Search

In this work, cesium salts with functional anions of acetate (Ac−), fluoride (F−) and trifluoroacetate (TFA−) are explored to modulate the deposition of ZnO films in low-temperature carbon-based CsPbI2Br perovskite solar cells.

Hydrophobic organic ammonium halide salts are used to passivate perovskite defects, adjust interfacial energy level alignments, and ultimately improve the efficiency and stability of low-temperature carbon-based CsPbI2Br perovskite solar cells.

We report a solution-processed method to prepare inorganic LaNiO3 (LNO) hole-transport layer (HTL) under low temperature (

The charge recombination resulting from bulk defects and interfacial energy level mismatch hinders the improvement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) and stability of carbon-based inorganic perovskite solar cells (C-IPSCs). Herein, a series of small molecules including ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid (EDTA) and its derivatives (EDTA-Na and EDTA-K) are studied to functionalize the zinc oxide (ZnO) interlayers at the SnO

This paper deals with the state estimation for one-sided Lipschitz system with Markovian jump parameters. The stochastic observer frame is constructed by Luenberger observer theory. In the following sections, the observer is designed and sufficient conditions are given so that the error system is exponentially stable in mean square. Finally, one example is simulated to demonstrate the proposed methods are effective.

In the present study, we examined the effects of nano tantalum (Ta) dental implants on inducing osteoblast proliferation and differentiation. The MG-63 osteoblasts were divided into 3 groups after recovery, passage and storage: i) Osteoblast culturing group (control group); ii) osteoblast and titanium (Ti) implant co-culturing group (Ti group); and iii) osteoblast and Ta implant co-culturing group (Ta group). After 7 days, a scanning electron microscope was used to observe the growth status, number and morphological changes of the cells on the surfaces of the materials. An MTT assay was used to detect cell proliferation after culturing for 1, 3 and 7 days. ELISA assay was used to detect the levels of alkaline phosphatase (ALP) after 1, 3 and 7 days. Western blot analysis was used to detect the expression levels of collagen type I (Col-1) and osteocalcin after 1, 3 and 7 days. There was significant cell spreading on the surfaces of Ti and of Ta after 7 days, flat and with many pseudopodia. Additionally, there were more cell components in the Ta group. Concurrently, cell proliferation in the Ti and Ta groups increased. There was also an increase in the level of ALP and the expression level of Col-1 over time. The indexes of the Ta group were more apparent than those of the Ti group at each time-point, and the differences were statistically significant (p

Minimum cross-entropy is widely used in image segmentation for its effectiveness. However, when the algorithm is applied to multi-threshold segmentation, there are some problems such as large amount of calculation, time-consuming and poor practicability due to exhaustive search for the optimal threshold. Therefore, in this paper, a hybrid whale optimization algorithm (IWOA) which incorporates whale optimization algorithm (WOA) and invasive weed optimization (IWO) is proposed and the minimum cross-entropy is used as the fitness function of optimization algorithm to select the optimal threshold. It is established that IWOA algorithm is able to select the optimal threshold in more accuracy and segment high quality image than other algorithms.

Tyrosine‐protein phosphatase non‐receptor type 2 (PTPN2) is an important protection factor for diabetes and periodontitis, but the underlying mechanism remains elusive. This study aimed to identify the substrate of PTPN2 in mediating beneficial effects of 25‐Hydroxyvitamin D3 (25(OH)2D3) on diabetic periodontitis. 25(OH)2D3 photo‐affinity probe was synthesized with the minimalist linker and its efficacy to inhibit alveolar bone loss, and inflammation was evaluated in diabetic periodontitis mice. The probe was used to pull down the lysates of primary gingival fibroblasts. We identified PTPN2 as a direct target of 25(OH)2D3, which effectively inhibited inflammation and bone resorption in diabetic periodontitis mice. In addition, we found that colony‐stimulating factor 1 receptor (CSF1R) rather than JAK/STAT was the substrate of PTPN2 to regulate bone resorption. PTPN2 direct interacted with CSF1R and dephosphorylated Tyr807 residue. In conclusion, PTPN2 dephosphorylates CSF1R at Y807 site and inhibits alveolar bone resorption in diabetic periodontitis mice. PTPN2 and CSF1R are potential targets for the therapy of diabetic periodontitis or other bone loss‐related diseases.

