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The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) proteins compose a family of transcription factors (TFs), which play a crucial role in plant growth, development, and abiotic and biotic stress responses. However, no comprehensive analysis of bZIP family has been reported in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). In this study, we identified and characterized 60 bZIP TF-encoding genes from two pepper genomes. These genes were divided into 10 groups based on their phylogenetic relationships with bZIP genes from Arabidopsis. Six introns/exons structural patterns within the basic and hinge regions and the conserved motifs were identified among all the pepper bZIP proteins, on the basis of which, we classify them into different subfamilies. Based on the transcriptomic data of Zunla-1 genome, expression analyses of 59 pepper bZIP genes (not including CabZIP25 of CM334 genome), indicated that the pepper bZIP genes were differentially expressed in the pepper tissues and developmental stages, and many of the pepper bZIP genes might be involved in responses to various abiotic stresses and phytohormones. Further, gene expression analysis, using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), showed that the CabZIP25 gene was expressed at relatively higher levels in vegetative tissues, and was strongly induced by abiotic stresses and phytohormones. In comparing with wild type Arabidopsis, germination rate, fresh weight, chlorophyll content, and root lengths increased in the CabZIP25-overexpressing Arabidopsis under salt stress. Additionally, CabZIP25-silenced pepper showed lower chlorophyll content than the control plants under salt stress. These results suggested that CabZIP25 improved salt tolerance in plants. Taken together, our results provide new opportunities for the functional characterization of bZIP TFs in pepper.

Objective. To holistically explore the latent active ingredients, targets, and related mechanisms of Hugan buzure granule (HBG) in the treatment of liver fibrosis (LF) via network pharmacology. Methods. First, we collected the ingredients of HBG by referring the TCMSP server and literature and filtered the active ingredients though the criteria of oral bioavailability ≥30% and drug-likeness index ≥0.18. Second, herb-associated targets were predicted and screened based on the BATMAN-TCM and SwissTargetPrediction platforms. Candidate targets related to LF were collected from the GeneCards and OMIM databases. Furthermore, the overlapping target genes were used to construct the protein-protein interaction network and “drug-compound-target-disease” network. Third, GO and KEGG pathway analyses were carried out to illustrate the latent mechanisms of HBG in the treatment of LF. Finally, the combining activities of hub targets with active ingredients were further verified based on software AutoDock Vina. Results. A total of 25 active ingredients and 115 overlapping target genes of HBG and LF were collected. Besides, GO enrichment analysis exhibited that the overlapping target genes were involved in DNA-binding transcription activator activity, RNA polymerase II-specific, and oxidoreductase activity. Simultaneously, the key molecular mechanisms of HBG against LF were mainly involved in PI3K-AKT, MAPK, HIF-1, and NF-κB signaling pathways. Also, molecular docking simulation demonstrated that the key targets of HBG for antiliver fibrosis were IL6, CASP3, EGFR, VEGF, and MAPK. Conclusion. This work validated and predicted the underlying mechanisms of multicomponent and multitarget about HBG in treating LF and provided a scientific foundation for further research.

A visible-light photoredox-catalyzed oxidation/[3+2] cycloaddition/oxidative aromatization cascade reaction of [(3,4-dihydroisoquinolin-2(1H)-yl)methyl]phosphonates and activated olefins or alkynes for the efficient synthesis of potentially biological active pyrrolo[2,1-a]isoquinoline-substituted phosphonates was developed. This transformation features mild reaction conditions (i.e., visible light irradiation, room temperature), molecular oxygen (O2) as a green oxidant, simple ‘one-pot’ operation.

A novel geopolymer supported nanobimetallic catalyst for isopropanol dehydrogenation was prepared by modified wet impregnation and reduction method. XRD, SEM, EDX and TEM analysis confirmed formation of amorphous geopolymer from the polymerization of metakaolin and deposition of nanometals over the geopolymer support. The bimetallic catalyst containing 5wt. % Cu and 10wt. % Ni loading over geopolymer shows an excellent performance with 23.18% conversion of isopropanol and 88.24% selectivity to acetone under reaction conditions of 90 °C, 3 hours, and catalyst amount of 0.15g/5.0g of isopropanol. Moreover, the catalyst maintains its catalytic stability without noticeable loss of activity after five cycles.

