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To alleviate the negative effects of air pollution, this paper explores a mixed prediction model of pollutant concentration based on the machine learning method. Firstly, in order to improve the prediction performance of the sparrow search algorithm least square support vector machine (SSA-LSSVM), a reverse learning strategy-lens principle is introduced, and a better solution is obtained by optimizing the current solution and reverse solution at the same time. Secondly, according to the nonlinear and non-stationary characteristics of the time series data of PM2.5 and PM10, the variational mode decomposition (VMD) method is used to decompose the original data to obtain the appropriate K value. Finally, experimental verification and an empirical analysis are carried out. In experiment 1, we verified the good performance of the model on University of California Irvine Machine Learning Repository (UCI) datasets. In experiment 2, we predicted the pollutant data of different cities in the Beijing–Tianjin–Hebei region in different time periods, and obtained five error results and compared them with six other algorithms. The results show that the prediction method in this paper has good robustness and the expected results can be obtained under different prediction conditions.

To address the pollution problem of acid mine drainage (AMD) characterized by high concentrations of Fe2+, Mn2+, and SO42−, a combination of coal gangue (CG) and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) was employed. The effects of coal-gangue dosage, SRB inoculation concentration, and temperature on AMD treatment with coal-gangue-loaded SRB were determined through single-factor experiments and response surface methodology (RSM) experiments. By considering the principles of adsorption isotherms, adsorption kinetics, and reduction kinetics, the removal mechanisms of SO42−, Fe2+, and Mn2+ in AMD using coal gangue-loaded SRB in the the Haizhou open-pit mine was revealed. The results showed that the overall effectiveness of the four types of coal-gangue-loaded SRB in repairing AMD was as follows: 3# CG-loaded SRB > 2# CG-loaded SRB > 1# CG-loaded SRB > 4# CG-loaded SRB, with coal-gangue-loaded SRB in the the Haizhou open-pit mine showing the best performance. According to the RSM test, the optimum conditions for repairing AMD with coal-gangue-loaded SRB in the open-pit mine were a coal-gangue dosage of 52 g, SRB inoculation concentration of 11.7%, and temperature of 33.4 °C. The order of factors affecting the removal of SO42− and Fe2+ from AMD by SRB loaded on coal gangue was SRB inoculation concentration > temperature > coal-gangue dosage. For Mn2+, the order of influence was temperature > SRB inoculation concentration > coal-gangue dosage. In the process of repairing Fe2+ with coal-gangue-loaded SRB in the the Haizhou open-pit mine, the biological activity metabolism of SRB played a leading role, while the adsorption isotherm of Mn2+ followed the Freundlich model. The adsorption kinetics of coal-gangue-loaded SRB in the the Haizhou open-pit mine for Fe2+ and Mn2+ in AMD conformed to Lagergren’s second-order kinetic model, while the reduction kinetics of SO42− conformed to a first-order reaction model.

Yanrong, Wang, Zhu, Chaodong, Sha, Zhongli, Ren, Xianqiu (2021): Liuomelita mollipalma, a new genus and species of Melitidae (Amphipoda: Hadzioidea) from hydrothermal vents of the Okinawa Trough, North-West Pacific. Journal of Natural History 55 (19-20): 1299-1310, DOI: 10.1080/00222933.2021.1947535, URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00222933.2021.1947535

The genetic adaptations to harsh climatic conditions in high altitudes and genetic basis of important agronomic traits are poorly understood in Elymus sibiricus L. In this study, an association population of 210 genotypes was used for population structure, selective sweep analysis, and genome-wide association study (GWAS) based on 88,506 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). We found 965 alleles under the natural selection of high altitude, which included 7 hub genes involved in the response to UV, and flavonoid and anthocyanin biosynthetic process based on the protein–protein interaction (PPI) analysis. Using a mixed linear model (MLM), the GWAS test identified a total of 1,825 significant loci associated with 12 agronomic traits. Based on the gene expression data of two wheat cultivars and the PPI analysis, we finally identified 12 hub genes. Especially, in plant height traits, the top hub gene (TOPLESS protein) encoding auxins and jasmonic acid signaling pathway, shoot apical meristem specification, and xylem and phloem pattern formation was highly overexpressed. These genes might play essential roles in controlling the growth and development of E. sibiricus. Therefore, this study provides fundamental insights relevant to hub genes and will benefit molecular breeding and improvement in E. sibiricus and other Elymus species.

