High-Mobility Pentacene-Based Thin-Film Transistors With a Solution-Processed Barium Titanate Insulator

Abstract—Pentacene-based organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs) with solution-processed barium titanate (Ba1.2Ti0.8O3) as a gate insulator are demonstrated. The electrical properties of pentacene-based TFTs show a high field-effect mobility of 8.85 cm2 · V−1 · s−1, a low threshold voltage of −1.89 V, and a low subthreshold slope swing of 310 mV/decade. The chemical composition and binding energy of solution-processed barium titanate thin films are analyzed through X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The matching surface energy on the surface of the barium titanate thin film is 43.12 mJ · m−2, which leads to Stranski–Krastanov mode growth, and thus, high mobility is exhibited in pentacene-based TFTs. Index Terms—Barium titanate, high field-effect mobility, high permittivity, organic thin-filmtransistor (OTFT), solution process

Clinical significance of erythromycin-resistant Campylobacter jejuni in children

Campylobacter has been recognized as the common cause of bacterial gastroenteritis in many countries. Increasing erythromycin resistance in Campylobacter jejuni infection is noted recently, but severe case was rarely reported. In this study, we aimed to clarify the clinical significance of the resistant strain of C jejuni in children. We reviewed the charts of children who were diagnosed with C jejuni enteritis in our hospital from January 2000 to December 2005, including 326 patients (117 males and 209 females). All the cases had positive stool culture. We divided them into two groups, the sensitive group (a total of 306 cases) and resistant group (a total of 20 cases), according to the drug sensitivity. We analyzed the clinical manifestations and laboratory data between the two groups. The mean age was 3.79±3.24 years in the sensitive group and 3.03±2.84 years in the resistant group. There was no significant difference between the two groups in clinical presentations and laboratory examinations. No mortality was found, and one case was initially presented with colonic perforation. This report demonstrates that infection by erythromycin-resistant strains of C jejuni has no clinical significance in children, despite the probably increased emergence of erythromycin resistance

Two decades of change in cultural values and economic development in eight East Asian and Pacific Island nations

In a 1982 publication, Ng et al. surveyed the cultural values of select East Asian and Pacific Island nations. In 2002, this study repeated their work, using the same sampling frame, questionnaire, and collaborators, where possible. The authors also reclassified the 1982 and 2002 survey results using Schwartz's cultural-level value dimensions. Submission versus Dionysian values that differentiated the nations in 1982 continued to do so in 2002. Furthermore, nations that endorsed Mastery (and rejected Harmony) in 1982 experienced greater subsequent economic growth than did the other countries. Moreover, economic development in 1982 predicted ensuing changes in Submission versus Dionysian and Hierarchy versus Egalitarianism values. Richer nations tended to endorse Dionysian, Autonomy, and Egalitarianism, whereas poorer nations tended toward Submission, Embeddedness, and Hierarchy values. Overall, the results support both economic and cultural determinism and imply two opposing directions of cultural change

Trogodišnji trend promjena tjelesne pripremljenosti i indeksa tjelesne mase u učenika u dobi od 12 do 16 godina s ekstremnim indeksima tjelesne mase

