Temperature-dependent field emission characteristics of ZnO nanorods are reported in this study. The work function of ZnO nanorods is notably reduced with the temperature increasing from 100 to 600 K. The electron emission properties of ZnO nanorods are very sensitive to temperature. The turn-on field decreases significantly from 7.5 to 1.9 V µm−1, while the emission current increases remarkably with the increasing temperature. Moreover, the real-time images (recorded by CCD camera) of field emission from ZnO nanorods support the above I–V results. The strongly thermo-enhanced emission of ZnO nanorods suggests that the increasing temperature could significantly excite the electrons on the defect-dependent donor levels into a vacuum through a narrowed tunnel by an applied electric field.

The start-up characteristics of a flat miniature loop heat pipe (LHP) with different heat loads were experimentally investigated in this article. Reasons for the difficulties in its start-up were analysed. An overall two-dimensional numerical model was developed to address the heat and mass transfer characteristics in the evaporator of the miniature LHP. The numerical results showed that the performance of the flat miniature LHP could be enhanced by improving the geometrical structure in a limited working space. Effects of thickness of the side wall, height of the compensation chamber, and the wick on system performance were discussed in detail.

A new drug delivery system (DDS), ciprofloxacine/tricalcium phosphate delivery capsule (CTDC) was developed by loading a broad-spectrum antibiotic ciprofloxacine into the central cylindrical cavity of tricalcium phosphate capsule. The new system showed good biocompatibility and could degrade gradually in our preliminary studies. In vitro study showed that CTDC could maintain high-level and long-term release of ciprofloxacine and that ultrasonic irradiation within the range of physical therapy could increase the drug release amount from CTDC ( P < 0.02), and might become a new technique to achieve the control of drug release from DDS.

Study question Could endometrial extracellular vesicles from recurrent implantation failure patients (RIF-EVs) attenuate the growth and implantation potentials of embryos and what are the mechanisms?  Summary answer RIF-EVs inhibited embryonic growth and decreased the trophoblast functions via miR-6131/PAK2 pathway. What is known already Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) is characterized by repeated embryo transfers without pregnancy. To date, the etiology of RIF remains poorly understood. Recent evidence indicated that extracellular vesicles (EVs) secreted by endometrial cells, played a crucial role in the implantation by regulating the development and implantation of embryos. Study design, size, duration Endometrial cells isolated from endometrial tissues of RIF patients (n = 25) and fertile women (n = 16) were cultured and modulated via hormones. Endometrial EVs from RIF patients (RIF-EVs) or fertile women (FER-EVs) were isolated from the conditioned medium. The influence of EVs on embryonic development and implantation was investigated by co-culture models of EVs and 2-cell murine embryos or HTR8/SVneo cells, respectively. High-through put sequencing was performed to identify the miRNA profile in the RIF-EVs. Participants/materials, setting, methods RIF-EVs and FER-EVs were characterized using western blotting, nanoparticle tracking analysis, and transmission electron microscopy. After co-culture with EVs, embryonic blastocyst rate and hatching rate were calculated. Besides, the proliferation, migration, and invasion of EV-treated trophoblast cells were evaluated by CCK-8, wound healing, and transwell invasion assays. miRNA expression profiles were compared between RIF-EVs and FER-EVs, and the regulatory role of significantly upregulated miR-6131 in RIF-EVs was investigated in the trophoblast cells. Main results and the role of chance RIF-EVs and FER-EVs are round bilayer vesicles, ranging mainly at 100 nm and enriched in TSG101, Alix, and CD9. Both RIF-EVs and FER-EVs entered embryonic or trophoblast cytoplasm. The blastocyst rate in the RIF-EV groups was significantly decreased compared to that in the FER-EV groups, at concentrations of 5, 10, and 20 μg/ml. The hatching rate was decreased significantly in embryos treated with 10 or 20 μg/ml RIF-EVs compared to those treated with FER-EVs at the same concentration (p &lt; 0.05). The proliferation, migration, and invasion of trophoblasts were significantly decreased in the RIF-EV group at 20 μg/mL. A total of 11 differently expressed (fold change &gt;2 and p &lt; 0.05) miRNAs were found in the RIF-EVs, and two of them were validated in a larger set of EV samples using RT-PCR. The most significantly different miRNA, 6131, was increased in the RIF-EV-treated HTR8/SVneo cells. The up-regulation of miR-6131 inhibited the growth and invasion of HTR8/SVneo. Bioinformatics coupled with luciferase and western blot assays revealed that PAK2 is a direct target of miR-6131, and the overexpression of PAK2 can rescue the phenotype changes induced by miR-6131 overexpression. Limitations, reasons for caution Our study indicated miRNA in the RIF-EVs dysregulating the growth and function of embryonic cells. However, EVs contained a wide spectrum of bioactive molecules, including proteins, mRNAs, and DNA, which may play an important role in the implantation. Further studies are required to investigate the mechanisms. Wider implications of the findings This work indicates an important role of EVs from women with RIF in embryonic implantation, potentially providing a novel insight to understand the pathophysiology of RIF. Trial registration number not applicable