This paper summarizes the relevant literature through the content analysis method and combines expert advice. The company built a four-level indicator including traffic knowledge and skills, and 13 pilot-level traffic literacy evaluation indicators system including traffic rules and mechanical common sense. The Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) analysis method is used to determine the weight of each indicator of urban driver traffic literacy evaluation, and conduct pilot survey and evaluation of motor vehicle drivers in Zhengzhou. The results show that the evaluation value of motor vehicle driver traffic literacy in Zhengzhou is 72.07, including a traffic knowledge score of 77.09, traffic awareness score of 73.95, traffic skill score of 78.12, and traffic behavior score of up to 84.3. It shows that the respondents have relatively more active and responsible traffic behaviors and have a certain degree of understanding of traffic skills and traffic knowledge. However, they are relatively low in traffic awareness.

By reactive DC magnetron sputtering from a pure Ta target onto silicon substrates, Ta(N) films were prepared with a different N2 flow rate of 0, 12, 17, 25, 38, 58 sccm. The effects of N2 flow rate on the electrical properties, crystal structure, elemental composition and optical properties of Ta(N) were studied. These properties were characterized by the four-probe method, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and spectroscopic ellipsometry (SE). Results show that the deposition rate decreases with an increase of the N2 flows. On the other hand, the resistivity increases, the crystal size decreases, and the crystal structure transitions from β-Ta to TaN(111), and finally becomes the N-rich phase Ta3N5 (130,040). Studying the optical properties, it is found that there are differences in the refractive index (n) and extinction coefficient (k) of Ta(N) with different thicknesses and different N2 flow rates, and dependent on the crystal size and crystal phase structure.

Additional file 1. Appendix 1. Covariate classification definition.

BackgroundThere are few studies indicating that small molecular compounds affect the proliferation, differentiation, apoptosis, and autophagy of female germline stem cells (FGSCs). However, the epigenetic regulatory mechanism of small molecular compounds that induce autophagy in FGSCs remains unknown.ResultsIn this study, we found that C28 reduced the viability and proliferation of FGSCs, respectively. Additionally, western blotting showed that the expression of autophagy marker light chain 3 beta II (LC3B-II) was significantly increased and expression of sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1) was significantly reduced in C28-treated groups. Immunofluorescence showed that, in C28-treated groups, the number of LC3B-II-positive puncta was increased significantly. These results indicated that C28 induced autophagy of FGSCs in vitro. ChIP-seq data showed that autophagy-related biological processes such as regulation of mitochondrial membrane potential, Golgi vesicle transport, and cellular response to reactive oxygen species were enriched. In addition, RNA-Seq showed that the expression of genes (Trib3, DDIT3, and ATF4) related to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress was enhanced by C28.ConclusionC28 could induce FGSC autophagy in vitro leading to a decrease in the number of FGSCs. H3K27ac and ER stress might play roles in C28-induced autophagy of FGSCs in vitro.

In view of the characteristics of real-time temperature management in cold chain logistics, the paper discusses the technology of RFID and outlier mining. First, the paper puts forward the real-time temperature control system of RFID cold chain logistics, and finds that RFID is more suitable for real-time monitoring of temperature. Then the method of data stream mining is discussed, and it is found that the outlier mining method is more suitable for real-time processing of RFID cold chain data. On this basis, a distributed outlier mining algorithm, QOD, is proposed as the core algorithm of real-time temperature control system, combined with the definition of outliers and the temperature control characteristics of cold chain, which shows the effectiveness of the algorithm. According to its limitations, the pruning strategy is used to demonstrate the neighborhood pruning strategy in detail, and the pruning strategy is used to optimize the QOD algorithm, which improves the algorithm speed. Finally, experiments prove that the performance of the optimized QOD algorithm is improved. Compared with the related algorithm, the analysis shows that the QOD method has some advantages in effectiveness, accuracy and fast response. Finally, the future development direction of RFID cold chain temperature control is prospected.

