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Nickel, the fifth most common element on Earth, is the leading inducer of contact allergies in humans, with potent immunological effects. Nickel-induced contact allergies predominantly affect females. Maternal exposure to nickel has been associated with several developmental abnormalities. However, how a maternal nickel exposure affects the development of atopic diathesis and immune abnormalities in children has never been addressed.We aimed to determine whether maternal nickel exposure affects the development of atopic dermatitis and immune abnormalities in their children.Using a birth cohort study, we analysed 140 mother-child pairs recruited in 2012-2015 from central Taiwan. Maternal exposure to nickel was estimated using urinary nickel levels measured by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS). The serum levels of 65 analytes and IgE in 3-year-old children were profiled with a multiplex ELISA. The correlation between the maternal urinary nickel concentration and serum analyte levels was assessed using Spearmen's correlation. Multivariant regression analysis was performed to evaluate the association between maternal urinary nickel levels and serum analyte concentrations in their children.The geometric means of the maternal urinary nickel and the children's serum IgE levels were 2.27 μg/L and 69.71 IU/mL, respectively. The maternal nickel exposure was associated with increased serum levels of IL-1β, IL-2, TNF-α, and leukaemia inhibitory factor (LIF) but with decreased serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase-1 (MMP-1), IL-2R, and eotaxin-1 in the children. In addition, the development of childhood atopic dermatitis at 3 years old was significantly associated with the child's serum levels of IgE and IL-2R, but it was negatively associated with the maternal nickel exposure.This is the first study showing the potential immunological effects of maternal nickel exposure in their children at an early developmental stage.

Supplemental material, DS_10.1177_0022034519864519 for MiR-361-3p/Nfat5 Signaling Axis Controls Cementoblast Differentiation by H.Q. Liao, H. Liu, H.L. Sun, J.B. Xiang, X.X. Wang, C.X. Jiang, L. Ma and Z.G. Cao in Journal of Dental Research

During Streptococcus zooepidemicus fermentation, most carbon sources are used to synthesize lactic acid, which can inhibit strain growth and hyaluronic acid production. Here, we expressed bacterial haemoglobin (Vhb) in Strep. zooepidemicus. Due to highly efficient oxygen use, only 15·26 g l−1 lactic acid was produced, which is 0·73 times the quantity produced by the control strain. Compared with the control strain (1·61 g l−1), hyaluronic acid (HA) production in this strain did not substantially increase, only to 2·16 g l−1. Next, we used a series of N-methyl-N’-nitro-N-nitroso-guanidine (NTG) treatments and selection programmes. Finally, we generated a hyaluronidase-negative and rifampin-resistant mutant strain that produces high levels of HA. The optimum carbon concentration for maximum hyaluronic acid production is only 30 g l−1 of sucrose, which is lower than the control strain (60 g l−1). The oxygen transfer rate coefficient KLa increased significantly to 372 ± 53 h−1 from 18 ± 4 h−1 of the control. The optimum carbon source for this strain is 21 g l−1 of sucrose, 9 g l−1 of maltose and 5 g l−1 of glutamic acid. Hyaluronic acid accumulated at 6·7 g l−1 in the culture broth. However, the molecular weight of HA decreased from 1835 KDa (Control) to 429 kDa. The prepared low-molecular weight HA could function as potential antiangiogenic substances, antiviral and antitumour agents to possibly be used as functional food ingredients. Significance and Impact of the Study Hyaluronic acid (HA) has been used for a wide range of applications in health, cosmetic and clinical fields. During fermentation of Streptococcus to produce HA, 80–85% of the carbon source is used to produce lactic acid and acetic acid, and only approx. 5 and 10% of the carbon source is used to produce HA and biomass respectively. Here, we expressed bacteria haemoglobin (Vhb) in Streptococcus zooepidemicus, which can dramatically inhibit lactic acid production. After NTG treatments and selection programmes, we identified a mutant strain with highly efficient hyaluronic acid production (6·7 g l−1) under economic fermentation conditions.

