Controlling thickness to tune performance of high-mobility transparent conducting films deposited from Ga-doped ZnO ceramic target

Structure modification has been found to tune significantly the transparent-conducting performance, especially mobility and conductivity of hydrogenated Ga-doped ZnO (HGZO) films. The strong correlation between film thickness and mobility of the films is revealed. The mobility increases quickly with increasing the thickness from 350 to 900 nm, and then tends to be saturated at further thicknesses. A higher mobility than 50 cm²/Vs can be achieved, which is an extra-high value for polycrystalline ZnO films deposited by using the sputtering technique. The thickness-dependent mobility originates from scatterings on grain boundaries and dislocation-induced defects controlled by thin-film growth. Based on the Volmer-Weber model, an expansion model is built up to describe the thickness-dependent crystal growth of the HGZO films, especially at the thick films. As a result, the 800 nm-thick HGZO film obtains the highest performance with high mobility of 51.5 cm²/Vs, low resistivity of 5.3 × 10^?4 Ωcm, and good transmittance of 83.3 %.     

Effect of Supports and Promoters on the Performance of Ni-Based Catalysts in Ethanol Steam Reforming

Ethanol steam reforming (ESR) is one of the potential processes to convert ethanol into valuable products. Hydrogen produced from ESR is considered as green energy for the future and can be an excellent alternative to fossil fuels with the aim of mitigating the greenhouse gas effect. The ESR process has been well studied, using transition metals as catalysts coupled with both acidic and basic oxides as supports. Among various reported transition metals, Ni is an inexpensive material with activity comparable to that of noble metals, showing promising ethanol conversion and hydrogen yields. Additionally, different promoters and supports were utilized to enhance the hydrogen yield and the catalyst stability. This review summarizes and discusses the influences of the supports and promoters of Ni-based catalysts on the ESR process.     

Physical Aging of Amorphous Fructose

ABSTRACT: Physical aging of amorphous anhydrous fructose at temperature 5 °C and at 22 °C was studied using differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The dynamic glass transition temperature, T_g0 for unaged samples was 16 °C and 13.3 °C for heating rate of 10 °C/min and 1 °C/min, respectively. The fictive temperature, T_f0 for unaged samples calculated by Richardson and Savill method was 12 °C, which is close to the dynamic value obtained from the lower DSC heating rate. The fictive temperature T_f of the aged fructose glasses at temperatures both below and above the transition region was fitted well by a non-exponential decay function (Williams-Watts form). Aging above the transition region (22 °C) for 18 d increased both the dynamic glass transition temperature T_g and the fictive temperature T_f. However, aging below the transition region (5 °C) for 1 d increased the dynamic glass transition temperature T_g but decreased the fictive temperature T_f.     

Algebraic decoding of (103, 52, 19) and (113, 57, 15) quadratic residue codes

In this paper, two algebraic decoders for the (103, 52, 19) and (113, 57, 15) quadratic residue codes, which have lengths greater than 100, are presented. The results have been verified by software simulation that programs in C++ language have been executed to check possible error patterns of both quadratic residue codes.     

Intrauterine transfusions influence fetal leukocyte counts and subsets

Histamine is an important mediator in allergic reactions, gastric acid secretions, and neurotransmission in the central nervous system. Basophils and mast cells are the main sources of histamine, which is formed from L-histidine by histidine decarboxylase (HDC). However, the regulatory mechanism of HDC in these cells remains unclear. We examined the regulation of HDC activity and gene expression using a unique human mast cell line, HMC-1, after stimulation with phorbol 12-myristate 13-acetate (PMA) or ionomycin. HDC activity was increased from 52.1+/-0.4 (mean+/-standard deviation) to 154+/-6.9, or 105.6+/-6.2 pmol/min/mg protein (n = 3), 4 hours after stimulation with PMA (10 ng/mL) or ionomycin (10[-6] M). Although actinomycin D had no effect on this increase, cycloheximide completely inhibited the increase caused by these stimuli. The population of HMC-1 cells containing HDC protein was increased after stimulation with either PMA or ionomycin as evaluated by immunocytochemical analysis with anti-HDC antibody as a marker. HMC-1 constitutively expressed HDC mRNA, and its level was not increased with these stimuli. These results suggest that the increase of HDC activity in HMC-1 induced by PMA or ionomycin is regulated at the translational level.     

Study of lithium intercalation into tungsten oxide films prepared by different methods

The interaction of lithium atoms into amorphous tungsten oxide films deposited by thermal evaporation, sputtering and sol-gel synthesis is studied spectroscopically. The mechanism of insertion of lithium into the film depends on the amount and the bonding state of water to the tungsten oxide network. Thermally evaporated tungsten oxide film contains water bonded chemically in the form of a hydrogen tungsten bronze which facilitates the accommodation of a high number of lithium atoms. In the sputtered film, water is physisorbed and the lithiation is incomplete. Tungsten oxide films prepared by sol-gel synthesis have structural water molecules directly involved in the lithiation process. The formation of lithium tungstate independent of the preparation method is demonstrated.     