Use RFID technology to solve the cold chain logistics management of real-time temperature monitoring problems; Face the ensuing data explosion problem, combined with RFID. The data mining algorithm and the cold chain temperature control actual demand, based on the Gaussian distribution hypothesis temperature anomaly detection, further optimizes, then through the experiment proved the algorithm accuracy; Finally, the future development direction of the RFID cold chain temperature control research is prospected.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has emerged as one of the most important pathogens both in health care and in community-onset infections. Cbf-K16, a cathelicidin-like antimicrobial peptide, presented broad antimicrobial activity during our previous studies. We evaluated the potential for synergy of Cbf-K16 with ceftazidime/ampicilin against MRSA, which was resistant to these two antibiotics with the minimum inhibitory concentration more than 64 μg/ml. The combinations showed a synergistic effect by a checkerboard assay with a fractional inhibitory concentration index ≤0.5. The killing curves of the combination treatment against MRSA showed that CFU counts decreased rapidly within 4 h by almost five logs, while single medication groups and the control group exhibited little inhibitory effect. In addition, in a mice bacteremia model, studies indicated that the combination treatment significantly prolonged the survival time of mice infected with MRSA, with a death protection rate of 80 %. Flow cytometry analysis and transmission electron microscopy indicated that combination-treated MRSA was completely ruptured with the cellular contents leaked out. The synergistic effect showed that Cbf-K16 selectively killed cells with non-integrity induced by cell wall inhibition antibiotics, suggesting that Cbf-K16 is a potential therapeutic agent and adjuvant for antimicrobial chemotherapy.

Particle damping (PD) has been well known for its simplicity and high efficiency in attenuating structure vibration. Recent studies on PD have focused mainly on new types of dampers and applications. Meanwhile, excitation applied to the primary structure is still limited to either horizontal or vertical direction, perpendicular or parallel to gravity. In this study, the characteristics of PD under horizontal–vertical excitations (HVE) are investigated numerically and experimentally. The particle damper, which is attached to the top free end of an L-shaped cantilever beam, is simultaneously excited in the horizontal and vertical directions in the context of free decay. An equivalent model capable of motion in both the horizontal and vertical directions is generated. Given an initial displacement disturbance, this model starts vibrating freely in the vertical plane. A code based on the 3D discrete element method is programmed, and the high coincidence between the numerical and experimental results shows that this equivalent model is capable of high-fidelity simulation for PD under HVE. Parametric studies have been implemented to characterize the basic nonlinear damping capacity of particle dampers under this new operating condition. The effects of seven dimensionless independent parameters on the specific damping capacity (SDC) are investigated, including dimensionless acceleration amplitude, particle mass ratio, dimensionless horizontal and vertical impact clearances, coefficients of friction and restitution, and amplitude ratio of the horizontal excitation to the vertical excitation. The results show that the basic damping properties of PD under HVE are similar to those of PD under only vertical excitation. However, PD under HVE signifies its own characteristics because of the existence of horizontal excitation: (1) The impact clearances in both the horizontal and vertical directions have significant effects on the SDC because of the significant increase in oblique impacts. (2) The shape and dimensions of a damper cavity should be designed according to the acceleration amplitude. If the amplitude is relatively low (such as Γ

