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Abstract: SARS-CoV2 is a novel respiratory coronavirus and, understanding its molecular mechanism is a prerequisite to developing effective treatment for covid-19. This RNA genome-carrying virus has a protein coat with spikes (S) that attaches to the ACE2 receptor at the cell surface of human cells. Several repurposed drugs are used to treat covid-19 patients that are proven to be largely unsuccessful or have limited success in reducing mortalities. Several vaccines are in use to reduce the viral load to prevent developing symptoms. Major challenges to their efficacy include the inability of antibody molecules to enter cells but remain effective in the bloodstream to kill the virus. The efficacy of vaccines also depends on their neutralizing ability to constantly evolve new virus strains due to novel mutations and evolutionary survival dynamics. Taken together, SARS-CoV2 antibody vaccines may not be very effective and other approaches based on genetic, genomic, and protein interactome could be fruitful to identify therapeutic targets to reduce disease-related mortalities.

Hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common type of liver cancer, is usually a latent and asymptomatic malignancy caused by different aetiologies, which is a result of various aberrant molecular heterogeneity and often diagnosed at advanced stages. The incidence and prevalence have significantly increased because of sedentary lifestyle, diabetes, chronic infection with hepatotropic viruses and exposure to aflatoxins. Due to advanced intra‐ or extrahepatic metastasis, recurrence is very common even after radical resection. In this paper, we highlighted novel therapeutic modalities, such as molecular‐targeted therapies, targeted radionuclide therapies and epigenetic modification‐based therapies. These topics are trending headlines and their combination with cell‐based immunotherapies, and gene therapy has provided promising prospects for the future of HCC treatment. Moreover, a comprehensive overview of current and advanced therapeutic approaches is discussed and the advantages and limitations of each strategy are described. Finally, very recent and approved novel combined therapies and their promising results in HCC treatment have been introduced.

Vertically stacked horizontal nanosheet gate-all-around transistors seem to be one of the viable solutions toward scaling down below sub-7nm technology nodes. In this work, we compare electrical performance, including variability studies of several horizontal nanosheet transistors toward transistor structure optimization. We explore the impacts of nanosheet width and thickness on the electrical performance and outline important design guidelines necessary for vertically stacked nanosheet FETs. An increase in the complexity of the stacked nanosheet structures can lead to significant device variability. Using numerical simulation, we study the characteristics fluctuations induced by the random discrete dopants (RDD) and metal grain granularity (MGG) in nanosheet gate-all-around (GAA) transistors. We use 3-D quantum-mechanically corrected transport models in the simulation. It is observed that the σVTH due to MGG variability is 12% higher than RDD variability while the RDD variability strongly influences the ION. The statistical simulation results predict that the presence of combined variability due to RDD and MGG strongly influences the threshold voltage variation (σVTH) in nanoscale devices. This approach may be applied to the different types of variability, the geometry of the device, including the vertical and lateral dimensions of the transistor, and biasing conditions.

A possible route is given to achieve enhanced thermoelectric (TE) performance in a spin-orbit (SO) coupled graphene nanoribbon (GNR). The GNR is irradiated with a suitable polarized light so that the transmission function can have asymmetry around the chemical potential, which is the key requirement to enhance the TE performance. The interplay between SO coupling and irradiation on the nature of transmission function is critically investigated. Astounding TE results are obtained in the presence of light irradiation without modifying the other physical parameters of the system. The thermopower is enhanced significantly and at the same time, a considerable suppression in the thermal conductance is observed which yields favorable energy conversion. We discuss thermoelectric properties for the unpassivated and passivated GNRs as well. Both zigzag and armchair GNRs are taken into account, and finally, the results are studied by varying their widths in a wide range. Enhancing the thermoelectric performance by means of irradiation in a SO coupled system is completely new and has not been explored so far to the best of our concern, and might be applicable as well in other such topological systems.

Nature's material systems during evolution have developed the ability to respond and adapt to environmental stimuli through the generation of complex structures capable of varying their functions across direction, distances and time. 3D printing technologies can recapitulate structural motifs present in natural materials, and efforts are currently being made on the technological side to improve printing resolution, shape fidelity, and printing speed. However, an intrinsic limitation of this technology is that printed objects are static and thus inadequate to dynamically reshape when subjected to external stimuli. In recent years, this issue has been addressed with the design and precise deployment of smart materials that can undergo a programmed morphing in response to a stimulus. The term 4D printing was coined to indicate the combined use of additive manufacturing, smart materials, and careful design of appropriate geometries. In this review, we report the recent progress in the design and development of smart materials that are actuated by different stimuli and their exploitation within additive manufacturing to produce biomimetic structures with important repercussions in different but interrelated biomedical areas.

The inert nature of most commercial polymers and nanomaterials results in limitations of applications in various industrial fields. This can be solved by surface modifications to improve physicochemical and biological properties, such as adhesion, printability, wetting and biocompatibility. Polymer functionalization allows to graft specific moieties and conjugate molecules that improve material performances. In the last decades, several approaches have been designed in the industry and academia to graft functional groups on surfaces. Here, we review surface decoration of polymers and nanomaterials, with focus on major industrial applications in the medical field, textile industry, water treatment and food packaging. We discuss the advantages and challenges of polymer functionalization. More knowledge is needed on the biology behind cell–polymer interactions, nanosafety and manufacturing at the industrial scale.

