Whole-brain serial-section electron microscopy in larval zebrafish.

High-resolution serial-section electron microscopy (ssEM) makes it possible to investigate the dense meshwork of axons, dendrites, and synapses that form neuronal circuits. However, the imaging scale required to comprehensively reconstruct these structures is more than ten orders of magnitude smaller than the spatial extents occupied by networks of interconnected neurons, some of which span nearly the entire brain. Difficulties in generating and handling data for large volumes at nanoscale resolution have thus restricted vertebrate studies to fragments of circuits. These efforts were recently transformed by advances in computing, sample handling, and imaging techniques, but high-resolution examination of entire brains remains a challenge. Here, we present ssEM data for the complete brain of a larval zebrafish (Danio rerio) at 5.5 days post-fertilization. Our approach utilizes multiple rounds of targeted imaging at different scales to reduce acquisition time and data management requirements. The resulting dataset can be analysed to reconstruct neuronal processes, permitting us to survey all myelinated axons (the projectome). These reconstructions enable precise investigations of neuronal morphology, which reveal remarkable bilateral symmetry in myelinated reticulospinal and lateral line afferent axons. We further set the stage for whole-brain structure-function comparisons by co-registering functional reference atlases and in vivo two-photon fluorescence microscopy data from the same specimen. All obtained images and reconstructions are provided as an open-access resource.

Enhanced device performance of germanium nanowire junctionless (GeNW-JL) MOSFETs by germanide contact formation with Ar plasma treatment.

In this study, germanium nanowire junctionless (GeNW-JL) metal-oxide-semiconductor-field-effect-transistors (MOSFETs) exhibited enhanced electrical performance with low source/drain (S/D) contact resistance under the influence of Ar plasma treatment on the contact regions. We found that the transformation of the surface oxide states by Ar plasma treatment affected the S/D contact resistance. With Ar plasma treatment, the germanium dioxide on the GeNW surface was effectively removed and increased oxygen vacancies were formed in the suboxide on the GeNW, whose germanium-enrichment surface was obtained to form a germanide contact at low temperature. After a rapid thermal annealing process, Ni-germanide contacts were formed on the Ar-plasma-treated GeNW surface. Ni-germanide contact resistance was improved by more than an order of magnitude compared to that of the other devices without Ni-germanide contact. Moreover, the peak field effect mobility value of the GeNW-JL MOSFETs was dramatically improved from 15 cm(2)/(V s) to 550 cm(2)/(V s), and the Ion/off ratio was enhanced from 1 × 10 to 3 × 10(3) due to Ar plasma treatment. The Ar plasma treatment process is essential for forming uniform Ni-germanide-contacts with reduced time and low temperature. It is also crucial for increasing mass productivity and lowering the thermal budget without sacrificing the performance of GeNW-JL MOSFETs.

Reactive processing of recycled polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene.

Cellular phone housings were ground to make original particulates using a knife mill. Foams and adhesives with a lighter density than water were removed from ground mixtures using a sink-float process in water; ground metals, button rubbers, and wires were separated from desired materials by using a sink float process in salt All housing materials, consisting of seven thermoplastics included in cellular phone housings, showed better tensile properties than pure housing materials made of polycarbonate/acrylonitrile butadiene styrene, but they only had about half of the impact strength. In contrast, the low impact strength for all housing materials was improved by adding 25 wt % polyethylene elastomer and/or 2.4 wt % ground epoxy circuit boards for batch mixing. Impact strengths, tensile strengths, and the energy absorption ability of all housing materials were improved by adding 5.4wt% glycidyl methacrylate for twin screw extrusion.