High-Resolution 3D Printing of Freeform, Transparent Displays in Ambient Air

Direct 3D printing technologies to produce 3D optoelectronic architectures have been explored extensively over the last several years. Although commercially available 3D printing techniques are useful for many applications, their limits in printable materials, printing resolutions, or processing temperatures are significant challenges for structural optoelectronics in achieving fully 3D-printed devices on 3D mechanical frames. Herein, the production of active optoelectronic devices with various form factors using a hybrid 3D printing process in ambient air is reported. This hybrid 3D printing system, which combines digital light processing for printing 3D mechanical architectures and a successive electrohydrodynamic jet for directly printing transparent pixels of organic light-emitting diodes at room temperature, can create high-resolution, transparent displays embedded inside arbitrarily shaped, 3D architectures in air. Also, the demonstration of a 3D-printed, eyeglass-type display for a wireless, augmented reality system is an example of another application. These results represent substantial progress in the development of next-generation, freeform optoelectronics

Development of Parametric Trend Life Cycle Assessment for marine SOx reduction scrubber systems

In response to the impending international maritime regulation, MARPOL Annex VI Reg. 14, to curb sulphur oxides (SOx) arising from shipping activities, this paper aimed to evaluate the environmental impacts of the entire life cycle of three different SOx reduction scrubber systems: (1) ‘wet open-loop’, (2) ‘wet closed-loop’, and (3) ‘wet hybrid’. To achieve this goal, the paper developed ‘the Parametric Trend Life Cycle Assessment (PT-LCA)’ which was introduced to proceed the extensive analysis for a number of case ship studies and quantify various emissions, such as greenhouse gases (GHG), sulphur oxides (SOx), nitrogen oxides (NOx), associated with the proposed systems from cradle to grave. A case study designed with the database consisting of 1,565 ocean-going Ro-Ro vessels based on Lloyd’s Register has revealed that, in terms of Global Warming Potential (GWP) and Acidification Potential (AP), closed-loop scrubbers were proven more environmentally friendly than open-loop scrubbers, but the opposite was true for Eutrophication Potential (EP). By identifying specific trends in scrubber systems in relation to various input parameters, the assessment contributed to improving environmental sustainability, as well as the total estimated amount of numerical environmental impacts that the scrubber systems have for the international fleets. The proposed framework enabled us not only to evaluate the different emission levels of systems applied to various ships but also to obtain the general trends of emission levels over ship parameters, which were expressed as formulae. The novelty of this paper can be placed on the provision of an insight into the optimal selection of scrubber systems depending on ship characteristics. It could also offer an insight into the improvement of current environmental regulations and guidelines by means of PT-LCA

Collagen Immobilization on Ultra-thin Nanofiber Membrane to Promote In Vitro Endothelial Monolayer Formation

The endothelialization on the poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofiber has been limited due to its low hydrophilicity. The aim of this study was to immobilize collagen on an ultra-thin poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofiber membrane without altering the nanofiber structure and maintaining the endothelial cell homeostasis on it. We immobilized collagen on the poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofiber using hydrolysis by NaOH treatment and 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/sulfo-N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide reaction as a cost-effective and stable approach. NaOH was first applied to render the poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofiber hydrophilic. Subsequently, collagen was immobilized on the surface of the poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofibers using 1-ethyl-3-(3-dimethylaminopropyl) carbodiimide/sulfo-N-hydroxysulfosuccinimide. Scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, and fluorescence microscopy were used to verify stable collagen immobilization on the surface of the poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofibers and the maintenance of the original structure of poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofibers. Furthermore, human endothelial cells were cultured on the collagen-immobilized poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofiber membrane and expressed tight junction proteins with the increase in transendothelial electrical resistance, which demonstrated the maintenance of the endothelial cell homeostasis on the collagen-immobilized-poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofiber membrane. Thus, we expected that this process would be promising for maintaining cell homeostasis on the ultra-thin poly (epsilon-caprolactone) nanofiber scaffolds.11Ysciescopu

Role of Amphipathic Helix of a Herpesviral Protein in Membrane Deformation and T Cell Receptor Downregulation

Lipid rafts are membrane microdomains that function as platforms for signal transduction and membrane trafficking. Tyrosine kinase interacting protein (Tip) of T lymphotropic Herpesvirus saimiri (HVS) is targeted to lipid rafts in T cells and downregulates TCR and CD4 surface expression. Here, we report that the membrane-proximal amphipathic helix preceding Tip's transmembrane (TM) domain mediates lipid raft localization and membrane deformation. In turn, this motif directs Tip's lysosomal trafficking and selective TCR downregulation. The amphipathic helix binds to the negatively charged lipids and induces liposome tubulation, the TM domain mediates oligomerization, and cooperation of the membrane-proximal helix with the TM domain is sufficient for localization to lipid rafts and lysosomal compartments, especially the mutivesicular bodies. These findings suggest that the membrane-proximal amphipathic helix and TM domain provide HVS Tip with the unique ability to deform the cellular membranes in lipid rafts and to downregulate TCRs potentially through MVB formation

Two-year Clinical Outcomes of Patients with Long Segments Drug-Eluting Stents: Comparison of Sirolimus-Eluting Stent with Paclitaxel-Eluting Stent

Limited data are available on the long-term clinical efficacy of drug-eluting stent (DES) in diffuse long lesions. From May 2006 to May 2007, a total of 335 consecutive patients (374 lesions) were underwent percutaneous coronary intervention with implantation of long DES (≥ 30 mm) in real world practice. Eight-month angiographic outcomes and 2-yr clinical outcomes were compared between SES (n = 218) and PES (n = 117). Study endpoints were major adverse cardiac events including cardiac death, myocardial infarction, target-lesion revascularization, target-vessel revascularization and stent thrombosis. Baseline characteristics were similar in the two groups as were mean stent length (44.9 ± 15.2 mm in SES and 47.4 ± 15.9 in PES, P = 0.121). Late loss at 8 months follow-up was significantly lower in SES than in PES group (0.4 ± 0.6 mm in SES vs 0.7 ± 0.8 mm in PES, P = 0.007). Mean follow-up duration was 849 ± 256 days, and 2-yr cumulative major adverse cardiac events were significantly lower in the SES than in the PES group (5.5% in SES vs 15.4% in PES, P = 0.003). In conclusion, long-term DES use in diffuse long coronary lesions is associated with favorable results, with SES being more effective and safer than PES in this real-world clinical experience

The RAV1 transcription factor positively regulates leaf senescence in Arabidopsis

Leaf senescence is a developmentally programmed cell death process that constitutes the final step of leaf development and involves the extensive reprogramming of gene expression. Despite the importance of senescence in plants, the underlying regulatory mechanisms are not well understood. This study reports the isolation and functional analysis of RAV1, which encodes a RAV family transcription factor. Expression of RAV1 and its homologues is closely associated with leaf maturation and senescence. RAV1 mRNA increased at a later stage of leaf maturation and reached a maximal level early in senescence, but decreased again during late senescence. This profile indicates that RAV1 could play an important regulatory role in the early events of leaf senescence. Furthermore, constitutive and inducible overexpression of RAV1 caused premature leaf senescence. These data strongly suggest that RAV1 is sufficient to cause leaf senescence and it functions as a positive regulator in this process