Search

To determine how nuclease deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) or single-guide RNA (sgRNA) expression levels affect the knockdown efficiency of CRISPRi, we created K562 cell clones expressing KRAB-dCas9 protein either with the inducible Tet-on system or with the constitutive SFFV promotor. Single clones were selected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for further study. Six genes with various expression levels were targeted using lentiviral sgRNA from two libraries in four cell clones with various KRAB-dCas9 expression levels. The expression level of dCas9 protein/sgRNA levels and the knockdown efficiency were determined by flow cytometry. The cell clone with the highest KRAB-dCas9 expression level achieved effective CRISPRi knockdown. The data describing this clone were statistically different from that on other clones, indicating the strong KRAB-dCas9 expression might be a prerequisite for CRISPRi. By adopting different multiplicity of infection (MOI) in lentiviral transduction of this clone, we modified the expression level of sgRNA and found that the knockdown efficiency was neither affected by the target gene expression level nor correlated with KRAB-dCas9 levels, which remained relatively constant across all knockdown experiments (coefficient of variation = 2.2%). As an example, the following levels of the knockdowns: 74.72, 72.28 and 39.08% for mmadhc, rpia and znf148 genes, respectively, were achieved. These knockdown efficiencies correlated well with the respective sgRNA expression levels. Linear regression models built using this data indicate that the knockdown efficiency may be significantly affected by the levels of both KRAB-dCas9 and sgRNA. Notably, the sgRNA levels have greater impact, being a major factor affecting CRISPRi efficiency.

Recently, long noncoding RNAs (lncRNAs) have attracted more attention for their roles in tumor progression. The aim of this study was to investigate the role of lncRNA ZFPM2 antisense RNA 1 (ZFPM2-AS1) in the progression of renal cell cancer (RCC), and to explore the possible underlying mechanism.Expression levels of ZFPM2-AS1 in both RCC cells and 50 paired tissue samples were detected by Real Time-quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-qPCR). Moreover, the relationship between lncRNA ZFPM2-AS1 expression level and clinic-pathological characteristics as well as patients' disease-free survival rate was explored, respectively. Furthermore, cell proliferation assay, wound healing assay and transwell assay were performed to investigate the role of lncRNA ZFPM2-AS1 in vitro. In addition, Western blot assay, Luciferase reporter gene assay and RNA immunoprecipitation assay were used to explore the possible underlying mechanism.The expression level of ZFPM2-AS1 in tumor tissues was significantly higher than that of corresponding normal tissues. ZFPM2-AS1 expression was associated with lymph node metastasis, tumor stage and survival time of RCC patients. Moreover, the overexpression of ZFPM2-AS1 significantly promoted the growth, invasion and migration of tumor cells, whereas remarkably inhibited cell apoptosis in vitro. Further experiments revealed that miR-137 was a direct target of ZFPM2-AS1. In addition, miR-137 expression in tumor tissues was negatively correlated with ZFPM2-AS1 expression.Our findings indicated that ZFPM2-AS1 could promote metastasis and proliferation, whereas inhibiting the apoptosis of RCC via targeting miR-137. This study might provide a new vision for interpreting the mechanism of RCC development.

