Statistical variability study of random dopant fluctuation on gate-all-around inversion-mode silicon nanowire field-effect transistors

Random dopant fluctuation effects of gate-all-around inversion-mode silicon nanowire field-effect transistors (FETs) with different diameters and extension lengths are investigated. The nanowire FETs with smaller diameter and longer extension length reduce average values and variations of subthreshold swing and drain-induced barrier lowering, thus improving short channel immunity. Relative variations of the drain currents increase as the diameter decreases because of decreased current drivability from narrower channel cross-sections. Absolute variations of the drain currents decrease critically as the extension length increases due to decreasing the number of arsenic dopants penetrating into the channel region. To understand variability origins of the drain currents, variations of source/drain series resistance and low-field mobility are investigated. All these two parameters affect the variations of the drain currents concurrently. The nanowire FETs having extension lengths sufficient to prevent dopant penetration into the channel regions and maintaining relatively large cross-sections are suggested to achieve suitable short channel immunity and small variations of the drain currents. (C) 2015 AIP Publishing LLC.open111415sciescopu

Echocardiographic View Classification with Integrated Out-of-Distribution Detection for Enhanced Automatic Echocardiographic Analysis

In the rapidly evolving field of automatic echocardiographic analysis and interpretation, automatic view classification is a critical yet challenging task, owing to the inherent complexity and variability of echocardiographic data. This study presents ECHOcardiography VIew Classification with Out-of-Distribution dEtection (ECHO-VICODE), a novel deep learning-based framework that effectively addresses this challenge by training to classify 31 classes, surpassing previous studies and demonstrating its capacity to handle a wide range of echocardiographic views. Furthermore, ECHO-VICODE incorporates an integrated out-of-distribution (OOD) detection function, leveraging the relative Mahalanobis distance to effectively identify 'near-OOD' instances commonly encountered in echocardiographic data. Through extensive experimentation, we demonstrated the outstanding performance of ECHO-VICODE in terms of view classification and OOD detection, significantly reducing the potential for errors in echocardiographic analyses. This pioneering study significantly advances the domain of automated echocardiography analysis and exhibits promising prospects for substantial applications in extensive clinical research and practice

A lab-on-a-disc platform enables serial monitoring of individual CTCs associated with tumor progression during EGFR-targeted therapy for patients with NSCLC

Rationale: Unlike traditional biopsy, liquid biopsy, which is a largely non-invasive diagnostic and monitoring tool, can be performed more frequently to better track tumors and mutations over time and to validate the efficiency of a cancer treatment. Circulating tumor cells (CTCs) are considered promising liquid biopsy biomarkers; however, their use in clinical settings is limited by high costs and a low throughput of standard platforms for CTC enumeration and analysis. In this study, we used a label-free, high-throughput method for CTC isolation directly from whole blood of patients using a standalone, clinical setting-friendly platform. Methods: A CTC-based liquid biopsy approach was used to examine the efficacy of therapy and emergent drug resistance via longitudinal monitoring of CTC counts, DNA mutations, and single-cell-level gene expression in a prospective cohort of 40 patients with epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)-mutant non-small cell lung cancer. Results: The change ratio of the CTC counts was associated with tumor response, detected by CT scan, while the baseline CTC counts did not show association with progression-free survival or overall survival. We achieved a 100% concordance rate for the detection of EGFR mutation, including emergence of T790M, between tumor tissue and CTCs. More importantly, our data revealed the importance of the analysis of the epithelial/mesenchymal signature of individual pretreatment CTCs to predict drug responsiveness in patients. Conclusion: The fluid-assisted separation technology disc platform enables serial monitoring of CTC counts, DNA mutations, as well as unbiased molecular characterization of individual CTCs associated with tumor progression during targeted therapy

Effects of thermal boundary conditions on natural convection in a square enclosure with an inner circular cylinder differdentially heated from bottom wall

