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The present study compared the efficacy of standard and extended durations of PEG-IFNα-2a monotherapy for treatment of HBeAg-negative Chinese patients with chronic hepatitis B. Patients were randomized to receive standard therapy (n = 38; 48 weeks treatment) or extended therapy (n = 42; 72 weeks treatment). Extended therapy resulted in a significantly higher HBV DNA inhibition at 24 and 48 weeks after the end of treatment, a significantly higher sustained HBV DNA inhibition at the end of treatment, and a significantly lower HBsAg level at 24 and 48 weeks after the end of treatment (P

AbstractThe effects of poling state and pores on the fracture toughness of Pb(Zr0·95Ti0·05)O3 (PZT 95/5) ferroelectric ceramics were investigated. X-ray diffraction analysis and piezoelectric constant measurements reveal that the phase structures of PZT 95/5 ceramics change with the poling state, which significantly affects the fracture toughness. The poled PZT 95/5 ceramics demonstrate higher fracture toughness than the unpoled ceramics, and their fracture toughness significantly increases after the pressure depoling. As the porosity of ceramics increases with addition of poreformer during preparation, their fracture toughnesses all decrease accordingly either in poled state or unpoled state. The effect of pore size on the fracture toughness is subtle for the poled ceramics, but for the hydrostatic pressure depoled porous PZT 95/5 ceramics, their fracture toughness increases with the increase in pore size. A new stress model is proposed to explain the pore size effect on the fracture toughness of...

Hulun Lake and Taihu Lake are both large shallow lakes in China. In summer and winter of 2009, water, sediments and fish samples were collected from the two lakes and the concentrations of metal(loids) were analyzed. The results demonstrated that aqueous concentrations of arsenic (As), chromium (Cr), cadmium (Cd), nickel (Ni) and copper (Cu) in Hulun Lake were significantly higher than those in Taihu Lake. Especially, the As concentrations (about 130 μg/L) in Hulun Lake dramatically exceeded the permissible level of drinking water. Compared with Taihu Lake, metal(loid) concentrations in the sediments of Hulun Lake were significantly lower, which might have less impacts on the metal exchanges between water and sediments. In contrast, concentrations of the measured metal(loids) (including As) in fish from Hulun Lake and Taihu Lake were comparable, suggesting that the dramatic difference in aqueous and sediment metal(loid) concentrations had less influence on the metal(loid) bioavailability. The higher concentrations of dissolved organic carbon (DOC) and cations (e.g., Na+, K+ and Mg2+) in lake water might contribute to the reduced metal(loid) bioavailability to fish in Hulun Lake.

Many women favor in wearing foundation garments to shape their body and show satisfactory figures. However, few investigations have been conducted on the physiological impact of wearing tight garments on the body. In this study, we used girdled rats that were fed with a high fat diet to investigate their physiological condition including alterations in food intake, body weight, fat deposition, and hormone concentrations. Over the experiment period, girdled rats maintained normal plasma and liver cholesterol and triglyceride. Leptin level in girdled rats was significantly lower than that in normal control. The fat tissue of girdled rats was more active in secretion of leptin, which might be mediated by mTOR signaling. Girdled rats showed no difference in hematology analysis during the experiment period. This study showed that a body girdle can significantly reduce fat deposition and alter other body parameters in rats.

Electron energy-loss magnetic chiral dichroism (EMCD) spectroscopy, which is similar to the well-established X-ray magnetic circular dichroism spectroscopy (XMCD), can determine the quantitative magnetic parameters of materials with high spatial resolution. One of the major obstacles in quantitative analysis using the EMCD technique is the relatively poor signal-to-noise ratio (SNR), compared to XMCD. Here, in the example of a double perovskite Sr

To study the prevalence, treatment and related risk factors of diabetes in Pengzhou city, so as to provide reference for the three-tier related prevention programs.Baseline survey of population of Sichuan province from the China Kadoorie Biobank, was used to analyze the prevalence and treatment of diabetes in Pengzhou city. Logistic regression model was used to analyze the influencing factors on diabetes.The prevalence rate of diabetes was 3.7% in the 30-79 year-old groups in Pengzhou with the awareness rate, treatment rate and control rate as 45.2%, 36.6% and 17.6%, respectively. The prevalence rate, awareness rate and control rate appeared in the older age groups, high education level group, high income group and non-farming population group, were higher than that seen in the other groups. Factors as older age (OR=5.50, 95%CI: 4.77-6.34), low education (OR=0.43, 95%CI: 0.38-0.49), family with low income (OR=0.86, 95%CI: 0.82-0.90), family history of diabetes (OR=3.15, 95%CI: 2.72-3.65), hypertension (OR=2.94, 95%CI: 2.70-3.21), smoking (OR=2.11, 95% CI: 1.84-2.42), low fruit intake (OR=3.62, 95% CI: 3.23-4.07), sedentary leisure time (OR=1.28, 95% CI: 1.16-1.41), physical activities (OR=2.11, 95% CI: 1.89-2.35), overweight or obesity (OR=2.33, 95% CI: 2.04-2.65), etc. were the risk factors of diabetes.Rates related to the awareness, treatment and control of diabetes in Pengzhou city were low. Programs on health education should be strengthened in all the population with contents focusing on healthy lifestyle. Special attention should be paid on the treatment and control of diabetes in the elderly population. Patients with diabetes should follow the standardized management programs.

