138 research outputs found
Design of Single-Molecule Multiferroics for Efficient Ultrahigh-Density Nonvolatile Memories
It is known that an isolated single-molecule magnet tends to become super- paramagnetic even at an ultralow temperature of a few Kelvin due to the low spin switching barrier. Herein, single-molecule ferroelectrics/multiferroics is proposed, as the ultimate size limit of memory, such that every molecule can store 1 bit data. The primary strategy is to identify polar molecules that possess bistable states, moderate switching barriers, and polarizations fixed along the vertical direction for high-density perpendicular recording. First- principles computation shows that several selected magnetic metal porphyrin molecules possess buckled structures with switchable vertical polarizations that are robust at ambient conditions. When intercalated within a bilayer of 2D materials such as bilayer MoS2 or CrI3, the magnetization can alter the spin distribution or can be even switched by 180° upon ferroelectric switching, rendering efficient electric writing and magnetic reading. It is found that the upper limit of areal storage density can be enhanced by four orders of magnitude, from the previous super-paramagnetic limit of ≈40 to ≈106 GB in.−2, on the basis of the design of cross-point multiferroic tunneling junction array and multiferroic hard drive
Enhancing the Signal Power Symmetry for Optical Phase Conjugation Using Erbium-Doped-Fibre-Assisted Raman Amplification
We propose a novel dual-order backward-pumped distributed Raman amplification scheme assisted erbium-doped-fibre (EDF) providing nearly perfect signal power symmetry (>93% symmetry level) over two 50.4 km single mode fibre spans. Compared with conventional dual-order Raman schemes, this scheme only requires an additional short (25 cm) erbium-doped fibre to compensate the loss from the passive components between spans, significantly improving the overall link symmetry. Unlike a conventional hybrid Raman/EDFA approach with separate amplifier modules, the proposed scheme offers cost savings by utilizing the Raman pumps to activate the erbium-doped fibre, avoiding the need for an EDF-designated pump. In an optical transmission system with four 50.4 km fibre spans, our novel Raman scheme presented in this paper enables mid-link optical phase conjugation (OPC) to compensate up to 37 dB of nonlinear Kerr inter-signal interference. This represents a 12 dB advantage in compensation over conventional dual-order Raman amplification. Our experimental and simulated results also demonstrate that the proposed configuration provides 7 dB nonlinear threshold enhancement in a 200 Gb/s DP-16QAM 200 km inline transmission system using a mid-link OPC, exceeding the enhancement observed with the conventional dual-order Raman scheme. Our simulation results also show that the optimum Q2 factor using the proposed scheme outperforms the conventional schemes at 2000 km
Coupled Transceiver-Fiber Nonlinearity Compensation Based on Machine Learning for Probabilistic Shaping System
In this article, we experimentally demonstrate the combined benefit of artificial neural network-based nonlinearity compensation and probabilistic shaping for the first time. We demonstrate that the scheme not only compensates for transceiver's nonlinearity, enabling the full benefits of shaping to be achieved, but also the combined effects of transceiver and fiber propagation nonlinearities. The performance of the proposed artificial neural network is demonstrated at 28 Gbaud for both 64-QAM and 256-QAM probabilistically shaped systems and compared to that of uniformly distributed constellations. Our experimental results demonstrate: the expected performance gains for shaping alone; an additional SNR performance gain up to 1 dB in the linear region; an additional mutual information gain of 0.2 bits per channel use in the constellation-entropy limited region. In the presence of coupled transceiver and fiber-induced nonlinearities, an additional mutual information enhancement of sim0.13 bits/symbol is experimentally observed for a fiber link of up to 500 km with the aid of the proposed artificial neural network
Kernel-based learning-aided phase noise compensation in dual-pump optical phase conjugation coherent system
We deploy kernel-based time-series prediction to suppress the phase noise induced by small deviations from ideal pump counter-phasing in a dual-pump optical phase conjugation system. We show experimentally 1.5-dB SNR improvement for 16-QAM signals at 4opump-phase mismatch
Heart rate variability measured from wearable devices as a marker of disease severity in tetanus
Tetanus is a disease associated with significant morbidity and mortality. Heart rate variability (HRV) is an objective clinical marker with potential value in tetanus. This study aimed to investigate the use of wearable devices to collect HRV data and the relationship between HRV and tetanus severity. Data were collected from 110 patients admitted to the intensive care unit in a tertiary hospital in Vietnam. HRV indices were calculated from 5-minute segments of 24-hour electrocardiogram recordings collected using wearable devices. HRV was found to be inversely related to disease severity. The standard deviation of NN intervals and interquartile range of RR intervals (IRRR) were significantly associated with the presence of muscle spasms; low frequency (LF) and high frequency (HF) indices were significantly associated with severe respiratory compromise; and the standard deviation of differences between adjacent NN intervals, root mean square of successive differences between normal heartbeats, LF to HF ratio, total frequency power, and IRRR, were significantly associated with autonomic nervous system dysfunction. The findings support the potential value of HRV as a marker for tetanus severity, identifying specific indices associated with clinical severity thresholds. Data were recorded using wearable devices, demonstrating this approach in resource-limited settings where most tetanus occurs
