Study on TMD/Graphene Based Film Fabrication and Its Applications

Department of Energy Engineeringincluding Langmuir Blodgett, spin coating, spray coating and simple filtration method on Anodisc After annealing as-prepared GO film or using hydrazine reduction method to reduce as reduced graphene oxide (rGO), thin TMDs film was placed on rGO film by using spin coating or spray coating. In addition, membrane method we developed enables to fabricate thin film by simple filtration. The filtration is implemented with a target material to make a film on Anodisc. Then, the produced films were floated on the surface of KOH to remove Anodisc. Finally, it was able to be transferred to any substrate needed. The films were characterized by SEM, AFM, Raman and UV-Vis, which reveals that the TMD film was uniformly distributed on any substrate which is including another film fabricated by the same membrane method. We also demonstrated that the coverage of TMD on the substrate or film can be controlled by mass of the material in filtration step. We believe that further work with optimization of the photoelectrode structure will significantly enhance photocurrent efficiencies. Therefore, the future possibility to have hydrogen energy at a low cost, with clean material to the environment, seems to be closer, since most of the demands for an appropriate hydrogen evolution material are achieved by TMDs.The production of hydrogen by photocatalytic water splitting has attracted much, recently. Photocatalytic material requires two characteristics, capability of exciton generation and catalytic surface for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER). Since transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) satisfy these requirements, it has been investigated for their application as photocatalyst over the past few decades. The most popular TMD material, MoS2, has a two different crystal phase, 1T- and 2H- MoS2, and they have metallic- and semiconducting-properties, respectively. 1T-MoS2 shows outstanding catalytic effect for HER, and exfoliated 2H-MoS2 has a direct band-gap for light absorption. However, the photocatalytic efficiency of such TMDs nanosheets for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) is still not enough for the practical use as catalyst, which is supposed to be caused by the inevitable restacking TMDs nanosheets during electrode preparation process. Moreover, the low conductivity of TMDs impedes the electrons transport upon HER. MoS2 based heterostructure with high conducting material has been regarded as a candidate to overcome these limitations. Therefore, the development of for scalable fabrication methods for MoS2 based heterostructure remains as an important challenge in TMD-based research field. Here, we present a facile synthetic method to fabricate TMD electrode on transparent electrode indium tin oxide (ITO) for PEC and characterization of TMD-based hybrid thin film. Monolayer of graphene oxide (GO) and MoS2 sheets were prepared by modified hummers method and n-butyllithium intercalation method, respectively. Then, TMD-based films were deposited on ITO substrate by several methodsope

Numerical analysis of high-index nanocomposite encapsulant for light-emitting diodes

We used two-dimensional Finte-Difference-Time-Domain (FDTD) software to study the transition behavior of nano-particles from scatterers to an optically uniform medium. We measured the transmission efficiency of the dipole source, which is located in the high refractive index medium(index=2.00) and encapsulated by low index resin(index=1.41). In an effort to compose index-matched resin and to reduce internal reflection, high-index nano-particles are added to low-index resin in simulations of various sizes and densities. As the size of the nano-particles and the average spacing between particles are reduced to 0.02 lambda and 0.07 lambda respectively, the transmission efficiency improves two-fold compared to that without nanoparticles. The numerical results can be used to understand the optical behavior of nano-particles and to improve the extraction efficiency of high brightness light-emitting-diodes(LEDs), through the use of nano-composite encapsulant.Comment: 9 pages, 5 jpg figure

Inhibition of methane and natural gas hydrate formation by altering the structure of water with amino acids

Natural gas hydrates are solid hydrogen-bonded water crystals containing small molecular gases. The amount of natural gas stored as hydrates in permafrost and ocean sediments is twice that of all other fossil fuels combined. However, hydrate blockages also hinder oil/gas pipeline transportation, and, despite their huge potential as energy sources, our insufficient understanding of hydrates has limited their extraction. Here, we report how the presence of amino acids in water induces changes in its structure and thus interrupts the formation of methane and natural gas hydrates. The perturbation of the structure of water by amino acids and the resulting selective inhibition of hydrate cage formation were observed directly. A strong correlation was found between the inhibition efficiencies of amino acids and their physicochemical properties, which demonstrates the importance of their direct interactions with water and the resulting dissolution environment. The inhibition of methane and natural gas hydrate formation by amino acids has the potential to be highly beneficial in practical applications such as hydrate exploitation, oil/gas transportation, and flow assurance. Further, the interactions between amino acids and water are essential to the equilibria and dynamics of many physical, chemical, biological, and environmental processes.11Ysciescopu