To investigate the efficacy and safety of 104-week sequential therapy with telbivudine or entecavir in HBeAg-positive chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients with suboptimal responses to 24-week pegylated interferon-α-2a (PEG-IFN-α-2a) therapy.A total of 130 HBeAg-positive CHB patients with HBV DNA≥5.0 lg IU/ml and a reduction in HBsAg quantitation1 lg IU/ml compared with baseline who received PEG-IFN-α-2a therapy for 24 weeks were enrolled and randomly divided into telbivudine group and entecavir group, and 5 of them were lost. HBeAg clearance rate and seroconversion rate, HBV DNA clearance rate, safety, and drug resistance rate at week 104 were observed. The t-test, chi-square test, or multivariate Cox regression analysis were used for statistical analysis of different types of data.At week 104 of treatment, HBV DNA clearance rate showed no significant difference between the telbivudine group and entecavir group (P = 0.363), and the telbivudine group had significantly higher HBeAg clearance rate and HBeAg seroconversion rate than the entecavir group (HBeAg clearance rate: 61.29% vs 23.81%, P0.01; HBeAg seroconversion rate: 51.61% vs 19.05%, P0.01). Male sex and telbivudine therapy were baseline predictors of HBeAg seroconversion. The multivariate Cox regression analysis (Forward LR, a = 0.05) showed that the presence or absence of HBeAg seroconversion at week 104 was significantly associated with male sex (HR = 4.917), a reduction in HBsAg0.5 lg IU/ml at week 12 of treatment compared baseline (HR = 3.514), and a reduction in HBeAg1 lg COI at week 12 of treatment compared baseline (HR = 8.651).In HBeAg-positive CHB patients with suboptimal responses to 24-week PEG-IFNα-2a therapy, the sequential therapy with telbivudine helps achieve better HBeAg clearance rate and seroconversion rate compared with the sequential therapy with entecavir and can be used as a therapeutic regimen for such patients. A reduction in HBeAg1 lg COI at week 12 of treatment compared baseline can be used as a predictive factor for HBeAg seroconversion at week 104.

To investigate the prevalence and risk factors of hypertension among residents in Pengzhou city of Sichuan province.Among 20 townships in Pengzhou city of Sichuan Province, 14 townships were selected using a clustered sampling based on the economic level and distance. The registered residents in the selected townships aged 30-79 years were recruited for a comprehensive survey from 2004 to 2007. A total of 55 687 residents (21 315 males and 34 372 females) were selected based on a face to face questionnaire interview and physical examination; the patient group included 14 151 residents with hypertension and the control group had 41 536 residents without hypertension were selected. Multivariate logistic regression model was used to investigate the influence factors for hypertension. OR (95%CI) values were calculated. Different levels of risk exposure factors were transformed into the risk scores using a statistical model.The prevalence rate of hypertension was 25.41% among residents aged 30 years or above in Pengzhou (14 151/55 687), 28.95% (6 170/21 315) for male residents and 23.22% (7 981/34 372) for female residents. Multivaraite logistic regression analysis showed that main risk factors for hypertension in male residents were age, low educational level, widower, low household income, no medical insurance, no fresh fruits intake, high body mass index (BMI), high waist to hip ratio, and low physical activity, which was less than 3 metabolic equivalent of task (MET) level, among which the highest three riskswere (not including the social demographic characteristics) BMI≥28 kg/m(2), waist to hip ratio ≥0.90, and not consuming fresh fruits. OR (95% CI) values for these three key factors were 3.74 (3.27-4.28), 1.34 (1.24-1.44), and 1.27 (1.14-1.41), respectively. The corresponding risk scores for these factors were 2.993, 1.102, and 1.237, respectively. Main risk factors for hypertension in female residents were age, working hours, no medical insurance, fewer number of family members, no fresh fruits intake, smoking, never drinking tea, no dairy products intake, high BMI, highwaist to hip ratio and low physical activity, among which the highest three risks were (not including the social demographic characteristics) BMI ≥28 kg/m(2), MET level, and waist to hip ratio ≥0.85. OR (95% CI) values for these three key factors were 3.30 (3.02-3.60), 1.35 (1.22-1.51), and 1.33 (1.23-1.44), respectively. The corresponding risk scores for these factors were 2.390, 1.263, and 1.051, respectively.The prevalence rate of hypertension among the residents over 30 years of age in Pengzhou city was 25.41%. The main risk factors were age, not consuming fresh fruits, high BMI, high waist to hip ratio, and low MET level.

