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The van der Waals (vdW) heterostructures based on two-dimensional (2D) semiconducting materials have been thoroughly investigated with regard to practical applications. Recent studies on 2D materials have reignited attraction in the p-n junction, with promising potential for applications in both electronics and optoelectronics. 2D materials provide exceptional band structural diversity in p-n junction devices, which is rare in regular bulk semiconductors. In this article, we demonstrate a p-n diode based on multiheterostructure configuration, WTe 2 -GaTe-ReSe 2 -WTe 2 , where WTe 2 acts as heterocontact with GaTe/ReSe 2 junction. Our devices with heterocontacts of WTe 2 showed excellent performance in electronic and optoelectronic characteristics as compared to contacts with basic metal electrodes. However, the highest rectification ratio was achieved up to ∼2.09 × 10 6 with the lowest ideality factor of ∼1.23. Moreover, the maximum change in photocurrent ( I ph ) is measured around 312 nA at V ds = 0.5 V. The device showed a high responsivity ( R ) of 4.7 × 10 4 m·AW -1 , maximum external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 2.49 × 10 4 (%), and detectivity ( D *) of 2.1 × 10 11 Jones at wavelength λ = 220 nm. Further, we revealed the bipolar photoresponse mechanisms in WTe 2 -GaTe-ReSe 2 -WTe 2 devices due to band alignment at the interface, which can be modified by applying different gate voltages. Hence, our promising results render heterocontact engineering of the GaTe-ReSe 2 heterostructured diode as an excellent candidate for next-generation optoelectronic logic and neuromorphic computing.

Modern strides in energy storage underscore the significance of all-solid-state batteries (ASSBs) predicated on solid electrolytes and lithium (Li) metal anodes in response to the demand for safer batteries. Nonetheless, ASSBs are often beleaguered by non-uniform Li deposition during cycling, leading to compromised cell performance from internal short circuits and hindered charge transfer. In this study, the concept of "bottom deposition" is introduced to stabilize metal deposition based on the lithiophilic current collector and a protective layer composed of a polymeric binder and carbon black. The bottom deposition, wherein Li plating ensues between the protective layer and the current collector, circumvents internal short circuits and facilitates uniform volumetric changes of Li. The prepared functional binder for the protective layer presents outstanding mechanical robustness and adhesive properties, which can withstand the volume expansion caused by metal growth. Furthermore, its excellent ion transfer properties promote uniform Li bottom deposition even under a current density of 6 mA·cm -2 . Also, scanning electron microscopy analysis reveals a consistent plating/stripping morphology of Li after cycling. Consequently, the proposed system exhibits enhanced electrochemical performance when assessed within the ASSB framework, operating under a configuration marked by a high Li utilization rate reliant on an ultrathin Li., (© 2024 Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Teriparatide and denosumab, anti-osteoporosis medications with different mechanisms, have been widely used in the patients with osteoporotic vertebral fracture (OVF) considered as advanced osteoporosis. Teriparatide has been shown to enhance bone formation and fracture healing in OVF, but there are still no sufficient evidences discussing about the role of denosumab in newly developed OVF. In this study, we found the similar radiological deformation and functional outcomes of conservative treatment with teriparatide and denosumab in thoracolumbar (TL) OVF, and teriparatide showed a more frequent incidence of fracture union with paravertebral bone bridge formation compared to denosumab., Introduction: Teriparatide and denosumab have been widely used to treat advanced osteoporosis and prevent subsequent fractures in patients with OVCF. Unlike teriparatide, which is considered to be effective in fracture healing, there is still no clear role and evidence for the effect of denosumab in acute OVCF. This study compared the radiological and functional outcomes of conservative treatment with teriparatide and denosumab in TL-OVF., Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 78 women with mean age of 74.69 ± 7.66 (60-92) years diagnosed as a TL-OVF with no neurological deficits. All patients were treated conservatively with teriparatide (34 of group T, once-daily 20 μg) or denosumab (44 of group D, once-6 months 60 mg) for 6 months. We evaluated the radiological deformation (kyphotic angle, segmental vertebral kyphotic angle, and compression ratio) and the incidence of fracture union with paravertebral bone bridge formation (FUPB) and functional outcomes using the visual analog scale (VAS) and Oswestry Disability Index (ODI) at 0, 3, and 6 months., Results: In the radiological deformation and functional outcomes, there were no significant differences at 0, 3, and 6 months between the two groups (P > 0.05). However, the incidence of FUPB at 6 months was higher in group T (20/34, 58.8%) compared to group D (11/44, 25.0%) (P = 0.004), and teriparatide was the most statistically significant factor for achieving FUPB (OR 4.486, P = 0.012) in multivariable logistic analysis., Conclusions: Teriparatide and denosumab, despite of their different pharmacological mechanisms, showed similar radiological deformation and functional outcomes in the conservative treatment of TL-OVF. However, teriparatide showed a significantly higher incidence of fracture union with paravertebral bone bridge formation., (© 2024. International Osteoporosis Foundation and Bone Health and Osteoporosis Foundation.)

Several studies in computer vision have examined specular removal, which is crucial for object detection and recognition. This research has traditionally been divided into two tasks: specular highlight removal, which focuses on removing specular highlights on object surfaces, and reflection removal, which deals with specular reflections occurring on glass surfaces. In reality, however, both types of specular effects often coexist, making it a fundamental challenge that has not been adequately addressed. Recognizing the necessity of integrating specular components handled in both tasks, we constructed a specular-light ( S -Light) DB for training single-image-based deep learning models. Moreover, considering the absence of benchmark datasets for quantitative evaluation, the multi-scale normalized cross correlation (MS-NCC) metric, which considers the correlation between specular and diffuse components, was introduced to assess the learning outcomes.

Nanosheet field-effect transistors (NSFETs) have attracted considerable attention for their potential to achieve improved performance and energy efficiency compared to traditional FinFETs. Here, we present a comprehensive investigation of core-insulator-embedded nanosheet field-effect transistors (C-NSFETs), focusing on their improved performance and device-to-device (D2D) variability compared to conventional NSFETs through three-dimensional device simulations. The C-NSFETs exhibit enhanced direct-current (DC) performance, characterized by a steeper subthreshold slope and reduced off-current, indicating better gate electrostatic controllability. Furthermore, the structural design of C-NSFETs enables to demonstrate a notable resilience against D2D variations in nanosheet thickness and doping concentration. In addition, we investigate the effects of interface traps in C-NSFETs, emphasizing the importance of thermal oxidation processes in the formation of core-insulating layers to maintain optimal device performance., (© 2024. The Author(s).)

