Nano-Patterned High-Responsivity GaAs Metal-Semiconductor-Metal Photodetector

In this paper, we use the finite difference time-domain (FDTD) method to optimize the light absorption of an ultrafast nano-grating plasmonic GaAs metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector (MSM-PD) employing double metal nano-gratings. The geometry of the MSM-PD is theoretically investigated, leading to improved light absorption near the design wavelength of GaAs due to plasmon-assisted electric and magnetic field concentration through a subwavelength aperture. Simulation results show up to 8- and 21-times light absorption enhancement for the single and double nano-grating structure, respectively, in comparison to conventional MSM-PDs. Experimentally, more than 4 times enhancement in photocurrent is demonstrated for a single top nano-grating MSM-PD in comparison with conventional MSM-PDs

Design of high-sensitivity plasmonics-assisted GaAs Metal-Semiconductor-Metal photodetectors

In this paper, we use the finite difference timedomain (FDTD) method to optimize the light absorption of an ultrafast plasmonic GaAs metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector (MSM-PD) employing metal nano-gratings. The MSM-PD is optimized geometrically, leading to improved light absorption near the designed wavelength of GaAs through plasmon-assisted electric and magnetic field concentration through a subwavelength aperture. Simulation results show up to 10-times light absorption enhancement at 867 nm due to surface plasmon polaritons (SPPs) propagation through the metal nano-grating, in comparison to conventional MSM-PD

Metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector with enhanced TE-polarization transmission

In this paper, we use the finite difference time-domain (FDTD) method to optimize the TE-polarized light transmission of a metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector (MSMPD) employing a dielectric waveguide on top of metal nano-gratings. Simulation results demonstrate that the funneling transmission of the TE-polarized light through the nanoslit of the structure is highly dependent on the structure geometries such as the waveguide and nano-grating heights. We also demonstrate that adding a dielectric waveguide layer on top of the nano-metal grating supports both the TM- and TE polarizations, and enhances the light transmission for TE-polarization approximately 3-times

Sinteran hidroksiapatit dalam atmosfera nitrogen untuk peningkatan sifat mikrokekerasan

Hidroksiapatit (HA) adalah sejenis kalsium fosfat yang merupakan komposisi kepada kebanyakan fasa mineral tulang dan enamel gigi. HA bersifat bioserasi dan berkonduksi osteo selain mempunyai afiniti biologi dan kimia yang bagus untuk tisu tulang. Dengan ciri tersebut, HA diguna secara luas sebagai graf tulang dan bahan salut bagi implan tisu keras manusia. Walau bagaimanapun, kerapuhan dan keliatan patah yang rendah HA tersinter menghadkan penggunaannya dalam aplikasi bebanan yang tinggi. Kajian ini tertumpu kepada mengenal pasti kesan atmosfera sinteran dengan gas nitrogen (N2) ke atas sifat mekanik HA untuk aplikasi pergigian. Serbuk nano HA dicirikan dengan menggunakan mikroskop elektron pancaran. Cakera silinder HA dihasilkan dengan kaedah penekanan ekapaksi. Kemudian, cakera silinder HA dikenakan tekanan isostatik sejuk dan disinter dalam dua atmosfera sinteran yang berbeza iaitu sinteran dalam gas N2 dan sinteran dalam udara pada suhu 1300°C. Ketumpatan, mikrostruktur, kestabilan fasa dan mikrokekerasan HA tersinter dicirikan. Secara keseluruhan, sinteran dengan menggunakan gas N2 menyebabkan pertumbuhan saiz butiran yang lebih besar dengan ketumpatan relatif dan mikrokekerasan yang lebih tinggi jika dibandingkan dengan atmosfera sinteran dalam udara. Dalam kajian ini, HA yang disinter dengan menggunakan gas N2 pada suhu 1300°C menunjukkan mikrostruktur yang lebih tumpat, ketumpatan relatif (94%) dan mikrokekerasan (4.07 GPa) yang lebih tinggi jika berbanding dengan sinteran dalam udara tanpa penguraian HA. Kesimpulannya, penggunaan atmosfera sinteran dengan menggunakan gas N2 pada suhu 1300°C dapat meningkatkan sifat kekerasan Vickers nanokomposit HA dengan mikrostruktur yang padat

Combined CNN Transformer Encoder for Enhanced Fine-grained Human Action Recognition

Fine-grained action recognition is a challenging task in computer vision. As fine-grained datasets have small inter-class variations in spatial and temporal space, fine-grained action recognition model requires good temporal reasoning and discrimination of attribute action semantics. Leveraging on CNN's ability in capturing high level spatial-temporal feature representations and Transformer's modeling efficiency in capturing latent semantics and global dependencies, we investigate two frameworks that combine CNN vision backbone and Transformer Encoder to enhance fine-grained action recognition: 1) a vision-based encoder to learn latent temporal semantics, and 2) a multi-modal video-text cross encoder to exploit additional text input and learn cross association between visual and text semantics. Our experimental results show that both our Transformer encoder frameworks effectively learn latent temporal semantics and cross-modality association, with improved recognition performance over CNN vision model. We achieve new state-of-the-art performance on the FineGym benchmark dataset for both proposed architectures.Comment: The Ninth Workshop on Fine-Grained Visual Categorization (FGVC9) @ CVPR202

