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Semiconductorii sau (micro)chip-urile constituie cea mai complexă, sofisticată, încărcată de cunoaștere și uimitoare ca performanțe, reușită tehnologică obținută vreodată de omenire. Civilizația tehnologică prezentă și viitoare nu sunt posibile fără aceste componente esențiale ale oricărui dispozitiv modern, iar pe glob ierarhiile de orice fel care se stabilesc între marile puteri sunt și vor deveni tot mai dependente de capacitatea acestora de a crea și produce microchipuri. Lucrarea de față furnizează în primele sale capitole informațiile strict necesare pentru a înțelege limbajul domeniului, ce sunt și cum se produc aceste componente, iar apoi analizează industria globală a semiconductorilor și ecosistemul tipic al companiilor din această industrie, cu modul său de organizare aparte. Lucrarea trece în continure la analiza industriei chineze a microchip-urilor, a decalajului său față de liderii pieței, a războiului tehnologic cu SUA, a locului strategic ocupat de Taiwan in industria de profil a lumii, precum și a provocărilor, ambițiilor și riscurilor întâmpinate de China în strădania ei de a prelua poziția de lider pe piața globală a semiconductorilor.

Considered to be a field that is continuously growing, epitranscriptomics analyzes the modifications that occur in RNA transcripts and their downstream effects. As epigenetic modifications found in DNA and histones exhibit specific roles on various biological processes, also epitranscriptomic marks control gene expression patterns that are crucial for proper cell proliferation, differentiation and tissue development. Thus, various epitranscriptomic signatures have been identified to play specific roles during stem cell differentiation towards the neuronal and glial lineages, axonal guidance, synaptic plasticity, thus leading to the development of the mature brain tissue. Here we describe in-depth molecular mechanism underlying the most important RNA modifications with emerging roles in the nervous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mycosis fungoides (MF) is the most common type of cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) and often has an indolent course, particularly for patients presenting with early-stage (patch/plaque) disease. Early-stage MF is primarily managed with skin-directed therapies. Topical mechlorethamine hydrochloride (nitrogen mustard [NM]) gel has increased tolerability compared to prior NM formulations, though contact dermatitis remains a common side effect. The addition of topical steroids can improve tolerability while maintaining the efficacy of NM gel. Real-world experience supports that NM gel also has a role in combination therapy and as adjunctive therapy in advanced-stage disease. Here we review factors that may influence patient selection for use of NM gel, including MF variants, special patient populations, cost effectiveness, and impact on quality of life for patients with MF. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Top-down ultraviolet photodissociation (UVPD) allows greater sequence coverage than any other currently available method, often fracturing the vast majority of peptide bonds in whole proteins. At the same time, UVPD can be used to dissociate noncovalent complexes assembled from multiple proteins without breaking any covalent bonds. Although the utility of these experiments is unquestioned, the mechanism underlying these seemingly contradictory results has been the subject of many discussions. Herein, some fundamental considerations of photochemistry are briefly summarized within the context of a proposed mechanism that rationalizes the experimental results obtained by UVPD. Considerations for future instrument design, in terms of wavelength choice and power, are briefly discussed. Graphical Abstract ᅟ.

Numerous research based on offline Tamil recognition deals only with few Tamil characters since it becomes extremely complicated in distinguishing small variations in large handwritten document. The writer's complexity affects the overall formation of the characters. Such types of complexities are due to discontinuation of structures, unnecessary over loops, variation in shapes as well as irregular curves. This complex issue results in enhanced error value rate. Therefore, to conquer such issues, this paper proposes a novel approach to enhance the offline Tamil handwritten character recognition by utilizing four principal steps: pre-processing, segmentation, feature extraction and classification. For optimal segmentation of Tamil characters, this paper utilizes the Tsallis entropy approach-based atom search (TEAS) optimization algorithm. Then a Newton algorithm based deep convolution extreme learning (DELM) approach is utilized for the extraction and classification of input images. Finally, experiments are carried out for numerous Tamil handwritten recognition-based approaches. The proposed Tamil character recognition utilizes the datasets of isolated Tamil handwritten characters established by HP lab India to evaluate the efficiency of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

