Properties, synthesis, and device applications of 2D layered InSe

Van der Waals layered indium selenide (InSe) is an emerging star of the 2D semiconducting materials because of its excellent fundamental properties, such as ultrahigh carrier mobility, layer-tunable bandgap, large elastic deformability, and rich polytypes. In addition, 2D layered indium selenide has demonstrated outstanding device performance including photodetector, field-effect transistor, memory and synapse, mechanical and gas sensor, which has offered a new chance to next-generation electrical and optoelectronic devices. This review presents a comprehensive summary of recent progress in 2D layered indium selenide. The novel fundamental properties and synthetic methods are summarized. Also, the indium selenide-based state-of-the-art electronic/optoelectronic devices, such as a functional field-effect transistor, photodetector, and mechanical and gas sensors are systematically summarized. The techniques to enhance the performances of devices are also discussed. Finally, a brief discussion on the challenges and future opportunities as a guideline for this field is provided.This work was financially supported by the Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai (Grant No. 19ZR1473400), the NSAF Foundation of China (Grant No. U1830130), and the young scientist project of MOE innovation platform (Fudan University)

Factors Associated with Knowledge of and Willingness for Adult Male Circumcision in Changsha, China.

BACKGROUND:Male circumcision (MC) has been shown to reduce the risk of male genital diseases. MC is not commonly practiced among Chinese males and little is known about the factors associated with their knowledge of and willingness for MC. This study was to explore the knowledge regarding the foreskin among Chinese males and to identify factors associated with their willingness to undergo circumcision. METHODS:A total of 237 patients with redundant prepuce/phimosis were interviewed through face-to-face interviews. The items on the questionnaire included: demographics, an objective scale assessing knowledge about the foreskin, willingness to have MC, the attitudes of sexual partners and doctors toward redundant prepuce/phimosis, and the approaches that patients used to acquire knowledge regarding the prepuce. Univariate analysis and multiple logistic regression analysis were performed to identify factors that are associated with willingness to be circumcised (WTC). RESULTS:A total of 212 patients completed the interview. Multivariable logistic regression showed that three factors were significantly associated with WTC: being married (OR = 0.43), perceiving redundant prepuce/phimosis as a disease (OR = 1.93), and if a patient's partner supported MC (OR = 1.39). 58% (n = 122) had received information about the foreskin from another party: 18% (n = 37) from school, 8% (n = 17) from family, 17% (n = 36) from friends, 27% (n = 57) from health care providers. About 4% (n = 8) believed that their partners disliked their redundant prepuce/phimosis. 20% (n = 42) had received doctors' advice to undergo circumcision. CONCLUSION:Knowledge about the foreskin was low among Chinese males. Our study elucidates the factors associated with WTC and suggests that more education of the population about the foreskin can help improve the recognition of a correctible abnormality and help patients assess the potential role of MC in their health

Pursuing High-Performance Organic Field-Effect Transistors through Organic Salt Doping

Doping is an effective strategy for controlling the charge density and device performance of thin-film electronics. Herein, a new doping system is reported for organic electronics using the organic salt p-dopant N,N-dimethylanilinium tetrakis(pentafluorophenyl)borate (DTB) to significantly improve the device performance of indacenodithiophene-co-benzothia-diazole (IDT-BT) organic field-effect transistors (OFETs). With optimized doping ratios, the hole mobility increases almost fourfold from 0.32 to 1.15 cm2 V–1 s–1 and the threshold voltage reduces from −38 to 0 V. Moreover, systematical electrical characterizations demonstrate that the contact resistance and activation energy dramatically reduce in the doped devices. Such reductions are ascribed to the shift of the Fermi energy level closer to the transport level and the lowered density of trap states in doped semiconductors, as revealed by ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy and low-frequency noise measurements, respectively. This study also demonstrates that the trap density increases when the doping ratio is high, explaining the device performance degradation at high doping ratios. This is the first time that DTB organic salt is used as an efficient dopant to improve the performance of OFETs, demonstrating a promising route for employing organic salt dopants to achieve high-performance OFETs.11Nsciescopu

Characterization of RUNX1T1, an Adipogenesis Regulator in Ovine Preadipocyte Differentiation

Runt-related transcription factor 1 translocation partner 1 (RUNX1T1), a potential novel regulator of adipogenesis, exists in two splice variants: a long (RUNX1T1-L) and a short (RUNX1T1-S) isoform. However, there is no data showing the existence of RUNX1T1 in ovine subcutaneous fat at different stages of developmental and its role on ovine adipogenesis. Therefore, the objectives of this study were to evaluate the presence of RUNX1T1 in subcutaneous fat of five-day-old to 24-month-old sheep and to investigate the role of RUNX1T1 in ovine adipogenesis. In this study, we detected a 1829 bp cDNA fragment of RUNX1T1 which contains a 1815 bp coding sequence that encodes 602-amino acid and 14 bp of 5′ untranslated region, respectively. The amino acid sequence of RUNX1T1 has 31.18–94.21% homology with other species’ protein sequences. During fat development, the RUNX1T1 protein expression was higher in subcutaneous fat of 24-month-old Hu sheep. In addition, the expression of RUNX1T1-L mRNA decreased first, then subsequently increased during ovine preadipocyte differentiation. Knockdown of RUNX1T1-L in ovine preadipocytes promoted preadipocyte differentiation and lipid accumulation. Taken together, our data suggests that RUNX1T1 is an important functional molecule in adipogenesis. Moreover, it showed for the first time that RUNX1T1-L was negatively correlated with the ovine preadipocyte differentiation