In order to explore the potential application on cardiovascular stent, titanium oxide films were fabricated on CoCrMo alloy substrate by high power pulsed magnetron sputtering (HPPMS). The effect of Ti interlayer and thickness of Ti–O film on the film adhesion was investigated by the scratch test and tension test. After different tensile strain, the corrosion behavior of Ti–O coated CoCrMo alloy and bare CoCrMo alloy was also investigated by polarization tests. The results showed that the deposition of Ti interlayer can obviously improve the film adhesion and the film adhesion decreased with film thickness increase. In addition, the 30 nm Ti–O film with 10 nm Ti interlayer had excellent adhesion and it could withstand 30% relative elongation without obvious delamination. The corrosion resistance of Ti–O coated CoCrMo alloy was superior to bare CoCrMo alloy after different tensile strain. Due to its good adhesion and corrosion resistance after different tensile strain, the HPPMS Ti–O film had a potential application on CoCrMo alloy cardiovascular stent surface modification.

MicroRNA-9 (miR-9) has a well-established role in various tumors; the clinical significance and potential mechanism of miR-9 in human osteosarcoma (OS) has not been elucidated. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism and role of miR-9 expression in osteosarcoma cells. miR-9 expression in the OS cell line MG-63 and OS tissues was compared to that in a human osteoblastic cell line (hFOB 1.19) and adjacent normal tissues, respectively, by reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction. miR-9 expression was downregulated by introducing small interfering RNA against miR-9 (si-miR-9) into the cells, and the proliferative, migratory, and invasive capacities of si-miR-9-transfected MG-63 cells were compared to those of control MG-63 cells. miR-9 was significantly upregulated in OS tissues and cell lines compared to the corresponding non-cancerous bone tissues (P < 0.05) and human osteoblastic cell line (P < 0.05), respectively. Upregulated miR-9 expression was also associated with increased cell proliferation (P < 0.05), migration (P < 0.05), and invasion (P < 0.05), and decreased apoptotic ability (P < 0.05). These results suggest that miR-9 may play a pivotal role in tumorigenesis and tumor progression in osteosarcoma.

Residual stress is unavoidable in thin films. Studies in the past mainly focused on the destructive effect of residual stress on the structural and functional properties of materials. Whether can we use stress to produce a special kind of structural unit or to improve the functional properties of given materials? In this paper, we will review our recent works in this aspect, that is, inhomogeneous stress is utilized to obtain single-crystal regular metal particles, the size and shape of which can be tuned by changing the composition of thin films, the annealing conditions, and so on. Structural characterization, intrinsic mechanism and potential applications of the self-formed regular particles are introduced in brief.

The deformation process of sputtered tungsten films were investigated according to the morphological characteristics and residual stress analysis. Results show that there are four characteristics depending on the substrates and stress state. For thin films on polyimide, the localized plastic deformation is mediated by the alignment of grain boundaries in the case of tension or line bulges in the case of compression. It results from both in-plane and out-of-plane grain rotation. For thin films on silicon substrate, wedge cracks in the case of tension or regular hillocks in the case of compression become the typical morphology. From this point of view, the deformation behaviors of films depended on the substrate constraint and residual stress states.

Tungsten (W) thin films were prepared by magnetron sputtering onto Si (100) substrates. Their microstructures were characterized by X-ray diffraction (XRD), field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The hardness and modulus were evaluated by nanoindentation. It is found that a 30 nm Cr sticking layer induces structure changes of deposited W film from β-W to a-W structure. In addition, remarkable hardness enhancement both for the deposited and annealed W films, were compared with that of bulk coarse-grained W, although their nanoindentation modulus is very close to that of corresponding bulk W. The intrinsic reasons that lead to structure changes and super hardness are discussed.

CrN/W 2 N multilayer films with various bilayer periods of 15–85 nm were deposited on high speed steel (W18Cr4V) substrates by means of DC closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering. The morphology and microstructure of the multilayer films were investigated by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The mechanical and tribological properties were evaluated using a nanoindentor, Rockwell and scratch tests and a conventional ball-on-disk tribometer, respectively. There were some transverse grains at the layer interface and the interface between the CrN and W 2 N layers was not so sharp owing to atom diffusion through the interface. In the bilayer period range, the microhardness, elastic modulus and adhesive strength of the CrN/W 2 N multilayer films increased with the decrease of bilayer period. The CrN/W 2 N multilayer film with a bilayer period of 15 nm showed the highest hardness (29.2 GPa), elastic modulus (376 GPa) and best adhesion strength, it also had the highest wear resistance and lowest friction coefficient.

