Effective Synthesis and Recovery of Silver Nanowires Prepared by Tapered Continuous Flow Reactor for Flexible and Transparent Conducting Electrode

Silver nanowires (AgNWs) with high aspect ratio were obtained utilizing a tapered tubular reactor by the polyol process. The tapered tubular type flow reactor allowed us to obtain nanowires in high yield without defects that is generally encountered in a closed reactor due to excessive shearing for a long time. After reaction the AgNWs were precipitated in the aqueous solution with the aid of a hydrogen bond breaker and were recovered effectively without using a high-cost centrifugation process. Dispersion of the AgNWs were used to prepare transparent conducting electrode (TCE) films by a spray coating method, which showed 86% transmittance and 90 Omega sq(-1) sheet resistance.clos

Transparent conducting film fabricated by metal mesh method with Ag and cu@ag mixture nanoparticle pastes

Transparent conducting electrode film is highly desirable for application in touch screen panels (TSPs), flexible and wearable displays, sensors, and actuators. A sputtered film of indium tin oxide (ITO) shows high transmittance (90%) at low sheet resistance (50 ??/cm2). However, ITO films lack mechanical flexibility, especially under bending stress, and have limitation in application to large-area TSPs (over 15 inches) due to the trade-off in high transmittance and low sheet resistance properties. One promising solution is to use metal mesh-type transparent conducting film, especially for touch panel application. In this work, we investigated such inter-related issues as UV imprinting process to make a trench layer pattern, the synthesis of core-shell-type Ag and Cu@Ag composite nanoparticles and their paste formulation, the filling of Ag and Cu@Ag mixture nanoparticle paste to the trench layer, and touch panel fabrication processes

A Distributed ADMM Approach to Non-Myopic Path Planning for Multi-Target Tracking

This paper investigates non-myopic path planning of mobile sensors for multi-target tracking. Such problem has posed a high computational complexity issue and/or the necessity of high-level decision making. Existing works tackle these issues by heuristically assigning targets to each sensing agent and solving the split problem for each agent. However, such heuristic methods reduce the target estimation performance in the absence of considering the changes of target state estimation along time. In this work, we detour the task-assignment problem by reformulating the general non-myopic planning problem to a distributed optimization problem with respect to targets. By combining alternating direction method of multipliers (ADMM) and local trajectory optimization method, we solve the problem and induce consensus (i.e., high-level decisions) automatically among the targets. In addition, we propose a modified receding-horizon control (RHC) scheme and edge-cutting method for efficient real-time operation. The proposed algorithm is validated through simulations in various scenarios.Comment: Copyright 2019 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other uses, in any current or future media, including reprinting/republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works, for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted component of this work in other work

Anisotropic rupture of polymer strips driven by Rayleigh instability

We demonstrate that the separated polymer strips of micro- and sub-micro-length-scales rupture anisotropically along the strip direction, resulting in the formation of distinctly observable, regularly spaced polymer drops. The wavelength of the polymer drops and the surface tension dependence of the rupture behavior are found to be well represented by a relationship derived on the basis of Rayleigh instability. The period is proportional to the square root of the cross-sectional area of the strip and the proportionality constant depends on the contact angle. The rupture of polymer strips into polymer blocks instead of drops, which result when annealed with physically confining walls in place, is found to be well described by the same relationship.K.Y.S. is grateful for the financial support from the Micro Thermal Research Center of Seoul National University

Formation of regular nanoscale undulations on a thin polymer film imprinted by a soft mold

We observed the formation of regular nanoscale undulations on a polystyrene film when imprinted by a soft poly(dimethylsiloxane) mold above the polymer's glass transition temperature. The shape of the wave was reminiscent of a buckling wave frequently observed for a metal film supported on an elastomeric substrate. We derived a simple theoretical model based on an anisotropic buckling of the polymer film rigidly bound to a substrate, which agrees well with the experiment.This work was supported by the Micro Thermal Research Center of Seoul National University

MMP-Inhibitory Effects of Flavonoid Glycosides from Edible Medicinal Halophyte Limonium tetragonum

Limonium tetragonum has been well-known for its antioxidative properties as a halophyte. This study investigated the antimetastasis effect of solvent-partitioned L. tetragonum extracts (LTEs) and isolated compounds on HT1080 mouse melanoma cell model with a focus on matrix metalloproteinase (MMP) activity and TIMP and MAPK pathways. Upregulation and stimulation of MMPs result in elevated degradation of extracellular matrix which is part of several complications such as metastasis, cirrhosis, and arthritis. The anti-MMP capacity of LTEs was confirmed by their MMP-inhibitory effects, regulation of MMP and TIMP expression, and suppression of MAPK pathway. Among all tested LTEs, 85% aq. MeOH and n-BuOH were found to be most active fractions which later yielded two known flavonoid glycosides, myricetin 3-galactoside and quercetin 3-o-beta-galactopyranoside. Anti-MMP potential of the compounds was confirmed by their ability to regulate MMP expression through inhibited MAPK pathway activation. These results suggested that L. tetragonum might serve as a potential source of bioactive substances with effective anti-MMP properties

Long-Term Glycaemic Durability of Early Combination Therapy Strategy versus Metformin Monotherapy in Korean Patients with Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus

We assessed the glycaemic durability with early combination (EC; vildagliptin+metformin [MET], n=22) versus MET monotherapy (n=17), among newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) enrolled (between 2012 and 2014) in the VERIFY study from Korea (n=39). Primary endpoint was time to initial treatment failure (TF) (glycosylated hemoglobin [HbA1c]>= 7.0% at two consecutive scheduled visits after randomization [end of period 1]). Time to second TF was assessed when both groups were receiving and failing on the combination (end of period 2). With EC the risk of initial TF significantly reduced by 78% compared to MET (n=3 [15%] vs. n=10 [58.7%], P=0.0228). No secondary TF occurred in EC group versus five patients (29.4%) in MET. Patients receiving EC treatment achieved consistently lower HbA1c levels. Both treatment approaches were well tolerated with no hypoglycaemic events. In Korean patients with newly diagnosed T2DM, EC treatment significantly and consistently improved the long-term glycaemic durability as compared with MET.Peer reviewe

Laparoscopic splenectomy for sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation of the spleen

Primary splenic tumors are rare and mainly found incidentally on radiologic studies. Among them, sclerosing angiomatoid nodular transformation (SANT) of the spleen is a new entity defined as a benign pathologic lesion. Most SANTs have no clinical symptoms and are occasionally accompanied by other splenic diseases such as malignancies. So, the exact diagnosis of the nature of the splenic tumor is mandatory for further treatment. But, preoperative diagnosis is not easy since it is difficult to obtain the tissue from the spleen for pathological study. Recently, laparoscopic splenectomy has become the more standard procedure for the spleen for diagnosis and treatment. Here, we report a rare case of SANT diagnosed following laparoscopic splenectomy