Stabilization of Ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 Epitaxial Films via Monolayer Reconstruction Driven by Interfacial Redox Reaction

The binary fluorite oxide Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 tends to grab a significant amount of notice due to the distinct and superior ferroelectricity found in its metastable phase. Stabilizing the metastable ferroelectric phase and delineating the underlying growth mechanism, however, are still challenging. Recent discoveries of metastable ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 epitaxially grown on structurally dissimilar perovskite oxides have triggered intensive investigations on the ferroelectricity in materials that are nonpolar in bulk form. Nonetheless, the growth mechanism for the unique fluorite/perovskite heterostructures has yet to be fully explored. Here we show that the metastable ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films can be stabilized even on a one-unit-cell-thick perovskite La0.67Sr0.33MnO3 buffer layer. In collaboration with scanning transmittance electron microscopy (STEM) based characterizations, we show that monolayer reconstruction driven by interfacial redox reactions plays a vital role in the formation of a unique heterointerface between the two structurally dissimilar oxides, providing the template monolayer that facilitates the epitaxial growth of the metastable HZO films. Our findings offer significant insights into the stabilization mechanism of the ferroelectric Hf0.5Zr0.5O2, and this mechanism could be extended for exploring functional metastable phases of various metal oxides

Dose pre-hospital laryngeal mask airway use has a survival benefit in non-shockable cardiac arrest?

Background. Whether pre-hospital laryngeal mask airway (LMA) use poses a survival benefit and should be approved as routine airway management in non-shockable cardiac arrest is of major concern. The present study examined the effectiveness of LMA, in comparison to other pre-hospital airway management on individuals who have experienced non-shockable cardiac arrest. Methods. Adult patients who experienced non-shockable cardiac arrest with activation of the emergency medical service (EMS) made up our study cohort in Taoyuan, Taiwan. The data were abstracted from EMS records and cardiac arrest registration protocols. Results. Among the 1912 enrolled patients, most received LMA insertion (72.4%), 108 (5.6%) bag-valve-mask (BVM) ventilation, 376 (19.7%) high-flow oxygen non-rebreather facemask, and only 44 (2.3%) received endotracheal tube intubation (ETI). With regard to survival to discharge, no significant differences in prevalence were evident among the groups: 2.8% of oxygen facial mask, 1.1% of BVM, 2.1% of LMA, and 4.5% of the ETI group survived to discharge (p = 0.314). In comparison to oxygen facial mask use, different types of airway management remained unassociated with survival to discharge after adjusting for variables by logistic regression analysis (BVM: 95% confidence interval [CI], 0.079 – 1.639 [p = 0.186]; LMA: 95% CI, 0.220–2.487 [p = 0.627]; ETI: 95% CI, 0.325–17.820 [p = 0.390]). The results of Hosmer-Lemeshow goodness-of-fit test of logistic regression model revealed good calibration. Conclusions. Pre-hospital LMA use was not associated with additional survival to discharge compared with facial oxygen mask, BVM, or ETI following non-shockable cardiac arrest

Susceptibility of Human Embryonic Stem Cell-Derived Neural Cells to Japanese Encephalitis Virus Infection

Pluripotent human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) can be efficiently directed to become immature neuroepithelial precursor cells (NPCs) and functional mature neural cells, including neurotransmitter-secreting neurons and glial cells. Investigating the susceptibility of these hESCs-derived neural cells to neurotrophic viruses, such as Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV), provides insight into the viral cell tropism in the infected human brain. We demonstrate that hESC-derived NPCs are highly vulnerable to JEV infection at a low multiplicity of infection (MOI). In addition, glial fibrillary acid protein (GFAP)-expressing glial cells are also susceptible to JEV infection. In contrast, only a few mature neurons were infected at MOI 10 or higher on the third day post-infection. In addition, functional neurotransmitter-secreting neurons are also resistant to JEV infection at high MOI. Moreover, we discover that vimentin intermediate filament, reported as a putative neurovirulent JEV receptor, is highly expressed in NPCs and glial cells, but not mature neurons. These results indicate that the expression of vimentin in neural cells correlates to the cell tropism of JEV. Finally, we further demonstrate that membranous vimentin is necessary for the susceptibility of hESC-derived NPCs to JEV infection

