N doped organic light-emitting diodes were developed by using Li(3)N as a n type dopant in electron transport layer. Driving voltage was greatly lowered by using Li(3)N doped electron transport layer ...and combination of MoO(3) doped hole transport layer with Li(3)N doped electron transport layer gave high quantum efficiency of 15% and low driving voltage of 4V at 1000cd/m(2) in green phosphorescent organic light-emitting diodes. Decomposition of Li(3)N during evaporation into Li and N(2) was found to be responsible for n doping effect of Li(3)N.
Background. The aldehyde products of lipid peroxidation such as 4-hydroxy-2-hexenal (HHE) might be responsible for the pathogenesis of kidney injury. The present study was aimed to investigate the ...effects of HHE on renal tubular epithelial cells and its signaling mechanisms.
Methods. Human proximal tubular epithelial (HK-2) cells were treated with 10 μM of HHE. Cell viability was examined using 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) assay. The fluorescent probe 2′,7′-dichlorofluorescein diacetate was used to measure intracellular levels of reactive oxygen species (ROS). The protein expression of NF-κB, mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), pro-apoptoic Bax and anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-2 was determined by semiquantitative immunoblotting. Apoptosis was assessed by flow cytometry analysis after the cells were stained by fluorescein isothiocyanate-conjugated annexin V protein and propidium iodine.
Results. Treatment with various doses of HHE resulted in dose-dependent decreases of cell viability and increases of ROS. HHE increased the expression of p38 MAPK, extracellular signal-regulated kinase (ERK) and c-Jun N-terminal kinase (JNK). HHE induced NF-κB activation and IκB-α degradation. Increased nuclear NF-κB activation was blocked by inhibitors of ERK (PD98059) or JNK (SP600125), but not affected by p38 MAPK inhibitor (SB203580). Flow cytometry analysis revealed HHE-induced apoptosis. HHE decreased the expression of Bcl-2, while it increased that of Bax, which was attenuated by the treatment of NF-κB inhibitor (Bay 11-7082) or N-acetyl-L-cysteine (NAC). An inhibition of NF-κB prevented HHE-induced apoptosis.
Conclusions. HHE-induced tubular cell apoptosis is mediated by modulation of Bax and Bcl-2 via ROS generation. HHE-mediated accumulation of ROS may induce redox-sensitive transcription factor, NF-κB, through activation of ERK and JNK, resulting in cellular apoptosis in HK-2 cells.
The cross section of bottom quark-antiquark ( bb ) production in p + p collisions at √s = 510 GeV is measured with the PHENIX detector at the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider. The results are ...based on the yield of high mass, like-sign muon pairs measured within the PHENIX muon arm acceptance ( 1.2 < | y | < 2.2 ). The bb signal is extracted from like-sign dimuons by utilizing the unique properties of neutral B meson oscillation. We report a differential cross section of dσbb→μ±μ± / d y = 0.16 ± 0.01 ( stat ) ± 0.02 ( syst ) ± 0.02 ( global ) nb for like-sign muons in the rapidity and p T ranges 1.2 < | y | < 2.2 and p T > 1 GeV / c , and dimuon mass of 5 – 10 GeV / c2. The extrapolated total cross section at this energy for bb production is 13.1 ± 0.6 ( stat ) ± 1.5 ( syst ) ± 2.7 ( global ) μ b . The total cross section is compared to a perturbative quantum chromodynamics calculation and is consistent within uncertainties. The azimuthal opening angle between muon pairs from bb decays and their pT distributions are compared to distributions generated using ps pythia6, which includes next-to-leading order processes. The azimuthal correlations and pair pT distribution are not very well described by pythia calculations, but are still consistent within uncertainties. Flavor creation and flavor excitation subprocesses are favored over gluon splitting.
A metabolic study revealed that 28-norcastasterone in Arabidopsis is synthesized from cholesterol via the late C-6 oxidation pathway. On the other hand, the early C-6 oxidation pathway was found to ...be interrupted because cholestanol is converted to 6-oxocholestanol, but further metabolism to 28-norcathasterone was not observed. The 6-oxoBRs were found to have been produced from the respective 6-deoxoBRs administered to the enzyme solution, thus indicating that these 6-oxoBRs are supplied from the late C-6 oxidation pathway. Heterologously expressed CYP85A1 and CYP85A2 in yeast catalysed this C-6 oxidation, with CYP85A2 being much more efficient than CYP85A1. Abnormal growth of det2 and dwf4 was restored via the application of 28-norcastasterone and closer precursors. Furthermore, det2 and dwf4 could not convert cholesterol to cholestanol and cholestanol to 6-deoxo-28-norcathasterone, respectively. It is, therefore, most likely that the same enzyme system is operant in the synthesis of both 28-norcastasterone and castasterone. In the presence of S-adenosyl-L-methionine, the cell-free enzyme extract catalysed the C-24 methylation of 28-norcastasterone to castasterone, although the conversion rates of 28-norteasterone to teasterone and 28-nortyphasterol to typhasterol were much lower; this suggests that 28-norcastasterone is the primary precursor for the generation of C(28)-BRs from C(27)-BRs.