To investigate the functional brain pain center and default mode network response to electro acupuncture stimulate in weizhong acupoints(BL40) and dachangshu acupoints(BL25).During January to February 2015, volunteers were enrolled in this study from the staff and student interns of Gansu Province Traditional Chinese Medicine Hospital. A total of 20 healthy, right-handed subjects, male 9, female 11, age (23±3) years, participated in this study. Block design task functional magnetic resonance imaging(fMRI) 3.0 T was performed in all subjects by electro acupuncture stimulating at BL40 and BL25 from the same experienced acupuncturist.The needle connected electric acupuncture apparatus through tow long coaxial-cable. A block design with five 120 s blocks of rest time (OFF block, electric acupuncture turn off ) interspersed between five 60 s blocks of stimulation (ON block, electric acupuncture turn on) fMRI scan. Magnetic resonance data of brain function was collected and FSL(fMRI Software Library) software was used to analyze the data.All subjects' data were analyzed except 2 cases whose head movement were more than 2 mm. Activated brain function regions by electro acupuncture stimulate included temporal lobe lateral sulcus, lobus insularis, thalamus, supramarginal gyrus, prefrontal medial frontal gyrus. Negative activated brain regions included middle frontal gyrus, parahippocampal gyrus, cingulate cortex abdominal segment, parietal cortex.The functional pain central and default mode network were changed when electro acupuncture stimulate in(BL40) and(BL25).There are several brain activation regions and negative activated brain regions when administering electro acupuncture stimulation at BL40 and BL25.

Metastasis, which remains incompletely characterized at the molecular and biochemical levels, is a highly specific process. Despite the ability of disseminated cancer cells to intravasate into distant tissues, it has been long recognized that only a limited subset of target organs develop clinically overt metastases. Therefore, subsequent adaptation of disseminated cancer cells to foreign tissue microenvironment determines the metastatic latency and tissue tropism of these cells. As a result, studying interactions between the disseminated cancer cells and the adjacent stromal cells will provide a better understanding of what constitutes a favorable or unfavorable microenvironment for disseminated cancer cells in a tissue-specific manner. Previously, we reported a protein signature of brain metastasis showing increased ability of brain metastatic breast cancer cells to counteract oxidative stress. In this study, we showed that another protein from the brain metastatic protein signature, neurotrophin-3 (NT-3), has a dual function of regulating the metastatic growth of metastatic breast cancer cells and reducing the activation of immune response in the brain. More importantly, increased NT-3 secretion in metastatic breast cancer cells results in a reversion of mesenchymal-like (EMT) state to epithelial-like (MET) state and vice versa. Ectopic expression of NT-3 in EMT-like breast cancer cells reduces their migratory ability and increases the expression of HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor 2) and E-cadherin at the cell–cell junction. In addition, both endogenous and ectopic expression of NT-3 reduced the number of fully activated cytotoxic microglia. In summary, NT-3 appears to promote growth of metastatic breast cancer cells in the brain by facilitating the re-epithelialization of metastatic breast cancer cells and downmodulating the cytotoxic response of microglia. Most importantly, our results provide new insights into the latency and development of central nervous system macrometastases in patients with HER2-positive breast tumors and provide mechanistic rationale to target HER2 signaling for HER2-positive breast cancer brain metastasis.

Climatic changes and anthropogenic activities could affect nutrients’ status significantly in the different lake ecosystems. Nutrients in Lake Hulun and Lake Taihu, two largest shallow cyanobacteria-blooming lakes in northern and southern China, respectively, were at eutrophicated levels in 2009. The concentrations of total nitrogen and total phosphorus were 3.346 and 2.250 mg/L as well as 0.435 and 0.062 mg/L, respectively, in these two lakes with different causes of eutrophication. For Lake Hulun, it was the decreased amount of water as a result of the warming and drying climate that accounted for the abrupt increase of total nitrogen and total phosphorus levels through inspissation. In addition, the icebound effects, no outflows, low nutrients sequestration by the sediment and the reduction of aquatic productivity made the situation even worse. On the contrary, high population densities, the rapid development of agriculture and industry as well as urbanization have increased the nitrogen and phosphorus loads on Lake Taihu. Therefore, higher criteria of total nitrogen and total phosphorus should be applied in Lake Hulun given the difficulties in controlling climatic changes while much more rigorous standards should be established for Lake Taihu since the anthropogenic impacts on nutrient status are relatively easy to control.

Histamine, mainly produced by mast cells, is an important inflammatory mediator in immune response. Recently Histamine H4 Receptor (H4R) was also identified in mast cells, from which pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines are released. However, the mechanism of how H4R mediates these cytokines and chemokines release in mast cells was still unclear. To further explore the role of H4R in the immune inflammatory response in mast cells, we tested the release of inflammatory cytokine tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α), chemokine interleukin-8 (IL-8) and the relevant signaling pathways activated by H4R on LAD2 cells (a human mast cell line). We found that the release of IL-8 and TNF-α were blocked by inhibitors of PI3K, ERK and Ca2+-Calcineurin-NFAT signaling pathways, while the release of these cytokines and chemokines were enhanced by the inhibitor of P38 signaling pathway. However, inhibitors of the JNK and NF-κB signaling pathways had little effect on the expression of the pro-inflammatory mediators. Moreover, activation of the H4R could induce phosphorylation of ERK, p38 and AKT in mast cells. In conclusion, we found that H4R mediates the release of inflammatory cytokine TNF-α and chemokine IL-8 in human mast cells via PI3K, Ca2+-Calcineurin-NFAT and MAPKs signaling pathways.

