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Community-associated methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (CA-MRSA) usually causes skin and soft tissue infections (SSTIs), but occasionally causes invasive infections with a broad range of manifestations. Virulence factors and pathogenesis of CA-MRSA have been investigated in details with genotype ST8/SCCmecIVa (USA300), which first emerged in the United States. However, CA-MRSA evolves rapidly, with different clones dominating in different world regions; their pathogenesis remains unclear. CA-MRSA with genotype ST8/SCCmecIVl (CA-MRSA/J) emerged in 2003 in Japan, spreading widely with a fatal case. We have studied the genetic characteristics of CA-MRSA/J, and during the course of this study, we found that CA-MRSA/J has bacteriophage-like spikes with or without a hexagonal cap (spikes X and Xc). Here, we report that CA-MRSA/J strain NN55 has non-phage-like, one-μm-long/jerky spikes with or without a hexagonal cap (LSX/LSXc), and also that LSX/LSXc forms (staphylococcal) interbacterial aggregate/net structures (SIAN). Regarding the phenomenon of SIAN, NN55 first formed single short spike X, followed by multiple molecules of long and jerky LSX/LSXc, leading to the interbacterial construction of SIAN, in colonies with high cell densities. The LSX/LSXc and SIAN structures have not been reported in S. aureus. NN55 was invasive in a HEp-2 cell assay, exhibiting SIAN. The novel SIAN structures may be foci-skeletons or toxic aggregates in NN55's invasive infections. The phenomenon of SIAN suggests novel staphylococcal cell-surface dynamism, providing a new structure-and-function relationship model and advancing the understanding of CA-MRSA pathogenesis.

In this study, we fabricated an n- type fin field-effect transistor (FinFET) and a p- type FinFET (p-FinFET) to compare their hot carrier degradation (HCD) in 14-nm technology nodes. We analyzed the HCD under different gate voltages ( $\text{V}_{\text {G}}$ ) and found that in a 14-nm technology node, the HCD of the p- FinFET was more serious than that of the n- type FinFET (n-FinFET). In addition, as $\text{V}_{\text {G}}$ increased, the HCD mechanism of the p- FinFET changed from electron–electron scattering (EES) to multiple-vibration excitation (MVE) faster than that of the n- FinFET did; thus, a larger threshold voltage ( $\text{V}_{\text {T}}$ ) shift was observed for the n- FinFET. When $\text{V}_{\text {G}}$ increased to $\text{V}_{\text {T}}+1.2$ V for the n- FinFET and to $\text{V}_{\text {T}} -{0.8}$ V for the p- FinFET, $\Delta \text{V}_{\text {T}}$ began to increase rapidly under hot carrier stress. The distributions of $\tau \times {(}\frac {I_{B}}{I_{D}}{)}^{-{2.7}}$ - ${I}_{D}$ for the n- FinFET and p- FinFET used in this study indicated that the mechanism of HCD changed from EES to MVE as $\text{V}_{\text {G}}$ increased. This result suggests that the p- FinFET experienced more serious HCD than did the n- FinFET because of the dominance of MVE in the p- FinFET. The HCD mechanism changed with a lower $\text{V}_{\text {G}}$ value for the p- FinFET than for the n- FinFET. Finally, HCD occurred more uniformly in the entire channel for the p- FinFET than for the n- FinFET.

This study focuses on the interaction between the oxide layer area of a transistor and its ferroelectric layer area. An experimental comparison of transistor oxide layer area demonstrates that the larger the ratio of oxide to ferroelectric layers, the larger the on/off ratio, thus improving performance. A subsequent experiment aimed to further demonstrate this in different sized devices, and changing the ratio of $\text{A}_{\text {HZO}}/\text{A}_{\text {SiO2}}$ (the area of HfZrOx divided by oxide layer) showed the same tendency as above, but also produced an unexpected finding in that a comparison of on/off ratio exhibits an abnormal electric characteristic. This study discusses this abnormal electric characteristic and proposes an explanatory physical model.

