Coulomb screening and scattering in atomically thin transistors across dimensional crossover

Layered two-dimensional dichalcogenides are potential candidates for post-silicon electronics. Here, we report insightfully experimental and theoretical studies on the fundamental Coulomb screening and scattering effects in these correlated systems, in response to the changes of three crucial Coulomb factors, including electric permittivity, interaction length, and density of Coulomb impurities. We systematically collect and analyze the trends of electron mobility with respect to the above factors, realized by synergic modulations on channel thicknesses and gating modes in dual-gated MoS2 transistors with asymmetric dielectric cleanliness. Strict configurative form factors are developed to capture the subtle parametric changes across dimensional crossover. A full diagram of the carrier scattering mechanisms, in particular on the pronounced Coulomb scattering, is unfolded. Moreover, we clarify the presence of up to 40% discrepancy in mobility by considering the permittivity modification across dimensional crossover. The understanding is useful for exploiting atomically thin body transistors for advanced electronics.Comment: 26 pages, 5 figure

Hospital treatment, mortality and healthcare costs in relation to socioeconomic status among people with bipolar affective disorder

BACKGROUND: Evidence regarding the relationships between the socioeconomic status and long-term outcomes of individuals with bipolar affective disorder (BPD) is lacking. AIMS: We aimed to estimate the effects of baseline socioeconomic status on longitudinal outcomes. METHOD: A national cohort of adult participants with newly diagnosed BPD was identified in 2008. The effects of personal and household socioeconomic status were explored on outcomes of hospital treatment, mortality and healthcare costs, over a 3-year follow-up period (2008–2011). RESULTS: A total of 7987 participants were recruited. The relative risks of hospital treatment and mortality were found elevated for the ones from low-income households who also had higher healthcare costs. Low premium levels did not correlate with future healthcare costs. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic deprivation is associated with poorer outcome and higher healthcare costs in BPD patients. Special care should be given to those with lower socioeconomic status to improve outcomes with potential benefits of cost savings in the following years. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: © 2016 The Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence

Robust optimal dispatching model and a benefit allocation strategy for rural novel virtual power plants incorporating biomass waste energy conversion and carbon cycle utilization

To optimize the utilization of rural biomass waste resources (e.g., straw and solid waste), biomass waste energy conversion (BWEC) and carbon cycle utilization (CCU) are integrated into a traditional virtual power plant, i.e., a rural BWEC-CCU-based virtual power plant. Furthermore, a fuzzy robust two-stage dispatching optimal model for the BWEC-CCU-based virtual power plant is established considering the non-determinacy from a wind power plant (WPP) and photovoltaic (PV) power. The scheduling model includes the day-ahead deterministic dispatching model and real-time uncertainty dispatching model. Among them, in the day-ahead dispatching phase, the dispatching plan is formulated with minimum operating cost and carbon emission targets. In the real-time dispatching phase, the optimal dispatching strategy is formulated aiming at minimum deviation adjustment cost by applying the Latin hypercube sampling method. The robust stochastic theory is used to describe the uncertainty. Third, in order to achieve optimal distribution of multi-agent cooperation benefits, a benefit distribution strategy based on Nash negotiation is designed considering the three-dimensional interfering factor of the marginal benefit contribution, carbon emission contribution, and deviation risk. Finally, a rural distribution network in Jiangsu province, China, is selected for case analysis, and the results show that 1) the synergistic optimal effect of BWEC and CCU is obvious, and the operation cost and deviation adjustment cost could decrease by 26.21% and 39.78%, respectively. While the capacity ratio of WPP + PV, BWEC, and CCU is 5:3:2, the dispatching scheme is optimum. 2) This scheduling model can be used to formulate the optimal scheduling scheme. Compared with the robust coefficient Γ = 0, when Γ = 1, the WPP and PV output decreased by 15.72% and 15.12%, and the output of BWEC and CCU increased by 30.7% and 188.19%, respectively. When Γ∈ (0.3, 0.9), the growth of Γ has the most direct impact on the dispatching scheme. 3) The proposed benefit equilibrium allocation strategy can formulate the most reasonable benefit allocation plan. Compared with the traditional benefit allocation strategy, when the proposed method is used, the benefit share of the WPP and PV reduces by 5.2%, and the benefit share of a small hydropower station, BWEC, and CCU increases by 1.7%, 9.7%, and 3.8%, respectively. Overall, the proposed optimal dispatching and benefit allocation strategy could improve the aggregated utilization of rural biomass waste resources and distributed energy resources while balancing the benefit appeal of different agents

