Study on the Film-Forming Mechanism of Polymer-Metal Oxide Composite Ink Systems Containing Different Polymer Molecules.

A printable, flexible display panel is an important trend in the field of information display, which requires better mechanical and electrical properties of device materials. Polymer-metal oxide composite materials are promising in the functional layer of a thin-film transistor (TFT) and can be sufficiently fabricated by polymer-metal salt solution systems through the sol-gel process. For the development of polymer-metal oxide composite ink, it is necessary to study the film-forming mechanism of the composite film during solidification, which is an important reference in ink component design. However, the evolution of the composite structure is quite complex, which brings a challenge to characterization and analyzation. We applied a series of characterization methods to study the film-forming process of composite ink from sol to gel and to solid, and an emerging testing technology, nano-infrared spectroscopy (nano-IR), was applied to characterize the gel film. The research conclusion showed that the type of functional group can significantly affect the morphology of the initial particle and can finally determine the microstructure of the composite film. The study provides references for the development of composite ink as well as the characterization method for ink and film with complex composition.

Analysis of the prevalence and influencing factors of hyperuricemia in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in northeastern Sichuan Province.

OBJECTIVE: To investigate the factors influencing hyperuricemia in children and adolescents and to provide a scientific basis for early prevention and treatment. METHODS: A retrospective study (2017-2021) of the prevalence of hyperuricemia in children and adolescents was conducted, and the factors influencing hyperuricemia were analyzed by multi-factor logistic regression. RESULTS: The overall prevalence of hyperuricemia in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in northeast Sichuan Province was 55.12% (8676/15,739), of which 60.68% (5699/9392) in boys and 46.90% (2977/6347) in girls; the prevalence of hyperuricemia from 2017 to 2021 was 52.40% ( 1540/2939), 52.56% (1642/3124), 52.11% (1825/3502), 58.33% (1691/2899), and 60.40% (1978/3275), respectively; the prevalence rates of 6-12 years old were 48.92% (864/1766), 50.46% (769/1524), and 52.73% (685/1299), 56.99% (693/1216), 35.46% (444/1252), 46.33% (524/1131), 60.50% (720/1190), and 66.82% (739/1106), 58.95% (652/1106), and 62.17% (761/1106) for 13-17 years old, respectively, 62.17% (761/1224), 63.19% (855/1353), and 61.70% (970/1572), respectively. Logistic regression showed that the prevalence of male (OR = 1.451, 95% CI 1.034 to 2.035, p = 0.031), age (OR = 1.074, 95% CI 1.024 to 1.126, p = 0.003), overweight/obesity (OR = 1.733, 95% CI 1.204∼2.494, p = 0.003), blood creatinine (OR = 1.018, 95% CI 1.005∼1.031, p = 0.007), triglycerides (OR = 1.450, 95% CI 1.065∼1.972, p = 0.018), blood calcium (OR = 6.792, 95% CI 1.373∼33.594, p = 0.019), and systolic blood pressure (OR = 1.037, 95% CI 1.018∼1.057, p < 0.001) were influential factors for the development of hyperuricemia. CONCLUSION: The prevalence of hyperuricemia was higher in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in northeastern Sichuan Province, with a higher prevalence in boys than in girls, and the prevalence increased with age.

Analysis of the prevalence and influencing factors of hyperuricemia in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in northeastern Sichuan Province

Abstract Objective: To investigate the factors influencing hyperuricemia in children and adolescents and to provide a scientific basis for early prevention and treatment. Methods: A retrospective study (2017-2021) of the prevalence of hyperuricemia in children and adolescents was conducted, and the factors influencing hyperuricemia were analyzed by multifactor logistic regression. Results: The overall prevalence of hyperuricemia in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in northeast Sichuan Province was 55.12% (8676/15,739), of which 60.68% (5699/9392) in boys and 46.90% (2977/6347) in girls; the prevalence of hyperuricemia from 2017 to 2021 was 52.40% ( 1540/2939), 52.56% (1642/3124), 52.11% (1825/3502), 58.33% (1691/2899), and 60.40% (1978/ 3275), respectively; the prevalence rates of 6-12 years old were 48.92% (864/1766), 50.46% (769/1524), and 52.73% (685/1299), 56.99% (693/1216), 35.46% (444/1252), 46.33% (524/1131), 60.50% (720/1190), and 66.82% (739/1106), 58.95% (652/1106), and 62.17% (761/1106) for 13-17 years old, respectively, 62.17% (761/1224), 63.19% (855/1353), and 61.70% (970/1572), respectively. Logistic regression showed that the prevalence of male (OR = 1.451, 95% CI 1.034 to 2.035, p = 0.031), age (OR = 1.074, 95% CI 1.024 to 1.126, p = 0.003), overweight/obesity (OR = 1.733, 95% CI 1.204~2.494, p = 0.003), blood creatinine (OR = 1.018, 95% CI 1.005~1.031, p = 0.007), triglycerides (OR = 1.450, 95% CI1.065~1.972, p = 0.018), blood calcium (OR = 6.792, 95% CI 1.373~33.594, p = 0.019), and systolic blood pressure (OR = 1.037, 95% CI 1.018~1.057, p < 0.001) were influential factors for the development of hyperuricemia. Conclusion: The prevalence of hyperuricemia was higher in children and adolescents aged 6-17 years in northeastern Sichuan Province, with a higher prevalence in boys than in girls, and the prevalence increased with age.

