Micro/Nano-Structuring of Medical Stainless Steel using Femtosecond Laser Pulses

AbstractThe medical stainless steel (SUS 304) surface is irradiated by femtosecond laser pulses with linear or circular polarization to form nanostructure-covered conical microstructures. The mean spacing of the conical microstructures and the type of the nanostructure can be controlled by the laser-processing parameters. The liquid test (water and normal-saline solution) demonstrates that the process provides a fast single-step structuring method to generate hydrophobic-enhanced metal parts. The biocompatibility test demonstrated that the femtosecond laser micro/nano- structuring surfaces have excellent biocompatibility properties compared to an untreated surface

PLATELET DYSFUNCTION IN PATIENTS WITH MDS AND ITP

Background. Hemorrhagic complications are frequent and among the leading causes of death in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS). Not only thrombocytopenia, but also platelet function abnormalities contribute to bleeding tendency of MDS patients. However, no published studies comprehensively evaluated several parameters of platelet function, including the measurement of the platelet levels of cyclic AMP (cAMP), which is an effective inhibitor of platelet function. In this case-control study, we aimed to comprehensively assess in vitro platelet function of patients with MDS of any IPSS risk category. Methods. Patients diagnosed as MDS according to WHO guidelines and two control groups, primary Immune ThrombocytoPenia (ITP) patients and healthy subjects were consecutively recruited. Platelet aggregation and secretion in platelet rich plasma (PRP) with platelet count >150x109/L were induced by adenosine diphosphate (ADP) (2\ub5M), epinephrine (5\ub5M), thrombin receptor-activating peptide (TRAP) (10\ub5M), synthetic reactive peptide (SRP) (4 ng/mL), collagen reactive peptide (CRP) 0.1\ub5g/mL , Horm collagen (2\ub5g/mL) and arachidonic acid (AA) (1 mM) and measured by lumi-aggregometry. In addition, the effect of Prostaglandin E1 (PGE1) (0.1\ub5M) was tested in collagen-induced platelet aggregation. Intraplatelet cAMP content was measured by an ELISA assay in extracts of PRP containing theophylline (1 mM), incubated with PGE1 (1 or 0.1 \ub5M) or Tyrode\u2019s buffer alone for 2 minutes. Differences among the three groups were analyzed by Kruskal-Wallis and Dunn's multiple comparisons test. Results. 32 MDS (male=22), 26 ITP (male=12) patients, and 54 healthy subjects (male=26) were enrolled. Platelet aggregation measured in PRP samples induced by all agonists was significantly lower in MDS patients than in healthy control group, but there was no difference between ITP and healthy subjects. The platelet aggregates formation induced by collagen was significantly decreased in presence of PGE1 (0.1uM) in all groups. The extent of decrease was significantly higher in MDS patients than in the other two groups while Intraplatelet cAMP production induced by PGE1 (0.1uM and 1 uM) were similar in MDS patients, ITP patients and healthy controls. Conclusion: MDS patients showed dysfunctional platelets while ITP patients showed relatively normal function platelets

Understanding the Gap between Website Value and Consumer Shopping Orientation: An Application of Task-Technology Fit Theory to Online shopping Values

Value judgments, such as functional, emotional, utilitarian, and hedonic values have received considerable attention in recent years. However, research on these interrelationships has been somewhat limited in online shopping, particularly in regards to the gap between website values versus consumer shopping orientations. The purpose of this research is to propose and empirically test a conceptual framework that incorporates the interrelationships of website values, shopping satisfaction, and repurchase intention into framework and validate them in a B2C online shopping context. Specifically, we examine the moderating role of consumer shopping orientations in the impact of website values on shopping satisfaction. Our results suggest that the impact of website values on shopping satisfaction is negatively moderated by consumer shopping orientations. Therefore, functional and emotional values are probably necessary but are an insufficient precondition for cultivating shopping satisfaction. Moreover, consumer hedonic orientation plays a slightly higher influence on shopping satisfaction than utilitarian orientation. Understanding these factors can provide direction for planning website features as well as consumer desired values that will increase shopping satisfaction and repurchase intention

Willingness to Continue with Software Projects: Effects of Feedback Direction and Optimism under High and Low Accountability Conditions

The willingness of managers to continue with software projects can be both beneficial and troubling. Management optimism can help bring promising projects to fruition, but can also cause valuable resources to be expended on faltering projects. This study examines three factors that can affect the willingness of managers to continue with software projects: feedback direction, feedback optimism, and accountability. Feedback direction is the objective information reflecting project prospects. Feedback optimism is the subjective mode with which the objective information has been framed. Accountability is the extent to which the manager feels responsible for project outcomes. Results of a study that manipulated these three factors showed that the effects of feedback direction and feedback optimism on willingness to continue with software projects were additive (either factor alone affected willingness to continue with software projects) when accountability was high but were interactive (both factors jointly affected willingness to continue with software projects) when accountability was low. These findings have useful implications for practice and further research

