Field‐Driven Athermal Activation of Amorphous Metal Oxide Semiconductors for Flexible Programmable Logic Circuits and Neuromorphic Electronics

Despite extensive research, large‐scale realization of metal‐oxide electronics is still impeded by high‐temperature fabrication, incompatible with flexible substrates. Ideally, an athermal treatment modifying the electronic structure of amorphous metal oxide semiconductors (AMOS) to generate sufficient carrier concentration would help mitigate such high‐temperature requirements, enabling realization of high‐performance electronics on flexible substrates. Here, a novel field‐driven athermal activation of AMOS channels is demonstrated via an electrolyte‐gating approach. Facilitating migration of charged oxygen species across the semiconductor–dielectric interface, this approach modulates the local electronic structure of the channel, generating sufficient carriers for charge transport and activating oxygen‐compensated thin films. The thin‐film transistors (TFTs) investigated here depict an enhancement of linear mobility from 51 to 105.25 cm² V^?1 s^?1 (ionic‐gated) and from 8.09 to 14.49 cm² V^?1 s^?1 (back‐gated), by creating additional oxygen vacancies. The accompanying stochiometric transformations, monitored via spectroscopic measurements (X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy) corroborate the detailed electrical (TFT, current evolution) parameter analyses, providing critical insights into the underlying oxygen‐vacancy generation mechanism and clearly demonstrating field‐induced activation as a promising alternative to conventional high‐temperature annealing strategies. Facilitating on‐demand active programing of the operation modes of transistors (enhancement vs depletion), this technique paves way for facile fabrication of logic circuits and neuromorphic transistors for bioinspired computing.     

Error tolerance for the recognition of faulty strings in a regulated grammar using fuzzy sets

To overcome the limitations of context-free and context-sensitive grammars, regulated grammars have been proposed. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed for the recognition of faulty strings in regulated grammar. Furthermore, depending on the errors and certainty, it is decided whether the string belongs to the language or not based on string membership value. The time complexity of the proposed algorithm is O(|G _R ² |·|w|), where |G_R| represents the number of production rules and |w| is the length of the input string, w. The reader is provided with numerical examples by applying the algorithm to regularly controlled and matrix grammar. Finally, the proposed algorithm is applied in the Hindi language for the recognition of faulty strings in regulated grammar as a real-life application.     

Effect of homogenisation of cheese milk and high‐shear mixing of the curd during cream cheese manufacture

The role of the homogenisation pressure of cheese milk (0, 25, 100 MPa) and high‐shear mixing of cheese curd at different speeds (750, 1500, and 3000 r.p.m.) and times (2 and 4 min) in improving the texture of medium‐fat cream cheese was investigated independently. Homogenisation resulted in small fat globules and firmer texture, while increasing speed and mixing times resulted in a decrease in curd particle size and an increase in the spreadability of the cheese. All curd samples from both the trials exhibited shear‐thinning behaviour. Unhomogenised milk and high‐shear mixing of the curd showed a low coefficient of friction (better lubrication property).     

Reduction Behaviour of Iron Ore–Coal Composite Pellets in Rotary Hearth Furnace (RHF): Effect of Pellet Shape,Size, and Bed Packing Material

Reduction of iron ore–coal composite pellets in multi-layers at rotary hearth furnace (RHF) is limited by heat and mass transfer. Effect of various parameters like pellet shape, size, and bed packing material that are supposed to influence the heat and mass transfer in the pellet bed, have been investigated, on the reduction behaviour of iron ore–coal composite pellets at 1250 °C for 20 min in a laboratory scale RHF. Reduced pellets have been characterised through weight loss measurement, estimation of shrinkage, porosity, and qualitative, quantitative phase analysis by XRD. A significant difference in the degree of reduction is observed layer-wise in the pellet bed with the variation in pellet shape and size. Pellet bed without any packing material or packed with coal have demonstrated higher degrees of reduction compared to the pellet bed packed with graphite and sand.     