Background:: In nano and microelectronics, device performance enhancement is limited by downscaling. Introduction of intentional mechanical stress is a potential mobility booster to overcome these limitations. This paper explores the key design challenges of stress-engineered FinFETs based on the epitaxial SiGe S/D at 7 nm Technology node. Objective:: To study the mechanical stress evolution in a tri-gate FinFET at 7 nm technology node using technology CAD (TCAD) simulations. Using stress maps, we analyze the mechanical stress impact on the transfer characteristics of the devices through device simulation. Methods: 3D sub-band Boltzmann transport analysis for tri-gate PMOS FinFETs was used, with 2D Schrödinger solution in the fin cross-section and 1D Boltzmann transport along the channel. Results:: Using stress maps, the mechanical stress impact on the transfer characteristics of the device through device simulation has been analyzed. Conclusion:: Suitability of predictive TCAD simulations to explore the potential of innovative strain-engineered FinFET structures for future generation CMOS technology is demonstrated.

3D printing technologies are rapidly revolutionizing all manufacturing sectors due to their ability to create objects with complex geometries in a reproducible and automated manner using material/cell-based formulations, precisely termed printing inks. In this regard, pectin, a naturally occurring plant polysaccharide, has been proposed as a potential component of ink formulations. In this mini-review, we overview the most recent advances made with pectin-based inks in the fields of tissue engineering and food manufacturing. We also discuss various strategies used to formulate 3D printable pectin inks. Finally, various challenges and prospects for future development are discussed.

Engineering constructs with adequate bioactive properties that could support effective repair/ regeneration of damaged tissues is still a persisting challenge. An effective and sustainable approach involving a combination of tissue engineering principles and herbal medicines could address this challenge. This particular domain has witnessed tremendous growth over the past decade. In this review, we provide an overview of engineered herbal constructs for tissue engineering applications. We have highlighted various properties of herbal medicines that are relevant to tissue repair and regeneration. Further, a discussion of different biomaterials, fabrication methods, and current progress made with herbal constructs has been provided. On a concluding note, challenges and outlook for further development and clinical translation of these herbal constructs have also been presented.

Diabetic Nephropathy (DN) is a debilitating consequence of both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes affecting the kidney and renal tubules leading to End Stage Renal Disease (ESRD). As diabetes is a world epidemic and almost half of diabetic patients develop DN in their lifetime, a large group of people is affected. Due to the complex nature of the disease, current diagnosis and treatment are not adequate to halt disease progression or provide an effective cure. DN is now considered a manifestation of inflammation where inflammatory molecules regulate most of the renal physiology. Recent advances in genetics and genomic technology have identified numerous susceptibility genes that are associated with DN, many of which have inflammatory functions. Based on their role in DN, we will discuss the current aspects of developing biomarkers and molecular therapy for advancing precision medicine.

[Image: see text] Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is one of the critical stages of COVID-19, leading to lung injury and hemolysis. Dysfunctional hemoglobin (Hb) suffers low-level oxygenation, overloaded iron, and down-regulation of hemeoxygenase-1 (HO-1), representing potential therapeutic interventions. This Viewpoint outlines the Hb–HO-1 system as a host-cell target, and proposes possible therapies, including iron chelation and CO therapies, against COVID-19 with ARDS.

STUDY OBJECTIVES: The role of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) in the overall outcome of ruptured intracranial aneurysms (RIAs) is unknown. We have investigated the role of OSA in overall outcome of RIAs. METHODS: Data from 159 consecutive patients were retrospectively reviewed. A chi-square test and regression analysis were performed to determine the significant difference. A value of P < .05 was considered significant. RESULTS: The prevalence of OSA in RIAs was fivefold higher in the nonaneurysm patient group, P = .002. The number of patients with hypertension (P < .0001), body mass index ≥ 30 (P < .0001), hyperlipidemia (P = .018), chronic heart disease (P = .002) or prior ischemic stroke (P = .001) was significantly higher in the OSA group. Similarly, the number of wide-neck aneurysms (P < .0001) and aneurysm > 7 mm (P = .004), poor Hunt and Hess grade IV-V (P = .005), vasospasms, (P = .03), and patients with poor Modified Rankin Scale scores (3–6) was significantly higher in the OSA group (P < .0001). Interestingly, for the first time in univariate (P = .01) and multivariate (P = .003) regression analysis, OSA was identified as an individual predictor of unfavorable outcome of RIAs. In addition, hypertension (P = .04), smoking (P = .049), chronic heart disease (P = .01), and Hunt and Hess grade IV-V (P = .04) were revealed as predictors of poor outcome of RIAs. CONCLUSIONS: This is a novel study to determine the association between OSA and ruptured cerebral aneurysm in terms of comorbidities, size of aneurysm, severity of symptoms, and outcomes after treatment. In addition, for the first time, OSA is identified as a positive predictor of unfavorable outcome of RIAs. CITATION: Chernyshev OY, Bir SC, Maiti TK, Patra DP, Sun H, Guthikonda B, Kelley RE, Cuellar H, Minagar A, Nanda A. The relationship between obstructive sleep apnea and ruptured intracranial aneurysms. J Clin Sleep Med. 2019;15(12):1839–1848.

Liver tissue engineering aims at the possibility of reproducing a fully functional organ for the treatment of acute and chronic liver disorders. Approaches in this field endeavor to replace organ transplantation (gold standard treatment for liver diseases in a clinical setting) with in vitro developed liver tissue constructs. However, the complexity of the liver microarchitecture and functionality along with the limited supply of cellular components of the liver pose numerous challenges. This review provides a comprehensive outlook onto how the physicochemical, mechanobiological, and spatiotemporal aspects of the substrates could be tuned to address current challenges in the field. We also highlight the strategic advancements made in the field so far for the development of artificial liver tissue. We further showcase the currently available prototypes in research and clinical trials, which shows the hope for the future of liver tissue engineering.

