Characteristics of Al-doped ZnO films grown by atomic layer deposition for silicon nanowire photovoltaic device.

We report the structural, electrical, and optical characteristics of Al-doped ZnO (ZnO:Al) films deposited on glass by atomic layer deposition (ALD) with various Al2O3 film contents for use as transparent electrodes. Unlike films fabricated by a sputtering method, the diffraction peak position of the films deposited by ALD progressively moved to a higher angle with increasing Al2O3 film content. This indicates that Zn sites were effectively replaced by Al, due to layer-by-layer growth mechanism of ALD process which is based on alternate self-limiting surface chemical reactions. By adjusting the Al2O3 film content, a ZnO:Al film with low electrical resistivity (9.84 x 10(-4) Omega cm) was obtained at an Al2O3 film content of 3.17%, where the Al concentration, carrier mobility, optical transmittance, and bandgap energy were 2.8 wt%, 11.20 cm2 V(-1) s(-1), 94.23%, and 3.6 eV, respectively. Moreover, the estimated figure of merit value of our best sample was 8.2 m7Omega(-1). These results suggest that ZnO:Al films deposited by ALD could be useful for electronic devices in which especially require 3-dimensional conformal deposition of the transparent electrode and surface passivation.

Fabrication of p-type silicon nanowire arrays with a high aspect ratio using electrochemical and alkaline etching.

We report on the fabrication of silicon nanostructures with a high aspect ratio that were created using a combination of electrochemical etching and alkaline etching. With this technique, we were able to fabricate nano- and/or micro-wire structures that are perfectly periodic over large areas of 3.14 cm2. After porous silicon was created by electrochemical etching, the effect of post-alkaline etching was investigated to determine how changes in the etching time, solution concentration and temperature of the etchant influenced the silicon morphology. As a result, periodic silicon wire arrays with good vertical alignment were obtained, and these arrays had a width of less than 500 nm and/or a high aspect ratio of more than 20.

Evaluation of brain functional states based on projections of electroencephalographic spectral parameters on 2-dimensional canonical space.

Electroencephalographic (EEG) activities reflect the functional state of the brain, but it is difficult to objectively describe functional brain states. Here, we describe two statistical divergence measures, Mahalanobis distance and Hellinger distance of projections to the reference spaces, to evaluate their state-discriminating ability. Last, divergence measures of 30-min segments after caffeine treatment were compared to evaluate the dose- and time-dependent arousal effects of caffeine to the best reference space. EEG was recorded from Sprague-Dawley rats during pre- and post-administration of caffeine. Several two-dimensional reference spaces were constructed from subsets of the normalized 7 relative band powers pooled from the pre-drug period of all recordings for each cortex: two reference spaces from data sets of the frontal and parietal cortex, and four reference spaces from data sets of active wake, slow-wave sleep, paradoxical sleep state, and all states. Sleep-wake states used as test states were plotted onto the reference spaces, and then, two divergence measures were derived to measure state-discriminating ability of each reference space. First, the reference space of the same cortex as test data was better for discriminating test states than another cortical reference space. Second, the one reference space constructed from data of all states was better for discriminating test states than the other reference spaces. Third, divergence measures were well correlated with sleep-wake durations after caffeine administration and showed the temporal trends of caffeine-induced arousal effect. These results suggest that two statistical measures can objectively describe brain functional states and drug-induced states.

Effects of single treatment of anti-dementia drugs on sleep-wake patterns in rats.

