Here, we report the facile one‐step fabrication of rationally designed hybrid gate dielectric films for low‐voltage organic thin‐film transistors. To generate facile one‐step fabricated and ...solution‐processed organic–inorganic hybrid dielectric films with high dielectric properties, we designed the multicomponent precursor solution by employing high‐k oxide materials to attain a large capacitance and cross‐linkable agents to allow for processability and reducing the surface energy of dielectric films. After spin‐coating with the precursor solution and the subsequent thermal annealing process, we obtained cross‐linked organic–inorganic hybrid dielectric films, exhibiting excellent dielectric properties with a low leakage current density (~10−5 A/cm2) and high capacitance (295 nF/cm2). The effectiveness of the hybrid dielectrics was demonstrated by realizing high‐performance organic thin‐film transistors at low operating voltages, mobility up to 0.31 cm2/V/s, high on/off current ratio (~105), and low threshold voltage (−0.8 V).
The facile one‐step fabrication of rationally designed hybrid gate dielectric films for low‐voltage organic thin‐film transistors.
Summary Background In 2015, a large outbreak of Middle East respiratory syndrome coronavirus (MERS-CoV) infection occurred following a single patient exposure in an emergency room at the Samsung ...Medical Center, a tertiary-care hospital in Seoul, South Korea. We aimed to investigate the epidemiology of MERS-CoV outbreak in our hospital. Methods We identified all patients and health-care workers who had been in the emergency room with the index case between May 27 and May 29, 2015. Patients were categorised on the basis of their exposure in the emergency room: in the same zone as the index case (group A), in different zones except for overlap at the registration area or the radiology suite (group B), and in different zones (group C). We documented cases of MERS-CoV infection, confirmed by real-time PCR testing of sputum samples. We analysed attack rates, incubation periods of the virus, and risk factors for transmission. Findings 675 patients and 218 health-care workers were identified as contacts. MERS-CoV infection was confirmed in 82 individuals (33 patients, eight health-care workers, and 41 visitors). The attack rate was highest in group A (20% 23/117 vs 5% 3/58 in group B vs 1% 4/500 in group C; p<0·0001), and was 2% (5/218) in health-care workers. After excluding nine cases (because of inability to determine the date of symptom onset in six cases and lack of data from three visitors), the median incubation period was 7 days (range 2–17, IQR 5–10). The median incubation period was significantly shorter in group A than in group C (5 days IQR 4–8 vs 11 days 6–12; p<0·0001). There were no confirmed cases in patients and visitors who visited the emergency room on May 29 and who were exposed only to potentially contaminated environment without direct contact with the index case. The main risk factor for transmission of MERS-CoV was the location of exposure. Interpretation Our results showed increased transmission potential of MERS-CoV from a single patient in an overcrowded emergency room and provide compelling evidence that health-care facilities worldwide need to be prepared for emerging infectious diseases. Funding None.
The growing global emphasis on environmental issues has driven companies to exert greater efforts on making their products more sustainable. Natural dyeing, an eco-friendly dyeing method used in the ...textile and apparel industry, is safer for both the environment and human health, aligning with the needs of sustainable design development. This paper examines the key factors affecting Chinese consumers’ satisfaction with naturally dyed garments, aiming to provide research-based strategies for the design and development of such garments. In this study, we utilized the KJ method for the detailed categorization of the functionalities of naturally dyed garments, establishing five dimensions and thirty demand indicators. Based on this, the KANO model, coupled with the Better–Worse coefficient and the quadrant analysis method, was used to classify different demand items, ranking their satisfaction and importance. The results indicate that the wearing experience and environmental characteristics of products are key determinants influencing Chinese consumers’ demand for naturally dyed clothing. The top five factors significantly impacting product satisfaction, in descending order of importance, are comfort, environmentally friendly dyeing techniques, safety, degradability, and durability. Therefore, to ensure consumer satisfaction with naturally dyed clothing, these factors should be prioritized when establishing a support system that caters to consumer needs. Our findings can help companies to better understand consumers’ actual need for naturally dyed garments, enabling the more targeted development and optimization of such garments, enhancing product competitiveness, and promoting the green transformation and sustainable development of enterprises. Simultaneously, this study also contributes novel theoretical approaches and ideas for future research on consumer demand.