Microdialysis (MD) is a versatile and powerful technique for chemical profiling of biological tissues and is widely used for quantification of neurotransmitters, neuropeptides, metabolites, biomarkers, and drugs in the central nervous system as well as in dermatology, ophthalmology, and pain research. However, MD performance is severely limited by fundamental tradeoffs between chemical sensitivity, spatial resolution, and temporal response. Here, by using wafer-scale silicon microfabrication, we develop and demonstrate a nanodialysis (ND) sampling probe that enables highly localized chemical sampling with 100 μm spatial resolution and subsecond temporal resolution at high recovery rates. These performance metrics, which are 100-1000× superior to existing MD approaches, are enabled by a 100× reduction of the microfluidic channel cross-section, a corresponding drastic 100× reduction of flow rates to exceedingly slow few nL/min flows, and integration of a nanometer-thin nanoporous membrane with high transport flux into the probe sampling area. Miniaturized ND probes may allow for the minimally invasive and highly localized sampling and chemical profiling in live biological tissues with high spatiotemporal resolution for clinical, biomedical, and pharmaceutical applications.

Objective: The study aims to develop a mHealth application for seizure management based on the human system integration (HSI) approach., Background: Unmet healthcare needs among people with epilepsy continue to exist despite the advancement in healthcare technology. Current seizure management methods are found to be ineffective. Therefore, a more efficient strategy such as mHealth technology is necessary to aid seizure management., Method: The needs identification phase involved identifying the user requirements by interviewing 10 stakeholders and conducting thematic analysis and needs interpretation technique. In the solution identification phase, the system requirements were derived using various human-centered design and systems engineering approaches and were evaluated through quality function deployment to determine design targets. For the design and evaluation phase, the design targets were reflected in the app through the iterative prototyping process, and the interface and functional design were evaluated by seven human factors and ergonomics experts and four stakeholders, respectively., Results: Three primary needs and ten user requirements were derived from the needs identification phase. Ten out of fifteen system requirements were selected as design targets to be included in the final prototype. Results of the evaluation showed that the interface design of the proposed app showed superior usability compared to a competitor app and that the app functions were beneficial for the stakeholders., Conclusion: The mHealth app designed through the HSI framework showed good potential in addressing the main issues in seizure management., Application: The mHealth app design methodology based on the HSI approach can be applied to the design of small-scale systems in various domains.

High-capacity silicon (Si) materials hold a position at the forefront of advanced lithium-ion batteries. The inherent potential offers considerable advantages for substantially increasing the energy density in batteries, capable of maximizing the benefit by changing the paradigm from nano- to micron-sized Si particles. Nevertheless, intrinsic structural instability remains a significant barrier to its practical application, especially for larger Si particles. Here, a covalently interconnected system is reported employing Si microparticles (5 µm) and a highly elastic gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) through electron beam irradiation. The integrated system mitigates the substantial volumetric expansion of pure Si, enhancing overall stability, while accelerating charge carrier kinetics due to the high ionic conductivity. Through the cost-effective but practical approach of electron beam technology, the resulting 500 mAh-pouch cell showed exceptional stability and high gravimetric/volumetric energy densities of 413 Wh kg -1 , 1022 Wh L -1 , highlighting the feasibility even in current battery production lines., (© 2024 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Histone-lysine N-methyltransferase SETD2 (SETD2), the sole histone methyltransferase that catalyzes trimethylation of lysine 36 on histone H3 (H3K36me3), is often mutated in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC). SETD2 mutation and/or loss of H3K36me3 is linked to metastasis and poor outcome in ccRCC patients. Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is a major pathway that drives invasion and metastasis in various cancer types. Here, using novel kidney epithelial cell lines isogenic for SETD2, we discovered that SETD2 inactivation drives EMT and promotes migration, invasion, and stemness in a transforming growth factor-beta-independent manner. This newly identified EMT program is triggered in part through secreted factors, including cytokines and growth factors, and through transcriptional reprogramming. RNA-seq and assay for transposase-accessible chromatin sequencing uncovered key transcription factors upregulated upon SETD2 loss, including SOX2, POU2F2 (OCT2), and PRRX1, that could individually drive EMT and stemness phenotypes in SETD2 wild-type (WT) cells. Public expression data from SETD2 WT/mutant ccRCC support the EMT transcriptional signatures derived from cell line models. In summary, our studies reveal that SETD2 is a key regulator of EMT phenotypes through cell-intrinsic and cell-extrinsic mechanisms that help explain the association between SETD2 loss and ccRCC metastasis., (© 2023 The Authors. Molecular Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Federation of European Biochemical Societies.)

Advanced energy-storage devices are indispensable for expanding electric mobility applications. While anion intercalation-type redox chemistry in graphite cathodes has opened the path to high-energy-density batteries, surpassing the limited energy density of conventional lithium-ion batteries , a significant challenge remains: the large volume expansion of graphite upon anion intercalation. In this study, a novel polymeric binder and cohesive graphite cathode design for dual-ion batteries (DIBs) is presented, which exhibits remarkable stability even under high voltage conditions (>5 V). The innovative binder incorporates an acrylate moiety ensuring superior oxidative stability and self-healing features, along with an azide moiety, which allows for azacyclic covalent bonding with graphite and interchain crosslinking. A simple 1-h ultraviolet treatment is sufficient for binder fixation within the electrode, leading to the covalent bond formation with graphite and the creation of a robust three-dimensional network. This modification facilitates deeper and more reversible anion intercalation, leading to improved capacity, extended lifespan, and sustainable anion storage. The binder design, exhibiting exceptional adhesive properties and effective stress mitigation, enables the construction of ultrathick graphite cathodes. These findings provide valuable insights for the development of advanced binders, paving the way for high-performance DIBs., (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Materials published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

The evolution of Li-ion rechargeable batteries has driven a demand for systems exceeding the energy density and shape diversity of conventional lithium-ion batteries. Silicon (Si)-based materials, suitable for high-energy-density applications, have been restricted in practical use due to their inherent structural instability and poor conductivities upon electrochemical cycling. Here, we propose a fully printable and free-standing anode, composed of hollow SiO x /C (H-SiO x /C) composite material and an MXene conductive binder, exhibiting high specific capacity, structural reliability, and superior ionic conductivity without any current collector. The hollow structure of H-SiO x /C accommodates volume changes during cycling, while the MXene binder forms a three-dimensional interconnected conducting structure for maintaining the structural integrity of electrodes without a current collector. Furthermore, the printability and free-standing nature of the H-SiO x /C/MXene anode are validated in both coin-type full cell and heart-shaped pouch cell configurations through a straightforward stencil printing technique. This work establishes a foundation for advanced Si-based anodes, enhancing performance and design flexibility and potentially contributing to practical printable battery systems.

In this paper, we propose a bit depth compression (BDC) technique, which performs bit packing by dynamically determining the pack size based on the pattern of the bit depth level of the sensor data, thereby maximally reducing the space wastage that may occur during the bit packing process. The proposed technique can dynamically perform bit packing according to the data's characteristics, which may have many outliers or several multidimensional variations, and therefore has a high compression ratio. Furthermore, the proposed method is a lossless compression technique, which is especially useful as training data in the field of artificial intelligence or in the predictive analysis of data science. The proposed method effectively addresses the spatial inefficiency caused by unpredictable outliers during time-series data compression. Additionally, it offers high compression efficiency, allowing for storage space savings and optimizing network bandwidth utilization while transmitting large volumes of data. In the experiment, the BDC method demonstrated an improvement in the compression ratio of up to 247%, with 30% on average, compared with other compression algorithms. In terms of energy consumption, the proposed BDC also improves data transmission using Bluetooth up to 34%, with 18% on average, compared with other compression algorithms.

