Investigation of Single pMOSFET Gate Oxide Degradation on NOR Logic Circuit Operability

The impact of gate oxide degradation of a single pMOSFET on the performance of the CMOS NOR logic circuit has been examined using a switch matrix technique. A constant voltage stress of -4.0V was used to induce a low level of degradation to the 2.0nm gate oxide of the pMOSFET. Characteristics of the CMOS NOR logic circuit following gate oxide degradation are analyzed in both the DC and V-t domains. The NOR gate rise time increases by approximately 30%, which may lead to timing or logic errors in high frequency digital circuits. Additionally, the voltage switching point of the NOR logic circuit shifts by 9% which could affect operation of analog or mixed signal designs. This shift in NOR logic circuit performance is correlated to an increased channel resistance of the stressed pMOSFET

The Ministerial Disengagement by Priests in the Post Modern Era and its Impact

Since its inception, the Christian ministerial priesthood has occupied a place of esteem and gradually assigned privilege through its various stages of development and eventual establishment. Influenced over time by various major historical events, newer philosophical insights and perspectives, and the post-modern ethos embracing current society, the Catholic ministerial priesthood is today being drawn into more frequent ministerial disengagement

Entropy production in the early-cosmology pionic phase

We point out that in the early universe, for temperatures in the approximate interval 175-80 MeV (after the quark-gluon plasma), pions carried a large share of the entropy and supported the largest inhomogeneities. Thus, we examine the production of entropy in a pion gas, particularizing to inhomogeneities of the temperature, for which we benefit from the known thermal conductivity. We finally put that entropy produced in relaxing such thermal inhomogeneities in the broad context of this relatively unexplored phase of early-universe cosmology.Comment: 10 pages, 10 figures

Detection of Methylation on dsDNA Using Nanopores in MoS\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3e Membrane

Methylation at the 5-carbon position of the cytosine nucleotide base in DNA has been shown to be a reliable diagnostic biomarker for carcinogenesis. Early detection of methylation and intervention could drastically increase the effectiveness of therapy and reduce the cancer mortality rate. Current methods for detecting methylation involve bisulfite genomic sequencing, which are cumbersome and demand a large sample size of bodily fluids to yield accurate results. Hence, more efficient and cost effective methods are desired. Based on our previous work, we present a novel nanopore-based assay using a nanopore in a MoS2 membrane, and the methyl-binding protein (MBP), MBD1x, to detect methylation on dsDNA. We show that the dsDNA translocation was effectively slowed down using an asymmetric concentration of buffer and explore the possibility of profiling the position of methylcytosines on the DNA strands as they translocate through the 2D membrane. Our findings advance us one step closer towards the possible use of nanopore sensing technology in medical applications such as cancer detection

The Effect of a Reduced-Calorie Diet on alpha-2 Adrenergic Receptor Responsiveness in Abdominal Adipose Tissue in Obese Men During Exercise

There is at present an imperfect understanding of the effect of diet on availability of inhibitory receptors in fat cells during exercise among obese men. 

*Objective:* The purpose of this study was to determine whether diet results in downregulation of alpha-2 adrenergic receptor ([alpha]~2-AR~) messenger RNA (mRNA), improving metabolism in exercise in obese men. 

*Design:* One group, pre-test, post-test design.

*Measurements:* Subcutaneous abdominal adipose tissue was tested for physiologic response, such as changes in catecholamines and other markers of lipolysis measured during periods of exercise, before and after a 12-week diet. Plasma markers of lipolysis/antilipolytic activity (catecholamines [adrenaline and noradrenaline], NEFA, lactate, glucose, hematocrit, or insulin levels) were analyzed at four points in time in order to determine the effect of exercise on [alpha]~2-AR~ and [beta]-AR responsiveness to sympathetic stimulation.

*Subjects:* Otherwise healthy 18 to 45 year old obese men (defined as a body mass index (BMI) over 33 kg/m^2^).