This study was designed to analyze urinary proteins associated with ovarian cancer (OC) and investigate the potential urinary biomarker panel to predict malignancy in women with pelvic masses. We ...analyzed 23 biomarkers in urine samples obtained from 295 patients with pelvic masses scheduled for surgery. The concentration of urinary biomarkers was quantitatively assessed by the xMAP bead-based multiplexed immunoassay. To identify the performance of each biomarker in predicting cancer over benign tumors, we used a repeated leave-group-out cross-validation strategy. The prediction models using multimarkers were evaluated to develop a urinary ovarian cancer panel. After the exclusion of 12 borderline tumors, the urinary concentration of 17 biomarkers exhibited significant differences between 158 OCs and 125 benign tumors. Human epididymis protein 4 (HE4), vascular cell adhesion molecule (VCAM), and transthyretin (TTR) were the top three biomarkers representing a higher concentration in OC. HE4 demonstrated the highest performance in all samples withOC(mean area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUC) 0.822, 95% CI: 0.772-0.869), whereas TTR showed the highest efficacy in early-stage OC (AUC 0.789, 95% CI: 0.714-0.856). Overall, HE4 was the most informative biomarker, followed by creatinine, carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA), neural cell adhesion molecule (NCAM), and TTR using the least absolute shrinkage and selection operator (LASSO) regression models. A multimarker panel consisting of HE4, creatinine, CEA, and TTR presented the best performance with 93.7% sensitivity (SN) at 70.6% specificity (SP) to predict OC over the benign tumor. This panel performed well regardless of disease status and demonstrated an improved performance by including menopausal status. In conclusion, the urinary biomarker panel with HE4, creatinine, CEA, and TTR provided promising efficacy in predicting OC over benign tumors in women with pelvic masses. It was also a non-invasive and easily available diagnostic tool.
This article presents a fully passive noise-shaping (NS) successive approximation register (SAR) analog-to-digital converter (ADC) that can be compatible with dynamic voltage and frequency scaling ...(DVFS) schemes while offering a 12-bit resolution for Internet-of-Things (IoT) sensor applications. To realize a voltage-scalable suppression of the in-band quantization noise, the proposed ADC utilizes a second-order cascade of integrators with feedforward (CIFF) NS loop with a 3-input dynamic comparator, which can obtain an additional resolution of more than 3 bits. A cyclic dynamic element matching (CDEM) for MSB is seamlessly combined with the NS operation and simply realized by shift registers (SRs). The MSB CDEM reduces dominant in-band harmonic distortions due to capacitor mismatch by not only averaging out but also randomizing the MSB mismatch errors with modulation dither from the CIFF NS loop. In addition, a last-bit majority voting (LMV) technique is applied when resolving the LSB to reduce the comparator noise by half with four additional cycles. With both the LMV and CDEM techniques enabled, the SNR and SNDR are enhanced to 73.3 and 72.3 dB, respectively. The ADC achieves an ENOB of <inline-formula> <tex-math notation="LaTeX">11.2-11.7 </tex-math></inline-formula> bits with a reconfigurable bandwidth of 10-50 kHz at a supply voltage of 0.6-1 V. The prototype ADC was fabricated using 28-nm CMOS technology, occupying an active area of 0.0575 mm2.
Sepsis, a leading cause of death worldwide, is a harmful inflammatory condition that is primarily caused by an endotoxin released by Gram-negative bacteria. Effective targeted therapeutic strategies ...for sepsis are lacking. In this study, using an in vitro and in vivo mouse model, we demonstrated that CM1, a derivative of the natural polyphenol chrysin, exerts an anti-inflammatory effect by inducing the expression of the ubiquitin-editing protein TNFAIP3 and the NAD-dependent deacetylase sirtuin 1 (SIRT1). Interestingly, CM1 attenuated the Toll-like receptor 4 (TLR4)-induced production of inflammatory cytokines by inhibiting the extracellular-signal-regulated kinase (ERK)/MAPK and nuclear factor kappa B (NF-κB) signalling pathways. In addition, CM1 induced the expression of TNFAIP3 and SIRT1 on TLR4-stimulated primary macrophages; however, the anti-inflammatory effect of CM1 was abolished by the siRNA-mediated silencing of
or by the genetic or pharmacologic inhibition of SIRT1. Importantly, intravenous administration of CM1 resulted in decreased susceptibility to endotoxin-induced sepsis, thereby attenuating the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines and neutrophil infiltration into the lung compared to control mice. Collectively, these findings demonstrate that CM1 has therapeutic potential for diverse inflammatory diseases, including sepsis.
Although a considerable volume of data supporting induction or aggravation of psoriasis because of angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitor use exists, it remains insufficient for definitive ...conclusions. Therefore, we aimed to evaluate the association between ACE inhibitor use and psoriasis incidence through a systematic literature review and meta-analysis. We searched for qualifying studies across PubMed, Web of Science, and Embase. Odds ratios (ORs) and 95% confidence intervals (CIs) were calculated to evaluate the strength of the association between ACE inhibitor use and psoriasis incidence. Eight studies with a total of 54,509 patients with a psoriasis diagnosis were included in this meta-analysis. The pooled OR for psoriasis incidence among ACE inhibitor users was 1.52 (95% CI, 1.16-2.00) compared to that among non-users. From subgroup analysis by continent, the OR for ACE inhibitor users versus non-users was 2.37 (95% CI 1.28-4.37) in Asia. Per the subgroup analysis by climate, the OR for ACE inhibitor users vs non-users in dry climate was 3.45 (95% CI: 2.05-5.79) vs 1.32 (95% CI 1.01-1.73) in temperate climate. Our results reveal a significant association between ACE inhibitor use and psoriasis incidence.
