Realization of logic gates in bi-directionally coupled nonlinear oscillators.

Implementation of logic gates has been investigated in nonlinear dynamical systems from various perspectives over the years. Specifically, logic gates have been implemented in both single nonlinear systems and coupled nonlinear oscillators. The majority of the works in the literature have been done on the evolution of single oscillators into OR/AND or NOR/NAND logic gates. In the present study, we demonstrate the design of logic gates in bi-directionally coupled double-well Duffing oscillators by applying two logic inputs to the drive system alone along with a fixed bias. The nonlinear system, comprising both bi-directional components, exhibits varied logic behaviors within an optimal range of coupling strength. Both attractive and repulsive couplings yield similar and complementary logic behaviors in the first and second oscillators. These couplings play a major role in exhibiting fundamental and universal logic gates in simple nonlinear systems. Under a positive bias, both the first and second oscillators demonstrate OR logic gate for the attractive coupling, while exhibiting OR and NOR logic gates, respectively, for the repulsive coupling. Conversely, under a negative bias, both the first and second oscillators display AND logic gate for the attractive coupling, and AND and NAND logical outputs for the repulsive coupling. Furthermore, we confirm the robustness of the bi-directional oscillators against moderate noise in maintaining the desired logical outputs.

Harnessing vibrational resonance to identify and enhance input signals.

We report the occurrence of vibrational resonance and the underlying mechanism in a simple piecewise linear electronic circuit, namely, the Murali-Lakshmanan-Chua circuit, driven by an additional biharmonic signal with widely different frequencies. When the amplitude of the high-frequency force is tuned, the resultant vibrational resonance is used to detect the low-frequency signal and also to enhance it into a high-frequency signal. Further, we also show that even when the low-frequency signal is changed from sine wave to square and sawtooth waves, vibrational resonance can be used to detect and enhance them into high-frequency signals. These behaviors, confirmed by experimental results, are illustrated with appropriate analytical and numerical solutions of the corresponding circuit equations describing the system. Finally, we also verify the signal detection in the above circuit even with the addition of noise.

High-performance ambipolar MoS2transistor enabled by indium edge contacts.

The integration of electrical contact into 2D heterostructure is an essential approach to high-quality electronic nano-devices, especially field-effect transistors. However, high contact resistance with transition metal dichalcogenides such as molybdenum disulphide (MoS2)-based devices has been a significant fabrication impediment to their potential applications. Here, we have demonstrated the advantage of 1D indium metal contact with fully encapsulated MoS2within hexagonal boron nitride. The electrical measurements of the device exhibit ambipolar transport with an on/off ratio of102for holes and107for electrons. The device exhibits high field-effect mobility of40.7cm2V-1s-1at liquid nitrogen temperature. Furthermore, we have also analysed the charge-transport mechanism at the interface and have calculated the Schottky barrier height from the temperature-dependent measurement. These results are highly promising for the use of air-sensitive material heterostructure and large-scale design of trending flexible, transparent electronic wearable devices.

Probiotic characterization of bacterial strains from fermented South Indian tomato pickle and country chicken intestine having antioxidative and antiproliferative activities.

AIM: The present study aims to evaluate the potential antioxidant and antiproliferative properties of probiotic bacterial isolates Weissella cibaria p3B, Bacillus subtilis CS, and Bacillus tequilensis CL, isolated from South Indian fermented tomato pickle (homemade) and gut content of indigenous country chicken. METHODS AND RESULTS: The bacterial isolates exhibited antimicrobial activity against food-borne, human pathogenic bacteria, along with better survival under different bile and acidic conditions, hydrophobicity towards several hydrocarbons, and adherence to intestinal epithelial cells (INT-407 cells). Also, the intact cell (IC) mixture of the three species showed better DPPH, ABTS, and Fe2+ chelating activity as compared to the individual IC or cell extract (CE) activity. Among the three bacterial species, W. cibaria p3B revealed maximum antiproliferative activity against HeLa and Caco-2 cancer cells, all of which were nontoxic to INT-407 cells. Apart from being non-hemolytic, the bacterial isolates did not display any necrotic inhibition in HeLa and Caco-2 cells. The cell free supernatant (CFS) of the three bacterial isolates were tested for the production of antimicrobial peptides or bacteriocins. It found that the CFS of bacterial isolates was stable at various temperature, pH and sensitive to proteolytic enzymes confirms protenoius in nature of the antimicrobil peptides or bacteriocins. CONCLUSION: The bacterial isolates showed promising antimicrobial, antioxidant as well as antiproliferative activities with better survival ability at different pH and bile concentrations. The three bacterial isolates were able to produce potential antimicrobial peptides or bacteriocins. SIGNIFICANCE AND IMPACT OF THE STUDY: These results indicate better compatibility of our bacterial isolates against synthetic drugs to avoid adverse side effects and can be processed as dietary supplements against food and human pathogens. They can also provide antioxidative and antiproliferative benefits to humans and animals.

