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Poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene): polystyrene sulfonate (PEDOT:PSS) is a conductive water-processable polymer with many important applications in organic electronics. The electrical conductivity of PEDOT:PSS layers is very diverse and can be changed by changing the processing and post-deposition conditions, e.g., by using different solvent additives, doping or modifying the physical conditions of the layer deposition. Despite many years of intensive research on the relationship between the microstructure and properties of these layers, there are still gaps in our knowledge, especially with respect to the detailed understanding of the charge carrier transport mechanism in organic semiconductor thin films. In this work, we investigate the effect of acid doping of PEDOT:PSS thin films on the intra-chain and inter-chain conductivity by developing a model that treats PEDOT:PSS as a nanocomposite material. This model is based on the effective medium theory and uses the percolation theory equation for the electrical conductivity of a mixture of two materials. Here its implementation assumes that the role of the highly conductive material is attributed to the intra-chain conductivity of PEDOT and its quantitative contribution is determined based on the optical Drude–Lorentz model. While the weaker inter-chain conductivity is assumed to originate from the weakly conductive material and is determined based on electrical measurements using the van der Pauw method and coherent nanostructure-dependent analysis. Our studies show that doping with methanesulfonic acid significantly affects both types of conductivity. The intra-chain conductivity of PEDOT increases from 260 to almost 400 Scm−1. Meanwhile, the inter-chain conductivity increases by almost three orders of magnitude, reaching a critical state, i.e., exceeding the percolation threshold. The observed changes in electrical conductivity due to acid doping are attributed to the flattening of the PEDOT/PSS gel nanoparticles. In the model developed here, this flattening is accounted for by the inclusion shape factor.

Members of the Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) family control cytoskeletal dynamics by promoting actin filament nucleation with the Arp2/3 complex. The WASP relative WAVE regulates lamellipodia formation within a 400-kilodalton, hetero-pentameric WAVE regulatory complex (WRC). The WRC is inactive towards the Arp2/3 complex, but can be stimulated by the Rac GTPase, kinases and phosphatidylinositols. Here we report the 2.3-ångstrom crystal structure of the WRC and complementary mechanistic analyses. The structure shows that the activity-bearing VCA motif of WAVE is sequestered by a combination of intramolecular and intermolecular contacts within the WRC. Rac and kinases appear to destabilize a WRC element that is necessary for VCA sequestration, suggesting the way in which these signals stimulate WRC activity towards the Arp2/3 complex. The spatial proximity of the Rac binding site and the large basic surface of the WRC suggests how the GTPase and phospholipids could cooperatively recruit the complex to membranes. WAVE control of actin polymerization The WAVE protein is a central regulator of actin dynamics during cell motility. WAVE is a member of the Wiskott–Aldrich syndrome protein (WASP) family, which promotes the actin-filament-nucleating activity of the Arp2/3 complex. In cells, WAVE is constitutively incorporated into the 350-kilodalton WAVE regulatory complex (WRC); it is normally present in an inactive state and can be activated by a number of inputs including the RacGTPase. Here, Chen et al . present the structure and mechanistic analysis of the WRC. The combined data reveal how the WAVE protein is inhibited within the WRC complex and provide mechanisms for WRC activation at the plasma membrane. In cells, WAVE protein, a central regulator of actin dynamics during cell motility, is constitutively incorporated into WAVE regulatory complex (WRC), is normally present in an inactive state and can be activated by a number of inputs. These authors present the structure and mechanistic analysis of WRC. The combined data reveal how the WAVE protein is inhibited within the WRC complex and provide mechanisms for WRC activation at the plasma membrane.

In this work, the system-level design of noise-shaping (NS) successive-approximation (SAR) analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) is investigated and analyzed. It is shown that despite the fact that the NS SAR architecture shares the same fundamental NS principle with the ΣΔ architecture, there are a few implementation differences that imply different considerations for optimum system-level design, particularly in the selection of the system oversampling ratio (OSR) and consequent resolution of the associated digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for a certain target overall resolution. In addition, the impacts of the OSR value on the power dissipation and figure-of-merit (FOM) are addressed in details.