Friction stir welding of aluminum to copper—An overview

Components made by joining different materials are required in various engineering applications. Fabrication of such components is a challenging task due to the vast difference in mechanical, thermal and electrical properties of the materials being used. Friction stir welding (FSW) is capable of joining dissimilar materials such as aluminum (Al) and copper (Cu) and therefore researchers have used this novel process for dissimilar joining. Consequently, several works pertaining to dissimilar joining, specifically Al-Cu, are available in the literature but they are scattered in different sources, which makes the task of gathering information about dissimilar FSW of Al-Cu cumbersome. This work has been written with an aim to provide all pertinent information related to dissimilar FSW of Al-Cu at one place to ease the problems of researchers. It comprehensively covers and summarizes the topics such as the effect of tool design and geometry, FSW process parameters, FSW strategies on mechanical properties, microstructure and formation of defects during dissimilar FSW of Al-Cu. In addition, it also presents and discusses several variants of dissimilar FSW of Al-Cu. Finally, this work not only puts forth major findings of the previous researchers but also suggests future recommendations for dissimilar FSW of Al-Cu.     

The Ubiquitin System: An Emerging Therapeutic Target for Lung Cancer

The ubiquitin system, present in all eukaryotes, contributes to regulating multiple types of cellular protein processes such as cell signaling, cell cycle, and receptor trafficking, and it affects the immune response. In most types of cancer, unusual events in ubiquitin-mediated signaling pathway modulation can lead to a variety of clinical outcomes, including tumor formation and metastasis. Similarly, ubiquitination acts as a core component, which contributes to the alteration of cell signaling activity, dictating biosignal turnover and protein fates. As lung cancer acquires the most commonly mutated proteins, changes in the ubiquitination of the proteins contribute to the development of lung cancer. Various inhibitors targeting the ubiquitin system have been developed for clinical applications in lung cancer treatment. In this review, we summarize the current research advances in therapeutics for lung cancer by targeting the ubiquitin system.     

A two-dimensional discrete fractional Fourier transform-based pansharpening scheme

In this paper, a new approach for fusion of multi-spectral (MS) and panchromatic (Pan) images based on 2D-discrete fractional Fourier transform (2D-DFRFT) is proposed. The proposed technique is closer in approach to the other filtering-based pansharpening schemes existing in the literature. In the proposed method histogram equalized Pan image is transformed using the 2D-DFRFT and further used to generate the pansharpened image using appropriate pansharpening rule. The angle parameters associated with the 2D-DFRFT provide additional degrees of freedom which are optimized by single-objective particle swarm optimization (PSO) algorithm for finding better pansharpening results. Simulation results of the proposed technique carried out in MATLAB are presented for IKONOS and GeoEye-1 satellite images and compared with existing fusion methods in terms of both visual perception and objective metrics such as Q-index (Q4), Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM), relative dimensionless global error (ERGAS) and quality with-no reference (QNR). It is observed that the proposed pansharpening scheme provides improved spectral and spatial quality as compared with the existing schemes. The effects of aliasing and mis-registration errors on the proposed method are also investigated and compared with existing pansharpening methods. It is seen that the proposed method is robust against aliasing and mis-registration errors.     

Toughening of epoxy novolac resin using cardanol based flexibilizers

In this work, two different cardanol based epoxies (Cardolite NC‐514 and Cardanol NC‐547) were employed as flexibilizers to toughen an epoxy novolac resin namely, poly[(phenylglycidyl ether)‐co‐formaldehyde] (PPGEF). 4,4′‐Diamino‐3,3′‐dimethyl dicyclohexyl methane (BMCHA) was used as a curing agent. Differential scanning calorimetry and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis of the composites showed a gradual decrease in glass transition temperatures (T_g) with increase in cardolite content confirming the incorporation of flexible moieties into the brittle resin matrix. Improvement in toughening of PPGEF/Cardolite composites was manifested by increase in the izod impact strength of both the composites. The tensile strength increased marginally for composites with increasing amount of Cardolite NC‐514 but decreased for the composites containing Cardolite NC‐547. This was attributed to the lack of rotational motion in the chain due to close proximity of rigid phenyl rings in NC‐547. SEM of the cryo‐fractured surfaces of composites showed good compatibility between PPGEF and cardanol based flexibilizers. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 43318.