To evaluate the effect of stratified water injection accurately during different development stages, a Lorenz-curve model was constructed upon a modified four-parameter Sarabia-Lorenz-curve model with water injectivity test data over years, and the relationship between accumulative perforated sandstone thickness and injected water volume of single wells was described by the model. Three evaluation indexes, dimensionless water injectivity intensity, vertical sweep efficiency and water-injection non-balanced degree, and their calculation were presented. Dimensionless water injectivity intensity is used to evaluate the distribution and balanced degree of water injectivity intensity, vertical sweep efficiency is the proportion of oil layers that produce oil, and water-injection non-balanced degree illustrates the overall water-injection balanced condition, then the model is solved by particle swarm optimization algorithm. Thirty-eight stratified water injection wells were evaluated in the Daqing Xingshugang oilfield. And the factors influencing the effect of water injection in single wells were studied considering segments construction, water allocation projects and reservoir physical properties. Finally, technological limits of stratified water injection were proposed under extreme high water-cut and recovery. Key words: stratified water injection, Lorenz-curve model, dimensionless water injectivity intensity, water-injection non-balanced degree, vertical sweep efficiency, technological limits of layering

Oilfield development in China has entered the high water cut stage. Waterflooding development is faced with ineffective water injection and rapid increase of water cut, due to complex injection-production relationship, unbalanced production and severe interlayer contradictions. Besides, total number of separated layer injectors increases with years, single-well layers subdivision becomes more elaborate, and the measuring and adjusting frequency is gradually accelerated, which exponentially increases measuring and adjusting workload. A low cost whole process monitoring and control technology package for separated layer water injection was developed in this paper to tackle key problems about single-layer downhole flowrate measurement, layered adjustment and communication in wellbore, and to realize the digitalized real-time monitoring of separated layer pressure and injection rate for single well and the networking of dynamic water injection monitoring information on blocks and reservoirs. This technology was piloted in block. The pilot test block has small well spacing and fast breakthrough speed of injected water, where oil to be produced has greatly varied physical properties, and the production in different layers is unbalanced. In recent years, the water cut has increased fast, the annual water cut increase is above 0.8%, and the comprehensive water cut is 97.2%. By utilizing real-time monitoring and adjustment, effective water injection has been realized, and the increase of water cut has been maintained at less than 0.5% since one year ago when the block was selected for pilot test. Moreover, this technology is also provided with the functions of on-line seal check, static pressure test, water injection profile test and dynamic adjustment, and so site test and adjustment jobs can be minimized.

Developing cost-effective and simple analysis tools is of vital importance for practical applications in bioanalysis. In this work, a new disposable electrochemical cell sensor with low cost and simple fabrication was proposed to study the electrochemical behavior of leukemia K562 cells and the effect of anticancer drugs on cell viability. The analytical device was integrated by using ITO glass as the substrate of working electrodes and paper as the electrolytic cell. The cyclic voltammetry of the K562 cells at the disposable electrode exhibited an irreversible anodic peak and the peak current is proportional to the cell number. This anodic peak is attributed to the oxidation of guanine in cells involving two protons per transfer of two electrons. For the drug sensitivity tests, arsenic trioxide and cyclophosphamide were added to cell culture media. As a result, the electrochemical responses of the K562 cells decreased significantly. The cytotoxicity curves and results obtained corresponded well with the results of CCK-8 assays. In comparison to conventional methods, the proposed method is simple, rapid and inexpensive. More importantly, the developed sensor is supposed to be a single-use disposable device and electrodes were prepared "as new" for each experiment. We think that such disposable electrodes with these characteristics are suitable for experimental study with cancer cells or other types of pathogens for disease diagnosis, drug selection and on-site monitoring.

We have studied the trans-membrane electron transfer in human red blood cells (RBCs) immobilized in a chitosan film on a glassy carbon electrode (GCE). Electron transfer results from the presence of hemoglobin (Hb) in the RBCs. The electron transfer rate (k s) of Hb in RBCs is 0.42 s−1, and

Background Hand hygiene is an important element of the WHO multimodal strategy for healthcare-associated infection control, whereas compliance of hand hygiene among healthcare workers (HCWs) remains a challenge to sustain. In order to increase the hand hygiene compliance of HCWs, a quality control circle (QCC) program was carried out in our hospital, and the plan-do-check-act (PDCA) method was applied for 12 months. Findings Hand hygiene compliance rates improved over time, with significant improvement between preintervention (60.1%) and postintervention (97.2%) periods (P

