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[Display omitted] • A controllable hydrophilic/superhydrophobic patterned coating is reported. • The superhydrophobic pattern presents rough ridge-like microstructures and opaque state. • The hydrophilic pattern exhibits water-triggered opaque to translucent transition. • The patterned coating is successfully applied in optical information encryption/decryption. • The information revealing demonstrates long-term stability and great reusability. Anti-counterfeiting technologies are crucial for securing the authenticity and proof of commodities, in which the optical information encryption/decryption has attracted extensive attention for its overriding advantages of visibility and convenience. Inspired by the unique transparency transformation phenomenon of Diphylleia grayi petals, a controllable hydrophilic/superhydrophobic patterned coating with water-triggered opaque to translucent transition is proposed through the construction of a superhydrophobic coating, subsequent air plasma etching under a mask, and final hydrophilic modification to introduce stable invisible patterns. The superhydrophobic region exhibits great water repellency with a water contact angle (WCA) at 157°, while the hydrophilic region quickly absorbs water with a WCA at 61°. The patterned coating presents an opaque state for the serious light scattering induced by the rough microstructure and large refractive index difference between the coating and air, while the hydrophilic patterns on the coating transform to translucent after water infiltration for the reduced roughness and close refractive indexes of the coating and water. The information revealing is rapid and reversible, and demonstrates heat and long-term stability and great reusability. The findings conceivably stand out as a new methodology to fabricate controllable superwettable coatings with optical information encryption/decryption capability for application in anti-counterfeiting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the membrane separation materials show promising applications in the fields of crude oil removal because of their low energy consumption and less secondary pollution. However, the membrane separation materials suffer problem of low separation efficiency due to the high viscosity of crude oil. Here, a superhydrophobic material with Joule heat and photothermal effect was prepared by decorating the delignified wood with reduced graphene oxide (GSH) and vinyl terminated polydimethylsiloxane (V-PDMS) through thiol-ene click reaction. The prepared PDMS@GSH wood exhibited stable superhydrophobicity with a water contact angle of 156°. Meanwhile, the GSH layer provided promising electrothermal effect that endowed the PDMS@GSH wood with excellent crude oil/water separation capability under the Joule heat with a surface temperature of 139 °C and separation rate of 1.78 × 105 kg m−3 h−1. Besides, the PDMS@GSH wood displayed a good photothermal effect that assisted with the Joule heat to heat the wood for crude oil removal to save energy. More importantly, the PDMS was crosslinked with GSH on the wood via thiol-ene click reaction, leading to the stable superhydrophobicity and electrical conductivity in strong acid or alkali environment. This material has broad application prospects in crude oil clean-up due to its high separation speed and easy large-scale production. [Display omitted] • A new strategy for fabricating superhydrophobic wood with heating property is proposed. • The wood presents stable superhydrophobicity and electrical conductivity. • The wood shows excellent Joule heat and photothermal effect. • The wood exhibits high separation rate for viscous crude oil wastewater. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Streptococcus pyogenes is a major human-specific bacterial pathogen and a common cause of a wide range of symptoms from mild infection such as pharyngitis (commonly called strep throat) to life-threatening invasive infection and post-infectious sequelae. Traditional methods for diagnosis include collecting a sample using a pharyngeal swab, which can cause discomfort and even discourage adults and children from seeking proper testing and treatment in the clinic. Saliva samples are an alternative to pharyngeal swabs. To improve the testing experience for strep throat, we developed a novel lollipop-inspired sampling platform (called CandyCollect) to capture bacteria in saliva. The device can be used in clinics or in the home and shipped back to a lab for analysis, integrating with telemedicine. CandyCollect is designed to capture bacteria on an oxygen plasma treated polystyrene surface embedded with flavoring substances to enhance the experience for children and inform the required time to complete the sampling process. In addition, the open channel structure prevents the tongue from scraping and removing the captured bacteria. The flavoring substances did not affect bacterial capture and the device has a shelf life of at least 2 months (with experiments ongoing to extend the shelf life). We performed a usability study with 17 participants who provided feedback on the device design and the dissolving time of the candy. This technology and advanced processing techniques, including polymerase chain reaction (PCR), will enable user-friendly and effective diagnosis of streptococcal pharyngitis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophobic materials possess prospective applications of oily wastewater treatment due to their high efficiency and easy operation. Nevertheless, most superhydrophobic materials are difficult to separate oil-water emulsion, especially for highly viscous water-in-crude oil emulsion. Herein, a superhydrophobic wood with excellent Joule heat and demulsification was proposed by chemically treating the natural wood and subsequent coating of the carboxyl-modified carbon nanotubes (cCNTs) for providing conductive pathways, polyethylenimide (PEI) for supporting demulsification and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) for hydrophobic modification. The fabricated superhydrophobic PDMS@PEI-cCNTs wood displayed a water contact angle of 155o and great compression property with a nearly undamaged structure at a strain of 40 % after 50 compression tests, which could separate and recover oil from the oil-water mixture via absorption-extrusion process. Besides, due to the filtration and electrostatic interaction of the PDMS@PEI-cCNTs wood, the water-in-oil emulsion was demulsified quickly with a separation efficiency greater than 99.7 %. Meanwhile, the PDMS@PEI-cCNTs wood showed a good Joule heat capability, and the surface temperature reached 160 °C at 35 V of voltage within 120 s, which largely reduced