It is a long term work to assemble the knowledge needed to utilize the rich native plant resources to assist social and economic development in China. The progress of the research results and their application of mechanisms underlying the stress-tolerance in native plants including Zygophyllum xanthoxylum, Artemisia sphaerocephala, Microula sikkimensis, Achnatherum inebrians, Cleistogenes songorica and Leymus chinensis were reviewed in this paper. The main results and findings are as follows: based on discovering the physiological mechanism of drought tolerance of Z. xanthoxylum, the key genes involved in drought tolerance were cloned and applied into the genetic improvement of important legume forage lucerne (Medicago sativa) and lotus (Lotus corniculatus); the desert shrub A. sphaerocephala and alpine species M. sikkimensis contain high contents of polyunsaturated fatty acids, the highest contents being found in the seeds; the diversity of drunken horse grass fungal endophyte symbiont was investigated on a national scale. The alkaloids produced by the symbiont are the main reason for both increased plant stress tolerance and the toxicity symptoms observed after intake by grazing animals; the biological, physiological and molecular genetic characteristics of C. songorica were studied. As a result, the species is expected to be domesticated successfully. Technical information on procedures for pasture establishment and seed production of this species has been developed; the seed dormancy mechanisms of L. chinensis were explored, and techniques to effectively break dormancy were developed. © 2016, Science Press. All right reserved.

With regard to the inefficient application of a food processing information system due to shortage of the knowledge acquisition measure and self-updating function of knowledge, a method of constructing an online aided decision making knowledge base for quality and security of food processing, based on regular expression, is discussed in the paper. Firstly, the method establishes an online aided decision making knowledge base for quality and security of food processing based on regular expression; and then an automatic knowledge inference engine is applied to update the knowledge in the base, combined with industry experts’ experience knowledge. Continuous deriving of food processing knowledge can be realized based on the inference engine. The research will greatly enhance the efficiency and applicability of obtaining knowledge from an online aided decision making system for quality and security of food processing.

Background: Sainfoin (Onobrychis viciifolia) is a highly nutritious, tannin-containing, and tetraploid forage legume. Due to the lack of detailed transcriptomic and genomic information on this species, genetic and breeding projects for sainfoin improvement have been significantly hindered. Methods: In this study, a total of 24,630,711 clean reads were generated from 14 different sainfoin tissues using Illumina paired-end sequencing technology and deposited in the NCBI SRA database (SRX3763386). From these clean reads, 77,764 unigene sequences were obtained and 6,752 EST-SSRs were identified using denovo assembly. A total of 2,469 primer pairs were designed, and 200 primer pairs were randomly selected to analyze the polymorphism in five sainfoin wild accessions. Results: Further analysis of 40 sainfoin individuals from the five wild populations using 61 EST-SSR loci showed that the number of alleles per locus ranged from 4 to 15, and the expected heterozygosity varied from 0.55 to 0.91. Additionally, by counting the EST-SSR band number and sequencing the three or four bands in one sainfoin individual, sainfoin was confirmed to be autotetraploid. This finding provides a high level of information about this plant. Discussion: Through this study, 61 EST-SSR markers were successfully developed and shown to be useful for genetic studies and investigations of population genetic structures and variabilities among different sainfoin accessions.

Aeroelasticity has always been a significant issue of compressors. Impeller-diffuser interaction (IDI) produces periodic aerodynamic excitation which forces the blades to vibrate in centrifugal compressors, and eventually causes the damage of blades. Therefore, it is of great importance to investigate the IDI in centrifugal compressors and the effects on the vibration of blades. In this paper, it is discussed in detail that the deflection angle of the airflow in diffuser affects the IDI of the centrifugal compressor and the vibration of blades. The results show that if deflection angle is positive, the interaction of the diffuser on impeller and the vibration of main blades are decreased. However, on condition that the deflection angle is excessive, the interaction of the diffuser on the flow field of impeller will be intensified, and the vibration of the main blades will be stronger. Therefore, it is necessary to reasonably control the range of the deflection angle so that centrifugal compressors are able to work in a safer environment.

Al/SiC composite coatings were deposited on the surface of aluminum alloy by atmospheric plasma spraying. The effects of SiC volume in Al/SiC composite powders on the deposition behavior and the properties of the Al/SiC coatings were investigated. It is found that the decarburization and oxidation of pure SiC powder occur in the plasma flame. With the increase of SiC content, the deposition of the Al/SiC composite powder becomes more difficult through plasma spraying. There exist cracks between the bond coat and the aluminum alloy substrate resulting in poor adhesion between them. The hardness of the composite coating becomes higher with the increase of SiC content. The Al/SiC (50:50) deposit with a thickness of 70 μm and a hardness of 3690 MPa can strengthen the surface of aluminum alloy.

