Immunomagnetic Separation Combined with Real-Time Reverse Transcriptase PCR Assays for Detection of Norovirus in Contaminated Food▿

We developed an immunomagnetic separation (IMS) technique combined with real-time TaqMan reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR), which allowed detection of norovirus at a level as low as 3 to 7 RT-PCR units from artificially contaminated strawberries. The inoculum recovery rate ranged from 14 to 30%. The data demonstrate that IMS combined with real-time RT-PCR will be useful as a rapid and sensitive method for detecting food-borne microbial contaminants

Revisiting Symptom-Based Fault Tolerant Techniques against Soft Errors

Aggressive technology scaling and near-threshold computing have made soft error reliability one of the leading design considerations in modern embedded microprocessors. Although traditional hardware/software redundancy-based schemes can provide a high level of protection, they incur significant overheads in terms of performance and hardware resources. The considerable overheads from such full redundancy-based techniques has motivated researchers to propose low-cost soft error protection schemes, such as symptom-based error protection schemes. The main idea behind a symptom-based error protection scheme is that soft errors in the system will quickly generate some symptoms, such as exceptions, branch mispredictions, cache or TLB misses, or unpredictable variable values. Therefore, monitoring such infrequent symptoms makes it possible to cover the manifestation of failures caused by soft errors. Symptom-based protection schemes have been suggested as shortcuts to achieve acceptable reliability with comparable overheads. Since the symptom-based protection schemes seem attractive due to their generality and simplicity, even state-of-the-art protection schemes exploit them as the baseline protections. However, our detailed analysis of the fault coverage and performance overheads of such schemes reveals that the user-visible failure coverage, particularly of ReStore, is limited (29% on average). By contrast, the runtime overheads are significant (40% on average) because the majority of the fault injection experiments, which were considered as detected/recovered failures by low-level symptoms, are actually benign faults by program-level masking effects

Cesium Ion-Mediated Microporous Carbon for CO2 Capture and Lithium-Ion Storage

Activated carbon has been used in a wide range of applications owing to its large specific area, facile synthesis, and low cost. The synthesis of activated carbon mostly relies on potassium hydroxide (KOH)-mediated activation which leads to the formation of micropores (<2 nm) after a washing step with acid. Here we report the preparation of activated carbon with an anomalously large surface area (3288 m(2) g(-1)), obtained by employing an activation process mediated by cesium (Cs) ions. The high affinity of the carbon lattice for Cs ions induces immense interlayer expansion upon complexation of the intercalant Cs ion with the carbon host. Furthermore, the Cs-activation process maintains the nitrogen content of the carbon source by enabling the activation process at low temperature. The large surface area and well-preserved nitrogen content of Cs-activated carbon takes advantage of its enhanced interaction with CO2 molecules (for superior CO2 capture) and lithium ions (for improved Li ion storage), respectively. The present investigation unveils a new approach toward tuning the key structural properties of activated carbon; that is, controlling the affinity of the carbon host for the intercalant ion when they engage in complex formation during the activation process.

Incidence of Immune-Mediated Pseudoprogression of Lymphoma Treated with Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors: Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

We evaluated the incidence of pseudoprogression and indeterminate response (IR) in patients with lymphoma treated with immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs). A systematic search of PubMed and EMBASE was performed up to 6 February 2021, using the keywords “lymphoma,” “immunotherapy,” and “pseudoprogression.” Random-effects models were used to calculate both pooled incidence of pseudoprogression patients with lymphoma and an IR according to LYRIC criteria, while the Higgins inconsistency index (I2) test and Cochran’s Q test were used for heterogeneity. Eight original articles were included, in which the number of patients ranged from 7 to 243. Among the lymphoma patients with ICIs, the pooled incidence of pseudoprogression was 10% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.06–0.17). There was no publication bias in Begg’s test (p = 0.14). Three articles were analyzed to determine the pooled incidence of pseudoprogression in patients with IR according to LYRIC criteria in a subgroup analysis, which was shown to be 19% (95% CI: 0.08–0.40). A significant proportion (10%) of patients with lymphoma treated with ICIs showed pseudoprogression, and 19% of patients with an IR response showed pseudoprogression and a delayed response. Immune-related response criteria such as LYRIC may be used for patients with lymphoma treated with ICIs

Additional file 1 of p53 activation enhances the sensitivity of non-small cell lung cancer to the combination of SH003 and docetaxel by inhibiting de novo pyrimidine synthesis

Additional file 1. Uncropped western blot band in Figure

Transparent vertical nanotube electrode arrays on graphene for cellular recording and optical imaging

Abstract Here, we report the fabrication of transparent multichannel vertical nanotube electrode arrays for detecting cellular activity and optically imaging neuronal networks. To fabricate these transparent electrode arrays, position- and morphology-controlled ZnO nanotube arrays consisting of ultrathin nanowalls were grown on transparent graphene layers and coated with Ti/Au metal layers. Using these multichannel arrays, electrophysiological signals were individually recorded from primary mouse hippocampal neurons and recorded distinctive intracellular potential-like signals. Moreover, the transparent electrode array enabled fluorescence imaging of neuron cell bodies and neurite connections. This transparent graphene- and nanotube-based recording device is proposed to greatly increase the versatility of capabilities for investigating neuronal activity through simultaneous recording and imaging of neuron cultures

Miniaturizing Power: Harnessing Micro-Supercapacitors for advanced micro-electronics

Rapid development in microelectronics demands the advancement of energy retention devices at the micro-scale, considering their compact size and remarkable ability to store energy. Due to high power density and speedy charge–discharge capacities, supercapacitors (SCs) have collected major attention as energy storage devices in the field of microelectronics. However, their existing design presents compatibility issues during integration with micro-electronic systems. The recent development in the new micro-scale device pattern referred to as micro-supercapacitors (MSCs) holds great potential to address those issues. MSCs rated as a promising type of micro-scale energy storage devices benefit from their intense power density, high-speed charge–discharge rate, exceptional cycling stability, and impressive safety features. Herein, we have described the recent progress in MSCs considering their physical dimensions, encompassing electrode width (w), electrode separation (d), and electrode thickness (z), all typically within the micro-scale range. This also includes various components of the MSCs such as electrode materials, electrolytes, fabrication techniques, and their integration. Furthermore, the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of MSCs are extensively presented. In addition, a detailed discussion is presented on the utilization of self-powered MSCs in microelectronic devices. To summarize, this review has detailed the prospects and upcoming developments in self-powered MSCs.</p