Phase transition behaviors in Pb0.97La0.02(Zr0.42Sn0.40Ti0.18)O3 (PLZST) ceramics were investigated by means of polarization, pyroelectric and dielectric studies. The polarization analysis indicated that the initial state of this PLZST ceramics is ferroelectric (FE) and it transforms into a narrow antiferroelectric (AFE) phase when the temperature approaches 120°C. This phase transition behavior was further confirmed by the pyroelectric and dielectric measurements. What is more, after poled, the frequency dispersion in dielectric constant (ϵ) and dissipation factor (tanδ) induced by La modification disappeared.

Porous Pb0.99(Zr0.95Ti0.05)0.98Nb0.02O3 ferroelectric ceramics with a pore size of the order of the crystalline grain size were prepared and the microstructure and the properties were investigated. Based on this microstructure, the net porosity of the ceramics can be attributed to the intentionally introduced extrinsic porosity and thus the quantitative dependence of ferroelectric and dielectric properties of the ceramics on the porosity can be established respectively. A good agreement with experimental measurements was obtained. Our work represents the first attempt to tailor the properties of ferroelectric ceramics via varying the porosity from the viewpoint of application.

The domain switching dynamics was investigated in Nb-doped Pb(Zr 0.52 Ti 0.48 )O 3 bulk ceramics through observing systematically the evolution of the hysteresis loops at frequencies ranging from 0.01 to 100 Hz and in a field of 7.5–35 kV/cm. The experimental results indicate that the hysteresis loops are remarkably dependent on the fields and the frequencies. The data are analyzed by the Merz equation. The analysis results reveal that the requirement to satisfy the Merz equation is saturated loops. Based on these results, we divided the polarization switching process into three regions.

Rice-stalk powder was heated in supercritical methanol at 300°C and the resulting products were analyzed with gas chromatography/mass spectrometer (GC/MS). After the supercritical methanolysis, more than 89% of organic mater in the rice-stalk powder was converted to methanol-soluble species, in which more than 100 organic compounds were detected and most of them are oxygen-containing ones, including ketones, hydroxybenzenes, esters, methoxyaromatics, aldehydes, alkanols, and carboxylic acids. Other species detected are alkanes, alkenes, arenes, and nitrogen- and sulfur-containing organic compounds.

The intragranular-porous ferroelectric ceramic was fabricated for the first time with carbon nanotubes as pore formers and the effects of intragranular pores on the ferroelectric and dielectric properties were investigated. It was found that compared with dense ceramic the introduction of a small amount of intragranular pores led to an enhanced remnant polarization, an improved bulk resistivity, higher dielectric breakdown strength, a lower dielectric constant, and thus an enhanced energy storage density by 20%. Plus, a shift of the Curie temperature of ceramics was found in intragranular-porous ferroelectric ceramic and possible reasons for these effects were interpreted.

Horseradish peroxidase (HRP) has the advantages of low cost, obtaining convenience, broad substrate specificity, etc, so it may be a suitable kind of enzyme to remove dilute emulsified oil and dissolved oil from water. The effect factors of the oil removal using HRP, such as pH, concentrations of HRP and H2O2, additives, Fe2 + ion, temperature and reaction time were researched. When the initial oil concentration was 120 mg/L, the remaining oil concentrations of the synthetic oily water and an actual oily wastewater reached 24.83 mg/L and 21.30 mg/L, respectively. The treatment of oily water using HRP and H2O2 is feasible. It has good application prospects.

The scaling behaviors of the dynamic hysteresis in Zr-rich lead zirconate titanate bulk ceramics at various frequency ( f ) and field amplitude ( E 0 ) values, and in different ferroelectric phases, were investigated. The scaling laws of the hysteresis area 〈 A 〉 at fixed temperature take the forms 〈 A 〉 ∝ f 0.16 E 0 and 〈 A 〉 ∝ f 0.01 E 0 0.2 for low frequency and high frequency, respectively. The forms are different from those of the theoretical predictions and other experimental results but are the same for different ferroelectric phases, which implies that the compositions and crystal structures can influence the scaling laws while the different space groups in the rhombohedral phase can not.

Based on the radio frequency (RF) demodulation technique, a novel dual-wavelength fiber laser sensor is proposed and demonstrated experimentally. A beat sensing signal, which is generated by the coherently mixing output of a dual-wavelength laser in a high frequency photodetector, has been obtained and demodulated by a radio-frequency spectrum analyzer (RFSA). By employing a LiNbO3 modulator, high-frequency beat signal can be tuned arbitrarily to tens or hundreds of megahertz without distortion and thus a lowfrequency RFSA can be used. When a strain is applied on the laser sensor, the detected beat signals will be shifted with a strain sensitivity of about –8.11 kHz/μe.