Binary Solvent Systems for Piezoelectric Printing Crack-Free PAM/ZrOx Hybrid Thin Films through Nanostructure Modulation.

Polymer/oxide hybrid thin films, which have excellent electrical and mechanical performance, can be effectively fabricated through the sol-gel process, showing great potential in the future printed electronics. However, gelation of polymer/oxide ink systems can easily occur during a thermal process in which case capillary stress can lead to the crack of printed films due to the long period of stress accumulation. To solve this problem, the effect of different solvent systems on formed PAM/ZrOx hybrid films, which were printed by piezoelectric printing, was studied in this paper, including single solvent systems of glycol and binary solvent systems of glycol and water. The result showed that the microstructure characteristics and mechanical properties of hybrid nanostructures formed in different solvent systems varied significantly, and crack behavior can be regulated by simply adjusting the water volume ratio of the solvent system. The crack formation was significantly inhibited when the water volume ratio reached 25%.

Novel genetic risk factors influence progression of islet autoimmunity to type 1 diabetes.

Type 1 diabetes arises from the autoimmune destruction of insulin-producing beta-cells of the pancreas, resulting in dependence on exogenously administered insulin to maintain glucose homeostasis. In this study, our aim was to identify genetic risk factors that contribute to progression from islet autoimmunity to clinical type 1 diabetes. We analyzed 6.8 million variants derived from whole genome sequencing of 160 islet autoantibody positive subjects, including 87 who had progressed to type 1 diabetes. The Cox proportional-hazard model for survival analysis was used to identify genetic variants associated with progression. We identified one novel region, 20p12.1 (TASP1; genome-wide P < 5 × 10-8) and three regions, 1q21.3 (MRPS21-PRPF3), 2p25.2 (NRIR), 3q22.1 (COL6A6), with suggestive evidence of association (P < 8.5 × 10-8) with progression from islet autoimmunity to type 1 diabetes. Once islet autoimmunity is initiated, functional mapping identified two critical pathways, response to viral infections and interferon signaling, as contributing to disease progression. These results provide evidence that genetic pathways involved in progression from islet autoimmunity differ from those pathways identified once disease has been established. These results support the need for further investigation of genetic risk factors that modulate initiation and progression of subclinical disease to inform efforts in development of novel strategies for prediction and intervention of type 1 diabetes.

Functional Metal Oxide Ink Systems for Drop-on-Demand Printed Thin-Film Transistors.

Drop-on-demand printing is a noncontact direct patterning and rapid manufacturing printing technology which shows considerable potential in future display manufacturing. Metal oxides are an important kind of functional material in thin-film transistors, which are the core component of active matrix display technology, and thus printing a high-quality metal oxide functional layer is of great importance. In this feature article, we focused on the current progress in one of the foundations of drop-on-demand printing technology-the ink system. We explained the basic principles of a metal oxide ink system for printed electronics and summarized the applications of several kinds of ink systems in thin film transistor printing. Meanwhile, we also summed up problems that printed thin film transistors are facing as well as the corresponding solutions from the aspect of ink systems.

Polymer-Doped Ink System for Threshold Voltage Modulation in Printed Metal Oxide Thin Film Transistors.

