Relationship between crystallinity and device characteristics of In‐Sn‐Zn oxide

We have reported that the transistors having the c‐axis‐aligned crystalline (CAAC) In‐Ga‐Zn oxide (IGZO) show good performance. Recently, In‐Sn‐Zn Oxide (ITZO) has attracted much attention because of its high electron mobility, as well as IGZO. However, it has been reported that ITZO field effect transistors (FET) tend to have positive Vth (normally‐on characteristics) and poor reliability compared with IGZO‐FETs. We have reported that high‐performance and high‐reliability OS‐FETs can be fabricated by using CAAC‐IGZO, which has high crystallinity and has no clear grain boundaries, as an active layer. Therefore, we have fabricated CAAC‐ITZO thin films to improve performance of ITZO‐FETs by using CAAC‐ITZO as an active layer. In addition, FETs employing CAAC‐ITZO have better characteristics and reliability than FETs using nano‐crystal ITZO. Furthermore, constant photocurrent method (CPM) measurement was carried out in order to estimate density of deep‐level defect states caused by oxygen vacancies in oxide semiconductors. The results show that CAAC‐ITZO has lower density of deep‐level defect states than nano‐crystal ITZO. We attribute the improvement in reliability of ITZO‐FETs to a decrease in deep‐level defect states of an ITZO active layer, as is the case with IGZO.     

SPIDER: An availability-aware framework for the service function chain placement in distributed scenarios

The network function virtualization (NFV) paradigm replaces hardware-dependent network functions by virtual network functions (VNFs) that can be deployed in commodity hardware, including legacy servers. Consequently, the use of NFV is expected to reduce operating and capital expenses, as well as improve service deployment operation and management flexibility. For many use cases, the VNFs must be visited and invoked following a specific order of execution in order to compose a complete network service, named service function chain (SFC). Nonetheless, despite the benefits from NFV and SFC virtualization technologies, their introduction must not harm network performance and service availability. On the one hand, redundancy is seen by network service planners as a mechanism well established to combat availability issues. At same time, there is a goal to optimize resource utilization in order to reduce operational expenditure. In this article, we share our experience in the design use of a framework, named SPIDER, focused on SFC placement that considers the network infrastructure condition and the required SFC availability to define the placement strategy. The SPIDER monitors the status of infrastructure nodes and links and defines which servers the VNFs should be placed on and the number of redundant replicas needed. We present a proof-of-concept of SPIDER using Kubernetes to launch the VNFs as containers. We also use Kubernetes to forward the traffic between the VNFs, composing the service chain. We perform experiments to evaluate the runtime of SPIDER and the SFC delay under different network conditions.     

Elevated Expression of CCN3 in Articular Cartilage Induces Osteoarthritis in Hip Joints Irrespective of Age and Weight Bearing

Osteoarthritis (OA) occurs not only in the knee but also in peripheral joints throughout the whole body. Previously, we have shown that the expression of cellular communication network factor 3 (CCN3), a matricellular protein, increases with age in knee articular cartilage, and the misexpression of CCN3 in cartilage induces senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) factors, indicating that CCN3 promotes cartilage senescence. Here, we investigated the correlation between CCN3 expression and OA degenerative changes, principally in human femoral head cartilage. Human femoral heads obtained from patients who received total hip arthroplasty were categorized into OA and femoral neck fracture (normal) groups without significant age differences. Gene expression analysis of RNA obtained from femoral head cartilage revealed that CCN3 and MMP-13 expression in the non-weight-bearing part was significantly higher in the OA group than in the normal group, whereas the weight-bearing OA parts and normal cartilage showed no significant differences in the expression of these genes. The expression of COL10A1, however, was significantly higher in weight-bearing OA parts compared with normal weight-bearing parts, and was also higher in weight-bearing parts compared with non-weight-bearing parts in the OA group. In contrast, OA primary chondrocytes from weight-bearing parts showed higher expression of CCN3, p16, ADAMTS4, and IL-1β than chondrocytes from the corresponding normal group, and higher ADAMTS4 and IL-1β in the non-weight-bearing part compared with the corresponding normal group. Acan expression was significantly lower in the non-weight-bearing group in OA primary chondrocytes than in the corresponding normal chondrocytes. The expression level of CCN3 did not show significant differences between the weight-bearing part and non-weight-bearing part in both OA and normal primary chondrocytes. Immunohistochemical analysis showed accumulated CCN3 and aggrecan neoepitope staining in both the weight-bearing part and non-weight-bearing part in the OA group compared with the normal group. The CCN3 expression level in cartilage had a positive correlation with the Mankin score. X-ray analysis of cartilage-specific CCN3 overexpression mice (Tg) revealed deformation of the femoral and humeral head in the early stage, and immunohistochemical analysis showed accumulated aggrecan neoepitope staining as well as CCN3 staining and the roughening of the joint surface in Tg femoral and humeral heads. Primary chondrocytes from the Tg femoral head showed enhanced expression of Ccn3, Adamts5, p16, Il-6, and Tnfα, and decreased expression of Col2a1 and -an. These findings indicate a correlation between OA degenerative changes and the expression of CCN3, irrespective of age and mechanical loading. Furthermore, the Mankin score indicates that the expression level of Ccn3 correlates with the progression of OA.     