In this paper, a nonlinear controller capable of high dynamic torque regulation and efficiency optimization of the synchronous reluctance motor (SynRM) using input-output feedback linearization is ...proposed. The cross-coupling effects in the SynRM model and the torque nonlinearity due to the iron losses in torque-speed characteristics of the SynRM are discussed. The criterion for the efficiency optimization is also introduced and investigated. Since the proposed nonlinear controller directly regulates the torque by selecting the product of d- and q-axes torque currents as one of the output variables, the nonlinear and cross-coupling aspects between the d-and q-axes torque currents and the terminal currents can he eliminated. Hence, the linear torque-speed characteristic can be achieved. In addition, by controlling the power loss-minimizing criterion directly, the proposed controller can optimize the efficiency of the SynRM without deteriorating the dynamics performance.
Resistin is an adipocyte-derived peptide that might play a role in obesity and insulin resistance. However, its role in humans is largely unclear. Although many studies have measured the expression ...of human resistin in tissues, the circulating concentrations of resistin and its relation to metabolic parameters in humans are unknown. We developed an ELISA for human resistin and measured plasma concentrations in aged individuals with or without type 2 diabetes mellitus. To validate the results of plasma resistin concentrations in our subjects, plasma adiponectin concentrations were also determined, which were higher in nondiabetic subjects than in type 2 diabetic patients and correlated with the homeostasis model assessment for insulin resistance (HOMA-IR). Log-transformed plasma resistin concentrations (log-resistin) were higher in diabetic patients compared with normal individuals (0.50 ± 0.39 vs. 0.28 ± 0.51 ng/ml; P < 0.001), and this difference was significant after controlling for gender and body mass index. Log-resistin did not show a significant correlation with HOMA-IR, waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, or total cholesterol. The plasma glucose concentration was an independent factor associated with log-resistin. In conclusion, plasma resistin concentrations are elevated in patients with type 2 diabetes, but are not associated with insulin resistance or obesity.
To determine frequency of nontuberculous mycobacterial (NTM) pulmonary infection in patients with bilateral bronchiectasis and bronchiolitis at chest computed tomography (CT) and whether CT findings ...are indicative of Mycobacterium avium-intracellulare complex (MAC) infection.
Institutional review board approved this research study; patient informed consent (not required) was obtained from all patients to perform CT. From July 2000 to December 2002, 126 consecutive patients, who were suspected of having NTM pulmonary infection at helical CT (120 kVp, 70 mA, 2.5-mm collimation, pitch of 6) with findings of bilateral bronchiectasis and bronchiolitis, were included. Of these, 105 patients underwent study for diagnosis of NTM disease. Medical records and CT scans were reviewed for final diagnoses. Clinical and chest CT findings in patients with NTM disease and those with other airway diseases were compared (unpaired t test, chi(2) test, or Fisher exact test).
NTM pulmonary infection was seen in 36 (34%) of 105 patients; NTM was definite in 32 (30%) and probable in four (4%). In decreasing order of frequency, organisms involved were MAC in 18 patients (50%), with M avium in 10 and M intracellulare in eight, Mycobacterium abscessus in 14 (39%), Mycobacterium kansasii in one (3%), and Mycobacterium fortuitum in one (3%); organisms were unidentifiable in two (6%). Female (P = .031) nonsmokers (P = .037) with history of treatment for Mycobacterium tuberculosis (P = .002), sputum smear positive for acid-fast bacilli (P < .001), and thin-section CT findings of bronchiolitis in more than five lobes with bronchiectasis (P = .011), lobular consolidation (P = .010), and a cavity (P < .001) were related to diagnosis of NTM pulmonary infection.
About one-third of patients with thin-section CT findings of bilateral bronchiectasis and bronchiolitis have NTM pulmonary infection; in these situations, MAC and M abscessus are two most frequent causative organisms. Thin-section CT findings of bronchiectasis and bronchiolitis involving more than five lobes, especially when associated with lobular consolidation or a cavity, are highly suggestive of NTM pulmonary infection.
Anodic aluminum oxide (AAO) templates with uniform channels of sub-micron length were fabricated on silicone wafers. Carbon was deposited on the wall of the pores via decomposition of acetylene at ...800
°C. The synthesized carbon nanotubes have identical dimensions of 900
nm in length and 70
nm in diameter. Raman spectrum showed that the crystallinity of these CNTs is relatively high though no catalyst was used. The proposed technique can be applied to the fabrication of vacuum microelectronic devices.
We report the first measurement of the fraction of J/ψ mesons coming from B-meson decay (FB→J/ψ) in p+p collisions at s=510 GeV. The measurement is performed using the forward silicon vertex detector ...and central vertex detector at PHENIX, which provide precise tracking and distance-of-closest-approach determinations, enabling the statistical separation of J/ψ due to B-meson decays from prompt J/ψ. The measured value of FB→J/ψ is 8.1%±2.3%(stat)±1.9%(syst) for J/ψ with transverse momenta 0<pT<5 GeV/c and rapidity 1.2<|y|<2.2. The measured fraction FB→J/ψ at PHENIX is compared to values measured by other experiments at higher center of mass energies and to fixed-order-next-to-leading-logarithm and color-evaporation-model predictions. The bb¯ cross section per unit rapidity dσ/dy(pp→bb¯) extracted from the obtained FB→J/ψ and the PHENIX inclusive J/ψ cross section measured at 200 GeV scaled with color-evaporation-model calculations, at the mean B hadron rapidity y=±1.7 in 510 GeV p+p collisions, is 3.63−1.70+1.92 μb. It is consistent with the fixed-order-next-to-leading-logarithm calculations.
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