Dielectric barrier discharge treatments at atmospheric pressure for wood surface modification

In this research, the effect of dielectric barrier discharge on mechanically manufactured (sawn, planed or polished) wood surfaces is investigated. The experiments have shown that the best hydrophilia is obtained with a cold plasma discharge in air under atmospheric pressure. Other gases such as helium, nitrogen, and argon have been tested, too. Changes of the wood surface properties were determined by absorption of water and contact angle measurements. As a result of a 1 to 20 seconds long exposure to plasma, wood surfaces became hydrophilic. The absorption of water in wood can be changed up to 22 times higher after plasma treatment in air for 20 seconds duration. The fracture strength of glued wood has been increased by 68% after this plasma pretreatment. Using plasma treatment in methane or acetylene wood surfaces are changed to hydrophobic properties. After plasma treatment for 1 min. in a Ar:CH₄=80:20 gas mixture under atmospheric pressure, the absorption of water in wood is 32 times lower than without plasma treatment. As mentioned before, plasma treatment can produce hydrophobic and hydrophilic wood surfaces. But a good homogeneity of the gas discharge is necessary for the plasma treatment of wood. Zusammenfassung Im Rahmen dieser Arbeit werden die Auswirkungen der dielektrisch behinderten Entladung bei Atmosphärendruck auf mechanisch bearbeitete Holzoberflächen (gesägt, gehobelt oder geschliffen) untersucht. Die Experimente haben gezeigt, dass die höchste Hydrophilität bei einem in Luftatmosphäre gezündetem Plasma erreicht wird. Es werden auch andere Gase verwendet, wie z.B. Helium, Stickstoff und Argon. Zur Untersuchung der veränderten mechanischen und energetischen Eigenschaften der Holzoberflächen werden der Tropfen-Versuch und die Kontaktwinkelmessung verwendet. Durch eine 1 bis 20 Sekunden lange Plasmabehandlung können die Oberflächen hydrophil gestaltet werden. So kann die Eindringzeit von Wasser um Faktor 22 gesteigert werden durch eine 20 Sekunden lange Plasmabehandlung in Umgebungsluft. Die Bruchfestigkeit von Leimholz wird durch die gleiche Plasmavorbehandlung um 68% gesteigert. Werden als Plasmabehandlungsgas Methan oder Acetylen eingesetzt, so wird die Holzoberfläche hydrophob. Durch eine 60 Sekunden lange Plasmabehandlung in einem Ar:CH₄=80:20 Gasgemisch bei Atmosphärendruck wird die Eindringszeit von Wasser um den Faktor 32 gesenkt. Mit Hilfe der Plasmabehandlung können also sowohl hydrophobe als auch hydrophile Holzoberflächen erzeugt werden. Jedoch wird für die Plasmabehandlung von Holz eine sehr homogene Gasentladung benötigt.     

CHOP vs. ProMACE-CytaBOM in the treatment of aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphomas: long-term results of a multicenter randomized trial.(PETHEMA: Spanish Cooperative Group for the Study of Hematological Malignancies Treatment, Spanish Society of Hematology)

From May 1985 to May 1989, 175 patients with previously untreated aggressive non-Hodgkin's lymphoma were randomized to receive CHOP or ProMACE-CytaBOM. Eligibility criteria included follicular large-cell diffuse small cleaved-cell, diffuse mixed, diffuse large-cell and immunoblastic lymphoma with an Ann Arbor stage II, III or IV. One hundred and forty-eight patients were evaluable. There were no significant differences between the 2 treatments in response rate (83.5% [57.5% CR] for CHOP vs. 88% [62% CR] for ProMACE-CytaBOM), time to treatment failure (29% vs. 31% at 5 yr), or overall survival (42% in both groups at 5 yr). Furthermore, there were no significant differences between the 2 regimens when response rates and outcome were analyzed for different prognostic subgroups. Toxicity was not significantly different between the 2 regimens, although only 1 patient died as result of treatment-related toxicity in the CHOP arm compared to 6 patient in the ProMACE-CytaBOM group (p = 0.126). In conclusion, in this study ProMACE-CytaBOM has not proved to be superior to CHOP in aggressive lymphomas. This trial gives support to the notion that CHOP still is the standard chemotherapy for aggressive lymphomas, and that new treatment approaches for these lymphomas should be compared to CHOP.     

The Influence of Medium on Low-Voltage Circuit Breaker Arcs

This paper mainly focuses on the influence of three kinds of media： air, air-10%PA （Nylon） and air-10% POM （polyoxymethylene） on low-voltage circuit breaker arcs. A threedimensional （3-D） model of arc motioa under the effect of external magnetic field is built based on magnetohydrodynamics （MHD） equations. By adopting the commercial computational fluid dynamics （CFD） package based on the control-volume method, the above MHD equations are solved. For the media of air-10%PA and air-10%POM, the distributions of stationary temperature and electrical potential and the transient motion processes are compared with those of air arc. The research shows that both air-10%PA and air -10% POM can cool the arc plasma and the former is more effective. Both of them can increase the stationary voltage as well. Moreover, the presence of the two mixtures can accelerate the arc motion toward the quenching area and ensures the arc quenched in time.     

Automated zebrafish chorion removal and single embryo placement: optimizing throughput of zebrafish developmental toxicity screens

The potential of the developing zebrafish model for toxicology and drug discovery is limited by inefficient approaches to manipulating and chemically exposing zebrafish embryos-namely, manual placement of embryos into 96- or 384-well plates and exposure of embryos while still in the chorion, a barrier of poorly characterized permeability enclosing the developing embryo. We report the automated dechorionation of 1600 embryos at once at 4 h postfertilization (hpf) and placement of the dechorionated embryos into 96-well plates for exposure by 6 hpf. The process removed ≥95% of the embryos from their chorions with 2% embryo mortality by 24 hpf, and 2% of the embryos malformed at 120 hpf. The robotic embryo placement allocated 6-hpf embryos to 94.7% ± 4.2% of the wells in multiple 96-well trials. The rate of embryo mortality was 2.8% (43 of 1536) from robotic handling, the rate of missed wells was 1.2% (18 of 1536), and the frequency of multipicks was <0.1%. Embryo malformations observed at 24 hpf occurred nearly twice as frequently from robotic handling (16 of 864; 1.9%) as from manual pipetting (9 of 864; 1%). There was no statistical difference between the success of performing the embryo placement robotically or manually.