Fabrication and photoluminescent characteristics of ZnO/Mg0.2Zn0.8O coaxial nanorod single quantum well structures

The authors report on fabrication and photoluminescent (PL) properties of ZnO/Mg0.2Zn0.8O coaxial nanorod quantum structures with various quantum well and barrier layer thicknesses. Employing catalyst-free metal-organic vapor-phase epitaxy, coaxial nanorod single quantum well structures were fabricated by the alternate heteroepitaxial growth of ZnO and Mg0.2Zn0.8O layers over the entire surfaces of the ZnO nanorods with fine thickness controls of the layers. The quantum confinement effect of carriers in coaxial nanorod quantum structures depends on the Mg0.2Zn0.8O quantum barrier layer thickness as well as the thickness of the ZnO quantum well layer. The temperature-dependent PL characteristics of the coaxial nanorod quantum structures are also discussed. (c) 2006 American Institute of Physics.open113638sciescopu

A Gaussian Bayesian model to identify spatio-temporal causalities for air pollution based on urban big data

Identifying the causalities for air pollutants and answering questions, such as, where do Beijing's air pollutants come from, are crucial to inform government decision-making. In this paper, we identify the spatio-temporal (ST) causalities among air pollutants at different locations by mining the urban big data. This is challenging for two reasons: 1) since air pollutants can be generated locally or dispersed from the neighborhood, we need to discover the causes in the ST space from many candidate locations with time efficiency; 2) the cause-and-effect relations between air pollutants are further affected by confounding variables like meteorology. To tackle these problems, we propose a coupled Gaussian Bayesian model with two components: 1) a Gaussian Bayesian Network (GBN) to represent the cause-and-effect relations among air pollutants, with an entropy-based algorithm to efficiently locate the causes in the ST space; 2) a coupled model that combines cause-and-effect relations with meteorology to better learn the parameters while eliminating the impact of confounding. The proposed model is verified using air quality and meteorological data from 52 cities over the period Jun 1st 2013 to May 1st 2015. Results show superiority of our model beyond baseline causality learning methods, in both time efficiency and prediction accuracy. © 2016 IEEE.postprintLink_to_subscribed_fulltex

Manipulating task constraints shapes emergence of herding tendencies in team games performance

The herding phenomenon is observed in nature and has been perceived to be less desirable use of space in impacting overall team play performance. The effective manipulating of rules and task constraints might be able to alter herding tendencies in sport performance. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of altering task constraints on herding tendencies, measured with the use of cluster phase analysis, which has also been used to analyse the synchrony exhibited by performers in invasion games such as professional association football matches. In this study, tracking positional data of individual players in a simulated pass and catch game was undertaken, with no specific verbal instructions provided to participants on how and where to move so that emergent behavioural tendencies could be observed. Data revealed how task constraint manipulations impacted on herding tendencies. Manipulation of task constraints revealed higher levels of clustering tendencies in the herding condition compared to, the non-herding condition. Within the herding condition, between-team synchrony was also strong, especially in the longitudinal direction. Ball possession also seemed to have some impact on within-team synchrony. Findings provided preliminary evidence on how manipulating task constraints can be effective in altering herding tendencies in team games

Quantum confinement effect in ZnO/Mg0.2Zn0.8O multishell nanorod heterostructures

We report on photoluminescence measurements of Mg0.2Zn0.8O/ZnO/Mg0.2Zn0.8O multishell layers on ZnO core nanorods. Dominant excitonic emissions in the photoluminescence spectra show a blueshift depending on the ZnO shell layer thickness attributed to the quantum confinement effect in the nanorod heterostructure radial direction. Furthermore, near-field scanning optical microscopy clearly shows sharp photoluminescence peaks from the individual nanorod quantum structures, corresponding to subband levels.open114747sciescopu

A Novel Single-Dose Dengue Subunit Vaccine Induces Memory Immune Responses

To protect against dengue viral infection, a novel lipidated dengue subunit vaccine was rationally designed to contain the consensus amino acid sequences derived from four serotypes of dengue viruses. We found that the lipidated consensus dengue virus envelope protein domain III (LcED III) is capable of activating antigen-presenting cells and enhancing cellular and humoral immune responses. A single-dose of LcED III immunization in mice without extra adjuvant formulation is sufficient to elicit neutralizing antibodies against all four serotypes of dengue viruses. In addition, strong memory responses were elicited in mice immunized with a single-dose of LcED III. Quick, anamnestic neutralizing antibody responses to a live dengue virus challenge were elicited at week 28 post-immunization. These results demonstrate the promising possibility of a future successful tetravalent vaccine against dengue viral infections that utilizes one-dose vaccination with LcED III

Recombinant lipidated dengue-4 envelope protein domain III elicits protective immunity

AbstractThe combination of recombinant protein antigens with an immunostimulator has the potential to greatly increase the immunogenicity of recombinant protein antigens. In the present study, we selected the dengue-4 envelope protein domain III as a dengue vaccine candidate and expressed the protein in lipidated form using an Escherichia coli-based system. The recombinant lipidated dengue-4 envelope protein domain III folded into the proper conformation and competed with the dengue-4 virus for cellular binding sites. Mice immunized with lipidated dengue-4 envelope protein domain III without exogenous adjuvant had higher frequencies of dengue-4 envelope protein domain III-specific B cells secreting antibodies than mice immunized with the nonlipidated form. Importantly, lipidated dengue-4 envelope protein domain III-immunized mice demonstrated a durable neutralizing antibody response and had reduced viremia levels after challenge. The study demonstrates that lipidated dengue-4 envelope protein domain III is immunogenic and may be a potential dengue vaccine candidate. Furthermore, the lipidation strategy can be applied to other serotypes of dengue virus

An interdisciplinary intervention for older Taiwanese patients after surgery for hip fracture improves health-related quality of life

Abstract Background The effects of intervention programs on health-related quality of life (HRQOL) of patients with hip fracture have not been well studied. We hypothesized that older patients with hip fracture who received our interdisciplinary intervention program would have better HRQOL than those who did not. Methods A randomized experimental design was used. Older patients with hip fracture (N = 162), 60 to 98 years old, from a medical center in northern Taiwan were randomly assigned to an experimental (n = 80) or control (n = 82) group. HRQOL was measured by the SF-36 Taiwan version at 1, 3, 6, and 12 months after discharge. Results The experimental group had significantly better overall outcomes in bodily pain (β = 9.38, p = 0.002), vitality (β = 9.40, p < 0.001), mental health (β = 8.16, p = 0.004), physical function (β = 16.01, p < 0.001), and role physical (β = 22.66, p < 0.001) than the control group at any time point during the first year after discharge. Physical-related health outcomes (physical functioning, role physical, and vitality) had larger treatment effects than emotional/mental- and social functioning-related health outcomes. Conclusions This interdisciplinary intervention program may improve health outcomes of elders with hip fracture. Our results may provide a reference for health care providers in countries using similar programs with Chinese/Taiwanese immigrant populations. Trial registration NCT01052636http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78259/1/1471-2474-11-225.xmlhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/78259/2/1471-2474-11-225.pdfPeer Reviewe