Graphene Field-Effect Transistor for Terahertz Modulation

The real-world applications of terahertz (THz) technology necessitate versatile adaptive optical components, for example, modulators. In this chapter, we begin with a brief review on different techniques for THz modulation. After that, we introduce the extraordinary features of graphene along with its advantages and disadvantages as channel materials for field effect transistor (FET). We then discuss two types of graphene FET-based THz modulators, one is rigid and another is flexible. The feasibility of the high-quality THz modulators with different graphene FET structures has been successfully demonstrated. It is observed that by tuning the carrier concentration of graphene by electrical gating, the THz modulation can be obtained with relatively large modulation depth, broad width band, and moderate speed. This chapter helps the reader in obtaining guidelines for the proper choice of a specific structure for THz modulator with graphene FET

Towards Better Entity Linking with Multi-View Enhanced Distillation

Dense retrieval is widely used for entity linking to retrieve entities from large-scale knowledge bases. Mainstream techniques are based on a dual-encoder framework, which encodes mentions and entities independently and calculates their relevances via rough interaction metrics, resulting in difficulty in explicitly modeling multiple mention-relevant parts within entities to match divergent mentions. Aiming at learning entity representations that can match divergent mentions, this paper proposes a Multi-View Enhanced Distillation (MVD) framework, which can effectively transfer knowledge of multiple fine-grained and mention-relevant parts within entities from cross-encoders to dual-encoders. Each entity is split into multiple views to avoid irrelevant information being over-squashed into the mention-relevant view. We further design cross-alignment and self-alignment mechanisms for this framework to facilitate fine-grained knowledge distillation from the teacher model to the student model. Meanwhile, we reserve a global-view that embeds the entity as a whole to prevent dispersal of uniform information. Experiments show our method achieves state-of-the-art performance on several entity linking benchmarks.Comment: Accepted by ACL 2023 Main Conferenc

Evolutional selection of a combinatorial phage library displaying randomly-rearranged various single domains of immunoglobulin (Ig)-binding proteins (IBPs) with four kinds of Ig molecules

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Protein A, protein G and protein L are three well-defined immunoglobulin (Ig)-binding proteins (IBPs), which show affinity for specific sites on Ig of mammalian hosts. Although the precise functions of these molecules are not fully understood, it is thought that they play an important role in pathogenicity of bacteria. The single domains of protein A, protein G and protein L were all demonstrated to have function to bind to Ig. Whether combinations of Ig-binding domains of various IBPs could exhibit useful novel binding is interesting.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>We used a combinatorial phage library which displayed randomly-rearranged various-peptide-linked molecules of D and A domains of protein A, designated PA(D) and PA(A) respectively, B2 domain of protein G (PG) and B3 domain of protein L (PL) for affinity selection with human IgG (hIgG), human IgM (hIgM), human IgA (hIgA) and recombinant hIgG1-Fc as bait respectively. Two kinds of novel combinatorial molecules with characteristic structure of PA(A)-PG and PA(A)-PL were obtained in hIgG (hIgG1-Fc) and hIgM (hIgA) post-selection populations respectively. In addition, the linking peptides among all PA(A)-PG and PA(A)-PL structures was strongly selected, and showed interestingly divergent and convergent distribution. The phage binding assays and competitive inhibition experiments demonstrated that PA(A)-PG and PA(A)-PL combinations possess comparable binding advantages with hIgG/hIgG1-Fc and hIgM/hIgA respectively.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>In this work, a combinatorial phage library displaying Ig-binding domains of protein A, protein G, or protein L joined by various random linking peptides was used to conducted evolutional selection <it>in vitro</it> with four kinds of Ig molecules. Two kinds of novel combinations of Ig-binding domains, PA(A)-PG and PA(A)-PL, were obtained, and demonstrate the novel Ig binding properties.</p

Effects of In Vitro Maturation on Histone Acetylation in Metaphase II Oocytes and Early Cleavage Embryos