The association between body composition and gut microbiota in type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) remains unknown. To elucidate the correlation of body composition and gut microbiota, we conducted a clinical study to enroll 179 patients with type 2 DM. Body composition of lean tissue index (LTI) and fat tissue index was measured by Body Composition Monitor. Eight pairs of 16S rRNA gene primers specific to Firmicutes, Bacteroidetes, the Clostridium leptum group, Bacteroides, Bifidobacterium, Akkermansia muciniphila, Escherichia coli, and Faecalibacterium prausnitzii were used to measure their abundance by quantitative polymerase chain reaction. The results showed that type 2 DM with higher abundance of phylum Firmicutes and a higher ratio of phyla Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes (phyla F/B ratio) had higher LTI. This significant correlation between phyla F/B ratio and LTI was especially evident in type 2 DM with high body mass index, and independent of glycemic control or dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor usage. In conclusion, our study demonstrated the positive association of LTI with the abundance of phylum Firmicutes and the phyla F/B ratio in type 2 DM.

This work investigates a low-temperature and high-pressure (LTHP) hydrogen treatment in Si-channel and SiGe-channel metal–oxide–semiconductor capacitors (MOSCAPs). The LTHP hydrogen treatment can repair dangling bonds in the SiO2/Si and SiO2/SiGe interfaces to enhance device performance. Additional parameters of the treatment, including treatment pressure and time, are also investigated to better understand the reaction mechanisms, which further proves the effectiveness and potential of this supercritical fluid (SCF)-based treatment. In addition, this treatment will not damage the front structure and materials due to the relatively low process temperature (120 °C). Therefore, this treatment can be a nondestructive postannealing process. The results of extracting interface defect density ( ${D}_{{\text {it}}}{)}$ by the conductance method show that there is an ~51% reduction in the defect density after this posttreatment, a significant decrease. Finally, a TCAD simulation of different defect densities verifies the repair mechanism of deep-level defects.

Fast recovery diodes (FRD) are widely used in transformer circuits for fast switching. Generally, in order to reduce forward voltage to achieve fast switching, the doping concentration is increased to reduce on-state resistance (Ron). This, however, will also increase reverse bias leakage as well as recovery time, resulting in a large amount of excess power consumption. In this letter, we use a unique low temperature supercritical fluid treatment process (LTSCF) to reduce this reverse bias leakage current, without affecting the on-state characteristics or switching characteristics. Experimental results show that the device’s average reverse bias leakage was reduced by 65% after LTSCF.

The generation of defect states in p-MOSFETs under negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) has been extensively discussed in previous literature. However, only a few studies have discussed the relationship between interface defects and off -state leakage. Therefore, this article analyzes the impact of interface defects generated by NBTI on gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL). In general, GIDL is generated through band-to-band tunneling (BTBT) at large gate-to-drain bias ( ${V}_{\text {GD}}$ ). In this article, NBTI causes an increase in GIDL at extremely low ${V}_{\text {GD}}$ . By measuring at different temperatures and comparing the GIDL generated from hot carrier degradation (HCD), it was confirmed that the GIDL would still be generated through trap-assisted tunneling (TAT) and thermal excitation at an extremely low ${V}_{\text {GD}}$ .

A novel coagulase-negative Staphylococcus strain (NTUH-S172T) was isolated from human blood culture in Taiwan with preliminary identification of Staphylococcus saprophyticus . 16S rRNA gene analysis and multilocus sequence analysis (MLSA) showed that NTUH-S172T was most closely related to Staphylococcus haemolyticus . The average nucleotide identity and digital DNA–DNA hybridization values with the whole genome sequence were T could be distinguished from S. haemolyticus by urease production and from Staphylococcus borealis by nitrate reduction. In addition, the matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization-time of flight mass spectrometry (MALDI-TOF MS) spectrum of NTHU-S172T was significantly different from that of S. haemolyticus , which could be used in clinical identification. In conclusion, it is proposed that this isolate represents a novel species, named Staphylococcus taiwanensis sp. nov., with type strain NTUH-S172T (=BCRC 81315T=JCM 34726T).