the viscosity of water-in-crude oil emulsion. Thus, the PDMS@PEI-cCNTs wood was successful in separating the water-in-crude oil emulsion via Joule heat capability with a separation rate of 4.33 × 104 kg·m−3·h−1 and a separation efficiency of 93.4 %. The material developed in this study has wide range of applications in treating the stable crude oil-water emulsion with high viscosity. [Display omitted] • A new strategy for fabricating superhydrophobic wood for various oil-water emulsions separation is proposed. • The wood presents stable superhydrophobicity and good electrical conductivity. • The wood shows excellent demulsification capability via charge action, absorption and gathering. • The wood exhibits great Joule heat to promote separating viscous water-in-crude oil emulsion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As an approach of resolution enhancement technique (RET), sub-resolution assist feature (SRAF) is used to meet the pitch requirements for sparse patterns in off-axis illumination (OAI) and supplements the spatial frequencies of main patterns to improve the resolution. Rules-based SRAF (RB-SRAF) is a technique that foundry extracts SRAF placement rules from wafer data or simulation data and then apply these rules to full chip. RB-SRAF often produces a lot of conflicts. Usually, the geometric constrains are the only factors taken into account in cleaning up of these conflicts, which may lead to mistaken cleanup and be counter-productive. Therefore, it is necessary to introduce some physical factors in the course of cleanup. The transmissivity distribution of mask in hotspot region can be obtained by inverse lithography technology (ILT). And the statistical information of the grayscale map from ILT can be used for leading cleanup and keeping the SRAFs which contribute more to process window (PW). The feasibility of this method has been verified by a series of simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Conductive superhydrophobic cotton fabric was fabricated by LBL assembly of CNTs. • The cotton fabric achieved high oil-water separation efficiency and great reusability. • The cotton fabric-based pressure sensor exhibited stable responses in human motion detection. • The pressure sensor could work even under wet and humid conditions. Conductive superhydrophobic cotton fabric was fabricated by assembling carboxylated and aminated multiwalled carbon nanotubes and modifying with polydimethylsiloxane. The cotton fabric possessed superhydrophobicity with a CA of 162°, and was successfully applied in oil-water separation with high separation efficiency and great reusability. Additionally, the conductive fabric-based pressure sensor exhibited stable and regular responses in human motion detection including finger bending, wrist movement, walking and running. Owing to the excellent water repellency of the fabric, the pressure sensor could work even under wet and humid conditions, which may pave a novel way to further broaden application field in high-performance electric sensors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Microscale cell-based assays have demonstrated unique capabilities in reproducing important cellular behaviors for diagnostics and basic biological research. As these assays move beyond the prototyping stage and into biological and clinical research environments, there is a need to produce microscale culture platforms more rapidly, cost-effectively, and reproducibly. ‘Rapid’ injection molding is poised to meet this need as it enables some of the benefits of traditional high volume injection molding at a fraction of the cost. However, rapid injection molding has limitations due to the material and methods used for mold fabrication. Here, we characterize advantages and limitations of rapid injection molding for microfluidic device fabrication through measurement of key features for cell culture applications including channel geometry, feature consistency, floor thickness, and surface polishing. We demonstrate phase contrast and fluorescence imaging of cells grown in rapid injection molded devices and provide design recommendations to successfully utilize rapid injection molding methods for microscale cell-based assay development in academic laboratory settings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: Chin-brow vertical angle (CBVA) is very important in correction of thoracolumbar kyphotic deformity in ankylosing spondylitis (AS), especially for the patients with cervical ankylosis. In previous study, Suk et al. stated that the patients with CBVA between -10° and 10° had better horizontal gaze. Unfortunately, in our clinical practice, we found the patients with CBVA between -10° and 10° after surgery usually complained of difficulty in cooking, cleaning, desk working and the like, although they had excellent horizontal gaze. In other words, for the patients with cervical ankylosis, good horizontal gaze existed together with poor downward gaze. Then, which condition do the patients prefer? Is there a compromise solution that makes a better quality life possible for the patients? In this research, we studied AS patients with cervical ankylosis, aiming to investigate the optimal CBVA for deformity correction.Methods: 25 AS thoracolumbar kyphotic patients with cervical ankylosis were studied, whose function and expectation of visual field related to life quality were assessed by questionnaire before and after surgery. Pre- and post-operative CBVA were obtained on lateral photos of the patients with free-standing posture, and 50 cases of CBVA were included, which were divided into six groups according to the angle irrespective of surgery (Group A, CBVA <0°; Group B, 0° ≤ CBVA < 10°; Group C, 10° ≤ CBVA < 20°; Group D, 20° ≤ CBVA < 30°; Group E, 30° ≤ CBVA < 40°; Group F, CBVA ≥ 40°). Kruskal-Wallis test was used to assess all the groups in terms of various items in the questionnaire, while Mann-Whitney test was used to assess every two groups.Results: In overall evaluation, Group C (10°-20°) obtained the optimal expectation (p < 0.05); Group B, C and D (0°-30°) obtained better function (p < 0.05), and there was no significant difference between the 3 groups. In appearance, Group A, B and C (<20°) were better than the other groups both in function and expectation (p < 0.05), without dramatic difference among the three groups. In outdoor activities, Group A, B, C and D (<30°) were better in most of the items (p < 0.05). In indoor activities, Group C and D (10-30°) were much better (p < 0.05).Conclusion: AS thoracolumbar kyphotic patients with cervical ankylosis had the best satisfaction when 10° ≤ CBVA < 20°. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic coatings that effectively prevent viscous oil contamination have been of considerable interest for the great potential in oil spill remediation and oilfield wastewater treatment. In the present work, a protonated cross-linkable nanocomposite coating with robust underwater superoleophobicity and intensified hydration capability is proposed through the synthesis of active polymeric nanocomplex (PNC), cross-linking reaction between PNC and hydrophilic chitosan (CS), and final protonation to further improve water affinity. Benefiting from the hierarchical structure and strong hydration capability induced by electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bondings, the nanocomposite coating coated textile exhibits excellent superhydrophilicity (within 0.28 s with water contact angle reaching 0°), underwater superoleophobicity (underwater crude oil contact angle at 160°), and ultralow oil adhesion even to highly viscous silicone oil. Moreover, the nanocomposite coating presents a robust chemical resistance, mechanical tolerance, and storage stability. Simultaneously, the nanocomposite coating adapts well to various porous substrates (e.g., stainless steel mesh and Ni sponge) with great anti-oil-fouling and self-cleaning performances. Importantly, the coating coated textile is successfully applied in crude oil/water separation with excellent efficiency and repeatability. The findings conceivably stand out as a new methodology to fabricate superhydrophilic/underwater superoleophobic materials with outstanding anti-viscous oil-fouling property for practically treating oily wastewater. [Display omitted] • A protonated cross-linkable nanocomposite coating with underwater superoleophobicity is reported. • The PPNC-CS coating presents an outstanding hydration capability induced by charges. • The PPNC-CS coating exhibits ultralow oil adhesion even to viscous silicone oil. • The PPNC-CS adapts well to various porous substrates with great anti-oil-fouling performance. • The PPNC-CS coated textile is successfully applied in crude oil/water separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Natural wood, with its unique porous structure, has been widely modified for separating oil-water mixtures. However, the separation efficiency is often unsatisfactory, and little attention is focused on mitigating secondary pollution after its usable lifespan. Here, a superhydrophobic material consisting of delignified wood coated with titanium dioxide (TiO 2) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) was prepared. The resulting PDMS@TiO 2 wood possessed outstanding superhydrophobicity, with a water contact angle of 160o. Owing to its longitudinal channels and excellent water repellency, the wood was successfully used to separate oil-water mixtures, with a high permeation flux of up to 6111 L·m−2·h−1 and separation efficiency of up to 93.4%. Importantly, PDMS and other oil pollutants were capable of being largely degraded after use via photocatalysis of the TiO 2 layer, and the degradation reached 8.56 wt% within 30 days. The results from this study provide a method for fabricating functional superhydrophobic wood with photocatalytic degradation ability for efficient oily wastewater treatment. [Display omitted] • A new strategy for fabricating superhydrophobic wood with anisotropic porous structure is reported. • The wood presents excellent separation flux in oil-water separation. • The wood exhibits great photocatalytic degradation ability for post-treatment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A fully organic and biodegradable superhydrophobic sponge is rationally constructed. • All of raw materials are derived from cheap renewable natural resources. • The sponge presents great separation performance for immiscible oil/water mixtures. • Multi-layer compressed porous structure achieves gravity-driven high-flux emulsion separation. Facile fabrication of functional superhydrophobic porous materials with full biodegradability for efficient removal of oily pollutants from water has been of considerable interest for its great significance in environmental protection. Herein, a fully organic and biodegradable superhydrophobic sponge is fabricated with carnauba wax (CW) via dip-coating, nonsolvent induced phase separation and spraying processes on a freeze-dried pomelo peel. The as-fabricated sponge was covered with flower-shaped patterns aggregated by CW nanosheets, and presented great water repellency with a contact angle of 154°. Thanks to the 3D porous architecture and superhydrophobicity/superoleophilicity, the sponge exhibited great oil absorptive capacity, oil selectivity, separation efficiency and reusability for immiscible oil/water mixtures. Interestingly, the multi-layer compressed sponges realized gravity-driven surfactant-stabilized water-in-oil emulsion separation with high permeation flux of up to 5729 L·m−2·h−1 and excellent efficiency of oil purity larger than 99.9%. Importantly, the superhydrophobic sponge was derived from cheap renewable natural resources, and capable of being completely biodegraded after discarding. The findings conceivably stand out as a new tool to fabricate superhydrophobic materials with sustainability and biodegradability for oil accidents and industrial sewage emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study aimed to investigate the effect of a new method of abdominal skin care on patients with ankylosing spondylitis (AS) undergoing orthopedic surgery. A total of 90 patients with AS and thoracolumbar kyphosis undergoing orthopedic surgery were randomly divided into two groups. Patients in the control group received routine care while those in experimental group received the following new treatment regimen: i) Vaseline cream was applied to the abdominal skin for 3-5 min every 6 h; ii) preoperative stretch exercises were encouraged and iii) 24 h after surgery, the patient was placed in a lateral decubitus position. The difference in abdominal pain levels and the size of tension blisters was the compared between the two groups. There was no difference in age, gender, disease course and kyphosis angle between two groups (P>0.05). Compared with the patients in the control group, those in test group experienced milder pain when evaluated by visual analogue score at 6, 18 and 30 h after surgery (3.6±1.2 vs. 4.5±1.8; 4.4±2.3 vs. 6.1±2.7; 4.1±2.1 vs. 4.1±2.1, P<0.05). Moreover, tension vesicles in the abdominal skin were significantly smaller in the treatment group than the control group (P<0.05). Optimal nursing may be the key to the reduction of the level of pain and occurrence of tension vacuoles in the abdominal skin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As semiconductor technologies continue to shrink, optical proximity correction may not