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Efficient solar harvesting for ultrathin amorphous silicon (α-Si) films with a thickness of less than 100 nm is critical to the performance of solar cells, since the very short carrier-diffusion length of α-Si and the Staebler–Wronski effect restrict their thickness. In this work, we numerically investigate energy harvesting in metamaterial-based solar cells, in which an ultrathin α-Si film is sandwiched between a silver (Ag) substrate and a square array of Ag nanodisks, and combined with an indium tin oxide (ITO) anti-reflection layer. It is found that only a 20 nm-thick α-Si film is able to absorb over 50% solar energy in the spectral range from 300 to 800 nm at normal incidence, and the amount of absorbed light is equivalent to a photocurrent of about 13.4 mA cm−2. This broadband absorption is achieved by the spectral design on the overlapped absorption peaks which are caused by the excitations of two lowest-order Fabry–Perot (FP) resonances in the α-Si and ITO layers and a magnetic resonance arising from the plasmon hybridization between Ag disks and the substrate. The absorption performance of our structure is less dependent on the incident angle θ and polarization of light when θ 70° (20°) for P (S) polarization.

Fano resonance modulated effectively by external perturbations can find more flexible and important applications in practice. We theoretically study electrically tunable Fano resonance with asymmetric line shape over an extremely narrow frequency range in the reflection spectra of metamaterials. The metamaterials are composed of a metal nanodisk array on graphene, a dielectric spacer, and a metal substrate. The near-field plasmon hybridization between individual metal nanodisks and the metal substrate results into the excitation of a broad magnetic dipole. There exists a narrow interband transition dependent of Fermi energy E f , which manifests itself as a sharp spectral feature in the effective permittivity ε g of graphene. The coupling of the narrow interband transition to the broad magnetic dipole leads to the appearance of Fano resonance, which can be electrically tuned by applying a bias voltage to graphene to change E f . The Fano resonance will shift obviously and its asymmetric line shape will become more pronounced, when E f is changed for the narrow interband transition to progressively approach the broad magnetic dipole.

Facing with bilingual news event's attributes association about Chinese and Vietnamese, we propose a bilingual news event sequencing method based on graph of attributes association. This method built the graph of attributes association based on the relations between event properties and it sequences the Chinese and Vietnamese bilingual news event using this graph. This method first extracts the titles, elements, topic sentences which characterize bilingual news event properties. And it uses the extractions to describe events in the document. Then we translate these title, elements and topic sentences by using the bilingual dictionary and Vietnamese-Chinese Alignment Corpora. And we build the graph of attributes association. We calculate the weights of edges by using word2vec and elements co-occurrence strength. In the end, it sequences the bilingual news using similarity among event node, query keyword and connection between the graph's nodes and event. The experimental results show that the proposed method can effectively improve the performance of the ranking of the news events in the Chinese and Vietnamese, and the attribute relevance has a good effect on the ranking of the Chinese and Vietnamese news events.

Synthetic structural materials with exceptional mechanical performance suffer from either large weight and adverse environmental impact (for example, steels and alloys) or complex manufacturing processes and thus high cost (for example, polymer-based and biomimetic composites). Natural wood is a low-cost and abundant material and has been used for millennia as a structural material for building and furniture construction. However, the mechanical performance of natural wood (its strength and toughness) is unsatisfactory for many advanced engineering structures and applications. Pre-treatment with steam, heat, ammonia or cold rolling followed by densification has led to the enhanced mechanical performance of natural wood. However, the existing methods result in incomplete densification and lack dimensional stability, particularly in response to humid environments, and wood treated in these ways can expand and weaken. Here we report a simple and effective strategy to transform bulk natural wood directly into a high-performance structural material with a more than tenfold increase in strength, toughness and ballistic resistance and with greater dimensional stability. Our two-step process involves the partial removal of lignin and hemicellulose from the natural wood via a boiling process in an aqueous mixture of NaOH and Na2SO3 followed by hot-pressing, leading to the total collapse of cell walls and the complete densification of the natural wood with highly aligned cellulose nanofibres. This strategy is shown to be universally effective for various species of wood. Our processed wood has a specific strength higher than that of most structural metals and alloys, making it a low-cost, high-performance, lightweight alternative.

Objective To evaluate the hemostatic effect of hemocoagulase agkistrodon on surgical wound in breast cancer surgery. Methods Totally 60 patients undergoing breast cancer surgery were enrolled in this prospective,randomized,double-blinded,and controlled study. All the patients met the inclusion and exclusion criteria and signed the informed consent. Hemocoagulase agkistrodon (2 U) was injected 20 minutes before surgery and 4 and 24 hours after surgery in the intervention group (n=30),whereas normal saline was used instead in the control group (n=30). The volume of intraoperative bleeding,wound drainage volume 1-3 days after surgery,and total drainage volume were recorded. Meanwhile,the change of blood coagulation function,treatment safety,and clinical outcomes were observed. Results The intra-operative hemorrhage volume of the intervention group [(95.0±48.3)g] was significantly lower than that of the control group [(144.8±105.4)g] (t=-2.07,P=0.044). The volume of total drainage of the intervention group [(166.7±71.2)g] was significantly lower than that of the control group [(251.4±166.3)g] (t=-2.29,P=0.029). The hemoagglutination indicators were similar in the two groups and no complication such as thrombosis occurred. The length of hospital stay of the intervention group [(15.00±3.53)d] was similar to that of the control group [(15.92±2.32)d] (t=-1.057,P=0.297). No research drug-related adverse event was occurred in our study. Conclusion Hemocoagulase agkistrodon has good hemostatic effect for patients undergoing breast cancer surgery without increasing the risk of thrombosis.