Core body temperature (CBT) is one of the four vital signs that must be monitored continuously. The continuous recording of CBT is possible through invasive methods by inserting a temperature probe into specific body sites. We report a novel method to monitor CBT through the quantitative measurement of skin blood perfusion rate (ω b,skin ). By monitoring the skin temperature, heat flux, and ω b,skin , the arterial blood temperature, equivalent to CBT, can be extracted. ω b,skin is quantitatively evaluated thermally via sinusoidal heating with regulated thermal penetration depth so that the blood perfusion rate is acquired only in the skin. Its quantification is significant because it indicates various physiological events including hyper- or hypothermia, tissue death, and delineation of tumors. A subject showed promising results with steady values of ω b,skin and CBT of 5.2 ± 1.05 × 10 -4 s -1 and 36.51 ± 0.23 °C, respectively. For periods where the subject's actual CBT (axillary temperature) did not fall within the estimated range, the average deviation from the actual CBT was only 0.07 °C. This study aims to develop a competent methodology capable of continuously monitoring the CBT and blood perfusion rate at a distant location from the core body region for the diagnosis of a patient's health condition with wearable devices.

Most commercial drones utilize a traditional proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller because of its design simplicity. However, the traditional PID controller has certain limitations in terms of optimality and robustness; it is difficult to actively adjust the PID gains under some disturbances. In this study, we demonstrated an analog-digital hybrid computing platform based on double-gate SnS 2 memtransistors to implement a self-tuning/energy-efficient PID controller in drones. The customized analog circuit with memtransistors executes the PID control algorithm with low power consumption; we experimentally verified that the energy consumption of the proposed hybrid computing-based PID controller is only 63% of that of the traditional PID controller. In addition, the precise tunability of analog conductance states in the memtransistor proved to be capable of reconfiguring the performance of the PID controller, where the developed self-tuning algorithm can automatically find the optimal PID control performance.

Implantable electrochemical sensors enable fast and sensitive detection of analytes in biological tissue, but are hampered by bio-foulant attack and are unable to be recalibrated in-situ. Herein, an electrochemical sensor integrated into ultra-low flow (nL/min) silicon microfluidic channels for protection from foulants and in-situ calibration is demonstrated. The small footprint (5 μm radius channel cross-section) of the device allows its integration into implantable sampling probes for monitoring chemical concentrations in biological tissues. The device is designed for fast scan cyclic voltammetry (FSCV) in the thin-layer regime when analyte depletion at the electrode is efficiently compensated by microfluidic flow. A 3X enhancement of faradaic peak currents is observed due to the increased flux of analytes towards the electrodes. Numerical analysis of in-channel analyte concentration confirmed near complete electrolysis in the thin-layer regime below 10 nL/min. The manufacturing approach is highly scalable and reproducible as it utilizes standard silicon microfabrication technologies., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.

To avoid the complexity of the circuit for in-memory computing, simultaneous execution of multiple logic gates (OR, AND, NOR, and NAND) and memory behavior are demonstrated in a single device of oxygen plasma-treated gallium selenide (GaSe) memtransistor. Resistive switching behavior with R ON /R OFF ratio in the range of 10 4 to 10 6 is obtained depending on the channel length (150 to 1600 nm). Oxygen plasma treatment on GaSe film created shallow and deep-level defect states, which exhibit carriers trapping/de-trapping, that lead to negative and positive photoconductance at positive and negative gate voltages, respectively. This distinguishing feature of gate-dependent transition of negative to positive photoconductance encourages the execution of four logic gates in the single memory device, which is elusive in conventional memtransistor. Additionally, it is feasible to reversibly switch between two logic gates by just adjusting the gate voltages, e.g., NAND/NOR and AND/NAND. All logic gates presented high stability. Additionally, memtransistor array (1×8) is fabricated and programmed into binary bits representing ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) code for the uppercase letter "N". This facile device configuration can provide the functionality of both logic and memory devices for emerging neuromorphic computing., (© 2023 The Authors. Advanced Science published by Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Leans is a common type of Spatial Disorientation (SD) illusion that causes pilots to be confused about the position of the aircraft during a flight. This illusion could lead to serious adverse effects and even flight mishaps. Therefore, an effective means to deal with leans is crucial for flight safety. This study aims to investigate the effects of Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) technology with different waveforms as a tool to mitigate the negative effects of leans. 20 Air Force pilots participated in leans-induced flight simulation experiment with three GVS conditions (without-GVS, step-GVS, ramped-GVS). Bank angle error, subjective SD, perceived strength, and annoyance were measured as the dependent variables. Analysis revealed that step-GVS and ramped-GVS yielded lower bank angle errors and subjective SD than without-GVS. In addition, annoyance ratings were lower for ramped-GVS than step-GVS. This study suggests that GVS has the potential to be utilised as a counteracting tool to cope with leans. Practitioner summary: Galvanic Vestibular Stimulation (GVS) can be utilised as a tool to counteract the detrimental effects of leans illusion, specifically the ramped style GVS, considering that it is less annoying and distracting for the pilots. In general, GVS induces a roll sensation that can offset the false sensation caused by the leans, which can potentially help maintain flight safety and avoid spatial disorientation-related accidents. Abbreviations: SD: spatial disorientation; GVS: galvanic vestibular stimulation; MSSQ: motion sickness susceptibility questionniare; SSQ: simulator sickness questionnaire; BLE: bluetooth low energy; PCB: printed circuit board; RPM: revolution per minute.

Purpose: Near-infrared fluorescence imaging has been recently applied in the field of hepatobiliary surgery. Our objective was to apply blue-light fluorescence cholangiography during laparoscopic surgery. Therefore, we designed a preclinical study to evaluate the feasibility of using blue-light fluorescence for cholangiography in a porcine model., Methods: Five millimeters of sodium fluorescein (SF) solution was administered into the gallbladder of 20 male 3-way crossbred (Landrace × Yorkshire × Duroc) pigs in laparoscopic approach. The biliary tree was observed under blue light (a peak wavelength of 450 nm) emitted from a commercialized light-emitting diode (LED) light source (XLS1 extreme, Chammed)., Results: In 18 of 20 porcine models, immediately after SF solution was administered into the gallbladder, it was possible to visualize the biliary tree under blue light emitted from the LED light source., Conclusion: This study provided a preclinical basis for using blue-light fluorescence cholangiography using SF in laparoscopic surgery. The clinical feasibility of blue-light fluorescence imaging techniques for laparoscopic cholecystectomy remained to be demonstrated., Competing Interests: Conflict of Interest: No potential conflict of interest relevant to this article was reported., (Copyright © 2023, the Korean Surgical Society.)