Realization of all logic gates and memory latch in the SC-CNN cell of the simple nonlinear MLC circuit.

We investigate the State-Controlled Cellular Neural Network framework of Murali-Lakshmanan-Chua circuit system subjected to two logical signals. By exploiting the attractors generated by this circuit in different regions of phase space, we show that the nonlinear circuit is capable of producing all the logic gates, namely, or, and, nor, nand, Ex-or, and Ex-nor gates, available in digital systems. Further, the circuit system emulates three-input gates and Set-Reset flip-flop logic as well. Moreover, all these logical elements and flip-flop are found to be tolerant to noise. These phenomena are also experimentally demonstrated. Thus, our investigation to realize all logic gates and memory latch in a nonlinear circuit system paves the way to replace or complement the existing technology with a limited number of hardware.

Route to logical strange nonchaotic attractors with single periodic force and noise.

Strange nonchaotic attractors (SNAs) have been identified and studied in the literature exclusively in quasiperiodically driven nonlinear dynamical systems. It is an interesting question to ask whether they can be identified with other types of forcings as well, which still remains an open problem. Here, we show that robust SNAs can be created by a small amount of noise in periodically driven nonlinear dynamical systems by a single force. The robustness of these attractors is tested by perturbing the system with logical signals, leading to the emulation of different logical elements in the SNA regions.

Acute disseminated encephalomyelitis in China, Singapore and Japan: a comparison with the USA.

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Ethnicity-related differences in the incidence of acute disseminated encephalomyelitis (ADEM) and other demyelinating diseases including multiple sclerosis and neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders have been reported. Little is reported on the influence of ethnicity and geographical location in ADEM. METHODS: Medical records of patients who presented with ADEM (ICD-9 323.61 and 323.81) at large referral hospitals in China, Singapore and Japan (years 1992-2015) were retrospectively reviewed and data were collected in a centralized database. Presenting features and outcomes of ADEM were compared between this multi-country Asian cohort and a uniformly collected US cohort using risk differences and risk ratios. Both cohorts were standardized to a 35% pediatric population to facilitate the comparison. RESULTS: There were 83 Asian patients (48 male, 16 pediatric) followed for a median of 2 (25th-75th percentile 1-10) months. Asian patients exhibited a 26% higher prevalence of spinal cord involvement on magnetic resonance imaging [95% confidence interval (CI) 0-52%; P = 0.05; 63% vs. 37%], a 39% lower prevalence of preceding events (95% CI 12-65%; P < 0.01; 33% vs. 72%) and a 23% lower prevalence of corpus callosum involvement (95% CI 7-39%; P < 0.01; 8% vs. 31%). No difference was observed between the two cohorts in the probability of relapse over the first year after disease onset. CONCLUSIONS: It is hypothesized that the high proportion of Asian patients with spinal cord lesions relates to genetic vulnerability or the higher incidence of neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorders in Asia or could be a spurious association. ADEM presentations most probably vary across geographical settings or ethnicities.

Molybdenum disulfide nanoparticles decorated reduced graphene oxide: highly sensitive and selective hydrogen sensor.

In this work, we report on the hydrogen (H2) sensing behavior of reduced graphene oxide (RGO)/molybdenum disulfide (MoS2) nano particles (NPs) based composite film. The RGO/MoS2 composite exhibited a highly enhanced H2 response (∼15.6%) for 200 ppm at an operating temperature of 60 °C. Furthermore, the RGO/MoS2 composite showed excellent selectivity to H2 with respect to ammonia (NH3) and nitric oxide (NO) which are highly reactive gas species. The composite's response to H2 is 2.9 times higher than that of NH3 whereas for NO it is 3.5. This highly improved H2 sensing response and selectivity of RGO/MoS2 at low operating temperatures were attributed to the structural integration of MoS2 nanoparticles in the nanochannels and pores in the RGO layer.

Implementation of dynamic dual input multiple output logic gate via resonance in globally coupled Duffing oscillators.

