A recurring question is whether rating scales should be considered metrically scaled or merely ordinally scaled. This has direct implications for the permissible statistical procedures for significance testing. Based on the results of a simulation study, it is shown that the use of parametric procedures for rating scales has distinct advantages over the non-parametric alternatives. It is also shown that the parametric procedures are robust to violations of the assumption of normality, which only result in a modest loss of power compared with continuous variables. This loss should be taken into account when calculating the optimal sample size. The results suggest that sample sizes about 25% larger should be chosen for discrete rating scales than for continuous variables.

Robotic concrete extrusion is a novel additive manufacturing process (3D concrete printing) and is part of a continuously digitally controlled value chain. According to the state of the art, concrete is considered to be an isotropic material due to the manufacturing process. However, for the additive manufacturing process, the isotropic approach hast to be reconsidered due to the layered structure. It can be assumed that due to the layered structure, the material properties vary depending on the deposition direction and the geometry of the layers. The aim of the work was to record the material-technical characteristics of extruded elements manufactured according to standards in comparison with concrete recipes. Process-related influences on the mechanical parameters of additively manufactured concrete elements were examined and evaluated in more detail. Based on the findings obtained, the dimensioning, design and measurement of components can be carried out and thus guidelines for components can be derived. With these derived guidelines, the material utilization and economic efficiency can be improved.

Photopolymerization as an energy-saving and environment-friendly technology has been applied in many fields and developed continuously since the middle of the 20th century. Today, photopolymerization technology is ubiquitous in every aspect of our lives. This review starts from the principle of photopolymerization reaction, introduces the process of photopolymerization, initiation mechanism of photoinitiators and three kinds of polymerization methods according to the wavelength of irradiation source. Subsequently, review focuses on the application of photopolymerization technology in thiol-based click reaction, 3D printing, photoresist, hydrogels and other fields, so as to demonstrate its irreplaceable role in the present.

The effect of the simultaneous presence of fluorine (0.15-1.2 mg L -1), bicarbonates (83.6-596 mg L -1), and synthesized goethite (0.3 mg L -1) at typical concentrations often found in natural groundwater samples was evaluated on the degradation of 2,4-dichlorophenoxyacetic acid (2,4-D) at pH 6.9 under simulated sunlight irradiation (300 W m -2) and H 2O 2 concentrations of 10 mg L -1. 2,4-D removal was strongly enhanced by the presence of fluoride. F - could modify the surface of iron (hydr)oxide leading to the formation of surficial Fe-F bonds benefiting the formation of free •OH radicals, producing upward band bending, reducing the electron-hole recombination, and enhancing the electron transfer to H 2O 2. On the other hand, bicarbonate may react with •OH radicals generating CO 3 -• species which could be able to participate in pollutant oxidation as well while solar light-induced H 2O 2 photolysis also played an important role in removing 2,4-D. These findings suggest that “natural” tuning of iron (hydr)oxides by fluoride could take place in natural groundwater generating “natural” photocatalysts with a high activity which could participate, by adding H 2O 2, in the enhancing of sunlight photoinduced natural abiotic processes to pollutants abatement.

In this Application Note, a versatile and reliable measurement system for photoelectrochemical investigations is described which aims to assist scientists in obtaining reproducible photoelectrochemical data of high quality, including the solar-to-hydrogen (STH) efficiency. Specifically, it addresses the parameters irradiation quality, reaction temperature and gas measurement. The setup is designed to exclude stray light and uses a solar-grade mirror to reflect the light of a vertical solar simulator on the electrochemical cell. The light quality in the setup (»AAA«, IEC 60904-9) is close to the classification of the solar simulator itself. The temperature in the electrochemical cell is controlled with an external Peltier element and can be kept constant in the range of 20–45 °C. The influence of reaction temperature on the photocurrent of a WO 3 photoanode is demonstrated. The gaseous reaction products are analyzed with a mobile gas chromatograph, using an automated measurement routine with discontinuous sampling from the electrochemical cell. The system is applied to determine the Faraday and STH efficiencies of a copper indium gallium selenide photocathode.

Urothelial cell carcinoma (UCC) is the ninth most common cancer that accounts for 4.7% of all the new cancer cases globally. UCC development and progression are due to complex and stochastic genetic programmes. To study the cascades molecular events underlying the poor prognosis that are due to limited treatment options for advance disease and resistance to conventional therapies in UCC, transcriptomics technology (RNA-Seq), a method of analysing the RNA content of a sample using the modern high-throughput sequencing platforms has been employed to address these limitations. Here we review the principles of RNA-Seq technology and summarize the recent studies on human bladder cancer that employed this technique to unravel the pathogenesis of the disease, identify biomarkers, discover pathways and classify the disease state. We list the commonly used computational platforms and software that are publicly available for RNA-Seq analysis. Moreover, we discussed the future perspective for RNA-Seq studies on bladder cancer and recommend the application of new technology called single cell sequencing (scRNA-Seq) to further understand bladder cancer.