The hydrostatic pressure-induced ferroelectric to antiferroelectric (FE–AFE) phase transformation of PZT95/5 ceramics was investigated as a function of porosity, pore shape and pore size. FE–AFE phase transformations were more diffuse and occurred at lower hydrostatic pressures with increasing porosity. The porous PZT95/5 ceramics with spherical pores exhibited higher transformation pressures than those with irregular pores. Moreover, FE–AFE phase transformations of porous PZT95/5 ceramics with polydisperse irregular pores were more diffuse than those of porous PZT95/5 ceramics with monodisperse irregular pores. The relation between pore structure and hydrostatic pressure-induced FE–AFE transformation was established according to stress concentration theory. (© 2007 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

The sol-gel wet chemical synthesis of dielectric thin films of perovskite Ca1−x Sr x ZrO3 has been studied in detail using different techniques. To the best of our knowledge, it is the first time in the literature to systemically study the properties of Ca1−x Sr x ZrO3 dielectric thin films in the whole solid solution composition range. Based on X-ray diffraction (XRD), Flourier transform infrared (FT-IR) reflectivity spectroscopy and atomic force microscope (AFM) data, the mechanisms of Ca1−x Sr x ZrO3 phase transformation and crystallinity have been investigated. The results show that the film annealed at 550 °C is amorphous with existing of carbonates, while the carbonates and other organics are decomposed at 600 °C and above, and the film is crystallized into the perovskite phase with increasing annealing temperature. The values of dielectric constant in a range of 16–30 for Ca1−x Sr x ZrO3 thin films have been obtained. Measured dielectric properties show that those films exhibit stable dielectric properties nearly independent on the applied electrical field and frequency at room temperature. Based on above data, it can be concluded that Ca1−x Sr x ZrO3 thin films are a promising candidate system for the high-k microelectronic devices application.

In this paper, we introduce plane permutations, i.e. pairs $\mathfrak{p}=(s,\pi)$ where $s$ is an $n$-cycle and $\pi$ is an arbitrary permutation, represented as a two-row array. Accordingly a plane permutation gives rise to three distinct permutations: the permutation induced by the upper horizontal ($s$), the vertical $\pi$) and the diagonal ($D_{\mathfrak{p}}$) of the array. The latter can also be viewed as the three permutations of a hypermap. In particular, a map corresponds to a plane permutation, in which the diagonal is a fixed point-free involution. We study the transposition action on plane permutations obtained by permuting their diagonal-blocks. We establish basic properties of plane permutations and study transpositions and exceedances and derive various enumerative results. In particular, we prove a recurrence for the number of plane permutations having a fixed diagonal and $k$ cycles in the vertical, generalizing Chapuy's recursion for maps filtered by the genus. As applications of this framework, we present a combinatorial proof of a result of Zagier and Stanley, on the number of $n$-cycles $\omega$, for which the product $\omega(1~2~\cdots ~n)$ has exactly $k$ cycles. Furthermore, we integrate studies on the transposition and block-interchange distance of permutations as well as the reversal distance of signed permutations. Plane permutations allow us to generalize and recover various lower bounds for transposition and block-interchange distances and to connect reversals with block-interchanges., Comment: To appear in SIAM J. Discrete Math. Considering the scope of the journal, the content in arXiv:1502.07971 "A simple framework on sorting permutations" was included

The HfO2 gate dielectric films were fabricated by the laser molecular beam epitaxy (LMBE) technique. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) observation showed that under optimized condition, there is no detectable SiO2 interfacial layer in the as-deposited film and a SiO2 interfacial layer of about 0.4 nm was formed at the Si interface due to the post deposition annealing. Capacitance–voltage (C–V) measurement of the film revealed that the equivalent oxide thickness was about 1.3 nm. Such a film showed very low leakage current density of 1.5 × 10−2 A cm−2 at 1 V gate bias from the current–voltage (I–V) analysis. The conduction mechanisms as a function of temperature T and electric field E were also systematically studied.

We have very recently prepared perovskite high-K dielectric thin films in the CaZrO3-SrZrO3 solid solution system using the sol-gel wet chemical technology for CMOS gate and nanoelectronics applications. Such sol-gel prepared (Ca, Sr)ZrO3 thin films with various compositional ratios of Ca/Sr on Pt coated (001) Si substrates are annealed in flowing O2 at different temperatures from 550 to 700°C. Based on our best knowledge, it is the first time in the literature to successfully prepare the (Ca, Sr)ZrO3 thin films using wet chemical methods, including sol-gel and metallo-organic decomposition (MOD) technique. These thin films have been systematically characterized using differential thermal analysis (DTA), thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), Auger spectra (AES), and electrical and dielectric measurements. Using these techniques, the different reactions in various processing steps have been clarified. The values of dielectric constant in a range of 2...