The Ras/Raf/MEK/ERK signaling has been implicated in uncontrolled cell proliferation and tumor progression in pancreatic cancer. The purpose of this study is to evaluate the antitumor activity of MEK inhibitor U0126 in combination with Hsp90 inhibitor 17-allylamino-17-demethoxygeldanamycin (17-AAG) in pancreatic cancer cells. Western blotting showed that 17-AAG caused a 2- to 3-fold transient activation of MEK/ERK signaling in pancreatic cancer cells. The activation sustained for 6 h before phospho-ERK (p-ERK) destabilization. The selective MEK inhibitor U0126 completely abolished 17-AAG induced ERK1/2 activation and resulted in more than 80% of phosphor-ERK degradation after only 15 min treatment. Moreover, U0126 had complementary effect on 17-AAG regulated oncogenic and cell cycle related proteins. Although 17-AAG downregulated cyclin D1, cyclin E, CDK4 and CDK6, it led to cyclin A and CDK2 accumulation, which was reversed by the addition of U0126. Anti-proliferation assay showed that combination of U0126 and 17-AAG resulted in synergistic cytotoxic effect. More importantly, 17-AAG alone only exhibited moderate inhibition of cell migration in vitro, while addition of U0126 dramatically enhanced the inhibitory effect by 2- to 5-fold. Taken together, these data demonstrate that MEK inhibitor U0126 potentiates the activity of Hsp90 inhibitor 17-AAG against pancreatic cancer cells. The combination of Hsp90 and MEK inhibition could provide a promising avenue for the treatment of pancreatic cancer.

The process and basic data of Cochran Armitage trend test applied for the linear trend of hand hygiene compliance. (DOCX 29Â kb)

The major agenda and interventions proposed in circle meetings during the period of quality control circle (QCC) program. (DOCX 15Â kb)

The basic steps and approximate schedule of quality control circle (QCC) program. (DOC 32Â kb)

In view of the influence of factors such as the small throat operation space and influence factors such as fibrillation in the process of operation, this paper put forward the design scheme of the continuum mechanism which is divided into two modules as the body part and end actuator mechanism, presenting the design method of continuum body part and the end effector. This paper designed the universal-drive-bending mechanism institutions, six-joint-bending section, four-joint-bending section of institutions, establishing of the virtual prototype of continuum mechanism, bringing about virtual assembly. Based on the software of ADAMS, this paper set up the universal-drive-bending mechanism and the end of the actuator kinematics model. The results of numerical simulation show that, universal-drive mechanism can solve the problem of bending deformation of end actuator mechanism with better motion compensation, which provides technical support to the realization of accurately positioning and accurate control.

In order to estimate the performance of partial casing treatments, this study improved the classic parallel compressor model, which divides a partial casing treatment compressor into a casing treatment sub-compressor and solid-wall sub-compressor in the circumferential direction. According to the characteristics of a partial casing treatment, the assumptions of the classic parallel compressor model were modified to conduct a performance prediction calculation for a compressor with a partial casing treatment. In this study, a transonic compressor was evaluated and compared using the experiment results. The research results indicated that if the characteristic lines of axial solid-wall and casing treatment compressors were given, this model could well predict the characteristics of the partial casing treatment, no matter what the proportion of the slot area was, and the results were found to be satisfactory.

Integrating a disposable ITO electrode modified by gold nanorod-chitosan nanocomposites, a paper-based electroanalytical device for the real-time detection of H2O2 released from cancer cells has been developed. It provided a portable platform for biological and biomedical studies dealing with living cells.

OBJECTIVE: To observe the short-term clinical effectiveness of bone ring graft technique and to summarize the key points of related surgical operation to provide comprehensive clinical guidelines. METHODS: Fifteen patients with severe alveolar bone absorption were selected to receive bone ring grafting and immediate dental implant. Final fixed prostheses were cemented five months after initial implantation. Cone beam CT scans were conducted on all subjects before the procedure, as well as four months post-operation to evaluate alveolar bone height and level of bone height and absorption around the implants. Four to six months after prosthesis installation, each implant's Jemt classification, gingiva attachment, and probing depth (PD) were analyzed. The difference of PD between implants and adjacent teeth, as well as the difference of the bone absorption between labial and lingual sides, was compared. The survival rate of the bone ring and the retention rate of implants were calculated. Complications and patient satisfaction were also investigated. RESULTS: Bone graft survival rate was 94.4% and dental implantation retention rate was 100% four months post-operation. Average bone level increase was (6.06±1.06) mm, average bone absorption was (1.33±0.84) mm, and average bone thickness at the neck of the dental implant body was (6.94±0.73) mm. Approximately 4 to 6 months after crown restoration, average bone level increase was (5.62±1.03) mm, average bone absorption was (1.51±1.02) mm, and average bone thickness at the neck of the dental implant body was (6.77±0.72) mm. The PD around the implant body and the adjacent teeth was statistically insignificant. No major post-operative complication was observed, restorations were successful, and patient satisfaction level was high. CONCLUSION: Bone ring graft technique and immediate dental implantation are relatively simple to perform, and these techniques facilitate reduction in required treatment time. Short-term effect is reliable and satisfactory, whereas long-term outcomes require further follow up and study.

