A 160-kilobit molecular electronic memory patterned at 10^(11) bits per square centimetre

The primary metric for gauging progress in the various semiconductor integrated circuit technologies is the spacing, or pitch, between the most closely spaced wires within a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuit. Modern DRAM circuits have 140nm pitch wires and a memory cell size of 0.0408 μm^2. Improving integrated circuit technology will require that these dimensions decrease over time. However, at present a large fraction of the patterning and materials requirements that we expect to need for the construction of new integrated circuit technologies in 2013 have ‘no known solution’. Promising ingredients for advances in integrated circuit technology are nanowires, molecular electronics and defect-tolerant architectures, as demonstrated by reports of single devices and small circuits. Methods of extending these approaches to large-scale, high-density circuitry are largely undeveloped. Here we describe a 160,000-bit molecular electronic memory circuit, fabricated at a density of 10^(11) bits cm^(-2) (pitch 33 nm; memory cell size 0.0011 mm^2), that is, roughly analogous to the dimensions of a DRAM circuit projected to be available by 2020. A monolayer of bistable, [2]rotaxane molecules 10 served as the data storage elements. Although the circuit has large numbers of defects, those defects could be readily identified through electronic testing and isolated using software coding. The working bits were then configured to form a fully functional random access memory circuit for storing and retrieving information

The Role of Eye Gaze in Security and Privacy Applications: Survey and Future HCI Research Directions

For the past 20 years, researchers have investigated the use of eye tracking in security applications. We present a holistic view on gaze-based security applications. In particular, we canvassed the literature and classify the utility of gaze in security applications into a) authentication, b) privacy protection, and c) gaze monitoring during security critical tasks. This allows us to chart several research directions, most importantly 1) conducting field studies of implicit and explicit gaze-based authentication due to recent advances in eye tracking, 2) research on gaze-based privacy protection and gaze monitoring in security critical tasks which are under-investigated yet very promising areas, and 3) understanding the privacy implications of pervasive eye tracking. We discuss the most promising opportunities and most pressing challenges of eye tracking for security that will shape research in gaze-based security applications for the next decade

Potential of Core-Collapse Supernova Neutrino Detection at JUNO

JUNO is an underground neutrino observatory under construction in Jiangmen, China. It uses 20kton liquid scintillator as target, which enables it to detect supernova burst neutrinos of a large statistics for the next galactic core-collapse supernova (CCSN) and also pre-supernova neutrinos from the nearby CCSN progenitors. All flavors of supernova burst neutrinos can be detected by JUNO via several interaction channels, including inverse beta decay, elastic scattering on electron and proton, interactions on C12 nuclei, etc. This retains the possibility for JUNO to reconstruct the energy spectra of supernova burst neutrinos of all flavors. The real time monitoring systems based on FPGA and DAQ are under development in JUNO, which allow prompt alert and trigger-less data acquisition of CCSN events. The alert performances of both monitoring systems have been thoroughly studied using simulations. Moreover, once a CCSN is tagged, the system can give fast characterizations, such as directionality and light curve

Detection of the Diffuse Supernova Neutrino Background with JUNO

As an underground multi-purpose neutrino detector with 20 kton liquid scintillator, Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) is competitive with and complementary to the water-Cherenkov detectors on the search for the diffuse supernova neutrino background (DSNB). Typical supernova models predict 2-4 events per year within the optimal observation window in the JUNO detector. The dominant background is from the neutral-current (NC) interaction of atmospheric neutrinos with 12C nuclei, which surpasses the DSNB by more than one order of magnitude. We evaluated the systematic uncertainty of NC background from the spread of a variety of data-driven models and further developed a method to determine NC background within 15\% with {\it{in}} {\it{situ}} measurements after ten years of running. Besides, the NC-like backgrounds can be effectively suppressed by the intrinsic pulse-shape discrimination (PSD) capabilities of liquid scintillators. In this talk, I will present in detail the improvements on NC background uncertainty evaluation, PSD discriminator development, and finally, the potential of DSNB sensitivity in JUNO

Evaluation of appendicitis risk prediction models in adults with suspected appendicitis