The latest generation of Galactic-plane surveys is enhancing our ability to study the effects of galactic environment upon the process of star formation. We present the first data from CO Heterodyne Inner Milky Way Plane Survey 2 (CHIMPS2). CHIMPS2 is a survey that will observe the Inner Galaxy, the Central Molecular Zone (CMZ), and a section of the Outer Galaxy in $^{12}$CO, $^{13}$CO, and C$^{18}$O $(J = 3\rightarrow2)$ emission with the Heterodyne Array Receiver Program on the James Clerk Maxwell Telescope (JCMT). The first CHIMPS2 data presented here are a first look towards the CMZ in $^{12}$CO J = 3$\rightarrow$2 and cover $-3^{\circ}\leq\,\ell\,\leq\,5^{\circ}$ and $\mid$b$\mid \leq 0.5^{\circ}$ with angular resolution of 15 arcsec, velocity resolution of 1 km s$^{-1}$, and rms $\Delta T_A ^\ast =$ 0.58 K at these resolutions. Such high-resolution observations of the CMZ will be a valuable data set for future studies, whilst complementing the existing Galactic Plane surveys, such as SEDIGISM, the Herschel infrared Galactic Plane Survey, and ATLASGAL. In this paper, we discuss the survey plan, the current observations and data, as well as presenting position-position maps of the region. The position-velocity maps detect foreground spiral arms in both absorption and emission., Comment: 18 pages, 14 figures, accepted for publication in MNRAS

To determine how nuclease deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) or single-guide RNA (sgRNA) expression levels affect the knockdown efficiency of CRISPRi, we created K562 cell clones expressing KRAB-dCas9 protein either with the inducible Tet-on system or with the constitutive SFFV promotor. Single clones were selected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for further study. Six genes with various expression levels were targeted using lentiviral sgRNA from two libraries in four cell clones with various KRAB-dCas9 expression levels. The expression level of dCas9 protein/sgRNA levels and the knockdown efficiency were determined by flow cytometry. The cell clone with the highest KRAB-dCas9 expression level achieved effective CRISPRi knockdown. The data describing this clone were statistically different from that on other clones, indicating the strong KRAB-dCas9 expression might be a prerequisite for CRISPRi. By adopting different multiplicity of infection (MOI) in lentiviral transduction of this clone, we modified the expression level of sgRNA and found that the knockdown efficiency was neither affected by the target gene expression level nor correlated with KRAB-dCas9 levels, which remained relatively constant across all knockdown experiments (coefficient of variation = 2.2%). As an example, the following levels of the knockdowns: 74.72, 72.28 and 39.08% for mmadhc, rpia and znf148 genes, respectively, were achieved. These knockdown efficiencies correlated well with the respective sgRNA expression levels. Linear regression models built using this data indicate that the knockdown efficiency may be significantly affected by the levels of both KRAB-dCas9 and sgRNA. Notably, the sgRNA levels have greater impact, being a major factor affecting CRISPRi efficiency.

To determine how nuclease deactivated Cas9 (dCas9) or sgRNA expression level affects the knockdown efficiency of CRISPRi, K562 cell clones expressing KRAB-dCas9 protein either with the inducible Tet-on system or with the constitutive SFFV promotor were created by lentiviral transduction, and single clones were selected by fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) for further study. Six genes with various expression levels were targeted using lentiviral sgRNA from two libraries in four cell clones with various KRAB-dCas9 expression levels. We determined the knockdown efficiency and the expression level of the dCas9 protein /sgRNA level by flow cytometry. The cell clone with the highest KRAB-dCas9 expression level achieved effective CRISPRi knockdown, and is statistically different from other clones, indicating enough KRAB-dCas9 expression might be a prerequisite for CRISPRi. Utilizing this clone, we modified the expression level of sgRNA by adopting different multiplicity of infection (MOI)in lentiviral transduction and found that the knockdown efficiency was neither affected by the target gene expression level nor does it correlate with KRAB-dCas9 level, which remained relatively constant (CV=2.2%) across knockdown experiments. 74.72%, 72.28%, 39.08% knockdown of mmadhc, rpia, znf148 genes were achieved, and the knockdown efficiency correlated well with the sgRNA expression level. Linear regression modeling of the data revealed that the knockdown efficiency is significantly affected by both KRAB-dCas9 and sgRNA level, and the sgRNA level has a greater impact, based on the standardized coefficient (0.525 for KRAB-dCas9, 0.981 for sgRNA), indicating that sgRNA level is a major factor affecting CRISPRi efficiency.