Character-level detection in historical manuscripts is one of the challenging and valuable tasks in the computer vision field, related directly and effectively to the recognition task. Most of the existing techniques, though promising, seem not powerful and insufficiently accurate to locate characters precisely. In this paper, we present a novel algorithm called free-candidate multiscale Chinese character detection FC-MSCCD, which is based on lateral and fusion connections between multiple feature layers, to successfully predict Chinese characters of different sizes more accurately in old documents. Moreover, cheap training is exploited using cheaper parameters by incorporating a free-candidate detection technique. A bottom-up architecture with connections and concatenations between various dimension feature maps is employed to attain high-quality information that satisfies the positioning criteria of characters, and the implementation of a proposal-free algorithm presents a computation-friendly model. Owing to a lack of handwritten Chinese character datasets from old documents, experiments on newly collected benchmark train and validate FC-MSCCD to show that the proposed detection approach outperforms roughly all other SOTA detection algorithms.

Fungus Cladosporium sp. strain F1 showed highly effective biosorption capacity to lead phosphate mineral and perovskite solar cells lead iodide compared to other fungi Aspergillus niger VKMF-1119 and Mucor ramannianus R-56. Scanning electron microscopy and transmission electron microscopy analyses shows that Cladosporium sp. strain F1, which previously showed high biosorption capacity to uranium phosphate nanorods and nanoplates, can accumulate lead phosphate mineral and lead iodide on the fungal hyphae surface in large amounts under a wide range of pH conditions, while A. niger VKMF-1119 and M. ramannianus R-56 adsorbed small amounts of minerals. After biosorption of lead iodide minerals on Cladosporium sp. strain F1, aqueous dimethyl sulfoxide (50%) at pH 2 (70 °C) released the mineral more than 99%. Based on the fungal surface analyses, hydrophobic properties on the surfaces of Cladosporium sp. strain F1 could affect the higher biosorption capacity of strain F1 to lead phosphate mineral and lead iodide as compared to other tested fungi. Cladosporium sp. strain F1 may be the novel biosorbents to remediate the phosphate rich environment and to recover lead from perovskite solar cells lead iodide., Competing Interests: Declaration of Competing Interest The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper., (Copyright © 2022 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.)

Riding on the rapid growth in electric vehicles and the stationary energy storage market, high-energy-density lithium-ion batteries and next-generation rechargeable batteries (i.e., advanced batteries) have been long-accepted as essential building blocks for future technology reaching the specific energy density of 400 Wh kg -1 at the cell-level. Such progress, mainly driven by the emerging electrode materials or electrolytes, necessitates the development of polymeric materials with advanced functionalities in the battery to address new challenges. Therefore, it is urgently required to understand the basic chemistry and essential research directions in polymeric materials and establish a library for the polymeric materials that enables the development of advanced batteries. Herein, based on indispensable polymeric materials in advanced high-energy-density lithium-ion, lithium-sulfur, lithium-metal, and dual-ion battery chemistry, the key research directions of polymeric materials for achieving high-energy-density and safety are summarized and design strategies for further improving performance are examined. Furthermore, the challenges of polymeric materials for advanced battery technologies are discussed., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

A silicon single-chip microfluidics system that integrates microscale fluidic channels, an analyte segmentation device, and a nozzle for electrohydrodynamic-assisted printing is designed for hyphenation with MALDI mass spectrometry (MS) imaging. A miniaturized T-junction segments analytes into monodisperse picoliter oil-isolated compartments. The printing nozzle deposits generated droplets one-by-one into an array on a conductive substrate without splitting or coalescing. Virtually single-shot MS analysis is enabled due to the ultrasmall droplet volumes and highly localized printing. The signal-to-noise ratio indicates that detection limits at the attomole level are achieved for γ-aminobutyric acid.

The navigation of small unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), such as quadcopters, significantly relies on the global positioning system (GPS); however, UAVs are vulnerable to GPS spoofing attacks. GPS spoofing is an attempt to manipulate a GPS receiver by broadcasting manipulated signals. A commercial GPS simulator can cause a GPS-guided drone to deviate from its intended course by transmitting counterfeit GPS signals. Therefore, an anti-spoofing technique is essential to ensure the operational safety of UAVs. Various methods have been introduced to detect GPS spoofing; however, most methods require additional hardware. This may not be appropriate for small UAVs with limited capacity. This study proposes a deep learning-based anti-spoofing method equipped with 1D convolutional neural network. The proposed method is lightweight and power-efficient, enabling real-time detection on mobile platforms. Furthermore, the performance of our approach can be enhanced by increasing training data and adjusting the network architecture. We evaluated our algorithm on the embedded board of a drone in terms of power consumption and inference time. Compared to the support vector machine, the proposed method showed better performance in terms of precision, recall, and F-1 score. Flight test demonstrated our algorithm could successfully detect GPS spoofing attacks.

Multimodal interaction (MMI) is being widely implemented, especially in new technologies such as augmented reality (AR) systems since it is presumed to support a more natural, efficient, and flexible form of interaction. However, limited research has been done to investigate the proper application of MMI in AR. More specifically, the effects of combining different input and output modalities during MMI in AR are still not fully understood. Therefore, this study aims to examine the independent and combined effects of different input and output modalities during a typical AR task. 20 young adults participated in a controlled experiment in which they were asked to perform a simple identification task using an AR device in different input (speech, gesture, multimodal) and output (VV-VA, VV-NA, NV-VA, NV-NA) conditions. Results showed that there were differences in the influence of input and output modalities on task performance, workload, perceived appropriateness, and user preference. Interaction effects between the input and output conditions on the performance metrics were also evident in this study, suggesting that although multimodal input is generally preferred by the users, it should be implemented with caution since its effectiveness is highly influenced by the processing code of the system output. This study, which is the first of its kind, has revealed several new implications regarding the application of MMI in AR systems., (Copyright © 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.)

While droplet microfluidics is becoming an effective tool for biomedical research, sensitive detection of droplet content is still challenging, especially for multiplexed analytes compartmentalized within ultrasmall droplets down to picoliter volumes. To enable such measurements, we demonstrate a silicon-based integrated microfluidic platform for multiplexed analysis of neurochemicals in picoliter droplets via nanoelectrospray ionization (nESI)-mass spectrometry (MS). An integrated silicon microfluidic chip comprising downscaled 7 μm-radius channels, a compact T-junction for droplet generation, and an integrated nESI emitter tip is used for segmentation of analytes into picoliter compartments and their efficient delivery for subsequent MS detection. The developed system demonstrates effective detection of multiple neurochemicals encapsulated within oil-isolated plugs down to low picoliter volumes. Quantitative measurements for each neurochemical demonstrate limits of detection at the attomole level. Such results are promising for applications involving label-free and small-volume detection for monitoring a range of brain chemicals.