Background Appendicitis is the most common general surgical emergency worldwide, but its diagnosis remains challenging. The aim of this study was to determine whether existing risk prediction models can reliably identify patients presenting to hospital in the UK with acute right iliac fossa (RIF) pain who are at low risk of appendicitis. Methods A systematic search was completed to identify all existing appendicitis risk prediction models. Models were validated using UK data from an international prospective cohort study that captured consecutive patients aged 16–45 years presenting to hospital with acute RIF in March to June 2017. The main outcome was best achievable model specificity (proportion of patients who did not have appendicitis correctly classified as low risk) whilst maintaining a failure rate below 5 per cent (proportion of patients identified as low risk who actually had appendicitis). Results Some 5345 patients across 154 UK hospitals were identified, of which two‐thirds (3613 of 5345, 67·6 per cent) were women. Women were more than twice as likely to undergo surgery with removal of a histologically normal appendix (272 of 964, 28·2 per cent) than men (120 of 993, 12·1 per cent) (relative risk 2·33, 95 per cent c.i. 1·92 to 2·84; P < 0·001). Of 15 validated risk prediction models, the Adult Appendicitis Score performed best (cut‐off score 8 or less, specificity 63·1 per cent, failure rate 3·7 per cent). The Appendicitis Inflammatory Response Score performed best for men (cut‐off score 2 or less, specificity 24·7 per cent, failure rate 2·4 per cent). Conclusion Women in the UK had a disproportionate risk of admission without surgical intervention and had high rates of normal appendicectomy. Risk prediction models to support shared decision‐making by identifying adults in the UK at low risk of appendicitis were identified

Role of Gypsum in Amelioration of Saline-Sodic and Sodic Soil Ca Soil + Na 2 SO 4 Soil Na Na 2 CO3 (if present) + Ca SO4 Ca CO 3 + Na 2 SO 4 Precipitates Leached

ABSTRACT Gypsum is the most commonly used amendment in Pakistan. It is relatively inexpensive and easily available. Large deposits of gypsum are known to exist in Mianwali, Khushab, Jehlum, D.G. Khan, Sibbi, Kohat and D.I. Khan. The deposits are estimated at well over 3.5 billion tons. In order to establish the usefulness of gypsum as an amendment for the reclamation of saline-sodic and sodic soils, various experiments have been conducted in the country. Besides, experiments have also been carried out to see the possibility of using gypsum as a preventive measure to sodicity if the soil is being irrigated with hazardous tubewell water. For this purpose, experiments have been carried out in various parts of the country by various agencies/departments. In Pakistan, soil salinity and sodicity have been recognized as one of the major constraints for agriculture production. Reclamation of saline-sodic and sodic soils, however, cannot be achieved by simple leaching. Reclamation of these soils is difficult, time consuming and more expensive than that of saline soils due to replacement of exchangeable sodium with calcium. Hence, it requires the addition of chemical amendments along with leaching. The results of studies have revealed that by the application of gypsum to saline-sodic and sodic soils, adsorbed sodium on the soil complex is being replaced by the calcium. The action of Ca salts is mainly through exchange reactions with sodium. Na + CaSO 4 Ca Soil + Na 2 SO 4 Soil Na Na 2 CO3 (if present) + Ca SO4 Ca CO 3 + Na 2 SO 4 Precipitates Leached The effectiveness of gypsum depends upon (i) the degree of fineness (ii) the way in which it is incorporated in the soil and (iii) the efficiency of the drainage system. Regarding use of gypsum as a preventive measure against sodicity due to the use of hazardous tubewell waters, it has been concluded that potentially hazardous tube well water can be used to grow crops successfully without adversely affecting the soils, provided gypsum is applied to the soil. This paper gives an over view of the reclamation experiments carried out so far pertaining to the reclamation of sodic soils in various parts of the Pakistan. It is clear from the results that the use of gypsum increase infiltration rate of the soil. An application of gypsum remains effective for a period of about three years. Application of gypsum @ 50% requirement of the soils appears to be more economical than 100% application. It is recommended that reasonable facilities should be provided to farmers in Pakistan for using gypsum as amendment for the reclamation of their problematic soils to enable them to use this amendment on a large scale which will be highly profitable to both the Government and the farmers community through improvement of sodic soils and increase in over all agriculture production