The epitaxially grown SiGe source/drain stressor (e-SiGe) technique has emerged to be a consistent performance booster for advanced devices below the 14 nm technology node. At nanoscale, the omnipresent residual stress is now becoming an important source of variability in advanced VLSI technologies that influence the circuit performance. Also, in deeply-scaled technologies, process and environment variations become other sources of variabilities. In this paper, we study the stress-induced variability in aggressively scaled (at 7 N) Si-channel FinFETs with epitaxially grown SiGe stressors in the source and drain regions. The stress distribution analysis is performed with the help of Technology CAD mechanical stress simulations. At first, we calibrate our simulation results with available experimental data. We generate the stress maps in FinFETs with various scaled dimensions of fin length, height and width. The effects of residual strain/stress on variability due to metal gate granularity (MGG) and random discrete dopant (RDD) in strain-engineered FinFETs (with 50 configurations) have been investigated. Furthermore, the device threshold voltage variation due to RDD and MGG are critically examined. Finally, we calculate the mean and standard deviation of these parameters (QQ plots) to quantify the variability.

Cardiomyopathy often leads to dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) when caused by viral myocarditis. Apoptosis is long considered as the principal process of cell death in cardiomyocytes, but programmed necrosis or necroptosis is recently believed to play an important role in cardiomyocyte cell death. We investigated the role of necroptosis and its interdependency with other processes of cell death, autophagy, and apoptosis in a rat system of experimental autoimmune myocarditis (EAM). We successfully created a rat model system of EAM by injecting porcine cardiac myosin (PCM) and showed that in EAM, all three forms of cell death increase considerably, resulting in the deterioration of cardiac conditions with an increase in inflammatory infiltration in cardiomyocytes. To explore whether necroptosis occurs in EAM rats independent of autophagy, we treated EAM rats with a RIP1/RIP3/MLKL kinase-mediated necroptosis inhibitor, Necrostatin-1 (Nec-1). In Nec-1 treated rats, cell death proceeds through apoptosis but has no significant effect on autophagy. In contrast, autophagy inhibitor 3-Methyl Adenine (3-MA) increases necroptosis, implying that blockage of autophagy must be compensated through necroptosis. Caspase 8 inhibitor zVAD-fmk blocks apoptosis but increases both necroptosis and autophagy. However, all necroptosis, apoptosis, and autophagy inhibitors independently reduce inflammatory infiltration in cardiomyocytes and improve cardiac conditions. Since apoptosis or autophagy is involved in many important cellular aspects, instead of suppressing these two major cell death processes, Nec1 can be developed as a potential therapeutic target for inflammatory myocarditis.

The performance of AlGaN/GaN High Electron Mobility Transistors (HEMTs) can be improved using the strain engineering technique. We have investigated the role of nitride passivation layer induced stress/strain on the spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization in nitride/AlGaN/GaN heterostructures with particular emphasis on the drain current. The variation of stress profile due to change in nitride layer thickness has been presented. The study encompasses topography simulation, which realistically reproduces an experimental HEMT and the stress distribution in the device.

This paper presents the impact of work function variation (WFV) in Gate-All-Around Field Effect Transistors (GAA FETs) using the technology computer-aided design (TCAD) tool for sub-7nm high-performance logic applications. We have compared the WFV induced electrical characteristic variations in nanowire (NW) and nanosheet (NS) GAA FETs. We study the impacts of different grain sizes on the performance of NSFET and NWFET using statistical data analysis. The variation in critical electrical figures-of-merit (V TH , I ON , I OFF , SS, and DIBL) have been analyzed. It is predicted that the NSFET shows improved immunity toward V TH variation than NWFET. Overall, the NSFETs are less prone to performance variations compared to NWFET. As such NSFET architectures will be the preferred choice for logic devices below sub-7nm technology nodes.

The environment-friendly energy, which is also called green energy, is called so as they do not leave any harmful residue to pollute and destroy the environment, nature. The solar photovoltaic, solar thermal, the wind energy, energy harvested from biodiesel and biofuels, and energy from water current are the main examples of green energy. The conventional sources of energy like fossil fuel, coal, chemical batteries, and some nonconventional sources exert a lot of residues that pollutes the air, surface water, groundwater and soil. For instance, the “nuclear ashes” are the residual materials of nuclear energy, which contain the radioactive elements that spread cancer through mixing in soil, water and air. Solar photovoltaic cells produce very clean energy through the photovoltaic effect of organic and organic–inorganic hybrid energy materials. Wind energy is though restricted in some areas, actually giving clean energy by using the air current as a natural source.

Geothermal energy is thermal energy created and accumulated in the earth. Geothermal power is able to renew and produces almost no pollution. It provides steady baseload power. Geothermal power plant generally situated 5000 ft. beneath the ground in few places. Nanotechnology can manipulate matter on an atomic, molecular, and supramolecular scale and it involves measuring, imaging, and modeling matter at nanoscale. Nanotechnology is used in various fields of geothermal energy. For example, metal-organic heat carrier can boost geothermal power and reduce earthquake risk. It is known as heat-trapping nanotechnology. A cagey solution of nanotrap made up of carbon molecules make geothermal well in geothermal power plant earthquake-safe. Nanooptimized membranes have the opportunity of possible separation and storage of carbon dioxide to generate power in geothermal well. Heap leaching procedure can extract minerals from geothermal well, reducing cost of mineral extraction. Nanocoated-resistant drill probes optimize the life span and efficiency of the systems involved in geothermal energy. A new form of nanotechnology, that is, binary-cycle electricity generating technology is there for capturing large amount of heat from low-temperature geothermal resources promising virtually pollution-free electrical energy. Nanostructured calcium silicate is there to eliminate silica scale in geothermal power plant. Nanofluids can potentially boost up the heat capturing ability of liquids used in geothermal energy. Engineered Nanomembranes are used for smart energy storage devices for geothermal energy. To avoid destruction in earthquake Antiseismic reinforced node for steel structure of concrete column structure and base is proposed. To measure the heat and energy produced in earthquake, microwave stimulation of dislocations is proposed along with the magnetic control of the earthquake core. Effects of nanotechnology are as follows: nanotechnology is very expensive and impact of nanotechnology on environment is still unknown. Nanodevices are durable for number of years and they decrease frictional, tear, and wear losses of the system and increase efficiency.