Periplasmic or external carbonic anhydrases (CAs) have been well accepted as playing a crucial role in the acquisition of dissolved inorganic carbon; however, no cytological evidence or molecular information on these enzymes has been reported in seaweeds to date. In this study, the full-length cDNA sequence coding for a putative periplasmic Sjα-CA2 was cloned from the gametophytes of Saccharina japonica, an industrial brown seaweed. It was 1,728 bp in length and included a 263-bp 5'-untranslated region (UTR), a 577-bp 3'-UTR, and an 888-bp open reading frame encoding a protein precursor consisting of 295 amino acids. The mature protein, after removal of a predicted 28-residue signal peptide, was composed of 267 amino acids with a relative molecular weight of 29.27 kDa. Multisequence alignment and phylogenetic analysis indicated that it was a member of the α-CA family. Enzyme activity assays showed that the recombinant Sjα-CA2 in Escherichia coli possessed CO2 hydration and esterase activities, thus identifying this gene Sjα-CA2 in function. Immunogold electron microscopic observations with the prepared anti-Sjα-CA2 polyclonal antibody illustrated that Sjα-CA2 was located in periplasmic space of the kelp gametophyte cells. Quantitative real-time PCR results revealed that the transcription of Sjα-CA2 was induced by elevated HCO3- levels, but it was little changed while the kelp gametophytes were subjected to elevated CO2 concentrations. This study suggests that the periplasmic Sjα-CA2 might play a role in adapting to elevated environmental levels of HCO3- by dehydration of HCO3- to generate CO2 , which could be readily taken up by S. japonica gametophytes.

The basic leucine zipper (bZIP) proteins compose a family of transcription factors (TFs), which play a crucial role in plant growth, development, and abiotic and biotic stress responses. However, no comprehensive analysis of bZIP family has been reported in pepper (Capsicum annuum L.). In this study, we identified and characterized 60 bZIP TF-encoding genes from two pepper genomes. These genes were divided into 10 groups based on their phylogenetic relationships with bZIP genes from Arabidopsis. Six introns/exons structural patterns within the basic and hinge regions and the conserved motifs were identified among all the pepper bZIP proteins, on the basis of which, we classify them into different subfamilies. Based on the transcriptomic data of Zunla-1 genome, expression analyses of 59 pepper bZIP genes (not including CabZIP25 of CM334 genome), indicated that the pepper bZIP genes were differentially expressed in the pepper tissues and developmental stages, and many of the pepper bZIP genes might be involved in responses to various abiotic stresses and phytohormones. Further, gene expression analysis, using quantitative real-time PCR (qRT-PCR), showed that the CabZIP25 gene was expressed at relatively higher levels in vegetative tissues, and was strongly induced by abiotic stresses and phytohormones. In comparing with wild type Arabidopsis, germination rate, fresh weight, chlorophyll content, and root lengths increased in the CabZIP25-overexpressing Arabidopsis under salt stress. Additionally, CabZIP25-silenced pepper showed lower chlorophyll content than the control plants under salt stress. These results suggested that CabZIP25 improved salt tolerance in plants. Taken together, our results provide new opportunities for the functional characterization of bZIP TFs in pepper.

To determine the clinical epidemiological characteristics of newly reported human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome （HIV/AIDS）in southwestern China from 2001 to 2017.Clinical data of newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS from 2001 to 2017 in the West China Hospital of Sichuan University were reviewed and analyze.A total of 1 520 228 patients were screened for HIV, including 285 983 outpatient and emergency patients and 1 234 245 inpatients. About 4 037 (0.27%) patients were confirmed with HIV/AIDS. The confirmation rate increased from 2001 to 2013, followed by a slight decline from 2014 to 2017. The male to female sex ratio of confirmed HIV/AIDS was 3.49:1 from 2001 to 2017, ranging from 1.65:1 to 5.08:1. The majority of patients were identified as Han (88.23%), had low education (58.66%), and married (54.75%). Peasants/herdsman comprised 26.33% of the patients. The proportion of young (15-29 years old), and middle-aged (≥50 years old) patients and those who were unmarried and had high education (senior high school and above) increased over time. Heterosexual transmission remained stable at about 60% while homosexual transmission increased by about 15% (Newly diagnosed HIV/AIDS cases increased over the years in the West China Hospital of Sichuan University, in particular in those of young and middle-aged, highly educated and unmarried. Heterosexual transmissions remain the main route.

