Resistive switching in FTO/CuO-Cu2O/Au memory devices

Memristors are considered to be next-generation non-volatile memory devices owing to their fast switching and low power consumption. Metal oxide memristors have been extensively investigated and reported to be promising devices, although they still suffer from poor stability and laborious fabrication process. Herein, we report a stable and power-efficient memristor with novel heterogenous electrodes structure and facile fabrication based on CuO-Cu2O complex thin films. The proposed structure of the memristor contains an active complex layer of cupric oxide (CuO) and cuprous oxide (Cu2O) sandwiched between fluorine-doped tin oxide (FTO) and gold (Au) electrodes. The fabricated memristors demonstrate bipolar resistive switching (RS) behavior with a low working voltage (~1 V), efficient power consumption, and high endurance over 100 switching cycles. We suggest the RS mechanism of the proposed device is related to the formation and rupture of conducting filaments inside the memristor. Moreover, we analyze the conduction mechanism and electron transport in the active layer of the device during the RS process. Such a facile fabricated device has a promising potential for future memristive applications

The Distribution and Zonation of Barnacles Around Intertidal Shores of Penang Island

The intertidal shores around Penang Island were surveyed for the distribution of barnacles from 14th November 2011 to 31st January 2012. The sampling was done by using 20 cm x 20 cm transect to count the barnacles. Three replicates were taken for each zonation available of the intertidal areas; i.e. upper, middle, and lower zonations, at every sampling site. From the result, three species were identified, including Euraphia withersi and Chthamalus malayensis from Family Chthamalidae, and Balanus amphitrite amphitrite from Family Balanidae. Chthamalus malayensis was found to be most abundant among the three species with 44.24% of total population; and Tg. Tokong recorded the highest abundance of this species (28.22%). This was followed by Euraphia withersi with 38.77%; which was found to be densely populated at Gelugor (21.92%). Balanus amphitrite amphitritewas least abundant with only 16.99% and mostly found at Gurney Drive (26.24%).The distribution of the three species of barnacles also varied among the sampling locations. Gertak Sanggul recorded the highest relative abundance of all three species of barnacles at 18.01%; while the location with the least relative abundance of barnacles is Queensbay with 0.33%.Based on ‘Non-Supervised Artificial Neural Network' (ANN), distinct zonation was observed where Chthamalus malayensis was more dominant on the upper zonation; Euraphia withersi on the middle zonation; and Balanus amphitrite amphitrite on the lower zonation. The interaction betweenbarnacles with other barnacles leads to competitive exclusion and niche partitioning which created zonations among the species. Interspecies interaction that brought by predation also played a part in the distribution of barnacles. Apart from that, the distribution was affected by the sampling sites and humanactivities; such as embankment, land reclamation, and residential development

Chronic pain in hemodialysis patients: Role of bone mineral metabolism

Background: Pain is one of the most common complaints in clinical practice because it is a symptom for a myriad of physical and mental problems. The high prevalence of pain in the chronic kidney disease (CKD) population is particularly concerning because pain has been shown to adversely affect quality of life. The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence and possible causes of chronic pain in patients with end stage renal disease on long-term hemodialysis (HD).Methods: We prospectively enrolled 100 patients who were undergoing maintenance HD for at least 6 months or more. Pain was evaluated using the Brief Pain Inventory (BPI). Data collected on each participant included age, gender, body mass index (BMI), time on dialysis and biochemical findings.Results: The average age was 42.06 years ranged from 22 to 58 years; the average duration on dialysis was 4.97 years. 52 patients were males and 48 were females. Although 52% of patients experienced chronic pain, only 25% described the pain as severe, 28% described pain as moderate while 52% of patients described as mild. Musculoskeletal pain was the most frequent form of chronic pain reported by patients who were on HD (54%). Malnutrition and high CRP were highly statistically associated with chronic pain (p< 0.001). High statistical significant correlation was found between lower calcium, lower 25(OH) D3 levels, higher parathyroid hormone (PTH) levels and experienced chronic pain (p< 0.001).Conclusion: Chronic pain is highly experienced in long-term hemodialysis patients. Malnutrition, high CRP and disturbed bone mineral metabolism are highly correlated with the incident of this pain

Fenton Degradation of Fast Green Dye

The degradation of commercial textile dye named fast green (FG) was investigated by Fenton reagent under different operating conditions in an aqueous solution. The operating conditions were amount of hydrogen peroxide (0.05, 0.1 and 0.15 mL), pH (2-12) and concentration of ferrous ion (10, 20 and 30 mg). The initial rate of degradation was affected by the concentration of Fenton reagents [Fe(II) and H2O2 solution]. The rate of degradation enhanced as the concentration of ferrous ion increased. As the ferrous ion concentration increased from 10 to 30 mg, the removal percent was increased from 73% to 89%, respectively, at 25 min of reaction time. Also, the removal percent of FG increased from 74 % to 81 % as the amount of H2O2 increased from 0.05 to 0.15 mL, respectively, at 25 min of reaction time. It was also found that at pH 3 removal percent reach maximum value with 91.8%.  The kinetic study of FG degradation was also studied in this work and the results indicated that the degradation kinetics of FG followed the first-order kinetic

Women’s perception on medicinal plants in traditional Tamu, West Coast, Sabah, Malaysia