Photovoltaic solar cells are a promising fill-in energy resource that can help to control the global climate change by transforming sunlight energy directly into electrical energy. Nowadays, modern science is inclined toward nanomaterial-based solar cells, owing to the continuous rise of global interest in renewable solar power energy. Nanomaterials can form cost-effective and flexible solar devices, having power conversion efficiency superior to any other solar cell. The use of nanomaterial-based solar cells can reduce dependence on natural resources such as oil, coal, gases, and mined uranium, which can improve the economy of a country and protect the world environment by minimizing the release of environmentally toxic chemicals. The semiconductor nanomaterials are highly used as active materials for solar cells. Even many organic and organic–inorganic hybrid nanomaterials are efficient for this purpose. Thus, nanotechnology-based high-tech solar energy conversion and storage devices can constitute efficient systems for the generation, storage, and transportation of energy.

E-waste is a popular, informal name for electronic products nearing the end of their “useful life.” E-waste contains many hazardous substances, which have been found to be extremely dangerous to human health and the environment. E-waste is often disposed of under less than ideal safety conditions. Various forms of electric and electronic equipment that have ceased to be of value to their users or no longer satisfy their original purpose are treated as E-wastes. The electrical wastes are TV, refrigerator, lights, etc., whereas the electronic wastes are computers, mobiles, LEDs, etc. It has been already reported in India that computer devices account for nearly 70% of e-waste, 12% comes from the telecom sector, 8% from medical equipment, and 7% from electric equipment. The government, public sector companies, and private sector companies generate nearly 75% of electronic waste, with the contribution of the individual household being only 16%. Computers, televisions, VCRs, stereos, copiers, and fax machines are common electronic products. Many of these products can be reused, refurbished, or recycled. There is an up-gradation done to this E-waste garbage list, which includes gadgets like smartphone, tablets, laptops, video game consoles, cameras, and many more. Improper dumping and burning of E-wastes can lead to toxic chemicals leaking into the air, water, and soil. Potential health outcomes from e-waste exposure include changes in thyroid functions, poor neonatal outcomes, including spontaneous abortions, stillbirths and premature births, behavioral changes, malfunction of the lung, DNA damage, and child's growth (for lead). The processes used to recycle and dispose of e-waste in India have led to a number of harmful environmental impacts. In the near future, the increasing energy consumption will force us to use clean and renewable energy sources, which include solar, wind, hydrothermal energy, and biomass. Among these options, solar energy stands out as the most reliable choice to fulfill our energy requirement. The toxic, polluting sources are coal, oil, and gas. Solar energy has the ability to produce electricity and heat water. Solar energy holds enormous potential. Generating electricity from clean renewable sources increases our opportunities to displace costly polluting oil and gasoline. Cost-effective, clean, and renewable sources of electricity are getting more acceptances, while dirtier sources like coal are losing their acceptability due to the harmful residues. The power sector is a leading source of cancer-causing air pollution and one of the largest sources of carbon dioxide. Clean Energy is the energy that is produced through the processes to omit greenhouse gases or any other pollutants as residual elements and prevent the pollution of the atmosphere. The advantages of clean energy are that it reduces our reliance on Fossil Fuels and tones down climate change. Even inorganic solar cells like silicon solar cells that are not efficient left silicon wafer as residues. The silicon wafer is hazardous for soil and if it burns then it pollutes the air also. Organic and hybrid solar cells that contain glass substrates only are the best clean energy so far as those devices do not leave any harmful residues and are also recyclable.

In this work, a TCAD-based simulation approach has been proposed to analyze 3-nm long p-type nanosheet (NS) field-effect transistors (FETs). The effects of the number of conducting channels on device performance have been studied in detail. As a proof-of-concept, the advanced nonplanar FinFET, nanowire FET, and nanosheet FET are compared. Nanosheet transistors show the best performance, and it seems to be the most suitable contender for future technology nodes.

With the increasing demand to develop a renewable and sustainable biolipid feedstock, several species of non-conventional oleaginous yeasts are being explored. Apart from the platform oleaginous yeast Yarrowia lipolytica, the understanding of metabolic pathway and, therefore, exploiting the engineering prospects of most of the oleaginous species are still in infancy. However, in the past few years, enormous efforts have been invested in Rhodotorula, Rhodosporidium, Lipomyces, Trichosporon, and Candida genera of yeasts among others, with the rapid advancement of engineering strategies, significant improvement in genetic tools and techniques, generation of extensive bioinformatics and omics data. In this review, we have collated these recent progresses to make a detailed and insightful summary of the major developments in metabolic engineering of the prominent oleaginous yeast species. Such a comprehensive overview would be a useful resource for future strain improvement and metabolic engineering studies for enhanced production of lipid and lipid-derived chemicals in oleaginous yeasts.

Charge transport in deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is of immense interest in biology and molecular electronics. Electronic coupling between the DNA bases is an important parameter describing the efficiency of charge transport in DNA. A reasonable estimation of this electronic coupling requires many expensive first principle calculations. In this article, we present a machine learning (ML) based model to calculate the electronic coupling between the guanine bases of the DNA (in the same strand) of any length, thus avoiding expensive first-principle calculations. The electronic coupling between the bases are evaluated using density functional theory (DFT) calculations with the morphologies derived from fully atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations. A new and simple protocol based on the coarse-grained model of the DNA has been used to extract the feature vectors for the DNA bases. A deep neural network (NN) is trained with the feature vector as input and the DFT-calculated electronic coupling as output. Once well trained, the NN can predict the DFT-calculated electronic coupling of new structures with a mean absolute error (MAE) of 0.02 eV.