IntroductionThe 308 nm excimer laser is a widely used device throughout the field of dermatology for many diseases including psoriasis. Although the laser has demonstrated clinical efficacy, there is a lack of literature outlining the safety, efficacy, and patient acceptability of the excimer laser.MethodsA literature search on PubMed was used with combinations of the terms "excimer", "excimer laser", "308 nm", "psoriasis", "protocol", "safety", "efficacy", acceptability", "side effects", and "dose". The search results were included if they contained information pertaining to excimer laser and psoriasis treatment and description of the safety, efficacy, and patient acceptability of the treatment.ResultsThe 308 nm excimer laser is generally safe and well tolerated with minimal side effects including erythema, blistering, and pigmentary changes. It has a range of efficacies depending on the protocol used with several different treatment protocols, including the induration protocol, the minimal erythema dose protocol, and the newer minimal blistering dose protocol.ConclusionAlthough the excimer laser is not a first-line treatment, it remains an excellent treatment option for psoriasis patients and has been demonstrated to be an effective treatment with little to no side effects.

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Considered to be a field that is continuously growing, epitranscriptomics analyzes the modifications that occur in RNA transcripts and their downstream effects. As epigenetic modifications found in DNA and histones exhibit specific roles on various biological processes, also epitranscriptomic marks control gene expression patterns that are crucial for proper cell proliferation, differentiation and tissue development. Thus, various epitranscriptomic signatures have been identified to play specific roles during stem cell differentiation towards the neuronal and glial lineages, axonal guidance, synaptic plasticity, thus leading to the development of the mature brain tissue. Here we describe in-depth molecular mechanism underlying the most important RNA modifications with emerging roles in the nervous system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article gives a detailed description of a protocol using density gradient centrifugation for the enrichment of neuromelanin granules and synaptosomes from low amounts (≥0.15g) of human substantia nigra pars compacta tissue. This has a great advantage compared to already existing methods as it allows for the first time (i) a combined enrichment of neuromelanin granules and synaptosomes and (ii) just minimal amounts of tissue necessary to enable donor specific analysis. Individual specimens were classified as control or diseased according to clinical evaluation and neuropathological examination. For the enrichment of synaptosomes and neuromelanin granules from the same tissue sample density gradient centrifugations using Percoll® and Iodixanol were performed. The purity of resulting fractions was checked by transmission electron microscopy. We were able to establish a reproducible and easy to handle protocol combining two different density gradient centrifugations: using an Iodixanol gradient neuromelanin granules were enriched and in parallel, from the same sample, a fraction of synaptosomes with high purity using a Percoll® gradient was obtained. Our subfractionation strategy will enable a subsequent in depth proteomic characterization of neurodegenerative processes in the substantia nigra pars compacta in patients with Parkinson's disease and dementia with Lewy bodies compared to appropriate controls.Biological significanceKey features of Parkinson's disease are the degeneration of dopaminergic neurons in the substantia nigra pars compacta, an associated loss of the brain pigment neuromelanin and a resulting impairment of the neuronal network. The accumulation of iron binding neuromelanin granules is age- and disease-dependent and disease specific alterations could affect the neuronal iron homeostasis leading to oxidative stress induced cell death. The focus of the described method is the analysis of neuromelanin granules as well as axonal cell-endings of nerve cells (synaptosomes) of individual donors (control and diseased). It is the basis for the identification of disease-relevant changes in the iron homeostasis and the generation of new insight into altered protein compositions or regulations which might lead to disturbed communications between nerve cells resulting in pathogenic processes.

UnlabelledVascular endothelial growth factor A (referred to as VEGF) is implicated in colon cancer growth. Currently, the main accepted mechanism by which VEGF promotes colon cancer growth is via the stimulation of angiogenesis, which was originally postulated by late Judah Folkman. However, the cellular source of VEGF in colon cancer tissue; and, the expression of VEGF and its receptors VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2 in colon cancer cells are not fully known and are subjects of controversy.Material and methodsWe examined and quantified expression of VEGF, VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2 in three different human colonic tissue arrays containing sections of adenocarcinoma (n=43) and normal mucosa (n = 41). In human colon cancer cell lines HCT116 and HT29 and normal colon cell lines NCM356 and NCM460, we examined expression of VEGF, VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2 mRNA and protein, VEGF production and secretion into the culture medium; and, the effect of a potent, selective inhibitor of VEGF receptors, AL-993, on cell proliferation.ResultsHuman colorectal cancer specimens had strong expression of VEGF in cancer cells and also expressed VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2.In vitro studies showed that human colon cancer cell lines, HCT116 and HT29, but not normal colonic cell lines, express VEGF, VEGF-R1 and VEGF-R2 and secrete VEGF into the medium up to a concentration 2000 pg/ml within 48 h. Furthermore, we showed that inhibition of VEGF receptors using a specific VEGF-R inhibitor significantly reduced proliferation (by >50%) of cultured colon cancer cell lines.ConclusionsOur findings support the contention that VEGF generated by colon cancer cells stimulates their growth directly through an autocrine mechanism that is independent of its primary function in the induction of angiogenesis.

