Neuromorphic Computing with Emerging Antiferromagnetic Ordering in Spin-Orbit Torque Devices.

Field-free switching (FFS) and spin-orbit torque (SOT)-based neuromorphic characteristics were realized in a W/Pt/Co/NiO/Pt heterostructure with a perpendicular exchange bias (HEB) for brain-inspired neuromorphic computing (NC). Experimental results using NiO-based SOT devices guided the development of fully spin-based artificial synapses and sigmoidal neurons for implementation in a three-layer artificial neural network. This system achieved impressive accuracies of 91-96% when applied to the Modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) image data set and 78.85-81.25% when applied to Fashion MNIST images, due presumably to the emergence of robust NiO antiferromagnetic (AFM) ordering. The emergence of AFM ordering favored the FFS with an enhanced HEB, which suppressed the memristivity and reduced the recognition accuracy. This indicates a trade-off between the requirements for solid-state memory and those required for brain-inspired NC devices. Nonetheless, our findings revealed opportunities by which the two technologies could be aligned via controllable exchange coupling.

Psychiatric disorders in term-born children with marginally low birth weight: a population-based study.

BACKGROUND: Marginally low birth weight (MLBW) is defined as a birth weight of 2000 ~ 2499 g. Inconsistent findings have been reported on whether children with low birth weight had higher rates of neurological, attention, or cognitive symptoms. No studies have explored the occurrence of clinically diagnosed psychiatric disorders in term- born MLBW infants. We aimed to investigate the risk of subsequent psychiatric disorders in term-born children with MLBW. METHODS: This is a nationwide retrospective cohort study, by analysing the data from Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database from 2008 to 2018. The study population includes propensity-score-matched term-born infants with MLBW and those without MLBW (birth weight ≥ 2500 g). Cox proportional hazard analysis was used after adjustment for potential demographic and perinatal comorbidity confounders. Incidence rates and hazard ratios (HR) of 11 psychiatric clinical diagnoses were evaluated. RESULTS: A total of 53,276 term-born MLBW infants and 1,323,930 term-born infants without MLBW were included in the study. After propensity score matching for demographic variables and perinatal comorbidities, we determined that the term-born MLBW infants (n = 50,060) were more likely to have attention deficit and hyperactivity disorder (HR = 1.26, 95% confidence interval (CI) [1.20, 1.33]), autism spectrum disorder (HR = 1.26, 95% CI [1.14, 1.40]), conduct disorder (HR = 1.25, 95% CI [1.03, 1.51]), emotional disturbance (HR: = 1.13, 95% CI [1.02, 1.26]), or specific developmental delays (HR = 1.38, 95% CI [1.33, 1.43]) than term-born infants without MLBW (n = 50,060). CONCLUSION: MLBW was significantly associated with the risk of subsequent psychiatric disorder development among term-born infants. The study findings demonstrate that further attention to mental health and neurodevelopment issues may be necessary in term-born children with MLBW. However, possibilities of misclassification in exposures or outcomes, and risks of residual and unmeasured confounding should be concerned when interpreting our data.

Excess Mortality in Individuals with Autism Spectrum Disorder: A Population-Based Cohort Study.

Purpose: Autism spectrum disorder (ASD) may be associated with increased mortality, but relevant findings have been inconsistent. The modifying effects of gender and intellectual disability on excess mortality in individuals with ASD are underexplored. Patients and Methods: Using Taiwan's National Health Insurance Research Database and the National Death Registry, this population-based cohort study selected the data of 75,946 patients with ASD (ASD cohort) and 75,946 age group-, gender-, and income-matched (1:1) patients without ASD (non-ASD cohort). Cox proportional hazards models were used to compare mortality rates between the cohorts, and stratified analyses were used to evaluate the influence of gender and intellectual disability on mortality risk. Results: The ASD cohort had higher mortality rates for all causes of death than did the non-ASD cohort (adjusted hazard ratio 1.64, 95% confidence interval 1.54-1.75). Comorbid intellectual disability was associated with an increased risk of mortality, and this association was stronger in female patients than in male patients. Moreover, when focusing on deaths from natural causes, we found a significantly higher odds ratio for mortality in the ASD population with ID compared to those without ID. Conclusion: ASD is associated with increased mortality, especially among female individuals and those with intellectual disability.