The objective of this paper is to describe the perception among women on the medicinal plants they sold in the tamu (local market) in West Coast, Sabah. The study was conducted in 14 selected tamu. Related information has been collected through questionnaires and interviews with 84 women involved as respondents. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistical analysis in IBM SPSS software 21. Finding showed that the majority of the items showed a high score, except for two items listed below mean score of 3.68, which are at a moderate level. The average mean score is 4.06, which means the perception of women on the sale of medicinal plants is positive and at a high level

Identification of Light Sources using Machine Learning

The identification of light sources represents a task of utmost importance for the development of multiple photonic technologies. Over the last decades, the identification of light sources as diverse as sunlight, laser radiation and molecule fluorescence has relied on the collection of photon statistics or the implementation of quantum state tomography. In general, this task requires an extensive number of measurements to unveil the characteristic statistical fluctuations and correlation properties of light, particularly in the low-photon flux regime. In this article, we exploit the self-learning features of artificial neural networks and naive Bayes classifier to dramatically reduce the number of measurements required to discriminate thermal light from coherent light at the single-photon level. We demonstrate robust light identification with tens of measurements at mean photon numbers below one. Our work demonstrates an improvement in terms of the number of measurements of several orders of magnitude with respect to conventional schemes for characterization of light sources. Our work has important implications for multiple photonic technologies such as LIDAR and microscopy.Comment: 8 pages, 10 figure

Marine megafauna interactions with small-scale fisheries in the southwestern Indian Ocean: a review of status and challenges for research and management

In developing regions, coastal communities are particularly dependent on small-scale fisheries for food security and income. However, information on the scale and impacts of small-scale fisheries on coastal marine ecosystems are frequently lacking. Large marine vertebrates (marine mammals, sea turtles and chondrichthyans) are often among the first species to experience declines due to fisheries. This paper reviews the interactions between small-scale fisheries and vulnerable marine megafauna in the southwestern Indian Ocean. We highlight an urgent need for proper documentation, monitoring and assessment at the regional level of small-scale fisheries and the megafauna affected by them to inform evidence-based fisheries management. Catch and landings data are generally of poor quality and resolution with compositional data, where available, mostly anecdotal or heavily biased towards easily identifiable species. There is also limited understanding of fisheries effort, most of which relies on metrics unsuitable for proper assessment. Management strategies (where they exist) are often created without strong evidence bases or understanding of the reliance of fishers on resources. Consequently, it is not possible to effectively assess the current status and ensure the sustainability of these species groups; with indications of overexploitation in several areas. To address these issues, a regionally collaborative approach between government and non-governmental organisations, independent researchers and institutions, and small-scale fisheries stakeholders is required. In combination with good governance practices, appropriate and effective, evidence-based management can be formulated to sustain these resources, the marine ecosystems they are intrinsically linked to and the livelihoods of coastal communities that are tied to them

Retrieving Aerosol Characteristics From the PACE Mission, Part 1: Ocean Color Instrument

NASA’s Plankton, Aerosol, Clouds, ocean Ecosystem (PACE) satellite mission is scheduled to launch in 2022, with the Ocean Color Instrument (OCI) on board. For the first time reflected sunlight from the Earth across a broad spectrum from the ultraviolet (UV: 350 nm) to the short wave infrared (SWIR: 2260 nm) will be measured from a single instrument at 1 km spatial resolution. While seven discrete bands will represent the SWIR, the spectrum from 350 to 890 nm will be continuously covered with a spectral resolution of 5 nm. OCI will thus combine in a single instrument (and at an enhanced spatial resolution for the UV) the heritage capabilities of the Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and the Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI), while covering the oxygen A-band (O2A). Designed for ocean color and ocean biology retrievals, OCI also enables continuation of heritage satellite aerosol products and the development of new aerosol characterization from space. In particular the combination of MODIS and OMI characteristics allows deriving aerosol height, absorption and optical depth along with a measure of particle size distribution. This is achieved by using the traditional MODIS visible-to-SWIR wavelengths to constrain spectral aerosol optical depth and particle size. Extrapolating this information to the UV channels allows retrieval of aerosol absorption and layer height. A more direct method to derive aerosol layer height makes use of O2A absorption methods, despite the relative coarseness of the nominal 5 nm spectral resolution of OCI. Altogether the PACE mission with OCI will be an unprecedented opportunity for aerosol characterization that will continue climate data records from the past decades and propel aerosol science forward toward new opportunities

Characterizing genomic alterations in cancer by complementary functional associations.

Systematic efforts to sequence the cancer genome have identified large numbers of mutations and copy number alterations in human cancers. However, elucidating the functional consequences of these variants, and their interactions to drive or maintain oncogenic states, remains a challenge in cancer research. We developed REVEALER, a computational method that identifies combinations of mutually exclusive genomic alterations correlated with functional phenotypes, such as the activation or gene dependency of oncogenic pathways or sensitivity to a drug treatment. We used REVEALER to uncover complementary genomic alterations associated with the transcriptional activation of β-catenin and NRF2, MEK-inhibitor sensitivity, and KRAS dependency. REVEALER successfully identified both known and new associations, demonstrating the power of combining functional profiles with extensive characterization of genomic alterations in cancer genomes