*Results:* The 12-week reduced calorie diet did not result in improved metabolism. Instead, upregulation of alpha-2 adrenergic receptor ([alpha]~2-AR~) messenger RNA (mRNA) was observed. On average, [alpha]~2-AR~ mRNA levels (ratio of [alpha]~2-AR~ to cyclophilin) in subjects increased by 0.022-0.023 after the diet. The average differences in of [alpha]~2-AR~ mRNA and [beta]-AR mRNA measured before and after diet were both insignificant (M = 0.015) t(4) = -0.911; _P_ > 0.05; (M = 0.0139; t(4) = 0.077; _P_ > 0.05). 

*Conclusion:* The observed direction of change in [alpha]~2-AR~ mRNA levels, when viewed together with the stability of [beta]-AR mRNA levels, suggests that upregulation of [alpha]~2-AR~ rather than downregulation occurred. Downregulation would account for decreased lipolytic activity during exercise, future study is needed

NMR STUDIES OF THE GLYCOPROTEIN CYTOPLASMIC TAILS OF HANTAVIRUS AND CRIMEAN CONGO HEMORRHAGIC FEVER VIRUS

The Bunyaviridae family of viruses is a diverse grouping of approximately 350 members that is present throughout the world. Viruses range from the innocuous to the severely pathogenic and impact not only public health, but crop production and the live-stock industry as well. Collectively, Bunyaviruses represent a serious health and economic risk to not only the United States, but also to Europe, Asia, and Africa. Humans infected by the most pathogenic Bunyaviruses, such as Hantaviruses and Nairoviruses, can have a collection of symptoms that include hemorrhagic fevers, pulmonary edema, severe ecchymosis of the extremities, and in the most serious cases, respiratory failure. Outbreaks of the Hantavirus in the U.S. in 1993 and the Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus in Turkey in 2005 have had mortality rates as high as 40%. Bunyaviruses are enveloped anti-sense RNA viruses that contain three genomic segments (Small, Medium, and Large). The M segment produces a glycoprotein precursor that is post-translationally cleaved into a Gn and Gc glycoproteins. Gn and Gc form a heterodimer with the ectodomain representing the surface spike proteins, and the a cytoplasmic domain that extends into the interior of the assembled virus. The Gn cytoplasmic tail in particular is present in a variety of lengths in different Bunyaviruses. Recent studies strongly suggest the Gn tail participates in assembly of the mature virion. Prior to this dissertation, the atomic structure for a Bunyaviridae Gn tail was unknown. This work describes the solution structures of two such cytoplasmic domains in the Andes (Hantavirus) and the Crimean Congo Hemorrhagic Fever virus (Nairovirus), as well as characterize the structure of a third domain from the non-pathogenic Prospect Hill Virus (Hantavirus). As it turns out, a conserved repeating CCHC motif in these domains folds into a unique arrangement of back-to-back ββα type zinc fingers. Whereas classical ββα zinc fingers typically form an extended "beads on a string" arrangement, the Bunyavirus-type zinc fingers form a compact domain in which each zinc finger folds interdependently. Furthermore, while the core zinc finger fold is conserved in different Bunyaviruses, the distribution in the conserved surface electrostatics can vary between genera. Lastly, this work contains preliminary electrophoretic mobility shift assays that suggest that these cytoplasmic zinc finger domains of the Bunyaivurs Gn cytoplasmic tails may contribute to a protein-RNA interaction, thus providing further evidence for a role in binding the ribonucleocapsid complex during assembly. The work presented in this dissertation has expanded our knowledge of the Bunyavirus life cycle by bringing attention to the structure and the function of these conserved Gn cytoplasmic domains. Understanding the behavior of these domains sheds light on critical assembly events that until know have remained largely unknown

