Low threshold voltage,highly stable electroforming-free threshold switching characteristics in VOx films-based device

Threshold switching (TS) devices have evolved as one of the most promising elements in memory circuit due to their important significance in suppressing crosstalk current in the crisscross array structure. However, the issue of high threshold voltage (V_th) and low stability still restricts their potential applications. Herein, the vanadium oxide (VO_x) films deposited by the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method are adopted as the switching layer to construct the TS devices. The TS devices with Pt/VO_x/Pt/PI structure exhibit non-polar, electroforming-free, and volatile TS characteristics with an ultralow V_th (+0.48 V/−0.48 V). Besides that, the TS devices also demonstrates high stability, without obviously performance degradations after 350 cycles of endurance measurements. Additionally, the transition mechanism is mainly attributed to the synergistic effect of metal-insulator transition of VO₂ and oxygen vacancies. Furthermore, the nonvolatile bipolar resistance switching behaviors can be obtained by changing oxygen pressure during the deposition process for switching films. This work demonstrates that vanadium oxide film is a good candidate as switching layer for applications in the TS devices and opens an avenue for future electronics.     

Heteroalleles in Common Wheat: Multiple Differences between Allelic Variants of the Gli-B1 Locus

The Gli-B1-encoded γ-gliadins and non-coding γ-gliadin DNA sequences for 15 different alleles of common wheat have been compared using seven tests: electrophoretic mobility (EM) and molecular weight (MW) of the encoded major γ-gliadin, restriction fragment length polymorphism patterns (RFLPs) (three different markers), Gli-B1-γ-gliadin-pseudogene known SNP markers (Single nucleotide polymorphisms) and sequencing the pseudogene GAG56B. It was discovered that encoded γ-gliadins, with contrasting EM, had similar MWs. However, seven allelic variants (designated from I to VII) differed among them in the other six tests: I (alleles Gli-B1i, k, m, o), II (Gli-B1n, q, s), III (Gli-B1b), IV (Gli-B1e, f, g), V (Gli-B1h), VI (Gli-B1d) and VII (Gli-B1a). Allele Gli-B1c (variant VIII) was identical to the alleles from group IV in four of the tests. Some tests might show a fine difference between alleles belonging to the same variant. Our results attest in favor of the independent origin of at least seven variants at the Gli-B1 locus that might originate from deeply diverged genotypes of the donor(s) of the B genome in hexaploid wheat and therefore might be called “heteroallelic”. The donor’s particularities at the Gli-B1 locus might be conserved since that time and decisively contribute to the current high genetic diversity of common wheat.     

Effect of α-Lipoic Acid on the Development of Human Skin Equivalents Using a Pumpless Skin-on-a-Chip Model

Owing to the prohibition of cosmetic animal testing, various attempts have recently been made using skin-on-a-chip (SOC) technology as a replacement for animal testing. Previously, we reported the development of a pumpless SOC capable of drug testing with a simple drive using the principle that the medium flows along the channel by gravity when the chip is tilted using a microfluidic channel. In this study, using pumpless SOC, instead of drug testing at the single-cell level, we evaluated the efficacy of α-lipoic acid (ALA), which is known as an anti-aging substance in skin equivalents, for skin tissue and epidermal structure formation. The expression of proteins and changes in genotyping were compared and evaluated. Hematoxylin and eosin staining for histological analysis showed a difference in the activity of fibroblasts in the dermis layer with respect to the presence or absence of ALA. We observed that the epidermis layer became increasingly prominent as the culture period was extended by treatment with 10 μM ALA. The expression of epidermal structural proteins of filaggrin, involucrin, keratin 10, and collagen IV increased because of the effect of ALA. Changes in the epidermis layer were noticeable after the ALA treatment. As a result of aging, damage to the skin-barrier function and structural integrity is reduced, indicating that ALA has an anti-aging effect. We performed a gene analysis of filaggrin, involucrin, keratin 10, integrin, and collagen I genes in ALA-treated human skin equivalents, which indicated an increase in filaggrin gene expression after ALA treatment. These results indicate that pumpless SOC can be used as an in vitro skin model similar to human skin, protein and gene expression can be analyzed, and it can be used for functional drug tests of cosmetic materials in the future. This technology is expected to contribute to the development of skin disease models.     

高稳高效海上风电安装平台关键制造技术研究

海上风电作为可再生清洁能源之一,受到世界各国的高度重视与大力发展。我国将海上风电提升至解决能源危机、减缓气候变化、调整能源结构的国家战略高度,到2030年我国单位国内生产总值二氧化碳排放将比2005年下降65%以上,非化石能源占一次能源消费比重将达到25%左右。安装平台不足将是我国海上风电场无法如期建成投产的主要障碍。对自升自航式海上风电安装平台系列高端装备及其设计制造的三大技术难题——腿站立作业易“失稳”、大平台大跨距大倾覆力矩自升易“失控”、高空吊装巨型叶片逾百螺栓精准定位易“失准”,以及焊缝缺陷修复和局部裂纹损伤的激光锻造修复再制造进行了介绍,研制的具有不同规格的系列装备在中国、英国、丹麦、德国等国家的著名海上风电场建设应用情况良好。     

Biodegradable Polymeric Nanoparticles Containing an Immune Checkpoint Inhibitor (aPDL1) to Locally Induce Immune Responses in the Central Nervous System

