α- and β-AgVO3 polymorphs as photoluminescent materials: An example of temperature-driven synthesis

Controlling the synthesis of a given polymorph of an inorganic material is a further step in the design of property and function. In this letter, we report for the first time a simple procedure to effectively control the reversible transformation between the crystalline polymorphs α-AgVO₃ and β-AgVO₃. Photoluminescence emission (PL) performance is analyzed; at low temperatures (up to 35 °C) when α-AgVO₃ is formed the PL emission is red, while at temperatures larger than 45 °C when β-AgVO₃ is obtained the color of emission PL emission goes from green to blue. The findings highlight the ability of temperature to dramatically alter the nature of phase transformation at the atomic level. The phase transformation is driven by the short-range structural and electronic changes of [VO₄] and [AgO_x] (x = 5, 6, and 7) clusters (building blocks of both monoclinic structures), and hence is dependent on the temperature employed during synthesis. These outcomes clearly demonstrate that the AgVO₃ crystals exhibited appropriate activity for application in visible lamps, displays, and other optical devices.     

The Analysis of the Polysilicon base Position of the Thermal Resistance and the Self Heating Effects of 0.13 µm SiGe Heterojunction Bipolar Transistors

Russian Microelectronics - The purpose of this paper is the study and the analysis of the impact of Polysilicon base on the phenomenon of self-heating and electrical performance for HBT SiGe...     

On the pragmatic design of literature studies in software engineering: an experience-based guideline

Systematic literature studies have received much attention in empirical software engineering in recent years. They have become a powerful tool to collect and structure reported knowledge in a systematic and reproducible way. We distinguish systematic literature reviews to systematically analyze reported evidence in depth, and systematic mapping studies to structure a field of interest in a broader, usually quantified manner. Due to the rapidly increasing body of knowledge in software engineering, researchers who want to capture the published work in a domain often face an extensive amount of publications, which need to be screened, rated for relevance, classified, and eventually analyzed. Although there are several guidelines to conduct literature studies, they do not yet help researchers coping with the specific difficulties encountered in the practical application of these guidelines. In this article, we present an experience-based guideline to aid researchers in designing systematic literature studies with special emphasis on the data collection and selection procedures. Our guideline aims at providing a blueprint for a practical and pragmatic path through the plethora of currently available practices and deliverables capturing the dependencies among the single steps. The guideline emerges from various mapping studies and literature reviews conducted by the authors and provides recommendations for the general study design, data collection, and study selection procedures. Finally, we share our experiences and lessons learned in applying the different practices of the proposed guideline.     

Acid‐Controlled Chemodivergent Synthesis of Three Differently Substituted Quinolines via Site Selective Coupling of ortho‐ Aminoaryl Ketones with α‐Enolic Dithioesters

A straightforward approach for the chemodivergent synthesis of quinolines is described through site‐selective coupling of ortho‐aminoaryl ketones with α‐enolic dithioesters (DTEs) under solvent‐free conditions. The operationally and user‐simple one‐pot methodology is based on the trifunctional nature of DTEs. Both the carbonyl and the thiocarbonyl moiety in α‐enolic dithioesters were employed for the efficient construction of three differently substituted quinolines in a chemoselective manner simply by variation of an easy to handle acid catalyst.

     

Physicochemical characterisation of dietary fibre components and their ability to bind some process-induced mutagenic heterocyclic amines,Trp-P-1, Trp-P-2, AαC and MeAαC

The physicochemical properties of potato fibre, wheat bran and oat samples were investigated, along with their binding capability to heterocyclic amines (HCAs). Potato fibre displayed highest total dietary fibre content (71.8/100 g dry weight basis, dwb), followed by wheat bran (57.2/100 g dwb) and oat sample 2 (53.0/100 g dwb). Oat samples 1, 3 and 4 displayed considerably lower dietary fibre content (20.5–28.8/100 g, dwb). Oat samples 3 and 4 displayed highest soluble fibre content (70–83%), and oat sample 3 also displayed highest swelling and water retention capacity (WRC). Dietary fibre samples, except samples 3 and 4, displayed improved binding to HCAs as sample weight increased. The behaviour of wheat bran and potato fibre was similar to oat samples 1 and 2. Binding of MeAαC was comparatively greater than that of other HCAs. Dietary fibre fractions with high insoluble fibre and functional groups of HCAs may significantly contribute to the binding capacity.     

From product documentation to a ‘method prototype’ and standard times: a new technique for complex manual assembly

This paper suggests a new technique to facilitate consistent transition between planning and production stages of small lots of complex products (in quantities that do not justify full automation). Despite the usage of modern approaches such as design for assembly and design for manufacturing the typical product planning ends up before production planning begins, instead of having a unified seamless planning process. This paper presents a new three stage technique to fill the gap between product planning and production. The paper shows how to generate a rigorous production plan by: (1) extending the Bill-of-Materials to include additional required information, (2) constructing an assembly ‘method prototype’ and (3) using the ‘method prototype’ to calculate time standards for executing the assembly. A case study illustrates the proposed technique.     

Generation of an Immortalized Human Adipose-Derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cell Line Suitable for Wound Healing Therapy

Adipose-derived mesenchymal stromal cells (ADSC) are a promising source for cellular therapy of chronic wounds. However, the limited life span during in vitro expansion impedes their extensive use in clinical applications and basic research. We hypothesize that by introduction of an ectopic expression of telomerase into ADSC, the cells’ lifespans could be significantly extended. To test this hypothesis, we aimed at engineering an immortalized human ADSC line using a lentiviral transduction with human telomerase (hTERT). ADSC were transduced with a third-generation lentiviral system and a hTERT codifying plasmid (pLV-hTERT-IRES-hygro). A population characterized by increased hTERT expression, extensive proliferative potential and remarkable (potent) multilineage differentiation capacity was selected. The properties for wound healing of this immortalized ADSC line were assessed after 17 passages. Their secretome induced the proliferation and migration of keratinocytes, dermal fibroblasts, and endothelial cells similarly to untransduced ADSC. Moreover, they sustained the complete re-epithelialization of a full thickness wound performed on a skin organotypic model. In summary, the engineered immortalized ADSC maintain the beneficial properties of parent cells and could represent a valuable and suitable tool for wound healing in particular, and for skin regenerative therapy in general.