Because of the uninterrupted spread of novel severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infectious disease (COVID-19) with substantial illness and mortality rates, there is an urgent requirement of suitable antiviral agent/therapy to control this pandemic, but not yet established. The primary cause of SARS-CoV-2 infection is the crosstalk between the SARS-CoV-2 and host surface receptor protein, human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (hACE2), prior to cellular entry. Hence, blocking at the initial stage of virus entry could be a promising strategy/therapy to combat the SARS-CoV-2 infection. Many drugs as SARS-CoV-2 blocker have been proposed. Among them, peptide-based antivirals are one. This Viewpoint discusses the potential antiviral role and feasibility of two classes of peptides for prevention of SARS-CoV-2 infection, where (1) a designed peptide (replication of virus binding domain of hACE2), and (2) antimicrobial peptides (AMPs; natural and first line host defense peptide), both may reduce virus load into the host cell by blocking cellular surface receptors and/or disruption of virus cell membrane at the stage of virus entry. These finding may provide a novel antiviral therapy against COVID-19, which might control the current global health crisis.

The architecture of transistors has now switched from planar to the non-planar vertical structures. The 3-D geometry of such non-planar FinFET structures imposes new challenges especially on the computational level. Silicon channel N-type Fin shaped Field Effect Transistors (n-FinFETs) are being integrated with diamond-shaped embedded Si1−xGex fin Strain-Relaxed Buffer (SRB) to optimize the electrical performance. In this work, the stressor geometry (size and shape) effects on the device performance have been studied in detail. The mobility enhancement in n-FinFETs is observed due to process induced strain to increase the drive current. The higher percentage of Ge content shows better effect on device parameters SS, DIBL and VTH. The drain current is found to be improved for certain Ge content in the fin SRB.

Gate-All-Around Nanosheet Field Effect Transistor (GAA-NSFETs) have emerged as the solution to avoid short channel effects (SCEs) at the 10-nm technology node and beyond. In this paper, we have investigated vertically stacked NSFETs from electrical aspects as the degradation in drive current is a significant concern for GAA-NSFETs. We evaluate the impacts of geometrical variations, doping concentration, height and width of the nanosheet on the performance of triplechannel vertically-stacked NSFETs. Each design parameter has been analyzed through various figure-of-merits (FOMs) such as the threshold voltage (V TH ), on-state current (I ON ), off-state current (I OFF ), subthreshold slope (SS) and drain induced barrier lowering (DIBL). Finally, the enhancement in current drivability can be possible by minimizing the NS doping concentration and increasing both the nanosheet height and width.

In this paper, we propose a surface-identification system for stable humanoid-robot walking on various types of surfaces using force sensors mounted under the robot feet. For experimental identification analysis of the surface condition, we measured the sensor-output data using five different types of test surfaces. To achieve fast dynamic recognition capability of changing surface conditions, we applied an overlapped sliding-window method for the incoming sensor-data stream to generate dynamically four distinguishable well-known features from the raw sensor data. The multi-class k-nearest-neighbor (MC-kNN) classifier rather than a binary classifier is used for online classification of the measured robot-walking pattern and classification-accuracy evaluation. Further, we combine the four studied feature descriptors into a fused multi-feature descriptor rather than invoking each feature descriptor independently, increasing the classification performance. Our analysis results verify that 90.4% maximum overall accuracy with 91.49% average precision can be achieved, demonstrating the realization of a better cost-performance trade-off than in other previous research works. The obtained results are useful for balancing the robot body through optimized controlling of the robot motors according to the recognized different surfaces during robot motion.

Usability of biped robots in real applications depends on the robot capability of stable and robust walking with high efficiency. To cope with the various practical challenges, the robot must therefore be able to recognize its environment properties. We report a system for indoor-surface detection based on force sensors attached below the feet of the robot. To verify the recognition performance, indoor evaluation surfaces with 5 different properties are used. The capability of fast surface-property recognition is realized by processing the stream of force-sensor data according to the method of overlapping sliding windows, in order to generate 4 different features in a dynamic way. A k-nearest-neighbor (kNN) classifier with multiple classes is applied for real-time high- accuracy recognition of the surface-specific robot-walking characteristics. In particular, recognition performance can be increased by combining the studied features into a single feature descriptor, instead of using each feature separately. Achievability of an overall accuracy of 90.4% and an average precision of 91.49% is verified. Thus, a favorable trade-off between cost and performance is realized. The developed method is useful for optimized dynamic robot-body balancing and walking-speed adjustment, according to the recognized surface properties.

BACKGROUND Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) across its full spectrum of severity is a psychiatric illness affecting ∼2% to 3% of the general population and results in significant functional impairment. There are few large patient series regarding Gamma ventral capsulotomy (GVC). OBJECTIVE To evaluate clinical outcomes of severe medically refractory OCD treated with GVC. METHODS This is an international, multicenter, retrospective cohort study. Forty patients with pre-GVC Yale-Brown Obsessive Compulsive Scale (Y-BOCS) scores ≥ 24 (indicating severe OCD) were included. GVC was performed with 1 or 2 isocenters with a median maximum dose of 135 Gy (range, 120-180 Gy). Patients were deemed "responders" to GVC if there was ≥35% reduction of follow-up Y-BOCS scores, and considered in remission if their Y-BOCS scores were ≤16. The median follow-up was 36 mo (range, 6-96 mo). RESULTS The median pre-SRS Y-BOCS score was 35 (range, 24-40). Eighteen patients (45%) were considered "responders," and 16 (40%) of them were in remission at their last follow-up. Nineteen patients (47.5%) remained stable with Y-BOCS of 33 (range, 26-36) following GVC, whereas 3 patients (7.5%) experienced worsening in Y-BOCS scores. Patients treated with 2 isocenters were more likely to have improvement in Y-BOCS score at 3 and 5 yr (P

Background Pulse-synchronous tinnitus is rare, and it almost always points toward a vascular pathology. Case Description We encountered a 56-year-old patient presenting with a 3-month history of right-side tinnitus who was found to have a sigmoid sinus aneurysm after initial imaging. The patient was managed successfully with dual endovascular access and stent placement across the aneurysm, with a subsequent complete symptomatic relief. Conclusions Description of the endovascular management of sigmoid sinus aneurysm is not infrequent in the literature. This report provides a brief review of the available literature specifically addressing the management strategies.