Faceted copper and tungsten particles in submicron-scale were obtained by annealing copper–zirconium thin films on polyimide (PI) substrates as well as in the deposited tungsten films on Si substrates. It was interesting to find that the Cu particles are faceted and seem to be single crystal from their extraordinarily regular appearance. However, it is another case for W particles which are polycrystalline and irregular. Different mechanisms are put forward to elucidate the formation of Cu and W particles according to the morphological characterization, residual stress analysis and their distinct atomic diffusivity.

Aneurysmal bone cyst (ABC) is a osteolytic bone lesion that rarely involves the jaws. To date, a total of 92 cases of JABCs have been described in detail in English literature. They prevalently occur in the first 2 decades (72.8%) with slight female predilection. It affects the mandible more often (68.5%) with a predominant location in the mandibular ramus (31.3%) and its posterior regions (20.4%). A painless (54.7%) or painful (43.2%) bone swelling is the most frequent clinical sign. Radiologically 93.8% of the lesions present as a radiolucency; in 69.4% multilocular in appearance. 15.2% of JABCs were secondary in nature, including 8 cases associated with fibrous dysplasia. The recurrence rate (13.3%) did not differ significantly when comparing the surgical technique (curettage, 15.2%; resection, 11.8%). JABCs are known for their different clinical and radiographic features, therefore often posing a diagnostic dilemma. Some JABC's may be secondary in nature. Careful curettage is considered to be suitable as treatment for JABCs.

Lanthanum-modified bismuth titanate (Bi 3.25 La 0.75 Ti 3 O 12 ) (BLT) films have been prepared on platinized silicon substrates using sol–gel method. Highly (001) or (111) oriented platinum layers are used as the bottom electrodes of ferroelectric BLT capacitors to study the effects of Pt orientation on the structural and physical properties of BLT films. X-ray diffraction (XRD) and atomic force microscopy (AFM) measurements demonstrate that the microstructure and morphology of BLT films are not strongly affected by the Pt films. BLT film on highly (111) oriented Pt possesses much higher remanent polarization (∼ 8 μC/cm 2 ) than that on highly (001) oriented Pt although the coercive fields of the two kinds of Bi 3.25 La 0.75 Ti 3 O 12 films are almost equal.

Titanium dioxide nanotubes are synthesized using sol-gel method. Electron energy-loss spectroscopy has been used to investigate the chemical composition of the nanotubes. The results show that the atomic ratio of O/Ti is very close to two. Electron diffraction studies indicate that the nanotubes have the anatase structure. High-resolution transmission electron microscopy studies show that the nanotubes possess a layered structure with layer spacing of about 7.1 Angstrom. The tube axis is determined to be along [010] direction of the anatase phase. The formation mechanism of the nanotubes can be explained as 3D --> 2D --> 1D. The two-dimensional lamellar TiO2 is essential for the formation of the nanotubes. (C) 2002 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.

In moves towards lighter, more energy-efficient vehicles, the automotive industry is showing interest in space-frame aluminium structures for car bodies. One concept design features the use of hollow extrusions which slot over suitably shaped cast nodes, which will be subjected in service to bending stresses and to shear stresses. Given the presence of bending stresses and the sensitivity of fatigue life to defects, particular attention has been paid in the present research to the surface defects produced by casting and to effects of polishing or shot-peening the as-cast surface. The alloy studied is LM25 TF and two main casting processes have been employed: sand-casting and gravity-die-casting. For sand-castings, the defects of significance were found to be surface hollows and pores, but fatigue cracks in the die-cast material were associated mainly with entrained aluminium oxide films. Surface machining removes the surface hollows but leaves pores and films unaffected, The fatigue S-N curves can be derived from a consideration of fatigue-crack growth-rate data and distributions of initial defect size, with an allowance for an initiation contribution. The calculations are made on a probabilistic basis. The paper also discusses results obtained on shot-peened material, the residual stresses generated, and ways in which these may be incorporated into crack-growth models.