Oxygen (O 2 ) sensing in trace amounts and mixed gas is essential in many types of industries. Semiconductor sensors have proven to be invaluable tools for the O 2 measurements in a wide concentration range, but the sensors are only able to quantify O 2 in a concentration range of subppm, thus far, especially in mixed gas. We present in this paper a new concept for O 2 sensing with incomparable sensitivity using IGZO-films with oxygen vacancy-based conducting filaments (CFs). O 2 sensing relies on rupturing of the CFs, and the proposed device quickly recovers to the initial state using a pulse of 0.6 V/90 μs after the sensing. The proposed device has a high sensitivity of 14 even at an O 2 concentration of 500 ppb, a detection limit of 150 ppb for O 2 at RT, and excellent selectivity for O 2 in mixed gas, which is remarkable compared to other gas sensors. The proposed device can be widely used in gas sensors especially for detecting O 2 at a low ppb level, which is due to excellent sensing characteristics.

Precise control over the morphology and facets of Pd nanomaterials has great importance in catalytic and sensing applications. In this study, we synthesized Pd nanoparticles with multiple types of low-Miller-index-faceted morphologies by systematically defining the synthesis conditions of the seed-mediated colloidal preparation method. We discovered the morphological evolution of Pd nanoparticles by following the trajectory of the surface Miller indices, which were determined by the cooperative effects of cetyltrimethylammonium bromide and ascorbic acid. By precise control of the morphological trajectory, Pd nanoparticles with a new cuborhombicube morphology, composed of 36 facets and concave edges, were discovered. This study provides important insight into the design of the surface Miller indices and morphologies of functional nanomaterials.

Algorithms for intelligent drone flights based on sensor fusion are usually implemented using conventional digital computing platforms. However, alternative energy-efficient computing platforms are required for robust flight control in a variety of environments to reduce the burden on both the battery and computing power. In this study, we demonstrated an analog-digital hybrid computing platform based on SnS 2 memtransistors for low-power sensor fusion in drones. The analog Kalman filter circuit with memtransistors facilitates noise removal to accurately estimate the rotation of the drone by combining sensing data from the gyroscope and accelerometer. We experimentally verified that the power consumption of our hybrid computing-based Kalman filter is only 1/4 th of that of the traditional software-based Kalman filter., (© 2022. The Author(s).)

Background: Peritoneal carcinomatosis (PC) is the most common form of metastasis in gastric cancer (GC) and is related with a poor prognosis. Several treatment modalities including systemic chemotherapy and intraperitoneal chemotherapy have been studied and adopted in treatment of GC patients with PC. Nevertheless, few studies have reported the comparison of the oncologic outcomes between minimally invasive surgery (MIS) with intraperitoneal (IP) chemotherapy and conventional chemotherapy for GC with PC. Methods: We retrospectively reviewed the clinical records of 74 patients who had been diagnosed as GC with PC via either intra-abdominal exploration or abdominopelvic computed tomography between January 2011 and April 2021. After performing propensity score-matching for this retrospective data, we compared the outcomes of 26 patients who underwent MIS followed by IP combined systemic chemotherapy (MIS-IP group) and 26 patients who underwent systemic chemotherapy only (SC-only group). Results: The 2-year progression free survival rate of the MIS-IP group was significantly higher than the SC-only groups (36.4% and 10.5%, respectively; p = 0.010). In multivariate analysis to detect relevant factors on PFS, IP chemotherapy (HR 0.213; p < 0.001), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group performance status (HR 3.689; p = 0.002), and the amount of ascites (p = 0.011) were significant prognostic factors. Conclusions: This study demonstrated the therapeutic potential of MIS conjoined IP plus systemic chemotherapy for GC patients with PC. MIS conjoined by IP plus systemic chemotherapy can be adopted as a treatment option to reboot the role of IP chemotherapy in GC patients with PC.

Background: Laparoscopic liver resection (LLR) is considered the standard surgical approach for resecting small hepatocellular carcinomas (HCC) located in the anterolateral segments of the liver. However, few studies have compared LLR and radiofrequency ablation (RFA) in such cases., Methods: We retrospectively compared the short- and long-term outcomes of 101 patients who underwent LLR and 264 patients who underwent RFA because of a newly diagnosed single, small (≤4 cm) HCC located in the anterolateral segments of the liver. By applying 1:1 propensity score matching, we matched 61 patients in both groups., Results: Although the 5-year overall survival rates were similar (83.6% vs 84.5%; P = .913), the 5-year disease-free survival rate was greater in the LLR group (56.4% vs 41.8%; P = .009). In patients with an α-fetoprotein level of ≥100 ng/mL, the 5-year overall (100% vs 80.0%; P = .022) and disease-free survival (76.6% vs 45.5%; P = .006) rates were greater in the LCC group., Conclusions: For patients with a single, small HCC located in the anterolateral segments of the liver, LLR was associated with similar complication and overall survival rates, but better disease-free survival compared with RFA. LLR may be recommended for patients with higher α-fetoprotein levels., (© 2021 Japanese Society of Hepato-Biliary-Pancreatic Surgery.)

The current diagnosis of bacteremia mainly relies on blood culture, which is inadequate for the rapid and quantitative determination of most bacteria in blood. Here, a quantitative, multiplex, microfluidic fluorescence in situ hybridization method (μFISH) is developed, which enables early and rapid (3-h) diagnosis of bacteremia without the need for prior blood culture. This novel technology employs mannose-binding lectin-coated magnetic nanoparticles, which effectively opsonize a broad range of pathogens, magnetically sequestering them in a microfluidic device. Therein, μFISH probes, based on unique 16S rRNA sequences, enable the identification and quantification of sequestered pathogens both in saline and whole blood, which is more sensitive than conventional polymerase chain reaction. Using μFISH, Escherichia coli (E. coli) is detected in whole blood collected from a porcine disease model and from E. coli-infected patients. Moreover, the proportion of E. coli, relative to other bacterial levels in the blood, is accurately and rapidly determined, which is not possible using conventional diagnostic methods. Blood from E. coli-infected patients is differentiated from healthy donors' blood using cutoff values with a 0.05 significance level. Thus, μFISH is a versatile method that can be used to rapidly identify pathogens and determine their levels relative to other culturable and nonculturable bacteria in biological samples., (© 2022 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Objective: To invastgate feasibility of low-dose contrast agent in cerebral computed tomography angiography (CTA) to alleviate side effects., Method: Siemens' Somatom Definition AS+CT scanner, Heine's blood pressure monitor G7-M237 (BP cuff) and Ultravist contrast agent (370 mg Iodine/ml) are used. CTA is acquired using following scan parameters including slice thickness of 1mm, image acquisition parameters of 128×0.6 mm, pitch size of 0.8 mm, 175 effective mAs, 120 kVp tube voltage, scan delay time of 3 seconds, and the scan time of 4 seconds. This study is conducted by securing the IV route in the left antecubital vein before injection of contrast agent, wrapping BP cuff around the branchial artery of the opposite right arm after setting the pressure to 200 mmHg. Then, the injection rate of the contrast agent is fixed at 4.5 cc/sec and contrast agent was injected in three different amounts (70, 80, and 100 cc). Bp cuff is released from this moment when HU value reachs 100., Result: In this study, the mean HU values measured from common carotid artery are 412.45±5.89 when injecting 80cc contrast agent and using BP cuff and 399.64±5.51 when injecting 100 cc contrast agenet and not using BP cuff, respectively. In middle cerebral artery M1, the mean HU values are 325.23±38.29 when injecting 80cc contrast agent and using BP cuff and 325.00±30.63 when injecting 100cc contrast agent blood and not using pressure cuff, respectively. Difference of mean HU values is not statistically significant (p > 0.05) with and without using BP cuff., Conclusion: This study demonstrates that reducing amount of contrast agent is possible when the right brachial artery is compressed using BP cuff. Study results indicate that reducing 20% injection of contrast agent in CT cerebrovascular angiography can still yield comparable imaging results with conventional contrast angent usage, which implies that less side effects are expected with a contrast agent injection. Thus, this study can serve as a reference for potential reducing side effect during CT cerebrovascular angiography.

