During the last years, oxide semiconductors have shown that they will have a key role in the future of electronics. In fact, several research groups have already presented working devices with ...remarkable electrical and optical properties based on these materials, mainly thin-film transistors (TFTs). Most of these TFTs use indium-tin oxide (ITO) as the material for source/drain electrodes. This paper focuses on the investigation of different materials to replace ITO in inverted-staggered TFTs based on gallium-indium-zinc oxide (GIZO) semiconductor. The analyzed electrode materials were indium-zinc oxide, Ti, Al, Mo, and Ti/Au, with each of these materials used in two different kinds of devices: one was annealed after GIZO channel deposition but prior to source/drain deposition, and the other was annealed at the end of device production. The results show an improvement on the electrical properties when the annealing is performed at the end (for instance, with Ti/Au electrodes, mobility rises from 19 to 25 cm 2 /V ldr s, and turn-on voltage drops from 4 to 2 V). Using time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS), we could confirm that some diffusion exists in the source/drain electrodes/semiconductor interface, which is in close agreement with the obtained electrical properties. In addition to TOF-SIMS results for relevant elements, electrical characterization is presented for each kind of device, including the extraction of source/drain series resistances and TFT intrinsic parameters, such as (intrinsic mobility) and VT i (intrinsic threshold voltage).
Treatment of bis(iminophosphorane)phosphane ligands 2a–2e with Li2PdCl4 gave a set of novel diphosphane-derived complexes bearing two metallacycle rings, each one enclosing a P=N double bond: the ...unprecedented bis(iminophosphorane)phosphane-C,N,S palladacycles. In the case of the ligand derived from bis(diphenylphosphino)methane, 2a, both the single and the double palladacycle complexes were obtained. Reaction of 3a with bis(diphenylphosphino)ethane did not yield the expected product with the diphosphane bonded to both palladium atoms, but rather the novel coordination compound 5. The crystal structures of 3c and 5 are described.
Treatment of the imines
with palladium(II) acetate in acetic acid yielded the μ-acetate dinuclear complexes
, which readily reacted with sodium chloride or bromide to provide μ-halide analogues. The ...reaction of the latter with nitrogen, phosphorus and oxygen donor nucleophiles yielded new imine palladacycles following the cleavage of the Pd
X
unit. The complexes were fully characterized by microanalysis,
H,
C and
P NMR spectroscopies, as appropriate. The compounds were applied as catalysts in the Suzuki-Miyaura coupling reaction in aqueous and semi-aqueous media.
Herbicide resistance is the ultimate evidence of the extraordinary capacity of weeds to evolve under stressful conditions. Despite the extraordinary plant fitness advantage endowed by herbicide ...resistance mutations in agroecosystems under herbicide selection, resistance mutations are predicted to exhibit an adaptation cost (i.e., fitness cost), relative to the susceptible wild-type, in herbicide untreated conditions. Fitness costs associated with herbicide resistance mutations are not universal and their expression depends on the particular mutation, genetic background, dominance of the fitness cost, and environmental conditions. The detrimental effects of herbicide resistance mutations on plant fitness may arise as a direct impact on fitness-related traits and/or coevolution with changes in other life history traits that ultimately may lead to fitness costs under particular ecological conditions. This brings the idea that a "lower adaptive value" of herbicide resistance mutations represents an opportunity for the design of resistance management practices that could minimize the evolution of herbicide resistance. It is evident that the challenge for weed management practices aiming to control, minimize, or even reverse the frequency of resistance mutations in the agricultural landscape is to "create" those agroecological conditions that could expose, exploit, and exacerbate those life history and/or fitness traits affecting the evolution of herbicide resistance mutations. Ideally, resistance management should implement a wide range of cultural practices leading to environmentally mediated fitness costs associated with herbicide resistance mutations.
The dynamics of herbicide resistance evolution in plants are influenced by many factors, especially the biochemical and genetic basis of resistance. Herbicide resistance can be endowed by enhanced ...rates of herbicide metabolism because of the activity of cytochrome P450 enzymes, although in weedy plants the genetic control of cytochrome P450-endowed herbicide resistance is poorly understood. In this study we have examined the genetic control of P450 metabolism-based herbicide resistance in a well-characterized Lolium rigidum biotype. The phenotypic resistance segregation in herbicide resistant and susceptible parents, F1, F2 and backcross (BC) families was analyzed as plant survival following treatment with the chemically unrelated herbicides diclofop-methyl or chlorsulfuron. Dominance and nuclear gene inheritance was observed in F1 families when treated at the recommended field doses of both herbicides. The segregation values of P450 herbicide resistance phenotypic traits observed in F2 and BC families was consistent with resistance endowed by two additive genes in most cases. In obligate out-crossing species such as L. rigidum, herbicide selection can easily result in accumulation of resistance genes within individuals.
The main objective of the PREDyCES study was twofold. First, to analyse the prevalence of hospital malnutrition in Spain, both at admission and at discharge, and second, to estimate the hospital ...costs associated with disease-related malnutrition.