Two varieties of the first kind of dumbbell domains have been discovered in materials with the nominal composition (YSmLuCa) 3 (FeGe) 5 O 12 . One of the two varieties produces self-shrinking, while the other does not. The relationship between self-shrinking and temperature is studied. It is also shown that VBLs in the dumbbell domains in the material experience gradual annihilation. Experiments on a material of composition (YSmCa) 3 (FeGe) 5 O 12 have shown that the stability of the dumbbell domains are dependent on composition. We also explain why materials with Lu can not produce the second kind of dumbbell domains.

This report summarizes briefly most of the experiments that have been done to study the charge state dependence of inner-shell ionization for the K-, L-, and M-shells in thin solid targets. A study of the charge state dependence under approximate single collision conditions can provide information about the electron capture (EC) contribution to inner-shell ionization. The EC process is expected to be more profound at ion velocities, v1 ≤ v2s and for Z1 ≤ Z2 where Z1 and Z2 are the atomic numbers of the projectile and the target atom, and v1 and v2s are the velocities of the projectile ion and the target inner-shell electron, respectively. Extended data from our own laboratory over a fairly large time span as well as a variety of papers in the open literature on similar studies for selected projectiles from Z1 = 5 to 17 are summarized for incident ions in the range 0.1 to 5.7 MeV/u. The data will be compared to current Coulomb ionization theories.

M-shell X-ray production cross sections of the rare-earth elements 57La, 60Nd, 62Sm, 63Eu, 64Gd, 66Dy, 67Ho, 66Dy, 67Ho, 68Er, 70Yb, 71Lu, and 72Hf were measured for proton bombardment in the energy range 0.6–4.6 MeV. The efficiency of the windowless Si(Li) detector for X-rays in the energy range 0.5–5.0 keV was determined by using the known atomic-field bremsstrahlung cross sections for low energy electron beams, K-shell X-ray measurements with protons, and calibrated radioactive sources. The measured X-ray production cross sections are compared to the predictions of the first Born approximation and the ECPSSR theories.

M-shell X-rays of the rare-earth elements 57La, 60Nd, 62Sm, 63Eu, 64Gd, 66Dy, 67Ho, 66Dy, 67Ho, 68Er, 70Yb, 71Lu, and 72Hf were measured for 4He2+ bombardment in the energy range 0.7–7.0 MeV. The M-shell X-rays with energies of 0.64–1.90 keV were detected with a windowless Si(Li) detector. The efficiency of the detector was determined by using the known atomic-field bremsstrahlung cross sections from low energy electron beams, K-shell X-ray measurements with light projectiles, and calibrated radioactive sources. The measured cross sections are compared to the predictions of the first Born approximation and the ECPSSR (energy loss and Coulomb deflection effects, perturbed stationary state approximation with relativistic correction) theories.

Regularly faceted copper (Cu) particles ranging from tens of nanometers to submicron were obtained by annealing Cu-Zr films on polyimide and single Si (100) substrates. XRD, TEM, SEM and EDS were used to characterize their microstructural properties. The results show that these particles are pure Cu element and single crystals with [111] preferred orientation. Systematical analysis demonstrates that the sizes of Cu particles are closely related to the film composition as well annealing conditions. Specifically, larger Zr contents will suppress the grain growth, and thus lead to smaller Cu particles, while the higher annealing temperature is easier to activate atomic diffusion, and larger particles appear. In addition, the shapes of these Cu particles are also very sensitive to the microstuctural properties of the thin films, the substrates types as well as annealing atmosphere. These aspects will be discussed in detail according to the morphological characteristics and residual stress evolution. This work may provide a new approach to prepare regular metal particles with sizes ranging from tens of nanometers to submicron.

This paper characterizes the performance of the Applied Materials 200 mm Radiance/spl trade/ Centura for 0.13 /spl mu/m ultra-shallow junction (USJ) applications. The Radiance spike anneal process is distinguished by fast ramp-up (250/spl deg/C/sec) and cool-down rates (90/spl deg/C/sec). Spike annealing prevents transient enhanced diffusion (TED) and out-diffusion effects of the implant dopant and thus enables good control over USJ formation. The Radiance USJ technology for advanced 0.13 /spl mu/m devices succeeded in achieving a junction sheet resistance