Thermal Transport in Layer-by-Layer Assembled Polycrystalline Graphene Films

New technologies are emerging which allow us to manipulate and assemble 2-dimensional (2D) building blocks, such as graphene, into synthetic van der Waals (vdW) solids. Assembly of such vdW solids has enabled novel electronic devices and could lead to control over anisotropic thermal properties through tuning of inter-layer coupling and phonon scattering. Here we report the systematic control of heat flow in graphene-based vdW solids assembled in a layer-by-layer (LBL) fashion. In-plane thermal measurements (between 100 K and 400 K) reveal substrate and grain boundary scattering limit thermal transport in vdW solids composed of one to four transferred layers of graphene grown by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Such films have room temperature in-plane thermal conductivity of ~400Wm−1 K−1. Cross-plane thermal conductance approaches 15MWm−2 K−1 for graphene-based vdW solids composed of seven layers of graphene films grown by CVD, likely limited by rotational mismatch between layers and trapped particulates remnant from graphene transfer processes. Our results provide fundamental insight into the in-plane and cross-plane heat carrying properties of substrate-supported synthetic vdW solids, with important implications for emerging devices made from artificially stacked 2D materials

Zinc–Acetate–Amine Complexes as Precursors to ZnO and the Effect of the Amine on Nanoparticle Morphology, Size, and Photocatalytic Activity

Zinc oxide is an environmentally friendly and readily synthesized semiconductor with many industrial applications. ZnO powders were prepared by alkali precipitation using different [Zn(acetate)2(amine)x] compounds to alter the particle size and aspect ratio. Slow precipitations from 95 °C solutions produced micron-scale particles with morphologies of hexagonal plates, rods, and needles, depending on the precursor used. Powders prepared at 65 °C with rapid precipitation yielded particles with minimal morphology differences, but particle size was dependent on the precursor used. The smallest particles were produced using precursors that yielded crystals with low aspect ratios during high-temperature synthesis. Particles produced during rapid synthesis had sizes ranging from 21–45 nm. The materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, BET, and diffuse reflectance. The materials prepared using precursors with less-volatile amines were found to retain more organic material than ZnO produced using precursors with more volatile amines. The amount of organic material associated with the nanoparticles influenced the photocatalytic activity of the ZnO, with powders containing less organic material producing faster rate constants for the decolorizing of malachite green solutions under ultraviolet illumination, independent of particle size. [Zn(acetate)2(hydrazine)2] produced ZnO with the fastest rate constant and was recycled five times for dye degradation studies that revealed minimal to no reduction in catalytic efficiency

Zinc–Acetate–Amine Complexes as Precursors to ZnO and the Effect of the Amine on Nanoparticle Morphology, Size, and Photocatalytic Activity

Zinc oxide is an environmentally friendly and readily synthesized semiconductor with many industrial applications. ZnO powders were prepared by alkali precipitation using different [Zn(acetate)2(amine)x] compounds to alter the particle size and aspect ratio. Slow precipitations from 95 °C solutions produced micron-scale particles with morphologies of hexagonal plates, rods, and needles, depending on the precursor used. Powders prepared at 65 °C with rapid precipitation yielded particles with minimal morphology differences, but particle size was dependent on the precursor used. The smallest particles were produced using precursors that yielded crystals with low aspect ratios during high-temperature synthesis. Particles produced during rapid synthesis had sizes ranging from 21–45 nm. The materials were characterized by scanning electron microscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, thermogravimetric analysis, BET, and diffuse reflectance. The materials prepared using precursors with less-volatile amines were found to retain more organic material than ZnO produced using precursors with more volatile amines. The amount of organic material associated with the nanoparticles influenced the photocatalytic activity of the ZnO, with powders containing less organic material producing faster rate constants for the decolorizing of malachite green solutions under ultraviolet illumination, independent of particle size. [Zn(acetate)2(hydrazine)2] produced ZnO with the fastest rate constant and was recycled five times for dye degradation studies that revealed minimal to no reduction in catalytic efficiency