Indoor recirculating aquaculture systems make light control possible and enable the usage of specific coloured lights to promote the growth and immunity of aquaculture species. Five different LED wavelengths (white light, red light [622 nm], green light [517 nm], blue light [467 nm], and dark) were used in this study to evaluate growth and immunity in the glass eel stage of two high-valued anguillid species, Japanese eel ( Anguilla japonica ) and giant mottled eel ( A. marmorata ). There were no significant differences in growth of the Japanese eel among the groups after ­12 weeks of feeding (P > 0.05); the survival rate of each group was over 95%. The giant mottled eel showed better growth in total length and body weight in the red light and dark groups (P < 0.05). Expression levels of immune-related genes were not significantly different between each group of the Japanese eel and the giant mottled eel (P > 0.05). The growth of the Japanese glass eel was not significantly sensitive to different LED wavelengths, while the giant mottled glass eel showed better growth under red light and dark environments. Neither eel species showed significant differences in innate immunity under different LED wavelengths.

This letter investigates the mechanism of abnormal substrate current ( $\text {I}_{\text {sub}}$ ) after hot carrier stress (HCS) in fin field effect transistors (FinFETs). Traditionally, after HCS, the drain current and $\text {I}_{\text {sub}}$ of the saturation region will continue to decrease. In this work, however, $\text {I}_{\text {sub}}$ first decreased and then exhibited a gradual abnormal rise. This abnormal $\text {I}_{\text {sub}}$ behavior was investigated by different measurement methods and was determined to be due to trap-assisted tunneling. This study first uses different operating voltages to prove the proposed model, then applies a variable temperature stress condition to confirm the model. Finally, a junction current measurement is used to determine the location of defect generation.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is a major multidrug-resistant bacterial pathogen. The evolution of MRSA is dynamic posing an ongoing threat to humans. The evolution of MRSA includes horizontal gene transfer, which is mediated by mobile genetic elements, plasmids, and bacteriophages, and also mutations. In this review, we clarify the recent trends in MRSA from the perspectives of drug-resistance transfer and uncontrollable infections, particularly those occurring in community settings. We first address the role of MRSA as a disseminator of multidrug resistance. We have studied the cell-to-cell transfer of drug resistance, in which transfer frequencies range from 10-3 to 10-8. The mechanisms of drug-resistance transfers include the self-transmission of large plasmids, the mobilization of small nonconjugative plasmids, the generalized transduction of phages, and the transfer of transposons with circular intermediates. We then discuss uncontrollable infections. Although several anti-MRSA agents have been developed, uncontrollable cases of MRSA infections are still reported. Examples include a case of uncontrollable sepsis arising from a community-associated MRSA (CA-MRSA) with the ST8/SCCmecIVl genotype, and a relapsing severe invasive infection of ST30/SCCmecIVc CA-MRSA in a student athlete. Some of these cases may be attributable to unique adhesins, superantigens, or cytolytic activities. The delayed diagnosis of highly adhesive and toxic infections in community settings may result in CA-MRSA diseases that are difficult to treat. Repeated relapse, persistent bacteremia, and infections of small-colony variants may occur. To treat MRSA infections in community settings, these unique features of MRSA must be considered to ensure that diagnostic delay is avoided.

This work investigates the effects of HfO2 layer defects, formed by the Al atoms in the metal gate, on performance and reliability in advanced n-type metal–oxide–semiconductor field-effect transistors (n-MOSFETs) with different Al content in the gate stacks. Many groups have proposed theories (e.g., Si–H bond dissociation, trapped in high- ${k}$ defects and impact ionization) to explain the degradation mechanisms in MOSFETs, with most focusing on the dissociation of the Si-H bond at the Si/SiO2 interface and the carrier trapping in the high- $k$ layer. However, for multi- ${V}_{{\text {th}}}$ devices, experimental results indicate that the formation of defects by Al atoms in the HfO2 layer is the main reason for degradation in advanced n-MOSFETs. Therefore, we propose a mechanism to clarify the deterioration in advanced n-MOSFETs with different Al content in the gate stacks, and this mechanism is confirmed by positive bias temperature instability (PBTI), hot carrier instability (HCI), HCI power-law fitting and the gate-induced drain leakage (GIDL) measurement.

We report the formal synthesis of (±)-pentalenolactone A methyl ester from simple 2-methoxyphenol. The key features of our route are as follows: a Diels–Alder reaction of masked o-benzoquinone to assemble the functionalized bicyclo[2.2.2]octenone, a continuous-flow oxa-di-π-methane rearrangement for building the diquinane core (AB ring), and an oxidative cleavage/oxidation sequence for annulation of the δ-lactone (C ring).