Trends and characteristics of pethidine use in Taiwan: a six-year-long survey

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the trends and characteristics of pethidine prescriptions and users in Taiwan from 2002 to 2007. METHOD: All pethidine users (n = 3,301,136) in Taiwan from 2002 to 2007 were linked to National Health Insurance claims to identify pethidine prescriptions. We examined the trends in pethidine user prevalence and the proportion of pethidine prescriptions according to health care characteristics. A logistic regression model was used to compare patient demographics and health care characteristics associated with pethidine prescriptions between 2002 and 2007. RESULTS: Despite the decline in the number of pethidine users and prescriptions over the six-year period, more than half a million people were prescribed pethidine annually. In fact, an increasing proportion of pethidine prescriptions were observed in clinics, outpatient settings, and patients who had both operations and cancer diagnoses. Pethidine prescriptions were mostly associated with a non-operation status without a cancer diagnosis (>;60%). However, approximately 10% of the total pethidine prescriptions were found in patients with a cancer diagnosis but no operation. Compared to those in 2002, pethidine prescriptions in 2007 were more likely to be found in people 80 years or older, rural residents, patients from clinics, outpatient settings and operation patients with cancer diagnoses. CONCLUSIONS: A population-based survey in Taiwan demonstrated decreasing consumption of pethidine from 2002 to 2007; however, an increased proportion of prescriptions in certain health care settings was observed. In addition, 10% of the pethidine prescriptions were for cancer patients without operations. These cases need further evaluation for the determination of appropriate pethidine use

Role of acid-sensing ion channel 3 in sub-acute-phase inflammation

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Inflammation-mediated hyperalgesia involves tissue acidosis and sensitization of nociceptors. Many studies have reported increased expression of acid-sensing ion channel 3 (ASIC3) in inflammation and enhanced ASIC3 channel activity with pro-inflammatory mediators. However, the role of ASIC3 in inflammation remains inconclusive because of conflicting results generated from studies of <it>ASIC3 </it>knockout (<it>ASIC3</it>^-/-) or dominant-negative mutant mice, which have shown normal, decreased or increased hyperalgesia during inflammation.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Here, we tested whether ASIC3 plays an important role in inflammation of subcutaneous tissue of paw and muscle in <it>ASIC3</it>^-/-mice induced by complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) or carrageenan by investigating behavioral and pathological responses, as well as the expression profile of ion channels. Compared with the <it>ASIC3</it>^+/+controls, <it>ASIC3</it>^-/-mice showed normal thermal and mechanical hyperalgesia with acute (4-h) intraplantar CFA- or carrageenan-induced inflammation, but the hyperalgesic effects in the sub-acute phase (1–2 days) were milder in all paradigms except for thermal hyperalgesia with CFA-induced inflammation. Interestingly, carrageenan-induced primary hyperalgesia was accompanied by an <it>ASIC3</it>-dependent <it>Nav1.9 </it>up-regulation and increase of tetrodotoxin (TTX)-resistant sodium currents. CFA-inflamed muscle did not evoke hyperalgesia in <it>ASIC3</it>^-/-or <it>ASIC3</it>^+/+mice, whereas carrageenan-induced inflammation in muscle abolished mechanical hyperalgesia in <it>ASIC3</it>^-/-mice, as previously described. However, <it>ASIC3</it>^-/-mice showed attenuated pathological features such as less CFA-induced granulomas and milder carrageenan-evoked vasculitis as compared with <it>ASIC3</it>^+/+mice.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>We provide a novel finding that ASIC3 participates in the maintenance of sub-acute-phase primary hyperalgesia in subcutaneous inflammation and mediates the process of granuloma formation and vasculitis in intramuscular inflammation.</p