Aim The aim of this paper is to clarify the inconsistent findings in the association between antidepressant use and the risk of epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC). Methods This study is a meta-analysis of observational studies retrieved from the PubMed, EMBASE, and Web of Science databases prior to August 15, 2017. Two researchers independently screened studies and extracted study characteristics and risk estimates. The odds ratios (OR) and 95% confidence intervals (CI) of EOC risk were summarized using an inverse variance weighted random-effects model. Heterogeneity between studies was assessed with the I2 statistic. Results Eight case–control studies involving 7878 EOC cases and 73 913 controls were identified. Compared with non-use, use of antidepressants was not significantly associated with EOC risk (summarized OR = 1.10, 95% CI: 0.91–1.32, I2 = 74.4%). Similar null results were also observed in the use of selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (OR = 1.04, 95% CI = 0.80–1.35), tricyclic antidepressants (OR = 1.01, 95% CI = 0.79–1.30), and other antidepressant drugs (OR = 0.91, 95% CI = 0.74–1.12). Subgroup analyses of study characteristics, stratified by the type of control subjects, geographic location, exposure assessment, number of cases, and adjustment for potential confounders, showed that the ORs were broadly consistent across strata. The OR per 1 year-increment of duration was 0.99 (95% CI = 0.94–1.05, I2 = 40.0%, P = 0.154). Additionally, the OR for the greatest intensity of antidepressant use compared with never use was 0.82 (95% CI = 0.70–0.98, I2 = 0%, P = 0.489). Furthermore, no evidence of publication bias was detected through Funnel plots as well as Egger's and Begg's tests. Conclusions There is no association between antidepressant use and EOC risk. Further prospective studies are warranted to confirm these findings.

A new type of environmental-friendly flexible nanofibers of aluminum doped zinc oxide (AZO) coated carbon (AZO@C) was successfully prepared by using polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) as raw materials. The as-spun PVA nanofibers were prepared via electrospinning and its water resistance was greatly improved after heat-treatment. Then, the PVA nanofibers with a layer of zinc aluminum hydroxide on the surface were synthesized by hydrothermal method. Thereafter, new AZO@C composite nanofibers was produced after sintering at 500℃ to the carbonization of PVA nanofibers and the dehydration of zinc aluminum hydroxide to form AZO nanoparticles. The structure and properties of the samples were characterized by Fourier-transform infrared spectrometer (FT-IR), thermal gravimetric analyzer (TGA) and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The average diameter of the AZO@C nanofibers is (320±45)nm. The photocatalytic property of the resultant composite fibers is demonstrated by degrading methyl orange under solar light.

An ultra-low specific on-resistance 700 V lateral double-diffused MOSFET (LDMOS) with a buried super junction (BSJ) layer is proposed. [1–9] Buried P-pillars in the LDMOS can be depleted by neighboring N-pillars, overlying and underlying N-drift regions simultaneously, thus allowing a higher doping concentration. Consequently, the doping concentration of either the N-drift regions or N-pillars, or both, may also be increased therewith to compensate the surplus charges in the P-pillars. Compared with conventional surface super junction (SSJ) LDMOS, in which the super junction layer is implemented at the upper surface of the drift region, and P-pillars can only be depleted by the adjacent N-pillars and the N-drift regions beneath, the proposed novel LDMOS structure may have a lower specific on-resistance (Ron,sp) while maintain the same breakdown voltage (BV). Simulation results indicate that the Ron,sp of the novel structure is only 80.5 mΩ cm2 with a high BV of 750 V, which is reduced by 17% in comparison with the Ron,sp of a conventional SSJ LDMOS.

In this study, the accuracy and generality of stress calculation for a plate containing double holes via Schwarz alternating method was investigated. The original Schwarz alternating method with inverse mapping function shows a good performance in terms of the stress solution for a plate containing two arched holes. However, for a plate containing two holes with corners, evitable error may be produced during the calculation because of the unsatisfying accuracy of inverse mapping function. This error is particularly obvious in the stress calculation for a plate containing two triangular holes. To address the problem, an improved Schwarz alternating method without the consideration of inverse mapping function was proposed in this study. The coordinate transformation of points around hole boundaries is realized by an optimization method instead of the inverse mapping function, which leads to little error during the calculation and thus improves the stress solution accuracy especially for plates containing holes with corners. With the employment of the improved method, the influences of connecting angle and lateral pressure coefficient on stress solutions for plates containing double U-shaped holes were discussed. In addition, DEM simulations were further conducted to study the influence of stress characteristics on the failure patterns of rock mass. The result shows that the hoop stress linearly relates to lateral pressure coefficient in the elastic plate and fractures always initiate around hole boundaries where high stress concentrates.

In this work, a split gate trench MOSFET (SGT) with shield layer (SL) is proposed to improve electrical characteristics. The SL modulates charge division of ionized donor atoms in drift region during depletion spreading. As a result, ionized donors electrically coupled to gate are dramatically reduced, thus lowering gate-drain charge (QGD). On the other hand, the SL structure increases energy band of channel region to address drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL) issue while maintaining a lower channel length and doping concentration. Significant reductions in on-resistance (RON), gate charge (QG), and total power losses are confirmed by simulations. The proposed SGT with SL achieves a switching figure of merit (RON × QG) of 30.46 mΩnC, which is 35.5% smaller than conventional trench MOSFET technology, but almost without impacting other fundamental parameters.

