Residual stress and bending strength of ZnO films deposited on polyimide sheet by RF sputtering system

Zinc oxide (ZnO) films were deposited on a soft polyimide sheet substrate by radio frequency sputtering with a ZnO powder target, and the films' crystal orientations and residual stress were investigated using x-ray diffraction as a function of substrate temperature. C-axis oriented ZnO films were achieved using this ZnO powder target method. The ZnO films exhibited high compressive residual stresses between −0.7 and −1.4 GPa. Finally, the authors examined the strength of the obtained film by applying tensile bending loads. No cracks were observed on the surfaces of the ZnO films after a bending test using cylinders with diameters >25 mm. After a bending test using a cylinder with a diameter of 19 mm, large cracks were formed on the films. Therefore, the authors concluded that the tensile bending strength of the obtained films was greater than ∼420 MPa

Measurement of the residual stress in CrN coatings deposited on an Al alloy substrate

Chromium nitride (CrN) coatings were deposited on Al alloy substrates using the arc ion plating method with different bias voltages and different thicknesses. The residual stresses of these samples were measured via x-ray diffraction using the sin2 ψ method because the CrN crystals in the coatings were nonoriented. The stress gradient across the CrN coating was calculated from the curved 2θ-sin2 ψ diagram. In the case of CrN coatings deposited at low bias voltage, the compressive residual stress that formed at the substrate interface was larger than the stress at the surface of the CrN coating. Conversely, in the case of CrN coatings deposited at high bias voltage, the compressive residual stress on the surface of the CrN coating was larger than the stress on the interface with the substrate. In CrN coatings deposited at high bias voltage, very large compressive residual stress on the CrN coating surface decreased with increasing coating thickness

Residual stress measurement of {112}-oriented CrN layers in CrN/Cr multilayer films

In this work, the authors propose and verify a method of measuring the residual stress of {112}-oriented chromium nitride (CrN) layers in CrN/Cr multilayer thin films. The CrN layers of a CrN/Cr multilayer film deposited on a Ti6Al4V substrate by arc ion plating form both a randomly oriented mixed crystal structure and a {112}-oriented structure. Therefore, accurate stress measurement of the CrN layers cannot be performed by applying the sin2ψ x-ray method assuming an isotropic homogeneous material. To overcome this obstacle, the proposed method to measure the residual stress uses four CrN-422 diffractions: at ψ = 0°, 33.56°, 48.19°, and 60.00°. Next, the authors vary the density of Cr droplets on the film surface to evaluate how it affects the residual stress in the CrN/Cr multilayer film. The results indicate that the Cr layer has a residual compressive stress of −350 to −530 MPa and that the two CrN layers have a very large residual compressive stress of −3.5 to −8.2 GPa. In addition, both residual compressive stresses decrease with increasing droplet density

ナノ スケール ドウセキソウ マク ノ ネツショリ ニヨル ヒョウメン ケイジョウ ト ナイブ オウリョク ノ ヘンカ キョドウ

The specimen prepared in this study was multi-layer aluminum nitride and copper films deposited on thermal oxidation silicon by dc sputtering. Thermal stresses in the copper layers were investigated by ultra high X-rays of synchrotron radiation in the heating and cooling process. It found from the sin2Ψ diagrams of the multi-layered film that the copper layers consisted of crystal grains which had two different orientations. One was randomly orientation, and the other was {111} orientation. The FWHM of the diffraction from the {111}-oriented crystal grains was constant regardless of heating temperature. On the other hand, the FWHM of the diffraction from the randomly-oriented crystal grains was decreased with increasing heating temperature at 1st heating cycle and it became constant regardless of heating temperature after 1st heating cycle. The 2θ-sin2θ diagrams of the multi-layered film for the stress measurement showed non-linear. We could obtain thermal stresses in two different orientation crystal grains from the non-linear 2θ-sin2θ diagram at same time. For both crystal grains, the thermal stress differences between the 1st heating and the 1st cooling cycles were shown as a hysteresis loop. In the case of the 2nd thermal cycles, the thermal stresses changed linearly for both crystal grains. For the 1st heating cycle, the compressive thermal stress in the {111}-oriented crystal grains was larger than that in the randomly-oriented one

Effect of Hochu-ekki-to (TJ-41), a Japanese Herbal Medicine, on Daily Activity in a Murine Model of Chronic Fatigue Syndrome