The 3D-tomography of the nano-clusters formed by Fe-coating and annealing of diamond films for enhancing their surface electron field emitters

[[abstract]]The Fe-coating and H2-annealed processes markedly increased the conductivity and enhanced the surface electron field emission (s-EFE) properties for the diamondfilms. The enhancement on the s-EFE properties for the diamondfilms is presumably owing to the formation of nano-graphite clusters on the surface of the films via the Fe-to-diamond interaction. However, the extent of enhancement varied with the granular structure of the diamondfilms. For the microcrystalline (MCD)films, the s-EFE process can be turned on at (E0)MCD = 1.9 V/μm, achieving a large s-EFE current density of (Je)MCD = 315 μA/cm2 at an applied field of 8.8 V/μm. These s-EFE properties are markedly better than those for Fe-coated/annealed ultrananocrystalline diamond(UNCD)films with (E0)UNCD = 2.0 V/μm and (Je)UNCD = 120 μA/cm2. The transmission electron microscopy showed that the nano-graphite clusters formed an interconnected network for MCDfilms that facilitated the electron transport more markedly, as compared with the isolated nano-graphitic clusters formed at the surface of the UNCDfilms. Therefore, the Fe-coating/annealing processes improved the s-EFE properties for the MCDfilms more markedly than that for the UNCDfilms. The understanding on the distribution of the nano-clusters is of critical importance in elucidating the authentic factor that influences the s-EFE properties of the diamondfilms. Such an understanding is possible only through the 3D-tomographic investigations.[[journaltype]]國外[[ispeerreviewed]]Y[[booktype]]電子版[[countrycodes]]US

A simplified stroke rehabilitation assessment of movement instrument

Background and Purpose. An efficient, reliable, and valid instrument for assessing motor function in patients with stroke is needed by both clinicians and researchers. To improve administration efficiency, we applied the multidimensional Rasch model to the 30-item, 3-subscale Stroke Rehabilitation Assessment of Movement (STREAM) instrument to produce a concise, reliable, and valid instrument (simplified STREAM [S-STREAM]) for measuring motor function in patients with stroke. Subjects and Methods. The STREAM (consisting of 3 subscales: upper-limb movements, lower-limb movements, and mobility) was administered to 351 subjects with first stroke occurrence and a median time after stroke of 19.5 months. The unidimensionality of each subscale of the STREAM first was verified with unidimensional Rasch analysis. Each subscale of the STREAM then was simplified by deleting redundant items on the basis of expert opinion and the results of the Rasch analysis. The Rasch reliability of the S-STREAM and the concurrent validity of the S-STREAM with the STREAM were examined with multidimensional Rasch analysis and the intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC), respectively. Results. After deleting the items that did not fit the Rasch model, we found that the 8-item upper-limb movement subscale, the 9-item lower-limb movement subscale, and the 10-item mobility subscale assessed single, unidimensional upper-limb movements, lower-limb movements, and mobility, respectively. We selected 5 items from each subscale to construct the S-STREAM and found that the reliability of each subscale of the resulting simplified instrument was high (Rasch reliability coefficients of [greater than or equal to] .91). The agreement between the subscale scores (Rasch estimates) of the S-STREAM and those of the STREAM was excellent (ICC of [greater than or equal to] .99, with a lower limit for the 95% confidence interval of [greater than or equal to] .985), indicating good concurrent validity of the S-STREAM with the STREAM. Discussion and Conclusion. The S-STREAM demonstrates high Rasch reliability, unidimensionality, and concurrent validity with the STREAM in patients with stroke. Furthermore, the S-STREAM is efficient to administer, as it consists of only half the number of items in the original STREAM. Additional studies to examine other psychometric properties (eg, predictive validity and responsiveness) of the S-STREAM or its psychometric properties in various recovery stages after stroke are needed to further establish its utility in both clinical and research settings.<br /