A novel superjunction (SJ) lateral double-diffused MOSFET (>950 V) with a thin layer SOI combining the advantage of low specific on-resistance ${R}_{\text {on,sp}}$ of the SJ and the high breakdown voltage ${V}_{\text {B}}$ of the thin SOI is proposed and experimentally demonstrated in this letter. Based on our previously developed equivalent substrate model, the optimized SJ endows the device with a respectably reduced ${R}_{\text {on,sp}}$ without sacrificing ${V}_{\text {B}}$ . Meanwhile, the thin layer SOI is designed with the enhanced dielectric layer field principle to carry out a high ${V}_{\text {B}}$ . The experimental results exhibit a ${R}_{\text {on,sp}}$ of 145 $\text{m}\Omega \cdot $ cm2 with a ${V}_{\text {B}}$ of 977 V. This represents a reduction in ${R}_{\text {on,sp}}$ by 18.1% when compared with the theoretical ${R}_{\text {on,sp}} \propto {V}_{\text {B}}^{{2.5}}\vphantom {^{^{^{^{}}}}}$ “silicon limit”.

In this study, complex variable theory was employed to study the stress distribution for rock mass containing a hole with complex shapes. The method of mapping function calculation using optimization technique was investigated and improved. The shape-related mapping function was defined for parameter analysis. A new objective function for mapping function determination was developed to calculate related parameters without the consideration of restrictive conditions between boundary points in z-plane and ζ-plane, which significantly simplified the calculation process. In addition, the mapping function for planes containing a rotated hole was deducted to simplify analytical stress solution process for holes under complex stress conditions. Finally, for six kinds of holes with typical shapes in practical rock engineering, the mapping functions were determined, and the external analytical stress distribution were further presented. The analytical solutions combined with numerical and experimental results show that holes with arched boundaries suffer less stress concentration compared with those with corners. Hole shape mainly affects the stability of rock containing a hole via its influence on stress concentration extent around the hole.

Lean-oxygen environment caused by methane in high gassy coal mine goaf has a significant influence on the prediction index gases of residual coal spontaneous combustion. The coal sample from Xishan coalfield in China was used to conduct the low-temperature oxidation experiments under different lean-oxygen environments. The experimental results show that different lean-oxygen environments had a significant delay effect on the formation of CO, CO2, H2 and C2H6, and the lower the O2 concentration, the more obvious the delay effect, and the delay effect of methane was greater than that of N2. A lean-oxygen environment caused by methane also had a significant influence on the values of CO/ΔO2 ratio and CO2/ΔO2 ratio. However, when the temperature was T can be accurately expressed by exponential function. The absolute amount of CO, CO2 and C2H6 generated by 1 k g residual coal ( C CO , C CO 2 and C C 2 H 6 ), which can reduce the influence of air leakage and residual coal mass on prediction index gases, were introduced to predict the spontaneous combustion in high gassy coal mine goaf. Then, the distribution diagrams of C CO , C CO 2 and C C 2 H 6 with temperature and O2 concentration were obtained, so as to accurately predict the degree of spontaneous combustion in high gassy coal mine goaf. The research results are of great significance to the prevention of spontaneous combustion in goaf of high gassy mine.

Background We assessed replication and excretion of the live attenuated tetravalent dengue vaccine (CYD-TDV) into biological fluids following vaccination in dengue-naive adults in Australia. Methods Vaccinal viremia/shedding was assessed in a subset of participants enrolled in a lot-to-lot consistency study; 95 participants received 3 subcutaneous doses of CYD-TDV from phase 2/3 lots of the vaccine, and 8 received placebo; doses were administered 6 months apart. Quantitative reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction (qR-PCR) analysis was used to initially detect the yellow fever virus (YFV) core protein gene in the backbone of CYD-TDV in serum, saliva and urine, followed by serotype-specific qRT-PCR analysis of samples positive for YFV by qRT-PCR (lower limit of detection, 5.16 GEq/mL). Results YFV viremia was detected by qRT-PCR in 69.5% of participants (66 of 95) who received CYD-TDV, mainly 6-14 days after injection 1. The serotypes detected were serotype 4 (in 68.2% of participants [45 of 95]), serotype 3 (in 19.7% [13 of 95]), and serotype 1 (in 12.1% [8 of 95]); serotype 2 was not detected. None of the placebo recipients had vaccinal viremia/shedding. No participants had detectable viral shedding into saliva at levels above the lower limit of quantitation. Two participants had low-level viral shedding (serotype 3) in urine (5.47 and 5.77 GEq/mL). None of the participants with viremia or shedding experienced concomitant fever. Conclusions Low-level vaccinal viremia may occur following vaccination with CYD-TDV, but this is not associated with any symptom or adverse event. Clinical trials registration NCT01134263.