have enough space to optimize layout due to limitations from adjacent layers. Lithography friendly design (LFD) becomes a powerful tool to detect potential lithography yield killers for fabless side from 14-nm technology node and beyond. Design layout can be modified before tape-out to avoid future rework. However, huge runtime is the bottleneck of LFD. Aim: Our paper puts forward an innovative layout decomposing algorithm to accelerate LFD at full-chip level. Approach: The proposed projection-based high coverage fast (PBHCF) LFD layout decomposing algorithm partitions the full-chip layout as a set of unique patterns. The simulation runtime can be reduced by only simulating every unique pattern and corresponding optical interaction range in full chip. The LFD hotspots will be classified, analyzed, and repaired by pattern matching in batches for full-chip layout. Results: The experiments compare hotspot accuracies and prediction speeds of proposed PBHCF LFD and the most commonly used accelerated algorithm, Smart LFD, for different layouts at chip level for metal 2 layer of 12-nm technology node with pure unidirectional routings. On one hand, the average accuracy of PBHCF LFD can achieve 97.07%, improving 3.4% than Smart LFD on average. On the other hand, PBHCF LFD improves the average prediction speed over regular LFD 19.51%. And the PBHCF LFD is faster than Smart LFD by 5.96%. Conclusions: PBHCF LFD achieves higher accuracy and less runtime than Smart LFD. The verification experiments conducted on layouts at chip level show the feasibility of the proposed methodology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A novel stimuli-responsive superhydrophobic film driven by solvent is reported. • The SSF exhibits fast, large-scale, reliable bending actuation for the swelling discrepancy. • The SSF is successfully applied in biomimetic device, electric switch and water manipulation. • The SSF-based actuators can stably work even under wet and humid conditions. Fabrication of functional superhydrophobic materials with stimuli-responsive driving ability for the growing fields such as electric switch and liquid manipulation still remains mysterious and challenging. In this work, a stimuli-responsive superhydrophobic film (SSF) is fabricated by integrating a bottom porous poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) layer, a sandwiched cross-linkable poly(vinyl alcohol) (cPVA) layer, and a top carbon nanotubes@polydimethylsiloxane (CNTs@PDMS) layer. Induced by the asymmetric swelling of cPVA/PVDF bilayer upon exposure to acetone vapor, the SSFs directionally roll towards the superhydrophobic CNTs@PDMS surface with a large curvature of 0.65 mm−1, a fast response within 10 s, and an excellent fatigue resistance of more than 1000 actuation cycles. Furthermore, the special superhydrophobicity highly ensures the reliable actuation behavior of the SSFs under wet environments. Taking advantage of the conductivity of the CNTs@PDMS layer, the SSF-based electric switches are fabricated and conveniently actuated to control the electric circuit states of turning on/off. Additionally, thanks to the combination of water repellency and acetone vapor-responsive actuation, the SSFs are designed as smart channels for a water control system to successfully achieve the manipulation of liquid flow direction. The findings conceivably stand out as a new methodology to fabricate functional superhydrophobic materials with stimuli-responsiveness for various potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights from the article: Functional Nanomaterials: 3D Porous Superhydrophobic CNT/EVA Composites for Recoverable Shape Reconfiguration and Underwater Vibration Detection (Adv. Funct. In article number 1900554, Hongqiang Li, Xingrong Zeng, and co-workers report a robust porous superhydrophobic composite (PSC) based on a hybrid of multiwalled carbon nanotubes network and a poly(ethylene-co-vinyl acetate) matrix for recoverable shape reconfiguration and underwater vibration detection. The solvent plasticization and capillary effect endow the PSC with great shape memory performance, and the skeleton deformation makes the PSC applicable for detecting various underwater vibrations.

Functional superhydrophobic materials with shape memory and electrical conductivity play important roles in a wide variety of growing fields. Herein, a robust 3D porous superhydrophobic composite (PSC) with multiwalled carbon nanotube/poly(ethylene‐co‐vinyl acetate) (CNT/EVA) as its skeleton is proposed for recoverable shape reconfiguration and underwater vibration detection. Thanks to the capillary wicking of the interconnected porous structure and ethanol plasticization of the skeleton, this PSC achieves fast shape reconfiguration (<20 s) and recovery (<20 s), high shape fixity (>98%) and recovery ratio (>90%), and excellent shape‐memory repeatability (>10 times) even at 80% compressive strain. Additionally, induced by the wave‐sensitive air layer trapped on the superhydrophobic surface, the flexible CNT/EVA skeleton endures compressed/stretched deformation. Thus, the conductive PSC sensor presents high sensitivity in monitoring tiny underwater vibrations generated by stirring, objects falling, a ruler sliding, ultrasonic ation, and human activities. The findings conceivably stand out as a new methodology for the fabrication of functional superhydrophobic materials for innovative and broad applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: As semiconductor technologies continue to shrink, the growth in the number of process variables and combined effects tighten the overall process window, which leads to a more serious yield loss. Yield cannot be totally guaranteed by design rule check and verifications of optical proximity correction, due to complex process variations. The joint effects from unreasonable designs and unstable control of critical dimensions and overlay mainly contribute to the formation of bridging defects in critical interconnect layers. Aim: Our paper puts forward a model to detect the potential bridging region and predicts the corresponding failure probability under a litho-etch-litho-etch process. Approach: The proposed model is based on input error sources from variations of lithography and etch processes. In this scheme, bridging is expected when the minimum space of simulated postetch contours within a specific range is smaller than a user-defined bridging threshold. Gaussian distribution characteristics of line edge roughness (LER) and overlay are considered in the proposed model. Moreover, the proposed model provides meaningful guidelines for bridging prediction with the use of process variation bands. Results: The experiment results indicate consistency and validity of theoretical derivation of the proposed model. The concrete impacts of LER and overlay on the model have been quantitatively analyzed as well. Conclusions: According to the predicted probabilities, the model can early discover potential bridging defects quantitatively by considering the statistical properties of process variations with very few calculations and can give a ranking of failure severity as a decision foundation for design rule optimization. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Open microfluidic cell culture systems are powerful tools for interrogating biological mechanisms. We have previously presented a microscale cell culture system, based on spontaneous capillary flow of biocompatible hydrogels, that is integrated into a standard cell culture well plate, with flexible cell compartment geometries and easy pipet access. Here, we present two new injection molded open microfluidic devices that also easily insert into standard cell culture well plates and standard culture workflows, allowing seamless adoption by biomedical researchers. These platforms allow culture and study of soluble factor communication among multiple cell types, and the microscale dimensions are well-suited for rare primary cells. Unique advances include optimized evaporation control within the well, manufacture with reproducible and cost-effective rapid injection molding, and compatibility with sample preparation workflows for high resolution microscopy (following well-established coverslip mounting procedures). In this work, we present several use cases that highlight the usability and widespread utility of our platform including culture of limited primary testis cells from surgical patients, microscopy readouts including immunocytochemistry and single molecule fluorescence in situ hybridization (smFISH), and coculture to study interactions between adipocytes and prostate cancer cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the deteriorating environmental pollution by oil spill accidents and industrial sewage emissions, stimuli-responsive superwettable materials have been of considerable interest for its intriguing application in oil-water separation. Herein, we report a facile room temperature method to fabricate mussel-inspired cotton fabric with pH-responsive superwettability, by combining in situ generation of silver particles to construct roughness with self-assembly of long alkyl thiols terminated with methyl and carboxyl groups to endow hydrophobicity and responsiveness. The fabricated pH-responsive cotton fabric showed superhydrophobicity with water contact angle (WCA) up to 153° under acidic and neutral conditions while superhydrophilicity with WCA at 0° under alkaline condition. Importantly, the cotton fabric was successfully applied in bidirectional oil-water separation, exhibiting high separation efficiency and excellent reversibility. Furthermore, the pH-responsive cotton fabric also demonstrated superior self-cleaning property and antibacterial activity to E. coli and S. aureus. Our method to construct pH-responsive cotton fabric is simple, and no special techniques, chemicals or control of atmosphere is required. Our findings conceivably stand out as a new tool to fabricate functional superwettable materials and surfaces with responsiveness to external stimuli for various oil-pollution treatments and other potential applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of 3D, physiologically relevant in vitro cancer models to investigate complex interactions between tumor and stroma has been increasing. Prior work has generally focused on the cancer cells and, the role of fibroblast culture conditions on tumor-stromal cell interactions is still largely unknown. Here, we focus on the stroma by comparing functional behaviors of human mammary fibroblasts (HMFs) cultured in 2D and 3D and their effects on the invasive progression of breast cancer cells (MCF10DCIS.com). We identified increased levels of several paracrine factors from HMFs cultured in 3D conditions that drive the invasive transition. Using a microscale co-culture model with improved compartmentalization and sensitivity, we demonstrated that HMFs cultured in 3D intensify the promotion of the invasive progression through the HGF/c-Met interaction. This study highlights the importance of the 3D stromal microenvironment in the development of multiple cell type in vitro cancer models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In single patterning, the increase of odd order diffractive power and decrease of even order diffractive power may improve the wafer alignment performance. A Fourier model is given to quantitatively describe the diffractive optical power of grating structures. Four novel alignment mark structures with higher odd order wafer qualities (WQs) have been optimized based on the model. The accuracy of our model has been validated with almost the same results for different alignment marks using our model and rigorous coupled wave analysis (RCWA). Moreover, three dimensions (3D) of alignment mark should be optimized to get higher WQs for self-aligned double patterning (SADP). Our paper proposes a model to simplify the 3D RCWA algorithm where WQs of SADP grating structures could be split into two different one-direction grating structures. The advantage of the equation makes the evaluation of different grating period of SADP mark fast, accurate and simple. The models and structures of all the designed alignment marks will make it easier for engineers to choose the property alignment mark faced with single patterning or SADP process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report a facile approach to designing the robust organic-inorganic hybrid superhydrophilic coating films under UV radiation. It is based on the utilization of ene-terminated hydrophilic oligomer (ETHO) and hierarchically mesoporous silica nanoparticles (HMSNs). ETHO was firstly synthesized with dl -dithiothreitol and excess of poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate at room temperature via thiol-ene reaction, and then by spraying the methanol solution containing ETHO, HMSNs, trimethylolpropane triacrylate as crosslinking agent, and Darocur 1173 as photoinitiator on substrate, the thiol-ene/HMSNs hybrid superhydrophilic coating films were fabricated under the exposure of UV light. The structure of ETHO was confirmed by FT-IR, 1 H NMR and 13 C NMR, its molecular weight was 7600 measured by GPC. The wetting behavior of the coating films was found to be largely determined by the mass ratio of HMSNs to ETHO. With the mass ratio at 0.75, the hybrid coating films could achieve superhydrophilic state within 0.24 s, and SEM revealed the existence of double micro-nano structure on the surface, which was significant for the improvement of superhydrophilicity. Importantly, the superhydrophilicity of the coating film could be steadily maintained under the conditions of acid solution, boiling water and abrasion. Additionally, the coating films also exhibited excellent adhesion, flexibility and impact strength. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Layout hotspot detection is one of the most important issues for the reliability enhancement of integrated circuits. Machine learning-based hotspot detectors have shown their advantages of efficiency and generalization compared with computationally intensive lithography process simulation. However, most machine learning-based hotspot detectors only accept layout clips of fixed size as input with the potential defect whose location is restricted at the center of each clip. Therefore, they cannot be used directly for multiple hotspots detection in a large area, which occurs frequently in real design cases. In this article, we build a new end-to-end hotspot detector based on a fully convolutional network, which has the flexibility of detecting a various number of hotspots in a layout of any size at one time. Moreover, we also develop a transfer learning scheme matching our proposed detector network, which can reduce the requirement of sample number when setting up a new model for a more advanced technology node. The experimental results demonstrate our proposed hotspot detector outstanding among state-of-the-art works and the transfer learning scheme is effective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Study Design: Retrospective case-control radiographic study.Objective: To identify main effects of preoperative pattern and global coronal malalignment (GCM) on postoperative coronal imbalance in degenerative lumbar scoliosis (DLS) patients and evaluate the rationality of the classification of coronal deformity based on preoperative GCM. A classification of coronal deformity based on preoperative GCM (20 mm set as the threshold of coronal imbalance) has been proposed recently, but whether it is practical is unclear.Methods: One hundred twelve DLS patients treated with posterior instrumented fusion were reviewed. Coronal measurements included GCM and major Cobb angle. Based on relationship between C7 PL and major curve, preoperative patterns were classified into: Pattern 1(concave pattern), C7 PL shifted to the concave side of major curve; Pattern 2(convex pattern), C7 PL shifted to the convex side of major curve. Patients were separated into 4 groups (3 types): Type 0-1: GCM < 20 mm plus Pattern 1; Type 0-2: GCM < 20 mm plus Pattern 2; Type 1: GCM > 20 mm plus Pattern 1; Type 2: GCM > 20 mm plus Pattern 2. After comparison within patterns or among 4 groups, further factorial analysis was performed.Results: Significant differences regarding postoperative GCM or coronal imbalance/balance ratio existed among 4 groups (F = 6.219, p = 0.001; x2 = 22.506, p < 0.001, respectively), despite no significant difference in intra-pattern 1(concave pattern) or intra-pattern 2(convex pattern) groups. Two-way analysis of variance showed preoperative pattern exhibited significant effect on postoperative GCM or imbalance/balance ratio (F(1,108) = 14.286, p < 0.001; F(1,108) = 30.514, p < 0.001, respectively) while neither preoperative GCM alone nor interaction of preoperative GCM with pattern did.Conclusion: In DLS patients, it's the preoperative pattern other than GCM that had main effects on postoperative coronal imbalance. Classification of coronal deformity based on preoperative GCM is questionable.Level Of Evidence:3: [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • A flexible thermoelectric nanocoating with layered heterostructure was constructed. • The nanocoating exhibited accurate detection capability for the temperature rise stage of a fire. • The nanocoating triggered fire-warning within 1.5 s when encountering fire. • The coated polymer materials were difficult to be ignited during burning tests. Thermoelectric materials have attracted considerable interest in the field of fire warning because of the accuracy and repeatability of their thermoelectric effect. Nevertheless, the incompatibility between high thermoelectric efficiency and flexibility restricts their application in flexible electronic materials. Herein, the dilemma was overcome by constructing a flexible thermoelectric nanocoating with layered heterostructure through the co-assembly of thermoelectric graphene (TEG) nanosheets and carboxymethyl cellulose (CCS). Layered heterostructure not only exhibited exceptional flexibility, but also enabled repeatable sensitive thermosensation of the nanocoating. The nanocoating could accurately monitor the temperature rise stage (50–350 ℃) of a fire, and trigger the fire-warning within 1.5 s when encountering flame. Even it was reburned, the nanocoating still triggered the fire-warning within 2.6 s. Besides, the compact layered structure endowed the nanocoating with efficient flame retardancy. The coated polyester film reached a limiting oxygen index of 33.7 % and self-extinguished in vertical burning test. This flexible thermoelectric nanocoating may pave the way toward high fire safety for flexible electronic materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hotspot detection focused on lithography induced defects becomes crucial at advanced node due to the increasing complexity of the design and manufacture process. Compared with traditional lithography simulation techniques for hotspot detection, machine-learning-based methods have shown significant advantages attributing to the efficiency and generality of their model. However, most convolutional neural network-based hotspot detector can only inference a layout pattern at once. Therefore, sampling clip patterns from the detected layout is the bottleneck of the whole process and determines the performance of hotspot detection. We designed a flow to generate filter rules by clustering analysis of known hotspots, which can efficiently extract layout clips as detected samples to hotspot classifier. We further propose a feature parametric optimization method to extract valuable graphic features for classifiers and reduce redundancy from context patterns. Experimental results demonstrate that these techniques improve the accuracy of hotspots detection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recently, the crude oil spill has brought inevitable harm to the global ecological environment. Due to the high-viscosity crude oil, it is wise to take advantage of the photothermal/electrothermal effects of the membrane to separate the crude oil from the water. However, the functional separation membrane always suffers