Bionode5.0: A miniature, wireless, closed-loop biological implant for neuromodulation

The needs for electrotherapy, using electrical devices, are significantly increasing, due to limitations that pharmaceutical therapies may have, such as unignorable side effects and meager side effects on a multitude of cardiovascular and neurological diseases. To research on electrotherapy using an implantable electronic module, a miniature, wireless, and closed-loop implantable device, called Bionode , has been developed at Center for Implantable Device, directed by Dr. Pedro Irazoqui. Bionode4.1, the most recent version of the Bionode, is a device that consists of three different printed circuit boards(PCB), including a wireless communication system, an inductive power receiving system, and a two-channel recording system with a stimulator that has an ability to output a biphasic constant current stimulation. However, a few issues were brought to the surface during the fabrication process and in-vivo animal tests: 1) Unwanted data loss due to the failure of communication between the device and the Base Station, 2) stimulator\u27s imbalanced output with glitches and noise, 3) structural complexity that made debugging and constructing the device difficult, 4) device configuration, which could not be customized for the specific applications. These limitations found in Bionode 4.1 led to the development of the new version of Bionode, Bionode 5.0 . In order to increase the fidelity of the data transmission, a meandered inverted F trace antenna, which can cover the 2.4 GHz industrial, scientific, and medical (ISM) radio band, was designed and implemented in the wireless communication system of the Bionode 5.0. In order to resolve the stimulation issue, the old stimulator built in Bionode 4.1 was replaced with an upgraded stimulation circuitry that consists of the additional feedback system and the switches for suppressing the imbalanced pulses and controlling the unwanted glitches on the output. Re-optimizing the overall floor plan of the device and utilizing a new type of board-to-board connector solved the issues related to the structure and customizability. As a result, Bionode 5.0 with the smaller volume and the larger utilizable surface area resolved the issues that Binode4.1 had and would potentially allow the users to widely utilize the new version in various applications for the medical research

A Content Analysis of International Airline Alliances Mission Statements

Background: Mission statements have come to play an important role as tools for organizational value sharing. Objectives: This study aims to shed light on what types of values are highlighted in international airline alliance members’ mission statements, and whether there are significant differences or not. Methods/Approach: Quantitative content analyses have been conducted with the goal to investigate mission statements of 61 members of international airline alliances: Star Alliance, SkyTeam, and oneworld. Results: Frequency test outcomes reveal that “philosophy”, “self-concept” and “location” are the predominant components in oneworld, “philosophy” is the primary component in SkyTeam, and “philosophy” and “customer” are the focal components of Star Alliance. According to chi-square tests, Star Alliance members emphasize “customer” more often than others do, and oneworld members highlight “profitability” more often. One-way Anova tests with a post hoc analysis reveal that Star Alliance members cover more components than SkyTeam. Conclusions: The theoretical implication of these findings is that they reveal the existence of unique values among international airline alliances members offering a competitive advantage. As a practical implication, these findings will be helpful for international airline alliances and airline managers for comparative purposes

Investigations of Metastable Ca\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIrO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e Epitaxial Thin-Films: Systematic Comparison with Sr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIrO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e and Ba\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIrO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e

We have synthesized thermodynamically metastable Ca2IrO4 thin-films on YAlO3 (110) substrates by pulsed laser deposition. The epitaxial Ca2IrO4 thin-films are of K2NiF4-type tetragonal structure. Transport and optical spectroscopy measurements indicate that the electronic structure of the Ca2IrO4 thin-films is similar to that of Jeff = 1/2 spin-orbit-coupled Mott insulator Sr2IrO4 and Ba2IrO4, with the exception of an increased gap energy. The gap increase is to be expected in Ca2IrO4 due to its increased octahedral rotation and tilting, which results in enhanced electron-correlation, U/W. Our results suggest that the epitaxial stabilization growth of metastable-phase thin-films can be used effectively for investigating layered iridates and various complex-oxide systems

Tuning Electronic Structure via Exipatial Strain in Sr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIrO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e Thin Films