The combination of gold nanoparticles and metal–organic frameworks is one of the new directions of current research. It has applications in many aspects, especially as a catalyst for a variety of reactions. Therefore, this paper describes recent progress of synthesis and application in Au@MOFs hybrid materials.

3-D edge termination design and analytic model for specific on-resistance ( ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}})$ versus breakdown voltage (BV) of a 700-V triple reduced surface field lateral double-diffused MOSFET (LDMOS) with n-type top layer are presented in this paper. To eliminate the premature avalanche breakdown induced by the electric field crowding and the local charge imbalance in the transition region of the source-centered edge termination structure, 3-D numerical simulations and experiments are performed to investigate two crucial parameters ${L}_{1}$ and ${L}_{2}$ in the layout of the transition region. It is observed that optimal electric field distribution is obtained and breakdown positions are transferred to the active region at ${L}_{1} = 30~\mu \text{m}$ and ${L}_{2} = 1~\mu \text{m}$ . On the other hand, an analytic model is developed to describe the relation between ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}}$ and BV, which is obtained as ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}} = 5.93 \times 10^{-6} \times 22({T}/298)^{1.7} \times \text {BV}^{2}$ and theoretically verifies that the fabricated device has achieved optimized ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}}$ and BV. Compared with our previous paper, the LDMOS experimentally demonstrated improved performance with ${R}_{ \mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\text {sp}}$ of 86.49 $\text{m}\Omega ~\cdot $ cm2 and BV of 805 V, which is leading performance for the 700-V applications in published data.

The global optimization of the balanced symmetric vertical superjunction (VSJ) device is proposed based on the R-well model for the first time to realize the unique minimum specific on-resistance $R_{{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\mathrm {min}}}$ . The R-well model, which is originated from our previous VSJ mode theory, shows the relationship between $R_{{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}}$ and the doping concentration N under the given pillar width W and breakdown voltage $V_{B}$ . The global $R_{{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}}$ optimization is realized to obtain the design formulas of N and the pillar length $L_{d}$ . The calculated results are in good agreement with the simulations. It is demonstrated from the comparisons with the simulations and the existing experiments that the optimization in this paper realizes the unique $R_{{on,\mathrm {min}}}$ with a relationship of $R_{{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}}\propto V_{B}^{1.03}$ . The R-well model is also universal for other $R_{on}$ optimizations.

An ecofriendly heterogeneous polyoxometalate (POM)-gold catalyst Au/BW11/Al2O3 was synthesized and used for solvent-free epoxidation of cyclooctene under mild reaction conditions using molecular oxygen as an oxidant and t-butyl hydroperoxide (TBHP) as an initiator. The catalyst was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray analysis (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD), induced coupled plasma optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES), and Brunauer-Emmett-Teller (BET). The catalyst showed good conversion and high selectivity without use of solvents or environmentally harmful oxidants. Moreover, the catalyst is recyclable up to three cycles with no significant loss in selectivity towards epoxide.

A new seco-cadinane sesquiterpenoid (curcumane C, 1) and a pair of new nor-bisabolene enantiomers [(+)- and (-)-curcumane D, 2a and 2b] were isolated from C. longa. Compound 1 possesses an unusual 4,5-seco-cadinane skeleton with a tetrahydrophthalide moiety, while 2a and 2b contain an unusual 15-nor-bisabolene skeleton with a chromone core. All compounds exhibited significant vasorelaxant effects against KCl-induced contraction of rat aortic rings. Compound 1 also exhibited a vasorelaxant effect against phenylephrine-induced contraction of rat aortic rings. Meanwhile, compound 1 showed a stronger vasorelaxant effect in endothelium-intact rat aortic rings compared with endothelium-denuded rat aortic rings, indicating that vasodilation by 1 involved both endothelium-dependent and endothelium-independent pathways. Furthermore, compound 1 increased the NO content in human umbilical vein endothelial cells and its vasorelaxant effect could be attenuated by treatment with L-NAME, an endothelium NO synthase inhibitor. Thus, the underlying vasodilatory mechanisms of 1 may be mediated via abrogation of extracellular Ca2+ influx and regulation of NO release in vascular endothelial cells.

A novel visible-light photoredox-catalyzed phosphinyloxy radical addition/cyclization cascade of arylphosphinic acids or arylphosphonic acid monoesters with alkynes has been developed, which provides an efficient and practical access to various phosphaisocoumarins by using a dual catalytic system containing an acridinium photosensitizer and a cobaloxime proton-reducing catalyst [Co(dmgH)2]PyCl at ambient temperature. This method has advantages of a broad substrate scope, mild condition, as well as no sacrificial oxidant.

