Production of Large Specific Capacitance by Electrodes with Low Active Mass and Synergistic Mechanisms.

Decoration of vanadium nitride nanoparticles on carbon nanotubes creates electrodes with three different energy storage mechanisms that operate synergistically to give a high specific capacitance with a low active mass. Calculation and measurements further indicate the power and energy density to be as high as 105-106 W/kg and 102 Wh/kg, respectively. Particle attachment also greatly improves the capacitive coefficient, including ionic transmittance, charge transfer, porosity, and conductivity. Corrosion tests based on the Tafel method reveal the corrosion potential and current of electrodes as low as -0.721 V and 7.53 × 10-4 A, respectively.

Potential Application of the WST-8-mPMS Assay for Rapid Viable Microorganism Detection.

To ensure clean drinking water, viable pathogens in water must be rapidly and efficiently screened. The traditional culture or spread-plate process-the conventional standard for bacterial detection-is laborious, time-consuming, and unsuitable for rapid detection. Therefore, we developed a colorimetric assay for rapid microorganism detection using a metabolism-based approach. The reaction between a viable microorganism and the combination of 2-(2-methoxy-4-nitrophenyl)-3-(4-nitrophenyl)-5-(2,4-disulfophenyl)-2H-tetrazolium sodium salt (WST-8) and 1-methoxy-5-methylphenazinium methyl sulfate (mPMS) results in a color change. In combination with a microplate reader, WST-8-mPMS reactivity was leveraged to develop a colorimetric assay for the rapid detection of various bacteria. The detection limit of the WST-8-mPMS assay for both gram-negative and gram-positive bacteria was evaluated. This WST-8-mPMS assay can be used to perform colorimetrical semi-quantitative detection of various bacterial strains in buffers or culture media within 1 h without incubation before the reaction. The easy-to-use, robust, rapid, and sensitive nature of this novel assay demonstrates its potential for practical and medical use for microorganism detection.

A Practical Curriculum Design and Learning Effectiveness Evaluation of Competence-Oriented Instruction Strategy Integration: A Case Study of Taiwan Skills-Based Senior High School.

The 12-Year Basic Education Curricula not only follow the objectives of previous curriculum syllabus development, but they place more focus on competence-oriented instruction, which aims to emphasize the importance of combining the curriculum with life situations that are not solely based on learning knowledge and skills. This study aims to investigate the results of the students' learning effectiveness and learning engagement after adding competence-oriented instructional strategies into electrical engineering practical subjects offered by the Department of Electrical Engineering in skills-based senior high schools, and, at the same time, to figure out the difference in learning effectiveness using different instructional strategies. Two classes of students from the Department of Electrical Engineering major in electrical engineering practical subjects in one skills-based senior high school in Central Taiwan were chosen as the participants for this study. By way of pre-test-post-test research design and heterogeneous grouping, a 10-week instruction experiment consisting of two groups and occurring over the course of 30 classes was conducted, wherein competence-oriented instructional strategies were used in an experimental group, while traditional didactic instructional strategies were used in a control group. By analyzing the collection of quantitative and qualitative data through competence-oriented instructional strategies, the instruction effectiveness and feasibility of the basic electricity practical curriculum were developed as the study topic for understanding how competence-oriented instruction can be implemented into the practical curriculum of the electrical engineering and electronic engineering group. According to the research objective, the results were concluded as follows: (1) Students of the Department of Electrical Engineering have a slightly better learning effectiveness in electrical engineering practice under competence-oriented instructional strategies compared with those who learned under the traditional didactic instructional strategies; (2) there is a significant difference in the students' learning engagement in electrical engineering practice from the Department of Electrical Engineering under competence-oriented instructional strategies compared with those who learned under the traditional didactic instructional strategies. The conclusion of this study emphasizes designing questions based on life situations, thereby applying what students have learned to solve problems they encounter in their daily lives. Compared with traditional didactic instructional strategies, competence-oriented instructional strategies not only have a better learning effectiveness and provide flexibility for the students to solve problems and provide analysis for situations, they also have broader applicability and an increased number of positive benefits when it comes to students' group interactions and sharing.

Young Children with a Bucket-Handle Tear to the Discoid Lateral Meniscus Successfully Treated Using Arthroscopic Saucerization and Repair: Two Case Reports.

Observations of a symptomatic discoid lateral meniscus in young children are infrequent. The objective of this report was to demonstrate the use of arthroscopic saucerization and repair for treating a bucket-handle tear of a lateral discoid meniscus in two young children. Two young children (a 28-month-old girl and a 5-year-old boy) presented with a bucket-handle tear of the complete type lateral discoid meniscus. Both patients received arthroscopic saucerization and repair. A full knee extension under a long leg cast was applied for one month after surgery. The two patients were able to achieve a full range of motion of their operated knees without limping or presenting an antalgic gait at the third month after surgery. Both patients and their parents felt satisfied with the treatment at the 2- and 3-year follow-ups, respectively. Our results demonstrated that arthroscopic saucerization and repair seems to be an effective treatment for bucket-handle tears of the lateral discoid meniscus in young children-even those younger than 3 years old. We reported the youngest case (a 28-month-old girl) in comparison with the findings from a literature review.

Investigation of the Characteristics and Antibacterial Activity of Polymer-Modified Copper Oxide Nanoparticles.