This letter discusses the hot carrier stress (HCS) degradation mechanisms for different gate voltages ( $\text{V}_{\textsf {G}}$ ) in FinFET devices, and finds the abnormal relationship between HCS degradation and body current under high $\text{V}_{\textsf {G}}$ . According to the distributions of lifetime ( ${\tau }$ )- $\text{I}_{\textsf {B}}$ and ${\tau }$ -drain current ( $\text{I}_{\textsf {D}}$ ), it is found that the ${\tau }$ under the high $\text{V}_{\textsf {G}}$ is related to the $\text{I}_{\textsf {D}}$ instead of the $\text{I}_{\textsf {B}}$ . In addition, as the $\text{V}_{\textsf {G}}$ increases from low to middle to high values, the HCS degradation mechanism exhibits single vibrational excitation, electron-electron scattering, and multiple vibrational excitation (MVE) models, respectively. Therefore, the HCS degradation mechanism at higher $\text{V}_{\textsf {G}}$ is not dominated by the traditional impact ionization but by the carrier concentration of the channel. Finally, according to the results of fitting MVE model, the reason for breaking the Si-H bonds to form dangling bonds is the bending vibrational mode.

The increasing trend of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) worldwide has become a concern, limiting therapeutic alternatives and increasing morbidity and mortality rates. The immunomodulation agent ammonium trichloro (dioxoethylene-O,O′-) tellurate (AS101) was repurposed as an antimicrobial agent against CRAB. Between 2016 and 2018, 27 CRAB clinical isolates were collected in Taiwan. The in vitro antibacterial activities of AS101 were evaluated using broth microdilution, time-kill assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection and electron microscopy. In vivo effectiveness was assessed using a sepsis mouse infection model. The MIC range of AS101 for 27 CRAB isolates was from 0.5 to 32 µg/mL, which is below its 50% cytotoxicity (approximately 150 µg/mL). Bactericidal activity was confirmed using a time-kill assay. The antibacterial mechanism of AS101 was the accumulation of the ROS and the disruption of the cell membrane, which, in turn, results in cell death. The carbapenemase-producing A. baumannii mouse sepsis model showed that AS101 was a better therapeutic effect than colistin. The mice survival rate after 120 h was 33% (4/12) in the colistin-treated group and 58% (7/12) in the high-dose AS101 (3.33 mg/kg/day) group. Furthermore, high-dose AS101 significantly decreased bacterial population in the liver, kidney and spleen (all p < 0.001). These findings support the concept that AS101 is an ideal candidate for further testing in future studies.

This study investigates the recovery behavior of GaN high-electron mobility transistors on SiC substrates under different hot-carrier stress conditions. The threshold voltage shifts positively due to hot electron trapping at the buffer layer under hot-carrier stress. However, the recovery between semi-on (Vt < VG < 0 V) hot-carrier stress and on-state (VG > 0 V) carrier stress is significantly different. This phenomenon is systematically discussed in terms of the applied gate voltage under stress condition, which affects the occupation of the surface donor states. After applying a semi-on hot-carrier stress, the threshold voltage continues to shift positively after relaxing the applied voltage. In contrast, the threshold voltage exponentially recovers after applying an on-state hot-carrier stress. Silvaco technology computer aided design (TCAD) simulation was performed to verify the effect of the surface donor state on the threshold voltages. Since switching between on-state and off-state in RF-applications includes both conditions, we suggest that the surface donor states are crucial to determine the failure of devices.

Extracting dense structures in a social network is a fundamental task in graph mining and can find many real-world applications. The temporal social network augments the conventional social network with the temporal dimension, and extracting dense structures enables us to understand the period of time for which the dense structures exist. In this paper, we propose the new notion of (L, K)-lasting core, which is a densely connected subgraph lasting for a sufficiently long period of time in the temporal social network. We propose a polynomial-time algorithm to obtain the maximum (L, K)-lasting core with various processing strategies to boost the efficiency. We conduct extensive experiments on multiple datasets to validate the effectiveness and efficiency of the proposed approach. The experimental results show that our proposed approaches outperform the other baseline approaches in terms of solution quality and efficiency.

