DEMONSTRATION OF PROTEIN HYDROGEN BONDING NETWORK APPLICATION TO MICROELECTRONICS

Model of hydrogen bonding networks in active site of b-lactamase during the last intermediate EY of acylenzyme reaction semicycle is presented. The I-V characteristics of each hydrogen bond are calculated following Marcus theory and theory of protein electrostatics. Simulations showed that HBN characteristics are similar to the characteristics of microelectronic devices such as amplifier, signal modulator, triangular pulse source. The results demonstrated the analogy of HBNs in the active site of β-lactamase protein to microelectronic integrated circuit with multiple outputs each with different characteristics

Correction to: Two years later: Is the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic still having an impact on emergency surgery? An international cross-sectional survey among WSES members

Background: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic is still ongoing and a major challenge for health care services worldwide. In the first WSES COVID-19 emergency surgery survey, a strong negative impact on emergency surgery (ES) had been described already early in the pandemic situation. However, the knowledge is limited about current effects of the pandemic on patient flow through emergency rooms, daily routine and decision making in ES as well as their changes over time during the last two pandemic years. This second WSES COVID-19 emergency surgery survey investigates the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic on ES during the course of the pandemic. Methods: A web survey had been distributed to medical specialists in ES during a four-week period from January 2022, investigating the impact of the pandemic on patients and septic diseases both requiring ES, structural problems due to the pandemic and time-to-intervention in ES routine. Results: 367 collaborators from 59 countries responded to the survey. The majority indicated that the pandemic still significantly impacts on treatment and outcome of surgical emergency patients (83.1% and 78.5%, respectively). As reasons, the collaborators reported decreased case load in ES (44.7%), but patients presenting with more prolonged and severe diseases, especially concerning perforated appendicitis (62.1%) and diverticulitis (57.5%). Otherwise, approximately 50% of the participants still observe a delay in time-to-intervention in ES compared with the situation before the pandemic. Relevant causes leading to enlarged time-to-intervention in ES during the pandemic are persistent problems with in-hospital logistics, lacks in medical staff as well as operating room and intensive care capacities during the pandemic. This leads not only to the need for triage or transferring of ES patients to other hospitals, reported by 64.0% and 48.8% of the collaborators, respectively, but also to paradigm shifts in treatment modalities to non-operative approaches reported by 67.3% of the participants, especially in uncomplicated appendicitis, cholecystitis and multiple-recurrent diverticulitis. Conclusions: The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic still significantly impacts on care and outcome of patients in ES. Well-known problems with in-hospital logistics are not sufficiently resolved by now; however, medical staff shortages and reduced capacities have been dramatically aggravated over last two pandemic years

The evolving SARS-CoV-2 epidemic in Africa: Insights from rapidly expanding genomic surveillance

INTRODUCTION Investment in Africa over the past year with regard to severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) sequencing has led to a massive increase in the number of sequences, which, to date, exceeds 100,000 sequences generated to track the pandemic on the continent. These sequences have profoundly affected how public health officials in Africa have navigated the COVID-19 pandemic. RATIONALE We demonstrate how the first 100,000 SARS-CoV-2 sequences from Africa have helped monitor the epidemic on the continent, how genomic surveillance expanded over the course of the pandemic, and how we adapted our sequencing methods to deal with an evolving virus. Finally, we also examine how viral lineages have spread across the continent in a phylogeographic framework to gain insights into the underlying temporal and spatial transmission dynamics for several variants of concern (VOCs). RESULTS Our results indicate that the number of countries in Africa that can sequence the virus within their own borders is growing and that this is coupled with a shorter turnaround time from the time of sampling to sequence submission. Ongoing evolution necessitated the continual updating of primer sets, and, as a result, eight primer sets were designed in tandem with viral evolution and used to ensure effective sequencing of the virus. The pandemic unfolded through multiple waves of infection that were each driven by distinct genetic lineages, with B.1-like ancestral strains associated with the first pandemic wave of infections in 2020. Successive waves on the continent were fueled by different VOCs, with Alpha and Beta cocirculating in distinct spatial patterns during the second wave and Delta and Omicron affecting the whole continent during the third and fourth waves, respectively. Phylogeographic reconstruction points toward distinct differences in viral importation and exportation patterns associated with the Alpha, Beta, Delta, and Omicron variants and subvariants, when considering both Africa versus the rest of the world and viral dissemination within the continent. Our epidemiological and phylogenetic inferences therefore underscore the heterogeneous nature of the pandemic on the continent and highlight key insights and challenges, for instance, recognizing the limitations of low testing proportions. We also highlight the early warning capacity that genomic surveillance in Africa has had for the rest of the world with the detection of new lineages and variants, the most recent being the characterization of various Omicron subvariants. CONCLUSION Sustained investment for diagnostics and genomic surveillance in Africa is needed as the virus continues to evolve. This is important not only to help combat SARS-CoV-2 on the continent but also because it can be used as a platform to help address the many emerging and reemerging infectious disease threats in Africa. In particular, capacity building for local sequencing within countries or within the continent should be prioritized because this is generally associated with shorter turnaround times, providing the most benefit to local public health authorities tasked with pandemic response and mitigation and allowing for the fastest reaction to localized outbreaks. These investments are crucial for pandemic preparedness and response and will serve the health of the continent well into the 21st century

Technology and Modeling of Nonclassical Transistor Devices

This paper presents a comprehensive outlook for the current technology status and the prospective upcoming advancements. VLSI scaling trends and technology advancements in the context of sub-10-nm technologies are reviewed as well as the associated device modeling approaches and compact models of transistor structures are considered. As technology goes into the nanometer regime, semiconductor devices are confronting numerous short-channel effects. Bulk CMOS technology is developing and innovating to overcome these constraints by introduction of (i) new technologies and new materials and (ii) new transistor architectures. Technology boosters such as high-k/metal-gate technologies, ultra-thin-body SOI, Ge-on-insulator (GOI), AIII–BV semiconductors, and band-engineered transistor (SiGe or Strained Si-channel) with high-carrier-mobility channels are examined. Nonclassical device structures such as novel multiple-gate transistor structures including multiple-gate field-effect transistors, FD-SOI MOSFETs, CNTFETs, and SETs are examined as possible successors of conventional CMOS devices and FinFETs. Special attention is devoted to gate-all-around FETs and, respectively, nanowire and nanosheet FETs as forthcoming mainstream replacements of FinFET. In view of that, compact modeling of bulk CMOS transistors and multiple-gate transistors are considered as well as BSIM and PSP multiple-gate models, FD-SOI MOSFETs, CNTFET, and SET modeling are reviewed

Effects of Anodic Aluminum Oxide Substrate Pore Geometry on the Gas-Phase Photocatalytic Activity of ZnO/Al2O3 Composites Prepared by Atomic Layer Deposition

We report on the photocatalytic activity of ZnO layers deposited by atomic layer deposition on a porous anodic aluminum oxide substrate with hexagonal pore symmetry and varied pore dimensions. ZnO/Al2O3 composites were prepared with pore diameters in the range 93–134 nm and interpore distance in the range 185–286 nm, and their photocatalytic activity was measured for gas-phase photocatalytic oxidation of acetaldehyde at varying UV illumination intensities (0.08–3.94 mW cm−2). The results show that substrates with narrower pore diameters (<115 nm, in the case of this study) have a detrimental effect on the photocatalyst performance, despite their higher effective surface. The results are explained on the basis of limited mass transfer inside the porous structure and can be used as a guideline in the purposeful design of photocatalysts with a nanoporous or nanotubular structure