Microstructure and Optical Properties of Tantalum Modified TiO2 Thin Films Prepared by the Sol-Gel Process

Tantalum doped TiO2 thin films ((TiO2)(1-x) (Ta2O5)(x), x = 0, 0.1%, 0.3%, 0.5%, 0.8%) were prepared on ITO-coated substrates by means of the sol gel method and spin coating technology followed by rapid thermal annealing treatment (RTA). The effects of various processing parameters, including Ta content (x = 0-0.8%) and annealing temperature, on the growth and properties of thin films were investigated. Structural characteristics by X-ray diffraction analysis indicated that the doping of Ta2O5 in the TiO2 without change the anatase structure of TiO2 thin films. The optical transmittance of (TiO2)(1-x) (Ta2O5) thin films decrease from 50% down to 20% with increasing the Ta2O5 concentrations from x = 0.00 to x = 0.8%. The absorption coefficient shows energy gap were decreased with increasing Ta2O5 content from 2.932 eV for x = 0.00 to 2.717 eV for x = 0.8%. Doping TiO2 with Ta2O5 can lower its band gap and shift its optical response to the visible region

Photoluminescence Properties of the Zn1-x Y (x) O Tubes Prepared by Polycarbonate Templates

We have prepared Zn1-x Y (x) O (x=0 and 0.01) tubes to study its structural and photoluminescent properties. A pore wetting process of porous polycarbonate templates with the liquid precursor and following thermal treatment were utilized for preparing the Zn1-x Y (x) O tube structure. Using the polycarbonate template with pore size of about 2 mu m diameter, the Zn1-x Y (x) O tubes were obtained. Photoluminescence (PL) spectroscopy was used to measure optical emissions from 350 to 650 nm with a He-Cd laser. The results of the PL spectra show that the Zn1-x Y (x) O tubes have evident emission peaks at the UV (about 380 nm) and visible (around 500 to 650 nm) region. The emission peak at the UV region was slightly shifted to higher wavelengths with increasing Y content. Meanwhile, the green and yellow emission peaks intensity increases as Y content increases. These results are explained by the structure tuning and oxygen deficiency with the introduction of Y

China Studies Review

In our first section, we introduce three short pieces that examine important issues in U.S.-China investment relations, public opinion in China and Japan, and the Hong Kong pro-democracy move-ment. Benjamin Pollock examines the progression of negotiations between the United States and China in adopting a high-quality bilateral investment treaty. Cheng Zhang uses data from Genron to understand the reasons behind mutual dis-trust between China and Japan. Adrienne Dalton looks at the role of Hong Kong triads in the suppression of the 2014 Hong Kong pro-democracy demonstrations. Our second section features six research articles covering a wide range of topics. Jakob Bund explores U.S.-China relations in cyberspace and provides an alternative framework by which the two countries can cooperate in the absence of trust. Patrick Lozada discusses China’s “creative indus-tries”, and the shortcomings of China’s creative special economic zones in foster-ing an innovation economy. David Rubin builds upon Bruce Gilley’s spectrum of democratic and authoritarian environ-mentalism and finds that in the context of environmental policymaking, China is transitioning towards more inclusivity and grassroots engagement. Peter Kim also examines China’s environmental policy and uses dust and sandstorms, also known as “yellow dust”, to examine the challenges and opportunities for environmental coop-eration in Northeast Asia. Shuxian Luo conducts a comparative analysis of China and India’s naval modernization efforts, noting that while China’s rapid economic development has spurred its naval modern-ization at a more rapid pace, there are other important elements such as differing threat perceptions and alliance options that help to explain India’s relative lag in naval mod-ernization. Finally, Winston Kung presents a Taiwan Straits crisis scenario analysis that examines the legal, diplomatic, strategic, and domestic opinion factors that would likely affect a U.S. response, concluding that U.S. diplomatic and military leverage would eventually lead China and Taiwan to de-escalate tensions in the region