The use of pulsed dc-sputtering sources for reactive magnetron sputtering with oxygen offers a possibility to suppress the negative effects of target poisoning (such as arcing). This results in a wide process range for the selection of a desired operating point. The control of target poisoning plays a major role in maintaining constant coating properties and affects the stoichiometry of the reactive coating, as well as the coating rate and the economic impact of the coating process. In a hysteresis, the target poisoning during the reactive sputtering of titanium under oxygen addition proceeds nonlinearly. Without the use of a suitable target poisoning control technique, the sputtering process can abruptly change to an unstable state. As a result, variations of stoichiometry can occur during the deposition process. A proven method for maintaining a stable reactive sputtering process is the control of oxygen flow with the input variable target voltage. By determining the typical oxygen hysteresis at constant target power and constant argon flow, an operating point for the control loop is derived. The desired target voltage then serves as the input variable for the control loop of the target poisoning. The controlling technique for target poisoning is a basic requirement for the production of the photolytic active anatase phase of titanium dioxide (TiO2) using reactive magnetron sputtering. The photocatalytic equipment of surfaces with a titanium dioxide coating in the anatase phase can be realized with the reactive pulsed dc magnetron sputter ion plating process (DC-MSIP). The pulsed DC-MSIP process facilitates coating a variety of surfaces at temperatures below 200 °C in an environmentally friendly manner.

Possible structural variation of a bio-based dimethacrylate derived from oleic acid and ethylene glycol is discussed as well as sources to obtain the starting material for manufacturing of this monomer. Furthermore, aspects influencing the transfer of a newly developed product or further scientific result to application are included into the discussion as well focusing to manufacturing processes and development of a new product for the market.

Since the rapid development of nanomedicine in oncotherapy, multiple nanomaterials are adopted to regulate the immune system in cancer individuals. Tumor immunotherapy enhances the immune function of patients to achieve the purpose of killing tumor cells by utilizing the organism immune mechanism. As emerging inorganic carbon nanoparticles, carbon dots (CDs) have been found as photosensitizers, vaccines, immunoadjuvants, and so on for cancer treatment due to their unique structure and property, such as effective platforms for drug delivery, immunomodulation, and phototherapy. In this review, we mainly discuss the recent application of CDs in tumor immunotherapy and the prospects of CDs in the field of immune medicine. By assessing the achievements and challenges of CDs in tumor immunotherapy, our review would provide mechanistic insights into the evolution of future nanomedicine.

Nowadays, the copper nitride (Cu 3N) is of great interest as a new solar absorber material, flexible and lightweight thin film solar cells. This material is a metastable semiconductor, non-toxic, composed of earth-abundant elements, and its band gap energy can be easily tunable in the range 1.4 to 1.8 eV. For this reason, it has been proposed for many applications in the solar energy conversion field. The main aim of this work is to evaluate the properties of the Cu 3N thin films fabricated by reactive radio-frequency (RF) magnetron sputtering at different RF power values to determine its potential as light absorber. The Cu 3N films were fabricated at room temperature (RT) from a Cu metallic target at the RF power ranged from 25 to 200 W on different substrates (silicon and glass). The pure nitrogen flux was set to 20 sccm, and the working pressures were set to 3.5 Pa and 5 Pa. The XRD results showed a transition from (100) to (111) preferred orientations when RF power increased; the AFM images revealed a granular morphology, while FTIR and Raman spectra exhibited the characteristics peaks related to Cu-N bonds, which became narrower when the RF power increased. Finally, to stablish the suitability of these films as absorber, the band gap energy was calculated from transmission spectra.

There is a hysteria over plasmonic sensors based on Metal-insulator-metal (MIM) waveguides and researchers around the globe are extensively studying these devices over the past two decades for diverse sensing applications for instance temperature, refractive index, pressure, and biochemical applications among others. The sensors based on MIM waveguides (WGs) are compact and offer unmatchable sensitivity as assessed with dielectric waveguide-based sensors along with an extraordinary figure of merits ( FOM). However, the major concern is that most of these sensors are only numerically simulated/analyzed and there is no experimental demonstration accessible to date. Therefore, in this mini-review, these highly alluring sensor designs are critically analyzed to identify if they are practically feasible or just a fantasy among the scientific community.