ASCOT: a text mining-based web-service for efficient search and assisted creation of clinical trials
Clinical trials are mandatory protocols describing medical research on humans and among the most valuable sources of medical practice evidence. Searching for trials relevant to some query is laborious due to the immense number of existing protocols. Apart from search, writing new trials includes composing detailed eligibility criteria, which might be time-consuming, especially for new researchers. In this paper we present ASCOT, an efficient search application customised for clinical trials. ASCOT uses text mining and data mining methods to enrich clinical trials with metadata, that in turn serve as effective tools to narrow down search. In addition, ASCOT integrates a component for recommending eligibility criteria based on a set of selected protocols
Multifaceted oncostatin M: novel roles and therapeutic potential of the oncostatin M signaling in rheumatoid arthritis
Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a self-immune inflammatory disease characterized by joint damage. A series of cytokines are involved in the development of RA. Oncostatin M (OSM) is a pleiotropic cytokine that primarily activates the Janus kinase (JAK)/signal transducer and activator of transcription (STAT) signaling pathway, the mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK) signaling pathway, and other physiological processes such as cell proliferation, inflammatory response, immune response, and hematopoiesis through its receptor complex. In this review, we first describe the characteristics of OSM and its receptor, and the biological functions of OSM signaling. Subsequently, we discuss the possible roles of OSM in the development of RA from clinical and basic research perspectives. Finally, we summarize the progress of clinical studies targeting OSM for the treatment of RA. This review provides researchers with a systematic understanding of the role of OSM signaling in RA, which can guide the development of drugs targeting OSM for the treatment of RA
IL-21 promotes myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury through the modulation of neutrophil infiltration.
BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: The immune system plays an important role in driving the acute inflammatory response following myocardial ischaemia/reperfusion injury (MIRI). IL-21 is a pleiotropic cytokine with multiple immunomodulatory effects, but its role in MIRI is not known. EXPERIMENTAL APPROACH: Myocardial injury, neutrophil infiltration and the expression of neutrophil chemokines KC (CXCL1) and MIP-2 (CXCL2) were studied in a mouse model of MIRI. Effects of IL-21 on the expression of KC and MIP-2 in neonatal mouse cardiomyocytes (CMs) and cardiac fibroblasts (CFs) were determined by real-time PCR and ELISA. The signalling mechanisms underlying these effects were explored by western blot analysis. KEY RESULTS: IL-21 was elevated within the acute phase of murine MIRI. Neutralization of IL-21 attenuated myocardial injury, as illustrated by reduced infarct size, decreased cardiac troponin T levels and improved cardiac function, whereas exogenous IL-21 administration exerted opposite effects. IL-21 increased the infiltration of neutrophils and increased the expression of KC and MIP-2 in myocardial tissue following MIRI. Moreover, neutrophil depletion attenuated the IL-21-induced myocardial injury. Mechanistically, IL-21 increased the production of KC and MIP-2 in neonatal CMs and CFs, and enhanced neutrophil migration, as revealed by the migration assay. Furthermore, we demonstrated that this IL-21-mediated increase in chemokine expression involved the activation of Akt/NF-κB signalling in CMs and p38 MAPK/NF-κB signalling in CFs. CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS: Our data provide novel evidence that IL-21 plays a pathogenic role in MIRI, most likely by promoting cardiac neutrophil infiltration. Therefore, targeting IL-21 may have therapeutic potential as a treatment for MIRI. LINKED ARTICLES: This article is part of a themed section on Spotlight on Small Molecules in Cardiovascular Diseases. To view the other articles in this section visit http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/bph.v175.8/issuetoc
A novel “holey-LFP / graphene / holey-LFP” sandwich nanostructure with significantly improved rate capability for lithium storage
The development of high-performance and new-structure electrode materials is vital for the wide application of rechargeable lithium batteries in electric vehicles. In this work, we design a special composite electrode structure with the macroporous three-dimensional graphene areogel framework supporting mesoporous LiFePO4 nanoplate. It is realized using a simple sol-gel deposition method. The highly conductivity graphene nanosheets assemble into an interconnected three-dimensional macroporous areogel framework, while LiFePO4 grows along the graphene nanosheets and generates a mesoporous nanoplate structure. In comparison with LiFePO4, this unique sandwich nanostructure offers a greatly increased electronic conductivity thanks to the framework of graphene nanosheets. Also, the bimodal porous structure of the composite remarkably increases the interface between the electrode/electrolyte and facilitates the transport of Li+ throughout the electrode, enabling the superior specific capacity, rate characteristic and cyclic retention
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