Mucinous adenocarcinoma is most commonly found in the digestive tract,and the prognosis is poor.We present here a case of primary mucinous adenocarcinoma of the larynx, which is an extremely rare entity and very few have been reported in the literature.A 72-year-old male complained of intermittent hoarseness for over 2 months of duration.Fiberoptic laryngoscope showed negative result for tumor.While CT scan showed laryngeal space occupying lesion,and thyroid cartilage damage was observed.The patient underwent total laryngectomy.Histopathological examination and immunohistochemistry(IHC) analysis supported the diagnosis of mucinous adenocarcinoma.

A calculation model is put forward to analyze the interfacial response of an elastic frictionless punch, pressed normally into a half-plane, and subject to bending moment throughout this paper to observe the important effect that different normal loads and bending moments on the contact pressure distribution and contact deformation. Results for the detailed considerations have been given to the specific different cases of ηc. A characteristic response of the punch to a surplus bending moment has been found. The small differences can be observed between both methods show characteristic features of the FEM model and the theoretical model. The presented numerical results illustrate the influences of the normal load and bending moment on the contact stresses. The results obtained can be used to analyze the crack nucleation in fretting when the punch is acted upon by the normal force and the bending moment.

Screw fasteners are undoubtedly one of the most important machine elements due to their outstanding characteristic to provide a high clamping force just with a simplified design. However, the loosen vibration is their inherent and inevitable fault. The friction locking approach is one of the basic locking fastener categories by enhancing the bearing load on the contact surface of thread by applying a locking force on an antiloosening nut. This locking force may cause more severe deformation in the nut. The contact stress distribution on the nut would be changed and that can cause the variation of the friction torque for the bolt joint. However, there exists no established design calculation procedure that accounts for the rotation deformation and its stiffness of the antiloosening nut under the locking force. The main objective of the work is to develop an analytical solution to the rotation deformation problem encountered in the antiloosening nut. The proposed model is supported by comparison with numerical finite element analysis of different sizes of joint elements and different applied forces.

To determine the mechanism of sunitinib-induced autophagy in renal cell carcinoma cells.MTS assay was applied to detect the cell viability alteration under the treatment of sunitinib (2, 8 μmol/L). The sunitinib-induced autophagy as well as cell apoptosis was measured and compared after knocking down autophagy-related protein Beclin1 and microtubule associated protein 1 light chain 3 fusion protein (LC3) by RNA interference. The transmission electron microscope was used to observe the formation of autophagosomes in ACHN cells. The fluorescence microscope was used to monitor distribution and aggregation of endogenous LC3-II. The expressions of protein such as LC3-II, the autophagic regulation molecules protein kinase B/ mammalian target of rapamycin (Akt/mTOR) and the symbol of apoptosis poly ADP-ribose polymerase (PARP) were capable to be detected by immunoblotting assay.Sunitinib was able to significantly trigger cell viability loss in the renal carcinoma cell ACHN, which was both in a concentration-dependent and time-dependent manner (P0.05). After reducing the autophagy by knocking down Beclin1 and LC3, the number of cleavage of PARP was increased remarkably, whereas there was nearly not any cleavage in the mock group. By the transmission electron microscope, there were more autophagic vacuoles in ACHN cells after being administrated with sunitininb compared with the control. And the nuclear-to-cytosol translocation as well as aggregation of LC3-II was presented after sunitinib treatment by the fluorescence microscope, which was the proof of the enhanced autophagy. According to the immunoblotting, sunitinib was able to increase the accumulation of LC3-II . At the same time, the result of sunitinib combined with chloroquine, a drug which blocked the fusion of autophagosomes and lysosomes, demonstrated that the increasing amount of LC3-II was due to the enhanced autophagy flux by sunitinib treatment in ACHN cells. However, phosphorylation of Akt as well as mTOR was decreased at the same time. The rapamycin (mTOR inhibitor) or knocking down Akt subunits could change the sunitinib-induced LC3 -II accumulation, whereas overexpression of Akt subunits decreased the autophagic flux, indicating that Akt/mTOR was the target of sunitinib in autophagy.Sunitinib induced autophagy via suppressing Akt/mTOR pathway, and the autophagy was involved in apopotosis.