from low photothermal/electrothermal effects and poor stability. Herein, the vinyl polyvinylidene fluoride/mercapto carbon nanotubes@vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (PVDF-a/CNT-s@PDMS) membrane with fast photothermal/electrothermal effects and organic absorption property was successfully prepared by electrospinning and multi-layer loading method. The prepared PVDF-a/CNT-s@PDMS membrane resisted a variety of liquids and had stable superhydrophobicity (WCA = 156°). Furthermore, the membrane maintained superhydrophobicity even suffer from water and milk under the applied voltage condition. After 100 wear resistance tests, the membrane maintained stable superhydrophobicity and the separation rate remained unchanged. The surface temperature of the membrane rapidly approached to the maximum temperature in 30 s, showing a rapid photothermal/electrothermal effects, and the average separation rate of crude oil was 1185 kg m−2 h−1·bar−1. Meanwhile, the membrane exhibited outstanding efficiency for separate immiscible oil-water mixtures. Importantly, the incorporation of the sulfhydryl group enhanced the special ability of the composite membrane to adsorb organic dyes from oil phase. Therefore, the PVDF-a/CNT-s@PDMS membrane has a wide range of potential application in the domain of oil-water separation. [Display omitted] • The superhydrophobic membrane exhibited high stability toward abrasion. • The obtained membrane possessed fast photothermal/electrothermal response. • The membrane effectively achieved various oil/water mixture separation. • The membrane possessed ability for the adsorption of organic dyes from the oil phase. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the environment pollution deteriorating by industrial waste water and oil leak, superhydrophobic materials for oil/water separation have attracted more attentions and become a worldwide research hotspot. Herein, we propose a facile dipping-UV curing approach to fabricating superhydrophobic hybrid coating on polyester fabric for oil/water separation by utilizing (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane modified graphene oxide (mGO) and vinyl-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (V-PDMS). With mass ratio of mGO to V-PDMS increasing, the roughness of the fabricated mGO/PDMS hybrid coating on polyester fabric correspondingly increased and the water contact angle (WCA) reached up to 157°, demonstrating excellent water repellency. Importantly, due to the formation of crosslinked PDMS network with mGO as crosslinking points, the fabric exhibited good thermal stability and chemical resistance. Furthermore, the superhydrophobic fabric also possessed high oil/water separation efficiency at 99.8%, and still kept at 98.4% even after 15 separation cycles. Our findings stand out as a new tool to fabricate superhydrophobic materials and coatings with graphene and its derivatives for oil/water separation, showing great potential in practical applications such as oil spill accidents and industrial sewage emissions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With oil spill accidents and oil industrial wastewater increasing, oil/water separation has attracted much attention in recent years. Herein, we report the fabrication of superhydrophilic and underwater superoleophobic thiol-ene/silica hybrid decorated fabrics for oil/water separation via vapor-liquid interfacial reaction. It is based on sol-gel reaction of tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS) to generate silica and thiol-ene reaction between poly(ethylene glycol) dimethacrylate (PEGDMA) and trimethylolpropane tris(3-mercaptopropionate) (TTMP) to form crosslinked hydrophilic polymer on polyester fabric under the catalysis of butylamine/ammonia vapor. The chemical structure of the surfaces on thiol-ene/silica hybrid decorated fabric was confirmed by FTIR and XPS, and obvious micro-nano morphology and roughness were observed with SEM and AFM. The water contact angle of the fabric attained 0° in 0.36 s, and the underwater oil contact angle reached up to 160°. Importantly, the fabric exhibited high separation efficiency at 99.5%, fast water flux above 71600 Lm −2 h −1 and excellent recyclability in oil/water separation. Our findings open a new strategy to fabricate organic-inorganic hybrid superhydrophobic and underwater superoleophobic materials for oil/water separation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cellular communication between multiple cell types is a ubiquitous process that is responsible for vital physiological responses observed in vivo (e.g., immune response, organ function). Many in vitro coculture strategies have been developed, both in traditional culture and microscale systems, and have shown the potential to recreate some of the physiological behaviors of organs or groups of cells. A fundamental limitation of current systems is the difficulty of reconciling the additional engineering requirements for creating soluble factor signaling systems (e.g., segregated cell culture) with the use of well-characterized materials and platforms that have demonstrated successful results and biocompatibility in assays. We present a new open-microfluidic platform, the Monorail Device, that is placed in any existing well plate or Petri dish and enables patterning of segregated coculture regions, thereby allowing the direct upgrade of monoculture experiments into multiculture assays. Our platform patterns biocompatible hydrogel walls via microfluidic spontaneous capillary flow (SCF) along a rail insert set inside commercially available cultureware, creating customized pipette-accessible cell culture chambers that require fewer cells than standard macroscale culture. Importantly, the device allows the use of native surfaces without additional modification or treatments, while creating permeable dividers for the diffusion of soluble factors. Additionally, the ease of patterning afforded by our platform makes reconfiguration of the culture region as simple as changing the rail insert. We demonstrate the ability of the device to pattern flows on a variety of cell culture surfaces and create hydrogel walls in complex and precise shapes. We characterize the physical parameters that enable a reproducible SCF-driven flow and highlight specialized design features that increase the ease of use of the device and control of the open microfluidic flow. Further, we present the performance of our platform according to useful coculture criteria, including permeability and integrity of our hydrogel walls and surface-sensitive cell culture. Lastly, we show the potential of this type of platform to create modular multikingdom culture systems that can be used to study soluble factor signaling