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Flowchart illustrating how the films are deposited (a) without and (b) with cleaning step, and Auger electron spectroscopy depth profile of 15 nm HfNx deposited with precleaning step, before annealing (c) and after 900 °C annealing at NH3 atmosphere.

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) affects 1% to 5% of women, with devastating effects on both reproductive health and psychological well-being. Homeobox (

In electronic bipolar resistive switching (eBRS), the electron trapping and detrapping at the defect sites within the switching layer, such as the highly defective TiO1.7 in this study, constitute the switching mechanism. It is an appealing candidate solution to the nonuniformity issue of resistive switching memory. However, TiO1.7-based eBRS has suffered from a lack of endurance and retention. In this study, a 7 nm-thick stoichiometric TiO2 layer is interposed between an Al bottom electrode and a 50 nm-thick TiO1.7 layer, which is in contact with an Al top electrode. Despite the minimal structural modification, improvements in the electrical performance were substantial. The off-to-on state resistance ratio of 20 and the resistance values could be retained up to 30 000 direct current sweep cycles and 106 alternating current pulse switching cycles. Data retention also significantly improves. Moreover, the device is electroforming-free and shows fully area-type switching characteristics. Such notable improvements are attributed to the favorable energy band structure of the Al/TiO1.7/TiO2/Al structure. The device shows almost linear potentiation and depression characteristics after the repeated pulse voltage applications, which significantly improves the accuracy of the neural network, the synapses of which are composed of the Al/TiO1.7/TiO2/Al memory cells.

The ferroelectric field‐effect transistor (FeFET) is one of the leading contenders to succeed charge‐trap‐based flash memory (CTF) devices in the current vertically‐integrated NAND flash storage market. The operation of a FeFET is based on the field‐effect in the channel of the FET that is exerted by the uncompensated ferroelectric bound charge, which is also the fundamental source of the depolarization effect. This paper briefly reviews the current status of CTF‐based NAND flash memory as a benchmark for FeFET. Then, a one‐dimensional model based on a load‐line analysis of FeFET technology is presented. The paper subsequently deals with the two‐dimensional domain effect in nano‐sized NAND‐type FeFET devices. While NAND‐type FeFET operation is likely, current ferroelectric materials with high remanent polarization (Pr) of ∼10 μCcm‐2 and coercive field (Ec) of ∼1 MVcm‐1 are not feasible for use in such devices. This is fundamentally due to the high depolarization field induced by the unnecessarily high Pr, which not only destabilizes the memory state but also induces a severe interference effect between neighboring cells. Therefore, a new ferroelectric material with a moderately low Pr and higher Ec > ∼3 MVcm‐1 is necessary, along with structural innovation to minimize the interference effect.

Large artery disease (LAD), cardioembolism (CE), and small vessel disease (SVD) are well-established causes of ischemic stroke. Although a founder variant of RNF213 has been regarded a genetic susceptibility for Moyamoya disease (MMD) and certain types of intracranial atherosclerotic stenosis (ICAS), correlations between RNF213 variants and ischemic stroke with SVD remain largely unknown. This study aimed to characterize the associations of four RNF213 polymorphisms (4448G>A, 4810G>A, 4863G>A, and 4950G>A) with ischemic stroke subtypes in Koreans. Genetic data from 529 stroke patients were analyzed and compared to 424 age- and sex-matched controls. Genetic variants of RNF213, as obtained from the Human Gene Mutation Database, were analyzed in the study subjects using the polymerase chain reaction restriction fragment length polymorphism assay. We investigated four single-nucleotide polymorphisms of RNF213 to elucidate their association with ischemic stroke [LAD, (n = 192), SVD (n = 145) and CE (n = 51)]. The RNF213 4950G>A genotype was observed more frequently in cerebral stroke patients and was more strongly associated with SVD than LAD (P = 0.014). RNF213 4448/4950 in combination with G–A was higher in SVD patients. However, the RNF213 4863/4950 allele combination was associated with increased risk of SVD and LAD. These results confirmed that RNF213 4950GA+AA variants were more frequent in ischemic stroke, especially in SVD, and that RNF213 G–G–G–A and G–G–G–A (4448/4810/4863/4950) haplotype sequences play a role in LAD and CE as well as SVD. Our data reported that the RNF213 4950G>A genotypes and several RNF213 (4448/4810/4863/4950) haplotypes were associated with ischemic stroke in Koreans.