Proposal of resilience assessment by focusing on pliability

Resilience is a concept which presents the strength of mind necessary to adopt the difficulties and to recover from negative psychological state. The assessment for resilience has been assessed by using interview and questionnaire which depend on subjectivity of participants. Though the objective assessment for resilience is expected to advance the biofeedback treatment, neither effective method nor instrument have been developed. Then this study focuses on the pliability as one of aspects of resilience and experimentally verifies whether it becomes a novel index for resilience or not.     

Boronic acid‐based thin films that show saccharide‐responsive multicolor changes

A novel saccharide sensor that displays a distinct color change resembling a “traffic signal” was developed. By copolymerizing boronic acid and amine monomers on a glass plate, a boronic acid‐containing thin film was obtained. Anionic blue and yellow dyes were adsorbed on the thin film, and the film was immersed in aqueous saccharide solutions containing a cationic red dye. With increase in the saccharide concentration in the solution, the thin film changes color from green to red via yellow. The observed distinct changes in color were attributed to a stepwise release and binding of dyes. The sensitivity of the saccharide sensor was dependent on the monomer composition of the thin film and increased with increasing the boronic acid content. The pH of the saccharide solution was another key factor affecting the sensing behavior, and glucose‐responsive color changes were significantly enhanced at pH 7.8. By optimizing these conditions, significant color changes in response to glucose were achieved. Saccharide selectivity was found to be in the following order: fructose > glucose > galactose = mannose > sucrose. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2015 , 132, 42679.     

Analysis of specific IgE antibodies to staphylococcal enterotoxins,total serum IgE and hemogramme in carriers of Staphylococcus aureus

In order to evaluate the relationship between nasal carriers of S. aureus and their history of allergic diseases, the total serum IgE titer, the hemogramme pattern, and the titers of specific IgE antibody to Staphylococcal enterotoxins A and B (SEA and SEB) and of specific IgG antibody to SEB were investigated in 98 trade school students. Fifteen (15.3%) of the 98 students were sensitized to SEA and/or SEB (40.0% to SEA and 93.3% to SEB). In this group, 11 subjects were S. aureus carriers (73.0%) and 12 had a history of allergic diseases (80.0%). Low levels of specific IgG antibody to SEB were identified from both S. aureus carriers and non-carriers. The S. aureus carriers had significantly higher levels of total IgE titer than the non-carriers and the individuals with a history of allergic diseases had significantly higher total IgE titer levels than those having no history of allergic diseases (p < 0.01). In the hemogramme patterns of S. aureus carriers, a significant positive correlation was observed between the total IgE antibodies and the eosinophil rate (p < 0.05), and a negative correlation (p < 0.001) was recognized between the neutrophil and the lymphocyte rates.     

Contributions of genotoxic precursors from tributary rivers and sewage effluents to the Yodo River in Japan

The cause of water pollution in the Yodo River was examined regarding the mutagenic potentials formed by chlorination of river waters and sewage effluents along the river. Mutagenicity of the extracts from chlorinated waters was measured by Ames test using S. typhimurium TA100 strain without metabolic activation. Mutagenic formation potentials of sewage effluents were 4-5 times higher than those of the three tributary river waters, the Kizu, Uji and Katsura Rivers. The contribution rates of the pollution loads from the three river waters and total of four sewage effluents to the Yodo River were revealed to be 10.2%, 42.2%, 22.1% and 25.5%, respectively. The rate of the sewage effluents occupied one-fourth and exceeded the rates of the Kizu and Katsura Rivers. The contribution rate of the two sewage effluents to the Katsura River was 46.3%. It could be confirmed that the relationship between COD and MFP in river waters and sewage effluents was very high with a correlation coefficient. These results indicated that the waters inflowing to the Yodo River were contaminated with numerous organic compounds, and the sewage effluents especially contribute to the formation of genotoxicity by the interaction between chlorine and organic components as genotoxic precursors in the purification plants.     

Scaling‐up PECVD system for large‐sized substrate processing

Abstract— With the prevailing trend of large‐panel TFT monitors and, most recently, LCD TVs, large‐sized‐substrate processing is becoming the mainstream of TFT‐LCD production. To enable this trend of ever‐increasing large‐area processing, a multiple generations of PECVD systems for volume production has been successfully developed. This paper discusses the scaling‐up challenges from the equipment manufacturer's perspective, with the focus on process scalability, system design optimization, productivity enhancement, and cost‐of‐ownership reduction.     

Characteristics of neutralization of acids by newly isolated fungal cells

Soil microorganisms play an important role in maintaining soil pH at levels suitable for other soil organisms. To clarify the biological neutralization mechanism in soil, we isolated soil microorganisms showing a high ability to neutralize acids and studied their characteristics. From our taxonomic study, three isolated strains were identified as filamentous fungi, namely Mucor sp., Aspergillus fumigatus, and Aureobasidium pullulans. These strains could secrete basic materials, such as ammonia, for neutralization, grow in the medium at pH 4.0 and increase the pH of the medium to approximately 8.0. These microbial cells could neutralize not only nitric acid but also sulfuric and hydrochloric acids. The strains could also grow by utilizing nitric acid as a sole nitrogen source. In the soil containing these organisms, the pH was maintained in the neutral range by the buffering action of basic materials that they secrete. These results suggest that these fungal cells are useful for protecting the soil from acidification by acid rain.