Effect of exchanging PbO with NiO on the structure and optical parameters action of some lanthanum borate oxide glasses

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - This work is an attempt to estimate the effect of the exchanging of PbO with NiO on the optical and structural parameters for some...     

Effects of supplemental progesterone after artificial insemination on expression of interferon-stimulated genes and fertility in dairy cows

The objectives of the current study were to evaluate the effects of supplemental progesterone after artificial insemination (AI) on expression of IFN-stimulated genes (ISG) in blood leukocytes and fertility in lactating dairy cows. Weekly cohorts of Holstein cows were blocked by parity (575 primiparous and 923 multiparous) and method of insemination (timed AI or AI on estrus) and allocated randomly within each block to untreated controls, a controlled internal drug release (CIDR) containing 1.38 g of progesterone from d 4 to 18 after AI (CIDR4), or a CIDR on d 4 and another on d 7 after AI and both removed on d 18 (CIDR4+7). Blood was sampled to quantify progesterone concentrations in plasma and mRNA expression in leukocytes for the ubiquitin-like IFN-stimulated gene 15-kDa protein (ISG15) and receptor transporter protein-4 (RTP4) genes. Pregnancy was diagnosed on d 34 ± 3 and 62 ± 3 after AI. Treatment increased progesterone concentrations between d 5 and 18 after AI in a dose-dependent manner (control = 3.42, CIDR4 = 4.97, and CIDR4+7 = 5.46 ng/mL). Cows supplemented with progesterone tended to have increased luteolysis by d 19 after AI (control = 17.2; CIDR4 = 29.1; CIDR4+7 = 30.2%), which resulted in a shorter AI interval for those reinseminated after study d 18. Pregnancy upregulated expression of ISG in leukocytes on d 19 of gestation, but supplementing progesterone did not increase mRNA abundance for ISG15 and RTP4 on d 16 after insemination and tended to reduce mRNA expression on d 19 after AI. For RTP4 on d 19, the negative effect of supplemental progesterone was observed only in the nonpregnant cows. No overall effect of treatment was observed on pregnancy per AI on d 62 after insemination and averaged 28.6, 32.7, and 29.5% for control, CIDR4, and CIDR4+7, respectively. Interestingly, an interaction between level of supplemental progesterone and method of AI was observed for pregnancy per AI. For cows receiving exogenous progesterone, the lower supplementation with CIDR4 increased pregnancy per AI on d 62 in cows inseminated following timed AI (CIDR4 = 39.2; CIDR4+7 = 27.5%); in those inseminated following detection of estrus, however, the use of a second insert on d 7 resulted in greater pregnancy per AI (CIDR4 = 26.9; CIDR4+7 = 31.5%). Pregnancy loss did not differ among treatments. Supplemental progesterone post-AI using a single intravaginal insert on d 4 was beneficial to pregnancy in cows inseminated following timed AI, but incremental progesterone with a second insert on d 7 did not improve fertility of dairy cows.     

Interior-architectured ZnO nanostructure for enhanced electrical conductivity via stepwise fabrication process

Fabrication of ZnO nanostructure via direct patterning based on sol-gel process has advantages of low-cost, vacuum-free, and rapid process and producibility on flexible or non-uniform substrates. Recently, it has been applied in light-emitting devices and advanced nanopatterning. However, application as an electrically conducting layer processed at low temperature has been limited by its high resistivity due to interior structure. In this paper, we report interior-architecturing of sol-gel-based ZnO nanostructure for the enhanced electrical conductivity. Stepwise fabrication process combining the nanoimprint lithography (NIL) process with an additional growth process was newly applied. Changes in morphology, interior structure, and electrical characteristics of the fabricated ZnO nanolines were analyzed. It was shown that filling structural voids in ZnO nanolines with nanocrystalline ZnO contributed to reducing electrical resistivity. Both rigid and flexible substrates were adopted for the device implementation, and the robustness of ZnO nanostructure on flexible substrate was verified. Interior-architecturing of ZnO nanostructure lends itself well to the tunability of morphological, electrical, and optical characteristics of nanopatterned inorganic materials with the large-area, low-cost, and low-temperature producibility.     

