Transcriptional Profiling of Whisker Follicles and of the Striatum in Methamphetamine Self-Administered Rats

Methamphetamine (MA) use disorder is a chronic neuropsychiatric disease characterized by recurrent binge episodes, intervals of abstinence, and relapses to MA use. Therefore, identification of the key genes and pathways involved is important for improving the diagnosis and treatment of this disorder. In this study, high-throughput RNA sequencing was performed to find the key genes and examine the comparability of gene expression between whisker follicles and the striatum of rats following MA self-administration. A total of 253 and 87 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) were identified in whisker follicles and the striatum, respectively. Multivariate and network analyses were performed on these DEGs to find hub genes and key pathways within the constructed network. A total of 129 and 49 genes were finally selected from the DEG sets of whisker follicles and of the striatum. Statistically significant DEGs were found to belong to the classes of genes involved in nicotine addiction, cocaine addiction, and amphetamine addiction in the striatum as well as in Parkinson’s, Huntington’s, and Alzheimer’s diseases in whisker follicles. Of note, several genes and pathways including retrograde endocannabinoid signaling and the synaptic vesicle cycle pathway were common between the two tissues. Therefore, this study provides the first data on gene expression levels in whisker follicles and in the striatum in relation to MA reward and thereby may accelerate the research on the whisker follicle as an alternative source of biomarkers for the diagnosis of MA use disorder.     

Solvent- and Light-Sensitive AIEE-Active Azo Dye: From Spherical to 1D and 2D Assemblies

Fluorescent molecular assembly systems provide an exciting platform for creating stimuli-responsive nano- and microstructured materials with optical, electronic, and sensing functions. To understand the relationship between (i) the plausible molecular structures preferentially adopted depending on the solvent polarity (such as N,N-dimethylformamide [DMF], tetrahydrofuran [THF], and toluene), (ii) the resulting spectroscopic features, and (iii) self-assembled nano-, micro-, and macrostructures, we chose a sterically crowded triangular azo dye (3Bu) composed of a polar molecular core and three peripheral biphenyl wings. The chromophore changed the solution color from yellow to pink-red depending on the solvent polarity. In a yellow DMF solution, a considerable amount of the twisted azo form could be kept stable with the help of favorable intermolecular interactions with the solvent molecules. By varying the concentration of the DMF solution, the morphology of self-assembled structures was transformed from nanoparticles to micrometer-sized one-dimensional (1D) structures such as sticks and fibers. In a pink-red toluene solution, the periphery of the central ring became more planar. The resulting significant amount of the keto-hydrazone tautomer grew into micro- and millimeter-sized 1D structures. Interestingly, when THF-H₂O (1:1) mixtures were stored at a low temperature, elongated fibers were stacked sideways and eventually developed into anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) sheets. Notably, subsequent exposure of visible-light-irradiated sphere samples to solvent vapor resulted in reversible fluorescence off↔on switching accompanied by morphological restoration. These findings suggest that rational selection of organic dyes, solvents, and light is important for developing reusable fluorescent materials.     

Operating margin for radioactive effluent released to the environment from korean pressurized water reactors compared to the effluent control limits,obtained by monitoring the concentration of radioactive effluent with radioactive effluent monitors

Korean pressurized water reactors (PWRs) generally use radioactive effluent monitors for monitoring the concentration of radioactive effluents released to the environment. In this study, the operating margins for radioactive effluent monitors were analyzed to determine the levels of real-time concentration of effluents compared to effluent control limits (ECLs), the regulatory limits. The results show that the concentration of radioactive effluents released from Korean PWRs complied with the ECLs during the years 2012–2016. It was also found that outages at Korean PWRs did not impact the operating margins for radioactive effluent monitors; that is, there was no remarkable difference of the concentration of effluents between normal operation and maintenance periods. In terms of simultaneous effluent releases, the results demonstrate that exceeding the ECLs is unlikely to occur even under the hypothetical condition of coincident effluent releases from multiple discharge points at a Korean PWR.     

