Effect of Surface Wettability Properties on the Electrical Properties of Printed Carbon Nanotube Thin-Film Transistors on SiO₂/Si Substrates

The precise placement and efficient deposition of semiconducting single-walled carbon nanotubes (sc-SWCNTs) on substrates are challenges for achieving printed high-performance SWCNT thin-film transistors (TFTs) with independent gates. It was found that the wettability of the substrate played a key role in the electrical properties of TFTs for sc-SWCNTs sorted by poly­[(9,9-dioctylfluorene-2,7-diyl)-<i>co</i>-(1,4-benzo-2,1,3-thiadiazole)] (PFO-BT). In the present work we report a simple and scalable method which can rapidly and selectively deposit a high concentration of sc-SWCNTs in TFT channels by aerosol-jet-printing. The method is based on oxygen plasma treatment of substrates, which tunes the surface wettability. TFTs printed on the treated substrates demonstrated a low operation voltage, small hysteresis, high mobility up to 32.3 cm² V^–1 s^–1, and high on/off ratio up to 10⁶ after only two printings. Their mobilities were 10 and 30 times higher than those of TFTs fabricated on untreated and low-wettability substrates. The uniformity of printed TFTs was also greatly improved. Inverters were constructed by printed top-gate TFTs, and a maximum voltage gain of 17 at <i>V</i>_dd = 5 V was achieved. The mechanism of such improvements is that the PFO-BT-functionalized sc-SWCNTs are preferably immobilized on the oxygen plasma treated substrates due to the strong hydrogen bonds between sc-SWCNTs and hydroxyl groups on the substrates

Doxorubicin-Loaded Unimolecular Micelle-Stabilized Gold Nanoparticles as a Theranostic Nanoplatform for Tumor-Targeted Chemotherapy and Computed Tomography Imaging

Current research is mainly trending toward addressing the development of multifunctional nanocarriers that could precisely reach disease sites, release drugs in a controlled-manner, and act as an imaging agent for both diagnosis and targeted therapy. In this study, a pH-sensitive theranostic nanoplatform as a promising dual-functional nanovector for tumor therapy and computed tomography (CT) imaging was developed. The 21-arm star-like triblock polymer of β-cyclodextrin-{poly­(ε-caprolactone)-poly­(2-aminoethyl methacrylate)<i>-</i>poly­[poly­(ethylene glycol) methyl ether methacrylate]}₂₁ [β-CD-(PCL-PAEMA-PPEGMA)₂₁] with stable unimolecular micelles formed in aqueous solution was first synthesized by combined ROP with ARGET ATRP techniques and then was used as a template for fabricating gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) with uniform sizes and excellent colloidal stability in situ followed by the encapsulation of doxorubicin (DOX) with maximum entrapment efficiency up to 60% to generate the final product β-CD-(PCL-PAEMA-PPEGMA)₂₁/AuNPs/DOX. Furthermore, dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulations revealed further details of the formation process of unimolecular micelles and the morphologies and distributions of AuNPs and DOX. Almost 80% of DOX was released in 120 h in an acidic tumoral environment in an in vitro drug release experiment, and the experiments both in vitro and in vivo demonstrated the fact that β-CD-(PCL-PAEMA-PPEGMA)₂₁/AuNPs/DOX exhibited similar antitumor efficacy to free DOX and effective CT imaging performance. Therefore, we believe this structurally stable unimolecular micelle-based nanoplatform synergistically integrated with anticancer drug delivery and CT imaging capabilities hold great promise for future cancer theranostics

Comparison between the CEEMD and REST methods.

<p>(A) and (B) represent the group-mean frequency specific FC weighted networks of these two methods, namely CEEMD in current study and conventional rectangular window band-pass filter (REST), in each IMF component. (C) denotes the corresponding correlation maps between each pair of frequency specific FCNs using the two methods.</p

Small world properties in the frequency specific FCNs using REST.