We studied the effects of acetylcholinesterase inhibitors, donepezil and galantamine, and an N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) receptor blocker, memantine, on sleep-wake architecture in rats. Screw electrodes were chronically implanted into the frontal and parietal cortex for the electroencephalography (EEG). EEG was recorded with a bio-potential amplifier for 8 h from 09:30 to 17:30. Vibration was recorded to monitor animal activity with a vibration measuring device. Sleep-wake states such as wake (W), slow-wave sleep (S) and paradoxical or rapid eye movement sleep (P), were scored every 10 sec by an experimenter. We measured mean episode duration and number of episode to determine which factor sleep disturbance was attributed to. Donepezil and memantine showed a significant increase in total W duration and decreases in total S and P duration and delta activity. Memantine showed increases in sleep latency and motor activity. Changes of S and P duration in memantine were attributed from changes of mean episode duration. Galantamine had little effect on sleep architecture. From these results, it is showed that galantamine may be an anti-dementia drug that does not cause sleep disturbances and memantine may be a drug that causes severe sleep disturbance.

L-theanine partially counteracts caffeine-induced sleep disturbances in rats.

L-theanine has been reported to inhibit the excitatory effects of caffeine. The present study examined the effects of L-theanine on caffeine-induced sleep disturbances in rats. Rats received the following drug pairings: saline and saline (Control), 7.5 mg/kg caffeine and saline, or 7.5 mg/kg of caffeine followed by various doses of L-theanine (22.5, 37.5, 75, or 150 mg/kg). Vigilance states were divided into: wakefulness (W), transition to slow-wave sleep (tSWS), slow-wave sleep (SWS), and rapid-eye-movement sleep (REMS). Caffeine significantly increased the duration of W and decreased the duration of SWS and REMS compared to the Control. Although L-theanine failed to reverse the caffeine-induced W increase, at 22.5 and 37.5 mg/kg (but not at 75 and 150 mg/kg), it significantly reversed caffeine-induced decreases in SWS. In conclusion, low doses of L-theanine can partially reverse caffeine-induced reductions in SWS; however, effects of L-theanine on caffeine-induced insomnia do not appear to increase dose-dependently.

Effects of isoflurane anesthesia on post-anesthetic sleep-wake architectures in rats.

The sleep homeostatic response significantly affects the state of anesthesia. In addition, sleep recovery may occur during anesthesia, either via a natural sleep-like process to occur or via a direct restorative effect. Little is known about the effects of isoflurane anesthesia on sleep homeostasis. We investigated whether 1) isoflurane anesthesia could provide a sleep-like process, and 2) the depth of anesthesia could differently affect the post-anesthesia sleep response. Nine rats were treated for 2 hours with ad libitum sleep (Control), sleep deprivation (SD), and isoflurane anesthesia with delta-wave-predominant state (ISO-1) or burst suppression pattern-predominant state (ISO-2) with at least a 1-week interval. Electroencephalogram and electromyogram were recorded and sleep-wake architecture was evaluated for 4 hours after each treatment. In the post-treatment period, the duration of transition to slow-wave-sleep decreased but slow wave sleep (SWS) increased in the SD group, but no sleep stages were significantly changed in ISO-1 and ISO-2 groups compared to Control. Different levels of anesthesia did not significantly affect the post-anesthesia sleep responses, but the deep level of anesthesia significantly delayed the latency to sleep compared to Control. The present results indicate that a natural sleep-like process likely occurs during isoflurane anesthesia and that the post-anesthesia sleep response occurs irrespective to the level of anesthesia.

The effects of tramadol on electroencephalographic spectral parameters and analgesia in rats.

The effects of different doses of tramadol on analgesia and electroencephalographic (EEG) spectral parameters were compared in rats. Saline or tramadol 5, 10, 20 or 40 mg/kg was administered. The degree of analgesia was evaluated by tail-flick latency, and the degree of seizure was measured using numerical seizure score (NSS). Additionally, band powers, median power frequency and spectral edge frequency 95 were measured to quantify the EEG response. All doses of tramadol produced spike-wave discharge. Tramadol significantly and dose-dependently increased the analgesia, but these effects did not correspond with the changes in the EEG spectral parameters. NSS significantly increased in the Tramadol 20 and 40 mg/kg treatment groups compared to the Control and TRA5 groups, and two rats given 40 mg/kg had convulsions. In conclusion, tramadol dose-dependently increased the analgesic effect, and the 10 mg/kg dose appears to be a reliable clinical dose for analgesia in rats, but dose-dependent increases in analgesia and seizure severity did not correlate with EEG spectral parameters.