Numerical Analysis of a Linear-Implicit Average Scheme for Generalized Benjamin-Bona-Mahony-Burgers Equation

A linear-implicit finite difference scheme is given for the initial-boundary problem of GBBMBurgers equation, which is convergent and unconditionally stable. The unique solvability of numerical solutions is shown. A priori estimate and second-order convergence of the finite difference approximate solution are discussed using energy method. Numerical results demonstrate that the scheme is efficient and accurate

Construction and Characterization of Insect Cell-Derived Influenza VLP: Cell Binding, Fusion, and EGFP Incorporation

We have constructed virus-like particles (VLPs) harboring hemagglutinin (HA), neuraminidase (NA), matrix protein 1 (M1) ,and proton channel protein (M2) using baculovirus as a vector in the SF9 insect cell. The size of the expressed VLP was estimated to be ~100 nm by light scattering experiment and transmission electron microscopy. Recognition of HA on the VLP surface by the HA2-specific monoclonal antibody IIF4 at acidic pH, as probed by surface plasmon resonance, indicated the pH-induced structural rearrangement of HA. Uptake of the particle by A549 mediated by HA-sialylose receptor interaction was visualized by the fluorescent-labeled VLP. The HA-promoted cell-virus fusion activity was illustrated by fluorescence imaging on the Jurkat cells incubated with rhodamine-loaded VLP performed at fusogenic pH. Furthermore, the green fluorescence protein (GFP) was fused to NA to produce VLP with a pH-sensitive probe, expanding the use of VLP as an antigen carrier and a tool for viral tracking

Structural and optical properties of ZnMgO nanostructures formed by Mg in-diffused ZnO nanowires

Abstract ZnMgO nanostructures with wurtzite phase were prepared by thermal diffusion of Mg into the ZnO nanowires. As ZnO light-emitting devices have been operated by using ZnMgO layers as energy barrier layers to confine the carriers, it is essential to realize the characterization of ZnMgO particularly. In this work, the Mg content in Zn 1Àx Mg x O alloy determined by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and photoluminescence (PL) shows a good coincidence. The variation of lattice constant and the blueshift of near-band-edge emission indicate that Zn 2+ ions are successfully substituted by Mg 2+ ions in the ZnO lattice. In Raman-scattering studies, the change of E 2 (high) phonon line shape in ZnO:Mg nanostructures reveals the microscopic substitutional disorder. In addition to the host phonons of ZnO, two additional bands around 383 and 510 cm À1 are presumably attributed to the Mg-related vibrational modes

Hospital treatment, mortality and healthcare costs in relation to socioeconomic status among people with bipolar affective disorder

BACKGROUND: Evidence regarding the relationships between the socioeconomic status and long-term outcomes of individuals with bipolar affective disorder (BPD) is lacking. AIMS: We aimed to estimate the effects of baseline socioeconomic status on longitudinal outcomes. METHOD: A national cohort of adult participants with newly diagnosed BPD was identified in 2008. The effects of personal and household socioeconomic status were explored on outcomes of hospital treatment, mortality and healthcare costs, over a 3-year follow-up period (2008–2011). RESULTS: A total of 7987 participants were recruited. The relative risks of hospital treatment and mortality were found elevated for the ones from low-income households who also had higher healthcare costs. Low premium levels did not correlate with future healthcare costs. CONCLUSIONS: Socioeconomic deprivation is associated with poorer outcome and higher healthcare costs in BPD patients. Special care should be given to those with lower socioeconomic status to improve outcomes with potential benefits of cost savings in the following years. DECLARATION OF INTEREST: None. COPYRIGHT AND USAGE: © 2016 The Royal College of Psychiatrists. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Non-Commercial, No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) licence

Potassium {4-[(3S,6S,9S)-3,6-dibenzyl-9-isopropyl-4,7,10-trioxo-11–oxa-2,5,8-triazadodecyl]phenyl}trifluoroborate

[[abstract]]The reported compound 4 was synthesized and fully characterized by 1H NMR, 13C NMR, 11B NMR, 19F NMR, and high resolution mass spectrometry.[[booktype]]電子版[[countrycodes]]CH