A novel lateral double-diffused metal–oxide semiconductor (LDMOS) with three-dimensional floating vertical field plate (3-D F-VFP) is proposed in this paper. The 3-D F-VFP LDMOS features a discrete pillar-type VFP array through the N-type drift region and the VFP pillars with the same distance from the source are connected to each other to realize the equal potential. In the off-state, the potential along the drift region are pinned by the series of equal-potential F-VFP rings and a new full-region depletion mode is introduced into the bulk of the device. Therefore, the highly doped drift region is depleted by the 3-D F-VFP, establishing a self-adaptive charge balance inside the drift region. In the on-state, the current flows through the gaps among all the F-VFP pillars, preventing the long current path and reducing the on resistance $\boldsymbol{R}_{\mathbf{on}}$ . A 3-D F-VFP LDMOS is experimentally implemented, which obtains a breakdown voltage $\boldsymbol{V}_{\mathbf{B}}$ of 630 V and a $\boldsymbol{R}_{\mathbf{on}}$ of $344.8\ \mathbf{\Omega}$ compared with 550 V and $722.5\ \mathbf{\Omega}$ of the device without the F-VFP. The measured saturation current of the 3-D F-VFP LDMOS is more than 4.5 times of that of the device without F-VFP.

The electrical characteristics variations of 400V SOI NLDMOS after exposure to total dose irradiation are discovered. The mechanisms of these variations are analyzed and confirmed by TCAD simulations.

A novel CMOS-process-compatible high-holding voltage silicon-controlled rectifier (HHV-SCR) for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection is proposed and demonstrated by simulation and transmission line pulse (TLP) testing. The newly introduced hole (or electron) recombination region H-RR (or E-RR) not only recombines the minority carrier in parasitic PNP (or NPN) transistor base by N+ (or P+) layer, but provides the additional recombination to eliminate the surface avalanche carriers by newly added P+ (or N+) layer in H-RR (or E-RR), which brings about a further improvement of holding voltage (V h). Compared with the measured V h of 1.8 V of low-voltage triggered silicon-controlled rectifier (LVTSCR), the V h of HHV-SCR can be increased to 8.1 V while maintaining a sufficiently high failure current (I t2 > 2.6 A). An improvement of over four times in the figure of merit (FOM) is achieved.

Background Conditioned pain modulation (CPM) is impaired in people with chronic pain such as knee osteoarthritis (KOA). The purpose of this randomized, controlled clinical trial was to investigate whether strong electroacupuncture (EA) was more effective on chronic pain by strengthening the CPM function than weak EA or sham EA in patients with KOA. Methods In this multicenter, three-arm parallel, single-blind randomized controlled trial, 301 patients with KOA were randomly assigned. Patients were randomized into three groups based on EA current intensity: strong EA (> 2 mA), weak EA (

Two novel sesquiterpenoids, curcumanes A (1) and B (2), possessing unprecedented skeletons with a dicyclo[3.2.1]octane and a dicyclo[3.3.1]nonane moiety, respectively, were isolated from Curcuma longa. Both of them had remarkable vasorelaxant activity on rat aorta via blocking extracellular Ca2+ influx through VDCCs and ROCCs. The activity of 1 was endothelium-independent, while that of 2 was endothelium-dependent. Compound 2 also prolonged APTT and TT to inhibit blood coagulation.

An ultra-low specific on-resistance (R on,sp) lateral double-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor transistor (LDMOS) with enhanced dual-gate and partial P-buried layer is proposed and investigated in this paper. On-resistance analytical model for the proposed LDMOS is built to provide an in-depth insight into the relationship between the drift region resistance and the channel region resistance. N-buried layer is introduced under P-well to provide a low-resistance conduction path and reduce the resistance of the channel region significantly. Enhanced dual-gate structure is formed by N-buried layer while avoiding the vertical punch-through breakdown in off-state. Partial P-buried layer with optimized length is adopted under the N-drift region to extend vertical depletion region and relax the electric field peak in off-state, which enhances breakdown voltage (BV) with low drift region resistance. For the LDMOS with enhanced dual-gate and partial P-buried layer, the result shows that R on,sp is 8.5 mΩ·mm2 while BV is 43 V.