Summary: This article is concerned about an adaptive dynamic surface control (DSC) of output constrained stochastic nonlinear systems with unknown control directions and unmodeled dynamics. Nonlinear mapping‐based backstepping control design is presented for stochastic nonlinear systems with output constraint. The explosion of complexity exists in tradition backstepping method is avoided by using the DSC technique. The radial basis function neural networks are employed to deal with unknown nonlinear functions. Nussbaum gain technique is employed to handle the unknown control directions. And a dynamic signal is employed to dominate the unmodeled dynamics. The adaptive controller is designed can ensure that the tracking error converges on a small region of the origin. And all signals of the closed‐loop systems are semiglobal uniformly ultimately bounded. Finally, the results of the simulation cases are provided to show the effectivity of the designed controller scheme. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Two-dimensional nanomaterials including graphene as well as its nanoribbons have started to occur, which has accelerated the growth of contemporary nanotechnology. Silicene, a silicon equivalent of graphene, has the main advantage that it can be employed in present silicon nanostructure-based production processes. Using density functional theory within the generalized gradient approximation, we offer the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties of edge-functionalized silicene nanoribbons (nX-zSiNR-mX')(where, X/X' = F, Cl or H; n, m = 1 or 2) in magnetic-order NM, FM, and AFM, respectively. Two modes homogeneous and heterogeneous asymmetric are accomplished. The spin density is mainly localized on halogen and Si atoms. Thus, future spin-dynamics processes for spintronics applications could be accomplished on these systems. Our computed outcomes reveal that the pristine nanoribbon 8-SiNR is a metal material once the NM and FM magnetic orders are involved, whereas it is a semiconductor with a small band gap energy when the AFM magnetic order is employed. Moreover, we find that the zigzag nX-zSiNR-mX' compounds are metals in either case homogeneous or even heterogeneous. Nevertheless, a band gap energy up a limit to 520 meV (2H-zSiNR-1H) can be achieved under an external electric field with a strength of 4.0 V/Å. We carefully investigate the effect of the edge-functionalized silicene nanoribbon width on their spin density distribution and electronic band structures. Further, the effect of nanoribbon width on the edge formation energy and magnetic moment is systematically studied. Our outcomes reveal the potential of these nanoribbons as advantageous candidates for silicon photonic, optoelectronic devices, and spintronics applications. • We study the electronic and magnetic properties of nX-zSiNR-mX' in NM, FM, and AFM. • Two modes homogeneous and heterogeneous asymmetric are accomplished. • An electric field with a strength of 4.0 V/Å is applied. • A band gap energy up a limit to 520 meV can be achieved with 4.0 V/Å. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copper (Cu) is the main interconnect conductor for integrated circuits (IC), and its processing quality is very important to device performance. Herein, a hybrid process of plasma oxidation and femtosecond laser (fs-laser) ablation was proposed for the nanoscale precision removal of Cu in integrated circuits. In this hybrid process, the surface layer of Cu was oxidized to the copper oxide by plasma oxidation, and then the fs-laser with a laser fluence lower than the Cu ablation threshold was used to remove the copper oxide without damaging the underlying Cu. Theoretically, the surface temperature evolutions of Cu and copper oxide under the femtosecond laser were studied by the two-temperature model, and it was revealed that the ablation threshold of copper oxide is much lower than that of Cu. The experimental results showed that the ablation threshold of copper oxide is lower than that of Cu, which is consistent with the theoretical analysis. Using the hybrid process, a surface roughness of 3 nm and a removal accuracy of 4 nm were obtained in the process of Cu film processing, which were better than those obtained by fs-laser ablation. This demonstrated that the hybrid process has good application potential in the field of copper micromachining.

