Smooth, Chemically Altered Nucleating Platform for Abrupt Performance Enhancement of Ultrathin Cu-Layer-Based Transparent Electrodes.

Rapid advances in flexible optoelectronic devices necessitate the concomitant development of high-performance, cost-efficient, and flexible transparent conductive electrodes (TCEs). This Letter reports an abrupt enhancement in the optoelectronic characteristics of ultrathin Cu-layer-based TCEs via Ar+-mediated modulation of the chemical and physical states of a ZnO support surface. This approach strongly regulates the growth mode for the subsequently deposited Cu layer, in addition to marked alteration to the ZnO/Cu interface states, resulting in exceptional TCE performance in the form of ZnO/Cu/ZnO TCEs. The resultant Haacke figure of merit (T10/Rs) of 0.063 Ω-1, 53% greater than that of the unaltered, otherwise identical structure, corresponds to a record-high value for Cu-layer-based TCEs. Moreover, the enhanced TCE performance in this approach is shown to be highly sustainable under severe simultaneous loadings of electrical, thermal, and mechanical stresses.

A multi-scale framework for modeling transport of microplastics during sand filtration: Bridging from pore to continuum.

The fate and transport of microplastics (MPs) during deep bed filtration were investigated using combined laboratory experiments and numerical modeling. A series of column experiments were conducted within the designated ranges of six operating parameters (i.e., size of the MP and collector, seepage velocity, porosity, temperature, and ionic strength). A variance-based sensitivity analysis, the Fourier amplitude sensitivity test, was conducted to determine the priority in affecting both the attachment coefficient at the pore scale, and the subsequent stabilized height of the breakthrough curve at the continuum scale, which follows non-monotonic trends with singularity in the size of MP (i.e., 1 µm). Finally, Damkohler numbers were introduced to analyze the dominant mechanisms (e.g., attachment, detachment, or straining) in the coupled hydro-chemical process. The robustness of conceptual frameworks bridges the gap between pore-scale interactions and the explicit MPs removal in the continuum scale, which could support decision-making in determining the priority of parameters to retain MPs during deep bed filtration.

Occurrence of Progressive Bone Loss Around Anodized Surface Implants and Resorbable Blasting Media Implants: A Retrospective Cohort Study.

BACKGROUND: This study evaluates occurrence of progressive bone loss (PBL) around implants with different implant surfaces. METHODS: Retrospective examination of 2,517 implants was performed in 903 patients, including 1,147 anodized-surface implants in 454 patients and 1,370 resorbable blasting media (RBM)-surface implants in 449 patients, which were placed from January 2006 to December 2010. Through regular check-up radiographs and records, presence of PBL (up to >50% of fixture length) was investigated. Implant removal for any reason was regarded a failure. RESULTS: In total, 2,186 implants (979 anodized implants and 1,207 RBM implants) in 793 patients were included in this study. PBL was more frequently observed among anodized implants (n = 36 in 21 patients; 4%) than among RBM implants (n = 19 in 14 patients; 2%), and this difference was statistically significant (P <0.001). Occurrence of PBL was significantly influenced by surface modification and implant diameter (odds ratio [OR] of anodized surface = 4.40, 95% confidence interval [CI] = 1.78 to 10.89, P = 0.001; OR of wide implants = 9.62, 95% CI = 1.13 to 81.68, P = 0.038; determined by mixed-effects logistic regression analysis with random patient effect). However, total survival rate was significantly influenced by implant diameter and not by surface modification (P = 0.019), although effect of implant diameter was observed to be significant on anodized implants (P = 0.030). CONCLUSION: Implant surface modification and implant diameter are significantly associated with occurrence of PBL.

An image analysis algorithm for malaria parasite stage classification and viability quantification.

With more than 40% of the world's population at risk, 200-300 million infections each year, and an estimated 1.2 million deaths annually, malaria remains one of the most important public health problems of mankind today. With the propensity of malaria parasites to rapidly develop resistance to newly developed therapies, and the recent failures of artemisinin-based drugs in Southeast Asia, there is an urgent need for new antimalarial compounds with novel mechanisms of action to be developed against multidrug resistant malaria. We present here a novel image analysis algorithm for the quantitative detection and classification of Plasmodium lifecycle stages in culture as well as discriminating between viable and dead parasites in drug-treated samples. This new algorithm reliably estimates the number of red blood cells (isolated or clustered) per fluorescence image field, and accurately identifies parasitized erythrocytes on the basis of high intensity DAPI-stained parasite nuclei spots and Mitotracker-stained mitochondrial in viable parasites. We validated the performance of the algorithm by manual counting of the infected and non-infected red blood cells in multiple image fields, and the quantitative analyses of the different parasite stages (early rings, rings, trophozoites, schizonts) at various time-point post-merozoite invasion, in tightly synchronized cultures. Additionally, the developed algorithm provided parasitological effective concentration 50 (EC50) values for both chloroquine and artemisinin, that were similar to known growth inhibitory EC50 values for these compounds as determined using conventional SYBR Green I and lactate dehydrogenase-based assays.