Hierarchical metal oxide spheres (HMOS) have various applications that stem from their special architectures. Here a novel template-free method is developed for mass fabrication of HMOS at room temperature. It is only composed of the facile processes of PEG modification and self-assembly (PMSA). Its powerful fabrication capability is demonstrated by fabricating HMOS of TiO2, Fe2O3, ZrO2 and their mixtures with high quality. The related mechanism is investigated and the peculiar PEG configuration on the surface of the nanoparticle is believed to be the origin of the HMOS formation. Several possible applications of HOMS are also exhibited, such as the superhydrophobic properties, the enhanced light scattering ability and the improved solar cell performance. Considering the unique fabrication abilities and industrial mass production potentials, this method may be used as a powerful tool for the synthesis of HMOS with extended applications.

Wood is a ubiquitous material, widely used in human society, that features naturally abundant, aligned longitudinal cells (e.g., tracheids in softwood and fibers/vessels in hardwood) with diameters of ≈50-1000 µm. Here, the realization of, fine patterns on a wood surface ranging in size from 40 nm to 50 µm by precision imprinting is described. The precision imprinting is enabled by releasing cellulose fibril aggregates from the bondage of lignin through the delignification process, then imprinting in wet condition and fixing the designed configuration in the dry state. Various precision structures on a wood surface using imprinting technology, including dot arrays, lines, triangular features, and other complex patterns, are successfully demonstrated. Even multiscale structures with nanosized lines on the surface of micrometer hemiballs can be acquired. As a proof of concept, the use of surface-imprinted wood as a microlens array (MLA), which exhibits superior imaging ability and thermal stability even at a high temperature up to 150 °C compared with traditional polystyrene MLA, is demonstrated. This precision imprinted wood may open new possibilities toward environmentally friendly devices and applications in optics, biology, electronics, etc.

The influence on modal parameters of thin cylindrical shell (TCS) under bolt looseness boundary is investigated. Firstly, bolt looseness boundary of the shell is divided into two types, that is, different bolt looseness numbers and different bolt looseness levels, and natural frequencies and mode shapes are calculated by finite element method to roughly master vibration characteristics of TCS under these conditions. Then, the following measurements and identification techniques are used to get precise frequency, damping, and shape results; for example, noncontact laser Doppler vibrometer and vibration shaker with excitation level being precisely controlled are used in the test system; “preexperiment” is adopted to determine the required tightening torque and verify fixed constraint boundary; the small-segment FFT processing technique is employed to accurately measure nature frequency and laser rotating scanning technique is used to get shape results with high efficiency. Finally, based on the measured results obtained by the above techniques, the influence on modal parameters of TCS under two types of bolt looseness boundaries is analyzed and discussed. It can be found that bolt looseness boundary can significantly affect frequency and damping results which might be caused by changes of nonlinear stiffness and damping and in bolt looseness positions.

New-type silica Λ-shape wedge arrays (SWAs) were fabricated by a combined process of template fabrication, hot embossing and sol–gel replication. Using silica needle arrays (SNAs) as template, the configuration of Λ-shape was transferred from SNAs to PMMA/PC molds by hot-pressing process. Then they were casted to form silica Λ-shape wedge arrays by sol–gel process. Using this procedure, high quality silica Λ-shape wedge arrays can be obtained with designed sizes and shapes over a large area. The taper height and interspace of SWAs can be tuned by the imprint depth during the hot-embossing process. This technology provides a cost-effective method to fabricate Λ-shape silica wedges. By changing the primal template, other patterned silica substrate can also be fabricated, such as grating, pillar and spherical structures. These silica based microstructure can find many applications in semiconductor devices, solar cells and optics etc.

The positive effects of the vacuum assistant dye adsorption (VADA) process on the performances of the dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) were investigated experimentally. Using commonly used materials and processes as a demonstration, nanoporous films and the resulted solar cells with different dye adsorption processes were fabricated and characterized for comparison. The amounts of dyes adsorbed by the TiO2 nanoporous films were found to be enhanced greatly compared with dyes adsorbed in ambient condition. In accordance, a relative increase of about 29% for the short-circuit currents (Isc) and 32% for the efficiencies (η) were observed for the resulted DSSCs. Photocurrent-voltage measurement indicated that the lifetime of the photogenerated charge carriers changed little. Hence, such improvements were originated from the application of VADA process, which realized full contact between the dye solution and TiO2 nanoparticles by driving away the air bubbles concealed in the nanoporous film. The VADA process may be also applied in other kinds of solar cells, such as solid state DSSCs and organic or flexible solar cells to enhance the dye adsorption and further increase their efficiencies.

The light output of 530 nm green GalnN/GaN light-emitting diodes on sapphire has been nearly doubled by the insertion of a 130-nm GalnN underlayer (UL) between the n-GaN electron injection layer and the quantum-well (QW) active region. Under variation of the alloy composition, best results were obtained for an x = 6.3% Ga1-xInxN UL. By low-temperature depth-resolved cathodoluminescence spectroscopy, an interplay of the impurity-related donor-acceptor pair recombination, the UL, and the QW emission has been observed. We propose that the resonance and level alignments between the defect and UL levels reroute excitation toward radiative recombination in the QWs.

