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This article investigates the analogy of the “laws of nature” through Graham Harman’s Object-Oriented Ontology (OOO) and Gilbert Simondon’s ontogenetic naturalism (ON). Both thinkers challenge the literalist interpretation of scientific knowledge by emphasizing the indirect nature of relation and the primacy of the autonomy of discrete beings over pre-established physical laws. Harman’s OOO defends this autonomy as the irreducible independence of objects from their relations, while Simondon focuses on the modulation of information in shaping the laws of nature through individuation. The article argues that while science remains the best recursive triangulation between logic and empirical evidence, its grasp of an ultimate, literal Truth is constricted by an epistemological relation to autonomous realities, grounded in analogy. Consequently, the laws of nature are considered as legislated by discrete autonomies, with space and time emerging from the things themselves. The article concludes by discussing the consequences of this reframing in light of the ancient conception of díkēkosmos (cosmic justice).

The Mars 2020 Perseverance Rover imaged diagenetic textural features in four separate sedimentary units in its exploration of the 25‐m‐thick Shenandoah formation at Jezero Crater, Mars, that we interpreted as probable concretions. These concretions were most abundant in the Hogwallow Flats member of the Shenandoah formation and were restricted to the light‐toned, platy, sulfur‐cemented bedrock at outcrop surfaces, whereas the finely laminated, darker toned, mottled and deformed strata lack concretions. The concretions also had a wide range of morphologies including concentric, oblate, urn, and spheroidal shaped forms that were not clustered, and ranged in size from ∼1 to 16 mm with a median of 2.65 mm. The elemental composition of the concretions compared to the bedrock had greater abundance of magnesium and calcium salts, silicates, and possibly hematite. We compared these Jezero Crater concretions to the geochemistry of concretions from previously published studies and from two new terrestrial analog sites (Gallup Formation, New Mexico and Torrey Pines, California). In addition, we measured organic carbon content of three terrestrial sedimentary analogs of increasing age that contain concretions (Torrey Pines (Pleistocene), Gallup Formation (∼89 Ma), and Moodies Group (∼3.2 Ga)). All measured concretions contained significant concentrations of organic carbon with the maximum organic carbon content (∼2 wt. % Total organic carbon) found in the Moodies Group concretions. Organic carbon abundances in terrestrial concretions was controlled more by the formation mechanism and relative timing of concretion development rather than deposit age. These findings suggested that concretions at Jezero Crater reflect local sites of enhanced biosignature preservation potential. Plain Language Summary: The Perseverance Rover discovered concretions in its exploration of the rock packages at Jezero Crater, Mars and one of the sample return cores was collected from concretion‐rich bedrock. Concretions are resistant cement in the rock that are found in many shapes (usually spherical or oblate) and range from millimeter to meter size scales on Earth; they can be formed through inorganic water‐rock reactions or facilitated by microbial metabolisms. We documented the abundance, size, composition, and shape of the concretions to understand how these features were formed. We found that the concretions are mixtures of salts, clay minerals, and iron oxides. We compared these results to terrestrial concretions with similar mineral compositions and measured the organic carbon in four terrestrial analogs. Comparisons with terrestrial concretions in this study and the literature suggested that the concretion composition in Jezero Crater could have high organic preservation potential. Thus, the concretions in Jezero Crater may retain organic carbon and other biosignatures and might therefore be considered as high priority samples of astrobiological interest out of the current sample suite for return to Earth. Key Points: Jezero Crater concretions are variably enriched in Si, Ca, and Mg salts, and Fe oxidesTerrestrial concretions of similar mineralogy analyzed in this study contain significant organic carbon phasesBased on terrestrial analogs, Jezero Crater concretions may represent sites of enhanced biosignature preservation potential [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper comprehensively perfects the sensitive node transient detection feedback latch (SNTDFL) technique, subsequently conceptualizes an ideal hardening structure for the pre‐amplification stage, and proposes a radiation hardened by design (RHBD) strategy to cope with the severe single‐event transient (SET) effects of high‐precision voltage comparators in a space radiation environment. Analysis and verification results show that the hardening strategy exhibits excellent SET hardening performance, which can not only detect extremely small transient voltage disturbances at sensitive nodes but also effectively resist transient current pulses of various intensities generated by SETs. Compared with an unhardened high‐precision comparator, the proposed one, hardened with a hybrid strategy of SNTDFL and triple modular redundancy (TMR) techniques, can greatly preserve the original electrical properties and remarkably improve the tolerance of SET with little overhead. In addition, the proposed high‐precision comparator significantly reduces static power consumption compared with the one hardened with the TMR technique alone and has a smaller area overhead. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