In this work, we present a physics-based analysis of two-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) sheet carrier density and other microwave characteristics such as transconductance and cutoff frequency of AlxGa1−xN/GaN high electron mobility transistors (HEMT). An accurate polarization-dependent charge control-based analysis is performed for microwave performance assessment in terms of current, transconductance, gate capacitances, and cutoff frequency of lattice-mismatched AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. The influence of stress on spontaneous and piezoelectric polarization is included in the simulation of an AlGaN/GaN HEMT. We have shown the change in threshold voltage (Vt) due to tensile and compressive strain with different gate lengths. Also, the influence of stress due to the change in nitride thickness is presented. Our simulation results for drain current, transconductance, and current-gain cutoff frequency for various gate length devices are calibrated and verified with experimental data over a wide range of gate and drain applied voltages, which are expected to be useful for microwave circuit design. The predicted transconductance, drain conductance, and operation frequency are quite close to the experimental data. The AlGaN/GaN heterostructure HEMTs with nitride passivation layers show great promise as a candidate in future high speed and high power applications.

Despite many theoretical schemes, the direct experimental observation of supramolecular control over band gap opening in single-walled carbon nanotubes (SWNTs) is still lacking. We report an experimental and theoretical demonstration of a metal-to-semiconductor transition with a precisely measured large band gap in SWNTs due to the wrapping of mannose-functionalized poly(propyl ether imine) dendrimer (DM) molecules. The semiconductor behaviour of the SWNT–DM complex is comprehensively established with a band gap value of ∼0.45 eV measured using scanning tunnelling spectroscopy (STS), ionic liquid top-gated field-effect transistor (FET) characteristics and Raman spectroscopy. Further, a validated molecular picture of the SWNT–DM complex obtained from fully atomistic molecular dynamics (MD) simulations was used to carry out ab initio density functional theory (DFT) and GW calculations of the electronic structure, evaluating an experimentally estimated band gap value. We attribute this large band gap opening in SWNTs to the complexation-induced asymmetric strain developed in the carbon–carbon bond length.

Cancer is one of the top life‐threatening dangers to the human survival, accounting for over 10 million deaths per year. Bioactive glasses have developed dramatically since their discovery 50 years ago, with applications that include therapeutics as well as diagnostics. A new system within the bioactive glass family, mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBGs), has evolved into a multifunctional platform, thanks to MBGs easy‐to‐functionalize nature and tailorable textural properties—surface area, pore size, and pore volume. Although MBGs have yet to meet their potential in tumor treatment and imaging in practice, recently research has shed light on the distinguished MBGs capabilities as promising theranostic systems for cancer imaging and therapy. This review presents research progress in the field of MBG applications in cancer diagnosis and therapy, including synthesis of MBGs, mechanistic overview of MBGs application in tumor diagnosis and drug monitoring, applications of MBGs in cancer therapy ( particularly, targeted delivery and stimuli‐responsive nanoplatforms), and immunological profile of MBG‐based nanodevices in reference to the development of novel cancer therapeutics., Cancer targeted therapy for osteosarcoma, utilizes multifunctional mesoporous bioactive glasses (MBG) theranostic systems. It includes 1) administration of MBG through the artery as a multifunctional drug delivery system, 2) tumor targeted delivery and stimuli‐responsive MBG for cancer therapy, 3) tumor diagnosis and drug monitoring, and 4) induction of apoptosis to promote apoptotic cell death and induction of bone regeneration.

We report, for the first time, the phenomenon of thermoelectricity at quantum level, considering a correlated disordered tight-binding one-dimensional lattice where site energies and/or nearest-neighbor hopping integrals are modulated in the cosine form following the well known Aubry–Andre–Harper (AAH) model. The atypical gapped and fragmented energy spectrum yields a transmission function whose steepness is not symmetrical around the Fermi energy, and because of this fact, we obtain a reasonably large figure of merit, a quantity that measures the thermoelectric energy conversion efficiency. The efficiency can be further monitored by means of AAH phase(s) which undoubtedly gives a possible route of designing controlled thermoelectric devices. Evaluating transmission probabilities using the Green’s function formalism, we compute all the thermoelectric quantities based on the Landauer integrals. The diagonal, off-diagonal and generalized versions of the AAH model are taken into account, and in all the cases we find favorable thermoelectric response. At the end of our analysis, we discuss briefly the specific role of phonon thermal conductance on thermoelectric efficiency to make the present investigation a self-contained one. Our theoretical study may shed some light in analyzing thermoelectric phenomena in similar kind of quasicrystals and other related systems.