Immunotherapy is an efficient approach to clinical oncology. However, the immune privilege of the central nervous system (CNS) limits the application of immunotherapeutic strategies for brain cancers, especially glioblastoma (GBM). Tumor resistance to immune checkpoint inhibitors is a further challenge in immunotherapies. To overcome the immunological tolerance of brain tumors, a novel multifunctional nanoparticle (NP) for highly efficient synergetic immunotherapy is reported. The NP contains an anti-PDL1 antibody (aPDL1), upconverting NPs, and the photosensitizer 5-ALA; the surface of the NP is conjugated with the B1R kinin ligand to facilitate transport across the blood-tumor-barrier. Upon irradiation with a 980 nm laser, 5-ALA is transformed into protoporphyrin IX, generating reactive oxygen species. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) further promotes intratumoral infiltration of cytotoxic T lymphocytes and sensitizes tumors to PDL1 blockade therapy. It is demonstrated that combining PDT and aPDL1 can effectively suppress GBM growth in mouse models. The proposed NPs provide a novel and effective strategy for boosting anti-GBM photoimmunotherapy.     

WavNet — Visual saliency detection using Discrete Wavelet Convolutional Neural Network

In the recent advancements in image and video analysis, the detection of salient regions in the image becomes the initial step. This plays a crucial role in deciding the performance of such algorithms. In this work, a Multi-Resolution Feature Extraction (MRFE) technique that makes use of Discrete Wavelet Convolutional Neural Network (DWCNN) for generating features is employed. An Enhanced Feature Extraction (EFE) module extracts additional features from the high level features of the DWCNN, which are used to frame both channel as well as spatial attention models for yielding contextual attention maps. A new hybrid loss function is also proposed, which is a combination of Balanced Cross Entropy (BCE) loss and Edge based Structural Similarity (ESSIM) loss that effectively identifies and segments the salient regions with clear boundaries. The method is tested exhaustively with five different benchmark datasets and is proved superior to the existing state-of-the-art methods with a minimum Mean Absolute error (MAE) of 0.03 and F-measure of 0.956.     

Preparation and Evaluation of a Self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System Loaded with Heparin Phospholipid Complex

A self-nanoemulsifying drug delivery system (SNEDDS) was developed to enhance the absorption of heparin after oral administration, in which heparin was compounded with phospholipids to achieve better fat solubility in the form of heparin-phospholipid (HEP-Pc) complex. HEP-Pc complex was prepared using the solvent evaporation method, which increased the solubility of heparin in n-octanol. The successful preparation of HEP-Pc complex was confirmed by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier-transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy, NMR, and SEM. A heparin lipid microemulsion (HEP-LM) was prepared by high-pressure homogenization and characterized. HEP-LM can enhance the absorption of heparin after oral administration, significantly prolong activated partial thromboplastin time (APTT) and thrombin time (TT) in mice, and reduce fibrinogen (FIB) content. All these outcomes indicate that HEP-LM has great potential as an oral heparin formulation.     

Metabolic Profiling of VOCs Emitted by Bacteria Isolated from Pressure Ulcers and Treated with Different Concentrations of Bio-AgNPs

Considering the advent of antibiotic resistance, the study of bacterial metabolic behavior stimulated by novel antimicrobial agents becomes a relevant tool to elucidate involved adaptive pathways. Profiling of volatile metabolites was performed to monitor alterations of bacterial metabolism induced by biosynthesized silver nanoparticles (bio-AgNPs). Escherichia coli, Enterococcus faecalis, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Proteus mirabilis were isolated from pressure ulcers, and their cultures were prepared in the presence/absence of bio-AgNPs at 12.5, 25 and 50 µg mL⁻¹. Headspace solid phase microextraction associated to gas chromatography–mass spectrometry was the employed analytical platform. At the lower concentration level, the agent promoted positive modulation of products of fermentation routes and bioactive volatiles, indicating an attempt of bacteria to adapt to an ongoing suppression of cellular respiration. Augmented response of aldehydes and other possible products of lipid oxidative cleavage was noticed for increasing levels of bio-AgNPs. The greatest concentration of agent caused a reduction of 44 to 80% in the variety of compounds found in the control samples. Pathway analysis indicated overall inhibition of amino acids and fatty acids routes. The present assessment may provide a deeper understanding of molecular mechanisms of bio-AgNPs and how the metabolic response of bacteria is untangled.     

Comparative Genomics Reveals 13 Different Isoforms of Mytimycins (A-M) in Mytilus galloprovincialis

Mytimycins are cysteine-rich antimicrobial peptides that show antifungal properties. These peptides are part of the immune network that constitutes the defense system of the Mediterranean mussel (Mytilus galloprovincialis). The immune system of mussels has been increasingly studied in the last decade due to its great efficiency, since these molluscs, particularly resistant to adverse conditions and pathogens, are present all over the world, being considered as an invasive species. The recent sequencing of the mussel genome has greatly simplified the genetic study of some of its immune genes. In the present work, we describe a total of 106 different mytimycin variants in 16 individual mussel genomes. The 13 highly supported mytimycin clusters (A–M) identified with phylogenetic inference were found to be subject to the presence/absence variation, a widespread phenomenon in mussels. We also identified a block of conserved residues evolving under purifying selection, which may indicate the “functional core” of the mature peptide, and a conserved set of 10 invariable plus 6 accessory cysteines which constitute a plastic disulfide array. Finally, we extended the taxonomic range of distribution of mytimycins among Mytilida, identifying novel sequences in M. coruscus, M. californianus, P. viridis, L. fortunei, M. philippinarum, M. modiolus, and P. purpuratus.