Characterization of a water-based paint for corrosion protection

Corrosion of steel rebars in reinforced concrete is one of the major problems in the construction industry. Carbonation reactions of concrete with carbon dioxide and, mainly, the chloride salts action are the main causes responsible for concrete degradation. Protective coatings help to improve the durability of concrete structures by acting as a physical barrier against the corrosion agents. Waterborne paints are usually used for concrete protection rather than solvent-based paints since they are less pollutant. The aim of this work is to investigate the influence of the pore size and porosity on the permeability of the paints films toward sodium chloride. Three characterization methods from membrane science were implemented to characterize paint coatings. The time-lag method was used to determine the permeability toward the sodium chloride and toward helium and argon, these for approximately 100% relative humidity. From the seven waterborne paints formulated, only one was found to be suitable for surface protection of reinforced concrete, since its permeability toward NaCl was smaller than 10⁻¹⁴ m² s⁻¹, the threshold value required by National Laboratory of Civil Engineering (LNEC) in Portugal. For the formulated paints, it was observed that the average pore size correlates well with the permeability toward sodium chloride. This is an important result since obtaining the permeability toward sodium chloride of corrosion protective paints is very time consuming, while the average pore size can be obtained in a much shorter time.     

Molecular Mechanisms Underlying TDP-43 Pathology in Cellular and Animal Models of ALS and FTLD

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and frontotemporal lobar degeneration (FTLD) are neurodegenerative disorders that exist on a disease spectrum due to pathological, clinical and genetic overlap. In up to 97% of ALS cases and ~50% of FTLD cases, the primary pathological protein observed in affected tissues is TDP-43, which is hyperphosphorylated, ubiquitinated and cleaved. The TDP-43 is observed in aggregates that are abnormally located in the cytoplasm. The pathogenicity of TDP-43 cytoplasmic aggregates may be linked with both a loss of nuclear function and a gain of toxic functions. The cellular processes involved in ALS and FTLD disease pathogenesis include changes to RNA splicing, abnormal stress granules, mitochondrial dysfunction, impairments to axonal transport and autophagy, abnormal neuromuscular junctions, endoplasmic reticulum stress and the subsequent induction of the unfolded protein response. Here, we review and discuss the evidence for alterations to these processes that have been reported in cellular and animal models of TDP-43 proteinopathy.     

Continuously extruded micro‐textured polypropylene films

The continuous extrusion of micro‐textured isotactic polypropylene (i‐PP) film and its tribological properties are reported. As analyzed by scanning electron microscopy, a rectangular‐semicircular micro‐patterned die successfully produced extruded cast‐films with hill‐like micro‐texture. Such films displayed static and kinetic coefficients of friction (COF_s and COF_k) values of 0.247 ± 0.028 and 0.245 ± 0.003, respectively, for a steel fixture sliding along the micro‐texture of the film. The equivalent COF_s and COF_k values for non‐textured (NT) films were 0.369 ± 0.036 and 0.340 ± 0.024, respectively, confirming that textured films displayed a reduction in COF of about 30%. For textured and NT films sliding on textured films, the COF_k values were even lower at 0.161 ± 0.013 and 0.113 ± 0.004, which represents about 20–40% reduction as compared with that for the NT‐NT counterparts. Films coated with a silicone lubricant displayed COF_s and COF_k values of 0.334 ± 0.042 and 0.099 ± 0.012, respectively, for NT films sliding over lubricated NT films, and 0.426 ± 0.031 and 0.063 ± 0.006, respectively, for textured films sliding over lubricated textured films. The COF_k values for textured/non‐lubricated films approach those of NT/lubricated films, indicating that micro‐textured polypropylene films may be used in environmentally sensitive applications where lubricants and fluorinated additives may not be used for reducing friction. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2147–2154, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers