Longitudinal analysis of novel Alzheimer's disease proteomic cerebrospinal fluid biomarkers during intravenous immunoglobulin therapy

Intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIg) therapy has shown promising results in treating Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this study, a Random Forest (RF) classification model was used to identify possible effects of IVIg on a group of eight subjects who underwent immunotherapy. Cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) samples from eight AD subjects who underwent IVIg therapy were collected before therapy, after 6 months of therapy, and after a 3-month drug washout period. Samples were analyzed using 2DE and further studied using a RF classification model to identify effects of IVIg on a panel of 23 putative diagnostic AD biomarkers previously identified. Six of the eight subjects showed improvements with respect to the 23 AD diagnostic biomarkers after 6 months of therapy compared to the samples taken at the outset of the trial. All subjects reverted back to baseline during drug washout. These results are also consistent with clinical observations. The observed improvements in subjects during 6 months of IVIg therapy and the reversion back to baseline during drug washout provides preliminary evidence regarding the potential use of IVIg as an AD immunotherapy.     

Hybrid Devices by Selective and Conformal Deposition of PtSe2 at Low Temperatures

2D materials display very promising intrinsic material properties, with multiple applications in electronics, photonics, and sensing. In particular layered platinum diselenide has shown high potential due to its layer-dependent tunable bandgap, low-temperature growth, and high environmental stability. Here, the conformal and area selective (AS) low-temperature growth of layered PtSe₂ is presented defining a new paradigm for 2D material integration. The thermally-assisted conversion of platinum which is deposited by AS atomic layer deposition to PtSe₂ is demonstrated on various substrates with a distinct 3D topography. Further the viability of the approach is presented by successful on-chip integration of hybrid semiconductor devices, namely by the manufacture of a highly sensitive ammonia sensors channel with 3D topography and fully integrated infrared-photodetectors on silicon photonics waveguides. The presented methodologies of conformal and AS growth therefore lay the foundation for new design routes for the synthesis of more complex hybrid structures with 2D materials.     

Analysis of the switching speed of BiCMOS buffer under high current

A nonlinear analytical transient response model that is suitable for BiCMOS driver circuits operating under the Kirk and Van der Ziel effect is presented. The model accounts for both base vertical push-out and lateral stretching phenomena where the forward transit time τ _f has a square law dependence on the collector current. Based on the new transient model, a closed-form BiCMOS delay expression is derived that shows excellent agreement with measured gate delay from a 0.8-μm BiCMOS technology. The comparison is made for a wide range of circuit parameters. The delay model can be used to develop timing analyzers, timing simulators, and circuit optimization tools for ULSI circuit design. As an application of the delay model, a circuit design algorithm is derived to optimize the speed-area performance of the BiCMOS buffers     

Diradical Organic One-Dimensional Polymers Synthesized on a Metallic Surface

We report on the synthesis and characterization of atomically precise one-dimensional diradical peripentacene polymers on a Au(111) surface. By means of high-resolution scanning probe microscopy complemented by theoretical simulations, we provide evidence of their magnetic properties, which arise from the presence of two unpaired spins at their termini. Additionally, we probe a transition of their magnetic properties related to the length of the polymer. Peripentacene dimers exhibit an antiferromagnetic (S=0) singlet ground state. They are characterized by singlet–triplet spin-flip inelastic excitations with an effective exchange coupling (J_eff) of 2.5 meV, whereas trimers and longer peripentacene polymers reveal a paramagnetic nature and feature Kondo fingerprints at each terminus due to the unpaired spin. Our work provides access to the precise fabrication of polymers featuring diradical character which are potentially useful in carbon-based optoelectronics and spintronics.     

Dispersion characteristics of coupled-resonator optical waveguides

A tight-binding optical waveguide formed by proximity coupling of nearest-neighbor resonators, e.g., a coupled-resonator optical waveguide (CROW), has distinct wave and pulse propagation characteristics compared with a conventional waveguide, and several applications in photonic devices have been proposed recently. But analysis of the dispersion, and in particular the group-velocity dispersion, in such a waveguide requires particular attention: the waveguide displays two distinct regimes of operation, depending on the position of the wave packet in the dispersion relationship.     

Nonlinear dispersion in a coupled-resonator optical waveguide

The propagation of an optical pulse in a coupled-resonator optical waveguide may be calculated nonperturbatively to all orders of dispersion, in the conventional tight-binding approximation, even though the dispersion relationship is nonlinear. Working in this framework, we discuss limits of the physical parameters and approximations to the exact formulation that highlight the conditions under which pulse distortion can be minimized. The results are fundamental to the design of coupled-resonator optical waveguides and are also relevant to other applications of the tight-binding method.     

Technological and economical analysis of flare recovery methods,and comparison of different steam and power generation systems

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - One of the most important environmental issues in the oil, gas, and petrochemical industries is the appropriate disposal of waste hydrocarbon gases in...