We have synthesized epitaxial Sr2IrO4 thin-films on various substrates and studied their electronic structure as a function of lattice-strain. Under tensile (compressive) strain, increased (decreased) Ir-O-Ir bond-angle is expected to result in increased (decreased) electronic bandwidth. However, we have observed that the two optical absorption peaks near 0.5 eV and 1.0 eV are shifted to higher (lower) energies under tensile (compressive) strain, indicating that the electronic-correlation energy is also affected by in-plane lattice-strain. The effective tuning of electronic structure under lattice-modification provides an important insight into the physics driven by the coexisting strong spin-orbit coupling and electronic correlation

Selective Growth of Epitaxial Sr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIrO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e by Controlling Plume Dimensions in Pulsed Laser Deposition

We report that epitaxial Sr2IrO4 thin-films can be selectively grown using pulsed laser deposition (PLD). Due to the competition between the Ruddlesden-Popper phases of strontium iridates (Srn+1IrnO3n+1), conventional PLD methods often result in mixed phases of Sr2IrO4 (n = 1), Sr3Ir2O7 (n = 2), and SrIrO3 (n = ∞). We have discovered that reduced PLD plume dimensions and slow deposition rates are the key for stabilizing pure Sr2IrO4 phase thin-films, identified by real-time in-situ monitoring of their optical spectra. The slow film deposition results in a thermodynamically stable TiO2\\SrO\IrO2\SrO\SrO configuration at an interface rather than TiO2\\SrO\SrO\IrO2\SrO between a TiO2-terminated SrTiO3 substrate and a Sr2IrO4 thin film, which is consistent with other layered oxides grown by molecular beam epitaxy. Our approach provides an effective method for using PLD to achieve pure phase thin-films of layered materials that are susceptible to several energetically competing phases

Electronic and Optical Properties of La-Doped Sr\u3csub\u3e3\u3c/sub\u3eIr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eO\u3csub\u3e7\u3c/sub\u3e Epitaxial Thin Films

We have investigated structural, transport, and optical properties of tensile strained (Sr1−xLax)3Ir2O7 (x = 0, 0.025, 0.05) epitaxial thin films. While high-Tc superconductivity is predicted theoretically in the system, we have observed that all of the samples remain insulating with finite optical gap energies and Mott variable-range hopping characteristics in transport. Cross-sectional scanning transmission electron microscopy indicates that structural defects such as stacking faults appear in this system. The insulating behavior of the La-doped Sr3Ir2O7 thin films is presumably due to disorder-induced localization and ineffective electron doping of La, which brings to light the intriguing difference between epitaxial thin films and bulk single crystals of the iridates

Optical Signatures of Spin-Orbit Exciton in Bandwidth-Controlled Sr\u3csub\u3e2\u3c/sub\u3eIrO\u3csub\u3e4\u3c/sub\u3e Epitaxial Films via High-Concentration Ca and Ba Doping

We have investigated the electronic and optical properties of (Sr1−xCax)2IrO4 (x = 0–0.375) and (Sr1−yBay)2IrO4 (y = 0–0.375) epitaxial thin films, in which the bandwidth is systematically tuned via chemical substitutions of Sr ions by Ca and Ba. Transport measurements indicate that the thin-film series exhibits insulating behavior, similar to the Jeff = 1/2 spin-orbit Mott insulator Sr2IrO4. As the average A-site ionic radius increases from (Sr1−xCax)2IrO4 to (Sr1−yBay)2IrO4, optical conductivity spectra in the near-infrared region shift to lower energies, which cannot be explained by the simple picture of well-separated Jeff = 1/2 and Jeff = 3/2 bands. We suggest that the two-peak-like optical conductivity spectra of the layered iridates originates from the overlap between the optically forbidden spin-orbit exciton and the intersite optical transitions within the Jeff = 1/2 band. Our experimental results are consistent with this interpretation as implemented by a multiorbital Hubbard model calculation: namely, incorporating a strong Fano-like coupling between the spin-orbit exciton and intersite d−d transitions within the Jeff = 1/2 band