Coronary artery disease (CAD), a leading cause of death worldwide, has a complex etiology comprising both traditional risk factors (type 2 diabetes, dyslipidemia, arterial hypertension, and cigarette smoking) and genetic factors. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) notably contributes to angiogenesis and endothelial homeostasis. However, little is known about the relationship between CAD and VEGF polymorphisms in Koreans. The aim of this study is to investigate the associations of 2 VEGF promoter region polymorphisms (−1154G>A [rs1570360], −1498T>C [rs833061]) and 4 VEGF 3′-UTR polymorphisms (+936C>T [rs3025039], +1451C>T [rs3025040], +1612G>A [rs10434], and +1725G>A [rs3025053]) with CAD susceptibility in Koreans. We studied 885 subjects: 463 CAD patients and 422 controls. Genotyping was conducted with polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism analysis and TaqMan allelic discrimination assays, and the genotype frequencies were calculated. We then performed haplotype and genotype combination analyses and measured the associations between VEGF polymorphisms and clinical variables in both the CAD patients and control subjects. We detected statistically significant associations between CAD and certain VEGF allele combinations. In the haplotypes of 5 single-nucleotide polymorphisms, the VEGF allele combination −1154A/+936T was associated with a decreased prevalence of CAD (A-T-T-G-G of VEGF −1154G>A/−1498T>C/+936C>T/+1612G>A/+1725G>A, AOR = 0.077, p = 0.021). In contrast, the VEGF allele combinations −1498T/+1725A and −1498T/+1612A/+1725A were associated with an increased prevalence of CAD (G-T-C-C-A of VEGF −1154G>A/−1498T>C/+936C>T/+1451C>T/+1725G>A, AOR = 1.602, p = 0.047; T-C-C-A-A of VEGF −1498T>C/+936C>T/+1451C>T/+1612G>A/+1725G>A, AOR = 1.582, p = 0.045). Gene–environment combinatorial analysis showed that the combination of the VEGF +1725AA genotype and several clinical factors (e.g., body mass index, hemoglobin A1c, and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol) increased the risk of CAD. Therefore, we suggest that VEGF polymorphisms and clinical factors may impact CAD prevalence.

Vertically integrated NAND (V-NAND) flash memory is the main data storage in modern handheld electronic devices, widening its share even in the data centers where installation and operation costs are critical. While the conventional scaling rule has been applied down to the design rule of ≈15 nm (year 2013), the current method of increasing device density is stacking up layers. Currently, 176-layer-stacked V-NAND flash memory is available on the market. Nonetheless, increasing the layers invokes several challenges, such as film stress management and deep contact hole etching. Also, there should be an upper bound for the attainable stacking layers (400-500) due to the total allowable chip thickness, which will be reached within 6-7 years. This review summarizes the current status and critical challenges of charge-trap-based flash memory devices, with a focus on the material (floating-gate vs charge-trap-layer), array-level circuit architecture (NOR vs NAND), physical integration structure (2D vs 3D), and cell-level programming technique (single vs multiple levels). Current efforts to improve fabrication processes and device performances using new materials are also introduced. The review suggests directions for future storage devices based on the ionic mechanism, which may overcome the inherent problems of flash memory devices.

The chemical, physical, and electrical properties of the atomic layer deposited Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 thin films using tetrakis(ethylmethylamino) (TEMA) and tetrakis(dimethylamino) (TDMA) precursors are compared. The ligand of the metal-organic precursors strongly affects the residual C concentration, grain size, and the resulting ferroelectric properties. Depositing Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 films with the TDMA precursors results in lower C concentration and slightly larger grain size. These findings are beneficial to grow more ferroelectric-phase-dominant film, which mitigates its wake-up effect. From the wake-up test of the TDMA-Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 film with a 2.8 MV/cm cycling field, the adverse wake-up effect was well suppressed up to 105 cycles, with a reasonably high double remanent polarization value of ~40 μC/cm2. The film also showed reliable switching up to 109 cycles with the 2.5 MV/cm cycling field without involving the wake-up effect but with the typical fatigue behavior.

Ferroelectricity in fluorite-structure oxides, such as (doped) HfO2 and ZrO2, and their solid solution, nanolaminates, and superlattices has attracted increasing interest for future memory devices. The scalability of film thickness down to only several nm and the availability of matured deposition techniques render these materials highly practical for future high-density memory applications. Significant effort is being made in the community to identify the possible reasons for establishing solid physical backgrounds for the emergence of the (unexpected) ferroelectricity in these materials. Nonetheless, several technical obstacles must be overcome before adopting ferroelectric HfO2 for practical device applications. Among them, understanding the role of various forms of defects in ferroelectric phase formation and evolution of the device performance is crucial. The forms of defects include point defects such as oxygen vacancies, extrinsic defects such as residual carbon, nitrogen, and hydrogen, and two-dimensional defects such as an interfacial layer at the electrode interface and grain boundaries. Numerous previous studies on non-ferroelectric HfO2 or non-fluorite-structure ferroelectrics could form the foundation for the understanding of such thematics. In this review, the influences of various kinds of defects on the formation mechanism of various polymorphisms, and the accompanying ferroelectric and electrical properties are comprehensively studied based on previous literature. This review is expected to contribute to a better understanding of these emerging ferroelectric materials and to provide the community with new insights motivated by the previous studies on non-ferroelectric HfO2 and non-fluorite-structure ferroelectrics.

Atomic-resolution Cs-corrected scanning transmission electron microscopy revealed local shifting of two oxygen positions (O

Recurrent pregnancy loss (RPL) is defined as two or more consecutive pregnancy losses prior to 20 weeks of gestational age. Various factors, including immune dysfunction, endocrine disorders, coagulation abnormality, and genetic disorders influence RPL. In particular, plasminogen activator inhibitor-1 (PAI-1), tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), and renin (REN) have important roles in the thrombotic and thrombolytic systems, and abnormal expression of these genes have a reported negative correlation with pregnancy maintenance. Moreover, some polymorphisms of the three genes are related to expression levels and thrombotic disorder. Therefore, we investigated whether polymorphisms of PAI-1, tPA, and REN are linked to RPL. Genotyping of the six polymorphisms (PAI-1 rs11178, rs1050955, tPA rs4646972, rs2020918, REN rs1464816, and rs5707) was performed using polymerase chain reaction (PCR)-restriction fragment length polymorphism and associations of the polymorphisms with RPL were evaluated by statistical analysis. The polymorphism PAI-1 rs1050955 GA+AA was associated with decreased RPL risk (AOR, 0.528; 95% CI 0.356–0.781; p = 0.001) as was the REN 10795 rs5707 GG genotype (AOR, 0.487; 95% CI 0.301–0.787; p = 0.003). In contrast, the tPA rs4646972 II genotype correlated with increased RPL risk (AOR, 1.606; 95% CI, 1.047–2.463; p = 0.030). This study provides evidence that tPA Alu rs4646972 may contribute to the risk of idiopathic RPL, but PAI-1 12068 rs1050955 and REN 10795 rs5707 are associated with a decreased risk of RPL. Therefore, these alleles may be useful as biomarkers to evaluate the risk of RPL.

In electronic bipolar resistive switching (eBRS), the electron trapping and detrapping at the defect sites within the switching layer, such as the highly defective TiO

The effect of soaking temperature on the moisture uptake and the protein loss of soybeans during soaking process investigated. As the soaking temperature increased, the soaking rate significantly increased and Peleg model was suitable for describing the soaking characteristics of the soybean with high R2 values (>0.991). The soaking time to achieve the target moisture content of soybean (130%) was estimated to be 12.6, 3.11 and 2.31 h at 25, 35 and 45 ℃, respectively. Peleg model well described the protein loss kinetics of soybean during soaking with high R2 values (>0.941). The results showed that the protein loss of soybean at the target moisture content were 35.2, 93.1 and 103.0 mg/g at 25, 35 and 45 ℃, respectively. In this study, the optimum soaking condition for quality of soybean was 12.6 h of soaking time at 25 ℃.