A polymer-doped ink system was applied to a printed InO x thin film transistor (TFT), and enhancement mode devices were obtained with an appropriate polymer doping amount. As the polymer doping concentration (PDC) increases, the threshold voltage of thin film transistor shifts positively, while the mobility and subthreshold slope show only an insignificant degradation. The microanalysis shows that the polymer doping can generate traps and defects in the oxide lattice, thus shifting the threshold voltage positively and degrading the mobility and subthreshold slope. Meanwhile, the doping can also facilitate the formation of an oxide lattice in the local region, which counterbalances the effect of doping on the mobility and subthreshold slope. The InO x, the TFT shows good electrical performance at an optimal PDC of 0.3 wt %, with a mobility of 4.2 cm2 V-1 s-1, a threshold voltage of 0.7 V, an on/off ratio of 106, and a subthreshold slope of 0.30 V/dec.

Investigation of direct inkjet-printed versus spin-coated ZrO2 for sputter IGZO thin film transistor.

In this work, a low leakage current ZrO2 was fabricated for sputter indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) thin-film transistor using direct inkjet-printing technology. Spin-coated and direct inkjet-printed ZrO2 were prepared to investigate the film formation process and electrical performance for different process. Homogeneous ZrO2 films were observed through the high-resolution TEM images. The chemical structure of ZrO2 films were investigated by XPS measurements. The inkjet-printed ZrO2 layer upon IGZO showed a superior performance on mobility and off state current, but a large Vth shift under positive bias stress. As a result, the TFT device based on inkjet-printed ZrO2 exhibited a saturation mobility of 12.4 cm2/Vs, an Ion/Ioff ratio of 106, a turn on voltage of 0 V and a 1.4-V Vth shift after 1-h PBS strain. Higher density films with less oxygen vacancy were responsible for low off state current for the printed ZrO2 device. The mechanism of deteriorated performance on PBS test can be ascribed to the In-rich region formed at the back channel which easily absorbs H2O and oxygen. The absorbed H2O and oxygen capture electrons under positive bias stress, serving as acceptors in TFT device. This work demonstrates the film formation process of direct inkjet-printed and spin-coated oxide films and reveals the potential of direct inkjet-printed oxide dielectric in high-performance oxide TFT device.

Type 1 Diabetes Risk in African-Ancestry Participants and Utility of an Ancestry-Specific Genetic Risk Score.

OBJECTIVE: Genetic risk scores (GRS) have been developed that differentiate individuals with type 1 diabetes from those with other forms of diabetes and are starting to be used for population screening; however, most studies were conducted in European-ancestry populations. This study identifies novel genetic variants associated with type 1 diabetes risk in African-ancestry participants and develops an African-specific GRS. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS: We generated single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) data with the ImmunoChip on 1,021 African-ancestry participants with type 1 diabetes and 2,928 control participants. HLA class I and class II alleles were imputed using SNP2HLA. Logistic regression models were used to identify genome-wide significant (P < 5.0 × 10-8) SNPs associated with type 1 diabetes in the African-ancestry samples and validate SNPs associated with risk in known European-ancestry loci (P < 2.79 × 10-5). RESULTS: African-specific (HLA-DQA1*03:01-HLA-DQB1*02:01) and known European-ancestry HLA haplotypes (HLA-DRB1*03:01-HLA-DQA1*05:01-HLA-DQB1*02:01, HLA-DRB1*04:01-HLA-DQA1*03:01-HLA-DQB1*03:02) were significantly associated with type 1 diabetes risk. Among European-ancestry defined non-HLA risk loci, six risk loci were significantly associated with type 1 diabetes in subjects of African ancestry. An African-specific GRS provided strong prediction of type 1 diabetes risk (area under the curve 0.871), performing significantly better than a European-based GRS and two polygenic risk scores in independent discovery and validation cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Genetic risk of type 1 diabetes includes ancestry-specific, disease-associated variants. The GRS developed here provides improved prediction of type 1 diabetes in African-ancestry subjects and a means to identify groups of individuals who would benefit from immune monitoring for early detection of islet autoimmunity.

A Simple, Low Cost Ink System for Drop-on-Demand Printing High Performance Metal Oxide Dielectric Film at Low Temperature.

