Fin Field Effect Transistors Performance in Analog and RF for High-k Dielectrics

The high-k is needed to replace SiO2 as the gate dielectric to reduce the gate leakage current. The impact of a high-k gate dielectric on the device short channel performance and scalability of nanoscale double gate Fin Field Effect Transistors (FinFET) CMOS is examined by 2-D device simulations. DG FinFETs are designed with high-k at the high performance node of the 2008 Semiconductor Industry Association International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS). DG FinFET CMOS can be optimally designed to yield outstanding performance with good trade-offs between speed and power consumption as the gate length is scaled to < 10 nm. Using technology computer aided design (TCAD) tools a 2-D FinFET device is created and the simulations are performed on it. The optimum value of threshold voltage is identified as VT=0.653V with e=23(ZrO2) for the 2-D device structure. For the 2-D device structure, the leakage current has been reduced to 9.47´10-14 A. High-k improves the Ion/Ioff ratio of transistors for future high-speed logic applications and also improves the storage capability.Defence Science Journal, 2011, 61(3), pp.235-240, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.61.69

FPGA-Based Realisation of SDR with OFDM Tranceiver

Software-defined radio architecture is the key point of next generation communication systems in which some of the functional units are designed as software on a reconfigurable processor. This paper proposes the physical layer architecture of SDR with modified orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM). One of the main drawbacks of OFDM is that its high peak-to-average reduction (PAPR) ratio. The PAPR can be reduced using filtering and adaptive peak windowing method with Kaiser window. The adaptive window method finds the positions of maximum peak values using a peak detector in the signal and applies the window function with variable parameter. The radix 2 scalable N point FFT algorithm is used in the system. The mapping of the information signal is done with BPSK, PSK, and 16 QAM modulation. According to the signal-to- noise ratio (SNR) value, the type of modulation can be selected. Decoding of the OFDM signal in the receiver is done with Viterbi decoding algorithm. The communication system simulation is done in MATLAB and the baseband operations are implemented on Xilinx FPGA.Defence Science Journal, Vol. 65, No. 3, May 2015, pp.233-239, DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.65.601

Detection and Quantification of Alternaria solani in Tomato by Real Time PCR

A conventional and real-time PCR assays using SYBR Green for the detection and quantification of A. solanihave been developed and validated. A primer set (ALP and ITS4) designed from the ITS region of A. linicola/ A. solani complex, yielded a 536 bp product when DNA from 38 isolates of A. solani were amplified. No product was amplified from A. alternata, A. brassicae, A. brassicicola, A.helianthi, A. porri, A. sesami, A.carthami, A.ricini, Colletotrichum gloeosporioides, C. capsici, C. falcatum, Cercospora canescens, C. capsici, Phytophthora infestans, Sclerotium rolfsii, Fusarium equiseti, F. oxysporum, Rhizoctonia solani, Phoma exigua, Curvularia spp and Drechslera. In addition, ALP/ITS4 primers were successfully utilized in real-time PCR assays of A. solani. The efficiency of conventional and real-time PCR assays was compared. The conventional PCR was able to detect the pathogen on symptomatic artificially infected tomato plants 5 days after pathogen inoculation. The detection limit was 100 conidia and 10 pg of DNA in the case of conventional PCR. Real-time PCR exhibited a detection limit 10 times lower (10 conidia, 10fg of DNA). The application of real time PCR assay for rapid detection of A.solani in infected tomato plant material is discussed

A partner monoclonal antibody to Moab 730 kills 100% of DU145 and PC3 androgen-independent cancer cells

A number of therapeutic options are available for patients with prostate carcinoma till the time that the tumour is hormone dependent. However, no fully effective therapy is available for the treatment of androgen-independent prostate carcinomas. Antibodies directed at epitopes unique to or overexpressed on the cancer cells could be of therapeutic utility. A monoclonal antibody (Moab) 2C4 has been generated, which binds with cells of two androgenin-dependent prostate cancers, DU145 and PC3, and does not bind to peripheral blood leukocytes (PBLs) of healthy donors. This antibody, along with the previously developed Moab 730, kills 100% of both DU145 and PC3 cells in the presence of complement and does not have a deleterious effect on PBLs of healthy males. The anti-tumour action of the two antibodies prevents the establishment of DU145 cell tumour in nude mice in vivo. Moab 2C4 in combination with 730 has potential for use as therapy for androgen-independent cancers

Comparative effectiveness of inter-simple sequence repeat and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA markers to study genetic diversity of Indian Garcinia

A study to compare the effectiveness of inter-simple sequence repeats (ISSR) and randomly amplified polymorphic DNA (RAPD) profiling was carried out with a total of 65 DNA samples using 12 species of Indian Garcinia. ISSR and RAPD profiling were performed with 19 and 12 primers, respectively. ISSR markers generated a total number of 156 bands with 92 polymorphic bands, while RAPD markers produced a total of 134 bands with 80 polymorphic bands. Percentage of polymorphic loci in RAPD profiling was 60.4% while in ISSR profiling, it was 59.3%. Heterogeneity index was similar for the markers, 0.86 for ISSR and 0.89 for RAPD, indicating that both the marker systems are effective in determining polymorphism in Garcinia. ISSR markers showed clear distinction among the species whereas RAPD markers showed segregation based on geographical location as well as species based.Key words: Garcinia, genetic diversity, inter-simple sequence repeats, randomly amplified polymorphic DNA, principal component analysis

Potential pathway for recycling of the paper mill sludge compost for brick making

This study's focus was to develop a potential pathway for recycling of the paper mill sludge compost (PMSC) in brick making. Composting reduces the paper mill sludge (PMS) moisture content considerably and shredding becomes easier. The addition of PMSC leads to an increase of porosities in bricks and makes them lighter, besides delivering energy to the firing process from burning organics. Lighter construction materials help minimize construction outlay by reducing labour and transportation costs and lesser expense on foundation construction. The variability in the experimental data and the brick properties were investigated for two types of soils, typical in the brick industry of India (alluvial and laterite soil), blended with PMSC in five mix ratios (0%, 5%, 10%, 15% and 20%). The samples of oven-dried bricks were fired at two different temperatures (850 and 900 ˚C) in an electrically operated muffle furnace representing typical conditions of a brick kiln. Various properties of bricks were analyzed which included linear shrinkage, bulk density, water absorption and compressive strength. Conclusions were drawn based on these properties. It was found that the addition of PMSC to the alluvial and laterite soil by up to 10% weight yield mechanical properties of fired bricks compliant with the relevant Indian and ASTM codes. Toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) tests showed that PMSC incorporated fired bricks are safe to use in regular applications as non-load-bearing and infill walls. This study is timely in light of the European Green Deal putting focus on circular economy. Besides, it fulfils the objective of UN sustainable development goals (SDG)

AIDS Vaccine for Asia Network (AVAN): Expanding the Regional Role in Developing HIV Vaccines

Yiming Shao and colleagues describe the work of AVAN, the AIDS Vaccine for Asia Network, which aims to strengthen its regional efforts in finding an AIDS vaccine