The present surgical video demonstrates safe opening of the internal auditory canal (IAC) during vestibular schwannoma surgery via a retrosigmoid approach in the sitting position. Resection of the intrameatal portion of a tumor is important for progression-free survival. Preoperative thin-sliced CT revealed a high-riding jugular bulb obscuring the trajectory. After dural opening, the IAC was approached anteriorly and superiorly. The posterior margin of IAC drilling was above the Tubingen line. Drilling was performed under continuous jugular compression. The vein was pushed down to augment visibility. An angled endoscope was helpful. IAC can be drilled safely in a high-riding jugular bulb with the technique mentioned in the video. The video can be found here: https://stream.cadmore.media/r10.3171/2021.7.FOCVID2198

Optimal treatment of intracranial aneurysms (IAs) in elderly patients has not yet been well established. We have investigated the clinical and radiological outcomes and predictors of unfavorable outcome of IAs in elderly patients. Radiological and clinical data of 85 elderly patients from 2010 through 2015 were retrospectively reviewed. Significant differences between the groups were determined by a chi-square test. Regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of unfavorable outcome. Among the 85 patients with IAs, the number of patients with >7 mm size aneurysm (p = 0.01), diabetes mellitus (DM) (p = 0.02), smoking (0.009) and Hunt and Hess grade 4–5 (p = 0.003) was significantly higher in the ruptured group compared to the unruptured group. Similarly, the number of patients who underwent clipping was higher in the ruptured aneurysm group (p = 0.01). The overall clinical outcome was comparatively better in the unruptured group (p = 0.03); however, microsurgical clipping of aneurysms provides a significantly higher rate of complete aneurysmal occlusion (p = 0.008). Overall, there was no significant difference in outcome in respect to treatment approach. In regression analysis, hypertension (HTN), obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), prior stroke, ruptured aneurysms and partial occlusion of aneurysms were identified as predictors of unfavorable outcome of IAs. Intracranial aneurysms in elderly patients reveals that endovascular treatment provides better clinical outcome; however, microsurgical clipping yields higher complete occlusion. Retreatment of residual aneurysms was comparatively more in the coiling group. Practice pattern has shifted from clipping to coiling for aneurysms in posterior circulation but not for aneurysms in anterior circulation.

Cervicogenic headache affects a significant portion of the entire population. This type of headache especially with atypical presentation is often hard to diagnose and manage since its etiopathophysiology is not been yet well understood. We have investigated the prevalence of cervicogenic headache with atypical presentation and discussed the etiology of it, and the outcome of surgical intervention on this type of headache in patients with cervical degenerative disease.Radiological and clinical data of 160 patients (from 2001 through 2016) were retrospectively reviewed. Significant differences between the groups were determined by chi-square test. Logistic regression analysis was performed to identify the predictors of unfavorable outcome.In this study, 10% of the patients had atypical presentation of cervicogenic headache. In overall cohort, after surgical intervention, there was significant improvement in symptoms and pain control, whether the presentation is typical or atypical. Sixty-one percent of the patients had no complaints, and 90% of the patients were headache-free (p0.0001). Sixty-nine percent of the patients were free of neck, shoulder and extremity pain, and visual analogue scale pain score was reduced by 7 points (pre-op, 8.4 vs. last follow-up, 1.5, p0.0001). However, number of patients with reduced headache was significantly higher in the group with typical presentation of headache (90.1%) compared to group with atypical (80%) presentation, p=0.04. In this study, female gender, smoking, obesity and depression were identified as predictors of overall unfavourable outcome. In addition, in a separate analysis, smoking and depression were revealed as risk factors for persistent headache.A notable portion of patients with cervicogenic headache can have an atypical presentation mimicking a primary type headache. However, cervicogenic headaches with atypical presentation can be difficult to diagnose and manage at the initial visit of the patients. Etiopathophysiology of this type of headache could be explained by the theories including discogenic, convergence and sensitization-desensitization theories. When cervicogenic headache is accompanied with CDD, performing ACDF or laminectomy would be the treatment of choice. Surgical intervention can also relieve the accompanying neck, shoulder and extremity pain with minimal complications. Lastly, outcomes of surgical intervention depend on the patients' morbidities including obesity, smoking and depression.

The early stage detection, diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer are life-saving events in patients housing potentially invasive disease. The healthy human prostate accumulates the maximum amount of zinc compared to any soft tissue in the body. But in the contrary, an inability of cancer cells to accumulate zinc has been found with the development of malignancy resulting in a dramatic reduction in the zinc content of prostate tissue. In this current study, we designed and developed a dipicolylamine-coumarin-chlorambucil (Dpa-Cm-Cmbl) based system which can act as a sensor (for the prostatic zinc i.e. diagnosis) as well as photoresponsive drug delivery system (treatment). We demonstrated that Dpa-Cm-Cmbl being a single component system, first guided us to locate the diseased area by using cellular zinc concentration as a biomarker and in the next there was on-demand release of anticancer drug chlorambucil by employing the external stimulus light. In-vitro studies showed that Dpa-Cm-Cmbl presents excellent properties like detection of cancerous regions in the prostate, photoregulated drug delivery in controlled manner, biocompatibility and all together an efficient chemotherapy.

Background Unruptured intracranial aneurysms (UIAs) have become an issue of greater significance as their detection rates have increased over the years. We present the overall experience of microsurgical clipping of unruptured aneurysms by a single surgeon over a period of more than 16 years. Methods The clinical and radiologic data were reviewed retrospectively. Clinical outcome at follow-up was assessed with Glasgow Outcome Scale, and angiograms were reviewed for the degree of occlusion. Results One hundred ninety-six patients with 221 UIAs were included in the analysis. The median age of patients was 54 years, with a female preponderance. Eighty-two percent of the patients had chronic headache on presentation. Middle cerebral artery aneurysms (32.2%) and posterior-inferior-cerebellar-artery aneurysms (46.1%) were most common in the anterior and posterior circulation, respectively. The perioperative complication rate was 17.3%. The overall surgical morbidity and mortality were 2.1% and 1.5%, respectively. With median follow-up of 11.3 months, 82% of patients were almost asymptomatic with a complete occlusion rate of 94%. The proportion of UIAs being coiled has significantly increased in the last decade, with a concomitant increase in the risk of poor clinical outcome after surgery. Conclusion Surgical clipping is effective and can provide a good long-term outcome. The most commendable consequence that it provides is a better long-term occlusion rate. The experience of the individual surgeon is important for a superior and enduring overall outcome. An increase in the rate of coiling in recent years has affected the outcome rate after surgery that calls for further evaluation.