2-Benzylbenzimidazoles, or "nitazenes", are a class of novel synthetic opioids (NSOs) that are increasingly being detected alongside fentanyl analogs and other opioids in drug overdose cases. Nitazenes can be 20× more potent than fentanyl but are not routinely tested for during postmortem or clinical toxicology drug screens; thus, their prevalence in drug overdose cases may be under-reported. Traditional analytical workflows utilizing liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC–MS/MS) often require additional confirmation with authentic reference standards to identify a novel nitazene. However, additional analytical measurements with ion mobility spectrometry (IMS) may provide a path toward reference-free identification, which would greatly accelerate NSO identification rates in toxicology laboratories. Presented here are the first IMS and collision cross section (CCS) measurements on a set of fourteen nitazene analogs using a structures for lossless ion manipulations (SLIM)-orbitrap MS. All nitazenes exhibited two high intensity baseline-separated IMS distributions, which fentanyls and other drug and druglike compounds also exhibit. Incorporating water into the electrospray ionization (ESI) solution caused the intensities of the higher mobility IMS distributions to increase and the intensities of the lower mobility IMS distributions to decrease. Nitazenes lacking a nitro group at the R1 position exhibited the greatest shifts in signal intensities due to water. Furthermore, IMS-MS/MS experiments showed that the higher mobility IMS distributions of all nitazenes possessing a triethylamine group produced fragment ions with m/z 72, 100, and other low intensity fragments while the lower mobility IMS distributions only produced fragment ions with m/z 72 and 100. The IMS, solvent, and fragmentation studies provide experimental evidence that nitazenes potentially exhibit three gas-phase protomers. The cyclic IMS capability of SLIM was also employed to partially resolve four sets of structurally similar nitazene isomers (e.g., protonitazene/isotonitazene, butonitazene/isobutonitazene/secbutonitazene), showcasing the potential of using high-resolution IMS separations in MS-based workflows for reference-free identification of emerging nitazenes and other NSOs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cognitive science was founded on the idea that the mind/brain can be understood in computational terms. While computational modeling in science is ubiquitous, cognitive science takes the stronger stance that the mind/brain literally performs computations. Moreover, performing computations is crucial to explaining what the mind/brain does, qua mind/brain. Unfortunately, most scientists fail to consider analog computation as a legitimate and theoretically useful type of computation in addition to digital computation; to the extent that analog computation is acknowledged, it is mostly based on a simplistic and incomplete understanding. Taking computation to consist of only one type (i.e., digital) while ignoring another, interestingly distinct type (i.e., analog) leads to an impoverished understanding of what it could mean for minds/brains to compute. A full appreciation and understanding of analog computation—particularly in relation to digital computation—allows researchers to develop computational frameworks and hypotheses in new and exciting ways. Thus, somewhat counterintuitively, looking to the once‐dominant computing paradigm of yesteryear can provide novel computational ways of thinking about the mind and brain. This article is categorized under:Philosophy > Foundations of Cognitive Science [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Benzothiazole derivatives have been reported to possess a wide range of biological activities, including antimalarial activity. This systematic review aims to summarize and evaluate the antimalarial activities of benzothiazole analogs. Methods: We conducted an electronic search using nine databases in October 2017 and subsequently updated in September 2022. We included all original in vitro and in vivo studies that documented the antimalarial activities of compounds containing benzothiazole analogs with no restriction. The risk of bias of each included study was assessed by ToxRTool. Results: Twenty‐eight articles were included in our study, which are in vitro, in vivo, or both. Of these, 232 substances were identified to have potent antiplasmodial activity against various strains of the malaria parasite. Benzothiazole analogs show different antimalarial mechanisms, including inhibition of Plasmodium falciparum enzymes in in vitro studies and inhibition of blood parasites in in vivo studies. Conclusions: Benzothiazole derivatives are promising substances for treating malaria. The structure–activity relationship studies suggest that the substitution pattern of the benzothiazole scaffold plays a crucial role in determining the antimalarial activity of the analog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The display of the future is multimodal, integrating optical sensors, RFID antennas, ultrasound transducers, etc. The sensors produce a large amount of redundant data, which should be preprocessed on the substrate, ideally on the backpanel. Control gates and select and data drivers need to be more configurable and partitionable to create operational flexibility. This paper presents various circuit blocks for processing and control, including operational amplifiers, high‐resolution analog‐to‐digital converters, a microprocessor, DC‐DC converters, and high resolution sensor pixel array architectures. Moreover, the performance of the basic building blocks is compared in LTPS and IGZO technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Responding to the threats of climate change by cities requires taking relevant actions that will communicate future conditions in reliable and effective manner for sustainable and transformational climate actions. We used the analog approach to assess the geographical shifts and changes in average temperature conditions for six traditional and economic cities under different climate scenarios (Mitigated and Unmitigated scenarios). We calculated the similarity in temperature between each pixel for the current (2021–2050) and future (2041–2070) conditions of the cities, with every pixel globally in the historical (1971–200) period. Our analysis revealed that; (1) the temperature of the cities in the current and future periods will be similar to conditions of another place on the globe during the historical period; (2) Kano city will experience even more drastic changes because of the low level of similarity to other places; (3) the new places found with similar temperature conditions are generally to the south of the corresponding cities thus indicating warming. The overall results show that the analogues of the cities are within the domain of the global tropical zone which occurs around the equator. Drawing from the interaction between cities and their analogues, we highlighted sustainable city related actions such as the incorporation of urban designs and policies to enhance human thermal comfort as adaptation and solution strategies. While future research might apply qualitative studies and additional data to support the analog results, our findings can guide the understanding and application of the analog approach into environmental issues in Nigeria and other West African countries in accordance to sustainable city goals (SDG 11).