We report a silicon microfluidic platform that enables monolithic integration of transparent micron-scale microfluidic channels, an on-chip segmentation of analyte flows into picoliter-volume droplets, and a nano-electrospray ionization emitter that enables spatial and temporal separation of oil and aqueous phases during electro-spray for subsequent mass spectrometry analysis.

We investigated the CO 2 adsorption and electrochemical conversion behavior of triazole-based C 3 N 5 nanorods as a single matrix for consecutive CO 2 capture and conversion. The pore size, basicity, and binding energy were tailored to identify critical factors for consecutive CO 2 capture and conversion over carbon nitrides. Temperature-programmed desorption (TPD) analysis of CO 2 demonstrates that triazole-based C 3 N 5 shows higher basicity and stronger CO 2 binding energy than g-C 3 N 4 . Triazole-based C 3 N 5 nanorods with 6.1 nm mesopore channels exhibit better CO 2 adsorption than nanorods with 3.5 and 5.4 nm mesopore channels. C 3 N 5 nanorods with wider mesopore channels are effective in increasing the current density as an electrocatalyst during the CO 2 reduction reaction. Triazole-based C 3 N 5 nanorods with tailored pore sizes exhibit CO 2 adsorption abilities of 5.6-9.1 mmol/g at 0 °C and 30 bar. Their Faraday efficiencies for reducing CO 2 to CO are 14-38% at a potential of -0.8 V vs. RHE., (© 2021 Wiley-VCH GmbH.)

Fast recovery, high sensitivity, high selectivity, and room temperature (RT) sensing characteristics of NO gas sensors are essential for environmental monitoring, artificial intelligence, and inflammatory diagnosis of asthma patients. However, the conventional semiconductor-type gas sensors have poor sensing characteristics that need to be solved, such as slow recovery speeds (>360 s), low sensitivity (3.8), and high operating temperatures (>300 °C). We propose here a memristor-based NO gas sensor as a gasistor (gas sensor + memory resistor) with SnO 2 , Ta 2 O 5 , and HfO 2 films, which successfully demonstrated the feasibility of fast reaction/recovery (<1 s/90 ns) and high sensitivities such as 11.66 and 5.22 in Ta 2 O 5 and HfO 2 gasistors for NO gas, at RT. Furthermore, so as to reinforce the selectivity in multigas ambient, we suggest a parallel circuit using three kinds of gasistors having different sensitivities for NO, O 2 , and C 2 H 6 gases, which results in an improvement of selectivity for the selected gas at RT.

Inaccurate localization due to scale-variation during character detection causes a widespread issue overconfidence in results of the document analysis community, for the most part in historical and handwritten documents. In this work, we explored the performance of a state-of-the-art network with a simple pipeline that fast and accurately predicts handwritten Chinese characters in old documents. In order to adapt to locations of characters with multi-scale more precisely, excluding pre-processing and in-between steps, we utilized a network with multi-scale feature maps. Then, across each feature map, pre-selected boxes of unalike scales and aspect ratios were employed. The last step was to prune the bounding boxes, sending them to non-maximum suppression to yield the final results. Focusing on a well-designed neural network architecture and loss function that presents well-classified examples, we found our experiments on Caoshu, Character, and Src-images datasets demonstrated that detection performance was enhanced for the detection rate (DT), the false positive per character (FPPC), and the F-score in the order of 98.84%, 0.71, and 97.64%, respectively. In comparison with SSD (single-shot detector), the detection performance of a detection rate (DT), the false positive per character (FPPC), and the F-score were 61.12%, 6.12, and 60.33%, respectively.

Photocatalysis is an easily configurable and cost-effective technology for the conversion of solar energy into chemical energy. Recently, increasing attention has been given to metal halide perovskite (MHP) photocatalysts because of the development of stabilization strategies for MHPs under reaction conditions. From this perspective, we first describe several substantial breakthroughs in the photocatalytic application of MHPs. Performance trends in the solar fuel production applications of MHPs, including photocatalytic H 2 generation and photocatalytic CO 2 reduction reactions, are then described. Recent developments to extend the use of MHPs to various photocatalytic organic transformations are also highlighted. Finally, we propose several scientific challenges for the practical implications of MHPs for solar fuel production and various photoreactions.

Introduction: A microneedle array patch (MAP) has been studied as a means for delivering drugs or vaccines and has shown superior delivery efficiency compared to the conventional transdermal drug delivery system (TDD). This paper reviews recent advancements in the development of MAPs, with a focus on their size, shapes, and materials in preclinical and clinical studies for pharmaceutics., Area Covered: We classified MAPs for drug delivery into four types: coated, dissolving, separable, and swellable. We covered their recent developments in materials and geometry in preclinical and clinical studies., Expert Opinion: The design of MAPs needs to be determined based on what properties would be effective for the target diseases and purposes. In addition, in preclinical studies, it is necessary to consider not only the novelty of the formulations but also the feasibility of clinical application. Currently, clinical studies of microneedles loaded with various drugs and vaccines are in progress. When the regulation of pharmaceutical microneedles is established and more clinical studies are published, more drugs will be developed as microneedle products and clinical research will proceed. With these considerations, the microneedle array patch will be a better option for drug delivery.

The daily oral administration of acetylcholinesterase (AChE) inhibitors for Alzheimer's disease features low patient compliance and can lead to low efficacy or high toxicity owing to irregular intake. Herein, we developed a subcutaneously injectable hyaluronic acid hydrogel (MLC/HSA hydrogel) hybridized with microstructured lipid carriers (MLCs) and human serum albumin (HSA) for the sustained release of donepezil (DNP) with reduced initial burst release. The lipid carrier was designed to have a microsized mean diameter (32.6 ± 12.8 µm) to be well-localized in the hydrogel. The hybridization of MLCs and HSA enhanced the structural integrity of the HA hydrogel, as demonstrated by the measurements of storage modulus (G'), loss modulus (G″), and viscosity. In the pharmacokinetic study, subcutaneous administration of MLC/HSA hydrogel in rats prolonged the release of DNP for up to seven days and reduced the initial plasma concentration, where the C max value was 0.3-fold lower than that of the control hydrogel without a significant change in the AUC last value. Histological analyses of the hydrogels supported their biocompatibility for subcutaneous injection. These results suggest that a new hybrid MLC/HSA hydrogel could be promising as a subcutaneously injectable controlled drug delivery system for the treatment of Alzheimer's disease.