Efficacy and safety of nanohybrids comprising silver nanoparticles and silicate clay for controlling Salmonella infection

Developing effective and safe drugs is imperative for replacing antibiotics and controlling multidrug-resistant microbes. Nanoscale silicate platelet (NSP) and its nanohybrid, silver nanoparticle/NSP (AgNP/NSP), have been developed, and the nanohybrids show a strong and general antibacterial activity in vitro. Here, their efficacy for protecting Salmonella-infected chicks from fatality and septicemia was evaluated. Both orally administrated NSP and AgNP/NSP, but not AgNPs alone, effectively reduced the systemic Salmonella infection and mortality. In addition, quantitative Ag analyses demonstrated that Ag deposition from AgNP/NSP in the intestines was less than that from conventional AgNPs, indicating that the presence of NSP for immobilizing AgNPs reduced Ag accumulation in tissue and improved the safety of AgNPs. These in vivo results illustrated that both NSP and AgNP/NSP nanohybrid represent potential agents for controlling enteric bacterial infections

Mutation and Lineage Analysis of DNMT3A in BCR-ABL1-negative Chronic Myeloproliferative Neoplasms

SummaryIn addition to the JAK2 V617F mutation, somatic mutation in DNMT3A has been described in BCL-ABL1-negative myeloproliferative neoplasms (MPNs). We have screened for DNMT3A exon 23 mutations in 130 adult Taiwanese patients with chronic phase myeloproliferative neoplasms. Only one somatic DNMT3A R882H mutation was identified in one JAK2 V617F mutation-positive essential thrombocythemia patient (1/91, 1%). Both mutations were detected in the CD34+-, CD19+-, peripheral blood mononuclear cell- and granulocyte-enriched fractions, but were not detected in the CD3+-enriched fraction by lineage analysis. Our findings suggest that DNMT3A mutation is not prevalent in MPNs, and further study is needed to clarify its role in the molecular pathogenesis of myeloproliferative neoplasms

The Infection of Chicken Tracheal Epithelial Cells with a H6N1 Avian Influenza Virus

Sialic acids (SAs) linked to galactose (Gal) in α2,3- and α2,6-configurations are the receptors for avian and human influenza viruses, respectively. We demonstrate that chicken tracheal ciliated cells express α2,3-linked SA, while goblet cells mainly express α2,6-linked SA. In addition, the plant lectin MAL-II, but not MAA/MAL-I, is bound to the surface of goblet cells, suggesting that SA2,3-linked oligosaccharides with Galβ1–3GalNAc subterminal residues are specifically present on the goblet cells. Moreover, both α2,3- and α2,6-linked SAs are detected on single tracheal basal cells. At a low multiplicity of infection (MOI) avian influenza virus H6N1 is exclusively detected in the ciliated cells, suggesting that the ciliated cell is the major target cell of the H6N1 virus. At a MOI of 1, ciliated, goblet and basal cells are all permissive to the AIV infection. This result clearly elucidates the receptor distribution for the avian influenza virus among chicken tracheal epithelial cells and illustrates a primary cell model for evaluating the cell tropisms of respiratory viruses in poultry

Blockchain-Based Medical Record Management with Biofeedback Information

Blockchain is a new emerging technology of distributed databases, which guarantees the integrity, security and incorruptibility of data by means of the cryptography. Such features are suitable for secure and reliable data storage. This chapter investigates the blockchain-based architecture with applications to medical health record or biofeedback information management. This framework employs the smart contract to establish a medical record management system to ensure the privacy of patients. Moreover, the blockchain technique accelerates the medical record or information exchange such that the cost of human resource is significant reduced. All patients can manage their individual medical records and information easily in the different hospitals and clinics. They also have the privilege to deal with and authorize personal medical records in the proposed management framework