Operant conditioning of rat navigation using electrical stimulation for directional cues and rewards.

Operant conditioning is often used to train a desired behavior in an animal. The contingency between a specific behavior and a reward is required for successful training. Here, we compared the effectiveness of two different mazes for training turning behaviors in response to directional cues in Sprague-Dawley rats. Forty-three rats were implanted with electrodes into the medial forebrain bundle and the left and right somatosensory cortices for reward and cues. Among them, thirteen rats discriminated between the left and right somatosensory stimulations to obtain rewards. They were trained to learn ipsilateral turning response to the stimulation of the left or right somatosensory cortex in either the T-maze (Group T) or the E| maze (Group W). Performance was measured by the navigation speed in the mazes. Performances of rats in Group T were enhanced faster than those in Group W. A significant correlation between performances during training and performance in final testing was observed in Group T starting with the fifth training session while such a correlation was not observed in Group W until the tenth training session. The training mazes did not however affect the performances in the final test. These results suggest that a simple maze is better than a complicated maze for training animals to learn directions and direct cortical stimulation can be used as a cue for direction training.

Role of dopamine receptors on electroencephalographic changes produced by repetitive apomorphine treatments in rats.

Repeated psychostimulants induce electroencephalographic (EEG) changes, which reflect adaptation of the neural substrate related to dopaminergic pathways. To study the role of dopamine receptors in EEG changes, we examined the effect of apomorphine, the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, SCH-23390, and the D2 receptor antagonist, haloperidol, on EEG in rats. For single and repeated apomorphine treatment groups, the rats received saline or apomorphine for 4 days followed by a 3-day withdrawal period and then apomorphine (2.5 mg/kg, i.p.) challenge after pretreatment with saline, SCH-23390, or haloperidol on the day of the experiment. EEGs from the frontal and parietal cortices were recorded. On the frontal cortex, apomorphine decreased the power of all the frequency bands in the single treatment group, and increased the theta (4.5~8 Hz) and alpha (8~13 Hz) powers in the repeated treatment group. Changes in both groups were reversed to the control values by SCH-23390. On the parietal cortex, single apomorphine treatment decreased the power of some frequency bands, which were reversed by haloperidol but not by SCH-23390. Repeated apomorphine treatment did not produce significant changes in the power profile. These results show that adaptation of dopamine pathways by repeated apomorphine treatment could be identified with EEG changes such as increases in theta and alpha power of the frontal cortex, and this adaptation may occur through changes in the D1 receptor and/or the D2 receptor.

Atipamezole changes the antinociceptive effects of butorphanol after medetomidine-ketamine anaesthesia in rats.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the effects of atipamezole administered before butorphanol, on tail-flick latency (TFL) and also following medetomidine-ketamine anaesthesia in rats. STUDY DESIGN: Prospective, randomized experimental study. ANIMALS: Thirty-four adult male Sprague-Dawley rats weighing 260-390 g. METHODS: TFL in 50 degrees C water was used to measure antinociception. In the first experiment, rats received saline (n = 5) or atipamezole (n = 5) followed by butorphanol treatments. In the second experiment, three groups of rats received saline (n = 8), atipamezole (n = 8) or atimpamezole (n = 8) followed by butorphanol 60 minutes after medetomidine-ketamine administration. RESULTS: In the first experiment, butorphanol significantly increased TFL compared to baseline. Atipamezole significantly decreased this effect. In the second experiment, TFL was significantly increased after recovery from medetomidine-ketamine anaesthesia compared to baseline. This was almost completely blocked by atipamezole. Atipamezole with butorphanol after recovery from the anaesthesia significantly reduced TFL compared to saline but still significantly increased TFL compared to the baseline. CONCLUSION AND CLINICAL RELEVANCE: Atipamezole attenuated the analgesic effects of butorphanol. When postoperative atipamezole is used to hasten recovery from anaesthesia in rats, it may interfere with the postoperative analgesic effect of butorphanol.

