Unipolar Resistance Switching in Amorphous High-k dielectrics Based on Correlated Barrier Hopping Theory

We have proposed a kind of nonvolatile resistive switching memory based on amorphous LaLuO3, which has already been established as a promising candidate of high-k gate dielectric employed in transistors. Well-developed unipolar switching behaviors in amorphous LaLuO3 make it suited for not only logic but memory applications using the conventional semiconductor or the emerging nano/CMOS architectures. The conduction transition between high- and low- resistance states is attributed to the change in the separation between oxygen vacancy sites in the light of the correlated barrier hopping theory. The mean migration distances of vacancies responsible for the resistive switching are demonstrated in nanoscale, which could account for the ultrafast programming speed of 6 ns. The origin of the distributions in switching parameters in oxides can be well understood according to the switching principle. Furthermore, an approach has also been developed to make the operation voltages predictable for the practical applications of resistive memories.Comment: 18 pages, 6 figure

Characterization of Biopharmaceuticals Focusing on Antibody Therapeutics

Biopharmaceuticals are highly complex molecules and also require high quality for safety and efficacy in human uses. For well-characterized products, the desired level of quality should be monitored and controlled during the manufacturing processes. A series of workflow for analytical characterization should be applied for product quality throughout those processes. In this chapter, several analytical techniques are introduced for assessing characteristics of biopharmaceuticals focusing on monoclonal antibodies (mAbs). Analytical characterization for primary structure was performed by mass spectrometry (MS), and assessment of post-translational modifications (PTMs) was done by conventional approaches. The analytical assessments were also done by multi-attribute method (MAM) approach using mass spectrometer (MS), and the performance of MAM was compared to conventional approaches

SCALE method for single-cell ATAC-seq analysis via latent feature extraction.

Single-cell ATAC-seq (scATAC-seq) profiles the chromatin accessibility landscape at single cell level, thus revealing cell-to-cell variability in gene regulation. However, the high dimensionality and sparsity of scATAC-seq data often complicate the analysis. Here, we introduce a method for analyzing scATAC-seq data, called Single-Cell ATAC-seq analysis via Latent feature Extraction (SCALE). SCALE combines a deep generative framework and a probabilistic Gaussian Mixture Model to learn latent features that accurately characterize scATAC-seq data. We validate SCALE on datasets generated on different platforms with different protocols, and having different overall data qualities. SCALE substantially outperforms the other tools in all aspects of scATAC-seq data analysis, including visualization, clustering, and denoising and imputation. Importantly, SCALE also generates interpretable features that directly link to cell populations, and can potentially reveal batch effects in scATAC-seq experiments

Application of imputation methods to the analysis of rheumatoid arthritis data in genome-wide association studies

Most genetic association studies only genotype a small proportion of cataloged single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) in regions of interest. With the catalogs of high-density SNP data available (e.g., HapMap) to researchers today, it has become possible to impute genotypes at untyped SNPs. This in turn allows us to test those untyped SNPs, the motivation being to increase power in association studies. Several imputation methods and corresponding software packages have been developed for this purpose. The objective of our study is to apply three widely used imputation methods and corresponding software packages to a data from a genome-wide association study of rheumatoid arthritis from the North American Rheumatoid Arthritis Consortium in Genetic Analysis Workshop 16, to compare the performances of the three methods, to evaluate their strengths and weaknesses, and to identify additional susceptibility loci underlying rheumatoid arthritis. The software packages used in this paper included a program for Bayesian imputation-based association mapping (BIMBAM), a program for imputing unobserved genotypes in case-control association studies (IMPUTE), and a program for testing untyped alleles (TUNA). We found some untyped SNP that showed significant association with rheumatoid arthritis. Among them, a few of these were not located near any typed SNP that was found to be significant and thus may be worth further investigation

Herbal Medication Aggravates Cataract Formation: A Case Report

We report a case of complicated cataract aggravated after taking herbal medication for atopic dermatitis. An 11-yr-old boy was referred for the evaluation of decreased visual acuity in both eyes for 2 months. Past history showed that he had been diagnosed with atopic dermatitis when he was 1 yr old. He had been treated only with herbal medication for a period of 8 months prior to visiting our clinic. He had his visual acuity checked in a local ophthalmic clinic one year before, and the visual acuity was 20/20 in both eyes at that time. When attending our clinic the ophthalmologic examination showed that his best corrected visual acuity was 20/200 in both eyes. Lenses of both eyes had severe posterior subcapsular and posterior capsular opacity. Phacoemulsification, posterior chamber intraocular lens implantation, and posterior continuous curvilinear capsulectomy were performed in both eyes. After 3 months postoperatively, the best corrected visual acuity was recovered to 20/20 in both eyes without any complication. Our case suggests that there may be a risk of aggravation of cataract or development of cataract after treatment with some unidentified herbal medication in a patient with atopic dermatitis

Intracranial Extramedullary Hematopoiesis in Beta-Thalassemia

Extramedullary hematopoiesis (EMH) represents tumor-like proliferation of hemopoietic tissue which complicates chronic hemoglobinopathy. Intracranial EMH is an extremely rare occurrence. Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) offers a precise diagnosis. It is essential to distinguish EMH from other extradural central nervous system tumors, because treatment and prognosis are totally different. Herein, we report the imaging findings of beta-thalassemia in a 13-year-old boy complaining of weakness of left side of the body and gait disturbance; CT and MRI revealed an extradural mass in the right temporoparietal region

2,4-Dihydr­oxy-N′-(4-methoxy­benzyl­idene)benzohydrazide

The mol­ecule of the title compound, C15H14N2O4, displays a trans configuration with respect to the hydrazide C=N bond. The dihedral angle between the two benzene rings is 15.0 (2)°. In the crystal structure, mol­ecules are linked through inter­molecular O—H⋯N and O—H⋯O hydrogen bonds, forming layers parallel to the ab plane; an intramolecular N—H⋯O hydrogen bond is also present

In-situ Magnesium Diboride Superconducting Thin Films grown by Pulsed Laser Deposition

Superconducting thin films of MgB2 were deposited by Pulsed Laser Deposition on magnesium oxide and sapphire substrates. Samples grown at 450C in an argon buffer pressure of about 10-2 mbar by using a magnesium enriched target resulted to be superconducting with a transition temperature of about 25 K. Film deposited from a MgB2 sintered pellet target in ultra high vacuum conditions showed poor metallic or weak semiconducting behavior and they became superconducting only after an ex-situ annealing in Mg vapor atmosphere. Up to now, no difference in the superconducting properties of the films obtained by these two procedures has been evidenced.Comment: 10 pages, 4 figure