Nonscaling of MOSFET's linear resistance in the deep submicrometerregime

This paper investigates the scaling properties of deep submicron MOSFET's and shows that, while in a wide range of channel lengths they can be represented as composed by a scaling intrinsic and a nonscaling parasitic part, this picture does no longer hold for shorter transistors. A nonscaling of the total resistance R_TOT=[V_DS/I_DS] of short devices is observed, and its impact on parasitic resistances and effective channel length extraction is discussed. A possible explanation is suggested in relation to the two-dimensional substrate doping redistribution linked to reverse-short-channel effects     

Numerical analysis of the gate voltage dependence of the seriesresistances and effective channel length in submicrometer GaAs MESFETs

A detailed numerical analysis of the source and drain parasitic resistances and effective channel length of state-of-the-art GaAs MESFETs is presented. Two-dimensional simulations are used to evaluate different criteria (physical and electrical) for defining the device parameters of interest, as well as to study their gate voltage dependence. To this purpose a novel criterion which provides a simple procedure to determine the series resistances as a function of gate bias is proposed     

Single-Cell RNA Sequencing for the Detection of Clonotypic V(D)J Rearrangements in Multiple Myeloma

Multiple myeloma (MM) has a highly heterogeneous genetic background, which complicates its molecular tracking over time. Nevertheless, each MM patient’s malignant plasma cells (PCs) share unique V(D)J rearranged sequences at immunoglobulin loci, which represent ideal disease biomarkers. Because the tumor-specific V(D)J sequence is highly expressed in bulk RNA in MM patients, we wondered whether it can be identified by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). To this end we analyzed CD138⁺ cells purified from bone marrow aspirates of 19 samples with PC dyscrasias by both a standard method based on bulk DNA and by an implementation of the standard 10x Genomics protocol to detect expressed V(D)J sequences. A dominant clonotype was easily identified in each sample, accounting on average for 83.65% of V(D)J-rearranged cells. Compared with standard methods, scRNA-seq analysis proved highly concordant and even more effective in identifying clonal productive rearrangements, by-passing limitations related to the misannealing of consensus primers in hypermutated regions. We next validated its accuracy to track 5 clonal cells with absolute sensitivity in a virtual sample containing 3180 polyclonal cells. This shows that single-cell V(D)J analysis may be used to find rare clonal cells, laying the foundations for functional single-cell dissection of minimal residual disease.     

Red and Blue Light Differently Influence Actinidia chinensis Performance and Its Interaction with Pseudomonas syringae pv. Actinidiae

Light composition modulates plant growth and defenses, thus influencing plant–pathogen interactions. We investigated the effects of different light-emitting diode (LED) red (R) (665 nm) and blue (B) (470 nm) light combinations on Actinidia chinensis performance by evaluating biometric parameters, chlorophyll a fluorescence, gas exchange and photosynthesis-related gene expression. Moreover, the influence of light on the infection by Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa), the etiological agent of bacterial canker of kiwifruit, was investigated. Our study shows that 50%R–50%B (50R) and 25%R–75%B (25R) lead to the highest PSII efficiency and photosynthetic rate, but are the least effective in controlling the endophytic colonization of the host by Psa. Monochromatic red light severely reduced ΦPSII, ETR, Pn, TSS and photosynthesis-related genes expression, and both monochromatic lights lead to a reduction of DW and pigments content. Monochromatic blue light was the only treatment significantly reducing disease symptoms but did not reduce bacterial endophytic population. Our results suggest that monochromatic blue light reduces infection primarily by modulating Psa virulence more than host plant defenses.     