Extended data

Extended data

Sophora alopecuroides L. (Leguminosae) is a commonly used Chinese herbal drug that possesses antipyretic, anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Among various alkaloids isolated from S. alopecuroides, matrine has been identified as the major bioactive component contributing to a variety of pharmacological effects, and studies have also shown that matrine has an analgesic effect.To investigate the antinociceptive effects of matrine on neuropathic pain induced by chronic constriction injury (CCI) in mice.The von Frey, plantar, cold-plate, locomotor activity and rota-rod test were performed to assess the degree of mechanical, radiant, thermal, spontaneous locomotor activity and motor coordination changes respectively, at different time intervals, i.e., one day before surgery and 7, 8, 10, 12 and 14 days post surgery. Matrine was administered from the 8th day after the surgery for seven days.Our present study shows that matrine at the dose of 30 mg/kg i.p. increased the paw withdrawal threshold (0.88 ± 0.16), paw withdrawal latency (7.01 ± 0.11) and the counts of paw withdrawal (19.7 ± 1.15) from the day 8 for the nerve injured paw compared to the CCI group (0.18 ± 0.04, 4.62 ± 0.18, 44.3 ± 2.99, respectively). Matrine, in a dose-dependent effect, was also found to produce a protective role in both plantar and cold-plate tests. The analysis of the effect supports the hypothesis that matrine is useful in neuropathic pain therapy.The results of this study suggest that matrine could be useful in the treatment of different kinds of neuropathic pains as an adjuvant to conventional medicines.

Oxysophoridine, a new alkaloid extracted from Sophora alopecuroides L., has been shown to have a protective effect against ischemic brain damage. In this study, a focal cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury model was established using middle cerebral artery occlusion in mice. Both 62.5, 125, and 250 mg/kg oxysophoridine, via intraperitoneal injection, and 6 mg/kg nimodipine, via intragastric administration, were administered daily for 7 days before modeling. After 24 hours of reperfusion, mice were tested for neurological deficit, cerebral infarct size was assessed and brain tissue was collected. Results showed that oxysophoridine at 125, 250 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg nimodipine could reduce neurological deficit scores, cerebral infarct size and brain water content in mice. These results provided evidence that oxysophoridine plays a protective role in cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury. In addition, oxysophoridine at 62.5, 125, and 250 mg/kg and 6 mg/kg nimodipine increased adenosine-triphosphate content, and decreased malondialdehyde and nitric oxide content. These compounds enhanced the activities of glutathione-peroxidase, superoxide dismutase, catalase, and lactate dehydrogenase, and decreased the activity of nitric oxide synthase. Protein and mRNA expression levels of N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit NR1 were markedly inhibited in the presence of 250 mg/kg oxysophoridine and 6 mg/kg nimodipine. Our experimental findings indicated that oxysophoridine has a neuroprotective effect against cerebral ischemia/reperfusion injury in mice, and that the effect may be due to its ability to inhibit oxidative stress and expression of the N-methyl-D-aspartate receptor subunit NR1.

In regarding to problems existing in the EPC (Electronic Product Code) coding structure model used in food safety traceability, combined with features of food safety traceability, based on host-guest thought improves the design, this paper establishes a traceable safety information coding for beef cattle based on EPC. The coding systematically solves the coding problems of key information in the procedures of tracing the quality and safety of beef cattle, which is featured with low cost and strong scalability. Operation in the field indicates that the coding system is well in running to provide encoding support for establishment of traceability system for quality and safety of beef cattle.

As a kind of widely used form of two-dimension codes, the QR codes have been widely applied in various aspects of our life, but in the process of the use of the QR codes, the QR code images captured often suffer from deformity because the QR code label is attached onto the object irregular surface (for example, a curve surface) or the camera and the QR code label are different in position, therefore, the QR code image recognition correction method based on the shape function has been put forward and verified, with the experimental results showing that the improved algorithm can restore the graphic effect.