The aim of this study was to investigate a three-year development in BMI and physical fitness of schoolchildren aged 12-16 years with extreme weight status. Taiwan Physical Fitness Test Battery, assessing aerobic fitness (1600-meter walk/run test), power (standing long jump), muscular endurance (sit-up), and flexibility (sit-and-reach) in 16,945 boys, was implemented in September from the year 2006 till 2008. Overweight and underweight were defined by the baseline BMI data values that fall within the highest and lowest 5% of their age population, whereas the BMI data values that fall within one standard deviation of the mean was considered “normal” in this study. The results showed that BMI of schoolchildren in 2006 was ~2–3 kg/m2 above the national average reported in 1993. All physical fitness components in the overweight group were substantially poorer than those in the normal group. Yet, these fitness parameters were improved over the three years in all groups. BMI in the underweight group increased at a faster rate than that in the normal and overweight groups. No difference was found in the jumping distance between the underweight and normal groups. Aerobic fitness in the underweight group was superior but flexibility and muscular endurance were slightly lower than those in the normal group. BMI of Taiwan schoolchildren increased substantially from 1993 to 2006 but leveled off from 2006 to 2008. Underweight schoolchildren during the growing period should not a priori be considered as physically weaker or unfit individuals.Cilj je ovog istraživanja bio ustanoviti trogodišnji trend razvoja indeksa tjelesne mase (ITM) i tjelesne pripremljenosti u učenika, u dobi između 12 i 16 godina, s ekstremnim vrijednostima tjelesne težine. Tajvanski sklop testova za tjelesnu pripremljenosti (Taiwan Physical Fitness Test Battery), koja uključuje procjenu aerobne pripremljenosti (test hodanja/ trčanja na 1600 metara), eksplozivne snage (skok u dalj s mjesta), mišićne izdržljivosti (podizanje trupa iz ležanja na leđima) i fleksibilnosti (sjed-i-dohvat), primijenjen je od 2006 do 2008 godine u mjesecu rujnu na uzorku od 16.945 dječaka. Preteški (overweight) i prelagani (underweight) ispitanici bili su definirani prema inicijalnoj vrijednosti ITM-a za dobnu skupinu populacije ispitanika kao oni koji se ubrajaju među 5% s najvišim odnosno najnižim vrijednostima ITM. Ispitanici koji su se nalazili unutar jedne standardne devijacije smatrali su se „normalnima“. Rezultati su pokazali da je ITM tajvanskih učenika u 2006. godini bio za ~2–3kg/m2 veći od nacionalnog prosjeka objavljenog 1993. godine. Sve varijable tjelesne pripremljenosti u grupi prekomjerno teških bile su značajno lošije u odnosu na rezultate koje su postigli ispitanici u normalnoj grupi. Ipak, rezultati su se u svim mjerenim varijablama u svim grupama poboljšali tijekom 3 godine mjerenja. ITM je u grupi nedovoljno teških porastao većom brzinom nego u grupama normalnih i prekomjerno teških učenika. Nije utvrđena značajna razlika u rezultatima skoka u dalj s mjesta između grupa nedovoljno teških i normalnih ispitanika. Nedovoljno teški ispitanici imali su najbolje rezultate u aerobnoj izdržljivosti u odnosu na ostale grupe, dok su u fleksibilnosti i mišićnoj izdržljivosti bili nešto slabiji nego ispitanici u normalnoj grupi. ITM je u tajvanske djece značajno porastao u razdoblju od 1993. do 2006. godine, ali je i stagnirao u razdoblju od 2006. do 2008. godine. Nedovoljno teška djeca ne bi se smjela a priori smatrati fizički slabijom ili nespremnom tijekom perioda odrastanja

Infectious Alopecia in a Dog Breeder After Renal Transplantation

Tinea capitis rarely occurs in renal transplant recipients. We report this living-related renal transplant patient receiving cyclosporine-based therapy who initially presented with severe exfoliation of the scalp with yellowish-white scales and marked hair loss. The lesions extended to the frontal area and both cheeks, resulting in several skin ulcers with perifocal erythematous inflammatory changes, and palpable cervical lymph nodes. A biopsy of a skin lesion revealed fungal infection and culture yielded Microsporum canis. The patient mentioned an outbreak of ringworm in her breeding dogs during this period. After adequate treatment of the patient and her infected animals with griseofulvin and disinfection of the environment, her skin lesions resolved dramatically, with regrowth of hair

Nanofibrous insulin/vildagliptin core-shell PLGA scaffold promotes diabetic wound healing

Introduction: Slow wound repair in diabetes is a serious adverse event that often results in loss of a limb or disability. An advanced and encouraging vehicle is wanted to enhance clinically applicable diabetic wound care. Nanofibrous insulin/vildagliptin core-shell biodegradable poly (lactic-co-glycolic acid) (PLGA) scaffolds to prolong the effective drug delivery of vildagliptin and insulin for the repair of diabetic wounds were prepared.Methods: To fabricate core-shell nanofibrous membranes, vildagliptin mixture with PLGA, and insulin solution were pumped via separate pumps into two differently sized capillary tubes that were coaxially electrospun.Results and Discussion: Nanofibrous core-shell scaffolds slowly released effective vildagliptin and insulin over 2 weeks in vitro migration assay and in vivo wound-healing models. Water contact angle (68.3 ± 8.5° vs. 121.4 ± 2.0°, p = 0.006) and peaked water absorbent capacity (376% ± 9% vs. 283% ± 24%, p = 0.003) of the insulin/vildagliptin core-shell nanofibrous membranes remarkably exceeded those of a control group. The insulin/vildagliptin-loaded core-shell nanofibers improved endothelial progenitor cells migration in vitro (762 ± 77 cells/mm2 vs. 424.4 ± 23 cells/mm2, p < 0.001), reduced the α-smooth muscle actin content in vivo (0.72 ± 0.23 vs. 2.07 ± 0.37, p < 0.001), and increased diabetic would recovery (1.9 ± 0.3 mm2 vs. 8.0 ± 1.4 mm2, p = 0.002). Core-shell insulin/vildagliptin-loaded nanofibers extend the drug delivery of insulin and vildagliptin and accelerate the repair of wounds associated with diabetes