We aimed to evaluate the effect of a Japanese herbal medicine, Hochu-ekki-to (TJ-41), on daily activity in a murine model of chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS). CFS was induced by repeated injection of Brucella abortus (BA) antigen every 2 weeks. TJ-41 was orally administered to mice in a dose of 500 mg/kg/day for 1 week before injecting BA and for 4 weeks thereafter. We evaluated daily running activity in mice receiving TJ-41 as compared with that in untreated mice. Survival of both mouse groups was also monitored during the observation period. Body weight (BW), spleen weight (SW), SW/ BW ratio and expression levels of interleukin-10 (IL-10) mRNA in spleen were determined in both groups at the time of sacrifice. The daily activity was significantly higher in the treated group than in the control. Two mice in the untreated group died 2 days after the second injection of BA, whereas no mice in the group treated with TJ-41 died. The SW and SW/BW ratio were significantly lower in the treated mice than in the control. Suppressed IL-10 mRNA levels were observed in the spleens of the mice treated with TJ-41. Our data suggest that Hochu-ekki-to might possess an inhibitory effect on the marked decrease in running activity following BA injection

An informationally structured room for robotic assistance

The application of assistive technologies for elderly people is one of the most promising and interesting scenarios for intelligent technologies in the present and near future. Moreover, the improvement of the quality of life for the elderly is one of the first priorities in modern countries and societies. In this work, we present an informationally structured room that is aimed at supporting the daily life activities of elderly people. This room integrates different sensor modalities in a natural and non-invasive way inside the environment. The information gathered by the sensors is processed and sent to a centralized management system, which makes it available to a service robot assisting the people. One important restriction of our intelligent room is reducing as much as possible any interference with daily activities. Finally, this paper presents several experiments and situations using our intelligent environment in cooperation with our service robot. © 2015 by the authors

The whole blood transcriptional regulation landscape in 465 COVID-19 infected samples from Japan COVID-19 Task Force

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19患者由来の血液細胞における遺伝子発現の網羅的解析 --重症度に応じた遺伝子発現の変化には、ヒトゲノム配列の個人差が影響する--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-23.Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a recently-emerged infectious disease that has caused millions of deaths, where comprehensive understanding of disease mechanisms is still unestablished. In particular, studies of gene expression dynamics and regulation landscape in COVID-19 infected individuals are limited. Here, we report on a thorough analysis of whole blood RNA-seq data from 465 genotyped samples from the Japan COVID-19 Task Force, including 359 severe and 106 non-severe COVID-19 cases. We discover 1169 putative causal expression quantitative trait loci (eQTLs) including 34 possible colocalizations with biobank fine-mapping results of hematopoietic traits in a Japanese population, 1549 putative causal splice QTLs (sQTLs; e.g. two independent sQTLs at TOR1AIP1), as well as biologically interpretable trans-eQTL examples (e.g., REST and STING1), all fine-mapped at single variant resolution. We perform differential gene expression analysis to elucidate 198 genes with increased expression in severe COVID-19 cases and enriched for innate immune-related functions. Finally, we evaluate the limited but non-zero effect of COVID-19 phenotype on eQTL discovery, and highlight the presence of COVID-19 severity-interaction eQTLs (ieQTLs; e.g., CLEC4C and MYBL2). Our study provides a comprehensive catalog of whole blood regulatory variants in Japanese, as well as a reference for transcriptional landscapes in response to COVID-19 infection

DOCK2 is involved in the host genetics and biology of severe COVID-19

「コロナ制圧タスクフォース」COVID-19疾患感受性遺伝子DOCK2の重症化機序を解明 --アジア最大のバイオレポジトリーでCOVID-19の治療標的を発見--. 京都大学プレスリリース. 2022-08-10.Identifying the host genetic factors underlying severe COVID-19 is an emerging challenge. Here we conducted a genome-wide association study (GWAS) involving 2, 393 cases of COVID-19 in a cohort of Japanese individuals collected during the initial waves of the pandemic, with 3, 289 unaffected controls. We identified a variant on chromosome 5 at 5q35 (rs60200309-A), close to the dedicator of cytokinesis 2 gene (DOCK2), which was associated with severe COVID-19 in patients less than 65 years of age. This risk allele was prevalent in East Asian individuals but rare in Europeans, highlighting the value of genome-wide association studies in non-European populations. RNA-sequencing analysis of 473 bulk peripheral blood samples identified decreased expression of DOCK2 associated with the risk allele in these younger patients. DOCK2 expression was suppressed in patients with severe cases of COVID-19. Single-cell RNA-sequencing analysis (n = 61 individuals) identified cell-type-specific downregulation of DOCK2 and a COVID-19-specific decreasing effect of the risk allele on DOCK2 expression in non-classical monocytes. Immunohistochemistry of lung specimens from patients with severe COVID-19 pneumonia showed suppressed DOCK2 expression. Moreover, inhibition of DOCK2 function with CPYPP increased the severity of pneumonia in a Syrian hamster model of SARS-CoV-2 infection, characterized by weight loss, lung oedema, enhanced viral loads, impaired macrophage recruitment and dysregulated type I interferon responses. We conclude that DOCK2 has an important role in the host immune response to SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of severe COVID-19, and could be further explored as a potential biomarker and/or therapeutic target