L-dopa is still considered as the gold standard therapy for Parkinson's disease (PD); however, L-dopa-induced dyskinesia (LID) is a serious complication of long-term L-dopa treatment. The present study investigated the therapeutic potential of sitagliptin and liraglutide in comparisons with L-dopa against PD. In addition, their capacity to modulate L-dopa dose and/or side effects was investigated, too. Rats were injected with rotenone (3 mg/kg/day, s.c.) for 10 consecutive days to induce the experimental PD. The rotenone-treated rats were administered sitagliptin (30 mg/kg/day, p.o.) and liraglutide (50 μg/kg, s.c.) for 16 days either alone or together with L-dopa/carbidopa (50/25 mg/kg/day, i.p.). Scoring of LID was done on days 2, 4, 8, 12, and 16 in all L-dopa-treated groups. Twenty-four hours after the last administered dose of tested drugs, the behavior of rats in each group was screened by using the open-field test. Sitagliptin and liraglutide revealed marked attenuation of LID scores; in addition, they markedly increased animals' motor performance. Moreover, they preserved substantia nigra pars compacta (SNpc) tyrosine hydroxylase (TH) and vesicular monoamine transporter 2-positive (VMAT2) cells with prominent increase of the striatal dopamine (DA) content. On the other hand, they significantly decreased nigral neuromelanin (NM)-positive cells, activated microglia, gliosis, and other pathological changes. In conclusion, sitagliptin and liraglutide could be a promising therapeutic challenger in PD, modifying L-dopa effect and/or allowing the use of L-dopa with fewer side effects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• 3D modeling of 230 kV composite insulator and corona ring in COMSOL software. • 3D Modeling of the tower structure, conductor, hardware, and mutual phases and investigating their effects on the EFI distribution of the creepage distance of the composite insulator in COMSOL software. • Determining the ideal corona ring parameters, such as the diameter, thickness, and installation position. • The use of DFSs such as NM and BOBYQA algorithms in COMSOL optimization software. One of the key elements in lowering the electric field intensity (EFI) on the creepage distance of composite insulators is the usage of the corona ring and its ideal design. First, using the Finite Element Method (FEM) in the 3D COMSOL Multiphysics program, this paper investigated and calculated the changes in the EFI of the creepage distance of the 230-kV composite insulator with and without taking into account the effects of the corona ring, tower structure, conductor, hardware, and mutual phases. Next, the ideal goal function is chosen in order to minimize the insulator creepage distance's maximal EFI. Nelder-Mead (NM) and Bound Optimization by Quadratic Approximation (BOBYQA), two optimization techniques, are used for the best design of corona ring parameters on the 230 kV insulator. Finally, the diameter, thickness, and installation position of the ideal corona ring are determined using the suggested methodologies and different restrictions. The obtained results demonstrate that, in contrast to previous studies that have only focused on a few of the aforementioned constraints, taking into account the tower structure, conductor, hardware, and mutual phases will have a significant impact on the distribution of the EFI on the insulator creepage distance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Analogous to DNA methylation and histone modifications, RNA modifications represent a novel layer of regulation of gene expression. The dynamic nature and increasing number of RNA modifications offer new possibilities to rapidly alter gene expression upon specific environmental changes. Recent lines of evidence indicate that modified RNA molecules and associated complexes regulating and “reading” RNA modifications play key roles in the nervous system of several organisms, controlling both, its development and function. Mutations in several human genes that modify transfer RNA (tRNA) have been linked to neurological disorders, in particular to intellectual disability. Loss of RNA modifications alters the stability of tRNA, resulting in reduced translation efficiency and generation of tRNA fragments, which can interfere with neuronal functions. Modifications present on messenger RNAs (mRNAs) also play important roles during brain development. They contribute to neuronal growth and regeneration as well as to the local regulation of synaptic functions. Hence, potential combinatorial effects of RNA modifications on different classes of RNA may represent a novel code to dynamically fine tune gene expression during brain function. Here we discuss the recent findings demonstrating the impact of modified RNAs on neuronal processes and disorders.

