Controlling thickness to tune performance of high-mobility transparent conducting films deposited from Ga-doped ZnO ceramic target

Structure modification has been found to tune significantly the transparent-conducting performance, especially mobility and conductivity of hydrogenated Ga-doped ZnO (HGZO) films. The strong correlation between film thickness and mobility of the films is revealed. The mobility increases quickly with increasing the thickness from 350 to 900 nm, and then tends to be saturated at further thicknesses. A higher mobility than 50 cm²/Vs can be achieved, which is an extra-high value for polycrystalline ZnO films deposited by using the sputtering technique. The thickness-dependent mobility originates from scatterings on grain boundaries and dislocation-induced defects controlled by thin-film growth. Based on the Volmer-Weber model, an expansion model is built up to describe the thickness-dependent crystal growth of the HGZO films, especially at the thick films. As a result, the 800 nm-thick HGZO film obtains the highest performance with high mobility of 51.5 cm²/Vs, low resistivity of 5.3 × 10^?4 Ωcm, and good transmittance of 83.3 %.     

Cytokine profiles of stimulated blood lymphocytes in asthmatic and healthy adolescents across the school year

T cell cytokines play an important role in mediating airway inflammation in asthma. The predominance of a Th2 cytokine profile, particularly interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-5, is associated with the pathogenesis and course of asthma. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that a stressful life event alters the pattern of cytokine release in asthmatic individuals. Thirteen healthy controls and 21 asthmatic adolescents gave blood samples three times over a semester: midsemester, during the week of final examinations, and 2-3 weeks after examinations. Interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma), IL-2, IL-4, and IL-5 were measured from supernatants of cells stimulated with PHA/PMA for 24 h. Cells from asthmatic subjects released significantly more IL-5 during the examination and postexamination periods, whereas cells from healthy controls released significantly more IL-2 during the midsemester and examination periods, thereby indicating a bias for a Th2-like pattern in asthmatics and a Th1-like pattern in healthy controls. IL-4 and IL-5 production showed a marked decrease during and after examinations in healthy controls, whereas this decline was absent in asthmatics. The ratios of IFN-gamma:IL-4 and IFN-gamma:IL-5 also revealed significant changes in the profile of cytokine release across the semester. These results indicate differential cytokine responses in asthmatics that may become pronounced during periods of cellular activation.     

High affinity presentation of an autoantigenic peptide in type I diabetes by an HLA class II protein encoded in a haplotype protecting from disease

Tissue composition and the distribution of body mass are described for four genera of East African Bovidae (Madoqua, Gazella, Damaliscus, Hippotragus) with supporting data from four others (Neotragus, Oryx, Tragelaphus, Connochaetes). These species are high in muscle mass, an adaptation convergent with other high-speed terrestrial cursors, bounders, and saltators. The segments below the elbow/cubitus and knee/stifle/genu joints in small bovids are both lighter in percent of total body mass (8.6% TBM) and less heavily muscled (10-15% of total limb musculature) than those segments in macaques (13.6% TBM, 20-25% of the limb musculature). Bovid species differ from one another in the regional distribution of muscle mass. Madoqua kirkii (4-5 kg) concentrates muscle in the lumbar extensors and hindlimbs; large species such as Damaliscus doreas (50-60 kg) and Hippotragus niger (160-220 kg) distribute it more evenly between the lumbar and cervical regions and between the hindlimbs and forelimbs. Gazella dorcas (10-20 kg) is quantitatively intermediate in those characteristics. The redistribution of muscle mass with increasing size correlates with the loss of axial bending of the vertebral column: in small, hindlimb dominant, 'dorsomobile' species such as Madoqua sagittal mobility increases stride length through 'extended' suspension; in large 'dorsostable' species such as Damaliscus and Hippotragus the vertebral column resists bending, consequently abbreviating or omitting this non-contact phase of the gait cycle. Locomotor adaptation as it is reflected in size, shape, and musculoskeletal structure is the key to habitat choice, dietary specialization, social structure, and male agonistic behavior and, therefore, central to the fabric of behavioral ecology.     

Amplified primer extension assay for psoralen photoproducts provides a sensitive assay for a (CG)6TA(CG)2(TG)8 Z-DNA torsionally tuned probe: preferential psoralen photobinding to one strand of a B-Z junction

An amplified primer extension assay has been developed for quantitatively mapping the sites of psoralen photoaddition to DNA. This assay was applied to a torsionally tuned Z-DNA-probe that was specifically designed for the primer extension assay. The torsionally tuned Z-DNA forming sequence, (CG)6TA(CG)2(TG)8, forms Z-DNA in vitro at negative superhelical density: sigma = -0.05. The internal 5'-TA dinucleotide was reactive to psoralen when it existed as B-DNA. Upon the formation of Z-DNA, the internal 5'-TA no longer photobound psoralen. The torsionally tuned sequence was synthesized as an EcoRI fragment such that, when Z-DNA formed, the central 5'-AATT of the EcoRI sites was part of the B-Z junctions. The 5'-AATT sequence was not reactive with psoralen when it existed as B-DNA. When the 5'-AATT sequence existed as a B-Z junction, one strand of each junction became hyperreactive to psoralen. The TT directly 5' to the B-DNA-Z-DNA junction photobound psoralen in a strand-specific fashion. Quantitation of the relative rate of psoralen photobinding to the internal 5'-TA and the 5'-AATT at the B-Z junctions provides relationships that are characteristic of the level of supercoiling in DNA.     

Fetus-in-fetu with malignant recurrence

Fetus-in-fetu is an unusual condition in which a vertebrate fetus is enclosed within the abdomen of another fetus. These occurrences are usually benign. This report describes an instance of malignant recurrence after resection of a fetus-in-fetu.     

The Nicolas Andry Award-1995. Fracture healing. Radiation induced alterations

This study investigated the effects of radiation on fractures in a rat femur model. Two different radiation dosage fractionation schemes (1100 rads given in one dose and 2500 rads given in 10 divided doses over 12 days) and three different times of initiation of radiation (1 day before fracture, 3 or 10 days after fracture) were studied. Fractures exposed to these levels of radiation all appeared to heal during the course of this experiment, although with varying degrees of delay, with the exception of those exposed to a single dose of 1100 rads 3 days after fracture. These animals remained at a more immature level of repair histologically compared with the control group, throughout the entire time evaluated. The strength of the final repair remained less than the control for all the groups receiving treatment. These results may offer some explanation for the clinical observations of an increased incidence of delayed union and nonunion of fractures, an increased incidence of fracture and refracture in irradiated bone, and an increased incidence of fracture and nonunion in constructs using radiation in conjunction with allogeneic bone. Furthermore, the observed effects were generally no different in the animals treated with the two clinically relevant dose fractionation schemes chosen for this study.