Yarn-type supercapacitors should have high energy density in small given spaces, and the one attempt among many is to comprise the electrodes asymmetrically. However, the low capacitance of conventional materials causes the widened operating voltage useless. In this study, we have utilized a novel material MXene with carbon nanotubes (CNTs) to make highly loaded MXene/CNT yarn electrodes, which exhibited a remarkable areal capacitance. With MnO2/CNT biscrolled cathode and PVA/LiCl gel electrolyte, the plied asymmetric yarn supercapacitor had energy density of 100 µWh/cm2. The yarn supercapacitor could operate under mechanical deformations without performance degradation.

Cronobacter sakazakii is a life-threatening foodborne pathogen found in powdered infant formula and dairy products. Kefir is a dairy probiotic product and its antimicrobial activity against C. sakazakii was reported in our previous study. To identify key microorganisms that mediate growth suppression, we tested the antimicrobial activity of culture supernatants derived from lactic acid bacteria found in kefir. Lactobacillus kefiri DH5, L. kefiranofaciens DH101, and Bifidobacterium longum 720 (a commercial probiotic strain that served as a positive control) all significantly inhibited the growth of C. sakazakii ATCC 29544, delaying the initiation of exponential growth from 3 to 9 h in the nutrient broth. Among them, L. kefiri DH5 exerted the strongest antimicrobial effects against C. sakazakii, showing bactericidal effect at the addition of 300 µl of supernatant in 1 ml of nutrient broth. Interestingly, the supernatant of L. kefiri DH5 has higher pH and lower titrable acidity than that of L. kefiranofaciens DH101, suggesting metabolites produced by heterofermentation of L. kefiri acted more effectively to antagonise the growth of C. sakazakii. In addition, the supernatant of L. kefiri DH5 induced the leakage of cytoplasmic materials including nucleic acid and proteins, suggesting L. kefiri DH5 disrupted the cellular membrane integrity of C. sakazakii. Considering that pH neutralisation reduced the L. kefiri-dependent growth suppression, it is inferred that this activity is mainly due to organic acids produced during the fermentation process.

We trace Sn nanoparticles (NPs) produced from SnO2 nanotubes (NTs) during lithiation initialized by high energy e-beam irradiation. The growth dynamics of Sn NPs is visualized in liquid electrolytes by graphene liquid cell transmission electron microscopy. The observation reveals that Sn NPs grow on the surface of SnO2 NTs via coalescence and the final shape of agglomerated NPs is governed by surface energy of the Sn NPs and the interfacial energy between Sn NPs and SnO2 NTs. Our result will likely benefit more rational material design of the ideal interface for facile ion insertion.

We demonstrate the tungsten disulfide (WS2) thin film catalysts prepared by the sulfurization of vacuum deposited WO3 thin films for efficient hydrogen production with over 90% Faradaic efficiency. The 23-nm-thick WS2 thin film catalyst heterojunction with p-type silicon photocathode could exhibit a photocurrent density of 8.3 mA/cm2 at 0 V versus a reversible hydrogen electrode (RHE), a low onset potential of 0.2 V versus RHE when photocurrent density reaches −1 mA/cm2 and long-term stability over 10 h. The enhanced catalytic activities of WS2/p-Si photocathodes compared with the bare p-Si photocathode originate from a number of edge sites in the synthesized polycrystalline thin films, which could act as hydrogen evolution catalyst.

In this study, the ternary Ge–Sb–Se chalcogenide glass was fabricated by a standard melt-quenching technique for flexible infrared lenses. Chalcogenide glass should have unique thermal and mechanical properties to be applied to precision glass molding (PGM) process. Therefore, the relations between thermal properties and the moldability were investigated for (35–20)Ge–(5–20)Sb–60Se glass systems. The thermal and thermos-mechanical properties were characterized by the differential scanning calorimeter and thermos-mechanical analysis, respectively. Preceding experiments using a pressing tester were conducted before PGM process to evaluate the moldability. The surface condition of both chalcogenide glass disks and Tungsten Carbide (WC) molds were characterized by using an optical microscopy and an interferometer. The preferential compositions in (35–20)Ge–(5–20)Sb–60Se glass systems were selected to produce molded lenses. Finally, the molded chalcogenide lens was successfully fabricated using the preferential compositions and the processing conditions from the preceding experiments using a pressing tester.

During the past decade, carbapenemase-producing Enterobacteriaceae (CPE) has emerged and spread across the world.1 The major carbapenemase enzymes currently being reported are KPC, NDM-1, VIM, IMP, and OXA.2 Because carbapenemase can be effectively transmitted via mobile genetic elements, and current therapeutic options for CPE infections are extremely limited, CPE may be one of the most serious contemporary threats to public health. However, very little is known about the characteristics of CPE carriage during hospitalization. The aims of this study were to investigate the clearance rate of CPE carriage and determine the number of consecutive negative cultures required to confirm CPE clearance. We also examined CPE transmission among hospitalized patients.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;36(11):1361–1362

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effects of botulinum toxin A (BTX-A, Botox) dilution volume and post-injection exercise with electrical stimulation on muscle paralysis. We injected 10 units of BTX-A diluted with 0.1 ml (B1, n=8) or 0.5 ml (B5, n=8) normal saline into both gastrocnemius muscles of 16 New Zealand white rabbits; two controls received no BTX-A. After BTX-A injection, all rabbits received calf muscle stretching exercise and electrical stimulation for 2 hours on the left leg. The compound muscle action potential (CMAP) decrease was most pronounced at 1 week and progressive recovery was observed (i.e. recovery from paralysis, increase of CMAP). There was a significant decrease of CMAP amplitudes in the B5 group compared with the B1 group at week 1 and week 4 (p<0.001). Left limbs with stretching exercise and electrical stimulation showed lower CMAP amplitudes compared with control right limbs of all rabbits. To maximize the muscle paralysis effect of BTX-A, increasing dilution volume and performing post-injection stretching exercise with electrical stimulation may be a promising strategy for increasing the beneficial effect of BTX-A treatment. Future studies are needed to investigate the clinical application of this finding.

Porous low dielectric films containing nano pores (∼20Å) with low dielectric constant (<2.2), have been prepared by using various kinds of cyclodextrin derivatives as porogenic materials. The pore structure such as pore size and interconnectivity can be controlled by changing functional groups of the cyclodextrin derivatives. We found that mechanical properties of porous low-k thin film prepared with mCSSQ (modified cyclic silsesquioxane) precursor and cyclodextrin derivatives were correlated with the pore interconnection length. The longer the interconnection length of nanopores in the thin film, the worse the mechanical properties of the thin film (such as hardness and modulus) even though the pore diameter of the films were microporous (∼2nm).

Carbon capsules with hollow macroporous core/mesoporous shell were synthesized using sacrificial submicrometer-size solid core/mesoporous shell (SCMS) silica spheres as templates. Size of the hollow macroporous core and thickness of the mesoporous shell can be easily controlled by the choice of silica spheres and the amount of TEOS/C18-TMS mixture, respectively.

Poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) / poly(siloxane-silsesquioxane) (PSQ-PSSQ) nanohybrid films were fabricated. The dielectric constant of the film was scaled down from 2.66 to 2.28 when the 30% PCL was added into poly(siloxane-silsesquioxane) matrix. The FE-SEM micrograph of poly(ε-caprolactone) / poly(siloxane-silsesquioxane) (PSQ-PSSQ) nanohybrid film shows nanoporous structure. The modulus and hardness of the film decrease with increasing film thickness. As PCL content increases, modulus and hardness of the films decreases.