Objectives To explore the mechanisms mediating the different levels of gentamicin resistance in enterococci. Methods Susceptibility testing with gentamicin and PCR of resistance determinants were performed in 149 enterococcal isolates. Genetic relatedness was characterized by MLST and PFGE analysis. Sequences of the aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2′′)-Ia gene and its surrounding environment were determined by Illumina sequencing. Stability assays of gentamicin resistance were carried out to evaluate the probability of loss of the high-level gentamicin resistance (HLGR) phenotype. Results A total of 17 (11.4%) aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2′′)-Ia-positive enterococcal isolates (2 Enterococcus faecalis and 15 Enterococcus faecium) with non-HLGR phenotype were found. MLST analysis revealed that the 2 E. faecalis belonged to ST116 and ST618, while all the 15 E. faecium belonged to clonal complex 17. Sequence analysis demonstrated that IS1216V was inserted into the 5′-end of aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2′′)-Ia, leading to loss of HLGR phenotype. Three IS1216V insertion types were found, and type II and III were frequently found in E. faecium. Interestingly, a total of 38 aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2′′)-Ia-positive E. faecium with HLGR phenotype also had type II or type III IS1216V insertion. Sequencing of the aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2′′)-Ia-positive HLGR E. faecium E37 revealed that an intact aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2′′)-Ia was located adjacent to IS1216V-disrupted aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2′′)-Ia. In a non-antibiotic environment, E37 tended to lose HLGR phenotype with a probability of 1.57 × 10−4, which was largely attributed to homologous recombination between the intact and disrupted aac(6′)-Ie-aph(2′′)-Ia. Conclusions This is first study to elucidate that the E. faecium is capable of changing its HLGR phenotype, which may contribute to adaptation to hospital environments with decreased usage of gentamicin.

Objectives This study aimed to provide detailed genetic characterization of Tn6636, a multidrug-resistant and composite mobile element, in clinical isolates of Staphylococcus aureus. Methods A total of 112 ermB-positive methicillin-susceptible S. aureus (MSSA) and 224 ermB-positive methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) isolates collected from 2000 to 2015 were tested for the presence of Tn6636. Detection of the plasmids harboring Tn6636 was performed by S1 nuclease digestion pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) analysis, conjugation test, and whole genome sequencing (WGS). Results Prevalence of Tn6636 in MSSA is higher than that in MRSA. Ten MSSA isolates and 10 MRSA isolates carried Tn6636. The 10 MSSA isolates belonged to three sequence types (ST), including ST7 (n = 6), ST5 (n = 3), and ST59 (n = 1). The 10 MRSA isolates belonged to ST188 (n = 8) and ST965 (n = 2). Analysis of plasmid sequences revealed that Tn6636 was harbored by six different mosaic plasmids. In addition to resistance genes, some plasmids also harbored toxin genes. Conclusion The presence of multi-resistant Tn6636 in plasmids of both MSSA and MRSA with various STs suggests its broad dissemination. Results indicate that Tn6636 has existed for at least 16 years in Taiwan. The mosaic plasmids harboring Tn6636 can be transferred by conjugation. Ongoing surveillance of Tn6636 is essential to avoid continued spreading of resistant plasmids.

This study investigates the enhancement of tar and trace gaseous pollutants (e.g. hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and hydrogen chloride (HCl) removal efficiency derived from rice straw gasification using an integrated hot-gas cleaning system. A bubbling fluidized bed gasifier was used by controlling the temperature at 800 °C and equivalence ratio (ER) ranging 0.2 to 0.4. The hot gas cleaning system was operated at 250 °C and designed to combine three types of absorbents including zeolite, calcined dolomite, and activated carbon. Tar, H2S, and HCl removal efficiency and enhanced hydrogen production were also discussed. The experimental results indicated that light fraction tar removal efficiency was higher than 90% and the overall tar removal efficiency was approximately 70%. In the case of ER 0.4, the syngas tar content was decreased from 71.88 g/Nm3 (without hot gas cleaning system) to 16.53 g/Nm3 (with hot gas cleaning system). The tar removal efficiency is nearly 77% using the hot gas cleaning system. The HCl and H2S removal efficiency ranged from 94% to 98% and from 80.7% to 83.92%, respectively. In the case of ER 0.3 and with the hot gas cleaning system, the HCl and H2S concentrations in cleaned syngas gas were less than 40 ppm and 100 ppm, respectively. Meanwhile, the hydrogen concentration of produced gas was also increased from 6.82% to 9.83% with hot gas cleaning system used. It means that the hot gas cleaning system can effectively remove HCl and H2S from produced gas in gasification, but also it has good potential for improving syngas quality and enhancing gas turbine application in the future.