We report on the modeling and performance optimization studies of point contact back heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. BHJ solar cell technology is a combination of front heterojunction (a-Si:H/c-Si) solar cell technology and interdigitated back junction c-Si solar cell technology. In this work, both emitter (p+-a-Si:H) and back surface field (BSF, n+-a-Si:H) were formed at the rear side as an array of interdigitated points, where their respective contacts formed an interdigitated pattern. The gap between p-type and n-type contact fingers was fixed at 10mm. The n+-a-Si:H (i.e. BSF) circular diameter was fixed while emitter size was varied, and vice versa. Simulation was also performed with and without passivation layer underneath emitter and BSF. We also investigated the impact of surface texture size on cell efficiency. By varying surface texture size, viz. pyramid height and base width, an efficiency as high as 26.61% was obtained with 761 mV Voc, 41mA/cm2 Jsc, and 84.5% FF for a small pyramid structure with 2 mm height and 4mm base width. Scopus

Objective The pterional/frontotemporal orbitozygomatic (FTOZ) approaches are the 2 most widely used procedures for resection of sphenoid wing meningiomas; however, a comparison of outcomes and complications of these 2 approaches has not been well described yet. Here, we investigated the outcomes, complications, and predictors of favorable outcomes of these 2 approaches. Methods Data of 90 consecutive cases with sphenoid wing meningiomas between 1995 and 2015 was reviewed retrospectively. A Kaplan-Meier survival analysis and Cox proportional hazards regression model was used to determine the recurrence-free (RFS) survival and independent predictor of RFS. Results In this study, the overall recurrence rate after tumor excision with pterional and FTOZ approaches was 36.5% and 12.2% respectively ( P = 0.001). Based on surgical approach, the median RFS of the patients with sphenoid wing meningiomas also varied significantly (pterional, 114 months vs. FTOZ, 145 months, P = 0.03). The median RFS for patients with sphenoid wing meningiomas also varied according to the extent of resection (gross total resection [GTR], 146 months vs. subtotal resection, 52 months, P = 0.009). In Cox regression analysis, the FTOZ approach ( P = 0.041), GTR ( P = 0.047), and Karnofsky performance score >70 ( P = 0.04) were revealed as significant predictors of favorable outcome after resection of sphenoid wing meningiomas. Conclusions In summary, sphenoid wing meningiomas undergoing extensive skull base approach (FTOZ) and GTR had a low recurrence rate and greater RFS. Even though FTOZ with GTR is preferable to resect the sphenoid wing meningiomas, the procedure should be tailored to each patient depending on the risks and surgical morbidity.

A comparative analysis of full electrostatic performance and RF characteristics of n-type FinFETs is carried out by using the different physical models. Quantum confinement effects are shown to be significant in sub-100 nm FinFET devices. In the simulation, the ATLAS device simulation tool is used in which various quantum corrections are implemented in models such as (Drift-Diffusion) DD, (Density-Gradient) DG, (Energy Balance) EB, and (Bohm Quantum Potential) BQP. It has been shown that the FinFETs possess the key advantages for applications in RF electronics, around ~15 GHz of transition frequency (ft) where the unilateral power gain-bandwidth product is important for the devices.

The foramen magnum meningioma (FMM) is one of most challenging tumors among all the meningiomas because of its distinctive location, clinical course, insidious onset, and the relative large size of the tumor during presentation. These tumors are slow-growing and clinical symptoms vary according to involvement of different structures including the spinal cord, vertebral artery, lower cranial nerves, and medulla oblongata. Controversies regarding appropriate surgical approach for resection of tumor in this unique location continue. Tumors in the posterior or posterolateral region of the foramen magnum is accessible by midline suboccipital approach. The anterior and anterolateral tumors are encountered by various modifications of the far lateral approach. Drilling of condylar fossa is adequate in most of the cases as tumors often create a surgical corridor. However, an anterior tumor with significant extension on both sides of midline may require variable amounts of condyle resection. Here we review the FMMs with an emphasis on surgical approaches.

An atomistic level process to device simulation tools developed by Tech Next Lab (TNL) is reported. Modeling of the deposition of high-quality ultrathin AlGaN epitaxial films grown on GaN substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) has been performed. The surface morphology, crystalline quality, and interfacial property of as-grown AlGaN epitaxial films on GaN substrates are studied using simulation. The epitaxial layer characterization for extract of exact carrier mobility and use of epitaxially grown material for GaN-FET device application has been demonstrated. Results obtained on the basis of process to device simulation have been calibrated with reported results.

Silicon channel Nanosheet Field Effect Transistors (NSFETs) are integrated with diamond-shaped embedded-Si1−xGex source/drain (S/D) stressors to boost the electrical performance. The effects of stressor geometry (shape and size) on device performance are studied in detail. The carrier mobility enhancement due to process-induced strain in NSFET is found to increase the drain current. Further, enhancement in other electrical parameters is also obtained by increasing the Ge mole fraction in Si1−xGex. The impact of higher Ge mole fraction in the S/D region resulted in an optimum Vth, SS, and DIBL values of 141.78 mV, 69.49 mV/dec, and 24.11 mV/V, respectively. The Efficiency of S/D stress transfer is found to be dependent on the Ge mole fraction in the source/drain stressors p-channel NSFETs.