We report the growth and structural characteristics of green and yellow (529-576 nm) GaInN/GaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) grown on two types of c-plane substrates - bulk GaN and sapphire. In this longer wavelength range, depending on the substrate, we find different strain relaxation mechanisms within the GaInN/GaN quantum well (QW) region. In optimized epitaxy, structures on sapphire that contain a low density of threading dislocations (TDs) within the n-GaN show virtually no generation of additional misfit dislocations (MDs) (

A simple method to fabricate silica micro/nano-needle arrays (SNAs) is presented based on tube-etching mechanism. Using silica fibers as templates, highly aligned and free-standing needle arrays are created over large area by simple processes of polymer infiltration, cutting, chemical etching and polymer removal. Their sizes and orientations can be arbitrarily and precisely tuned by simply selecting fiber sizes and the cutting directions, respectively. This technique enables the needle arrays with special morphology to be fabricated in a greatly facile way, thereby offers them the potentials in various applications, such as optic, energy harvesting, sensors, etc. As a demonstration, the super hydrophobic property of PDMS treated SNAs is examined.

The junction temperature of homoepitaxial green and blue GaInN/GaN quantum well light emitting diode (LED) dies is analyzed by micro-Raman, photoluminescence, cathodoluminescence mapping, and forward-voltage methods and compared to finite element simulations. Dies on GaN substrate and sapphire were analyzed under variable drive current up to 200 mA (246 A/cm2). At 100 mA, dies on bulk GaN remain as cool as 355 K (83 °C) while dies on sapphire heat up to 477 K (204 °C). The efficiency droop and spectral line shift in green LEDs with increasing current density can now be separated into electrical and thermal contributions.

An enhancement of radiative recombination in GaInN/GaN heterostructures is being pursued by a reduction of defects associated with threading dislocations and a structural control of piezoelectric polarization in the active light-emitting regions. First, in conventional heteroepitaxy on sapphire substrate along the polar c-axis of GaN, green and deep green emitting light-emitting diode (LED) wafers are being developed. By means of photoluminescence at variable low temperature and excitation density, internal quantum efficiencies of 0.18 for LEDs emitting at 530 nm and 0.08 for those emitting at 555 nm are determined. Those values hold for the high current density of 50 A/cm 2 of high-power LED lamps. In bare epi dies, we obtain efficacies of 16 lm/W. At 780 A/cm 2 we obtain 22 lm when measured through the substrate only. The 555 nm LED epi material under pulsed photoexcitation shows stimulated emission up to a wavelength of 485 nm. This strong blue shift of the emission wavelength can be avoided in homoepitaxial multiple quantum well (MQW) and LED structures grown along the non-polar a- and m-axes of low-dislocation-density bulk GaN. Here, wavelength-stable emission is obtained at 500 and 488 nm, respectively, independent on excitation power density opening perspectives for visible laser diodes.

We demonstrate homoepitaxial growth of GaInN/GaN-based green (500–560 nm) light emitting diodes (LEDs) on a-plane and m-plane quasi-bulk GaN prepared by hydride vapor phase epitaxy (HVPE). We find that in order to achieve an emission peak wavelength beyond 500 nm, a minimum InN-fraction of ∼14% is needed for both, a- and m-plane quantum wells (QWs), while ∼8% are enough for c-plane-oriented QWs. Besides increasing the InN-fraction in these non-polar QWs, widening the QW also proves to effectively shift the emission to longer wavelengths without loosing efficiency with the benefit of maintaining a low InN-fraction.

In this paper, we rely on the formation of novel macroporous polystyrene (PS)/silica masks to prepare two-dimensional (2D) arrays of metallic split ring (SR) and full ring (FR) microstructures on silicon substrates. In these PS/silica porous templates, 2D silica particle arrays were made to anchor on silicon wafers on which PS membranes with 2D pore arrays are molded and made movable via a fluid flow perturbation after partial etching of the silica particles. By using the porous masks in combination with physical deposition, both metallic FRs and SRs on silicon substrates can be prepared. The obtained SRs have a nearly U-shaped cavity and a circular outer profile. The present method could open an alternative but low-cost and parallel approach for obtaining artificial magnetic metamaterials operating in near infrared.

GaInN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diode structures in polar c -axis and non-polar m -axis growth have been compared in terms of luminescence properties. Grown under identical conditions, under low excitation density the c -axis structure has a luminescence maximum at 558 nm while the m -axis structure shows a maximum at 488 nm and shows superluminescence at 485 nm under high photoexcitation density. Under the same conditions, on increasing the excitation power, the peak intensity increases 40 fold in the m -axis structure without any variation of the emission wavelength. In similar but separately grown c -axis structures without a p-side, luminescence shifts from 555 nm at low excitation density to superluminescence at 485 nm under high excitation. The coincidence, of the superluminescence wavelength in the polar structure with the stable peak wavelength in the non-polar one, suggests that the wavelength shift in the polar structure is due to its piezoelectric polarization. The absence of such effects in the m -axis-grown structure therefore suggests a stronger dipole matrix element, potentially enabling higher quantum efficiencies and suitability for high efficiency light-emitting diode and laser diode designs in the green spectral region.