Mars has many well‐exposed fluvial ridges and fluvio‐deltaic basins; in two of these locations, the Curiosity and Perseverance rovers are currently searching for signs of habitability. The distribution of organic carbon that might persist in ancient fluvial deposits present on Mars is not well understood. In this study, we set out to assess the preservation potential of organic carbon in a hyperarid fluvial environment with observations and analyses of the Amargosa River in Death Valley, California (United States). The lower reaches of the Amargosa River in Badwater Basin are nearly devoid of plants and contain low gradient, meandering channels, making them a valuable terrestrial analog for early martian fluvial systems. We analyzed sediment taken from fluvial deposits exposed in cutbanks of two bends of a meandering channel. We found total organic carbon abundances that were on average 0.15% up to a meter below the surface. X‐ray diffraction and electron microscopy analyses revealed a suite of high redox potential mineral phases (including iron and manganese oxides) mixed with detrital and authigenic silicates, carbonate, and sulfate salts at or close to redox equilibrium with pore fluids in contact with the atmosphere. This finding highlighted that organic carbon can persist in fluvial deposits at low abundance despite oxidizing conditions and saturated sediments and suggested that ancient fluvial deposits on Mars may retain traces of organics in fine‐grained deposits if they are present during deposition. Plain Language Summary: The Curiosity and Perseverance rovers are currently searching for signs of past life on Mars in two ancient river deposits. Since carbon on the surface of Mars could originate from meteorites and chemical reactions in addition to potential Martian life forms, it is valuable to identify sedimentary environments that best preserve biospheric organic carbon. The distribution of organic carbon that might persist in ancient river deposits on Mars is not well understood, yet this understanding is crucial to detecting evidence of past life on Mars. In this study, we set out to determine the preservation potential of organic carbon in an arid, fluvial environment. The Amargosa River (Death Valley, California, United States) hosts a low gradient single threaded river, running through a catchment with little vegetation and making it a valuable terrestrial analog for early Martian fluvial systems. We found that organic carbon can persist in fine‐grained river sediments at low abundance despite oxidizing conditions in the subsurface. Our results suggested that fine‐grained ancient river deposits on Mars are the most promising sampling targets for the Perseverance rover to detect traces of potential life on Mars. Key Points: The hyper‐arid deposits of the ephemeral, alluvial Amargosa River are a useful process analog for ancient Martian river depositsX‐ray diffraction and electron microscopy analyses revealed that the subsurface remains highly oxidizing despite saturated sedimentsFluvial deposits had low abundances of organic carbon in fine‐grained sediment; mudstones are the most promising targets for sampling on Mars [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista ADM is the property of Asociacion Dental Mexicana and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper, the applicability of dual material stacked gate-oxide-Pocket doped-hetero-junction tunnel field effect transistor (DMSGO-PD-HTFET) for low power switching and radio frequency (RF) applications is investigated. In this context, gate workfunction engineering, the stacked-gate-oxide ($$Si{O_2}$$ Si O 2 + $$Hf{O_2}$$ Hf O 2 ) approach, and asymmetrical doping at the P+ source ($$S{i_{1 - X}}G{e_X}$$ S i 1 − X G e X ) and N+ drain regions are considered. N+ pocket at source-channel interface implements DMSGO-PD-HTFET and improves interband tunnelling rate. This research aims to improve the device's switching ratio ($${I_{ON}}$$ I ON / $${I_{OFF}}$$ I OFF ), average subthreshold swing ($$S{S_{Avg}}$$ S S Avg ), and radio frequency (RF) performance. For this, the control gate work function, mole fraction (X), pocket thickness, and doping concentration are optimised. Next, the DC, analog/RF and linearity figure of merits of the proposed device is analysed and the performance is compared with conventional all-silicon dual-material stack gate oxide tunnel field effect transistor (DMSGO-TFET) and dual-material stacked gate oxide-hetero-junction tunnel field effect transistor (DMSGO-HTFET) with $$S{i_{1 - X}}G{e_X}$$ S i 1 − X G e X source using technology computer-aided design (TCAD) device simulator. Based on the comparative analysis, the optimised design with $$S{i_{0.6}}G{e_{0.4}}$$ S i 0.6 G e 0.4 exhibits an average subthreshold swing ($$S{S_{Avg}}$$ S S Avg ) of 28.8 mV/decade, switching ratio ($${I_{ON}}$$ I ON / $${I_{OFF}}$$ I OFF ) of 2 × 1012, cut-off frequency ($${f_T}$$ f T ) of 216 (GHz), and other significant improvements in analog/RF and linearity performance parameters. The proposed device is therefore suitable for switching and RF applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The self-heating effect of the silicon-on-insulator (SOI)-raised-buried-oxide (RBOX) ferroelectric tunnel field effect transistor is explored in this article. Proposed device reliability issues have been examined by activating the acceptor and donor uniform and Gaussian interface trap concentrations (ITCs). The proposed TFET is designed to diminish the ambipolar current, intensify on-state current and to improve subthreshold slope. The device performance for Analog/RF applicability is also tested by calculating the capacitances (Cgg–3.6 × 10−16 F/µm), transconductance in the order of 7.3 × 10−3S/µm, the cutoff frequency of 71 THz, and further transistor frequency product of 3.1 × 1015 Hz/V, transit time (1.4 × 10−15 s), and gain–bandwidth product of 12 THz are determined. All these parameter variations are investigated by changing the temperature and trap concentrations. The parameters have been compared with the room temperature and noticed an improved performance in terms of Analog/RF applicability. In addition, the introduction of the trap concentrations at the interfaces such as front gate oxide/silicon and the silicon/buried oxide is compared with no trap concentrations. It is proven that for Analog/RF applications, the proposed SOI-RBOX-ferroelectric-TFET exhibits the prominent behavior. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The opioid crisis in the United States is being fueled by the rapid emergence of new fentanyl analogs and precursors that can elude traditional library-based screening methods, which require data from known reference compounds. Since reference compounds are unavailable for new fentanyl analogs, we examined if fentanyls (fentanyl + fentanyl analogs) could be identified in a reference-free manner using a combination of electrospray ionization (ESI), high-resolution ion mobility (IM) spectrometry, high-resolution mass spectrometry (MS), and higher-energy collision-induced dissociation (MS/MS). We analyzed a mixture containing nine fentanyls and W-15 (a structurally similar molecule) and found that the protonated forms of all fentanyls exhibited two baseline-separated IM distributions that produced different MS/MS patterns. Upon fragmentation, both IM distributions of all fentanyls produced two high intensity fragments, resulting from amine site cleavages. The higher mobility distributions of all fentanyls also produced several low intensity fragments, but surprisingly, these same fragments exhibited much greater intensities in the lower mobility distributions. This observation demonstrates that many fragments of fentanyls predominantly originate from one of two different gas-phase structures (suggestive of protomers). Furthermore, increasing the water concentration in the ESI solution increased the intensity of the lower mobility distribution relative to the higher mobility distribution, which further supports that fentanyls exist as two gas-phase protomers. Our observations on the IM and MS/MS properties of fentanyls can be exploited to positively differentiate fentanyls from other compounds without requiring reference libraries and will hopefully assist first responders and law enforcement in combating new and emerging fentanyls. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This special issue reviews and compares the processes of digitalization of higher education. The articles in this Special Issue, covering 14 countries or regions from five continents, show the many commonalities and challenges of the transformation to a digital state and society, but also significant differences between them, especially between the countries of the 'global North' and the 'global South.' However, these differences stem mostly from governmental policy decisions regarding higher education, more so than technological dimensions of digitalization or the stages of economic development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Responding to the threats of climate change by cities requires taking relevant actions that will communicate future conditions in reliable and effective manner for sustainable and transformational climate actions. We used the analog approach to assess the geographical shifts and changes in average temperature conditions for six traditional and economic cities under different climate scenarios (Mitigated and Unmitigated scenarios). We calculated the similarity in temperature between each pixel for the current (2021–2050) and future (2041–2070) conditions of the cities, with every pixel globally in the historical (1971–200) period. Our analysis revealed that; (1) the temperature of the cities in the current and future periods will be similar to conditions of another place on the globe during the historical period; (2) Kano city will experience even more drastic changes because of the low level of similarity to other places; (3) the new places found with similar temperature conditions are generally to the south of the corresponding cities thus indicating warming. The overall results show that the analogues of the cities are within the domain of the global tropical zone which occurs around the equator. Drawing from the interaction between cities and their analogues, we highlighted sustainable city related actions such as the incorporation of urban designs and policies to enhance human thermal comfort as adaptation and solution strategies. While future research might apply qualitative studies and additional data to support the analog results, our findings can guide the understanding and application of the analog approach into environmental issues in Nigeria and other West African countries in accordance to sustainable city goals (SDG 11). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Scientific ideas about the potential existence of life elsewhere in the universe are predominantly informed by knowledge about life on Earth. Over the past ∼4 billion years, life on Earth has evolved into millions of unique species. Life now inhabits nearly every environmental niche on Earth that has been explored. Despite the wide variety of species and diverse biochemistry of modern life, many features, such as energy production mechanisms and nutrient requirements, are conserved across the Tree of Life. Such conserved features help define the operational parameters required by life and therefore help direct the exploration and evaluation of habitability in extraterrestrial environments. As new diversity in the Tree of Life continues to expand, so do the known limits of life on Earth and the range of environments considered habitable elsewhere. The metabolic processes used by organisms living on the edge of habitability provide insights into the types of environments that would be most suitable to hosting extraterrestrial life, crucial for planning and developing future astrobiology missions. This chapter will introduce readers to the breadth and limits of life on Earth and show how the study of life at the extremes can inform the broader field of astrobiology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mastering, on the other hand, is the process of refining a recording made after the mixing stage using various techniques before the album is pressed and distributed. The mastering process includes adjusting the dynamics of signal frequencies, regulating tonal balances with equalizers, and determining and downsizing audio file formats. Mastering creates coherence among the tracks within an album and provides listeners with a higherquality listening experience. The entire process of recording and mixing, encompassing mastering, involves converting signals from analog equipment and software into digital values using an Analog-to-Digital (A/D) converter within a Digital Audio Workstation (DAW). These software programs have become essential in music productions. Due to the decreasing cost of technology and the opportunities it provides, music production software has shifted towards home users. People can now, without the need for highbudget studios, complete many recording, mixing, and mastering processes entirely with computer-based systems at lower costs in their own homes. The term "in the box" refers to all these production stages taking place within a computer. With the advancement of technology, individuals have been able to produce albums in home studios, and digital processors, which