Amorphous ferroelectric thin film capacitive gas sensors with a largely improved sensitivity to hydrogen have been developed recently, showing a great promising potential for the next generation hydrogen detection technology. This review presents an overall picture of amorphous ferroelectric thin film hydrogen gas sensors, starting from the hydrogen-damage phenomena of ferroelectric thin films during the forming gas annealing (FGA) process. It stresses on the correlation among processing, microstructural evolution and electric properties of amorphous ferroelectric thin films for fabrication concerns. An attempt is made to detail the hydrogen sensitivity and transient response of various prototype capacitive devices with respect to the instinct of the films and the hydrogen kinetic processes in the Pd/ferroelectric heterostructure. Recent advances on the hydrogen-damage mechanism of ferroelectric thin films and the hydrogen interface-blocking model for amorphous ferroelectric gas sensors are also described.

In this paper, we report our most recent work on applying ferroelectric (Ba 0.67 Sr 0.33 )Ti x O y thin films for the flat panel display application. Ferroelectric (Ba 0.67 Sr 0.33 )Ti x O y thin films, with x = 1.00, 1.02, 1.04, and 1.06, have been prepared using the sol-gel and spin-coating technology onto n-type Si tips, and annealed in air at various temperatures. The samples have been systematically characterized using DTA, TGA, X-ray diffraction, SEM, AFM, and DC field emission. Experimental results have shown that BST thin films with perovskite structure have been successfully coated on Si tips and the applied voltage required for Si tips field emission has been substantially reduced from 60 - 80 V/ w m for bare Si tips to about 4 - 10 V/ w m for BST thin film coated Si tips, which is a great beneficial factor for low operating voltage and low power consumption for new generation electronic devices. It is also very strikingly found that excess Ti concentration has profound effect on electron ...

This study aimed to investigate the inhibiting effect of arsenic trioxide (As2O3) on neurogliocytoma in nude mice and the mechanism responsible for this effect.Neurogliocytoma implantation models were constructed in nude mice, which were assigned to three groups: the control group, the sustained release tablet-polylactic acid-glycolic acid polymer (50:50) group (PLGA group) and the As2O3-polylactic acid-glycolic acid polymer (50:50) (As2O3-PLGA group). One tablet of As2O3-PLGA was implanted in the tumor of the As2O3-PLGA group. Intratumoral implantation was also performed in the other groups using a different type of tablet. The sustained releasing As2O3 had an inhibiting effect on the tumors. The TUNEL assay was used to determine the apoptosis rates in the implanted tumors. Immunohistochemical staining and Western blotting was carried out to determine the expression levels of caspase-3 and Bcl-2.No inhibitory effect was observed on the tumor in the PLGA group, and there was no significant difference between this group and the control group. Subcutaneous tumor growth in nude mice was significantly inhibited in the As2O3-PLGA group relative to that in the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (p0.01). The tumor inhibition rate was 60.8%. The percentage of apoptotic tumor cells in the As2O3-PLGA group was 30.8%, which was significantly higher than that in the control group (3.92%) and that in the PLGA group (4.08%). The expression of Bcl-2 in the implanted tumor tissue was significantly reduced, but the expression of caspase-3 increased significantly.As2O3 has a potent inhibiting effect on the growth of neurogliocytoma in vivo and can induce the apoptosis of tumor cells. The molecular mechanism of this effect may be related to the downregulation of Bcl-2 expression and the upregulation of caspase-3 expression.

Ferroelectric (Ba 0.67 Sr 0.33 )TiO 3 and Pb(Zr 0.53 Ti 0.47 )O 3 thin films have been prepared by the RF magnetron sputtering process, and characterized using scanning probe microscopy. Two distinct grain-boundary space charge regions are observed in the BST films by the contact KPFM. Such charged grain-boundaries are correlated to their leakage current behaviors. The ferroelectric domain and retention properties of the PZT 53/47 thin films are also investigated using EFM. The time dependence of the remnant polarization is identified to follow a stretched exponential decay.

Ferroelectric PbTiO3 thin films have been prepared by sol-gel route, and characterized using scanning probe microscopy. The ferroelectric domain images are obtained in the piezo- response, phase and amplitude measurements respectively, and the resultant contrast is interpreted by the induced local domain piezo-vibration. In particular, 90° and 180° domain walls appear as a transition region and a dark region in the amplitude image with a thickness of 70 nm and 8 nm, respectively. In our randomly oriented PbTiO3 films, the local hysteresis loop measurements exhibit a variety of piezoelectric behaviors, and the additional non-switchable polarization is believed to originate from the asymmetric PbTiO3/Pt heterostructure. Moreover, PbTiO3 film shows an excellent polarization retention performance at the nanometer scale, which may be related to the high tetragonality of PbTiO3 structure.

The dependence of a switching current in lead zirconate titanate (PZT) ferroelectric ceramics on the temperature and an applied electrical field was investigated. It was found that temperature has a moderate contribution to the switching current values, but applied electric fields have significant effects on the values. Importantly, a relaxation of switching current on frequency was observed through this method. By a comparison investigation on PZT ceramics of different compositions non- 18 0 ∘ domain switching was found to be responsible for the relaxation. A function, the ‘active potential of domains’ was proposed to interpret the observed results from the viewpoint of energy. The results obtained provide a new understanding of domain process in ferroelectric ceramics that relaxation of domains is a collective motion of non- 18 0 ∘ domains.