Severe Acneiform Eruption Induced by Cetuximab (Erbitux®)

Epidermal growth factor has an important role in the regulation of proliferation and differentiation in epidermal keratinocytes, as well as in the survival, angiogenesis and metastasis of cancer cells. Cetuximab is a chimeric monoclonal antibody selective for the epidermal growth factor receptor that induces a broad range of cellular responses that enhance tumor sensitivity to radiotherapy and chemotherapeutic agents. However, it can cause adverse events in the patient including acneiform eruption, asthenia, abdominal pain and nausea/vomiting. We report a case of severe acneiform eruption induced by cetuximab in a 56-year-old man with colorectal cancer and liver metastases

Radiofrequency Ablation of Thyroid Nodules: Basic Principles and Clinical Application

Radiofrequency (RF) ablation has been gaining popularity as a minimally invasive treatment for benign thyroid nodules regardless of the extent of the solid component. RF ablation of benign nodules demonstrated volume reductions of 33–58% after one month and 51–85% after six months, while solving nodule-related clinical problems. RF ablation has recently shown positive short-term results for locoregional control as well as symptom improvement in patients with recurrent thyroid cancers. This paper reviews the basic physics, indications, patient preparation, devices, procedures, clinical results, and complications of RF ablation

Prediction of Advanced Fibrosis in Nonalcoholic Fatty Liver Disease: An Enhanced Model of BARD Score.

UNLABELLED: BACKGROUNDAIMS: The BARD score is a model to detect advanced liver fibrosis in nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) patients. The aims of this study were to identify additional factors and then to build an enhanced version of the BARD score. METHODS: One hundred seven patients with biopsy-proven NAFLD were enrolled retrospectively. Logistic regressions were performed to identify independent risk factors for advanced liver fibrosis (stage 3 or 4). An enhanced model of the BARD score (BARDI score) was built and evaluated with a receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve. RESULTS: In multivariate analysis, age (odds ratio [OR], 0.89; p=0.04), aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio (OR, 1.73; p CONCLUSIONS: The BARDI score had an improved PPV over the BARD score and maintained an excellent NPV. Further study is warranted for its external validation and comparison with other models

Mobile resistome of human gut and pathogen drives anthropogenic bloom of antibiotic resistance

BACKGROUND:The impact of human activities on the environmental resistome has been documented in many studies, but there remains the controversial question of whether the increased antibiotic resistance observed in anthropogenically impacted environments is just a result of contamination by resistant fecal microbes or is mediated by indigenous environmental organisms. Here, to determine exactly how anthropogenic influences shape the environmental resistome, we resolved the microbiome, resistome, and mobilome of the planktonic microbial communities along a single river, the Han, which spans a gradient of human activities. RESULTS:The bloom of antibiotic resistance genes (ARGs) was evident in the downstream regions and distinct successional dynamics of the river resistome occurred across the spatial continuum. We identified a number of widespread ARG sequences shared between the river, human gut, and pathogenic bacteria. These human-related ARGs were largely associated with mobile genetic elements rather than particular gut taxa and mainly responsible for anthropogenically driven bloom of the downstream river resistome. Furthermore, both sequence- and phenotype-based analyses revealed environmental relatives of clinically important proteobacteria as major carriers of these ARGs. CONCLUSIONS:Our results demonstrate a more nuanced view of the impact of anthropogenic activities on the river resistome: fecal contamination is present and allows the transmission of ARGs to the environmental resistome, but these mobile genes rather than resistant fecal bacteria proliferate in environmental relatives of their original hosts. Video abstract