The efficiency of green GaInN/GaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) is known to drop under high current densities. To explore the reason, 535 nm emitting GaInN/GaN multiple quantum well (MQW) and GaN epilayers were characterized using Z-scan techniques under comparable excitation conditions with a continuous wave laser. Two wavelengths, 514 nm and 488 nm, were selected right below and above the apparent optical absorption edge. At 514 nm, a very large nonlinear absorption coefficient β = 2.6 cm/W was obtained. This leads to a 20% absorption enhancement at a photon flux of 21 kW/cm2. We attribute this to nonlinear free-carrier absorption. On the other hand, at 488 nm, a nonlinear saturable absorption with β = –1.7 cm/W was observed. This induced transparency indicates photon bleaching in the MQW. Apparently, free carrier dynamics strongly affects optical nonlinearity, while nonlinear absorption provides a small contribution to the limitations of current green LEDs. (© 2008 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)

We perform a transmission electron microscopy (TEM) characterization of blue light-emitting diode epiwafers grown homoepitaxially on a c-plane GaN substrate and compare with such grown on sapphire. We find a threading dislocation (TD) density as low as 2 × 10 8 cm -2 in homoepitaxial growth, which is 1/30 of that in sapphire-based material. A unique type of inverted pyramid defect with diameter ∼650 nm was observed. It originates from the homo-interface in edge-type TDs. TDs were also found to be generated within the quantum wells without a precursor TD defect. Otherwise, high-resolution TEM suggests extremely homogeneous quantum wells and barriers in terms of composition and well width. Besides plan-view TEM, wet chemical etching on n-type GaN was carried out in hot phosphoric acid to evaluate the TD density more quickly. The two methods prove to be equivalent with respect of determined TD densities.

The intricately regulated differentiation of the somatic follicle cell lineages into distinct subpopulations with specific functions plays an essential role in Drosophila egg development. At early oogenesis, induction of the stalk cells generates the first anteroposterior (AP) asymmetry in the egg chamber by inducing the posterior localization of the oocyte. Later, the properly specified posterior follicle cells signal to polarize the oocyte along the AP and dorsoventral (DV) axes at mid-oogenesis. Here, we show that lethal(2)giant larvae (lgl), a Drosophila tumor suppressor gene, is required in the follicle cells for the differentiation of both stalk cells and posterior follicle cells. Loss-of-function mutations in lgl cause oocyte mispositioning in the younger one of the fused chambers, due to lack of the stalk. Removal of lgl function from the posterior follicle cells using the FLP/FRT system results in loss of the oocyte polarity that is elicited by the failure of those posterior cells to differentiate normally. Thus, we provide the first demonstration that lgl is implicated in the formation of the initial AP asymmetry and the patterning of the AP and DV axes in the oocyte by acting in the specification of a subset of somatic follicle cells.

We present a junction temperature analysis of GaInN/GaN quantum well (QW) light-emitting diodes (LEDs) grown on sapphire and bulk GaN substrate by micro-Raman spectroscopy. The temperature was measured up to a drive current of 250 mA (357 A/cm2). We find better cooling efficiency in dies grown on GaN substrates with a thermal resistance of 75 K/W. For dies on sapphire substrates we find values as high as 425 K/W. Poor thermal performance in the latter is attributed to the low thermal conductivity of the sapphire. Three-dimensional finite-element simulations show good agreement with the experimental results, validating our thermal model for the design of better cooled structures.

method to prepare high-quality monolayer square-lattice colloidal crystals has not been reported yet. In this Communication, we report our study of self-assembly of colloidal polystyrene (PS) spheres on a 1D-patterned substrate. Previous studies showed that colloidal structures formed on a 1D-patterned substrate are highly sensitive to the ratio between sphere diameter (d) and groove period (p). [10a] Here, we explore other factors that could have a key influence on the formation of 2D square symmetric colloidal crystals using a 1D-patterned substrate. By introducing an experimental cell that allows simultaneous actions and strong competition of forces on colloids exerted by the suspension drying front and the patterned substrate, we have identified distinct effects of convective assembly on the growth of colloidal crystal by controlling the angle orientation (a) between the colloidal suspension drying front and 1D template grooves. We find that those experimental configurations with a having a large deviation from a = 45° will introduce a large amount of defects during the self-assembly process. We demonstrate that, by controlling the angle a in the vicinity of 45°, convective assembly in a cell with a 1D groove template as the substrate can induce a highly ordered 2D square-lattice colloidal crystal with a minimum density of defects. The long-range ordering of the prepared 2D square symmetric colloidal crystals is characterized by electron and optical microscopy, laser diffraction, and light transmission. Transmission spectra of the prepared square symmetric colloidal crystal are measured at normal and off-normal incidence under different polarizations and are shown to be in good agreement with theoretical calculations.

Department of Electrical, Computer, and Systems Engineering, Rensselaer, Troy, NY 12180, USA Received 19 September 2006, accepted 29 November 2006 Published online 31 May 2007 PACS 73.40.Kp, 73.61.Ey, 78.60.Hk, 78.67.De, 85.60.Jb The electroluminescence of GaInN/GaN multiple quantum well light-emitting diode dies is analyzed at variable low temperatures. We compare the external quantum efficiency of three dies of nominally identi-cal structure but strongly different RT performance at 520 nm. For all dies, the external quantum efficien-cy increases as the temperature is lowered. A maximum is reached for all near 158 K while for lower temperatures as low as 7.7 K, the efficiency continuously drops. The low-temperature efficiency is the lowest for the highest performing die at RT. The peak energy exhibits a blue shift from RT to 158 K fol-lowed by a red shift for lower temperatures. In the same low-temperature range, a secondary emission peak appears near 390 nm that resembles a donor-acceptor pair transition. The pronounced efficiency ma-ximum is tentatively assigned to competition of carrier transport properties and the non-radiative lifetime in the active region.