Table S2. Primary and secondary outcome measurements of per-protocol analysis during the entire study. (DOCX 20 kb)

Table S1. Descriptive statistics of mean (SD) scores on outcome measures over time according to group. (DOCX 18 kb)

Single event burnout (SEB) of NLDMOSFETs on SOI initiated by pulsed laser irradiation is demonstrated for the first time. The sensitive region of the device for SEB and the effects of reverse voltage and laser energy are explored. The data indicate that the device is most sensitive to laser pulses in the drift region near the P-well. This is influenced by the electric field distribution in the drift region of the LDMOSFET at the time of the laser pulse. The SEB threshold depends on both the applied reverse voltage and the laser pulse energy. The laser pulse energy at a given reverse voltage required to initiate SEB is inversely proportional to the laser spot distance from the P-well. Simulation results for the device drain current following the radiation pulse indicate that the behavior of the npn parasitic bipolar transistor inherent in the LDMOS structure can explain the observations.

The copper in the waste printed circuit boards (WPCBs) is cleanly recycled by physical methods and presented in the form of nano copper particles by hydrometallurgical, which provides environmental approach to the advanced utilization of metal copper. Copper in WPCBs was first pre-concentrated by gradient enrichment process including gravity separation, mechanical grinding and flotation. The leaching method was then used to dissolve copper from the flotation concentrate in ammoniacal/ammonium salt solutions. Subsequently, reduction treatment was conducted to synthesize nano-copper from leaching solution. The enrichment results of the clean physical separation process show that the grade of copper increased from 16.22% to –38.05% by gravity separation, and the grade of copper further increased to 72.62 % by flotation after dissociation, which avoids overgrinding of low value components. Copper nanoparticles can be prepared effectively, and the recovery of copper in the leaching process reaches 99 %. The particle size of copper nanoparticles obtained by ascorbic acid reduction is tens of nanometers, and the surface of copper nanoparticles is smooth and nearly spherical. The present study proposes an environmentally friendly process of preparing nano-copper from the copper in WPCBs.

The industrial robot with 6 degree of freedom is studied in this paper. According to the interference problems that exist in the actual cutting process of robot, a method is proposed which could make optimal selection of the trajectory of robot after the interference problems is eliminated. After the determination of the posture of cutting head, the model of intersecting line and programming the cutting trajectory of robot, the 3D model of mechanical arm and incised work piece are imported into OPENGL, using collision detection based on OPENGL to screen the interference point of the robot arm. The cutting trajectory is verified through the simulation with ADAMS. The simulation result shows that the robot can run steadily after eliminating the interference and the intersecting line meets the demands.

The oxidation of cyclohexane to cyclohexanone, cyclohexanol, and adipic acid, which are important raw materials in nylon industry, is still being challenged in conventional processes. Microreactors and gold catalysts are both widely researched areas at present, so an effort was made to make use of collaborative properties of both. In this study, stainless steel microcapillary coated with a supported nano-gold catalyst was prepared, characterized, and employed for the oxidation of cyclohexane. Under the temperature of 180 °C, residence time of 4 min, reaction pressure of 3 MPa and molar ratio of oxygen to cyclohexane of 0.3:1, the conversion of cyclohexane was 2.09%, with the selectivity of cyclohexanol, 29.37%; cyclohexanone, 39.89%; cyclohexyl hydroperoxide, 2.46%; and adipic acid, 18.87%. Experiments showed that stainless steel microcapillary coated with a supported nano-gold catalyst in cyclohexane oxidation is a feasible process; the reaction time is very short, and the process operation runs safely.

A novel triple reduced surface field (RESURF) lateral double-diffused metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (LDMOS) with partial linear variable doping (LVD) N-type top (N-top) layer is proposed in this paper. Compared with the conventional triple RESURF LDMOS, a partial LVD N-top layer is introduced in the surface of N-well, providing a low on-resistance conduction path and leading to an optimized surface electric field, which alleviates the inherent tradeoff between the breakdown voltage (BV) and specific on-resistance (Ron,sp). With the n-drift region length of 70 μm, the novel triple RESURF LDMOS obtains a high BV of 847 V and a low Ron,sp of 79 mΩ cm2 which are 76 V higher and 46 mΩ cm2 lower than those of the conventional triple RESURF LDMOS. Therefore, the novel triple RESURF LDMOS can greatly improve the tradeoff between BV and Ron,sp. Furthermore, compared with the other existing technologies in the high BV level, the novel triple RESURF LDMOS can achieve a highest figure of merit (FOM, defined as BV2/Ron,sp) of 9.08 MW/cm2 and the conventional RESURF silicon limits are broken.

The optimization methodology of the minimum specific ON-resistance $R_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textrm {min}}$ for the lateral superjunction device is proposed based on the concepts of charge and potential electric fields in this paper. From the $R_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textrm {min}}$ method, a new relationship between $R_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ and breakdown voltage $V_{B}$ is developed, and the analytical formulas are obtained to directly give the doping concentration $N$ and the drift length $L_{d}$ . The calculated results, including the 800 and 1600 V examples, are in good agreement with the simulations. The optimized designs are also compared with the existing experimental and simulated data. It is shown that $R_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ from the proposed optimization method is minimum, and the methodology of $R_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\textrm {min}}$ is universal.

