The impact from social capital of university on the cultivation of student quality

students' quality is the core competitiveness of universities, and the cultivation of students' quality not only depends on the school's teaching and research level, but also on the university’s social capital. In this paper, Social capital of university is classified into structural social capital, relation social capital and cognitive social capital. These points are put forward which structural social capital influences the cultivation of student by providing social practice opportunity, relationship social capital affecting it by these activities organized by student organization, cognitive social capital influencing it through the culture of universities

SiGeC Near Infrared Photodetectors

A near infrared waveguide photodetector in Si-based ternary Si₁âxâyGexCy alloy was demonstrated for 0.85~1.06 µm wavelength fiber-optic interconnection system applications. Two sets of detectors with active absorption layer compositions of Si₀.₇₉Ge₀.₂C₀.₀₁ and Si₀.₇₀Ge₀.₂₈C₀.₀₂ were designed. The active absorption layer has a thickness of 120~450 nm. The external quantum efficiency can reach ~3% with a cut-off wavelength of around 1.2 µm.Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA

Determination of complex optical constants and photovoltaic device design of all-inorganic CsPbBr₃ perovskite thin films

All-inorganic perovskites exhibit interesting properties and unprecedented stability compared to organic-inorganic hybrid lead halide perovskites. This work focuses on depositing and characterizing cesium lead bromide (CsPbBr3) thin films and determining their complex optical constants, which is a key requirement for photovoltaic device design. CsPbBr3 thin films are synthesized via the solution method followed by a hot-embossing step to reduce surface roughness. Variable angle spectroscopic ellipsometry measurements are then conducted at three angles (45°, 55°, and 65°) to obtain the ellipsometric parameters psi (Ψ) and delta (Δ). For the present model, bulk planar CsPbBr3 layer is described by a one-dimensional graded index model combined with the mixture of one Tauc-Lorentz oscillator and two Gaussian oscillators, while an effective medium approximation with 50% air void is adopted to describe surface roughness layer. The experimental complex optical constants are finally determined in the wavelength range of 300 to 1100 nm. Furthermore, as a design example demonstration, the simulations of single-junction CsPbBr3 solar cells are conducted via the finite-difference time-domain method to investigate the properties of light absorption and photocurrent density

Abnormalities in circulating plasmacytoid dendritic cells in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus

Introduction: Dendritic cells (DCs) are capable of inducing immunity or tolerance. Previous studies have suggested plasmacytoid DCs (pDCs) are pathogenic in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). However, the functional characteristics of directly isolated peripheral circulating blood pDCs in SLE have not been evaluated previously.Methods: Peripheral blood pDCs from 62 healthy subjects and 58 SLE patients were treated with apoptotic cells derived from polymorphonuclear cells (PMNs). Antigen loaded or unloaded pDCs were then co-cultured with autologous or allogenous T cells. Changes in T cell proliferation, cell surface CD25 expression, intracellular Foxp3 expression and cytokine production were evaluated. pDCs that had captured apoptotic PMNs (pDCs + apoPMNs were also studied for their cytokine production (interferon (IFN)-alpha, interleukin (IL)-6, IL-10, IL-18) and toll like receptor (TLR) expression.Results: Circulating pDCs from SLE patients had an increased ability to stimulate T cells when compared with control pDCs. Using allogenous T cells as responder cells, SLE pDCs induced T cell proliferation even in the absence of apoptotic PMNs. In addition, healthy pDCs + apoPMNs induced suppressive T regulatory cell features with increased Foxp3 expression in CD4 + CD25 + cells while SLE pDCs + apoPMNs did not. There were differences in the cytokine profile of pDCs that had captured apoptotic PMNs between healthy subjects and patients with SLE. Healthy pDCs + apoPMNs showed decreased production of IL-6 but no significant changes in IL-10 and IL-18. These pDCs + apoPMNs also showed increased mRNA transcription of TLR9. On the other hand, while SLE pDCs + apoPMNs also had decreased IL-6, there was decreased IL-18 mRNA expression and persistent IL-10 protein synthesis. In addition, SLE pDCs lacked TLR9 recruitment.Conclusions: We have demonstrated that peripheral circulating pDCs in patients with SLE were functionally abnormal. They lacked TLR9 expression, were less capable of inducing regulatory T cell differentiation and had persistent IL-10 mRNA expression following the capture of apoptotic PMNs. We suggest circulating pDCs may be pathogenically relevant in SLE. © 2010 Jin et al.; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.published_or_final_versio

Effect of Enhanced Squeezing Needle Structure on the Jetting Performance of a Piezostack-Driven Dispenser.

