Modification of polyelectrolyte multilayer coatings using nanoparticles to optimize adhesion and proliferation of different cell types

Adapting characteristics of biomaterials specifically for in vitro and in vivo applications is becoming increasingly important in order to control interactions between material and biological systems. These complex interactions are influenced by surface properties like chemical composition, charge, mechanical and topographic attributes. In many cases it is not useful or even not possible to alter the base material but changing surface, to improve biocompatibility or to make surfaces bioactive, may be achieved by thin coatings. An already established method is the coating with polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM). To adjust adhesion, proliferation and improve vitality of certain cell types, we modified the roughness of PEM coatings. We included different types nanoparticles (NP’s) in different concentrations into PEM coatings for controlling surface roughness. Surface properties were characterized and the reaction of 3 different cell types on these coatings was tested

Association of maternal Vitamin D status with glucose tolerance and caesarean section in a multi-ethnic Asian cohort: the growing up in Singapore towards healthy outcomes study

10.1371/journal.pone.0142239PLoS ONE10111-16GUSTO (Growing up towards Healthy Outcomes

Design Exploration of Hybrid CMOS and Memristor Circuit by New Modified Nodal Analysis

Design of hybrid circuits and systems based on CMOS and nano-device requires rethinking of fundamental circuit analysis to aid design exploration. Conventional circuit analysis with modified nodal analysis (MNA) cannot consider new nano-devices such as memristor together with the traditional CMOS devices. This paper has introduced a new MNA method with magnetic flux Φ as new state variable. New SPICE-like circuit simulator is thereby developed for the design of hybrid CMOS and memristor circuits. A number of CMOS and memristor-based designs are explored, such as oscillator, chaotic circuit, programmable logic, analog-learning circuit, and crossbar memory, where their functionality, performance, reliability and power can be efficiently verified by the newly developed simulator. Specifically, one new 3-D-crossbar architecture with diode-added memristor is also proposed to improve integration density and to avoid sneak path during read-write operation

A 60GHz VCO with 25.8% tuning range by switching return-path in 65nm CMOS

This paper presents a novel inductive tuning method for 60GHz voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) design. A new inductor-loaded transformer is proposed by configuring different current return-paths in the secondary coil of a transformer. Different from published inductive tuning methods, the proposed topology can achieve a multi-band, wide tuning range within compact area using only one transformer. A 60GHz VCO is implemented at 65nm CMOS process for demonstration. The obtained oscillation frequency can vary from 51.9GHz to 67.3GHz, which covers the full 60GHz band and provides a wide frequency tuning range of 25.8%.Accepted versio

Ultra-wide rejection band lowpass cell

A novel lowpass cell with ultra-wide band rejection and compact size by using proposed radial loaded transformed radial stubs is proposed. The implemented lowpass filter with 1dB cutoff frequency fc of 3.2 GHz demonstrates stopband rejection up to 11.8 fc, i.e. 38 GHz. The measured passband insertion loss, including the connector loss, is less than 1.0 dB. The effective size of the unit cell lowpass filter is only about 310 × 170mil, i.e. 0.12 lg × 0.063 lg (lg is the guide wavelength at cutoff frequency) without using any lumped elements

A 2-D distributed power combining by metamaterial-based zero phase shifter for 60-GHz power amplifier in 65-nm CMOS

Based on a newly introduced zero phase shifter (ZPS), a 2-D distributed power-combining network is developed in this paper to provide simultaneous distributed amplification and power combining. One type of metamaterial, called the composite right/left-handed transmission line, is deployed to design ZPS with detailed considerations to achieve low loss and wideband performance. The proposed 2-D distributed power combining is implemented for one 60-GHz power amplifier (PA) design by a UMC standard 65-nm CMOS process. Measured results show that the fabricated PA has 0.39- mm2 area, 8.3-dB gain, 7.1% power-added efficiency, and 9.7-dBm P1 dB with 16-GHz bandwidth (44-60 GHz)

A 44-to-60GHz, 9.7dBm P1dB, 7.1% PAE power amplifier with 2D distributed power combining by metamaterial-based zero-phase-shifter in 65nm CMOS

With the use of metamaterial based zero-phase-shifter, a 2D distributed power combining network is developed to provide distributed amplification and power combining simultaneously. Measured results show that the fabricated PA has 8.3dB gain, 7.1% PAE, and 9.7dBm P1dB with 16GHz bandwidth (44 to 60GHz)

The antecedents influencing shoppers’ frequencies of visit and purchase intention in the shopping mall: A study on the pull factors

The study aims to examine the perceived antecedents that influence the selection of shopping malls and determine the predictive nature of visit frequency that might lead shoppers to the intended purchase. Hence, the research question asked “to what extent the six determinants would most likely to affect shoppers frequency of visit to the malls and their purchase intention”. The method employed was positivist paradigm using questionnaires administering to young and adult respondents. A total of 200 usable samples were used for the SPSS analyses. Several primary statistical tools were used such as descriptive analyses, reliability test, factor analysis, multivariate and bivariate regressions. The results revealed that all constructs reliability were above Cronbach alpha 0.70 and both the convergent and discriminant validities were met via the exploratory factor analysis. The finding concluded that convenience, tenant variety, functional attributes, hedonic value and promotion are positively related to the frequency of visit. In addition, frequency of visit is also positively related to the purchase intention. The finding of this research provided both theoretical and practical implications

Coupled dual LC tanks based ILFD with low injection power and compact size

This paper presents a fully differential injection locked frequency divider using coupled dual LC tanks. The proposed injection locked frequency divide-by-2 divider achieves a wide locking range with low injected power levels. The divider, fabricated in 0.18μm SiGe BiCMOS process achieves a locking range of 3.77 GHz with an injected power as low as -16 dBm, a phase noise of -116 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset with an input referred phase noise of -109.7 dBc/Hz at 10 kHz offset at 25 GHz, maximum output power of -2.44 dBm, efficiency of 18.5% and the DC power consumption is 4.8 mW.Accepted versio

A K-band high PAE wide tuning range VCO Using triple-coupled LC tanks

This brief presents a fully differential K-band voltage-controlled oscillator (VCO) using commercial 0.18-μm SiGe BiCMOS process. By using triple-coupled LC tanks with strong coupling and varactor-controlled capacitor bank, the proposed VCO simultaneously achieves a wide tuning range, low phase noise, high output RF power, and high power-added efficiency (PAE). The implemented VCO demonstrates an oscillation frequency range from 22.50 to 26.23 GHz, a frequency tuning range of 15.3%, a phase noise of −107.7 dBc/Hz at 1-MHz offset, an output power of−3.1 dBm, PAE of 5.97%, and a figure of merit of -186.9 dBc/Hz with a dc power of 8.2 mW.Accepted versio