In this study, a grading system for ears of corn was developed to design sterilization process of the ear of corn using fuzzy c-mean (FCM) clustering. Three grades (A, B, and C) of corn found by FCM (the m-value and the c-value were 1.15 and 3, respectively) were used to design the sterilization process of the ear of corn. The heat transfer simulation model was successfully developed to determine the locations of the cold point for the three different grades of corn during sterilization (RMSE = 0.104 °C). Among the 3 different temperature used in this study (111.1, 121.1, and 131.1 °C), 121.1 °C found to be the optimum sterilization temperature based on the analysis of texture properties of corn. The heating time to reach the target F0-value (5 min) for grades A, B, and C was 61, 49, and 36 min, respectively. When the longest heating time (61 min) was applied, the quality of the overheated corn (grades B and C) was significantly decreased (p

Recurrent implantation failure (RIF) refers to the occurrence of more than two failed in vitro fertilization–embryo transfers (IVF-ETs) in the same individual. RIF can occur for many reasons, including embryo characteristics, immunological factors, and coagulation factors. Genetics can also contribute to RIF, with some single-nucleotide variants (SNVs) reported to be associated with RIF occurrence. We examined SNVs in a long non-coding RNA, homeobox (HOX) transcript antisense RNA (HOTAIR), which is known to affect cancer development. HOTAIR regulates epigenetic outcomes through histone modifications and chromatin remodeling. We recruited 155 female RIF patients and 330 healthy controls, and genotyped HOTAIR SNVs, including rs4759314, rs920778, rs7958904, and rs1899663, in all participants. Differences in these SNVs were compared between the patient and control groups. We identified significant differences in the occurrence of heterozygous genotypes and the dominant expression model for the rs1899663 and rs7958904 SNVs between RIF patients and control subjects. These HOTAIR variants were associated with serum hemoglobin (Hgb), luteinizing hormone (LH), total cholesterol (T. chol), and blood urea nitrogen (BUN) levels, as assessed by analysis of variance (ANOVA). We analyzed the four HOTAIR SNVs and found significant differences in haplotype patterns between RIF patients and healthy controls. The results of this study showed that HOTAIR is not only associated with the development of cancer but also with pregnancy-associated diseases. This study represents the first report showing that HOTAIR is correlated with RIF.

Charge injection from the near-by-electrode can occur during ferroelectric switching in the ferroelectric-dielectric bilayer due to the high field applied to the adjacent dielectric layers. The aim of this study is to investigate the effect of the charge injection by separating the amount of switched polarization and the injected charge density. A dynamic model of the injection-involved switching is developed and exploited to elucidate the mechanism. The model demonstrates that the amount of injected charges, which compensates for the bound charge of the polarization, can be larger, smaller, or identical to that of the polarization. This model further describes the analytical conditions of this compensation state. The model predictions are validated by the newly introduced ramping pulse measurements involving the serially connected TiN/Hf0.5Zr0.5O2/TiN and TiN/amorphous Al2O3/TiN, which are capable of separating the injected charge from the switched polarization. The dynamic model, along with the electrical measurements, enables the quantitative prediction and estimation of the internal potential and the effective charge, which is the sum of the bound and injected charges in the bilayer. This work provides fundamental insights into field-effect devices such as the next-generation ferroelectric-field-effect-transistors with NAND architecture based on uncompensated ferroelectric charges.