<p>Fig 8 show the plot of global topological patterns of distinct frequency intervals (y-axis) separated by a conventional ideal rectangular window band-pass filter versus sparsity (x-axis). The meaning of these figures is the same as in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124681#pone.0124681.g003" target="_blank">Fig 3</a>.</p

Split-half reproducibility of the frequency dependent functional connectivity weighted networks.

<p>(A) and (B) represent the group-mean frequency specific FC weighted networks of two specific subgroups in each IMF component. (C) denotes the corresponding correlation maps between each pair of frequency specific FCNs in the two subgroups.</p

Schematic of frequency distribution and specificity of functional connectivity networks.

<p>Fig 2a represents the histograms of HWF of IMF1 to IMF5 using CEEMD (n = 161, <i>ε</i>₀ = 0.04), which is the same as <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124681#pone.0124681.g001" target="_blank">Fig 1d</a>. These IMFs occupy different frequency bands in a descending order (IMF1: 0.11–0.22 Hz; IMF2: 0.05–0.11 Hz; IMF3: 0.025–0.05 Hz; IMF4: 0.01–0.025 Hz; IMF5: 0–0.015 Hz, respectively). Fig 2b–2f denote the group-mean inter-regional correlation matrices of each IMF component (AAL template, 90×90 correlation matrix, only the positive value was presented), and the number from 1 to 90 represents the corresponding ROI in AAL template, for details, refer to <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124681#pone.0124681.t001" target="_blank">Table 1</a>.</p

Split-half reproducibility of global topological patterns in both subgroups.

<p>From top to bottom, subgroup1 and subgroup2 were presented respectively. Both subgroups had the similar patterns with the whole group results (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0124681#pone.0124681.g003" target="_blank">Fig 3</a>), showing that ultra-low frequency bands (IMF5) have both salient local and global connectivity patterns. The saliency of small-worldness dynamically covered different frequency bands at various density intervals.</p

Small world properties in the frequency specific FCNs.

<p>From Fig 3a to Fig 3e, each figure shows the plot of global topological patterns of distinct frequency intervals (y-axis) versus sparsity (x-axis), including the weighted degree, local network efficiency (locE), global network efficiency (gE), mean clustering coefficient (Cp) and shortest path length (Lp) respectively. The ratio Gamma (Fig 3f) and Lambda (Fig 3g) of five frequency specific FCNs showed a much higher Cp and identical Lp value, compared with closely matched random networks across much sparsity. The saliency of small-worldness, Sigma, dynamically covered different frequency bands at various density intervals. Specifically, small world architecture is prominent in the IMF1, IMF3 and IMF5 component at a range of density threshold from 0.05 to 0.12, 0.12 to 0.18, and 0.24 to 0.4, respectively.</p

Cortical and subcortical regions of interest defined in study.

<p>Cortical and subcortical regions of interest defined in study.</p

Domestication drive the changes of immune and digestive system of Eurasian perch (<i>Perca fluviatilis</i>)

<div><p>Domestication has altered a variety of traits within the Eurasian perch (<i>Perca fluviatilis</i>), including phenotypic, physiological and behavioral traits of Eurasian perch (<i>Perca fluviatilis</i>). Little is known, however, about the genetic changes between domesticated and wild Eurasian perch. In this study, we assembled a high-quality <i>de novo</i> reference transcriptome and identified differentially expressed genes between wild and domesticated Eurasian perch. A total of 113,709 transcripts were assembled, and 58,380 transcripts were annotated. Transcriptomic comparison revealed 630 differentially expressed genes between domesticated and wild Eurasian perch. Within domesticated Eurasian perch there were 412 genes that were up-regulated including <i>MHCI</i>, <i>MHCII</i>, <i>chia</i>, <i>ighm</i> within immune system development. There were 218 genes including <i>try1</i>, <i>ctrl</i>, <i>ctrb</i>, <i>cela3b</i>, <i>cpa1</i> and <i>cpb1</i>, which were down-regulated that were associated with digestive processes. Our results indicated domestication drives the changes of immune and digestive system of Eurasian perch. Our study not only provide valuable genetic resources for further studies in Eurasian perch, but also provide novel insights into the genetic basis of physiological changes in Eurasian perch during domestication process.</p></div