We have used a system of globally coupled double-well Duffing oscillators under an enhanced resonance condition to design and implement Dual Input Multiple Output (DIMO) logic gates. In order to enhance the resonance, the first oscillator in the globally coupled system alone is excited by two forces out of which one acts as a driving force and the other will be either sub-harmonic or super-harmonic in nature. We report that for an appropriate coupling strength, the second force coherently drives and enhances not only the amplitude of the weak first force to all the coupled systems but also drives and propagates the digital signals if any given to the first system. We then numerically confirm the propagation of any digital signal or square wave without any attenuation under an enhanced resonance condition for an amplitude greater than a threshold value. Further, we extend this idea for computing various logical operations and succeed in designing theoretically DIMO logic gates such as AND/NAND, OR/NOR gates with globally coupled systems.

Design and implementation of dynamic logic gates and R-S flip-flop using quasiperiodically driven Murali-Lakshmanan-Chua circuit.

We report the propagation of a square wave signal in a quasi-periodically driven Murali-Lakshmanan-Chua (QPDMLC) circuit system. It is observed that signal propagation is possible only above a certain threshold strength of the square wave or digital signal and all the values above the threshold amplitude are termed as "region of signal propagation." Then, we extend this region of signal propagation to perform various logical operations like AND/NAND/OR/NOR and hence it is also designated as the "region of logical operation." Based on this region, we propose implementing the dynamic logic gates, namely, AND/NAND/OR/NOR, which can be decided by the asymmetrical input square waves without altering the system parameters. Further, we show that a single QPDMLC system will produce simultaneously two outputs which are complementary to each other. As a result, a single QPDMLC system yields either AND as well as NAND or OR as well as NOR gates simultaneously. Then, we combine the corresponding two QPDMLC systems in a cross-coupled way and report that its dynamics mimics that of fundamental R-S flip-flop circuit. All these phenomena have been explained with analytical solutions of the circuit equations characterizing the system and finally, the results are compared with the corresponding numerical and experimental analysis.

Reservoir computing with logistic map.

Recent studies on reservoir computing essentially involve a high-dimensional dynamical system as the reservoir, which transforms and stores the input as a higher-dimensional state for temporal and nontemporal data processing. We demonstrate here a method to predict temporal and nontemporal tasks by constructing virtual nodes as constituting a reservoir in reservoir computing using a nonlinear map, namely, the logistic map, and a simple finite trigonometric series. We predict three nonlinear systems, namely, Lorenz, Rössler, and Hindmarsh-Rose, for temporal tasks and a seventh-order polynomial for nontemporal tasks with great accuracy. Also, the prediction is made in the presence of noise and found to closely agree with the target. Remarkably, the logistic map performs well and predicts close to the actual or target values. The low values of the root mean square error confirm the accuracy of this method in terms of efficiency. Our approach removes the necessity of continuous dynamical systems for constructing the reservoir in reservoir computing. Moreover, the accurate prediction for the three different nonlinear systems suggests that this method can be considered a general one and can be applied to predict many systems. Finally, we show that the method also accurately anticipates the time series of the all the three variable of Rössler system for the future (self-prediction).

Encephalitis with thalamic and basal ganglia abnormalities: etiologies, neuroimaging, and potential role of respiratory viruses.

BACKGROUND: Encephalitis is a severe neurological syndrome with devastating consequences. Despite extensive testing, the etiology often remains unknown. Involvement of the thalamus or basal ganglia (T/BG) occurs in a subset of patients with encephalitis and may be an important etiological clue. In order to improve diagnosis of T/BG patients, we reviewed this subgroup within the California Encephalitis Project (CEP). METHODS: Data from T/BG cases enrolled in CEP were retrospectively reviewed. Cases were stratified by age and grouped by etiological classification: infectious, postinfectious, and noninfectious. Neuroimaging reports were examined and compared between etiologies. RESULTS: T/BG neuroimaging abnormalities were reported in 6% of 3236 CEP cases. An etiology was found in 76%: 37% infectious, 16% postinfectious, and 23% noninfectious. The most frequently identified infectious agents were respiratory viruses, accounting for 31%, predominantly in children. Other infections more common in the T/BG group included Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, arbovirus, and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Infectious and postinfectious cases had higher median cerebrospinal fluid white blood cell count than noninfectious etiologies. Notably, T/BG neuroimaging characteristics were associated with distinct etiologies. In particular, symmetric hemorrhagic abnormalities involving the thalamus were most frequently found within the respiratory virus group. CONCLUSIONS: T/BG involvement in patients with suspected encephalitis was associated with specific etiologies. In addition to agents with established predilection for the T/BG such as M. tuberculosis and arboviruses, a surprisingly high number of cases were associated with respiratory viruses, especially in children. Neuroimaging abnormalities in such patients can aid clinicians in narrowing the etiological scope and in guiding testing.

Case definitions, diagnostic algorithms, and priorities in encephalitis: consensus statement of the international encephalitis consortium.