We analyze GaInN based light emitting diodes emitting in the range of 400-550nm using a new intensity-quantitative spectroscopic cathodoluminescence mapping method. Spectroscopic information of arbitrary sample locations is generated from sequences of quantitative image scans. From the temperature dependence of the intensity, we derive thermal activation energies of the dominant loss processes. Those compare well with the hole binding energies in the piezoelectric and quantized quantum well structures.

We demonstrate homoepitaxial growth of GaInN/GaN-based light emitting diodes (LED) on quasi-bulk GaN with an atomically flat polished surface. The threading dislocation densities of the epitaxial layers were 2-5 x 10 8 cm -2 which was one order of magnitude less than those grown on c-plane sapphire substrate. The growth defects introduced during the epitaxial process were also one order of magnitude smaller than those grown on the sapphire substrate. The crystalline quality and the optical properties of the epitaxial layer and device performance were much improved. The optical output power of the light emitting diode increased by more than one order of magnitude compared to those on sapphire substrate.

To investigate histopathology and proteinopathy in the spinal cord of patients with common neurodegenerative diseases.Spinal cord tissues from clinically and neuropathologically confirmed neruodegnerative diseases were enrolled in this study, including 3 cases of multiple system strophy, 4 cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 5 cases of Alzheimer's disease (AD, included 2 cases of AD combined with Parkinson's disease), 2 cases of progressive supranuclear palsy, 1 case of dementia with lewy body and 1 case of corticobasal degeneration from 1955 to 2013 at Chinese People's Liberation Army General Hospital. Four normal control cases were also included. Routine HE and Gallyas-Braak staining, and immunohistochemical stainings for anti-PHF tau (AT8), anti-α-synuclein, anti-TDP-43 and anti-ubiquitin were performed.Examination of the spinal cord in 3 cases with multiple system strophy revealed severe neuron loss in the intermediolateral nucleus of thoracic segment and Onuf's nucleus of the sacral segment, along with moderate neuron loss in the anterior horn of the cervical segment and mild myelin pallor in the anterior funiculus and anterolateral funiculus in the cervical and thoracic segments. Large amount of argentophilic, ubiquitin and synuclein positive oligodendroglial cytoplasmic inclusions were found widely distributed in the anterior horn and the anterior funiculus and anterolateral funiculus of the full spinal cord. Severe neuron loss and several morphological changes with gliosis in the anterior horn and severe loss of myelin in the anterior funiculus and anterolateral funiculus of the full spinal cord were observed in 4 cases of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, 2 of which were found with Bunina bodies in neurons of the anterior horn. Three amyotrophic lateral sclerosis cases had ubiquitin-positive neuronal inclusions and TDP-43 positive neuronal and glial inclusions in the anterior horn at cervical and lumbar segments. A few argentophilic, tau positive neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and neuropil threads in the anterior horn at cervical and lumbar segments were found in 4 AD cases. Examination of spinal cord in 2 cases with Parkinson's disease combined with AD and 1 case with dementia with lewy body revealed severe neuron loss in the intermediolateral nucleus of thoracic segment, and a few synuclein positive lewy bodies and neuritis were also observed. There was mild neuron loss in the anterior horn at cervical and lumbar segments, along with some argentophilic, tau positive globous NFTs and many argentophilic, tau positive neutrophil threads were observed in 2 progressive supranuclear palsy cases and 1 corticobasal degeneration case.Each common neurodegenerative diseases of the spinal cord including multiple system strophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease has its own specific histopathology and proteinopathy characteristics.

The mortality and morbidity of geriatric patients is much higher than for younger patients, especially when critically ill. This may be attributed to a lower reserve capacity in most organs and systems, reduced ability to deal with physical stress and the presence of acute or chronic co-mobidities. Parenteral and enteral nutrition support can improve the clinical condition of the elderly patient and result in better outcomes, such as lower mortality, reduced hospital stay and reduced medical costs. There is a need to standardize nutrition screening and assessment, and the implementation of appropriate evidence based nutritional support of geriatric patients in China. The Chinese Medical Association's Group of Geriatric Nutrition Support has developed guidelines by researching the present situation in Chinese hospitals and by referring to the guidelines from both American Society for Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition (ASPEN) and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism (ESPEN).老年患者的疾病发病率及死亡率较年轻患者明显升高，特别是危重症老年患 者。这与老年人机体储备功能差，抵抗应激能力下降以及合并有多种急慢性疾 病有关。肠外与肠内营养支持可以有效的改善老年患者的疾病状态及临床结 局，包括降低死亡率、减少住院时间和总体住院费用。因此，在中国亟需针对 于老年患者的基于循证医学规范的营养筛查、评估及支持的指南性纲领。中华 医学会肠外肠内营养学分会老年学组参考美国肠外肠内营养学会（ASPEN） 和欧洲肠外肠内营养学会（ESPEN）发表的临床指南，结合中国的研究进 展，制定了本指南。.

