Monascus-fermented grain vinegar enhances glucose homeostasis through the IRS-1/PI3K/Akt and AMPK signaling pathways in HepG2 cell and db/db mice

Food Science and Biotechnology - MV was reported to have beneficial effects in ameliorating insulin resistance in db/db mice, but the intrinsic mechanisms for glucose homeostasis are unclear. This...     

Decorating surface charge of graphite nanoplate using an electrostatic coupling agent for 3-dimensional polymer nanocomposite

Here, we report a facile approach to electrostatically couple the surface charges of graphite nanoplate (GNP) fillers and poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) polymer particles using ethylene maleic anhydride (EMA) copolymer as an electrostatic coupling agent. Our strategy involved switching the intrinsic repulsive electrostatic interactions between the directly exfoliated GNPs fillers and the PMMA particles to attractive electrostatic surface interactions for preparing core(PMMA)-shell (GNP) precursor in order to optimizing 3-dimensionally dispersed polymer nanocomposite. As a result, the electrical conductivity of the composites dramatically increased by a factor of 16.7 in the EMA-coupled GNP/PMMA composites compared with that of the EMA-free GNP/PMMA composites. In addition, the percolation threshold was also notably reduced from 0.32 to 0.159 vol% after electrostatic coupling of the GNPs fillers and PMMA particles. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48390.     

Facile modifications of polyimide via chloromethylation: II. Synthesis and characterization of thermocurable transparent polyimide having methylene acrylate side groups

From chloromethylated polyimide, a useful starting material for modification of aromatic polyimides, a thermocurable transparent polyimide having acrylate side groups was prepared. In the presence of 1,8‐diazabicyclo[5,4,0]undec‐7‐ene, chloromethylated polyimide was esterified with acrylic acid to synthesize poly(imide methylene acrylate). The polymer was soluble in organic solvent, which makes it possible to prepare a planar film by spin coating. The polymer film became insoluble after thermal treatment at 230 °C for 30 min. Optical transparency of the film at 400 nm (for 1 µm thickness) was higher than 98 % and not affected by further heating at 230 °C for 250 min. Adhesion properties measured by the ASTM D3359‐B method ranged from 4B to 5B. Preliminary results of planarization testing showed a high degree of planarization (DOP) value (>0.53). These properties demonstrate that poly(imide methylene acrylate) could be utilized as a thermocurable transparent material in fabricating display devices such as TFT‐LCD. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Study on the c-axis preferred orientation of ZnO film on various metal electrodes

ZnO thin film was deposited on various metal electrodes by reactive sputtering, and c-axis preferred orientation of the film has been studied. ZnO, which has high piezoelectricity, is promising for oscillators or filter devices such as surface acoustic wave (SAW) device, gas sensor, and film bulk acoustic resonator (FBAR). But, for the application of ZnO film for these devices, the film should be grown with c-axis normal to the electrode. In this study, Pt, Al, and Au were deposited on Si wafer, and the surface roughness and crystal structure of the ZnO film on the electrode were investigated using AFM, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD). Columnar structures of ZnO films were grown with c-axis normal to all electrodes, and among them Pt electrode showed the highest preferred orientation of ZnO film.     

Floating-patch MEMS antennas on HRS substrate for millimetre-wave applications

Novel floating-patch micro-electro-mechanical system (MEMS) antennas are proposed for millimetre-wave applications. The floating-patch MEMS antennas are fabricated on a high resistivity silicon (HRS) substrate using surface micromachining technology. Simulation and experimental results for reflection coefficients and radiation patterns are presented.     

A finite element analysis of damage propagation during metal forming process

In this paper damage propagation during metal forming process is investigated with the concept of continuum damage mechanics. An isotropic damage model based on the theory of materials of type N is adopted to describe the damage process of a ductile material with large elasto-viscoplastic deformation. To solve the finite elasto-viscoplasticity problem, a reasonable kinematic strain measure for largely deformed solids is used and the damage constitutive equations based on thermodynamical framework are developed. The stiffness degradation of the loaded material is chosen as a damage measure. An extended interior penalty method is used to impose the contact condition on the boundary. The highly nonlinear equilibrium equations are reduced to the incremental weak form and approximated by the total Lagrangian finite element method. The displacement control method along with the modified Riks' continuation technique based on displacement parameter is used to solve the incremental iterative equations. As numerical examples, upsetting, backward extrusion and punch problems are simulated and the results of damage propagation and J₂ stress contours with and without damage are presented. For punch problems, spring back and residual stresses are also presented.     

Monolithic SiGe Up‐/Down‐Conversion Mixers with Active Baluns

The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of monolithically matching circuits, interface circuits, and RF core circuits to the same substrate. We designed and fabricated on‐chip 1 to 6 GHz up‐conversion and 1 to 8 GHz down‐conversion mixers using a 0.8 µm SiGe hetero‐junction bipolar transistor (HBT) process technology. To fabricate a SiGe HBT, we used a reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) system to grow a base epitaxial layer, and we adopted local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) isolation to separate the device terminals. An up‐conversion mixer was implemented on‐chip using an intermediate frequency (IF) matching circuit, local oscillator (LO)/radio frequency (RF) wideband matching circuits, LO/IF input balun circuits, and an RF output balun circuit. The measured results of the fabricated up‐conversion mixer show a positive power conversion gain from 1 to 6 GHz and a bandwidth of about 4.5 GHz. Also, the down‐conversion mixer was implemented on‐chip using LO/RF wideband matching circuits, LO/RF input balun circuits, and an IF output balun circuit. The measured results of the fabricated down‐conversion mixer show a positive power conversion gain from 1 to 8 GHz and a bandwidth of about 4.5 GHz.     

Double melting behavior of cyclic tris(ethylene terephthalate)

Summary Cyclic tris(ethylene terephthalate) (CTET) was separated from oligomeric extract of poly(ethylene terephthalate) by the conventional solvent separation method. The structure of CTET was characterized by differential scanning calorimetry, X-ray diffraction, and scanning electron microscopy. It is shown that the double melting behavior of meltcrystallized CTET is attributed to the morphological change created by heat-treatment. The effect of the morphological change on the crystal structure of CTET was also examined.