are cheaper and more practical than analog equipment due to the digitization of analog devices, have started to be preferred over analog equipment. This study explores the extent of changes in technical and technological approaches towards the use of digital signal processors (DSP), which emerged in the 1960s, in place of analog processors. The research aims to identify and examine the differences between digitalbased signal processors and analog devices in terms of their usage, implementation, and processing in music technologies. This research investigates how digital-based signal processors differ from analog processors in terms of processing method, processing flexibility, processing speed, processing quality, and sensitivity on the audio signal. Based on these findings, it is concluded that digital-based signal processors, which are replacing analog processors in the music industry, do not possess the same qualities as analog devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) is considered a public health problem. Current treatments have disadvantages because they are invasive and have serious side effects, and thus there is a need for research into new, more effective pharmacological alternatives. Plants are promising sources of bioactive substances, and new analogues can be obtained through chemical reactions. The present study aimed to evaluate the antileishmanial effects of the analog dillapiole n-butyl ether (DBE) extracted from Piper aduncum leaves. The cytotoxic potential of DBE was evaluated at concentrations of 15.62 to 500 µM in peritoneal macrophages for 48 h, and in RAW 264.7 macrophages for 72 h using a dose-response method. The antileishmanial activity in L. amazonensis promastigotes used concentrations of 0.2 to 4.5 µM for 24, 48 and 72 h and the quantification of the cellular infection rate used a concentration of 4.5 µM of DBE against the amastigote forms internalized in macrophages for 24 h and 48 h. Nitric oxide was quantified from macrophages previously treated with DBE for 24 h and 48 h. The dosage of reactive oxygen species used a concentration of 4.5 µM of DBE incubated together with dichlorofluorescein acetate for 1, 3, 6, and 24 h. For the molecular modeling of DBE, the Leishmania protein, available in the “Protein Data Bank” database, was used. The studied molecule was not toxic to cells and presented a CC50 of 413 µM in peritoneal macrophages and 373.5 µM in RAW 264.7. The analogue inhibited promastigote forms of L. amazonensis with an IC50 of 1.6 µM for 72 h. DBE presented an infection rate of 17% and 12%, dillapiole of 24% and 14% and Pentacarinat® of 10% and 9% over 48 h. DBE demonstrated a binding energy of -7.8 for the U53 enzyme. It is concluded that the analogue showed promising antileishmanial activity for future in vivo tests.

In this work, a high-k In0.53Ga0.47As silicon-on-insulator FinFET (InGaAs–SOI–FinFET) is presented for high-switching and ultra-low power applications at 7 nm gate length. Indium Gallium Arsenide (InGaAs) is a compound semiconductor that has gained attention in the field of semiconductor devices, including FinFETs. The incorporation of InGaAs in proposed FinFETs introduces several advantages, making it an attractive material for certain applications. InGaAs–SOI–FinFET performance has been observed and found high electron mobility, improved On-Current performance (ION), drain current (IDS), transconductance (gm), energy bands, lower subthreshold swing (SS), electric field, surface potential, and better short-channel behaviour. All the results of InGaAs–SOI–FinFET have been simultaneously compared with SOI-FinFET and conventional FinFET (C-FinFET). Incorporating InGaAs in the channel with high-k gate material enhances the drain current by ⁓75% and ⁓77% in the proposed device compared to the other two counterparts. Owing to the higher drain current in the InGaAs–SOI–FinFET, other parameters have also been improved, which leads to higher performance applications.

We prototyped a true analog current computing multilayer neural network (NN) chip, where multiple analog in-memory computing (AiMC) circuit blocks are connected to each other via simple analog non-linear operation circuits. The true analog current computing is achieved with the invention of an analog current rectified linear unit (ReLU) circuit of a three-stage current mirror. With the prototyped NN chip, we demonstrated that the true analog computing (1) achieves process variation compensation utilizing current driving, (2) eliminates digital-analog or analog-digital data conversion between NNs, and (3) realizes low power inference, not only in multiply-accumulate (MAC) but in ReLU operation. Through classification of Mixed National Institute of Standards and Technology dataset, the chip exhibits a low energy of 1.1 nJ/classification and an accuracy of 91.6%, achieves weight retention of five hours, much longer than dynamic random access memory, and enables 68% power reduction compared with serially connected two single-layer NN chips with analog-digital converters and digital-analog converters in between. Although periodic refresh from an external storage class memory is necessary for applications that require continuous operation exceeding five hours, our AiMC capable of MAC and non-linear operations with low power is effective in applications such as edge artificial intelligence terminals with limited power sources.

We produced rec-single chain eel luteinizing (rec-eel LH) and follicle-stimulating (rec- eel FSH) hormones displaying high biological activity in Chinese hamster ovary suspension (CHO-S) cells. We constructed several mutants, in which a linker, including an O-linked glycosylated carboxyl-terminal peptide (CTP) of an equine chorionic gonadotropin (eCG) β-subunit, was attached between the β- and α-subunit (LH-M and FSH-M) or in the N-terminal (C-LH and C-FSH) or C-terminal (LH-C and FSH-C) regions. The plasmids were transfected into CHO-S cells, and culture supernatants were collected. The secretion of mutants from the CHO-S cells was faster than that of eel LHβ/α-wt and FSHβ/α-wt proteins. The molecular weight of eel LHβ/α-wt and eel FSHβ/α-wt was 32–34 and 34–36 kDa, respectively, and that of LH-M and FSH-M was 40–43 and 42–45 kDa, respectively. Peptide-N-glycanase F-treatment markedly decreased the molecular weight by approximately 8–10 kDa. The EC50 value and the maximal responsiveness of the eel LH-M and eel FSH-M increased compared with the wild-type proteins. These results show that the CTP region plays a pivotal role in early secretion and signal transduction. We suggest that novel rec-eel LH and FSH proteins, exhibiting potent activity, could be produced in large quantities using a stable CHO cell system.

Portable sensor systems are usually based on microcontrollers and/or Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) that are interfaced with sensors by means of an Analog-to-Digital converter (ADC), either integrated in the computing device or external. An alternative solution is based on the direct connection of the sensors to the digital input port of the microcontroller or FPGA. This solution is particularly interesting in the case of devices not integrating an internal ADC or featuring a small number of ADC channels. In this paper, a technique is presented to directly interface sensors with analog voltage output to the digital input port of a microcontroller or FPGA. The proposed method requires only a few passive components and is based on the measurements of the duty cycle of a digital square-wave signal. This technique was investigated by means of circuit simulations using LTSpice and was implemented in a commercial low-cost FPGA device (Gowin GW1NR-9). The duty cycle of the square-wave signal features a good linear correlation with the analog voltage to be measured. Thus, a look-up table to map the analog voltage values to the measured duty cycle is not required with benefits in terms of memory occupation. The experimental results on the FPGA device have shown that the analog voltage can be measured with a maximum accuracy of 1.09 mV and a sampling rate of 9.75 Hz. The sampling rate can be increased to 31.35 Hz and 128.31 Hz with an accuracy of 1.61 mV and 2.68 mV, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A series of novel immunoadjuvant QS-21 analogs were synthesized, and their effects on the in vitro hemolysis of red blood cells were evaluated using QS-21 as a control and hemolytic properties as an index. Our results show that all the QS-21 analogs had lower hemolytic effects than QS-21, and their concentrations exhibited a certain quantitative effect relationship with the hemolysis rate. Notably, saponin compounds L1–L8 produced minimal hemolysis and showed lower hemolytic effects, warranting further investigation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Przegląd Elektrotechniczny is the property of Przeglad Elektrotechniczny and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Objective: To evaluate the volumetric changes on occlusal surface of computer‐aided design and computer‐aided manufacturing (CAD‐CAM) occlusal devices fabricated following a fully digital workflow after occlusal adjustment, compared to those fabricated with an analog workflow. Materials and Methods: Eight participants were included in this clinical pilot study, receiving two different occlusal devices fabricated with two different workflows, fully analog and fully digital. Every occlusal device was scanned before and after the occlusal adjustments to compare the volumetric changes using a reverse engineering software program. Moreover, three independent evaluators assessed a semi‐quantitative and qualitative comparison using visual analog scale and dichotomous evaluation. The Shapiro–Wilk test was performed to validate normal distribution assumption, and a dependent t‐Student test for paired variables was used to determine statistically significant differences (p‐value < 0.05). Results: The root mean square value was extracted from the 3‐Dimensional (3D) analysis of the occlusal devices. The average values of the root mean square were higher for the analogic technique (0.23 ± 0.10 mm) than the digital technique (0.14 ± 0.07 mm) but the differences were not statistically significant (paired t‐Student test; p = 0.106) between the two fabrication techniques. The semiquantitative visual analog scale values between the impression for the digital (5.08 ± 2.4 cm) and analog (3.80 ± 3.3 cm) technique were significant (p < 0.001), and statistically significant differences values were assessed for evaluator 3 compared to the other evaluators (p < 0.05). However, the three evaluators agreed on the qualitative dichotomous evaluation in 62% of the cases, and at least two evaluators agreed in 100% of the evaluations. Conclusions: Occlusal devices fabricated following a fully digital workflow resulted in fewer occlusal adjustments, as they could be a valid alternative to those fabricated following an analog workflow. Clinical Significance: Fabricated occlusal devices following a fully digital workflow could have some advantages over analog workflow such reduce occlusal adjustments at delivery appointment, which can result in reduced chair time and therefore increased comfort for the patient and clinician. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The design of analog computing systems requires significant human resources and domain expertise due to the lack of automation tools to enable these highly energy-efficient, high-performance computing nodes. This work presents the first automated tool flow from a high-level representation to a reconfigurable physical device. This tool begins with a high-level algorithmic description, utilizing either our custom Python framework or the XCOS GUI, to compile and optimize computations for integration into an Integrated Circuit (IC) design or a Field Programmable Analog Array (FPAA). An energy-efficient embedded speech classifier benchmark illustrates the tool demonstration, automatically generating GDSII layout or FPAA switch list targeting. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Memristive devices with valence change mechanism (VCM) show promise for neuromorphic data processing, although emulation of synaptic behavior with analog weight updates remains a challenge. Standard filamentary and area‐dependent resistive switching exhibit characteristic differences in the transition from the high to low resistance state, which is either abrupt with inherently high variability or gradual and allows quasi‐analog operation. In this study, the two switching modes are clearly correlated to differences in the microstructure and electronic structure for Pt/Al2O3/TiOx/Cr/Pt devices made from amorphous layers of 1.2 nm Al2O3 and 7 nm TiOx by atomic layer deposition. For the filamentary mode, operando spectromicroscopy experiments identify a localized region of ≈50 nm in diameter of reduced titania surrounded by crystalline rutile‐like TiO2, highlighting the importance of Joule heating for this mode. In contrast, both oxide layers remain in their amorphous state for the interfacial mode, which proves that device temperature during switching stays below 670 K, which is the TiO2 crystallization temperature. The analysis of the electronic conduction behavior confirms that the interfacial switching occurs by modulating the effective tunnel barrier width due to accumulation and depletion of oxygen vacancies at the Al2O3/TiOx interface. The results are transferable to other bilayer stacks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the concerned research work, an extensive study has been carried out for a newly developed carbon nanotube truncated fin (CNT-TF) FinFET from an analog as well as a linearity point of view. All the simulated work has been gleaned for n-type FET on Silvaco software for TCAD. Firstly, CNT-TF-FinFET has been combatted against TF-FinFET which gave out the enhanced results as 750 times and 2.13 times for switching ratio and Vth respectively. After perceiving, CNT-TF-FinFET was studied at different temperatures, out of which the device at 200 K achieved zenith with 67.7 %- and 1000-times enhancement in efficiency and IMD3 respectively. The device also shows the linear behavior at higher temperatures in terms of gm3 and VIP3. All these accomplishments made the CNT-TF-FinFET a much better competent to be operated at extreme geographic poles of earth or in outer space with extremely low temperatures.