Background: Laparoscopic pancreaticoduodenectomy (LPD) is technically demanding and there is much controversy about its safety. We evaluated the learning curve for pure LPD based on the clinical outcomes of consecutive patients treated by a single surgeon., Methods: We reviewed the medical records of 119 consecutive patients who underwent LPD by a single surgeon between June 2013 and August 2018. The learning curve was evaluated using the cumulative summation (CUSUM) and risk-adjusted CUSUM (RA-CUSUM) methods. Perioperative outcomes were compared among the learning curve phases., Results: CUSUM analysis of the operation time showed that the operation time improved after the 47th case. RA-CUSUM analysis showed the learning curve for surgical failure, defined as severe complications (Clavien-Dindo grade ≥ 3) or open conversion, comprised three phases (phase 1: cases 1-60; phase 2: cases 61-83; phase 3: cases 84-119). There were no significant differences in operation time among the three phases. Intraoperative blood loss decreased significantly over the three phases (P = 0.032). There were no postoperative deaths. The rates of postoperative complications, pancreatic fistula (grade B/C), and post-pancreatic hemorrhage were significantly lower in phase 3 than in phase 2 (2.8% vs. 21.7%, P = 0.019; 2.8% vs. 17.4%, P = 0.049; 0% vs. 13.0%, P = 0.026), but not between phases 1 and 2. Postoperative hospital stay decreased progressively, and was significantly shorter in phase 3 than in phase 1 (9.1 vs. 16.7 days, P = 0.001)., Conclusions: The LPD failure rate decreased after the first 60 cases and stabilized after 84 cases. For safe dissemination of LPD, it is important to shorten the long learning curve and decrease the unfavorable outcomes in the early phase of the learning curve.

Many research groups have been interested in the quartz crystal microbalance (QCM)-based gas sensors due to their superb sensitivity originated from direct mass sensing at the ng level. Despite such high sensitivities observed from QCM sensors, their ability to identify gas compounds still needs to be enhanced. Herein, we report a highly facile method that utilizes microcolumns integrated on a QCM gas-responsive system with enhanced chemical selectivity for sensing and ability to identify volatile organic compound single gases. Graphene oxide (GO) flakes are coated on the QCM electrode to substantially increase the adsorption of gas molecules, and periodic polydimethylsiloxane microcolumns with micrometer-scale width and height were installed on the GO-coated QCM electrode. The observed frequency shifts upon sensing of various single gas molecules (such as ethanol, acetone, hexane, etc.) can be analyzed accurately using a simple exponential model. The QCM sensor system with and without the microcolumn both exhibited high detection response values above 50 ng/cm 2 for sensing of the gases. Notably, the QCM sensor equipped with the microcolumn features gas identification ability, which is observed as distinct diverging behavior of time constants upon detection of different gases caused by the difference in diffusional transfer of molecules through the microcolumns. For example, the difference in the calculated time constant between ethanol and acetone increased from 22.6 to 92.1 s after installation of the microcolumn. This approach provides an easy and efficient method for identification of single gases, and it may be applied in various advanced sensor systems to enhance their gas selectivity.

The hyphae of Cladosporium sp. strain F1 (CFGR 2020-301-00084) were heavily encrusted with pre-synthesized uranium phosphate minerals under a wide range of pH conditions. SEM and TEM images showed that nanorods and nanoplates of uranium phosphate minerals at pH 4 and 5 and at pH 6, 7, and 8, respectively, were tightly adsorbed along the hyphae of Cladosporium sp. strain F1, while only a few uranium phosphate minerals were observed on the hyphae of Aspergillus niger VKMF 1119. Based on the physical mobility and chemical stability of uranium phosphate minerals under in situ oxidizing environmental conditions, the application of Cladosporium sp. strain F1 has potential as a novel strategy for the remediation of uranium contamination in sediments and aquifers under a wide range of pH conditions where larger amounts of phosphate are present in the environment.

BACKGROUND: Circumstances in flight can adversely affect a pilots spatial abilities and lead to spatial disorientation (SD), increasing the potential for fatal accidents. To systematically understand the impact of SD, it is important to quantitatively and qualitatively analyze pilots flight performance and mental stress, and to verify the effectiveness of verbal reports (VR) in enabling pilots to deal with an SD situation. This study investigated the effects of VR execution and type of SD on flight performance and mental stress. METHODS: SD simulation experiments were conducted on 30 Air Force fighter pilots (15 in the VR group and 15 in the non-VR group) with electrocardiography (ECG) sensors attached. The pilots gave their VRs by immediately verbalizing their attention to instrument information and six potentially disorientating scenarios were implemented in each flight phase. Flight performance was analyzed using instructor evaluation and self-evaluation scores, and mental stress was measured using heart rate variability (HRV) and perceived distress score. RESULTS: In maintaining flight performance, the VR group, respectively, had 8% and 10% higher scores for altitude and speed than the non-VR group. The self-evaluation scores were lowest for Coriolis, while Graveyard Spin was scored lowest in the instructor evaluations. Regarding mental stress, the VR group tended to have higher HFs and lower LF/HF ratios among HRV measures than the non-VR group, and an 11% lower perceived distress score. The highest perceived distress score was for Coriolis. DISCUSSION: We suggest that pilots can be assisted to understand and overcome SD situations through VR. Kang Y, Yun MH, Kim S. Verbal reports influence on pilot flight performance and mental stress under spatial disorientation . Aerosp Med Hum Perform. 2020; 91(12):948955.

Objective: Teriparatide is known as an effective anabolic agent not only for severe osteoporosis but also for bone healing and union. We explored the possibility of teriparatide as an alternative treatment option for osteoporotic thoracolumbar (TL) burst fracture., Methods: This retrospective study enrolled 35 female patients with mean age of 73.77±6.71 years (61-88) diagnosed as osteoporotic TL burst fracture with ≥4 of thoracolumbar injury classification and severity (TLICS) score and no neurological deficits. All patients were treated by teriparatide only (12 of group A), teriparatide plus vertebroplasty (12 of group B), or surgical fixation with fusion (11 of group C), and followed up for 12 months. Radiological outcomes were evaluated using radiological parameters including kyphotic angle (KA), segmental vertebral kyphotic angle (SVKA), compression ratio (CR), and vertebral body height (anterior [AH], middle [MH], posterior [PH]). Functional outcomes were evaluated using visual analog scale (VAS) and Macnab classification (MC)., Results: There were no statistical significant differences in age, bone mineral density (-3.36±0.73), and TLICS score (4.34±0.48) among the three groups (p>0.05). Teriparatide was administered during 8.63±2.32 months in group A and B. In 12-month radiological outcomes, there were significant restoration in SVKA, CR, AH, and MH of group B and KA, SVKA, CR, AH, and MH of group C compared to group A with no radiological changes (p<0.05). All groups showed similar significant improvements in 12-month functional outcomes, although group B and C showed a better 1-month VAS, 1-month MC, 3-month MC compared to group A (p<0.05)., Conclusion: Non-surgical treatment with teriparatide showed similar 12-month functional outcomes compared to surgical fixation with fusion. The additional vertebroplasty to teriparatide and surgical fixation with fusion were more helpful to improve short-term functional outcomes with structural restoration compared to teriparatide only.