The proliferation of drug-resistant pathogens continues to increase, giving rise to serious public health concerns. Many researchers have formulated metal oxide nanoparticles for use as novel antibacterial agents. In the present study, copper oxide (CuO) was synthesized by simple hydrothermal synthesis, and doping was performed to introduce different polymers onto the NP surface for bacteriostasis optimization. The polymer-modified CuO NPs were analyzed further with XRD, FTIR, TEM, DLS and zeta potential to study their morphology, size, and the charge of the substrate. The results indicate that polymer-modified CuO NPs had a significantly higher bacteriostatic rate than unmodified CuO NPs. In particular, polydopamine (PDA)-modified CuO (CuO-PDA) NPs, which carry a weakly negative surface charge, exhibited excellent antibacterial effects, with a bacteriostatic rate of up to 85.8 ± 0.2% within 3 h. When compared to other polymer-modified CuO NPs, CuO-PDA NPs exhibited superior bacteriostatic activity due to their smaller size, surface charge, and favorable van der Waals interactions. This may be attributed to the fact that the CuO-PDA NPs had relatively lipophilic structures at pH 7.4, which increased their affinity for the lipopolysaccharide-containing outer membrane of the Gram-negative bacterium Escherichia coli.

Detection of Microorganisms in Body Fluids via MTT-PMS Assay.

Early detection of microorganisms is essential for the management of infectious diseases. However, this is challenging, as traditional culture methods are labor-intensive and time-consuming. The 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide-phenazine methosulfate (MTT-PMS) assay has been used to evaluate the metabolic activity in live cells and can thus be used for detecting living microorganisms. With the addition of NaOH and Tris-EDTA, the same approach can be accelerated (within 15 min) and used for the quick detection of common bacterial pathogens. The assay results can be evaluated colorimetrically or semi-quantitatively. Here, the quick detection by MTT-PMS assay was further investigated. The assay had a detection limit of approximately 104 CFU/mL. In clinical evaluations, we used the MTT-PMS assay to detect clinical samples and bacteriuria (>105 CFU/mL). The negative predictive value of the MTT-PMS assay for determining bacteriuria was 79.59% but was 100% when the interference of abnormal blood was excluded. Thus, the MTT-PMS assay might be a potential "rule-out" tool for bacterial detection in clinical samples, at a cost of approximately USD 1 per test. Owing to its low cost, rapid results, and easy-to-use characteristics, the MTT-PMS assay may be a potential tool for microorganism detection.

Portable Device for Quick Detection of Viable Bacteria in Water.

(1) Background: Access to clean water is a very important factor for human life. However, pathogenic microorganisms in drinking water often cause diseases, and convenient/inexpensive testing methods are urgently needed. (2) Methods: The reagent contains 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide (MTT) and phenazine methosulfate (PMS) and can react with succinate dehydrogenase within bacterial cell membranes to produce visible purple crystals. The colorimetric change of the reagent after reaction can be measured by a sensor (AS7262). (3) Results: Compared with traditional methods, our device is simple to operate and can provide rapid (i.e., 5 min) semi-quantitative results regarding the concentration of bacteria within a test sample. (4) Conclusions: This easy-to-use device, which employs MTT-PMS reagents, can be regarded as a potential and portable tool for rapid water quality determination.

Hispidulin alleviated methamphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion by acting at α6 subunit-containing GABAA receptors in the cerebellum.

RATIONALE: Hispidulin is a flavonoid we isolated from Clerodendrum inerme, an herb that effectively remitted a case of intractable motor tic disorders. Hispidulin was shown to be a positive allosteric modulator (PAM) of GABAA receptors, including the α6 subunit-containing subtype (α6GABAAR) that is predominantly expressed in cerebellar granule cells and insensitive to diazepam. OBJECTIVES: We explored the action mechanism(s) of hispidulin using hyperdopaminergic mouse models induced by methamphetamine and apomorphine, based on the hyperdopaminergic nature of tic disorders. RESULTS: Hispidulin significantly inhibited methamphetamine-induced hyperlocomotion (MIH) at i.p. doses without affecting apomorphine-induced hyperlocomotion and stereotypy behaviors or having significant benzodiazepine-like effects (BZLE), including sedation, anxiety, and motor impairment. When given by intracerebellar (i.c.b.) microinjection, hispidulin also alleviated MIH and this effect was prevented by i.c.b. coadministration of furosemide, an α6GABAAR antagonist, and mimicked by i.c.b. Ro 15-4513, an α6GABAAR PAM. Conversely, i.c.b. diazepam did not affect MIH while it reduced MIH at i.p. doses having significant BZLE. In a screening assay for 92 neurotransmitter receptors/degradation enzymes/transporters, hispidulin displayed significant (>50 % inhibition of radiolabeled ligand binding at 10 µM) binding affinity only at the benzodiazepine binding site of GABAARs (IC50 0.73∼1.78 µM) and catecholamine-o-methyl-transferase (COMT) (IC50 1.32 µM). OR-486, a more potent COMT inhibitor than hispidulin, did not affect MIH. CONCLUSIONS: It is suggested that hispidulin alleviates MIH via acting as a PAM of cerebellar α6GABAARs, but not through COMT inhibition or affecting dopamine receptor responsiveness. Thus, selective α6GABAAR PAMs may have the potential to be a novel treatment for hyperdopaminergic disorders.