BACKGROUND: Encephalitis continues to result in substantial morbidity and mortality worldwide. Advances in diagnosis and management have been limited, in part, by a lack of consensus on case definitions, standardized diagnostic approaches, and priorities for research. METHODS: In March 2012, the International Encephalitis Consortium, a committee begun in 2010 with members worldwide, held a meeting in Atlanta to discuss recent advances in encephalitis and to set priorities for future study. RESULTS: We present a consensus document that proposes a standardized case definition and diagnostic guidelines for evaluation of adults and children with suspected encephalitis. In addition, areas of research priority, including host genetics and selected emerging infections, are discussed. CONCLUSIONS: We anticipate that this document, representing a synthesis of our discussions and supported by literature, will serve as a practical aid to clinicians evaluating patients with suspected encephalitis and will identify key areas and approaches to advance our knowledge of encephalitis.

Applicability of 0-1 test for strange nonchaotic attractors.

We show that the recently introduced 0-1 test can successfully distinguish between strange nonchaotic attractors (SNAs) and periodic/quasiperiodic/chaotic attractors, by suitably choosing the arbitrary parameter associated with the translation variables in terms of the golden mean number which avoids resonance with the quasiperiodic force. We further characterize the transition from quasiperiodic to chaotic motion via SNAs in terms of the 0-1 test. We demonstrate that the test helps to detect different dynamical transitions to SNAs from quasiperiodic attractor or the transitions from SNAs to chaos. We illustrate the performance of the 0-1 test in detecting transitions to SNAs in quasiperiodically forced logistic map, cubic map, and Duffing oscillator.

Doping-Free High-Performance Photovoltaic Effect in a WSe2 Lateral p-n Homojunction Formed by Contact Engineering.

Two-dimensional transition metal dichalcogenides (TMDs) are promising materials for semiconductor nanodevices owing to their flexibility, transparency, and appropriate band gaps. A variety of optoelectronic and electronic devices based on TMDs p-n diodes have been extensively investigated due to their unique advantages. However, improving their performance is challenging for commercial applications. In this study, we propose a facile and doping-free approach based on the contact engineering of a few-layer tungsten di-selenide to form a lateral p-n homojunction photovoltaic. By combining surface and edge contacts for p-n diode fabrication, the photovoltaic effect is achieved with a high fill factor of ≈0.64, a power conversion efficiency of up to ≈4.5%, and the highest external quantum efficiency with a value of ≈67.6%. The photoresponsivity reaches 283 mA/W, indicating excellent photodiode performance. These results demonstrate that our technique has great potential for application in next-generation optoelectronic devices.

Study of synergistic effect of cobalt and carbon codoped with TiO2 photocatalyst for visible light induced degradation of phenol.

In this work, we reported synthesis of cobalt and carbon codoped TiO2 (Co-C-TiO2) nanoparticles were prepared using co-precipitation technique. The synthesized catalysts are analyzed by various methods. The powder XRD pattern confirmed that all the samples were polycrystalline of anatase phase and particle size of resultant nanoparticle was reduced correlated with bare TiO2 sample. FTIR measurements exhibit the identification of functional groups present at the surface of TiO2. FESEM micrograph showed that the shape of codoped TiO2 nanoparticles are approximately sphere. The attained energy gap of Co doped and C codoping of TiO2 modifies to a level below the energy gap of TiO2 anatase specifying a high capability to absorb visible light. The recombination rate of photo-induced electrons and holes for Co-C codoped TiO2 nanoparticles is significantly reduced. The synthesized samples are assessed in degradation of phenol by the illumination of visible light. The results confirmed that photocatalytic activity enhanced due to doping and codoping of Co and C. As a result, Co-C codoped TiO2 nanoparticles exhibited a higher visible-light photocatalytic activity in compared with Co-TiO2 and bare TiO2 with the maximum degradation efficiency of 98, 75 and 15%, respectively. And also, the reusability of the catalyst was proved when 95% degradation could be achieved after consecutive batches. It is predictable that this work will provide new insights to increase the visible light active photocatalysts for environmental problems.

Depth of resin penetration into enamel with 3 types of enamel conditioning methods: a confocal microscopic study.