Standalone cervical laminectomy is frequently performed in elderly patients with degenerative cervical myelopathy (DCM), yet practical prognostic determinants remain limited. We examined whether the preoperative T1 slope minus cervical lordosis (T1S-CL) predicts 2-year clinical outcomes and yields clinically useful decision thresholds. In this retrospective cohort of elderly DCM patients who underwent multilevel standalone laminectomy with a minimum 2-year follow-up, outcomes were assessed using the modified Japanese Orthopaedic Association (mJOA) score and Visual Analog Scale (VAS) for neck and arm pain. The primary endpoint was achievement of the minimal clinically important difference (MCID), prespecified as a ≥ 2-point increase in mJOA. Cervical alignment parameters including T1 slope (T1S), C2–C7 lordosis (CL), and T1S-CL were measured pre- and postoperatively. Predictive performance was evaluated using receiver operating characteristic (ROC) analysis and multivariable logistic regression with internal bootstrap validation. Among 68 patients (mean age 68.38 ± 3.15 years), 82.4% achieved MCID at 2 years. Laminectomy was associated with a modest decline in lordosis, and a corresponding increase in T1S-CL. Preoperative T1S-CL independently predicted MCID achievement (adjusted odds ratio per 1° = 0.556; p  < 0.001) and demonstrated superior discrimination compared with T1S or CL alone. A two-threshold strategy emerged: T1S-CL ≤ 16.5° showed high specificity (91.7%) and positive predictive value (97.2%) for favourable outcome, whereas T1S-CL > 20° provided strong sensitivity (94.6%) for identifying poor outcome. These findings support T1S-CL as a promising preoperative predictor for exploratory risk stratification. However, the proposed thresholds require external validation before routine clinical use.

Aflatoxins (AFs) are the most detrimental mycotoxin, potentially hazardous to animals and humans. AFs in food threaten the health of consumers and cause liver cancer. Therefore, a safe, efficient, and friendly approach is attributed to the control of aflatoxicosis. Therefore, this study aimed to evaluate the impacts of Chlorella vulgaris (CLV) on hepatic aflatoxicosis, aflatoxin residues, and meat quality in quails. Quails were allocated into a control group; the CLV group received CLV (1 g/kg diet); the AF group received an AF-contaminated diet (50 ppb); and the AF+CLV group received both treatments. The results revealed that AF decreased the growth performance and caused a hepatic injury, exhibited as an increase in liver enzymes and disrupted lipid metabolism. In addition, AF induced oxidative stress, exhibited by a dramatic increase in the malondialdehyde (MDA) level and decreases in glutathione (GSH) level, superoxide dismutase (SOD), and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) activities. Significant up-regulation in the inflammatory cytokine (TNF-α, IL-1β, and IL-6) mRNA expression was also documented. Moreover, aflatoxin residues were detected in the liver and meat with an elevation of fat% alongside a decrease in meat protein%. On the other hand, CLV supplementation ameliorated AF-induced oxidative stress and inflammatory condition in addition to improving the nutritional value of meat and significantly reducing AF residues. CLV mitigated AF-induced hepatic damage, decreased growth performance, and lowered meat quality via its antioxidant and nutritional constituents.

The present work is aimed to assess the protective influence of zinc oxide resveratrol nanoparticles against oxidative stress-associated testicular dysfunction. The number of 50 male albino rats were randomly separated into five groups ( n  = 10): Group I, control: rats gavage distilled water orally; Group II, Levofloxacin: rats that administered Levofloxacin (LFX) softened in distilled water at a dosage of 40 mg/kg −1 BW orally every other day; Group III, Zn-RSV: rats administered with Zn-RSV (zinc oxide resveratrol in distilled water at a dose 20 mg/kg −1 BW orally every other day; Group IV, (LFX + Zn-RSV): rats that were administered with Levofloxacin along with Zn-RSV nPs; Group V, Levofloxacin + Zn: rats were administered with Levofloxacin and Zno at a dose of 20 mg/kg −1 BW orally every other day as mentioned before. This study lasted for 2 months. Sera were collected to assess luteinizing hormone (LH), follicle-stimulating hormone (FSH), and testosterone values. Testicular tissues were utilized to evaluate levels of superoxide dismutase (SOD), nitric oxide (NO), malondialdehyde (MDA), and catalase (CAT). Semen samples were utilized to measure their quality (motility, concentration, and vitality). Histopathological and immune histochemical techniques investigated the morphological changes in the testis. Rats treated with Levofloxacin showed significantly lower levels of serum LH, testosterone, FSH, testicular enzymatic NO, catalase, SOD, BAX, and BCL-2 immune reactivity and sperm quality but significantly greater testicular malondialdehyde and caspase-3 immuno-reactivity Compared to both control and zinc oxide resveratrol treatment. Zinc oxide resveratrol nanoparticles ameliorated the harmful side effects of Levofloxacin. Improvements were more pronounced in the co-treatment (LFX + Zn-RSV) Zinc oxide resveratrol group than in the co-treatment (LFX + Zno) Zinc oxide group. Zinc oxide resveratrol nanoparticles could be a possible solution for levofloxacin oxidative stress-induced fertility problems.