To understand pathological TDP-43 features in the central nervous systems of patients with clinically and autopsy confirmed motor neuron disease (MND).The clinical and histopathological features of 4 cases with MND confirmed by autopsy were summarized; anti-ubiquitin (Ub) and anti-TDP-43 immunohistochemical staining were carried out on tissue of brains and spinal cords from 4 cases with MND and 3 control cases without history of neurological disorders.These 4 cases presented with typical clinical and histologic features of MND. Ub-positive inclusions were observed in brain and spinal cord from 3 cases with the Ub-positive inclusions of skein- round- and lewy body- like structures. Strong TDP-43 pathological staining in brain and spinal cord was identified in 2 cases with MND presented as neuronal and glial cytoplasmic inclusions with various shapes. The TDP-43 positive inclusions were widely distributed in the motor cortex of brain and the anterior horn of spinal cord. TDP-43 weak staining in the spinal cord tissue was observed in 1 case with MND. No Ub- and TDP-43 positive inclusions were found in 3 control cases.There is widespread pathological TDP-43 expression in the central nervous system of MND. TDP-43 positive inclusions in MND have relatively high specificity. It is worth further study on their formation mechanism.

To recognize relationship of protein related neurodegeneration abnormal aggregation in the aged brains with their cognitive and motor functions.Brain tissues from the consecutive autopsy cases of the aged from January 2005 to December 2006 in PLA General Hospital were carried out for immunohistochemical staining with beta amyloid, tau, α-synuclein and ubiquitin antibodies. The consortium to establish a registry for Alzheimer's disease (CERAD) was used to semi-quantitatively analyze Aβ positive core plaques density and Braak staging for tau positive neurofibrillary tangles (NFTs) and α-synuclein positive Lewy bodies. In addition, Aβ positive cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA), neuritic plaques and various ubiquitin positive structures were also observed. The relationship of these protein abnormal depositions in the aged brains with cognitive and motor functions were analyzed.In brain tissues of 16 consecutive autopsy cases of the aged from 78 to 95 years, there were 13 cases with Aβ positive core plaques, their density was 2 cases with sparse, 2 cases with moderate and 9 cases with frequent, respectively, according to CREAD.Eight cases with Aβ positive CAA were found, including 6 cases of mild CAA and 2 cases of severe CAA. There were 12 cases with tau positive NFTs, including 6 cases with Braak stageI-II, 4 cases with stage III-IV and 2 cases with stage V-VI. There were 5 cases with frequent Aβ core plaques, meanwhile existing numerous tau/ubiquitin positive neuritic plaques and Braak stage IV-VI of tau positive NFTs, all of them presented cognitive dysfunction. Among 4 other cases with frequent Aβ core plaques, only one case coexisted α-synuclein positive Lewy bodies showed moderate cognitive impairment, remaining 3 cases did not present cognitive dysfunction. There were 4 cases with α-synuclein positive Lewy bodies in the brainstem, and all of these cases presented parkinsonian motor dysfunction. 13 cases with ubiquitin positive structures were found.Beta amyloid protein positive deposit in the aged brain is an important marker of normal brain aging and cognitive impairment; frequent Aβ core plaques in the neocortex plus Braak IV and above tau positive NFTs are closely related to cognitive dysfunction of Alzheimer's disease; α-synuclein positive Lewy bodies in the brainstem is one of the important pathological markers of parkinsonian motor disorders; ubiquitin deposition involves the development of some characteristic structures of several neurodegenerative diseases.

A two-step silica deposition process, including prefunctionalization with poly(vinylpyrrolidone) and the following silica deposition, has been used to fabricate silica layer on the surface of nanoscaled silver shell. The influencing parameters of silica coating process were optimized to prevent the precoated silver nanoparticles from desquamating from silica spheres, finally to obtain mono-dispersed silica spheres with silver and silica multilayer films. The resulted silica layer was dense and uniform, its thickness was controllable in the range of 20–50 nm. Such coated silica layer can provide improved thermal stability of the SiO 2 -Ag core-shell structural spheres.

A double template-assisted fabrication method for making surface patterns with tunable lattice geometries on a polymer surface is reported. This technique is based on a locally nonuniform strain produced in a double-templated polymer film that has a strong modulation in thickness. It can produce all 2D primitive Bravais lattices as well as chains on the surface of a polymer. The lattice parameters are controllable with nanoprecision by varying the direction and amount of the applied strain.

A charge profiling of GaInN/GaN hetero-polarization structures typical for high power 525 nm green light emitting diodes is presented. We identify three individual charge maxima of some 1.17 x 10 12 cm -2 electrons with a line width as narrow as 17 nm corresponding to three individual but widely separated quantum wells. The sheet charge density indicates negligible screening of the polarization charges. The voltage required to deplete each well is found to be ΔU = -0.4 ± 0.1 V and approximates the voltage drop across the polarization dipole of the quantum well. The modulation frequency dependence reveals a characteristic time constant of 1 μs for the dominant trapping and ionization process. Such analysis of high performance green light emitters proves a suitable tool for further device optimization.

Silver nanoparticles of 20 and 70 nm, respectively, were deposited on the surfaces of submicron silica spheres. Plasma resonances of the submicron silica spheres with dense and uniform silver layer were investigated using UV/vis absorption spectra. It was found that the silver plasma resonance band of the silica–silver core-shell spheres was broadened and shifted to longer wavelength several hundreds nanometers. The dipole–dipole interactions of neighboring silver particles and Mie scattering of silver shell as a whole may serve as the mechanism of such shift and broadening.