Objectives: The purpose of our study is to investigate the effects of apolipoprotein B (APOB) and APOE gene polymorphisms on bleeding complications in patients receiving direct oral anticoagulants ...(DOACs). Methods: A total of 16 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in 468 patients were genotyped. Six SNPs of ABCB1 (rs3842, rs1045642, rs2032582, rs1128503, rs3213619, and rs3747802), one SNP of CYP3A5 (rs776746), seven SNPs of APOB (rs1042034, rs2163204, rs693, rs679899, rs13306194, rs13306198, and rs1367117), and two SNPs of APOE (rs429358 and rs7412) were analyzed by a TaqMan genotyping assay. Multivariable logistic regression analysis with selected variables was performed for the construction of a risk scoring system. Two risk scoring systems were compared (demographic factors only vs. demographic factors and genetic factors). Results: In the multivariable analyses, two models were constructed; only demographic factors were included in Model I and both demographic factors and genetic factors in Model II. Rivaroxaban and anemia showed significant association with bleeding in both models. Additionally, ABCB1 rs3842 variant homozygote carriers (CC) and APOB rs13306198 variant allele carriers (AG, AA) had a higher risk of bleeding risk compared with that of wild-type allele carriers (TT, TC) and wild-type homozygote carriers (GG), respectively. Whereas the area under the receiver operating characteristic curve (AUROC) value using demographic factors only was 0.65 (95% confidence interval (CI): 0.56–0.74), the AUROC increased to 0.72 by adding genetic factors (95% CI: 0.65–0.80). The predicted bleeding risks of bleeding in patients with 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 points from the logistic regression curve were 0.8%, 2.0%, 5.4%, 5.2%, 12.5%, 26.9%, 47.0%, 64.3% and 82.3%, respectively. Conclusions: The study results can be used for enhancing individualized treatment strategies in patients taking DOACs, helping clinicians predict the bleeding risk.
Herein, we report on the preparation of new solution‐processed and low‐temperature condensed organic–inorganic hybrid dielectric films and their electrical properties for applications in low‐power ...organic thin‐film transistors (OTFTs). The low‐temperature condensed hybrid dielectric films (~19 nm thick) were simply fabricated by spin coating a mixture solution of a zirconium chloride and synthesized bifunctional phosphonic acid organic reagents, followed by annealing at a relatively low temperature (~90 °C). The prepared hybrid dielectric films exhibited excellent dielectric properties (low leakage current density < 10−6 A/cm2 and high capacitance of 520 nF/cm2) as well as a smooth surface (RMS roughness <0.3 nm). Consequently, the pentacene‐based OTFTs were fabricated using these hybrid dielectrics and functioned effectively at a relatively low operating bias (−2 V) and exhibited great TFT characteristics (hole mobility: 0.3 cm2/V/s, low threshold voltage: −0.7 V, low subthreshold swing: 0.17 V/dec, on/off current ratio: 105).
We report on the preparation of new solution‐processed and low‐temperature condensed organic–inorganic hybrid dielectric films and their electrical properties for applications in low‐power organic thin‐film transistors (OTFTs).
Summary
Dysregulation of O‐GlcNAc modification catalyzed by O‐GlcNAc transferase (OGT) and O‐GlcNAcase (OGA) contributes to the etiology of chronic diseases of aging, including cancer, cardiovascular ...disease, type 2 diabetes, and Alzheimer’s disease. Here we found that natural aging in wild‐type mice was marked by a decrease in OGA and OGT protein levels and an increase in O‐GlcNAcylation in various tissues. Genetic disruption of OGA resulted in constitutively elevated O‐GlcNAcylation in embryos and led to neonatal lethality with developmental delay. Importantly, we observed that serum‐stimulated cell cycle entry induced increased O‐GlcNAcylation and decreased its level after release from G2/M arrest, indicating that O‐GlcNAc cycling by OGT and OGA is required for precise cell cycle control. Constitutively, elevated O‐GlcNAcylation by OGA disruption impaired cell proliferation and resulted in mitotic defects with downregulation of mitotic regulators. OGA loss led to mitotic defects including cytokinesis failure and binucleation, increased lagging chromosomes, and micronuclei formation. These findings suggest an important role for O‐GlcNAc cycling by OGA in embryonic development and the regulation of the maintenance of genomic stability linked to the aging process.
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