Silver nanoparticles have drawn extensive attention as biomaterial components. Human fibroblasts were grown on various concentrations of silver nanoparticles during the period observation. Normal viability (0% silver particles) was increased from 6 to 72 hours, increasing the amount of human fibroblasts (1.5x10 4 to 7x10 6 cells/well) normally. Nevertheless, at higher concentrations of silver nanoparticles (50%) 1.11x10 5 cells/well remained after 72 hours. Results indicated that the increase in the concentration of silver nanoparticles reduced the number of fibroblasts and affected their fission. Silver nanoparticles were found under the membranes of fibroblast following dry treatment. The number of tissues declined because the silver nanoparticles interrupted the fission mechanism during their development in vivo.

A combined slide-slot coating die, with the slide coating on top, was designed and built to investigate the doublelayer coating of poly(vinyl-alcohol) solutions. The operating coating windows were examined as a function of flow rates and viscosities of the two coating layers. The top coating layer could be made much thinner as compared to the double-layer coating so long as a stable thin film could be formed on the slide. A minimum wet thickness of the top layer was found to be as thin as 5 m or less. A large viscosity ratio of the two layer solutions appears to be helpful in expanding the coating windows. Addition of a small quantity of polymer, such as carboxymethyl cellulose, can further enhance the coating speed and reduce the top layer thickness. A flow visualization technique was employed to observe the coating bead region. It was found to be easier to change the flow direction in the slide-slot coating die than the doublelayer slot die, resulting in a more stable coating flow and much thinner top layer. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 45:1590 -1599, 2005.

PURPOSE: This study evaluated and monitored the outcome of angiographic embolization of hepatic carcinoma by real-time C-arm angiographic computed tomography under number of tumors, size of tumors, and patient's age. METHODS AND MARTIALS: In total, 142 patients underwent angiographic embolization of hepatic carcinoma. The control group, 71 patients, underwent conventional angiographic (CA) embolization of hepatic carcinoma. The experimental group, 71 patients, underwent C-arm angiographic computed tomography (CCT) embolization of hepatic carcinoma. The numbers of angiographic embolization, number of tumors, size of tumors, and patients ages were recorded for comparisons between groups by analysis of variance (ANOVA) with cross-interaction and the chi-square test (cross table). RESULTS: The age ranges were 20-84 and 35-84 years old for the experimental and control groups respectively. Average number of angiographic embolizations of hepatic carcinomas were 2.63 ± 1.84 and 5.32 ± 2.01 for the experimental and control groups. The number of angiographic embolizations under number of tumors, size of tumors, and patients ages between groups were significantly different (P < 0.05). The effective analyses of transcatheter arterial chemoembolization (TACE) by CCT were significant by chi-square test (P < 0.05) under 3 cm and patients aged 60. CONCLUSION: The main advantage by CCT for undergoing TACE under tumor size smaller than 3 cm and numbers of tumor smaller 3 times were more significantly effective than those by CA. The CCT combined with TACE had high potentially reduced numbers of undergoing TACE.

Supercapacitors are one of the most promising energy storage devices, which could be used in hybrid vehicles, portable electronics and other pulse-power applications. Electrodes however play a crucial role in determining the performance of supercapacitors and current study mainly focused on transition metal oxides/nitrides and conducting polymers that show a large pseudo-capacitance in repeated charging-discharging profiles. Among these materials, the vanadium nitride (VN) possesses a high specific capacitance and chemical stability and is metallic in nature. VN, however, is often made in powder form and must combine with polymer to form electrode. In this case, conductivity and ionic accessibility, due to polymer addition, are reduced and capacitance also decreases at high voltage scan rates. In this work, the carbon nanotubes (CNTs) are electrochemically coated onto nickel mesh and sol-gel technique is then used to deposit V2O5 onto tube coatings, followed by calcining composite under anhydrous ammonia atmosphere. The morphology and structural properties of electrode are characterized by field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman measurement, and X-ray photoelectron spectrometer (XPS). A three-electrode system is employed to study the electrochemical behavior, including cyclic voltammetry (CV), galvanostatic charge–discharge cycling (CD). The experimental results suggest that CNTs provide an open mesoporous texture for access of electrolytes and conductive path for electron transfer to Ni collector.

Taiwan's industrial structure is mainly composed of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), with over 98% of enterprises being SMEs and employing more than 80% of the workforce in Taiwan. Many industries are under severe stress due to the COVID-19 outbreak, and many companies are reducing staff hiring or staff working hours. The main purpose of this study was to examine the factors influencing the job well-being of Taiwanese SME employees in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic, including organizational justice, job insecurity, decent work, and organizational commitment. Through a questionnaire survey, 653 valid questionnaires were collected and analyzed using structural equation modeling to verify the effects between the study constructs. The study found that organizational justice, job insecurity, and decent work all had significant effects on organizational commitment, with job insecurity having the least effect. Organizational commitment has a positive and significant effect on employees' job well-being, with a standardized regression coefficient of 0.469. In the research model, the R2 of employees' organizational justice, job insecurity, decent work, and organizational commitment on job well-being was as high as 0.724. The results of the study show that Taiwan has a large number of SMEs that can respond quickly and flexibly to the environment. Even in the unsettled environment of an epidemic, employees' organizational commitment to the company remains a decisive factor in employee well-being. The smaller-than-expected impact of employee job insecurity is indirect evidence of the resilience of the Taiwanese industry.