Recently, combinations of 2D van der Waals (2D vdW) materials and organic materials have attracted attention because they facilitate the formation of various heterojunctions with excellent interface quality owing to the absence of dangling bonds on their surface. In this work, a double negative differential resistance (D-NDR) characteristic of a hybrid 2D vdW/organic tunneling device consisting of a hafnium disulfide/pentacene heterojunction and a 3D pentacene resistor is reported. This D-NDR phenomenon is achieved by precisely controlling an NDR peak voltage with the pentacene resistor and then integrating two distinct NDR devices in parallel. Then, the operation of a controllable-gain amplifier configured with the D-NDR device and an n-channel transistor is demonstrated using the Cadence Spectre simulation platform. The proposed D-NDR device technology based on a hybrid 2D vdW/organic heterostructure provides a scientific foundation for various circuit applications that require the NDR phenomenon., Competing Interests: The authors declare no conflict of interest., (© 2020 The Authors. Published by Wiley‐VCH GmbH.)

Molybdenum disulfide (MoS 2 ) is a promising candidate as a high-performing anode material for sodium-ion batteries (SIBs) due to its large interlayer spacing. However, it suffers from continued capacity fading. This problem could be overcome by hybridizing MoS 2 with nanostructured carbon-based materials, but it is quite challenging. Herein, we demonstrate a single-step strategy for the preparation of MoS 2 coupled with ordered mesoporous carbon nitride using a nanotemplating approach which involves the pyrolysis of phosphomolybdic acid hydrate (PMA), dithiooxamide (DTO) and 5-amino-1H-tetrazole (5-ATTZ) together in the porous channels of 3D mesoporous silica template. The sulfidation to MoS 2 , polymerization to carbon nitride (CN) and their hybridization occur simultaneously within a mesoporous silica template during a calcination process. The CN/MoS 2 hybrid prepared by this unique approach is highly pure and exhibits good crystallinity as well as delivers excellent performance for SIBs with specific capacities of 605 and 431 mAhg -1 at current densities of 100 and 1000 mAg -1 , respectively, for SIBs., (© 2020 Wiley-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.)

Infrared ship-target detection for sea surveillance from the coast is very challenging because of strong background clutter, such as cloud and sea glint. Conventional approaches utilize either spatial or temporal information to reduce false positives. This paper proposes a completely different approach, called carbon dioxide-double spike (CO 2 -DS) detection in midwave spectral imaging. The proposed CO 2 -DS is based on the spectral feature where a hot CO 2 emission band is broader than that which is absorbed by normal atmospheric CO 2 , which generates CO 2 -double spikes. A directional-mean subtraction filter (D-MSF) detects each CO 2 spike, and final targets are detected by joint analysis of both types of detection. The most important property of CO 2 -DS detection is that it generates an extremely low number of false positive caused by background clutter. Only the hot CO 2 spike of a ship plume can penetrate atmosphere, and furthermore, there are only ship CO 2 plume signatures in the double spikes of different spectral bands. Experimental results using midwave Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) in a remote sea environment validate the extreme robustness of the proposed ship-target detection.

Recently, potent neuroprotective and anti-diabetic effects of 7 β -(3-Ethyl-cis-crotonoyloxy)-1 α -(2-methylbutyryloxy)-3,14-dehydro- Z -notonipetranone (ECN), a sesquiterpenoid isolated from Tussilago farfara Linnaeus, have been elucidated. To facilitate further pre-clinical evaluation in rats, an analytical method for the determination of ECN in rat plasma was developed and optimized by using liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). Plasma samples were pretreated by the protein precipitation method with an acetonitrile solution of losartan (LST) as the internal standard. Chromatographic separation was performed using a an Octadecyl-silica (ODS) column (2.6 µm, 100 x 4.6 mm) in the isocratic mode. The mobile phase, comprising 10 mM ammonium formate in water pH 5.75) and acetonitrile (11:89, v / v ), was eluted at a flow rate of 0.4 mL/min. Mass spectrometric detection was performed in the multiple reaction monitoring mode with positive electrospray ionization, and the mass transitions of ECN and LST were m/z 431.3 to 97.3 and m/z 423.1 to 207.2, respectively. The calibration curves of spiked plasma samples were linear in the 10.0-10,000 ng/mL range ( r 2 > 0.996). The lower limit of quantification (LLOQ) was determined as 10.0 ng/mL. Validation was conducted in the LLOQ, and three quality control (QC) sample levels (10.0, 25.0, 3750, and 7500 ng/mL) were studied. Among them, the relative standard deviation for the within- and between-run precisions was under 9.90%, and the relative error of the accuracies was within the -8.13% to 0.42% range. The validated method was successfully employed to investigate the pharmacokinetic properties of ECN in rats, which revealed the linear pharmacokinetic behavior of ECN for the first time.

Nanoporous carbon (HNC) with a flake and nanotubular morphology and a high specific surface area is prepared by using natural halloysite nanotubes (HNTs), a low-cost and naturally available clay material with a mixture of flaky and tubular morphology. A controlled pore-filling technique is used to selectively control the porosity, morphology, and the specific surface area of the HNC. Activated nanoporous carbon (AHNC) with a high specific surface area is also prepared by using HNT together with the activation process with zinc chloride (ZnCl 2 ). HNC exhibits flakes and tubular morphologies, which offer a high specific surface area (837 m 2 /g). The specific surface area of AHNC is 1646 m 2 /g, 74 times greater than the specific surface area of pure HNT (22.5 m 2 /g). These data revealed that the single-step activation combined with the nanotemplating results in creating a huge impact on the specific surface area of the HNC. Both HNC and AHNC are employed as adsorbents for CO 2 adsorption at different pressures and adsorption temperatures. The CO 2 adsorption capacity of AHNC is 25.7 mmol/g at 0 °C, which is found to be significantly higher than that of activated carbon (AC), mesoporous carbon (CMK-3), mesoporous carbon nitride (MCN-1), and multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT). AHNC is also tested as an electroactive material and demonstrates good supercapacitance, cyclic stability, and high capacitance retention. Specific capacitance of AHNC in the aqueous electrolyte is 197 F/g at 0.3 A/g, which is higher than that of AC, MWCNT, and CMK-3. The technique adopted for the preparation of both HNC and AHNC is quite unique and simple, has the potential to replace the existing highly expensive and sophisticated mesoporous silica-based nanotemplating strategy, and could also be applied for the fabrication of series of advanced nanostructures with unique functionalities.