between mammalian cells, bacteria, and fungi, as well as the potential for adaptation of this technology by researchers across multiple fields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Superhydrophobic material has great potential applications in the field of anti-icing due to its special wettability. However, the poor wear resistance of the material has restricted its practical applications. Based on this, a simple two-step spray method was used to prepare a self-healing and robust superhydrophobic coating with excellent photothermal/electrothermal effect for anti-icing using epoxy modified ethylene octene copolymer (POEG) resin as the substrate layer and the fluorinated carbon black as the top coating. Results showed that the obtained composite coating showed multi-level rough structure and possessed excellent superhydrophobicity toward water droplets with different pH. Meanwhile, the composite coating could resist abrasion and kept superhydropbobicity even 250 cycles abrasion test with a water contact angle higher than 150o. When the surface was subjected to the intense abrasion, the rough structure and the superhydrophobic property of the surface were destroyed. However, it could be restored by the abrasion of the rougher surface. In addition, the scratches on the surface could be completely repaired by the heat treatment, indicating the good self-healing performance of the composite coating. Due to the existence of the carbon black particles, the superhydrophobic coating had good photothermal/electrothermal effects, which endowed the surface with excellent anti-icing performance of removing the icing under the conditions of electrothermal and light. This paper provides a simple and convenient way to prepare functional self-healing superhydrophobic coating, and a new idea for the preparation of anti-icing coating. [Display omitted] • The stable superhydrophobic coating showed excellent abrasion resistance performance. • The damaged composite coating could be easily repaired by heating self-healing. • The superhydrophobic coating possessed excellent electrothermal/photothermal effects. • The superhydrophobic coating showed excellent anti-icing performance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the environmental pollution deteriorating, oil-water separation has attracted much attention in recent years. In this work, a facile method is proposed to fabricate superhydrophobic polyurethane sponge for oil-water separation via a simple dipping-drying process. It is based on the utilization of hydrophobic thiolated graphene (GSH) with the water contact angle (WCA) of 128° from graphene oxide through thiolation reaction. The WCAs of the as-prepared sponges were largely determined by the loading of GSH, and the WCAs reached 157.0° and 160.5° with GSH loadings at 5.0% and 7.5%, respectively. The GSH-based superhydrophobic sponge exhibited high absorption selectivity for different organic solvents and oils, the absorption capacity for chloroform attained 90 times and there was no decrease after 10 absorption cycles. Importantly, with the oil-water separation device composed of pump, rubber tubes and GSH-based sponge, the separation efficiency of toluene from water reached 99.7%, and still maintained 99.5% after 5 cycles. Additionally, GSH-based sponge also effectively shortened burning time and reduced black smoke in the combustion process, demonstrating good flame retardancy. Our findings provided a new strategy to fabricate superhydrophobic materials for oil-water separation, showing the great potential in large-scale practical application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sauerkraut is a Chinese traditional fermented vegetable product. However, excessive nitrite in sauerkraut may cause food safety problems. This study screened three highly-efficient nitrite-degrading lactobacilli, namely, B1, C1 and D2, with over 75% degradation rate. According to the morphology, physiological and biochemical characteristics, as well as the 16S rDNA analysis, we found that B1 belonged to Lactobacillus pentosus, whereas C1 and D2 belonged to Lactobacillus plantarum. After ultraviolet (UV)-nitrosoguanidine compound mutation, the degradation rates of the three lactobacilli to nitrite improved by 5.8, 8.0 and 12.7%, respectively. After the acclimation of sauerkraut juice with 80% concentration, single lactobacillus and mixed lactobacilli were applied in the sauerkraut product. The results indicated that the degradation effects of mixed strains on nitrite were better than that of single one. Compared with the control group (0-36.6 mg/kg), the mixed strains inoculated in the early fermentation period can significantly decrease the nitrite residue in sauerkraut (0-20.8 mg/kg) and the fermentation period can be shortened from 30 to 20 days. The sauerkraut produced showed good quality and flavor. Therefore, this study has significant application value for industrial production of sauerkraut. Practical Applications Nitrite formed in traditional fermented sauerkraut is an unsolved safety problem. This study screened three highly-efficient nitrite-degrading lactobacilli strains. After ultraviolet (UV)-nitrosoguanidine compound mutation, the degradation rates of the three lactobacilli to nitrite were over 81.5%. Compared with the control group (36.6 mg/kg), the mixed strains inoculated in the early fermentation period could significantly decrease the nitrite residue in sauerkraut (20.8 mg/kg) and the fermentation period could be shortened from 30 to 20 days. Therefore, this study has significant application value for the industrial production of sauerkraut. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In datasets for hotspot detection in physical verification, data are predominantly composed of non-hotspot samples with only a small percentage of hotspot ones; this leads to the class imbalance problem, which usually hinders the performance of classifiers. Aim: We aim to enrich datasets by applying a data augmentation technique. Approach: We propose a data augmentation flow-based generative adversarial network (GAN) to generate high-resolution hotspot samples. Results: We evaluated our flow with the current state-of-the-art convolutional neural network hotspot classifier by comparison with conventional data augmentation techniques. Experimental results demonstrate that the accuracy improvement of our work can reach 3% at the same false alarm rate and the false alarm rate reduction can reach 5% at the same accuracy. Conclusions: Our study demonstrates that rational hotspot classification can improve the efficiency of data. It also highlights the potential of GAN to generate complicated layout patterns. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]