Endoscopic Balloon Dilatation for Esophageal Strictures in Children Younger Than 6 Years: Experience in a Medical Center

Esophageal strictures in children may be caused by congenital anomaly, caustic agent or foreign body ingestion, complication of reflux esophagitis, and after esophageal surgery. Accidental ingestion of alkaline fluid is the most common cause of corrosive esophagitis in children in Taiwan. In this article, we studied 10 pediatric patients who had esophageal strictures and required endoscopic balloon dilatation (EBD) therapy under general anesthesia from January 2003 to June 2009. The median age of the studied children who received their first EBD treatment was 36.2 months (13.4–60.9 months), with a dilator size of 8.0mm (5–12 mm). The interval between injury and initial EBD was 3.0 months (1.3–60.8 months). The treatment duration averaged 16.7 months (3.0–69.3 months), with 13.5 (4–31) instances of EBD therapy per patient. The greater the length of stricture, the more number of times EBD was needed. In these cases, no severe complication was found after the procedure. The result indicated that EBD under general anesthesia was a safe and effective method to resolve the symptom of dysphagia and diet condition. Because of the limited number of study cases, long-term studies are required to further confirm the clinical effect of EBD under general anesthesia

Protein tyrosine phosphatase receptor type O (Ptpro) regulates cerebellar formation during zebrafish development through modulating Fgf signaling

Protein activities controlled by receptor protein tyrosine phosphatases (RPTPs) play comparably important roles in transducing cell surface signals into the cytoplasm by protein tyrosine kinases. Previous studies showed that several RPTPs are involved in neuronal generation, migration, and axon guidance in Drosophila, and the vertebrate hippocampus, retina, and developing limbs. However, whether the protein tyrosine phosphatase type O (ptpro), one kind of RPTP, participates in regulating vertebrate brain development is largely unknown. We isolated the zebrafish ptpro gene and found that its transcripts are primarily expressed in the embryonic and adult central nervous system. Depletion of zebrafish embryonic Ptpro by antisense morpholino oligonucleotide knockdown resulted in prominent defects in the forebrain and cerebellum, and the injected larvae died on the 4th day post-fertilization (dpf). We further investigated the function of ptpro in cerebellar development and found that the expression of ephrin-A5b (efnA5b), a Fgf signaling induced cerebellum patterning factor, was decreased while the expression of dusp6, a negative-feedback gene of Fgf signaling in the midbrain-hindbrain boundary region, was notably induced in ptpro morphants. Further analyses demonstrated that cerebellar defects of ptpro morphants were partially rescued by inhibiting Fgf signaling. Moreover, Ptpro physically interacted with the Fgf receptor 1a (Fgfr1a) and dephosphorylated Fgfr1a in a dose-dependant manner. Therefore, our findings demonstrate that Ptpro activity is required for patterning the zebrafish embryonic brain. Specifically, Ptpro regulates cerebellar formation during zebrafish development through modulating Fgf signaling. ELECTRONIC SUPPLEMENTARY MATERIAL: The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s00018-013-1259-7) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Evolution of carbapenem resistance in Acinetobacter baumannii: An 18-year longitudinal study from a medical center in northern Taiwan

BackgroundCarbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii has emerged as an important cause of nosocomial infections with high morbidity and mortality. The carbapenemases, especially class D carbapenem-hydrolyzing oxacillinases (CHDLs), play an important role, but the relationship between their prevalence trend and carbapenem resistance remains unclear.Materials and methodsBetween 1995 and 2012, we collected 667 isolates of A. baumannii from a single medical center in northern Taiwan. Pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) was used to determine clonality. Antimicrobial susceptibility was determined. Carbapenemase genes and associated genetic structures were detected by polymerase chain reaction.ResultsIsolates were heterogeneous on PFGE. Susceptibility to carbapenem decreased steadily over the study period from 88.1% (2001–2003) to <25% (2010–2012), whereas the isolates remained susceptible to colistin (nearly 100%) and partially susceptible to tigecycline (80%). Starting in 2001, isolates carrying the ISAba1-blaOXA-51-like allele were consistently identified. Isolates containing the transposons Tn2006 or Tn2008 first appeared in 2007 with increasing carriage rates from 17.5% (2007–2009) to 50.0% (2010–2012). The IS1008-ΔISAba3-blaOXA-58-like, blaOXA-72 and metallo-β-lactamase genes were detected only sporadically. Isolates carrying CHDL genes were resistant to multiple drugs, including carbapenem, but remained susceptible to colistin (100.0%).ConclusionIncreased carbapenem resistance in A. baumannii may be caused by the increased prevalence of isolates containing the ISAba1-blaOXA-51-like allele and the transposons Tn2006 and Tn2008