We have successfully developed an ink system containing inexpensive raw materials through a simple process and have printed ZrO x dielectric film at a relatively low annealing temperature of 250 °C. The ZrO x dielectric film afforded a leakage current density of 5.4 × 10-6 A/cm2 at 1 MV/cm and a dielectric constant of 10 and shows a promising future for flexible electronics. The ink system shows a temperature-induced gelation behavior, and a gel network is formed when the temperature rises. A high concentration of oxide precursors is obtained near the network area through the absorption function of polymer groups, and thus oxide structure can be formed at a relatively low temperature due to the shorter diffusion path of precursor polymerization. The microstructure of the printed ZrO x film was investigated by high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and the effect of annealing temperature on film structure was studied.

Thermal effect of annealing-temperature on solution-processed high-k ZrO2 dielectrics.

In this paper, a solution-processed zirconium oxide (ZrO2) dielectric was deposited by spin coating with varying pre-annealing temperatures and post-annealing temperatures. The thermal effect of the pre-annealing and post-annealing process on the structural and electrical properties of ZrO2 films was investigated. The result shows that the pre-annealing process had a significant impact on the relative porosity and internal stress of ZrO2 film. A pre-annealing process with a low temperature could not effectively remove the residual solvent, while a high pre-annealing temperature would lead to large internal stress. As for post-annealing temperature, it was found that the post-annealing process can not only reduce internal defects of the ZrO2 dielectric, but also optimize the interface between the semiconductor and dielectric by lowering the surface defects of the ZrO2 film. Finally, the TFT with a pre-annealing temperature of 200 °C and post-annealing temperature of 400 °C showed optimized performance, with a mobility of 16.34 cm2 (V s)-1, an I on/I off of 2.08 × 106, and a subthreshold swing (SS) of 0.17 V dec-1.

Morphology Modulation of Direct Inkjet Printing by Incorporating Polymers and Surfactants into a Sol-Gel Ink System.

Many methods have been reported to prevent the nonuniformity of inkjet printing structures. Most of them depend on the balance of the capillary flow in the printing pattern during the evaporation of the solvent. However, as the relation of evaporation and capillary flow can obviously vary among different ink systems, it is difficult for a method to fit most of the situations. Therefore, it would be a promising way to eliminate any capillary flow before solvent evaporation so that morphology of the printing structure will not be affected by the evaporation behavior of the ink system. In this paper, a novel method of direct inkjet printing of a uniform metal oxide structure is reported. We introduce a polymer polyacrylamide and a surfactant FSO into a sol-gel ink system, and the new ink system can gel from the printing pattern edge to center as temperature increases because of the cross-linking of the polymer chains. By that means, transport of solute molecules and solvent molecules is limited. Meanwhile, the surfactant can ensure that the solute in the central liquid phase deposits uniformly by enhancing the Marangoni flow during the gelation process. The ZrO2 film with uniform morphology was fabricated by drying and annealing the gelating film and afforded a leakage current density of 7.48 × 10-7 A cm-2 at 1 MV and a breakdown field of 1.9 MV cm-1 at an annealing temperature of 250 °C.

Properties-Adjustable Alumina-Zirconia Nanolaminate Dielectric Fabricated by Spin-Coating.

In this paper, an alumina-zirconia (Al2O3-ZrO2) nanolaminate dielectric was fabricated by spin-coating and the performance was investigated. It was found that the properties of the dielectric can be adjusted by changing the content of Al2O3/ZrO2 in nanolaminates: when the content of Al2O3 was higher than 50%, the properties of nanolaminates, such as the optical energy gap, dielectric strength (Vds), capacitance density, and relative permittivity were relatively stable, while the change of these properties became larger when the content of Al2O3 was less than 50%. With the content of ZrO2 varying from 50% to 100%, the variation of these properties was up to 0.482 eV, 2.12 MV/cm, 135.35 nF/cm², and 11.64, respectively. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the dielectric strength of nanolaminates were influenced significantly by the number (n) of bilayers. Every increment of one Al2O3-ZrO2 bilayer will enhance the dielectric strength by around 0.39 MV/cm (Vds ≈ 0.86 + 0.39n). This could be contributed to the amorphous alumina which interrupted the grain boundaries of zirconia.

UV-Cured Inkjet-Printed Silver Gate Electrode with Low Electrical Resistivity.

Inkjet-printed silver gate electrode with low electrical resistivity was fabricated by UV curing method. By adjusting the UV curing time and the distance between the samples and UV lamp, the effects of UV curing conditions on the electrical resistivity of the silver films were studied, and the lowest electrical resistivity of 6.69 × 10-8 Ω·m was obtained. Besides, the UV-cured silver films have good adhesion to the glass substrates, with adhesion strength of 4B (ASTM international standard). Our work offered an easy and low temperature approach to fabricate inkjet-printed silver electrodes with low electrical resistivity.