Abstract Memristive devices with valence change mechanism (VCM) show promise for neuromorphic data processing, although emulation of synaptic behavior with analog weight updates remains a challenge. Standard filamentary and area‐dependent resistive switching exhibit characteristic differences in the transition from the high to low resistance state, which is either abrupt with inherently high variability or gradual and allows quasi‐analog operation. In this study, the two switching modes are clearly correlated to differences in the microstructure and electronic structure for Pt/Al2O3/TiOx/Cr/Pt devices made from amorphous layers of 1.2 nm Al2O3 and 7 nm TiOx by atomic layer deposition. For the filamentary mode, operando spectromicroscopy experiments identify a localized region of ≈50 nm in diameter of reduced titania surrounded by crystalline rutile‐like TiO2, highlighting the importance of Joule heating for this mode. In contrast, both oxide layers remain in their amorphous state for the interfacial mode, which proves that device temperature during switching stays below 670 K, which is the TiO2 crystallization temperature. The analysis of the electronic conduction behavior confirms that the interfacial switching occurs by modulating the effective tunnel barrier width due to accumulation and depletion of oxygen vacancies at the Al2O3/TiOx interface. The results are transferable to other bilayer stacks.

Summary: To reduce the impact of the single‐event transient (SET) effect on the high‐precision comparator, based on the common high‐gain pre‐amplification stage structure of the comparator, a new radiation hardened by design (RHBD) method, namely, the sensitive node transient detection feedback latch (SNTDFL) technique, is proposed. The hardening technique avoids comparator erroneous output by detecting the sensitive nodes of the high‐gain pre‐amplification stage. The detection circuit receives the response generated by the high energy particle impacts and feeds the high level back to the sensitive nodes to latch the current comparator state. In this paper, a novel high‐precision SET hardened voltage comparator based on this technique is developed. Through detailed circuit principle and simulation analysis, the functional characteristics and the hardening performance of the high‐precision hardened comparator are verified. Compared with the unhardened and the TMR technique hardened comparator, the SNTDFL technique hardened comparator effectively avoids the erroneous output caused by the SET effect with less overhead and still has excellent functional characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

One of the critical assessments in determining the functionality of a device is the issue of reliability in the context of the trap charges at the semiconductor and oxide interface. This article presents the results of a thorough investigation into the impact of interface trap charges (ITCs) on graphene-based channel double-gate dual-material gate graphene nanoribbon vertical tunnel field-effect transistors (DG-DMG-GNR-VTFETs). The proposed device, which takes into account GNR channel material, is compared to the conventional material, a silicon-based channel (DG-DMG-Si-VTFET), in the presence (positive/negative) or absence of trap charges, with the exact dimension specification. This work aims to assess the linearity of the proposed device and the dependability of devices with the influence of ITCs on the DC aspect, low power, and high-frequency parameters. Because of the special properties of graphene, it was found that the DG-DMG-GNR-VTFET performs better than the DG-DMG-Si-VTFET. The simulation in this work was performed using the Silvaco ATLAS TCAD device simulator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

microRNA mimics are synthetic RNA molecules that imitate the mature miRNA duplexes and their functions. These mimics have shown promise in treating cancers. Nucleotide chemical modifications of microRNA mimics have been investigated and have improved the stability of miRNA mimics. However, the potential therapeutic benefit of mimic analogs based on sequence modifications has not been explored. miR-506-3p was identified as a differentiation-inducing microRNA in neuroblastoma cells, suggesting the potential of applying the miR-506-3p mimic in neuroblastoma differentiation therapy. In this study, we explored the possibility of developing shortened miR-506-3p analogs that can maintain differentiation-inducing activities comparable to the wild-type miR-506-3p mimic. We found that deleting up to two nucleotides at either the 3′ end or within the middle region of the miR-506-3p sequence fully maintained the differentiation-inducing activity when compared to the wild-type mimic. Deleting up to four nucleotides from the 3′ end or deleting three nucleotides in the middle positions diminished the differentiation-inducing activity, but the analogs still maintained differentiation-inducing activities that were significantly higher than the negative control oligo. The shortened analog designs potentially benefit patients from two perspectives: (1) the reduced cost of manufacturing shortened analogs, and (2) the reduced non-specific toxicity due to their smaller molecular sizes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potent synthetic opioids including fentanyl and its analogs are frequently encountered in the field and require detection and identification by first responders to maintain the safety of drug abusers, first responders, health‐care providers, and the public at large. Due to the low concentration at which these substances may be encountered and the complicating matrices within which they may be dispersed, the use of portable gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) for their identification in the field offers great potential value. This research established that portable GC–MS is a useful method for the detection and identification of a large number of synthetic opioids, especially fentanyl and its analogs. In this study, 250 synthetic opioids and related substances including 210 fentanyl analogs were analyzed using portable GC–MS. It was concluded that 225 of the 250 (90.0%) opioids analyzed were successfully detected onboard at the time of analysis and identified as either the substance (55.2%) or an analog (34.8%). These outcomes have equivalent benefit for the field analysis of illicit