The study was a nationwide, cross-sectional, observational, multicentre study in routine clinical practice, which assessed the prevalence of hospital malnutrition both at patient admission and discharge using NRS-2002. A study extension analysed the incidence of complications associated with malnutrition, excess hospital stay and healthcare costs associated with hospital malnutrition.
Malnutrition was observed in 23.7% of patients according to NRS-2002. Multivariate analysis revealed that age, gender, presence of malignant disease, diabetes mellitus, dysphagia and polymedication were the main factors associated with the presence of malnutrition. Malnutrition was associated with an increase in length of hospital stay, especially in patients admitted without malnutrition but who presented malnutrition at discharge (15.2 vs. 8.0 days, p < 0.001), with an associated additional cost of €5,829 per patient.
In Spanish hospitals, almost one in four patients is malnourished. This condition is associated with increased length of hospital stay and associated costs, especially in patients developing malnutrition during hospitalization. Systematic screening for malnutrition should be generalised in order to implement nutritional interventions with well-known effectiveness.
Sodium valproate (VPA), a histone deacetylase (HDAC) inhibitor, could be a promising candidate to treat acute myocardial infarction (AMI). In this study, AMI was induced in New Zealand White rabbits ...by occluding the left circumflex coronary artery for 1 h, followed by reperfusion. The animals were distributed into three experimental groups: the sham-operated group (SHAM), the AMI group and the AMI + VPA group (AMI treated with VPA 500 mg/kg/day). After 5 weeks, abdominal aorta was removed and used for isometric recording of tension in organ baths or protein expression by Western blot, and plasma for the determination of nitrate/nitrite (NOx) levels by colorimetric assay. Our results indicated that AMI induced a reduction of the endothelium-dependent response to acetylcholine without modifying the endothelium-independent response to sodium nitroprusside, leading to endothelial dysfunction. VPA treatment reversed AMI-induced endothelial dysfunction and even increased NO sensitivity in vascular smooth muscle. This response was consistent with an antioxidant effect of VPA, as it was able to reverse the superoxide dismutase 1 (SOD 1) down-regulation induced by AMI. Our experiments also ruled out that the VPA mechanism was related to eNOS, iNOS, sGC and arginase expression or changes in NOx plasma levels. Therefore, we conclude that VPA improves vasodilation by increasing NO bioavailability, likely due to its antioxidant effect. Since endothelial dysfunction was closely related to AMI, VPA treatment could increase aortic blood flow, making it a potential agent in reperfusion therapy that can prevent the vascular damage.
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•VPA treatment reverses AMI-induced endothelial dysfunction in rabbit aorta.•VPA increases NO bioavailability in response to acetylcholine.•VPA mechanism is independent of eNOS-sGC, iNOS or arginase protein expression.•AMI decreases SOD1 protein expression in aorta.•Enhancement of VPA in AMI may be related to the ability to restore SOD1.
This paper introduces Fuzzy HSS, a semisupervised hierarchical clustering approach that uses fuzzy instance-level constraints. These constraints are external information on the shape of fuzzy ...must-link and fuzzy cannot-link restrictions. They allow uncertainty when indicating whether two instances of a dataset belong to the same group. Fuzzy must-link constraints give a degree of belief of two instances belonging to the same group. Analogously, fuzzy cannot-link constraints indicate the degree of belief of two instances not belonging to the same group. These constraints have been introduced in a hierarchical clustering process, allowing us to obtain the optimal number of groups in a dendrogram when the number of clusters is not known. The optimal amount of constraints needed in the process is determined by means of fuzzy entropy. An extensive experimental study is provided by comparing this fuzzy semisupervised approach with classic unsupervised methods, as well as a crisp semisupervised alternative.
Periodontal diseases are inflammatory disorders caused primarily by dental plaque microorganisms that even may need surgery to remove damaged tissue. Adhesive biocompatible films may be an adequate ...form in order to improve drug retention or prevent microbial infections by covering the surgical site. In recent years, much attention has been focused on biocompatible inexpensive polymers, for biomedical and pharmaceutical potential applications. The objective of this research is the development of a film for mucosal application containing lidocaine hydrochloride (5%, w/w) as anesthetic drug. Lidocaine films were prepared with three biopolymers: hydroxypropylmethylcellulose (HPMC), chitosan (CH), or xanthan gum (XG). Their thickness and uniformity content were characterized. Rheological behavior of the hydrated films was studied using flow curves, creep and recovery tests and dynamic oscillatory measurements with a rheometer. The mucoadhesive assays were carried out with cheeks of Wistar rat using a universal tensile tester to know their adhesiveness. Finally, lidocaine delivery through the films was investigated in Franz cells. All films (n = 3 for each polymer) showed flexibility, a drug content of 0.015 ± 0.001 g/cm
2
and a thickness of 0.25 ± 0.01 mm. The results of the maximum detachment force in tensile tests and work adhesion indicated that XG is the polymer that showed greater power of mucoadhesion (p < 0.05). These properties show a good correlation with the rheological characteristics. In all cases, the lidocaine amount released at 30 min is around 4 mg/cm
2
. This amount could be considered sufficient to guarantee the anesthetic effect.
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