Direct Inkjet Printing of Silver Source/Drain Electrodes on an Amorphous InGaZnO Layer for Thin-Film Transistors.

Printing technologies for thin-film transistors (TFTs) have recently attracted much interest owing to their eco-friendliness, direct patterning, low cost, and roll-to-roll manufacturing processes. Lower production costs could result if electrodes fabricated by vacuum processes could be replaced by inkjet printing. However, poor interfacial contacts and/or serious diffusion between the active layer and the silver electrodes are still problematic for achieving amorphous indium-gallium-zinc-oxide (a-IGZO) TFTs with good electrical performance. In this paper, silver (Ag) source/drain electrodes were directly inkjet-printed on an amorphous a-IGZO layer to fabricate TFTs that exhibited a mobility of 0.29 cm²·V-1·s-1 and an on/off current ratio of over 105. To the best of our knowledge, this is a major improvement for bottom-gate top-contact a-IGZO TFTs with directly printed silver electrodes on a substrate with no pretreatment. This study presents a promising alternative method of fabricating electrodes of a-IGZO TFTs with desirable device performance.

A Simple Method for High-Performance, Solution-Processed, Amorphous ZrO2 Gate Insulator TFT with a High Concentration Precursor.

Solution-processed high-k dielectric TFTs attract much attention since they cost relatively little and have a simple fabrication process. However, it is still a challenge to reduce the leakage of the current density of solution-processed dielectric TFTs. Here, a simple solution method is presented towards enhanced performance of ZrO2 films by intentionally increasing the concentration of precursor. The ZrO2 films not only exhibit a low leakage current density of 10-6 A/cm² at 10 V and a breakdown field of 2.5 MV/cm, but also demonstrate a saturation mobility of 12.6 cm²·V-1·s-1 and a Ion/Ioff ratio of 106 in DC pulse sputtering IGZO-TFTs based on these films. Moreover, the underlying mechanism of influence of precursor concentration on film formation is presented. Higher concentration precursor results in a thicker film within same coating times with reduced ZrO2/IGZO interface defects and roughness. It shows the importance of thickness, roughness, and annealing temperature in solution-processed dielectric oxide TFT and provides an approach to precisely control solution-processed oxide films thickness.

Direct patterning of silver electrodes with 2.4µm channel length by piezoelectric inkjet printing.

The control of channel length is of great significance in the fabrication of thin film transistors (TFTs) with high-speed operation. However, achieving short channel on untreated glass by traditional piezoelectric inkjet printing is problematic due to the impacting and rebounding behaviors of droplet impinging on solid surface. Here a novel method was proposed to obtain short channel length on untreated glass by taking advantage of the difference in the retraction velocities on both sides of an ink droplet. In addition, droplets contact mechanism was first introduced in our work to explain the formation of short channel in the printing process. Through printing droplets array with optimized drop space and adjusting appropriate printing parameters, a 2.4µm of channel length for TFT, to the best of our knowledge, which is the shortest channel on substrate without pre-patterning, was achieved using piezoelectric inkjet printing. This study sheds light on the fabrication of short channel TFT for large size and high-resolution displays using inkjet printing technology.

[Effects of bm47 deletion on viral replication and transcription of Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus].

Bombyx mori nucleopolyhedrovirus (BmNPV) bm47 gene is found in all sequenced lepidopteran nucleopolyhedroviruses (NPVs). It is one of the core genes of NPVs. However, the role of bm47 in the biological cycle of NPV remains unknown. In this study, the Red recombination system was used to knock out bm47 from BmNPV to construct bm47-ko-Bacmid in E. coli BW25113 system. Then bm47 gene was introduced back to the viral genome using the Bac-to-Bac system to create the repair virus bm47-re-Bacmid. TCID50 assay and real-time PCR (qPCR) were used to evaluate the effects of bm47 deletion on viral DNA replication, gene transcription, and protein expression. qPCR results showed that bm47 knock-out had no significant effect on viral DNA replication. However, the qPCR results showed that bm47-ko-Bacmid significantly decreased the transcription levels of early gene lef-3, late gene vp39, and very late gene p10 at 48 h and 72 h after viral transfection of BmN cells (P < 0.05). This work will provide a foundation for further studies on the biological function of BmNPV bm47 in viral replication and transcription.