Oxide Semiconductor Heterojunction Transistor with Negative Differential Transconductance for Multivalued Logic Circuits.

Multivalued logic (MVL) technology is a promising solution for improving data density and reducing power consumption in comparison to complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology. Currently, heterojunction transistors (TRs) with negative differential transconductance (NDT) characteristics, which play an important role in the function of MVL circuits, adopt organic or 2D semiconductors as active layers, but it is still difficult to apply conventional CMOS processes. Herein, we demonstrate an oxide semiconductor (OS) heterojunction TR with NDT characteristics composed of p-type copper(I) oxide (Cu2O) and n-type indium gallium zinc oxide (IGZO) using the conventional CMOS manufacturing processes. The electrical characteristics of the fabricated device exhibit a high Ion/Ioff ratio (∼3 × 103), wide NDT ranges (∼29 V), and high peak-to-valley current ratios (PVCR ≈ 25). The electrical properties of 15 devices were measured, confirming uniform performance in the PVCR, NDT range, and Ion/Ioff ratio. We analyze the device operation by varying the source/drain (S/D) position and changing the device geometry and the thickness of the Cu2O layer. Additionally, we demonstrate heterojunction ambipolar TR to elucidate the transport mechanism of NDT devices at a high gate voltage (VGS). To confirm the feasibility of the MVL circuit, we present a ternary inverter with three clearly expressed logic states that have a long intermediate state and greater margin of error induced by wide NDT regions and high PVCR.

Mucilaginibacter panaciglaebae sp. nov., isolated from soil of a ginseng field.

A Gram-reaction-negative, strictly aerobic, non-motile and rod-shaped bacterium, designated strain BXN5-31T, was isolated from soil of a ginseng field, and its taxonomic position was investigated using a polyphasic approach. Strain BXN5-31T grew at 18-37 °C and at pH 6.0-8.0 on R2A medium. Based on 16S rRNA gene sequence similarity, strain BXN5-31T was shown to belong to the genus Mucilaginibacter and was closely related to Mucilaginibactersoyangensis HME6664T, Mucilaginibacterximonensis XM-003T and Mucilaginibacterpuniceus WS71T. The DNA G+C content was 43.6 %. The predominant respiratory quinone was menaquinone 7 (MK-7) and the major fatty acids were iso-C15 : 0, iso-C17 : 0 3-OH and summed feature 3 (comprising C16 : 1ω6c and/or C16 : 1ω7c). The major polar lipids were phosphatidylglycerol, diphosphatidylglycerol and phosphatidylethanolamine. The DNA-DNA hybridization values between strain BXN5-31T and three reference strains (M. soyangensis HME6664T, M. ximonensis XM-003T and M. puniceus WS71T) were 9.4±1.9, 8.2±1.3 and 5.7±0.7 %, respectively. The DNA G+C content and chemotaxonomic data supported the affiliation of strain BXN5-31T to the genus Mucilaginibacter. Moreover, the physiological and biochemical results and low level of DNA-DNA relatedness allowed the phenotypic and genotypic differentiation of strain BXN5-31T from recognized species of the genus Mucilaginibacter. The isolate therefore represents a novel species, for which the name Mucilaginibacter panaciglaebae sp. nov. is proposed. The type strain is BXN5-31T (=KACC 14957T=JCM 17085T).

Green tomato extract attenuates high-fat-diet-induced obesity through activation of the AMPK pathway in C57BL/6 mice.

Obesity is a risk factor for numerous metabolic disorders. Recently, natural compounds that may be beneficial for improving obesity have received increasing attention. In this study, we investigated whether red and green tomato extracts attenuate high-fat-diet-induced obesity in C57BL/6 mice. The mice were maintained on a normal diet (ND) or high-fat diet (HFD) for 4 weeks and then fed ND, HFD, HFD plus 2% red tomato extract (RTE) or HFD plus 2% green tomato extract (GTE) for 13 weeks. The weekly food intakes among the groups were not significantly different. Body weight of mice fed HFD plus GTE was significantly decreased to the level of mice fed ND, but the body weight was only slightly reduced in mice fed HFD plus RTE. Epididymal adipose tissue and liver weights were significantly decreased in mice fed HFD plus GTE compared to those in HFD. Serum total cholesterol and low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels in mice fed GTE were modestly reduced, and liver total cholesterol level was strongly decreased in HFD plus GTE-fed mice compared to that in HFD-fed mice. Adenosine-monophosphate-activated protein kinase (AMPK) and acetyl-CoA carboxylase phosphorylation in liver from HFD plus GTE-fed mice was significantly elevated, and HMG-CoA reductase expression was also significantly decreased. GTE strongly decreased the expression of peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma, CCAAT/enhancer-binding protein alpha and perilipin in the adipose tissue of mice fed HFD plus GTE. Our results indicate that the antiobesity effects of GTE may be associated with activation of the AMPK pathway.

Full surface embedding of gold clusters on silicon nanowires for efficient capture and photothermal therapy of circulating tumor cells.

We report on rapid thermal chemical vapor deposition growth of silicon nanowires (Si NWs) that contain a high density of gold nanoclusters (Au NCs) with a uniform coverage over the entire length of the nanowire sidewalls. The Au NC-coated Si NWs with an antibody-coated surface obtain the unique capability to capture breast cancer cells at twice the highest efficiency currently achievable (~88% at 40 min cell incubation time) from a nanostructured substrate. We also found that irradiation of breast cancer cells captured on Au NC-coated Si NWs with a near-infrared light resulted in a high mortality rate of these cancer cells, raising a fine prospect for simultaneous capture and plasmonic photothermal therapy for circulating tumor cells.