Groove shape-dependent absorption enhancement of 850 nm MSM photodetectors with nano-gratings

Finite difference time-domain (FDTD) analysis is used to investigate the light absorption enhancement factor dependence on the groove shape of the nano-gratings etched into the surfaces of metal-semiconductor-metal photodetector (MSM-PD) structures. By patterning the MSM-PDs with optimized nano-gratings a significant improvement in light absorption near the design wavelength is achieved through plasmon-assisted electric field concentration effects. Simulation results show about 50 times light absorption enhancement for 850 nm light due to improved optical signal propagation through the nano-gratings

Bioactivity, physical and chemical properties of MTA mixed with propylene glycol

AbstractObjective To investigate the physical (setting time, hardness, flowability, microstructure) and chemical (pH change, calcium release, crystallinity) properties and the biological outcomes (cell survival and differentiation) of mineral trioxide aggregate (MTA) mixed using different proportions of propylene glycol (PG) and water.Material and Methods White MTA was mixed with different water/PG ratios (100/0, 80/20 and 50/50). Composition (XRD), microstructure (SEM), setting time (ASTM C266-13), flowability (ANSI/ADA 57-2000), Knoop hardness (100 g/10 s) and chemical characteristics (pH change and Ca2+ release for 7 days) were evaluated. Cell proliferation, osteo/odontoblastic gene expression and mineralization induced by MTA mixed with PG were evaluated. MTA discs (5 mm in diameter, 2 mm thick) were prepared and soaked in culture medium for 7 days. Next, the discs were removed and the medium used to culture dental pulp stem cells (DPSC) for 28 days. Cells survival was evaluated using MTS assay (24, 72 and 120 h) and differentiation with RT-PCR (ALP, OCN, Runx2, DSPP and MEPE) and alizarin red staining (7 and 14 days). Data were analysed using one-way ANOVA and Tukey’s post-hoc analysis (a=0.05).Results The addition of PG significantly increased setting time, flowability and Ca2+ release, but it compromised the hardness of the material. SEM showed that 50/50 group resulted porous material after setting due to the incomplete setting reaction, as shown by XRD analysis. The addition of PG (80/20 and 50/50) was not capable to improve cell proliferation or to enhance gene expression, and mineralized deposition of DPSC after 7 and 14 days as compared to the 100/0.Conclusion Except for flowability, the addition of PG did not promote further improvements on the chemical and physical properties evaluated, and it was not capable of enhancing the bioactivity of the MTA

A Critical Evaluation of River Management Models in Malaysia

Rivers are important natural resources of a country as they provide a wide range of ecosystem services. However, the problem is that rivers in Malaysia are badly degraded due to mismanagement, neglect, pollution and abuse. River management in Malaysia is largely based on the government-centric top-down model which is sectoral-based. This model is ineffective as it has no private sector, NGO and public engagement and support. This paper aims to examine various types of river management models to identify the ones that can be effective in Malaysia. The methodology used a mixture of literature review of existing river management models, secondary data on published journal papers, reports and books on river management. Results of selected river management conferences are also studied, examined and findings synthesized. Primary data is also compiled with selected in-depth qualitative interviews with key government officers, managers of private companies, NGO officers and village heads. Results show that the government (various levels) is traditionally the responsible party in managing rivers, but increasingly, the public, NGOs, businesses and other stakeholders are actively involved. Results also show that holistic river management with active engagement of all stakeholders is necessary. In Malaysia, rivers are found to be intricately intertwined with all aspects of development. It was concluded that the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) model is an effective river management model in Malaysia as it conserves the river and its environment, and brings together all parties for building their capacities in river management towards achieving many Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

Jerantinine A induces tumor-specific cell death through modulation of splicing factor 3b subunit 1 (SF3B1)

Precursor mRNA (pre-mRNA) splicing is catalyzed by a large ribonucleoprotein complex known as the spliceosome. Numerous studies have indicated that aberrant splicing patterns or mutations in spliceosome components, including the splicing factor 3b subunit 1 (SF3B1), are associated with hallmark cancer phenotypes. This has led to the identification and development of small molecules with spliceosome-modulating activity as potential anticancer agents. Jerantinine A (JA) is a novel indole alkaloid which displays potent anti-proliferative activities against human cancer cell lines by inhibiting tubulin polymerization and inducing G2/M cell cycle arrest. Using a combined pooled-genome wide shRNA library screen and global proteomic profiling, we showed that JA targets the spliceosome by up-regulating SF3B1 and SF3B3 protein in breast cancer cells. Notably, JA induced significant tumor-specific cell death and a significant increase in unspliced pre-mRNAs. In contrast, depletion of endogenous SF3B1 abrogated the apoptotic effects, but not the G2/M cell cycle arrest induced by JA. Further analyses showed that JA stabilizes endogenous SF3B1 protein in breast cancer cells and induced dissociation of the protein from the nucleosome complex. Together, these results demonstrate that JA exerts its antitumor activity by targeting SF3B1 and SF3B3 in addition to its reported targeting of tubulin polymerization