Sedative and analgesic effects of intravenous xylazine and tramadol on horses

This study was performed to evaluate the sedative and analgesic effects of xylazine (X) and tramadol (T) intravenously (IV) administered to horses. Six thoroughbred saddle horses each received X (1.0 mg/kg), T (2.0 mg/kg), and a combination of XT (1.0 and 2.0 mg/kg, respectively) IV. Heart rate (HR), respiratory rate (RR), rectal temperature (RT), indirect arterial pressure (IAP), capillary refill time (CRT), sedation, and analgesia (using electrical stimulation and pinprick) were measured before and after drug administration. HR and RR significantly decreased from basal values with X and XT treatments, and significantly increased with T treatment (p < 0.05). RT and IAP also significantly increased with T treatment (p < 0.05). CRT did not change significantly with any treatments. The onset of sedation and analgesia were approximately 5 min after both X and XT treatments; however, the XT combination produced a longer duration of sedation and analgesia than X alone. Two horses in the XT treatment group displayed excited transient behavior within 5 min of drug administration. The results suggest that the XT combination is useful for sedation and analgesia in horses. However, careful monitoring for excited behavior shortly after administration is recommended

Measuring Complex Refractive Indices of a Nanometer-Thick Superconducting Film Using Terahertz Time-Domain Spectroscopy with a 10 Femtoseconds Pulse Laser

Superconducting thin films are widely applied in various fields, including switching devices, because of their phase transition behaviors in relation to temperature changes. Therefore, it is important to quantitatively determine the optical constant of a superconducting material in the thin-film state. We performed a terahertz time-domain spectroscopy, based on a 10 femtoseconds pulse laser, to measure the optical constant of a superconducting GdBa2Cu3O7-x (GdBCO) thin film in the terahertz region. We then estimated the terahertz refractive indices of the 70 nm-thick GdBCO film using a numerical extraction process, even though the film thickness was approximately 1/10,000 times smaller than the terahertz wavelength range of 200 mu m to 1 mm. The resulting refractive indices of the GdBCO thin film were consistent with the theoretical results using the two-fluid model. Our work will help to further understand the terahertz optical properties of superconducting thin films with thicknesses under 100 nm, as well as provide a standard platform for characterizing the optical properties of thin films without the need of Kramers-Kronig transformation at the terahertz frequencies

Molecular characterization and genogrouping of VP1 of aquatic birnavirus GC1 isolated from rockfish Sebastes schlegeli in Korea

The cDNA nucleotide sequence of genome segment B encoding the VP1 protein was determined for the aquatic birnavirus GC1 isolated from the rockfish Sebastes schlegeli in Korea. The VP1 protein of GC1 contains a 2,538 bp open reading frame, which encodes a protein comprising 846 amino acid residues that has a predicted MW of 94 kDa. The sequence contains 6 potential Asn-X-Ser/Thr motifs. Eight potential Ser phosphorylation sites and 1 potential Tyr phophorylation site were also identified. GC1 contains the Leu-Lys-Asn (LKN) motif instead of the typical Gly-Asp-Asp (GDD) motif found in other aquatic birnaviruses. We also identified the GLPYIGKT motif, the putative GTP-binding site at amino acid position 248. In total, the VP1 regions of 22 birnavirus strains were compared for analyzing the genetic relationship among the family Birnaviridae. Based on the deduced amino acid sequences, GC1 was observed to be more closely related to the infectious pancreatic necrosis virus (IPNV) from the USA, Japan, and Korea than the IPNV from Europe. Further, aquatic birnaviruses containing GC1 and IPNV have genogroups that are distinct from those in the genus Avibirnaviruses and Entomo-birnaviruses. The birnavirusstrains were clustered into 5 genogroups based on their amino acid sequences. The marine aquatic birnaviruses (MABVs) containing GC1 were included in the MABV genogroup; the IPNV strains isolated from Korea, Japan, and the USA were included in genogroup 1 and the IPNV strains isolated primarily from Europe were included in genogroup 2. Avibirnaviruses and entomobirnaviruses were included in genogroup 3 and 4, respectively