To investigate the clinical and pathological features of laryngeal tuberculosis.The clinical data of 75 patients with laryngeal tuberculosis from Jan 2010 to Jan 2013 in our hospital were studied retrospectively. There were 50 male and 25 female patients, aged from 18 to 91 years, with a median age of 44 years. The course of disease was 1 to 19 months.The prominent presenting symptoms were hoarseness (n=59, 79%), and sore throat (n=48, 64%). Systemic symptoms included fatigue with weight loss (n=26, 35%) and fever (n=17, 23%). Primary laryngeal tuberculosis was found in 23 patients (31%) while secondary laryngeal tuberculosis together with pulmonary tuberculosis in 52 patients (69%). There were 2 or less lesions in the larynx in 44 patients, while multiple lesions were found in 31 patients. Vocal cords were the most common sites affected(n=51, 68%), followed by epiglottis(n=41, 55%). Proliferation was the main type of lesions (n=34, 45%). After pathologic diagnosis, all patients received systemic anti-tuberculosis therapy, and the prognosis was good.Severe local symptoms of the larynx with slightly general symptoms are the clinical characteristics of laryngeal tuberculosis for the time being. Primary laryngeal tuberculosis often present with fewer (2 or less) lesions. Different morphology of laryngeal lesions can exist at the same time. The diagnosis of laryngeal tuberculosis depends on pathological biopsy. The treatment should be systemic anti-tuberculosis therapy.

To investigate the long-term efficacy of continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) treatment for patients with obstructive sleep apnea syndrome (OSAS).This case control study was performed among 154 patients with moderate or severe OSAS between September 2009 and September 2014. Patients were divided into treatment group (n=66, 53 patients with hypertension) and control group (n=88, 67 patients with hypertension). The long-term efficacy of CPAP treatment on clinical events and blood pressure was evaluated.The combined incidence of death, myocardial infarction, coronary revascularization and stroke events was 1.5% (1/66) in treatment group and 11.4% (10/88) in control group (P0.05). CPAP treatment also led to more significant reduction in systolic blood pressure ((12.24±18.06) mmHg(1 mmHg=0.133 kPa) to (4.24±16.63) mmHg, P0.05) in the patients with hypertension in these two groups.CPAP treatment could reduce the risk of cardiovascular and neurovascular events for patients with moderate or severe OSAS.

An anthropogenic emission inventory for Asia is developed for the years 2008 and 2010 to support the Model Inter-Comparison Study for Asia (MICS-Asia) and the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (TF HTAP) projects by a mosaic of up-to-date regional emission inventories. Emissions are estimated for all major anthropogenic sources in 30 countries and regions in Asia. We conducted detailed comparisons of different regional emission inventories and incorporated the best-available ones for each region into the mosaic inventory at a uniform spatial and temporal resolution. We estimate the total Asian emissions of ten species in 2010 as follows: 51.3 Tg SO2, 52.1 Tg NOx, 336.6 Tg CO, 67.0 Tg NMVOC (non-methane volatile organic compounds), 28.8 Tg NH3, 31.7 Tg PM10, 22.7 Tg PM2.5, 3.5 Tg BC, 8.3 Tg OC and 17.3 Pg CO2. Emissions from China and India dominate the emissions of Asia for most of the species. We also estimated Asian emissions in 2006 using the same methodology of MIX. The relative change rates of Asian emissions for the period of 2006–2010 are estimated as follows: −8.0 % for SO2, +19 % for NOx, +4 % for CO, +15 % for NMVOC, +2 % for NH3, −3 % for PM10, −2 % for PM2.5, +6 % for BC, +2 % for OC and +20 % for CO2. Model-ready speciated NMVOC emissions for SAPRC-99 and CB05 mechanisms were developed following a profile-assignment approach. Monthly gridded emissions at a spatial resolution of 0.25° × 0.25° are developed and can be accessed from http://www.meicmodel.org/dataset-mix.