Cbf-14, a cationic peptide derived from a cathelin-like domain, was designed by inserting the highly α-helical sequence RLLR into an antibacterial sequence and deleting the inactive amino acids in Cbf-K16. Clinical penicillin-resistant isolates as well as NDM-1-carrying Escherichia coli and a correspondingly infected mice model were employed to evaluate Cbf-14 antibacterial activity. The results showed that Cbf-14 possessed potent antimicrobial effects with an MIC of 8-64 μg/ml, and killed almost all bacteria within 240 min. Cbf-14-treated mice achieved an 80% survival rate and approximate 2.5 log unit reduction in CFU in tissues; additionally, this peptide significantly suppressed the production of pro-inflammatory cytokines by the disaggregation of lipopolysaccharide (LPS), suggesting its anti-inflammatory effects. Furthermore, Cbf-14, concentration higher than 2 × MIC value, increased membrane uptake to NPN and PI dye by 96.2% and 63.7%, respectively, neutralised the negative zeta potential of LPS and bacteria surface, and induced 100% leakage of liposome-entrapped calcein and cytoplasmic membrane disruption of E. coli, indicating obvious membrane permeation. Finally, it bound to DNA and respectively evoked 85.0% and 63.3% inhibition of gene replication and protein expression of NDM-1 at sub-MIC concentration in E. coli BL21 (DE3)-NDM-1. These data indicated that Cbf-14 possessed effective antimicrobial activity against penicillin-resistant bacteria in vitro/vivo through membrane disruption, DNA binding, down-regulating NDM-1 expression by plasmid replication inhibition, and anti-inflammatory activity by LPS disaggregation, suggesting a potential anti-infective clinical agent.

Numerical analysis of turbomachinery based on energy method is used to predict the aeroelastic stability of the straight-through labyrinth seal by solving aerodynamic work and damping. The aeroelastic stability of the labyrinth seal under different working conditions and vibration modes has been compared. It's found that the increase of pressure ratio leads to the greater possibility of aeroelastic instability. The periodic distribution of the aerodynamic work in the circumferential direction of the labyrinth seal corresponds to the number of vibrating nodal diameters. In order to investigate the influence of structure parameters, the effect of relative thickness of the tooth tip, the width of the seal cavity and the eccentricity of the rotor on the aeroelastic stability of the labyrinth seal has been studied. The result of numerical calculation shows that the change of the structural parameters can affect the aeroelastic stability of the labyrinth seal to a certain extent, and can be applied in the structural optimization.

長野県波田町にある有機水稲栽培歴30年以上の水田で，2003∼05年に耕耘方法の違いが水稲および雑草の生育に与える影響を検討した。稲ワラをすき込む秋耕起の有・無，有機施肥後の春耕の時期（入水0・40日前）および春耕の深度（5・15cm）の3要因について，秋耕起を一次因子とする分割区法で実験した結果，秋耕起有り・入水40日前の春耕処理で雑草重量が低下し，オモダカ（Sagittaria trifolia L.），イヌホタルイ（Scirpus hotarui Roxb. var. ohwianus T. Koyama Ohwi）およびキカシグサ（Rotala indica（Willd.）Koehne）などの小型広葉雑草が抑制傾向にあった。秋耕起で作土中の移植直後の可給態窒素含量（Av-N）が減少し，無除草条件では水稲収量が増加して，雑草の根量とクログワイ（Eleocharis kuroguwai Ohwi）の新規塊茎重量が低下した。また，入水40日前の春耕および入水前の深耕もクログワイの新規塊茎重量を減少させた。入水直前の有機施肥ではAv-Nが増大するとともに雑草と水稲の生育量がともに増加した。乾田条件の秋耕起と入水直前の有機施肥浅耕の組み合わせで，養分供給と根系発達に影響を与え，初期除草との体系で有機水田の雑草害と繁殖を抑制する可能性が認められた。