Advanced dispensing technology is urgently needed to improve the jetting performance of fluid to meet the requirements of electronic product integration and miniaturization. In this work, an on-off valve piezostack-driven dispenser was used as a study object to investigate the effect of needle structure on jetting performance. Based on fluid dynamics, we investigated nozzle cavity pressure and jet velocity during the dispensing process using theoretical simulation for needles with and without a side cap. The results showed that the needle with a side cap had larger jet velocity and was capable of generating 8.27 MPa of pressure in the nozzle cavity, which was 2.39 times larger than the needle without a side cap. Further research on the influence of the nozzle and needle structural parameters showed that a nozzle conic angle of 85°-105°, needle conic angle of 10°-35°, and side clearance of 0.1-0.3 mm produced a dispenser with a large jet velocity and stable performance, capable of dispensing microscale droplets. Finally, a smaller droplet diameter of 0.42 mm was achieved in experiments using a glycerol/ethanol mixture, with a variation range of ± 4.61%

Enhancement of Sm3+emission by SnO2nanocrystals in the silica matrix

Silica xerogels containing Sm3+ions and SnO2nanocrystals were prepared in a sol–gel process. The image of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) shows that the SnO2nanocrystals are dispersed in the silica matrix. The X-ray diffraction (XRD) of the sample confirms the tetragonal phase of SnO2. The xerogels containing SnO2nanocrystals and Sm3+ions display the characteristic emission of Sm3+ions (4G5/2 → 6HJ(J = 5/2, 7/2, 9/2)) at the excitation of 335 nm which energy corresponds to the energy gap of the SnO2nanocrystals, while no emission of Sm3+ions can be observed for the samples containing Sm3+ions. The enhancement of the Sm3+emission is probably due to the energy transfer from SnO2nanocrystals to Sm3+ions

Unlocking the mystery of the hard-to-sequence phage genome: PaP1 methylome and bacterial immunity

BACKGROUND: Whole-genome sequencing is an important method to understand the genetic information, gene function, biological characteristics and survival mechanisms of organisms. Sequencing large genomes is very simple at present. However, we encountered a hard-to-sequence genome of Pseudomonas aeruginosa phage PaP1. Shotgun sequencing method failed to complete the sequence of this genome. RESULTS: After persevering for 10 years and going over three generations of sequencing techniques, we successfully completed the sequence of the PaP1 genome with a length of 91,715 bp. Single-molecule real-time sequencing results revealed that this genome contains 51 N-6-methyladenines and 152 N-4-methylcytosines. Three significant modified sequence motifs were predicted, but not all of the sites found in the genome were methylated in these motifs. Further investigations revealed a novel immune mechanism of bacteria, in which host bacteria can recognise and repel modified bases containing inserts in a large scale. This mechanism could be accounted for the failure of the shotgun method in PaP1 genome sequencing. This problem was resolved using the nfi(-) mutant of Escherichia coli DH5α as a host bacterium to construct a shotgun library. CONCLUSIONS: This work provided insights into the hard-to-sequence phage PaP1 genome and discovered a new mechanism of bacterial immunity. The methylome of phage PaP1 is responsible for the failure of shotgun sequencing and for bacterial immunity mediated by enzyme Endo V activity; this methylome also provides a valuable resource for future studies on PaP1 genome replication and modification, as well as on gene regulation and host interaction. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1186/1471-2164-15-803) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

A Comparative Study of Systolic and Diastolic Mechanical Synchrony in Canine, Primate, and Healthy and Failing Human Hearts.

Aim: Mechanical dyssynchrony (MD) is associated with heart failure (HF) and may be prognostically important in cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT). Yet, little is known about its patterns in healthy or diseased hearts. We here investigate and compare systolic and diastolic MD in both right (RV) and left ventricles (LV) of canine, primate and healthy and failing human hearts. Methods and Results: RV and LV mechanical function were examined by pulse-wave Doppler in 15 beagle dogs, 59 rhesus monkeys, 100 healthy human subjects and 39 heart failure (HF) patients. This measured RV and LV pre-ejection periods (RVPEP and LVPEP) and diastolic opening times (Q-TVE and Q-MVE). The occurrence of right (RVMDs) and left ventricular systolic mechanical delay (LVMDs) was assessed by comparing RVPEP and LVPEP values. That of right (RVMDd) and left ventricular diastolic mechanical delay (LVMDd) was assessed from the corresponding diastolic opening times (Q-TVE and Q-MVE). These situations were quantified by values of interventricular systolic (IVMDs) and diastolic mechanical delays (IVMDd), represented as positive if the relevant RV mechanical events preceded those in the LV. Healthy hearts in all species examined showed greater LV than RV delay times and therefore positive IVMDs and IVMDd. In contrast a greater proportion of the HF patients showed both markedly increased IVMDs and negative IVMDd, with diastolic mechanical asynchrony negatively correlated with LVEF. Conclusion: The present IVMDs and IVMDd findings have potential clinical implications particularly for personalized setting of parameter values in CRT in individual patients to achieve effective treatment of HF