Experimental study on a new type floating breakwater

In the article, a new type floating breakwater is proposed based on comparing the performance of different kinds of floating breakwater that include pontoon type breakwater, scrap tire breakwater, mat float type breakwater etc. The outstanding feature of the new type breakwater is that damping at bottom of breakwater can increase wave energy dissipation and decrease coefficient of wave transmission and reflection. The relative width and relative submergence depth (the ratio of width to wave length W/L and submergence depth to wave length D/L) on the performance of the breakwater are discussed based on a series of physical model test in flume. The relationship between critical transmission coefficient (Ct=0.5) and relative width is given by experiment. In the actual design and application process, the various parameters are not independent, so the relationship between transmission coefficient and different parameters is analyzed in this paper

Cooling Properties of Cloudy Bag Strange Stars

As the chiral symmetry is widely recognized as an important driver of the strong interaction dynamics, current strange stars models based on MIT bag models do not obey such symmetry. We investigate properties of bare strange stars using the Cloudy Bag Model, in which a pion cloud coupled to the quark-confining bag is introduced such that chiral symmetry is conserved. We find that in this model the decay of pions is a very efficient cooling way. In fact it can carry out most the thermal energy in a few milliseconds and directly convert them into 100MeV photons via pion decay. This may be a very efficient $\gamma$-ray burst mechanism. Furthermore, the cooling behavior may provide a possible way to distinguish a compact object between a neutron star, MIT strange star and Cloudy Bag strange star in observations.Comment: 23 pages, 14 figures, accepted by Astroparticle Physics, abstract appeared here has been shortene

Comparison of genetic diversity and growth traits among Fangzheng silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio) gynogenetic clones

The silver crucian carp (Carassius auratus gibelio), a gynogenetic teleost, is a promising model for the study of evolutionary genetics in vertebrates. We identified ten gynogenetic clones (FZ-I~FZ-X) from triploid silver crucian carp, collected from Fangzheng County in Heilongjiang Province, China, using microsatellite markers. The genetic diversity of these gynogenetic clones was analyzed using 52 microsatellite markers. A total of 413 alleles were detected and the length of fragments ranged from 96 to 340 bp. The number of alleles per locus varied from 2~19 (mean=7.9423). The observed heterozygosity at polymorphic loci ranged from 0.10~1.00 (mean=0.80). The average allele count per gynogenetic clone ranged from 1.9423~2.1923. The ratio of the polymorphic locus was from 71.15% (VII) to 84.61% (IX) per clone. The number of genotypes ranged from 2~10 per locus. Ten genotypes were observed by analyzing each of 14 microsatellites. As a result, each gynogenetic clone could be accurately identified. In addition, the growth traits, including body weight, length, and height, among five gynogenetic clones were compared. There was a significant difference among gynogenetic clones. Clone FZ-V exhibited the best growth traits, with the largest body weight (53.17±5.24 g), length (11.38±0.37 cm) and height (4.69±0.18 cm). Our results provide basic data for the identification of silver crucian carp gynogenetic clones and can be used as a guide genetic breeding programs

A tetrahedrally coordinated cobalt(II) phosphonate with a three-dimensional framework containing two-dimensional channels

The structure of poly[caesium( I) [( mu(4)- ethylenediphosphonato) cobalt( II)]], {Cs[ Co( C2H5O6P2)]} (n), reveals a three- dimensional polymeric open framework consisting of tetrahedral Co II atoms coordinated by four different ethylenediphosphonate O atoms and intermolecular O - H center dot center dot center dot O hydrogen bonds. The largest open window is made of corner- sharing CoO4 and PO3C tetrahedra, giving 16membered rings of dimensions 9.677 ( 5) * 4.684 ( 4) angstrom(2). There are two independent ethylenediphosphonate ligands, each lying about an inversion centre

The cDNA-deduced primary structure of human sex hormone-binding globulin and location of its steroid-binding domain

AbstractWe have sequenced a cDNA for sex hormone-binding globulin (SHBG) isolated from a phage λgt 11 human liver cDNA library. The library was screened with a radiolabeled rat androgen-binding protein (ABP) cDNA, and the abundance of SHBG cDNAs was 1 in 750 000 plaques examined. The largest human SHBG cDNA (1194 base-pairs) contained a reading frame for 381 amino acids. This comprised 8 amino acids of a signal peptide followed by 373 residues starting with the known NH2-terminal sequence of human SHBG, and ending with a termination codon. The predicted polypeptide Mr of SHBG is 40 509, and sites of attachment of one O-linked (residue 7) and two N-linked oligosaccharide (residues 351 and 367) chains were identified. Purified SHBG was photoaffinity-labeled with Δ6-[3H]testosterone and cleaved with trypsin. The labeled tryptic fragment was isolated by reverse-phase HPLC, and its NH2-terminal sequence was determined. The results suggest that a portion of the steroid-binding domain of SHBG is located between residue 296 and the 35 predominantly hydrophilic residues at the C-terminus of the protein