Effect of oxygen partial pressure on the performance of homojunction amorphous In-Ga-Zn-O thin-film transistors.

In this study, the homojunction thin-film transistors (TFTs) with amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) as active channel layers and source/drain electrodes were fabricated by RF magnetron sputtering. The effect of oxygen partial pressure on the phase, microstructure, optical and electrical properties of IGZO thin films was investigated. The results showed that amorphous IGZO thin films always exhibit a high transmittance above 90% and wide band gaps of around 3.9 eV. The resistivity increases as the IGZO thin films are deposited at a higher oxygen partial pressure due to the depletion of oxygen vacancies. In addition, the electrical behaviors in homojunction IGZO TFTs were analyzed. When the active channel layers were deposited with an oxygen partial pressure of 1.96%, the homojunction IGZO TFTs exhibited optimal transfer and output characteristics with a field-effect mobility of 13.68 cm2V-1s-1. Its sub-threshold swing, threshold voltage and on/off ratio are 0.6 V/decade, 0.61 V and 107, respectively.

Upregulation of ECT2 is associated with transcriptional program of cancer stem cells and predicts poor clinical outcome in gastric cancer.

Gastric cancer remains the third leading cause of cancer-associated mortality worldwide. The identification of prognostic indicators that are associated with clinical characteristics is urgently required. The aim of the present study was to determine the involvement of epithelial cell transforming 2 (ECT2) in gastric cancer. The results of the present study demonstrated that ECT2 expression was upregulated in human gastric cancer samples. Furthermore, high ECT2 expression was associated with advanced Tumor-Node-Metastasis stage and deeper tumor invasion. ECT2 upregulation was further confirmed in several independent publicly available clinical cohorts from the Gene Expression Omnibus database. In addition, patients with gastric cancer, with high ECT2 expression exhibited a significantly shorter overall survival time than those with low ECT2 expression, and Cox regression analysis demonstrated that ECT2 expression was an independent prognostic marker for overall survival time. Characterization of the transcriptome profiles of ECT2 upregulated gastric tumors indicated that ECT2 upregulation may be associated with transcriptional features of cancer stem cells (CSCs). Additionally, BUB1 mitotic checkpoint serine/threonine kinase and E2F transcription factor 7, two genes previously reported to account for the functionality of CSCs, were strongly enriched in ECT2High gastric cancer samples. Taken together, the results of the present study suggest that ECT2 may serve as a novel marker for CSCs and may be a potential prognostic indicator in gastric cancer.

Synthesis and novel fluorescence phenomenon of terbium complex with a new Schiff base ligand derived from condensation of triaminotriethylamine and 3-indolemethanal.

A new Schiff base ligand with tripodal structure, N,N',N''-tri-(3-indolemethanal)-triaminotriethylamine (L), and its complex with terbium was synthesized. The complex was characterized by element analysis, IR spectra, mass spectra, thermal analysis and molar conductivity. The terbium ion was found to coordinate to the Schiff base nitrogen atoms and the bridgehead nitrogen atom. The fluorescence properties of the complex in aqueous solutions were studied. Under the excitation of UV light, the complex exhibits characteristic fluorescence of terbium ion. H(+) concentration could strongly enhance the luminescence of terbium complex with L in aqueous solutions. This phenomenon will make the new complex favorable to be used in the fluorescence switches and sensors. The mechanism of the fluorescence enhancement by protonation of the indole nitrogen atoms is due to the suppressed photoinduced electron transfer (PIET) fluorescence quenching when adding acid.