PPARγ1 and LXRα face a new regulator of macrophage cholesterol homeostasis and inflammatory responsiveness, AEBP1

Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor γ1 (PPARγ1) and liver X receptor α (LXRα) are nuclear receptors that play pivotal roles in macrophage cholesterol homeostasis and inflammation; key biological processes in atherogenesis. The activation of PPARγ1 and LXRα by natural or synthetic ligands results in the transactivation of ABCA1, ABCG1, and ApoE; integral players in cholesterol efflux and reverse cholesterol transport. In this review, we describe the structure, isoforms, expression pattern, and functional specificity of PPARs and LXRs. Control of PPARs and LXRs transcriptional activity by coactivators and corepressors is also highlighted. The specific roles that PPARγ1 and LXRα play in inducing macrophage cholesterol efflux mediators and antagonizing macrophage inflammatory responsiveness are summarized. Finally, this review focuses on the recently reported regulatory functions that adipocyte enhancer-binding protein 1 (AEBP1) exerts on PPARγ1 and LXRα transcriptional activity in the context of macrophage cholesterol homeostasis and inflammation

Therapeutic targeting of ATR in alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma

Despite advances in multi-modal treatment approaches, clinical outcomes of patients suffering from PAX3-FOXO1 fusion oncogene-expressing alveolar rhabdomyosarcoma (ARMS) remain dismal. Here we show that PAX3-FOXO1-expressing ARMS cells are sensitive to pharmacological ataxia telangiectasia and Rad3 related protein (ATR) inhibition. Expression of PAX3-FOXO1 in muscle progenitor cells is not only sufficient to increase sensitivity to ATR inhibition, but PAX3-FOXO1-expressing rhabdomyosarcoma cells also exhibit increased sensitivity to structurally diverse inhibitors of ATR. Mechanistically, ATR inhibition leads to replication stress exacerbation, decreased BRCA1 phosphorylation and reduced homologous recombination-mediated DNA repair pathway activity. Consequently, ATR inhibitor treatment increases sensitivity of ARMS cells to PARP1 inhibition in vitro, and combined treatment with ATR and PARP1 inhibitors induces complete regression of primary patient-derived ARMS xenografts in vivo. Lastly, a genome-wide CRISPR activation screen (CRISPRa) in combination with transcriptional analyses of ATR inhibitor resistant ARMS cells identifies the RAS-MAPK pathway and its targets, the FOS gene family, as inducers of resistance to ATR inhibition. Our findings provide a rationale for upcoming biomarker-driven clinical trials of ATR inhibitors in patients suffering from ARMS

Post-capitalist property

When writing about property and property rights in his imagined post-capitalist society of the future, Marx seemed to envisage ‘individual property’ co-existing with ‘socialized property’ in the means of production. As the social and political consequences of faltering growth and increasing inequality, debt and insecurity gradually manifest themselves, and with automation and artificial intelligence lurking in the wings, the future of capitalism, at least in its current form, looks increasingly uncertain. With this, the question of what property and property rights might look like in the future, in a potentially post-capitalist society, is becoming ever more pertinent. Is the choice simply between private property and markets, and public (state-owned) property and planning? Or can individual and social property in the (same) means of production co-exist, as Marx suggested? This paper explores ways in which they might, through an examination of the Chinese household responsibility system (HRS) and the ‘fuzzy’ and seemingly confusing regime of land ownership that it instituted. It examines the HRS against the backdrop of Marx’s ideas about property and subsequent (post-Marx) theorizing about the legal nature of property in which property has come widely to be conceptualized not as a single, unitary ‘ownership’ right to a thing (or, indeed, as the thing itself) but as a ‘bundle of rights’. The bundle-of-rights idea of property, it suggests, enables us to see not only that ‘individual’ and ‘socialized’ property’ in the (same) means of production might indeed co-exist, but that the range of institutional possibility is far greater than that between capitalism and socialism/communism as traditionally conceived