Low oxygen tension influences tumor progression by enhancing angiogenesis; and histone deacetylases (HDAC) are implicated in alteration of chromatin assembly and tumorigenesis. Here we show induction of HDAC under hypoxia and elucidate a role for HDAC in the regulation of hypoxia-induced angiogenesis. Overexpressed wild-type HDAC1 downregulated expression of p53 and von Hippel-Lindau tumor suppressor genes and stimulated angiogenesis of human endothelial cells. A specific HDAC inhibitor, trichostatin A (TSA), upregulated p53 and von Hippel-Lindau expression and downregulated hypoxia-inducible factor-1alpha and vascular endothelial growth factor. TSA also blocked angiogenesis in vitro and in vivo. TSA specifically inhibited hypoxia-induced angiogenesis in the Lewis lung carcinoma model. These results indicate that hypoxia enhances HDAC function and that HDAC is closely involved in angiogenesis through suppression of hypoxia-responsive tumor suppressor genes.

Expanding the performance limit of current Li-ion batteries requires ion−ion and ion−solvent interaction, which governs the ion transport behavior of the electrolytes, to be fully understood as a matter of crucial importance. We herein examine the ionic speciation and conduction behavior of propylene carbonate (PC) electrolytes of 0.1−3.0 M LiPF 6 and LiBF 4 using Raman spectroscopy, dielectric relaxation spectroscopy (DRS), and pulsed-field gradient NMR (PFG-NMR) spectroscopy. In both LiPF 6 − PC and LiBF 4 −PC, free ions and a solvent-shared ion pair (SIP) are dominant species at dilute salt concentrations (<0.8 M), and SIP becomes dominant at intermediate concentrations (0.8−1.5 M). At higher concentrations (1.5−3.0 M), the solvent-shared dimer (SSD) and contact dimer (CD) are dominant in LiPF 6 −PC, whereas the contact ion pair (CIP), CD, and agglomerate (AGG) prevail in LiBF 4 −PC. Ionic conduction in 0.1−1.5 M LiPF 6 −PC and LiBF 4 −PC is governed by the migration of free ions and SIP. Notably, above 1.5 M of the two PC electrolytes, SSD participates in ionic conduction via the migration mode as well. Furthermore, it is suggested that the large number of CIPs present in LiBF 4 −PC may contribute to ionic conduction via a Grotthuss-type mechanism.

Electromechanical switching devices have been fabricated successfully employing vertically grown multiwalled carbon nanotubes ͑MWCNTs͒ from the prepatterned catalyst dots on the patterned device electrodes. The devices show various interesting switching characteristics depending on the length and the number of MWCNTs used. The device design not only simplifies the fabrication process, but also improves the integration density greatly. The device has a great potential in realizing technically viable nanoelectromechanical systems, such as switch, memory, fingers, or grippers.

The demand for increased information storage densities has pushed silicon technology to its limits and led to a focus on research on novel materials and device structures, such as magnetoresistive random access memory and carbon nanotube field-effect transistors, for ultra-large-scale integrated memory. Electromechanical devices are suitable for memory applications because of their excellent 'ON-OFF' ratios and fast switching characteristics, but they involve larger cells and more complex fabrication processes than silicon-based arrangements. Nanoelectromechanical devices based on carbon nanotubes have been reported previously, but it is still not possible to control the number and spatial location of nanotubes over large areas with the precision needed for the production of integrated circuits. Here we report a novel nanoelectromechanical switched capacitor structure based on vertically aligned multiwalled carbon nanotubes in which the mechanical movement of a nanotube relative to a carbon nanotube based capacitor defines 'ON' and 'OFF' states. The carbon nanotubes are grown with controlled dimensions at pre-defined locations on a silicon substrate in a process that could be made compatible with existing silicon technology, and the vertical orientation allows for a significant decrease in cell area over conventional devices. We have written data to the structure and it should be possible to read data with standard dynamic random access memory sensing circuitry. Simulations suggest that the use of high-k dielectrics in the capacitors will increase the capacitance to the levels needed for dynamic random access memory applications.

Fabrication and characterization of a nanoelectromechanical switching device consisting of a suspended multiwalled carbon nanotube and self-aligned electrodes is reported. The device has a triode structure and is designed so that a suspended carbon nanotube is mechanically switched to one of two self-aligned electrodes by repulsive electrostatic forces between the nanotube and the other self-aligned electrode. Carbon nanotubes are dispersed on an SiO2 coated Si wafer and their locations recorded using a scanning electron microscope mapping process. Contact electrodes and self-aligned deflection electrodes are formed by a process comprising electron beam lithography, metallic thin film deposition, and lift-off. The electrical measurements show well-defined ON and OFF states with change of gate voltage. The measured threshold voltage for electromechanical switching is ∼3.6V.

No abstract

Wide range of color change in nanohole array structure on a metal film have been successfully demonstrated using asymmetric-lattice design of nanoholes and an electrically switching polarization rotator. Recently, some studies have been reported that various color states were obtained in a single unit cell structure using extraordinary optical transmission (EOT) of nanopatterned structure, which could be one of the most important solutions for achieving ultrahigh integration density in optoelectronic devices. However, because they used the interfacial refractive index or dielectric constant as controlling factors for the color tuning, they were not capable of inducing a changeable range of color with different primary color states. To overcome this limitation, in this study, an asymmetric-lattice nanohole array design was integrated with an electrically controlled polarization rotator, employing a twisted nematic (TN) liquid crystal (LC). This simple structure of nanohole arrays with a rectangular lattice enabled mixed color states as well as precisely designed two different primary colors, by modulating the polarization of the incident light. The color-tuning shift was greater than 120 nm. Since the surface plasmonic (SP) modes on both sides, a top and a bottom interface, were matched better by the TN-LC layer assembled on the rectangular-lattice nanohole metal layer, the transmittance at the resonance peak wavelength was increased by 158% compared to that of the bare nanohole structure. The nanohole-array-on-metal-film simultaneously functions as an electrode, and this advantage, coupled with the low driving voltage of the TN-LC layer, can open new possibilities in applications to various optoelectronic device concepts.

We investigated electrical properties of transparent amorphous indium gallium zinc oxide (a-IGZO) thin-film transistors (TFTs) with amorphous indium zinc oxide (a-IZO) transparent electrodes on a flexble thin glass substrate. The TFTs show a high field-effect mobility, a good subthreshold slope and a high on/off ratio owing to the high temperature thermal annealing process which cannot be applied to typical transparent polymer-based flexible substrates. Bias stress instability tests applying tensile stress concurrently with the bending radius of up to 40 mm indicated that mechanically and electrically stable a-IGZO TFTs can be fabricated on the transparent thin glass substrate.