This work performs fundamental electrical measurements and a positive bias temperature instability (PBTI) test on an N-type metal oxide semiconductor capacitor (MOSCAP) and a La2O3 dipole-doped N-type MOSCAP. Experimental results show that the dipole-doped N-type MOSCAP has a lower threshold voltage and gate current leakage than do the N-type MOSCAP. After positive bias stress, an abnormal gate current leakage decrease appears in both dipole-doped and normal N-type MOSCAPs under short term stress. Analysis of capacitance and gate current measurements indicate that electron trapping and defect generation cause the change in gate current after positive bias stress. Generally, devices with higher gate leakage have more severe degradation after PBTI. However, in this work, the dipole sample shows a lower initial gate current leakage but higher gate current degradation than those found in the control sample after PBTI. Based on the electrical measurement results and the energy band simulation, a conduction model was proposed to explain the abnormal PBTI of the dipole-doped N-type MOSCAP.

Molten salt hydrates in diluted acid solutions are a great medium to dissolve cellulose by interrupting the formation of intra- and inter-hydrogen bonding in the crystalline structure of cellulose. In this study, lithium chloride in diluted HCl is used as an inexpensive and efficient way to dissolve and hydrolyze cellulose into glucose. 23 completely randomized design (CRD), including three replications at the center point, was applied to evaluate the effect of LiCl concentration, HCl concentration and cellulose concentration with respect to glucose yield. The composition of LiCl/HCl ionic solution for optimal glucose yield at 80 °C is determined to be 50 wt% of LiCl, 2 wt% of HCl, and 10 wt% of cellulose feedstock. A two stage method is designed for obtaining reducing sugars from sugarcane bagasse in which biomass is treated first with 2 wt% diluted HCl at 100 °C for xylose and then with LiCl/HCl ionic solutions in the second stage at 80 °C for glucose. Total reducing sugar yield of sugarcane bagasse is up to 94.8 wt% indicating that the developed LiCl/HCl ionic solution has potential to treat cellulose for the production of inexpensive fermentable sugar.

The fusidic acid (FUS) resistance determinants fusB, fusC, fusD and fusF in coagulase-negative staphylococci (CoNS) clinical isolates were examined. Among 208 FUS-resistant isolates, the fusB gene was the most common resistance determinant in each species, except in Staphylococcus hominis subsp. hominis or in species carrying intrinsic fusD or fusF. In S. hominis subsp. hominis, the fusC gene was the major determinant responsible for FUS resistance. To understand the genetic context of fusC in S. hominis subsp. hominis, 31 fusC-positive S. hominis subsp. hominis isolates were examined. Among these isolates, 14 carried SCCfusC, 3 carried an SCC476-like element and 7 carried a new SCC structure (SCC3390). As shown by pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) and multilocus sequence typing (MLST) analyses, the S. hominis subsp. hominis clinical isolates showed limited clonality. Taken together, SCCfusC has been found in S. hominis subsp. hominis, Staphylococcus epidermidis, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, Staphylococcus capitis subsp. ureolyticus and Staphylococcus aureus, suggesting its wide distribution and spread among different species of staphylococci.

This study investigates the impact of fin profiles under hot carrier stress, which defines different base widths: wide-base samples with the smallest slope, medium-base samples, and narrow-base samples with a larger slope. The performance of the narrow samples is better than the medium samples, regardless of transconductance, on-state current, subthreshold swing or drain-induced barrier lowering, demonstrating that the narrow profile samples’ mobility and gate control are better. In long channel devices, the trend of hot carrier degradation (HCD) is in agreement with previous references, and is dependent on the transverse electric field and the fin shapes. However, this trend does not exist for short-channel devices. Positive bias stress and technology computer aided design simulation are applied for investigation and to clarify the reasons for this abnormal HCD trend. Finally, by fitting the multiple vibrational excitation (MVE) mechanism, the slope of the trend lines in the short channel devices are found to indeed match the bending mode. In other words, the disappearance of the general trend between the HCD and fin profiles is caused by the change in the mechanism in the short-channel device. Because the MVE mechanism is independent from the electric field, the narrow profile fin shape more effectively promotes gate control and better performance without affecting the reliability in short channel devices. These results can provide a clear direction for fin shape designers in the future.

