Emerging Applications of Liquid Crystals Based on Nanotechnology.

Diverse functionalities of liquid crystals (LCs) offer enormous opportunities for their potential use in advanced mobile and smart displays, as well as novel non-display applications. Here, we present snapshots of the research carried out on emerging applications of LCs ranging from electronics to holography and self-powered systems. In addition, we will show our recent results focused on the development of new LC applications, such as programmable transistors, a transparent and active-type two-dimensional optical array and self-powered display systems based on LCs, and will briefly discuss their novel concepts and basic operating principles. Our research will give insights not only into comprehensively understanding technical and scientific applications of LCs, but also developing new discoveries of other LC-based devices

Soft tissue thickness for placement of an orthodontic miniscrew using an ultrasonic device.

Objectives: To evaluate area- and gender-related differences in the soft tissue thickness of potential areas for installing miniscrews in the buccal-attached gingiva and the palatal masticatory mucosa. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 61 Korean young adults. An ultrasonic gingival-thickness meter was used to measure the soft-tissue thickness in the buccal-attached gingiva just adjacent to the mucogingival junction of the upper and lower arches and 4 mm and 8 mm below the gingival crest in the palatal masticatory mucosa. Independent t-test, paired t-test, and one-way analysis of variance were used for statistical analysis. Results: Buccal-attached gingiva thickness in the upper arch was significantly greater in men than in women, but buccal-attached gingiva thickness in the lower arch and palatal masticatory mucosa thickness 4 and 8 mm below the gingival crest did not show gender differences. Significantly thicker soft tissue occurred in the anterior areas in the upper arch and in the posterior areas in the lower arch. In the palatal masticatory mucosa, significantly thicker soft tissue was found 4 mm below the gingival crest in the anterior areas and 8 mm below the gingival crest in the posterior areas. The areas between the canines and the premolars showed higher values than other areas 4 mm below the gingival crest. However, the soft-tissue thickness 8 mm below the gingival crest showed a progressive increase from the anterior to the posterior areas. Conclusion: Measurements of the soft-tissue thickness using an ultrasonic device could help practitioners select the proper orthodontic miniscrew in daily clinical practice

Soft tissue thickness for placement of an orthodontic miniscrew using an ultrasonic device

Objectives: To evaluate area- and gender-related differences in the soft tissue thickness of potential areas for installing miniscrews in the buccal-attached gingiva and the palatal masticatory mucosa. Materials and Methods: The sample consisted of 61 Korean young adults. An ultrasonic gingival-thickness meter was used to measure the soft-tissue thickness in the buccal-attached gingiva just adjacent to the mucogingival junction of the upper and lower arches and 4 mm and 8 mm below the gingival crest in the palatal masticatory mucosa. Independent t-test, paired t-test, and one-way analysis of variance were used for statistical analysis. Results: Buccal-attached gingiva thickness in the upper arch was significantly greater in men than in women, but buccal-attached gingiva thickness in the lower arch and palatal masticatory mucosa thickness 4 and 8 mm below the gingival crest did not show gender differences. Significantly thicker soft tissue occurred in the anterior areas in the upper arch and in the posterior areas in the lower arch. In the palatal masticatory mucosa, significantly thicker soft tissue was found 4 mm below the gingival crest in the anterior areas and 8 mm below the gingival crest in the posterior areas. The areas between the canines and the premolars showed higher values than other areas 4 mm below the gingival crest. However, the soft-tissue thickness 8 mm below the gingival crest showed a progressive increase from the anterior to the posterior areas. Conclusion: Measurements of the soft-tissue thickness using an ultrasonic device could help practitioners select the proper orthodontic miniscrew in daily clinical practice.

Wireless thin film transistor based on micro magnetic induction coupling antenna

A wireless thin film transistor (TFT) structure in which a source/drain or a gate is connected directly to a micro antenna to receive or transmit signals or power can be an important building block, acting as an electrical switch, a rectifier or an amplifier, for various electronics as well as microelectronics, since it allows simple connection with other devices, unlike conventional wire connections. An amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (α-IGZO) TFT with magnetic antenna structure was fabricated and studied for this purpose. To enhance the induction coupling efficiency while maintaining the same small antenna size, a magnetic core structure consisting of Ni and nanowires was formed under the antenna. With the micro-antenna connected to a source/drain or a gate of the TFT, working electrical signals were well controlled. The results demonstrated the device as an alternative solution to existing wire connections which cause a number of problems in various fields such as flexible/wearable devices, body implanted devices, micro/nano robots, and sensors for the 'internet of things' (IoT).1