Eukaryotic RNA pol II transcripts are capped at the 5′ end by the methylated guanosine (m7G) moiety. In higher eukaryotes, CMTR1 and CMTR2 catalyze cap-proximal ribose methylations on the first (cap1) and second (cap2) nucleotides, respectively. These modifications mark RNAs as "self," blocking the activation of the innate immune response pathway. Here, we show that loss of mouse Cmtr1 or Cmtr2 leads to embryonic lethality, with non-overlapping sets of transcripts being misregulated, but without activation of the interferon pathway. In contrast, Cmtr1 mutant adult mouse livers exhibit chronic activation of the interferon pathway, with multiple interferon-stimulated genes being expressed. Conditional deletion of Cmtr1 in the germline leads to infertility, while global translation is unaffected in the Cmtr1 mutant mouse liver and human cells. Thus, mammalian cap1 and cap2 modifications have essential roles in gene regulation beyond their role in helping cellular transcripts to evade the innate immune system. [Display omitted] • CMTR1 and CMTR2 are essential for mouse embryonic development • Absence of interferon pathway activation in arrested mutant mouse embryos • Chronic activation of the interferon pathway in Cmtr1 mutant livers • Conditional loss of Cmtr1 in the mouse germline leads to infertility Mammalian RNA cap-proximal ribose methylations are implicated in preventing the activation of the interferon pathway. Dohnalkova et al. reveal that loss of the mouse RNA methylases CMTR1 and CMTR2 causes embryonic developmental arrest without activation of the interferon pathway, pointing to gene regulatory roles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Objective This study aims to compare composite maternal and neonatal morbidities (MM, NM) among pregnant women with diabetes mellitus whose body mass index (BMI) at delivery was

Hypromellose matrices exhibit extended burst effect immediately after contact with aqueous medium, especially when a water-soluble drug is incorporated. The objective of this study was to reduce burst effect and maintain complete dissolution of a very soluble levetiracetam over 12 h period from hypromellose K4M matrices to obtain zero-order kinetics. Desired changes were achieved by applying water dispersions of insoluble Eudragits®(NE, NM, RL, RS) as a granulation liquid to the drug/microcrystalline cellulose mixture during high-shear granulation (non-thermal treated set) and consequently by thermally treating granules or final tablets (TT), respectively. Applying Eudragit®water dispersions to the drug/microcrystalline cellulose mixture was recognized as an effective method of significantly reducing the burst release (25.4–33.7%) of levetiracetam in comparison with a reference sample without Eudragit®. Multivariate data analysis showed that the addition of Eudragit®reduced burst effect, increased fitting with zero-order kinetics, and supported matrix erosion as the supplementary mechanism to predominant diffusion. Moreover, resulting PCA sub-model revealed the addition of Eudragit®RL and thermal treatment of tablets to be the most suitable method of all. For a 12 h dissolution profile, characterized by low burst effect and drug release close to 100% at the 12th hour, sample RL_TT was the most suitable. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

The biotransforamtion of swertiamarin has been carried out using Aspergillus niger. The results showed that 60% swertiamarin were metabolized into two metabolites during the 5 days of biotransformation. The metabolites were identified as erythrocentaurin and 5-ethylidene-8-hydroxy-3,4,5,6,7,8-hexahydro-1Hpyrano[3,4-c]-pyridine-1-one, a novel alkaloid, with NMR and MS. The hydrolysis of glucosidic bond catalyzed by ß-D-glucosidase was found to be the rate-limiting reaction in pathway of biotransformation of swertiamarin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: The aim of this consensus statement is to provide a recommendation from AANEM experts on the clinical utility of genetic testing. It is not meant to recommend or endorse any specific genetic testing methodology or algorithm.Methods: The AANEM Professional Practice Committee reached a consensus based on expert opinion on the utility of genetic testing in neuromuscular diseases and made recommendations on factors that physicians and patients should consider when deciding whether to proceed with such testing.Results: Despite the costs of genetic testing, these tests can be both valuable and beneficial in the diagnosis and treatment of neuromuscular diseases in many situations.Conclusions: The AANEM believes that performing genetic testing to arrive at a specific molecular diagnosis is a critical step in providing high-quality care to neuromuscular patients. The cost of testing should not be a deterrent, as there are important clinical, safety, psychosocial, and research benefits. Muscle Nerve 54: 1007-1009, 2016. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]