The aim of this article is to provide some basis for the design and assembly of a bolted rotor with curvic couplings. It is well known that the key difference between a bolted rotor with curvic couplings and an integrated one is the contact interface. According to the characteristics of curvic couplings and spindle bolts, the model of a bolted rotor with curvic couplings of the turbine end of a heavy duty gas turbine was built. A method of accurately applying the preload force has been studied in this article. The three-dimensional finite-element contact method was used, non-linear behaviours such as friction and contact were also taken into account, and the dynamic contact between the spindle bolts and the sidewall of turbine wheels was included. The tendency of stress, which involved the rotor, curvic couplings, and the spindle bolts, was determined and the radial slippage trend of curvic teeth was also determined, by investigating the stress distribution and contact behaviour of the bolted rotor with curvic couplings during the course of preload, warm-up, speed-up, and running. It can be seen from the results that the contact stress of curvic couplings is dominant during the course of preload, and the bent stress is dominant when the rotating speed increased to 3000 r/min; the stress inequality on two sides of a tooth is caused by torque, so the stress proportion induced by torque should be restricted to an appropriate level to avoid anisotropy of the rotor.

1 Introduction III-V nitride semiconductors (GaN, AlN, InN) are characterized by a direct band gap in the range 0.7-6.2 eV making them excellent candidates for a large domain of optoelectronic applica- tions: blue light emitting diodes and lasers (1). The first blue laser was based on an InxGa1-xN quantum well structure. InxGa1-xN alloys are random alloys in which the cation sites are occupied by Ga or In. However, during the growth of these alloys, defects such as inverted pyramids can be formed on the top surface of the layers, and different phenomena: In chemical non homogeneity, phase separation, partial ordering may take place. The properties of the In, Ga, N phase system have been previously investigated by empirical valence force field methods and confirmed by density functional theory (2-6). Moreover, for the GaN/InxGa1-xN/GaN quantum wells, the mechanisms of light emission are still controversial: the formation of clusters due to the indium segregation should result in the localisation of the carriers and be a centre for radiative recombination. One approach consists in measuring in HREM images the local deformation field in order to determine the chemical composition (7), but InN clustering artefacts due to the electron beam damage have been reported (8). Simulation of these heterostructures needs the calculation of the atomic structure and strain en- ergy. The size of the clusters can be large, the cell must contain tens of thousand of atoms and only em- pirical potentials are suitable. The Stillinger-Weber potential (9) was previously modified for the analysis of extended defects in GaN (10), and more recently for the analysis of InN clusters (11). In order to gen- eralize its use to ternary and quaternary alloys, the parameters for the three nitrides are presented. This empirical potential was previously applied for the III-V compound semiconductors to calculate the criti- cal thickness of InAs/GaAs heterostructures (12). Since the cations, Al, Ga, and In of these compounds are common with those of III-V nitride semiconductors, the parameters of Stillinger-Weber potential for the nitrides, GaN, and InN, are compared with those of the following compounds: Al(P,As,Sb), Ga(P,As,Sb), and In(P,As,Sb). In the second part, bond lengths in an InxGa1-xN quantum well containing an InGaN cluster are analyzed.