One of the key parameters characterizing the microstructure of a layer is its degree of order. It can be determined from optical studies or X-ray diffraction. However, both of these methods applied to the same layer may give different results because, for example, aggregates may contribute to the amorphous background in XRD studies, while in optical studies, they may already show order. Because we are usually interested in the optical and/or electrical properties of the layers, which in turn are closely related to their dielectric properties, determining the optical order of the layers is particularly important. In this work, the microstructure, optical properties and electrical conductivity of poly(3-hexyl)thiophene layers were investigated, and a model describing the electrical conductivity of these layers was proposed. The model is based on the generalized theory of the effective medium and uses the equation from the percolation theory of electrical conductivity for the effective medium of a mixture of two materials. The results indicate a key role of the aggregate size and limited conductivity of charge carriers, mainly due to structural imperfections that manifest themselves as an increase in the number of localized states visible in the subgap absorption near the optical absorption edge. The critical value of the order parameter and the corresponding values of the Urbach energy, excitonic linewidth and band gap energy are determined.

Small RNAs (sRNAs) are becoming increasingly recognized as important regulators in bacteria. To investigate the contribution of sRNA mediated regulation to virulence in Vibrio cholerae, we performed high throughput sequencing of cDNA generated from sRNA transcripts isolated from a strain ectopically expressing ToxT, the major transcriptional regulator within the virulence gene regulon. We compared this data set with ToxT binding sites determined by pulldown and deep sequencing to identify sRNA promoters directly controlled by ToxT. Analysis of the resulting transcripts with ToxT binding sites in cis revealed two sRNAs within the Vibrio Pathogenicity Island. When deletions of these sRNAs were made and the resulting strains were competed against the parental strain in the infant mouse model of V. cholerae colonization, one, TarB, displayed a variable colonization phenotype dependent on its physiological state at the time of inoculation. We identified a target of TarB as the mRNA for the secreted colonization factor, TcpF. We verified negative regulation of TcpF expression by TarB and, using point mutations that disrupted interaction between TarB and tpcF mRNA, showed that loss of this negative regulation was primarily responsible for the colonization phenotype observed in the TarB deletion mutant.

This paper assesses whether societal culture moderates the relationship between human resource management (HRM) practices and organizational performance. Drawing on matched employer–employee data from 387 organizations and 7187 employees in 14 countries, our findings show a positive relationship between HRM practices combined in High-Performance Work Systems (HPWS) and organizational performance across societal cultures. Three dimensions of societal culture assessed (power distance, in-group collectivism, and institutional collectivism) did not moderate this relationship. Drawing on the Ability–Motivation–Opportunity (AMO) model, we further consider the effectiveness of three bundles of HRM practices (skill-enhancing, motivation-enhancing, and opportunity-enhancing practices). This analysis shows opportunity-enhancing practices (e.g., participative work design and decision-making) are less effective in high-power-distance cultures. Nevertheless, in markedly different countries we find combinations of complementary HPWS and bundles of AMO practices appear to outweigh the influence of societal culture and enhance organizational performance.

In this work, an energy-efficient noise-shaping (NS) successive-approximation (SAR) capacitance-to-digital converter (CDC) is proposed. The interface is based on a direct-comparison technique, in which the sensor capacitance is compared directly to an on-chip binary weighted capacitive digital-to-analog converter (DAC). To implement NS, a 2nd order feed-forward loop filter processes the extracted residue at the end of each conversion cycle. Employing NS to achieve the target resolution leads to a small capacitive DAC and hence a small Si-area compared to the conventional SAR approach that would require a capacitive DAC with the same resolution as the overall CDC resolution. The proposed capacitive NS SAR sensor interface is designed and implemented in 130 nm CMOS technology for a 4 pF dynamic range and achieves an effective number of bits (ENOB) of 12.0 bits with a measurement time of 2.5 ms. The CDC dissipates 1.0 μA from a 0.8 V supply resulting in a figure of merit (FoM) of 488 fJ/conversion-step.