The Neuroprotective Potentiality of Flavonoids on Alzheimer’s Disease

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), due to its spread, has become a global health priority, and is characterized by senile dementia and progressive disability. The main cause of AD and other neurodegenerations (Huntington, Parkinson, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis) are aggregated protein accumulation and oxidative damage. Recent research on secondary metabolites of plants such as polyphenols demonstrated that they may slow the progression of AD. The flavonoids’ mechanism of action in AD involved the inhibition of acetylcholinesterase, butyrylcholinesterase, Tau protein aggregation, β-secretase, oxidative stress, inflammation, and apoptosis through modulation of signaling pathways which are implicated in cognitive and neuroprotective functions, such as ERK, PI3-kinase/Akt, NFKB, MAPKs, and endogenous antioxidant enzymatic systems. This review focuses on flavonoids and their role in AD, in terms of therapeutic potentiality for human health, antioxidant potential, and specific AD molecular targets.     

How Can We Improve Vaccination Response in Old People? Part I: Targeting Immunosenescence of Innate Immunity Cells

Vaccination, being able to prevent millions of cases of infectious diseases around the world every year, is the most effective medical intervention ever introduced. However, immunosenescence makes vaccines less effective in providing protection to older people. Although most studies explain that this is mainly due to the immunosenescence of T and B cells, the immunosenescence of innate immunity can also be a significant contributing factor. Alterations in function, number, subset, and distribution of blood neutrophils, monocytes, and natural killer and dendritic cells are detected in aging, thus potentially reducing the efficacy of vaccines in older individuals. In this paper, we focus on the immunosenescence of the innate blood immune cells. We discuss possible strategies to counteract the immunosenescence of innate immunity in order to improve the response to vaccination. In particular, we focus on advances in understanding the role and the development of new adjuvants, such as TLR agonists, considered a promising strategy to increase vaccination efficiency in older individuals.     

1-out-of-3 code checker with single output

A CMOS 1-out-of-3 code checker with single output is presented which, compared to available implementations, offers the general advantages of featuring a single output and requiring lower area overhead and dynamic power consumption     

Hot-carrier-induced alterations of MOSFET capacitances: aquantitative monitor for electrical degradation

In this paper, combined gate-to-channel (C_GSD) and gate-to-bulk (C_GB) capacitance measurements are used in order to extract quantitative information about hot-carrier degradation in MOS transistors. An analytical model, explaining the results of accelerated degradation experiments, is presented to establish a simple relationship between C_GSD and C_GB changes and the stress-induced charges Q_ox and Q_it trapped in the oxide or in interface states, respectively. A method, validated by means of two-dimensional (2-D) numerical simulations, is proposed to determine Q_ox and Q_it directly from the measured capacitances, and is applied to experimental data. The new technique considerably improves the capabilities of previous capacitive methods because it can yield a quantitative determination of Q_ox and Q_it     

Significance of a new type of human fetal hemoglobin carrying a replacement isoleucine replaced by threonine at position 75 )E 19) of the gamma chain

Mating speed of flies which have been aged either in the light, in the dark or in a light-and-dark cycle was measured using two strains, Rochester (R) and Salvador (S), of Drosophila mercatorum. A significant difference in mating tendency depending on the condition of pretreatment was found between R and S strains, while both strains showed a similar pattern of the diurnal rhythm in the light-and-dark cycle. Compared under the same conditions, S flies usually showed a higher mating speed than R flies. Mating speed seems to be affected by at least two different genetic systems. One of them is the genetic system determining absolute speed of mating. Another is the genetic system determining sensitivity to the environmental conditions. There may be considerable differentiation in both systems between R and S strains.     

Analysis of resistive bridging fault detection in BiCMOS digitalICs

This paper presents a study of the effects on the electrical behavior of BiCMOS digital circuits induced by bridging faults, whose resistance value is shown to have a strong impact on the static and dynamic behavior of faulty gates and of their fan-out gates. The problem of fault detection is addressed considering different testing techniques (current monitoring, functional, and delay testing). Electrical simulation has been used to investigate the main differences between BiCMOS and CMOS circuits. It is shown that, because of the large driving capability of BJTs, the detection of bridging faults in BiCMOS circuits is more difficult than in the CMOS case when functional or delay testing is used whereas it becomes more effective when adopting current monitoring