The purpose of this study is to compare the efficacy of laparoscopy-assisted radical gastrectomy (LARG) versus that of open radical gastrectomy (ORG). Clinical data of 355 patients who underwent radical gastrectomy (160 in the LARG group and 195 in the ORG group) were analyzed retrospectively. Efficacy indices were compared and analyzed between the two groups. The operating time of LARG was longer than that of ORG (228.43 ± 34.77 versus 207.59 ± 28.39 min). However, patients in the LARG group lost less blood than did those in the ORG group (169.46 ± 82.92 versus 193.86 ± 82.09 mL), and more lymph nodes were removed in the LARG group (19.84 ± 4.7 versus 18.04 ± 4.14 per case). The recovery of intestinal function was faster (3.72 ± 1.03 versus 4.41 ± 1.30 days) in the LARG group. Patients in the LARG group were administered a semi-fluid diet earlier (5.66 ± 2.27 versus 7.09 ± 2.33 days) and had a shorter hospital stay (9.44 ± 3.06 versus 11.07 ± 7.91 days) than did those in the ORG group, and these differences were statistically significant (P0.05). No significant differences were found in the length of proximal and distal resection margin and the incidence of complications (P0.05) between the two groups. Thus, LARG is safe, feasible, and effective for treating advanced gastric cancer.

International audience; The old nova DQ Herculis was the Whole Earth Telescope Northern Hemisphere target for the 1997 July campaign and was observed on four nights with the SARA 0.9 m telescope during 2003 June. We present updated ephemerides for the eclipse and 71 s timings. The Fourier transform displays power at the presumed white dwarf spin period of 71.0655 s, but no significant power at either 142 or 35.5 s. The mean pulsed light curve is obtained by folding on the orbital period modulus the mean ephemeris of the 71 s period, and from this we calculate an O-C phase diagram and amplitude versus orbital phase diagrams. In addition to the phase variations during eclipse ingress and egress, the WET data reveal significant phase variations outside of eclipse. These must result from the self-eclipse of a nonaxisymmetric disk. We simulated the disk in DQ Her using smoothed particle hydrodynamics. We improve our effective spatial signal-to-noise ratio by combining 250 snapshots of the N=20,000 phase space solution over time to obtain a 5 million particle ensemble disk. From the surface shape of the ensemble disk, the radius and vertical height above the midplane of the rim of the reprocessing region can be derived as a function of azimuthal angle. From this profile we can calculate the O-C phase and amplitude diagrams as a function of inclination angle. The calculated O-C diagrams are a remarkably good match to the observed phase and amplitude variations of the 71 s signal. The best match is for inclination angle 89.7d.

The effects of zirconium and copper on the early stages of the precipitation processes in an Al-5.5 wt pct Zn-1.2 wt pct Mg alloy have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) thermal analysis. Electron diffraction has been used as a complementary technique to aid in the interpretation of the thermal effects observed in the DSC thermograms. The results show that the initial stages of Guinier-Preston zone I (GP(I)) formation at room temperature are not affected by the presence of zirconium, but the rate of Guinier-Preston zone II (GP(II)) precipitation is slowed down significantly. For aging at 100 °C, the stability of GP zones is reduced by the addition of zirconium, and this leads to a reduction in the amount of η′ produced during aging. The addition of copper to an Al-5.4 wt pct Zn-1.2 wt pct Mg-0.2 wt pct Zr alloy intensifies the electron diffraction spots from GP(I), suggesting that the strong electron-scatterer copper may be incorporated into GP zones. The rate of growth of GP(I) at room temperature is unaffected by the presence of copper, but the rate of formation of GP(II) at room temperature is retarded. For artificial aging at 100 °C, the development of GP(I) and GP(II) is not affected significantly by the presence of copper, but the formation of η′ is stimulated, producing a high number density of very fine η′ precipitates. Preaging at room temperature results in accelerated η′ formation during subsequent aging at 100 °C in the zirconium-containing alloy. However, this acceleration of η′ formation is absent when copper is present in the alloy.

Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) has been combined with transmission electron microscopy (TEM) to investigate the low-temperature decomposition processes taking place in an Al-5 wt pct Zn-1 wt pct Mg alloy. It was confirmed that two types of GP zones, i.e., GP(I) (solute-rich clusters) and GP(II) (vacancy-rich clusters), formed independently during decomposition of the supersaturated solid solution. The GP(I) zones form at a relatively low aging temperature and dissolve when the aging temperature is increased. The GP(II) zones are stable over a wider range of temperatures. To investigate the nature of the zones in the Al-Zn-Mg alloy, differential scanning calorimetry and transmission electron microscopy have also been carried out on binary Al-Zn alloys containing 5 wt pct and 10 wt pct Zn. In these Al-Zn alloys, GP zones formed rapidly during quenching, and they gave rise to characteristic electron diffraction patterns identical to those from GP(II) in the Al-Zn-Mg alloy system, implying that GP(II) zones in Al-Zn-Mg alloys are very similar to the zones formed in binary Al-Zn alloys. Thus, it is likely that GP(II) zones in Al-Zn-Mg alloys are zinc-rich clusters. In the Al-5 wt pct Zn-1 wt pct Mg alloy, both GP(I) and GP(II) were found to transform to η′ and/or η particles during heating in the differential scanning calorimeter. The η′ was also observed to form after prolonged isothermal aging of the Al-Zn-Mg alloy at 75 °C or after short aging times at 125 °C.

This paper presents an active and reactive power dynamic optimization model for active distribution network (ADN), whose control variables include the output of distributed generations (DGs), charge or discharge power of energy storage system (ESS) and reactive power from capacitor banks. To solve the high-dimension nonlinear optimization model, a new heuristic swarm intelligent method, namely wolf pack algorithm (WPA) with better global convergence and computational robustness, is adapted so that the network loss minimization can be achieved. In this paper, the IEEE33-bus system is used to show the effectiveness of WPA technique compared with other techniques. Numerical tests on the modified IEEE 33-bus system show that WPA for active and reactive multi-period optimization of ADN is exact and effective.

Photonic memristors, which behave as memristors operating with electromagnetic fields, present an effective means to achieve all-optical networking, and can promote the development of optical communications and computer technology. In this paper, we report a microwave memristive phenomenon at room temperature in metamaterials consisting of negative temperature coefficient thermistor ceramic disk and split-ring resonator (SRR). Hysteretic transmission-incident field power loops, the area of which varies with the scan rate of power, (similar to the fingerprint of memristors) were observed in the metamaterials. These effects are attributed to the increasing conductivity of the ceramic disk with increasing temperature generated by the interaction between electromagnetic waves and metamaterials. This work offers new opportunities for the development of photonic memristors.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the hemolymph kinetics and depuration time of oxytetracycline following intramuscular administration at doses of 2, 8 and 40 mg/kg body weight, respectively. The concentration of OTC in hemolymph was assayed using solid phase extraction and high performance liquid chromatography. The elimination half-life of the terminal part of the elimination phase (t(1/2β) ) ranged from 87.9 to 114.3 h. The total body clearance (CL(b) ) was 0.0430 L/kg/h at the lower dose, 0.0123 L/kg/h at the medium dose and 0.0013 L/kg/h at the higher dose. The apparent volume of the central compartment (V(c) ) was found to be 1.383, 0.699 and 0.143 L/kg respectively. The depuration time for each dose was 13.6, 29.6 and 57.6 days, respectively. Results from the present study suggest that the 40 mg/kg dose might have the best therapeutic efficacy following intramuscular administration.

Exciton states in lead selenide (PbSe) and lead sulfide (PbS) quantum dots have been studied extensively. However, relatively less attention has been paid to the states within the quantum dot bandgap. Our experimental results have revealed a single in-gap state which bears confinement dependence yet cannot be explained by dark exciton theory, nor is it a trap state related to quantum dot surface defects as previously observed. A detailed analysis of the temperature dependence of photoluminescence, Stokes shift, absorption and photoinduced absorption indicates the unconventional GS is a new state of a trapped exciton in a QD film. With appropriate design engineering, these trapped excitons might be harvested in solar cells and other optoelectronic devices.