Impact of Primary Interference on Secrecy Performance of Physical Layer Security in Cognitive Radio Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - In cognitive radio networks (CRNs), primary interference is either neglected or considered as an additive white Gaussian random variable (r.v.). Current...     

Stomata‐Inspired Photomechanical Ion Nanochannels Modified by Azobenzene Composites

A low‐powered and highly selective photomechanical sensor system mimicking stomata in the epidermis of leaves harvested from nature is demonstrated. This device uses a light‐responsive composite consisting of 4‐amino‐1,1′‐azobenzene‐3,4′‐disulfonic acid monosodium salt (AZO) and poly(diallyldimethylammonium chloride) (PDDA) coated on a membrane with tens of nanometer‐size pores. The ionic current change through the pore channels as a function of pore size variation is then measured. The tran–cis isomerism of AZO–PDDA during light irradiation and the operation mechanism of photomechanical ion channel sensor are discussed and analyzed using UV–vis spectroscopy and atomic force microscopy analysis. It presents the discriminative current levels to the different light wavelengths. The response time of the photoreceptor is about 0.2 s and it consumes very low operating power (≈15 nW) at 0.1 V bias. In addition, it is found that the change of the pore diameter during the light irradiation is due to the photomechanical effect, which is capable of distinguishing light intensity and wavelength.     

Temperature Control of a Regasification System for LNG-fuelled Marine Engines Using Nonlinear Control Techniques

International Journal of Control, Automation and Systems - This paper presents two nonlinear PID (NPID) controllers which control the glycol temperature of a regasification system for LNG-fuelled...     

Resistive switching characteristics and conducting nanobits of polycrystalline NiO thin films

Thin films of NiO were deposited on Pt/Ta/glass sub-strates using a radio frequency (RF) sputtering method. The NiO thin films showed polycrystalline nature, indicating preferentially (111)-oriented structure. The resistive random access memory (RRAM) capacitor of a Pt/NiO/Pt structure exhibited unipolar switching characteristics and bistable resistivities for 200 repeated switching cycles. Furthermore, RRAM nanobits array was formed on the NiO thin films by applying a bias. The RRAM nanobits had a diameter of approximately 8 nm and were observed via a conducting atomic force microscope (CAFM). The density of the RRAM nanobits array was estimated to be approximately 0.64 Tbit/cm².     

Acute aortic outflow obstruction by diminution of bulboventricular foramen size after volume unloading in univentricular physiology

A young child with [S, L, L] segmental anatomy, double-inlet left ventricle, transposition of the great arteries, rudimentary right ventricle, and mildly restrictive bulboventricular foramen is reported, in whom intraoperative temporary snaring of the modified Blalock-Taussig shunt resulted in instantaneous and dramatic volume contraction of the left ventricle, decrease in bulboventricular foramen size, and increase of the gradient across the latter from 10 mm Hg preoperatively to 50 mm Hg. A modified Damus-Stansel-Kaye procedure using autogenous aortic tissue resulted in unobstructed aortic outflow; in addition, a bidirectional cavopulmonary shunt was performed. The importance of early relief of actual or potential aortic outflow obstruction in hearts with restrictive bulboventricular foramen is emphasized.     

Hydrogen production in fluidized bed by chemical-looping cycle

To investigate the feasibility of a chemical-looping hydrogen generation system, we investigated the reduction and water splitting reaction characteristics for three mediators and two reducing gas in a bubbling fluidized bed reactor (0.02 m I.D.). For three oxygen carrier particles (NiO/bentonite, Fe₂O₃/bentonite, (NiO:Fe₂O₃)/bentonite), hydrogen was used as a reduction gas and water was used as an oxidation gas. For (NiO: Fe₂O₃)/bentonite particle, carbon monoxide, which is the main component in the syngas from coal or heavy residue, was used as a reducing gas to check reactivity for the carbon containing fuels and carbon deposition characteristics. Based on the reactivity tests, (NiO: Fe₂O₃)/bentonite particle was selected as the best mediator for the chemical-looping hydrogen generation system to achieve stable continuous operation. This work was presented at the 6 ^th Korea-China Workshop on Clean Energy Technology held at Busan, Korea, July 4–7, 2006.