This study examines self-heating-related instability in n-channel low-temperature polysilicon thin-film transistors with different source/drain contact hole densities. Devices with more contact holes exhibit a higher on-current without additional parasitic capacitance, further enhancing the RC delay property. For high-current-induced self-heating stress, a device with one contact hole has one hump due to the kink effect. However, a device with six contact holes has two humps, induced by the kink effect and thermionic field emission. COMSOL simulations of heat distribution and energy bands are performed to examine the different degradation behaviors, and then physical models are proposed.

The floss band (FB) has been correlated with increases in the joint range of motion (ROM). However, the literature on FB effectiveness in knee joint ROM and athletic performance remains sparse. This study investigated the effects of FB on the flexibility of the quadriceps and hamstrings, knee joint proprioception, muscle force output, and dynamic balance in men. Thirty recreationally active men without musculoskeletal disorders were randomized to receive FB (Lime Green; Sanctband flossband) and elastic bandage (EB) intervention on the dominant knee joint. Participants received two interventions on two occasions with 2 days of rest between interventions. The primary outcome was the flexibility of the quadriceps and hamstrings; the secondary outcomes were knee proprioception (joint reposition angle error), knee muscle force output, and dynamic balance. Preintervention and postintervention (immediately following band removal and 20 min later) measurements were obtained. After FB intervention, hamstring flexibility (immediately: p < 0.001; 20 min later: p < 0.001) and quadriceps flexibility (immediately: p < 0.001; 20 min later: p < 0.001), quadriceps muscle force output (immediately: p = 0.007; 20 min later: p < 0.001), and dynamic balance (both immediately and 20 min later, p < 0.001) were significantly improved. Compared with EB intervention, FB intervention significantly improved knee extension ROM (immediately and 20 min later, both p < 0.001), knee flexion ROM (immediately, p = 0.01; 20 min later, p = 0.03), hamstrings muscle force output (20 min later, p = 0.022) and dynamic balance (immediately, p = 0.016; 20 min later, p = 0.004). Regarding proprioception, no significant difference among time points and conditions was observed. In conclusion, FB intervention can significantly improve the flexibility of the quadriceps and hamstrings, quadriceps muscle force output, and dynamic balance without impeding knee proprioception. Physiotherapists or athletic professionals may consider FB intervention as a potential tool as a warmup to enhance the flexibility of the quadriceps and hamstrings, quadriceps muscle force output, and dynamic balance in young adults.

In this research, based on I–V and C–V measurement at different temperatures, the interface defect density in the device with the Si/SiGe channel was discussed. In addition, negative bias temperature instability (NBTI) is also studied. In previous research, most of the flat-band voltage (V FB) shifts during NBTI stress was attributed to hole injection. In this article, however, the release of atomic hydrogen from the Si–H bonds at the SiO2/Si interface and at the SiGe interface produces a fixed oxide charge, which causes V FB shifts which vary with material.

This paper proposes a control chip for micro-light emitting diode (μLED) applied on real-time display system. The μLED control system has the video transmitter and the LED display matrix. The transmitter includes interface control, memory management, image format conversion. For LED display unit, we present the intercross scanning, memory management, PWM output controller, gamma correction for LED brightness control. TheμLED display is controlled by the intercross drivers to reduce the flicker and promote the sweeping speed with two FPGA controllers, where two parallel SPI data is adopted. The micro LED components are mounted on a PCB with mass-transfer techniques successfully. The FPGA controller can drive about 10 k light-emitting diodes with 12-bit colors for displaying system with PWM method. The passive-matrix micro LED (PMLED) driving can achieve 384 refresh rates with 50 MHz clocking frequency. The experiments result low flicker achieved, which the SVM index is only 1.5 with a photometer measurement.