In vitro maturation (IVM) of oocyte is an effective procedure for avoiding ovarian hyperstimulation syndrome in patients with polycystic ovaries (PCOS) during in vitro fertilization (IVF). To investigate the influences of IVM on epigenetic reprogramming and to search for the possible reasons for the lower rates of fertilization and cleavage in IVM oocytes, we examined the expression of two enzymes controlling histone acetylation, histone acetyltransferase GCN5 (GCN5) and histone deacetylase 1 (HDAC1), as well as their common target, acetyl-histone H3 (Ac-H3), in mouse metaphase II (MII) oocytes and preimplantation embryos. Results showed that IVM downregulated the protein expression of GCN5 in MII oocytes and two-cell embryos and changed the distribution of GCN5 in two-cell embryos. Expression of HDAC1 mRNA in MII oocytes and two-cell embryos decreased in the IVM group. However, none of these changes persisted after two-cell embryos. Levels of Ac-H3 in both oocytes and embryos remained unchanged after IVM. Our studies indicated that IVM could affect the protein and gene expression related to histone acetylation in oocytes and early cleavage embryos. By function of selection, parts of the changes could be recovered in late embryo development

Complications after radical gastrectomy following FOLFOX7 neoadjuvant chemotherapy for gastric cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>This study assessed the postoperative morbidity and mortality occurring in the first 30 days after radical gastrectomy by comparing gastric cancer patients who did or did not receive the FOLFOX7 regimen of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>We completed a retrospective analysis of 377 patients after their radical gastrectomies were performed in our department between 2005 and 2009. Two groups of patients were studied: the SURG group received surgical treatment immediately after diagnosis; the NACT underwent surgery after 2-6 cycles of neoadjuvant chemotherapy.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>There were 267 patients in the SURG group and 110 patients in the NACT group. The NACT group had more proximal tumours (P = 0.000), more total/proximal gastrectomies (P = 0.000) and longer operative time (P = 0.005) than the SURG group. Morbidity was 10.0% in the NACT patients and 17.2% in the SURG patients (P = 0.075). There were two cases of postoperative death, both in the SURG group (P = 1.000). No changes in complications or mortality rate were observed between the SURG and NACT groups.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The FOLFOX7 neoadjuvant chemotherapy is not associated with increased postoperative morbidity, indicating that the FOLFOX7 neoadjuvant chemotherapy is a safe choice for the treatment of local advanced gastric cancer.</p

Effects of a Sliding Plate on Morphology of the Epiphyseal Plate in Goat Distal Femur

The aim of this study was to observe the effects of a sliding plate on the morphology of the epiphyseal plate in goat distal femur. Eighteen premature female goats were divided randomly into sliding plate, regular plate and control groups. Radiographic analysis and histological staining were performed to evaluate the development of epiphyseal plate at 4 and 8 weeks after surgery. In the sliding plate group, the plate extended accordingly as the epiphyseal plate grows, and the epiphyseal morphology was kept essential normal. However, the phenomenon of the epiphyseal growth retardation and premature closure were very common in the regular plate group. In addition, the sliding plate group exhibited more normal histologic features and Safranin O staining compared to the regular plate group. Our results suggest that the sliding plate can provide reliable internal fixation of epiphyseal fracture without inhibiting epiphyseal growth

Evolutionary trajectories of snake genes and genomes revealed by comparative analyses of five-pacer viper

Snakes have numerous features distinctive from other tetrapods and a rich history of genome evolution that is still obscure. Here, we report the high-quality genome of the five-pacer viper, Deinagkistrodon acutus, and comparative analyses with other representative snake and lizard genomes. We map the evolutionary trajectories of transposable elements (TEs), developmental genes and sex chromosomes onto the snake phylogeny. TEs exhibit dynamic lineage-specific expansion, and many viper TEs show brain-specific gene expression along with their nearby genes. We detect signatures of adaptive evolution in olfactory, venom and thermal-sensing genes and also functional degeneration of genes associated with vision and hearing. Lineage-specific relaxation of functional constraints on respective Hox and Tbx limb-patterning genes supports fossil evidence for a successive loss of forelimbs then hindlimbs during snake evolution. Finally, we infer that the ZW sex chromosome pair had undergone at least three recombination suppression events in the ancestor of advanced snakes. These results altogether forge a framework for our deep understanding into snakes' history of molecular evolution