The aim of this study was to identify novel genetic markers related to coronary artery disease (CAD) using a whole-exome sequencing (WES) approach and determine any associations between the selected gene polymorphisms and CAD prevalence. CUBN, HNF1A and LIPC gene polymorphisms related to CAD susceptibility were identified using WES screening. Possible associations between the five gene polymorphisms and CAD susceptibility were examined in 452 CAD patients and 421 control subjects. Multivariate logistic regression analyses indicated that the CUBN rs2291521GA and HNF1A rs55783344CT genotypes were associated with CAD (GG vs. GA; adjusted odds ratio [AOR] = 1.530; 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.113–2.103; P = 0.002 and CC vs. CT; AOR = 1.512; 95% CI 1.119–2.045; P = 0.007, respectively). The CUBN rs2291521GA and HNF1A rs55783344CT genotype combinations exhibited a stronger association with CAD risk (AOR = 2.622; 95% CI 1.518–4.526; P = 0.001). Gene-environment combinatorial analyses indicated that the CUBN rs2291521GA, HNF1A rs55783344CT, and LIPC rs17269397AA genotype combination and several clinical factors (fasting blood sugar (FBS), high-density lipoprotein (HDL), and low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels) were associated with increased CAD risk. The CUBN rs2291521GA, HNF1A rs55783344CT, and LIPC rs17269397AA genotypes in conjunction with abnormally elevated cholesterol levels increase the risk of developing CAD. This exploratory study suggests that polymorphisms in the CUBN, HNF1A, and LIPC genes can be useful biomarkers for CAD diagnosis and treatment.

Moisture transfer characteristics of Alaska pollock (AP) surimi were investigated at various temperatures. The effective moisture diffusivity increased from 5.50 &times, 10&minus, 11 to 2.07 &times, 9 m2/s as the temperature increased from 30 &deg, C to 90 &deg, C. In order to investigate the mass and heat transfer characteristics of AP surimi, the simulation model was developed and evaluated by root-mean-square error (RMSE) (&lt, 2.95%). Rheological properties of AP surimi were investigated at different heating rates (1 &deg, C/min, 5 &deg, C/min, 10 &deg, C/min, 20 &deg, C/min and 30 &deg, C/min). As heating rate increased to 20 &deg, C/min, elastic modulus (G&rsquo, ) significantly diminished. The diminished G&rsquo, could be explained by impaired gel during temperature sweep supported by the predicted temperature distribution in the simulation model. Changes in moisture content of AP surimi during temperature sweep were also measured and predicted by the simulation model. The results showed the decreased amount of moisture content significantly increased as heating rate increased.

This study developed a multilayered moisture conservation model (MCM) to reflect the structural differences of soybean. The blue-channel image derived from image analysis revealed two different str...

Interests in nanoscale integrated ferroelectric devices using doped HfO2-based thin films are actively reviving in academia and industry. The main driving force for the formation of the metastable non-centrosymmetric ferroelectric phase is considered to be the interface/grain boundary energy effect of the small grains in polycrystalline configuration. These small grains, however, can invoke unfavorable material properties, such as nonuniform switching performance. This study provides an in-depth understanding of such aspects of this material through careful measurement and modeling of the ferroelectric switching kinetics. Various previous switching models developed for conventional ferroelectric thin-film capacitors cannot fully account for the observed time- and voltage-dependent switching current evolution. The accurate fitting of the experimental results required careful consideration of the inhomogeneous field distribution across the electrode area, which could be acquired by an appropriate mathematic...

The change in the moisture content of soybeans during a rehydration process at 25 °C was investigated. Peleg’s equation was suitable for describing the soaking characteristics of the soybean with a R2 value of 0.98. The soaking time to achieve the target moisture content of soybeans (33.33%) was estimated to be 14.59 min by the Peleg model. The mass transfer coefficient (k) for the mass transfer simulation was determined with two calculation steps using the Omoto model and the simulation models. The most suitable k value for the simulation was determined to be 6.0 × 10−7 m2/s, which is higher than the apparent k value obtained from the Omoto model. The diffusion simulation for the internal diffusion of the soybean after soaking was conducted for 180 min and the cross-section of soybeans was analyzed using an image processing technique during the diffusion process. The image analysis detected a moving layer during the diffusion process and the moisture content at the layer was determined to be 32.08% (± 0.34) based on the results of the simulation model.

The fiscal efficiency of Public Private Partnership (PPP) projects has been subject to much debate since PPP proliferated in Korea since 1997. The paper aims to determine the fiscal efficiency of t...