A novel metal-ferroelectric hydrogen gas sensing device was fabricated on platinum-coated silicon wafer with an amorphous ferroelectric Ba0.67Sr0.33TiO3 layer using the RF magnetron co-sputtering process and was characterized by X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, dielectric characterization and gas sensing measurement. Experimental results show that the microstructure and the dielectric properties are closely correlated with the deposition parameters. The studies on the dielectric properties indicate that the non-stoichiometric defects in the amorphous films are largely reduced by depositing in 50% oxygen content just below the crystallization temperature of the films. J–E performances exhibit the typical Schottky behavior, both in air and in hydrogen gas and a voltage shift 0.6 V has been observed in 1042 ppm hydrogen diluted in air. Compared to the sol-gel case, it is believed that the electronic defects, both in bulk and at interface, cause the degradation of the hydrogen gas sensitivity and weaken the induced H2 potential built-up across the space charge layer at the interface. The gas sensing mechanism based on the proton induced Pd/BST interfacial polarization potential is also discussed. Related to the MIS hydrogen sensor device, it is believed that the high permittivity of the amorphous ferroelectric thin films enhances the proton polarization at the Pd/BST interface and, in turn, greatly improves the built-up interfacial potential induced by the hydrogen.

A three-dimensional ductile damage model based on the endochronic plastic theory is developed and employed to characterize the failure process of double-edge notched thick-tension specimens. A ductile damage evolution equation is derived with a new intrinsic time-scale specifically defined to characterize damage evolution. Two damage failure criteria are proposed and employed to predict the failure loads and crack initiation sites which correspond well with those measured experimentally.

On the GaAs(110) surface steps perpendicular to the [001] direction may be either arsenic-terminated or gallium-terminated. We compute the energy difference between these steps using a tight-binding recursion method. We find that the arsenic-terminated step is more stable by approximately 0.5 eV. Our results suggest that some recent experimental observations on the shape of islands formed during homoepitaxy on GaAs(110) may be the consequence of an energy-driven rather than a kinetics-driven epitaxial growth.

Summary A phytoplasma infecting Sophora Root (Sophora alopecuroides) was detected and identified in Alar, Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region of China. Typical phytoplasma bodies were observed in sieve tubes of the diseased plants by transmission electron microscopy. A partial 16S rRNA gene and ribosomal protein (rp) genes containing rpl22 (rplV) and rps3 (rpsC) were amplified by direct and nested PCR. Based on the sequence similarity of the 16S rRNA and rp genes with accompanying phylogenetic analyses, the phytoplasma associated with Sophora Root yellows belongs to the 16SrI group (aster yellows group). Virtual RFLP analysis of these 16S rRNA and rp gene sequences showed distinct differences from those of reference phytoplasma strains representing previously described subgroups of the 16SrI group. Moreover, the similarity coefficient (0.92) of the RFLP profile of this phytoplasma was less than the threshold similarity coefficient (0.97) required for subgroup classification. Thus, the phytoplasma isolate of Sophora Root plants, designated as ‘SoRY’, represents a new subgroup. Furthermore, this is the first report of phytoplasma disease associated with Sophora Root plants.

Predictors of quantitative evaluation of hepatic steatosis and liver fat content (LFC) using clinical and laboratory variables available in the general practice in the obese children are poorly identified.To build predictive models of hepatic steatosis and LFC in obese children based on biochemical parameters and anthropometry.Hepatic steatosis and LFC were determined using proton magnetic resonance spectroscopy in 171 obese children aged 5.5-18.0 years. Routine clinical and laboratory parameters were also measured in all subjects. Group analysis, univariable correlation analysis, and multivariate logistic and linear regression analysis were used to develop a liver fat score to identify hepatic steatosis and a liver fat equation to predict LFC in each subject.The predictive model of hepatic steatosis in our participants based on waist circumference and alanine aminotransferase had an area under the receiver operating characteristic curve of 0.959 (95% confidence interval: 0.927-0.990). The optimal cut-off value of 0.525 for determining hepatic steatosis had sensitivity of 93% and specificity of 90%. A liver fat equation was also developed based on the same parameters of hepatic steatosis liver fat score, which would be used to calculate the LFC in each individual.The liver fat score and liver fat equation, consisting of routinely available variables, may help paediatricians to accurately determine hepatic steatosis and LFC in clinical practice, but external validation is needed before it can be employed for this purpose.

Aim To report a severe and rare case of multiple idiopathic cervical root resorption (MICRR) in an adult female. Summary A healthy 27-year-old Chinese female, with no significant associated factors, presented with MICRR. Resorption progressed quickly and lesions varied in severity, involving 29 teeth and leading to the loss of 23 teeth over a period of only 3 years. The inner surface of the crown showed extensive areas with worm-eaten lacunar resorption, and the resorptive lesions had abundant lysosomes throughout their cytoplasm. Further, heavy deposits of reaction products were shown in variously sized lysosomes.