Dense, uniform and thickness controllable silver layers were successfully coated on the mono-dispersed submicrometer silica spheres to obtain silica–silver core-shell structural spheres. The growth process of nanoscaled silver layer on silica spheres mainly includes two steps, i.e. nanoscaled nuclei formation and controllable layer growth process. The nuclear-growth mechanism is responsible for the deposition processes. The reagent concentrations and reaction time were found to be the key factors for the formation of controllable silver layer. High quality silver layer with dense and uniform structure was verified by transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction and Energy Dispersive X-ray microanalysis.

There is increasing interest in the application of supercritical CO2 (SCCO2) in the preparation of polymer membranes. Membrane formation with SCCO2 as a nonsolvent is analogous to the conventional immersion precipitation process using an organic nonsolvent. Polylactide membranes were prepared with SCCO2 as the nonsolvent under different experimental conditions such as different polymer concentrations, different depressurization rates, and different nonsolvent compositions. The effects of these conditions on the cross-sectional structure were investigated through scanning electron microscopy. In addition, solvent-induced crystallization and CO2-induced crystallization were studied. The crystallinity of PLA membranes prepared with different solvents or at different pressures was characterized by wide-angle X-ray diffraction and differential scanning calorimetry. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 98: 831–837, 2005

Plasmonic metal nanoparticles are a category of plasmonic materials that can efficiently convert light into heat under illumination, which can be applied in the field of solar steam generation. Here, this study designs a novel type of plasmonic material, which is made by uniformly decorating fine metal nanoparticles into the 3D mesoporous matrix of natural wood (plasmonic wood). The plasmonic wood exhibits high light absorption ability (≈99%) over a broad wavelength range from 200 to 2500 nm due to the plasmonic effect of metal nanoparticles and the waveguide effect of microchannels in the wood matrix. The 3D mesoporous wood with numerous low-tortuosity microchannels and nanochannels can transport water up from the bottom of the device effectively due to the capillary effect. As a result, the 3D aligned porous architecture can achieve a high solar conversion efficiency of 85% under ten-sun illumination (10 kW m−2). The plasmonic wood also exhibits superior stability for solar steam generation, without any degradation after being evaluated for 144 h. Its high conversion efficiency and excellent cycling stability demonstrate the potential of newly developed plasmonic wood to solar energy-based water desalination.

In this work, a hierarchically porous and ultrathick “breathable” wood-based cathode for high-performance Li-O2 batteries is developed. The 3D carbon matrix obtained from the carbonized and activated wood (denoted as CA-wood) serves as a superconductive current collector and an ideal porous host for accommodating catalysts. The ruthenium (Ru) nanoparticles are uniformly anchored on the porous wall of the aligned microchannels (denoted as CA-wood/Ru). The aligned open microchannels inside the carbon matrix contribute to unimpeded oxygen gas diffusion. Moreover, the hierarchical pores on the microchannel walls can be facilely impregnated by electrolyte, forming a continuous supply of electrolyte. As a result, numerous ideal triphase active sites are formed where electrolyte, oxygen, and catalyst accumulate on the porous walls of microchannels. Benefiting from the numerous well-balanced triple-phase active sites, the assembled Li-O2 battery with the CA-wood/Ru cathode (thickness: ≈700 µm) shows a high specific area capacity of 8.58 mA h cm−2 at 0.1 mA cm−2. Moreover, the areal capacity can be further increased to 56.0 mA h cm−2 by using an ultrathick CA-wood/Ru cathode with a thickness of ≈3.4 mm. The facile ultrathick wood-based cathodes can be applied to other cathodes to achieve a super high areal capacity without sacrificing the electrochemical performance.

Composite materials with ordered microstructures often lead to enhanced functionalities that a single material can hardly achieve. Many biomaterials with unusual microstructures can be found in nature; among them, many possess anisotropic and even directional physical and chemical properties. With inspiration from nature, artificial composite materials can be rationally designed to achieve this anisotropic behavior with desired properties. Here, a metallic wood with metal continuously filling the wood vessels is developed, which demonstrates excellent anisotropic electrical, thermal, and mechanical properties. The well-aligned metal rods are confined and separated by the wood vessels, which deliver directional electron transport parallel to the alignment direction. Thus, the novel metallic wood composite boasts an extraordinary anisotropic electrical conductivity (σ|| /σ⊥ ) in the order of 1011 , and anisotropic thermal conductivity (κ|| /κ⊥ ) of 18. These values exceed the highest reported values in existing anisotropic composite materials. The anisotropic functionality of the metallic wood enables it to be used for thermal management applications, such as thermal insulation and thermal dissipation. The highly anisotropic metallic wood serves as an example for further anisotropic materials design; other composite materials with different biotemplates/hosts and fillers can achieve even higher anisotropic ratios, allowing them to be implemented in a variety of applications.