Aiming at the limits of continuum institutions surgery. This paper presents two modules design of continuum institutions surgical instruments which include the design of “backbone” and execution ends. We establish a kind of new snake-continuum institutions with 36 degrees of freedom which has four wire line driver. Its characteristics are better able to achieve “flexible” movement. We design a kind of the end actuator which has 4-DOF. Determine the coordinate position of its motion space. Establish a ball connection of flexible body and the kinematic model of the end actuator. Conducted a motion simulation and finite element analysis with ANSYS to the continuum institutions.Analysis shows: the maximum stress point is far less than the tensile strength and yield limit of parts. Used in minimally invasive surgery for the institution to provide a theoretical basis for the throat.

The small heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) is a molecular chaperone that is involved in a variety of cellular functions in cancer cells. The purpose of this research is to study Hsp27 in vitro metastatic behaviors of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma cells (HNSCC). The expression of Hsp27 in primary and metastatic cell lines derived from the primary HNSCC and a synchronous lymph node metastasis in the same patient was determined using real-time PCR and western blotting. Proliferation of the primary and metastatic HNSCC cell lines was evaluated using the MTS proliferation assay. Metastatic behavior was assessed using migration and invasion assays. SiRNA knockdown of Hsp27 was performed in the highly migratory metastatic HNSCC cell line. MTS assays showed that the primary (UM-SCC-22A) and metastatic (UM-SCC-22B) HNSCC have similar proliferation rates. However, UM-SCC-22B derived from the metastasis showed 2.3 to 3.6-fold higher migration ability and 2-fold higher invasion ability than UM-SCC-22A. Real-time PCR demonstrated that Hsp27 mRNA is 22.4-fold higher in metastatic UM-SCC-22B than primary UM-SCC-22A. Similarly, Western blotting showed that Hsp27 is rarely detectable in UM-SCC-22A whereas UM-SCC-22B expresses a 25-fold higher level of Hsp27 protein. SiRNA-mediated knock down of Hsp27 in UM-SCC-22B reduced Hsp27 mRNA expression by nearly 6 - fold and protein expression by 23-fold. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of Hsp27 decreased metastatic behaviors of UM-SCC-22B by 3 to 4-fold in migration and 2-fold in cell invasion reducing cell invasion and migration to levels similar to the primary HNSCC UM-SCC-22A. These data indicate that Hsp27 may regulate metastatic potential of HNSCC cancer cells. Targeting Hsp27 may decrease metastasis in head and neck squamous cell cancer cells.

The small heat shock protein 27 (Hsp27) is a molecular chaperone that is involved in a variety of cellular functions in cancer cells. The purpose of this research is to study the function of Hsp27 in metastasis of head and neck squamous cancer cells. The expression of Hsp27 in primary and metastatic head and neck cancer cells was determined using real-time PCR and western blotting. The siRNA knockdown of Hsp27 was performed in metastatic head and neck cancer cells using in vitro transfection. The proliferation of the primary and metastatic head and neck cancer cells were evaluated using MTS proliferation assay. The metastatic potential was determined using both migration assay and invasion assay in metastatic head and neck cancer cells after siRNA silencing of Hsp27. MTS proliferation showed that both primary (UM-SCC-22A) and metastatic (UM-SCC-22B) head and neck cancer cells have similar proliferation rate from 24-48 hrs. However, the metastatic head and neck cancer cells (UM-SCC-22B) showed more than 2-fold migration ability and more than 3-fold invasion ability than primary head and neck cancer cells (UM-SCC-22A). Real-time PCR demonstrated that Hsp27 mRNA is 22-fold higher in metastatic UM-SCC-22B than primary UM-SCC-22A. Similarly, Western blotting exhibited that primary UM-SCC-22A did not show any detectable levels of Hsp27, while metastatic UM-SCC-22B showed significant high levels (> 40-fold) of Hsp27. siRNA of Hsp27 knocked down expression of Hsp27 by more than 5-fold in mRNA level and 23-fold in protein levels in metastatic head and neck cancer cells UM-SCC-22B. Furthermore, siRNA knockdown of Hsp27 decreased metastasis of UM-SCC-22B by more than 50% in cell invasion assay. These data suggest that Hsp27 may regulate metastatic potential of head and neck squamous cancer cells. Silencing Hsp27 may decrease metastatic potential of head and neck squamous cancer cells. Citation Format: {Authors}. {Abstract title} [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 101st Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2010 Apr 17-21; Washington, DC. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2010;70(8 Suppl):Abstract nr 3392.