Paper presented to the 10th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, Florida, 14-16 July 2014.Two-dimensional numerical simulations are carried out for natural convection in an enclosure with a hot inner cylinder located at the center for four different Rayleigh numbers of 103, 104, 105 and 106. The immersed boundary method (IBM) was used to handle the virtual surface of the inner circular cylinder with a no-slip boundary condition. The Prandtl number Pr was taken to be 0.7 corresponding to that of air. This study focuses on the effect of the temperature variation of bottom wall of the enclosure on thermal and flow structures of natural convection. The results indicate negligible changes in thermal and flow structures based on variations in the size of the local heating zone on the bottom wall at Ra =103 and 104, although there is a small variation in the convection velocity in the enclosure. At Ra = 105, small inner vortices formed in the lower part of the cylinder show significant changes in their size with increases due to increasing the bottom wall temperature. At Ra = 106, the magnitude of convection velocity becomes much larger than that when Ra = 105. As a result, much stronger rising plumes than those for Ra = 105 were formed on the top of the cylinder. And the secondary vortices form and separate above the bottom surface of the cylinder. The generation and dissolution of vortices are dependent mainly on the temperature of bottom wall in the enclosure.dc201

Genomic surveillance of genes encoding the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to monitor for emerging variants on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea

IntroductionThe severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) pandemic has been fueled by new variants emerging from circulating strains. Here, we report results from a genomic surveillance study of SARS-CoV-2 on Jeju Island, Republic of Korea, from February 2021 to September 2022.MethodsA total of 3,585 SARS-CoV-2 positive samples were analyzed by Sanger sequencing of the gene encoding the spike protein before performing phylogenetic analyses.ResultsWe found that the Alpha variant (B.1.1.7) was dominant in May 2021 before being replaced by the Delta variant (B.1.617.2) in July 2021, which was dominant until December 2021 before being replaced by the Omicron variant. Mutations in the spike protein, including N440K and G446S, have been proposed to contribute to immune evasion, accelerating the spread of Omicron variants.DiscussionOur results from Juju Island, Republic of Korea, are consistent with and contribute to global surveillance efforts crucial for identifying new variants of concern of SARS-CoV-2 and for monitoring the transmission dynamics and characteristics of known strains

Antinociceptive Interactions between Intrathecal Gabapentin and MK801 or NBQX in Rat Formalin Test

Antagonists for spinal N-methyl-D-aspartate (NMDA) and amino-hydroxy-methtyl-isoxazolepropionate (AMPA) receptors are effective in attenuating acute nociception or injury-induced hyperalgesia. The antinociception of spinal gabapentin is developed in injury-induced hyperalgesia without affecting acute nociception. The authors evaluated the effects of intrathecal gabapentin, NMDA antagonist (MK801) and AMPA antagonist (NBQX) in the formalin test which shows injury-induced hyperalgesia as well as acute pain. We further assessed the interactions between gabapentin and either MK801 or NBQX. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were implanted with intrathecal catheters. To evoke pain, 50 µL of 5% formalin solution was injected into the hindpaw. The interaction was investigated by a fixed dose analysis or an isobolographic analysis. MK801 and NBQX suppressed flinching responses during phase 1 of the formalin test, while gabapentin had little effect on phase 1. All three agents decreased the phase 2 flinching response. A fixed dose analysis in phase 1 showed that gabapentin potentiated the antinociceptive effect of MK801 and NBQX. Isobolographic analysis in phase 2 revealed a synergistic interaction after coadministration of gabapentin-MK801 or gabapentin-NBQX. Correspondingly, spinal gabapentin with NMDA or AMPA antagonist may be useful in managing acute pain and injury-induced hyperalgesia

Interaction between Intrathecal Gabapentin and Adenosine in the Formalin Test of Rats

Spinal gabapentin and adenosine have been known to display an antinociceptive effect. We evaluated the nature of the interaction between gabapentin and adenosine in formalin-induced nociception at the spinal level. Male Sprague-Dawley rats were prepared for intrathecal catheterization. Pain was evoked by injection of formalin solution (5%, 50 µL) into the hindpaw. After examination of the effects of gabapentin and adenosine, the resulting interaction was investigated with isobolographic and fractional analyses. Neither gabapentin nor adenosine affected motor function. Gabapentin or adenosine decreased the sum of the number of flinches during phase 2, but not during phase 1 in the formalin test. Isobolographic analysis, in phase 2, revealed an additive interaction between gabapentin and adenosine. Taken together, intrathecal gabapentin and adenosine attenuated the facilitated state and interacted additively with each other