drugs due to both initiating the same subsequent actions by first responders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background. Despite the significant increase in the need for energy in the world due to industrialization, high economic growth, modern transport technology systems and the development of the energy sector, due to the limited reserves of oil or fossil fuels, their use is 26-27% of the total need. Therefore, meeting strict standard requirements of fuel quality, using modifiers to obtain high-quality fuel is important in the production of gasoline and diesel fuel. Purpose. It consists in the development of a technology for obtaining multifunctional additives that improve the mechanical properties of gasoline and diesel fuels. Methodology.The subject of the research is to study the optimal conditions of the process of obtaining multifunctional modifiers based on metal and nitrogen-containing compounds, to obtain modifiers that increase the octane number of gasoline, and to develop the technology of obtaining metal-containing antidetonators. Originality. E-1, E-2 and E-3 organic esters containing oxygen as additives to increase the octane number of petroleum fuels, the effect on the octane number of the directly driven gasoline fraction compared to analogues is 0.4-1.82 units in the motor octanerating (MOR) method, 0 in the research octane rating (ROR) method. 7-2.5 units improved, and the effect of the gasoline fraction of the reformate sample on the octane number improved by 0.2-1.3 units in the ROR method, and by 0.1-1.1 units in the MOR method; Findings. According to the obtained preliminary results, the improvement of the octane number of the proposed modifiers with an effective effect on the octane number compared to their analogues allows the use of these modifiers as synergistic additives for increasing the octane number on the properties of petroleum fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A programmable, energy-efficient analog hardware implementation of a multilayer perceptron (MLP) is presented featuring a highly programmable system that offers the user the capability to create an MLP neural network hardware design within the available framework. In addition to programmability, this implementation provides energy-efficient operation via analog/mixed-signal design. The configurable system is made up of 12 neurons and is fabricated in a standard 130 nm CMOS process occupying approximately 1 mm2 of on-chip area. The system architecture is analyzed in several different configurations with each achieving a power efficiency of greater than 1 tera-operations per watt. This work offers an energy-efficient and scalable alternative to digital configurable neural networks that can be built upon to create larger networks capable of standard machine learning applications, such as image and text classification. This research details a programmable hardware implementation of an MLP that achieves a peak power efficiency of 5.23 tera-operations per watt while consuming considerably less power than comparable digital and analog designs. This paper describes circuit elements that can readily be scaled up at the system level to create a larger neural network architecture capable of improved energy efficiency. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article shares insight on whether the combination of para-Fluorofentanyl (pFF) and fentanyl is coincidental or intentional. It refers to illicitly manufactured fentanyls as a primary contributor to opioid overdose deaths worldwide. It cites conflicting reports regarding the potency of pFF compared to fentanyl and hypothesizes that the inclusion of pFF is an intentional addition by illicit laboratories to prolong the effects of fentanyl.

The memristor, characterized by its nano-size, nonvolatility, and continuously adjustable resistance, is a promising candidate for constructing brain-inspired computing. It operates based on ion migration, enabling it to store and retrieve electrical charges. This paper reviews current research on synapses using digital and analog memristors. Synapses based on digital memristors have been utilized to construct positive, zero, and negative weights for artificial neural networks, while synapses based on analog memristors have demonstrated their ability to simulate the essential functions of neural synapses, such as short-term memory (STM), long-term memory (LTM), spike-timing-dependent plasticity (STDP), spike-rate-dependent plasticity (SRDP), and paired-pulse facilitation (PPF). Furthermore, synapses based on analog memristors have shown potential for performing advanced functions such as experiential learning, associative learning, and nonassociative learning. Finally, we highlight some challenges of building large-scale artificial neural networks using memristors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the design of the Two-Degree-of-Freedom (2DOF) based Model Reference Adaptive Control (MRAC) as a tracking control system for the Non-minimum Phase (NMP) system. Perfect set point tracking is possible by using a cascade-connected inverse and non-inverse transfer function model of the dynamic system. But this method is restricted to the minimum phase system only, whereas, NMP system produces unbounded output response using this inverse model technique. Though, adaptive inverse feed-forward control technique is an effective tracking control system, it also requires an inverse model of the system. To overcome this problem, a novel feed-forward MRAC scheme for the inverse NMP model and the State feedback controller of the non-inverse model has been proposed, and both the controller are decoupled in a 2DOF framework. The feed-forward control technique guaranteed the tracking performance using the Lyapunov stability theory, and the feedback counterpart enhances the steady-state performance of the NMP plant. The robustness of the asymptotic stability as well as tracking performance of the closed-loop NMP system has been ensured by the proposed 2DOF control based MRAC technique. The effectiveness of the proposed control structure initially has been verified by the MATLAB Simulink toolbox and, then the demand has been strengthened by the implementation of the same control logic in the real-time environment using analog simulation with Op-amp based hardware model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]