This paper presents a three-dimensional crack initiation analysis in a sidegrooved CT specimen. This is achieved with an endochronic damage model proposed recently by Chow and Chen ( 1,2) and discretized for finite element analysis. The damage model enables the quantification of the progressive damage evolution which would not be otherwise possible using the conventional fracture mechanics analysis. By employing two separate damage failure criteria, the crack is predicted to initiate at a small distance from the sidegroove and the prediction agrees well with the experimental observation. A more uniform crack initiation across the crack-tip line is observed both experimentally and theoretically relative to the CT specimen without sidegrooving.

In the application of the theory of damage mechanics to solve a wide range of practical engineering problems, a generalized formulation of damage strain energy release rate Y is required. This is because the damage strain energy release rate Y, which is the thermodynamic conjugate force of damage variable D, is used to derive damage evolution equation. For the case of isotropic damage, the damage variable is degenerated to a scalar. Accordingly, the derivation of the damage strain energy release rate is relatively straightforward. However, it is much more involved in the case of anisotropic damage. Currently, no such generalized form of the damage strain energy release rate is available. This paper is intended to present the development of three formulations of damage strain energy release rate based on three different forms of the damage effect tensor M(D) for which D is a second order symmetric tensor. The realization of the anisotropic damage strain energy rate formulations makes it possible to obtain the solution of practical structural problems where the service loading is often nonproportional.

For many fracture problems of practical engineering importance, the three-dimensional effects are significant and a three-dimensional analysis for the problems is thus required. In this paper, an endochronic theory coupled with anisotropic damage is first established, which is actually an elasto-plastic damage theory coupled with isotropic-nonlinear kinematic hardening. The ductile damage evolution equation is derived from the orthogonality rule with a new intrinsic time scale introduced especially for damage evolution. Then, a three-dimensional finite element program incorporating the endochronic damage model is formulated and emploved to analyze the widely used CT fracture specimen. Two failure criteria are proposed for the prediction of crack initiation direction and crack initiation load. From the analysis, significant three-dimensional effects are observed and the crack is estimated to initiate first at the middle of the crack front line. Experiments have been conducted to verify the proposed theory and the results are found to compare well with the theoretical values.

17β-Estradiol has been demonstrated to protect blood-brain barrier from disruption and attenuate brain injury in various conditions. The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of 17β-estradiol on the blood-retina barrier (BRB) breakdown induced by intravitreous injection of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), a significant mediator of vascular permeability. Intravitreous injection of VEGF was performed to initiate BRB breakdown in male rats with PBS in the contralateral eye as control. 2 doses of 17β-estradiol and vehicle control were given to 3 groups of rats. The integrity of the BRB was quantified by Evans blue technique and assessed by fluorescent dyes in retinal sections and wholemounts. BRB breakdown was achieved by VEGF as retinal vascular permeability was increased compared with control eyes (14.66±4.09 vs. 4.94±1.20 μl/g/h, p0.01). Vascular permeability in the 2 groups treated with 17β-estradiol was reduced compared with control (14.66±4.09 vs. 10.26±3.67 vs. 7.37±2.22 μl/g/h, p0.01). Rhodamine isothiocyanate (RhIC) extravasation in retinal sections and Evans blue-albumin complex leakage in retinal wholemounts were also decreased in the 2 treatment groups. These results suggest that 17β-estradiol attenuates BRB breakdown induced by VEGF in male rats, which may provide a new role of 17β-estradiol in ocular diseases.

An anisotropic model of damage mechanics for ductile fracture incorporating the endochronic theory of plasticity is presented in order to take into account material deterioration during plastic deformation. An alternative form of endochronic (internal time) theory which is actually an elasto-plastic damage theory with isotropic-nonlinear kinematic hardening is developed for ease of numerical computation. Based on this new damage model, a finite element algorithm is formulated and then employed to characterize the fracture of thin aluminum plate containing a center crack. A new criterion termed as YR-Criterion is proposed to define both the crack initiation angle and load. Experiments have been conducted to verify the validity of the proposed damage model and it is found that the theoretical crack initiation loads correspond closely with the measured values.

Subharmonic resonance occurrence in power system more frequently. This paper used mathematical analysis method for solving the nonlinear differential equations based on the system equivalent diagram, and deduced the mathematical expression of the subharmonic resonance, derived the relevant affective factors of subharmonic resonance overvoltage amplitude, and analyzed the influence of all relevant factors on subharmonic resonance overvoltage in detail, finally validate the conclusion of theoretical analysis using EMTP-ATP.

14C(n,γ)15C is being used as a test case in the development of an indirect method to determine neutron capture cross sections on neutron‐rich unstable nuclei at astrophysical energies. Our approach makes use of two reactions: one peripheral used to find the asymptotic normalization coefficient (ANC) and a second non‐peripheral reaction to determine the spectroscopic factor. The ANC for 15C has been determined using a HI neutron transfer reaction with a 12 MeV/nucleon 14C beam on a 13C target. The spectroscopic factor will be determined using 14C(d,p) in forward kinematics with an incident deuteron energy of 60 MeV. Both experiments were performed using the MDM high‐resolution spectrometer at Texas A&M University.