Cost-effective mask-sharing technology for the 200 V silicon-on-insulator (SOI) lateral insulated gate bipolar transistor (LIGBT) and p-channel lateral double-diffused MOS (PLDMOS) are proposed in this paper. N-well and P-body implantations are shared as an N-buffer implantation of the LIGBT and P-buffer implantation of the PLDMOS, respectively, which reduces two masks compared with the conventional process. The structure and process parameters for LIGBT and PLDMOS with the new process are optimized by simulation to achieve good performance. The experimental results indicate that the LIGBT and PLDMOS using the new process maintain the same performance compared to the conventional devices.

A high-voltage thick layer SOI field p-channel LDMOS (pLDMOS) with multiple field plates based on 11-μm-thick silicon layer and 1-μm-thick buried oxide layer is presented in this paper. The thick gate oxide layer is formed by field oxide process to endure the high voltage between the source and gate electrodes. The field implant (FI) technology is adopted to eliminate channel discontinuity at the bird's beak region. Multiple field plates constructed by polysilicon and metal layer are adopted to modulate electric field distribution of the depleted drift region. The SOI field pLDMOS with off-state breakdown voltage (BV) of −240 V is experimentally realized, which can be widely used for simplifying the design of level shifting.

A novel low turnoff loss carrier stored (CS) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) lateral insulated gate bipolar transistor (LIGBT) with trench gate barrier (CS SOI TGLIGBT) is proposed. The proposed CS SOI TGLIGBT features a trench gate inserted between the pwell and n-drift. Firstly, the trench gate acts as a hole barrier to prevent the hole from injecting directly into pwell in the on-state, which introduces carrier stored effect and realizes a uniform carriers distribution in the n-drift region, resulting in a decrease of the on-state voltage drop (Von). Secondly, due to the carrier stored effect and the assisted depleted effect induced by the trench gate, large number of carriers can be quickly removed at the initial turnoff process, leading to a decrease of turnoff loss (Eoff). The influences of gate trench barrier on Von and Eoff are investigated. Simulation results show that the proposed CS SOI TGLIGBT can achieve a 59% lower Eoff compared with the conventional SOI trench gate LIGBT at the same Von of 1.15 V.

The back gate (BG) induced breakdown mechanisms for thin layer SOI Field P-channel LDMOS (FPLDMOS) are investigated in this paper. Surface breakdown, bulk breakdown and punch-through breakdown are discussed, revealing that the block capability depends on not drain voltage (Vd), but also BG voltage (VBG). For surface breakdown, the breakdown voltage (BVs) increases linearly with VBG increasing. An expression of BVs on VBG is given, providing a good fitting to measured and simulated results. Bulk breakdown with a low breakdown voltage is attributed to high VBG. VBG induces depletion in n-well, giving rise to punch-through breakdown. A design requirement for the thin layer SOI FPLDMOS is proposed that breakdown voltages for the three breakdown mechanisms are compelled to be higher than the supply voltage of switching IC.

A 700 V dual-buried-layer n-channel lateral double-diffused MOSFET (DB-nLDMOS) based on substrate termination technology (STT) is presented and experimentally demonstrated in this paper. The termination region is well analyzed and designed to avoid the premature avalanche breakdown caused by the curved junction. The 2-D and 3-D numerical simulations have been performed to optimize the three key parameters of $\Delta L_{1,}\Delta L_{2,}$ and $\Delta L_{3}$ which impact on breakdown voltage (BV) greatly in the termination region. The simulation results show that the electric field peak is reduced and premature avalanche breakdown is avoided at the curved abrupt p-well/n-well junction with the STT. The experimental results demonstrate that low $R_{{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON},\mathrm {sp}}}$ of 105.6 $\text{m}\Omega \cdot {\mathrm{ cm}}^{2}$ based on $L_{d}$ and high BV of 788 V are achieved by the DB-nLDMOS.

A new relationship between the specific ON-resistance $R_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ and breakdown voltage $V_{B}$ for the balanced symmetric superjunction (SJ) device is presented to produce the lowest $R_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}}$ for a given $V_{B}$ . The design formulas, including the doping density NW and the drift length $L_{d}$ , are given for both the nonfull depletion (NFD) and the full depletion SJ devices with an introduction of the normalized $V_{B}$ factor $\eta $ . For the NFD SJ MOSFET, an $R_{\mathrm{\scriptscriptstyle ON}} \propto V_{B}^{1.03}$ relationship is obtained. The analytical results show good agreement with the numerical results.