Development of a Three-Dimensional Multi-Modal Perfusion-Thermal Electrode System for Complete Tumor Eradication

Background: Residual viable tumor cells after ablation at the tumor periphery serve as the source for tumor recurrence, leading to treatment failure. Purpose: To develop a novel three-dimensional (3D) multi-modal perfusion-thermal electrode system completely eradicating medium-to-large malignancies. Materials and Methods: This study included five steps: (i) design of the new system; (ii) production of the new system; (iii) ex vivo evaluation of its perfusion-thermal functions; (iv) mathematic modeling and computer simulation to confirm the optimal temperature profiles during the thermal ablation process, and; (v) in vivo technical validation using five living rabbits with orthotopic liver tumors. Results: In ex vivo experiments, gross pathology and optical imaging demonstrated the successful spherical distribution/deposition of motexafin gadolinium administered through the new electrode, with a temperature gradient from the electrode core at 80 °C to its periphery at 42 °C. An excellent repeatable correlation of temperature profiles at varying spots, from the center to periphery of the liver tumor, was found between the mathematic simulation and actual animal tumor models (Pearson coefficient ≥0.977). For in vivo validation, indocyanine green (ICG) was directly delivered into the peritumoral zones during simultaneous generation of central tumoral lethal radiofrequency (RF) heat (>60 °C) and peritumoral sublethal RF hyperthermia (<60 °C). Both optical imaging and fluorescent microscopy confirmed successful peritumoral ICG distribution/deposition with increased heat shock protein 70 expression. Conclusion: This new 3D, perfusion-thermal electrode system provided the evidence on the potential to enable simultaneous delivery of therapeutic agents and RF hyperthermia into the difficult-to-treat peritumoral zones, creating a new strategy to address the critical limitation, i.e., the high incidence of residual and recurrent tumor following thermal ablation of unresectable medium-to-large and irregular tumors

Van der Waals ferroelectric transistors: the all-round artificial synapses for high-precision neuromorphic computing

ABSTRACT: State number, operation power, dynamic range and conductance weight update linearity are key synaptic device performance metrics for high-accuracy and low-power-consumption neuromorphic computing in hardware. However, high linearity and low power consumption couldn't be simultaneously achieved by most of the reported synaptic devices, which limits the performance of the hardware. This work demonstrates van der Waals (vdW) stacked ferroelectric field-effect transistors (FeFET) with single-crystalline ferroelectric nanoflakes. Ferroelectrics are of fine vdW interface and partial polarization switching of multi-domains under electric field pulses, which makes the FeFETs exhibit multi-state memory characteristics and excellent synaptic plasticity. They also exhibit a desired linear conductance weight update with 128 conductance states, a sufficiently high dynamic range of Gmax/Gmin > 120, and a low power consumption of 10 fJ/spike using identical pulses. Based on such an all-round device, a two-layer artificial neural network was built to conduct Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) digital numbers and electrocardiogram (ECG) pattern-recognition simulations, with the high accuracies reaching 97.6% and 92.4%, respectively. The remarkable performance demonstrates that vdW-FeFET is of obvious advantages in high-precision neuromorphic computing applications

Surface modification of PGP for a neutrophil–nanoparticle co-vehicle to enhance the anti-depressant effect of baicalein

Exploiting cells as vehicles combined with nanoparticles combined with therapy has attracted increasing attention in the world recently. Red blood cells, leukocytes and stem cells have been used for tumor immunotherapy, tissue regeneration and inflammatory disorders, and it is known that neutrophils can accumulate in brain lesions in many brain diseases including depression. N-Acetyl Pro–Gly–Pro (PGP) peptide shows high specific binding affinity to neutrophils through the CXCR2 receptor. In this study, PGP was used to modify baicalein-loaded solid lipid nanoparticles (PGP-SLNs) to facilitate binding to neutrophils in vivo. Brain-targeted delivery to the basolateral amygdala (BLA) was demonstrated by enhanced concentration of baicalein in the BLA. An enhanced anti-depressant effect was observed in vitro and in vivo. The mechanism involved inhibition of apoptosis and a decrease in lactate dehydrogenase release. Behavioral evaluation carried out with rats demonstrated that anti-depression outcomes were achieved. The results indicate that PGP-SLNs decrease immobility time, increase swimming time and climbing time and attenuate locomotion in olfactory-bulbectomized (OB) rats. In conclusion, PGP modification is a strategy for targeting the brain with a cell–nanoparticle delivery system for depression therapy

Demographic characteristics of the study population.

<p>Demographic characteristics of the study population.</p