Keywords: Low Cycle Fatigue, High Cycle Fatigue, Life Prediction, Fatigue-Creep Interaction, Powder Metallurgy Abstract. A hysteretic loop correction (HLC) model was established by introducing the position and s hape correction factors of hysteretic loop in early study (International Journal of Pressure Vessels and Piping, 86 (2009) 616-621) based on the testing data of two Ni-based super alloys of FGH95 and G H4169. This paper attempts to develop a general expression of the model to correlate the data of high-cycle fatigue, thermal- mechanical fatigue, and multi-axial fatigue. The form of the generalized hysteretic loop correction (GHLC) model is similar to the total strain equation just the coefficients are n ot constants but variables. The model shows more comprehensive applicability under different kinds of testing conditions and correspondingly applied to the life evaluation of a powder metallurgy (PM) di sc of turbo engine. The results illustrate an agreement with linear damage accumulation model's calculation and design life of the disc.

The time zero dielectric breakdown characteristics of MOSCAP with ultra-thin EOT high-k metal gate stacks are studied. The TZDB results show an abnormal area dependence due to the series resistance effect. The series resistance components extracted from the Fowler–Nordheim tunneling relation are attributed to the spreading resistance due to the asymmetry electrodes. Based on a series model to eliminate the series resistance effect, an area acceleration dependence is obtained by correcting the TZDB results. The area dependence follows Poisson area scaling rules, which indicates that the mechanism of TZDB is the same as TDDB and could be considered as a trap generation process.

This study investigated the protective effects of Lycium barbarum polysaccharide (LBP) on alleviating injury from oxygen-glucose deprivation/reperfusion (OGD/RP) in primary cultured rat hippocampal neurons. Cultured hippocampal neurons were exposed to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) for 2 h followed by a 24 h re-oxygenation. The MTT assay and the lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) release were used to determine the neuron viability. Superoxide dismutase (SOD), Glutathione peroxidase (GSH-PX), malondialdehyde (MDA) were determined by spectrophotometry using commercial kits. Mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) and the intracellular free calcium concentration ([Ca(2+)](i)) in hippocampal neurons were measured using the confocal laser scanning microscope (CLSM). Treatment with LBP (10-40 mg/l) significantly attenuated neuronal damage and inhibited LDH release in a dose-dependent manner. Furthermore, LBP enhanced activities of SOD and GSH-PX but it decreased their MDA content, inhibited [Ca(2+)](i) elevation and decrease of MMP in ischemia-reperfusion treated hippocampal neurons. These findings suggested that LBP may be a potential neuroprotective agent for cerebral ischemia-reperfusion injury.

The positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) degradations of high-k/metal gate (HK/MG) nMOSFETs with thin TiN capping layers (1.4 nm and 2.4 nm) are systemically investigated. In this paper, the trap energy distribution in gate stack during PBTI stress is extracted by using ramped recovery stress, and the temperature dependences of PBTI (90 °C, 125 °C, 160 °C) are studied and activation energy (Ea) values (0.13 eV and 0.15 eV) are extracted. Although the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) values of two TiN thickness values are almost similar (0.85 nm and 0.87 nm), the 2.4-nm TiN one (thicker TiN capping layer) shows better PBTI reliability (13.41% at 0.9 V, 90 °C, 1000 s). This is due to the better interfacial layer/high-k (IL/HK) interface, and HK bulk states exhibited through extracting activation energy and trap energy distribution in the high-k layer.

A multi-deposition multi-annealing technique (MDMA) is introduced into the process of high-k/metal gate MOSFET for the gate last process to effectively reduce the gate leakage and improve the device's performance. In this paper, we systematically investigate the electrical parameters and the time-dependent dielectric breakdown (TDDB) characteristics of positive channel metal oxide semiconductor (PMOS) under different MDMA process conditions, including the deposition/annealing (D&A) cycles, the D&A time, and the total annealing time. The results show that the increases of the number of D&A cycles (from 1 to 2) and D&A time (from 15 s to 30 s) can contribute to the results that the gate leakage current decreases by about one order of magnitude and that the time to fail (TTF) at 63.2% increases by about several times. However, too many D&A cycles (such as 4 cycles) make the equivalent oxide thickness (EOT) increase by about 1 A and the TTF of PMOS worsen. Moreover, different D&A times and numbers of D&A cycles induce different breakdown mechanisms.