Due to high volumes of production from the consumer electronics industry, it is highly desirable to develop green electronics comprised of biodegradable components derived from cheap resources or even agro-industrial wastes. In this work, a facile and benign production route is proposed to transform the agro-industrial waste sugarcane bagasse into value-added super-clear nanopaper for flexible and transparent electronics. High-value cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are isolated from abundant and inexpensive sugarcane bagasse by a one-step 2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidine-1-oxyl treatment, and the obtained CNCs are then used to fabricate a super-clear nanopaper substrate for next-generation flexible electronics. The super-clear nanopaper exhibits superior optical properties (91% transmittance and 1.4% transmission haze at 600 nm), excellent nanometer-scale surface roughness (3.08 nm), and good oxygen barrier properties (1.2 cm3 µm (m2 day kPa)−1 at 50% relative humidity). Moreover, proof-of-concept field-effect transistors with an on/off ratio of >103 are demonstrated on this super-clear nanopaper. The efficient and scalable production of value-added CNCs from bagasse waste coupled with advanced applications of CNC-based super-clear nanopaper in electronic devices presents a solution for the conversion of agricultural wastes to value-added electronic applications, which is beneficial for green electronics and recycling and ecoindustries.

PTEN-induced kinase 1 (Pink1) and ubiquitin E3 ligase Parkin function in a linear pathway to maintain healthy mitochondria via regulating mitochondrial clearance and trafficking. Mutations in the two enzymes cause the familial form of Parkinson's disease (PD) in humans, as well as accumulation of defective mitochondria and cellular degeneration in flies. Here, we show that loss of function of a scaffolding protein Mask, also known as ANKHD1 (Ankyrin repeats and KH domain containing protein 1) in humans, rescues the behavioral, anatomical and cellular defects caused by pink1 or parkin mutations in a cell-autonomous manner. Moreover, similar rescue can also be achieved if Mask knock-down is induced in parkin adult flies when the mitochondrial dystrophy is already manifested. We found that Mask genetically interacts with Parkin to modulate mitochondrial morphology and negatively regulates the recruitment of Parkin to mitochondria. We also provide evidence that loss of Mask activity promotes co-localization of the autophagosome marker with mitochondria in developing larval muscle, and that an intact autophagy pathway is required for the rescue of parkin mutant defects by mask loss of function. Together, our data strongly suggest that Mask/ANKHD1 activity can be inhibited in a tissue- and timely-controlled fashion to restore mitochondrial integrity under PD-linked pathological conditions.

During synaptic development, presynaptic differentiation occurs as an intrinsic property of axons to form specialized areas of plasma membrane [active zones (AZs)] that regulate exocytosis and endocytosis of synaptic vesicles. Genetic and biochemical studies in vertebrate and invertebrate model systems have identified a number of proteins involved in AZ assembly. However, elucidating the molecular events of AZ assembly in a spatiotemporal manner remains a challenge. Syd-1 (synapse defective-1) and Liprin-alpha have been identified as two master organizers of AZ assembly. Genetic and imaging analyses in invertebrates show that Syd-1 works upstream of Liprin-alpha in synaptic assembly through undefined mechanisms. To understand molecular pathways downstream of Liprin-alpha, we performed a proteomic screen of Liprin-alpha -interacting proteins in Drosophila brains. We identify Drosophila protein phosphatase 2A (PP2A) regulatory subunit B' [Wrd (Well Rounded)] as a Liprin-alpha -interacting protein, and we demonstrate that it mediates the interaction of Liprin-alpha with PP2A holoenzyme and the Liprin-alpha -dependent synaptic localization of PP2A. Interestingly, loss of function in syd-1, liprin-alpha, or wrd shares a common defect in which a portion of synaptic vesicles, dense-core vesicles, and presynaptic cytomatrix proteins ectopically accumulate at the distal, but not proximal, region of motoneuron axons. Strong genetic data show that a linear syd-1/liprin-alpha/wrd pathway in the motoneuron antagonizes glycogen synthase kinase-3 alpha kinase activity to prevent the ectopic accumulation of synaptic materials. Furthermore, we provide data suggesting that the syd-1/liprin-alpha/wrd pathway stabilizes AZ specification at the nerve terminal and that such a novel function is independent of the roles of syd-1/liprin-alpha in regulating the morphology of the T-bar structural protein BRP (Bruchpilot).

To investigate the etiology of neurological disorders in elderly at outpatient clinic.Elderly patients aged 60 years old or more who visited the geriatric neurological outpatient clinic of PLA General Hospital from July 1, 2009 to June 30, 2012 and underwent the brain MRI or CT imaging were retrospectively analyzed. The constituent ratio of common neurological disorders in all patients and patients from different age groups were statistically analyzed based on the information from PRIDE data management system.A total of 1 188 patients were enrolled in this study with well documented record of complaint examination of the nerve system and brain MRI or CT imaging. Common neurological disorders in those patients were cerebrovascular disease(22.39%), mild cognitive impairment and dementia (15.99%), movement disorders including Parkinson disease, Parkinsonism and essential tremor(9.09%), sleep disorders (6.73%) and psychological diseases(6.65%). Spinal degenerative diseases accompanied by neurological symptoms also accounted for 10.52%. Less common causes in those patients were benign paroxysmal positioning vertigo(3.96%), headache and neck pain (3.28%), cranial nerve diseases (2.78%) and intracranial tumors (2.61%). Constituent ratios of mild cognitive impairment and dementia in different age groups were associated with aging, and the same was observed with Parkinson disease.The common neurological disorders in the geriatric outpatients are cerebrovascular disease and neurodegenerative diseases including different type of dementia and Parkinson disease. Those disorders should be focused for the prevention and treatment of the nervous system diseases in the elderly.