The positive feedback loop between Nrf2 and phosphogluconate dehydrogenase stimulates proliferation and clonogenicity of human hepatoma cells

© 2020, © 2020 Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group.Recent studies report that nuclear factor-erythroid-2-related factor 2 (Nrf2) facilitates tumor progression through metabolic reprogramming in cancer cells. However, the molecular mechanism underlying the oncogenic functions of Nrf2 is not yet well understood. Some of the pentose phosphate pathway (PPP) enzymes are considered to play a role in the cancer progression. The present study was intended to explore the potential role of phosphogluconate dehydrogenase (PGD), one of the PPP enzymes, in the proliferation and migration of human hepatoma HepG2 cells. Genetic ablation of Nrf2 attenuated the expression of PGD at both transcriptional and translational levels. Notably, Nrf2 regulates the transcription of PGD through direct binding to the antioxidant response element in its promoter region. Nrf2 overexpression in HepG2 cells led to increased proliferation, survival, and migration, and these events were suppressed by silencing PGD. Interestingly, knockdown of the gene encoding this enzyme not only attenuated the proliferation and clonogenicity of HepG2 cells but also downregulated the expression of Nrf2. Thus, there seems to exist a positive feedback loop between Nrf2 and PGD which is exploited by hepatoma cells for their proliferation and survival. Treatment of HepG2 cells with ribulose-5-phosphate, a catalytic product of PGD, gave rise to a concentration-dependent upregulation of Nrf2. Collectively, the current study shows that Nrf2 promotes hepatoma cell growth and progression, partly through induction of PGD transcription.

Electrical transport between epitaxial manganites and carbon nanotubes

The possibility of performing spintronics at the molecular level may be realized in devices that combine fully spin polarized oxides such as manganites with carbon nanotubes. However, it is not clear whether electrical transport between such different material systems is viable. Here we show that the room temperature conductance of manganite-nanotube-manganite devices is only half the value recorded in similar palladium-nanotube-palladium devices. Interestingly, the former shows a pseudogap in the conductivity below the relatively high temperature of 200 K. Our results suggest the possibility of new spintronics heterostructures that exploit fully spin polarized sources and drains

Dataset on electro-optically tunable smart-supercapacitors based on oxygen-excess nanograin tungsten oxide thin film

The dataset presented here is related to the research article entitled ???Highly Efficient Electro-optically Tunable Smart-supercapacitors Using an Oxygen-excess Nanograin Tungsten Oxide Thin Film??? (Akbar et al., 2017) [9] where we have presented a nanograin WO3 film as a bifunctional electrode for smart supercapacitor devices. In this article we provide additional information concerning nanograin tungsten oxide thin films such as atomic force microscopy, Raman spectroscopy, and X-ray diffraction spectroscopy. Moreover, their electrochemical properties such as cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical supercapacitor properties, and electrochromic properties including coloration efficiency, optical modulation and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy are presented

A Nationwide Survey of Lymphangioleiomyomatosis in Korea: Recent Increase in Newly Diagnosed Patients

In 2007, the Korean Interstitial Lung Disease Society had collected clinical data of patients who have diagnosed as Lymphangioleiomyomatosis (LAM) since 1990 through nationwide survey, which showed that LAM patients had increased sharply after 2004. The present study was performed to show the clinical features of Korean patients with LAM, and to establish the reason for the recent increase in the diagnosis. All 63 patients were women and the mean age at diagnosis was 36 yr. The most common presenting symptom was dyspnea and 8 patients had tuberous sclerosis complex. The survival rate at 5 yr after diagnosis was 84%. Compared with patients diagnosed after 2004 (n=34), the patients diagnosed before 2004 (n=29) complained with dyspnea more (P=0.016) and had lower FEV1% predicted (P=0.003), and DLco% predicted (P=0.042). The higher proportion of patients diagnosed after 2004 showed the normal chest radiography, and they were detected by routine chest CT screening (P=0.016). This study showed that clinical features of Korean patients with LAM were not different from those reported elsewhere. It is concluded that the reason for the increase of newly diagnosed patients is the result of increase in detection of the early stage LAM by the widespread use of chest CT screening