Adhesion force measurement between the stamp and the resin in ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography--an investigative approach.

In the ultraviolet nanoimprint lithography (UV-NIL) process, the surface interaction between the mold and the resist is essential along with molecularly clean separation of the mold from the surface of the cured resist for repeated use of the mold. In our present study, various mold-resin combinations have been examined by a tensile strength method to determine the adhesion force between a mold with a relief pattern and a photocurable resin. The adhesion force of polymer molds of the fluorine-containing polymers perfluoropolyether dimethacrylate (PFPE) and polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) were compared to those of hard molds such as Si and quartz against several commercial UV-NIL resins. Eventually, PFPE with higher molecular weight-AMONIL-was found to be an excellent UV-NIL mold-resin combination with the lowest adhesion force per unit area (20 kPa). In particular, the 36-fold repeated imprinting with a high molecular weight PFPE mold showed only a slight increase of adhesion force by 36 kPa with molecularly clean release from the AMONIL resin, whereas a surface-modified PDMS mold revealed highly increased adhesion from an initial 20 kPa to 120 kPa after repeated use.

Alpha neurofeedback improves the maintaining ability of alpha activity.

The effects of alpha-neurofeedback (ANF) on electroencephalographic alpha-activity were investigated. Each session consisted of a 2.5-min eye-opened state and 17.5-min of ANF, which was divided into 16 1.25-min bins. Alpha amplitudes were gradually increased as the session was repeated. The maximum value at the start of ANF gradually decreased as time passed, but the slowdown of alpha-activity during each session was decreased as the session was repeated. The correlation between alpha-activity at the end of ANF and at the following session's eye-opened state was highly significant. These results showed that ANF enhances the ability of alpha-activity to maintain itself rather than the increase of alpha-amplitude during intrasession and that the maintained alpha-activity during former training remained until the next session.

The effect of tiletamine/zolazepam (Zoletile) combination with xylazine or medetomidine on electroencephalograms in dogs.

The effects of xylazine or medetomidine on tiletamine/zolazepam (Zoletile) anesthesia were evaluated by changes in the canine electroencephalogram (EEG). Experimental groups were three: the group treated with 10 mg/kg of Zoletile intravenously (TZ), the group treated with 1.1 mg/kg of xylazine intramuscularly and 10 mg/kg of Zoletile intravenously (XTZ), and the group treated with 30 microg/kg of medetomidine intramuscularly and 10 mg/kg of Zoletile intravenously (MTZ). EEG recording electrode was positioned at Cz, which was applied to International 10-20 system. For all recording times, the powers of each band (band 1: 1-2.5 Hz, band 2: 2.5-4.5 Hz, band 3: 4.5-8 Hz, band 4: 8-13 Hz, band 5: 13-20 Hz, band 6: 20-30 Hz, band 7: 30-50 Hz, band 8: 1-50 Hz) were calculated. In TZ, at 10 min after Zoletile injection, the powers of bands 3, 4, 5 and 8 significantly decreased. At 20 min after Zoletile injection, the powers of band 1 and 8 were significantly decreased. After Zoletile injection, there were significant decreases in bands 1, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 in XTZ, and in bands 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 in MTZ. These significant changes disappeared in all band powers in TZ and MTZ in the last 1 min just prior to the dogs showing head-up movement. But, in XTZ, all band powers, except band 2, were significantly reduced. EEG power spectral analysis revealed the differences in band powers on awakening, even though the same kind of drugs were used. We thought that was a useful method to compare the effect of xylazine and medetomidine on Zoletile-induced anesthesia in dogs.