INTRODUCTION: The clinical efficiency of a bonding material relies on its bond strength and debonding characteristics; the depth of resin penetration into enamel affects both of these factors. The depth of resin penetration has been previously studied by researchers using laborious, indirect methods, including the scanning electron microscope and the optical microscope. METHODS: We used a more direct method, confocal microscopy, to visualize the resin tags in enamel. Thirty maxillary first premolars were selected and divided into 3 groups. In group A, the buccal enamel surfaces were conditioned with 37% phosphoric acid; in group B, a self-etching primer was used; and group C was treated with air abrasion. Transbond XT adhesive (3M Unitek, Monrovia, Calif) was used to bond a modified bracket. Transbond XT primer (3M Unitek) mixed with rhodamine B fluorescent dye (Chennai Chemicals, Chennai, India) was applied in groups A and C. In group B, rhodamine was mixed with self-etching primer. After curing, the brackets were debonded, and the teeth were visualized under the fluorescent channel of the confocal microscope. RESULTS: Maximal resin penetration of 53.9 µm was observed in group A, followed by group B at 40.5 µm and group C at 39.9 µm. CONCLUSIONS: Confocal microscope evaluation showed that enamel conditioning with 37% phosphoric acid produced greater depths of resin penetration than did self-etching primer or air abrasion.

Improved Contact Resistance by a Single Atomic Layer Tunneling Effect in WS2 /MoTe2 Heterostructures.

Manipulation of Ohmic contacts in 2D transition metal dichalcogenides for enhancing the transport properties and enabling its application as a practical device has been a long-sought goal. In this study, n-type tungsten disulfide (WS2 ) single atomic layer to improve the Ohmic contacts of the p-type molybdenum ditelluride (MoTe2 ) material is covered. The Ohmic properties, based on the lowering of Schottky barrier height (SBH) owing to the tunneling barrier effect of the WS2 monolayer, are found to be unexpectedly excellent at room temperature and even at 100 K. The improved SBH and contact resistances are 3 meV and 1 MΩ µm, respectively. The reduction in SBH and contact resistance is confirmed with temperature-dependent transport measurements. This study further demonstrates the selective carrier transport across the MoTe2 and WS2 layers by modulating the applied gate voltage. This WS2 /MoTe2 heterostructure exhibits excellent gate control over the currents of both channels (n-type and p-type). The on/off ratios for both the electron and hole channels are calculated as 107 and 106 , respectively, indicating good carrier type modulation by the electric field of the gate electrode. The Ohmic contact resistance using the tunneling of the atomic layer can be applied to heterojunction combinations of various materials.

Spatially resolved spin-injection probability for gallium arsenide.

We report a large spin-polarized current injection from a ferromagnetic metal into a nonferromagnetic semiconductor, at a temperature of 100 Kelvin. The modification of the spin-injection process by a nanoscale step edge was observed. On flat gallium arsenide [GaAs(110)] terraces, the injection efficiency was 92%, whereas in a 10-nanometer-wide region around a [111]-oriented step the injection efficiency is reduced by a factor of 6. Alternatively, the spin-relaxation lifetime was reduced by a factor of 12. This reduction is associated with the metallic nature of the step edge. This study advances the realization of using both the charge and spin of the electron in future semiconductor devices.

Deformable image registration for dose mapping between external beam radiotherapy and brachytherapy images of cervical cancer.

For locally advanced cervical cancer (LACC), anatomy correspondence with and without BT applicator needs to be quantified to merge the delivered doses of external beam radiation therapy (EBRT) and brachytherapy (BT). This study proposed and evaluated different deformable image registration (DIR) methods for this application. Twenty patients who underwent EBRT and BT for LACC were retrospectively analyzed. Each patient had a pre-BT CT at EBRT boost (without applicator) and a CT and MRI at BT (with applicator). The evaluated DIR methods were the diffeomorphic Demons, commercial intensity and hybrid methods, and three different biomechanical models. The biomechanical models considered different boundary conditions (BCs). The impact of the BT devices insertion on the anatomy was quantified. DIR method performances were quantified using geometric criteria between the original and deformed contours. The BT dose was deformed toward the pre-CT BT by each DIR method. The impact of boundary conditions to drive the biomechanical model was evaluated based on the deformation vector field and dose differences. The GEC-ESTRO guideline dose indices were reported. Large organ displacements, deformations, and volume variations were observed between the pre-BT and BT anatomies. Rigid registration and intensity-based DIR resulted in poor geometric accuracy with mean Dice similarity coefficient (DSC) inferior to 0.57, 0.63, 0.42, 0.32, and 0.43 for the rectum, bladder, vagina, cervix and uterus, respectively. Biomechanical models provided a mean DSC of 0.96 for all the organs. By considering the cervix-uterus as one single structure, biomechanical models provided a mean DSC of 0.88 and 0.94 for the cervix and uterus, respectively. The deformed doses were represented for each DIR method. Caution should be used when performing DIR for this application as standard techniques may have unacceptable results. The biomechanical model with the cervix-uterus as one structure provided the most realistic deformations to propagate the BT dose toward the EBRT boost anatomy.