CH50 levels were lower in all treatment groups, except the ethanolic extract groups, than that in the model group, with no significant difference. V. yedoensis had no significant effect on the blood cells of febrile rabbits challenged with LPS for 6 h. Conclusions The antipyretic effects of V. yedoensis are strong, and its active fractions are the petroleum ether and ethyl acetate fractions of ethanolic extract.

The chip-level 1 × 2 optical interconnects using the polymer vertical splitter developed on a silicon substrate are demonstrated. The 1 × 2 vertical-splitting configuration is realized using a polymer waveguide terminated at three silicon 45 ° reflectors. The high-frequency transmission lines combined with the indium solder bumps are developed to flip-chip assemble a vertical-cavity surface-emitting laser chip at the input port and two photodetector chips at two output ports. Total transmission loss of -3.26 dB with a splitting ratio of 1 : 1 for the proposed splitter is experimentally obtained. A 10-Gbit/s data transmission with bit error rates better than 10-12 for two output ports is achieved. It reveals that such chip-level 1 × 2 optical interconnects using the polymer vertical splitter are suitable for high-speed data transmission with multiple output ports.

Achyranthes bidentata, a Chinese medicinal herb, is reported to be neuroprotective. However, its role in cardioprotection remains largely unknown. Our present study aimed to investigate the effects of Achyranthes bidentata polypeptides (ABPP) preconditioning on myocardial ischemia/reperfusion (MI/R) injury and to test the possible mechanisms. Rats were treated with ABPP (10 mg/kg/d, i.p.) or saline once daily for one week. Afterward, all the animals were subjected to 30 min of myocardial ischemia followed by 4 h of reperfusion. ABPP preconditioning for one week significantly improved cardiac function following MI/R. Meanwhile, ABPP reduced infarct size, plasma creatine kinase (CK)/lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) activities and myocardial apoptosis at the end of reperfusion in rat hearts. Moreover, ABPP preconditioning significantly inhibited superoxide generation, gp91phox expression, malonaldialdehyde formation and enhanced superoxide dismutase activity in I/R hearts. Furthermore, ABPP treatment inhibited PTEN expression and increased Akt phosphorylation in I/R rat heart. PI3K inhibitor wortmannin blocked Akt activation, and abolished ABPP-stimulated anti-oxidant effect and cardioprotection. Our study demonstrated for the first time that ABPP reduces oxidative stress and exerts cardioprotection against MI/R injury in rats. Inhibition of PTEN and activation of Akt may contribute to the anti-oxidant capacity and cardioprotection of ABPP.

The feasibility of coiled optical sapphire fiber sensors based on evanescent absorption spectroscopy in the infrared range for the quantitative determination of H2O content in deuterium oxide has been investigated. The coiled optical fiber sensor based on evanescent absorption spectroscopy centered at 2.9 μm has been applied to implement for the in situ monitoring of H2O concentration in deuterium oxide. The classical least square model has been utilized to build the calibration model and predict the H2O concentrations. The predicted H2O concentration in deuterium oxide is acceptably accurate and susceptible. The study demonstrates that the coiled fiber-optic sensor based on evanescent absorption spectroscopy is a feasible analytical technique for prediction of the low-level H2O content during deuterium oxide distillation in on-line and remote situation.

An optical fiber sensor based evanescent absorption spectroscopy in the infrared range for the quantitative determination of H2O content in D2O has been evaluated. The coiled optical fiber sensor base on evanescent absorption spectroscopy has been investigated to monitor H2O concentration in D2O. The classical least square model has been utilized to build the calibration model and predict the H2O concentrations. The predicted H2O concentration in D2O is acceptably accurate and susceptible. The work demonstrates that the coiled fiber-optic sensor based on evanescent absorption spectroscopy is a feasible analytical technique for prediction of the low-level H2O content during deuterium oxide distillation in on-line and remote situation

HIV-1 latency is characterized by reversible silencing of viral transcription driven by the long terminal repeat (LTR) promoter of HIV-1. Cellular and viral factors regulating LTR activity contribute to HIV-1 latency, and certain repressive cellular factors modulate viral transcription silencing. Nef-associated factor 1 (Naf1) is a host nucleocytoplasmic shuttling protein that regulates multiple cellular signaling pathways and HIV-1 production. We recently reported that nuclear Naf1 promoted nuclear export of unspliced HIV-1 gag mRNA, leading to increased Gag production. Here we demonstrate new functions of Naf1 in regulating HIV-1 persistence. We found that Naf1 contributes to the maintenance of HIV-1 latency by inhibiting LTR-driven HIV-1 gene transcription in a nuclear factor kappa B-dependent manner. Interestingly, Naf1 knockdown significantly enhanced viral reactivation in both latently HIV-1-infected Jurkat T cells and primary central memory CD4 + T cells. Furthermore, Naf1 knockdown in resting CD4 + T cells from HIV-1-infected individuals treated with antiretroviral therapy significantly increased viral reactivation upon T-cell activation, suggesting an important role of Naf1 in modulating HIV-1 latency in vivo . Our findings provide new insights for a better understanding of HIV-1 latency and suggest that inhibition of Naf1 activity to activate latently HIV-1-infected cells may be a potential therapeutic strategy. IMPORTANCE HIV-1 latency is characterized mainly by a reversible silencing of LTR promoter-driven transcription of an integrated provirus. Cellular and viral proteins regulating LTR activity contribute to the modulation of HIV-1 latency. In this study, we found that the host protein Naf1 inhibited HIV-1 LTR-driven transcription of HIV genes and contributed to the maintenance of HIV-1 latency. Our findings provide new insights into the effects of host modulation on HIV-1 latency, which may lead to a potential therapeutic strategy for HIV persistence by targeting the Naf1 protein.

Fluorescence decay dynamics of main emission manifolds of trivalent praseodymium ions doped in the as-grown and annealed PbWO4 crystals were analyzed in detail. The fluorescence lifetimes of the 3P0 and 1D2 manifolds were obtained from the fluorescence decay curves measured at room temperature. The main mechanism of fluorescence quenching of the 3P0 manifold is the non-radiative relaxation to the defect centers coming into being during crystal growth. The dominant non-radiative relaxation for the 1D2 manifold is the cross-relaxation energy transfer involving the 1G4 and 3F4 manifolds. The Inokuti–Hirayama model was used to analyze the decay dynamics of the 1D2 manifold, and the fluorescence lifetime τ0 of the as-grown and annealed Pr3+:PbWO4 crystals in absence of cross-relaxation energy transfer are derived as 35.2 μs and 37.9 μs, respectively. The annealing treatment can eliminate most defect centers except for those related to the lead vacancies.