Streptococcus pneumoniae, a common human pathogen, colonizes the nasopharynx and causes diseases including acute otitis media (AOM). Herein, pneumococcal serotype distributions in children before and after PCV7 vaccination and in patients with pneumococcal disease in Siberian Russia (Krasnoyarsk) are reported. Analyses included antimicrobial susceptibility testing, sequence typing (ST), pulsed field gel electrophoresis, virulence-related surface protein gene (VSG) typing with novel primers and structural analysis by scanning electron microscopy. In healthy children (HC) prior to administration of PCV7, drug-susceptible serotype23F/ST1500 was a major pneumococcal genotype. In the PCV7 trial, multidrug-resistant serotype19A/ST320 emerged in vaccinees after PCV7, exhibiting a PCV7-induced serotype replacement. Multidrug-resistant serotype19A/ST320 was evident in patients with AOM. Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) isolates showed genetic similarities to the AOM (ST320) genotype, constituting a common non-invasive AOM-CAP group. In contrast, meningitis isolates were more divergent. Overall, 25 ST types were identified; five (20%) of which were Krasnoyarsk-native. Regarding VSGs, PI-1 (rlrA/rrgB), PI-2 (pitA/B), psrP and cbpA were present at 54.3%, 38.6%, 48.6%, and 95.7%, respectively, with two major VSG content types, PI-1- /PI-2- /psrP+ /cbpA+ and PI-1+ /PI-2+ /psrP- /cbpA+ , being found for HC and non-invasive diseases, respectively. A major clone of serotype19A/ST320 (PI-1+ /PI-2+ ) produced the longest pneumococcal wire (pilus) structures in colonies. ST1016 (PI-1- /PI-2- ) in HC had HEp-2 cell-adherent pili. These results suggest that serotype19A/ST320 and related genotypes, with the VSG content type PI-1+ /PI-2+ /psrP- /cbpA+ , emerged in vaccinees after PCV7 in Siberia, accompanying diseases in non-vaccinated children, and that some genotypes (serotypes19A/ST320 and 18/ST1016) produced novel pneumococcal structures, predicting their roles in colony formation and adherence.

Current clinical guidelines suggest metformin as the first-line therapy to treat type 2 diabetes. Despite its use for over 60 years, the precise mechanisms of metformin are still not fully discovered. Traditionally, liver was thought to be the main target of metformin action. More recently, gut has become the center of attention due to the increasing evidences suggesting the antidiabetic effect of metformin is derived from the gut. We aimed to evaluate the antidiabetic effects of metformin and the changes of gut microbiota in newly-diagnosed and drug-naive type 2 diabetes. We recruited 22 patients with newly-diagnosed and drug-naive type 2 diabetes from the outpatient clinic in a university hospital in southern Taiwan. Before and after metformin monotherapy for three months, we collected the biochemical data and measured fecal microbiota by quantitative real-time PCR with 16S rRNA gene sequencing. At the end of three months, there were totally 14 patients continued on metformin monotherapy and completed the collection of stool samples. Our results discovered that body-mass index, HbA1C, and fasting blood glucose decreased while HDL-C increased significantly after metformin monotherapy for three months. There were no significant changes in cholesterol, triglyceride, LDL-C, and HOMA-IR. Using quantitative real-time PCR with 16S rRNA gene sequencing, we found that Akkermansia and Escherichia increased significantly. The two major phylum of Firmicutes and Bacteroidetes did not have significant changes after three-month metformin monotherapy. We revealed that the antidiabetic effects of metformin associated with the changes of microbiota including Akkermansia and Escherichia. Understanding the interaction between metformin and gut microbiota in newly-diagnosed type 2 diabetes can help to identify important microbiota species related to the antidiabetic effect of metformin. In the future, gut microbiota has the potential to serve as a new therapeutic tool or target in treating type 2 diabetes. Disclosure W. Hung: None. W. Hung: None. Funding Kaohsiung Medical University

Type 2 diabetes is the fifth leading cause of death in Taiwan. The metabolic derangements in type 2 diabetes have been attributed to the compositional changes of the gut microbiota. Metformin, as the first-line treatment for type 2 diabetes, has been found to exert its antidiabetic actions through modulations of the gut microbiota. However, to our knowledge, no literature reported the associations between the therapeutic response to metformin monotherapy and the compositions of the gut microbiota. Thus, we hypothesized that the compositions of gut microbiota differ in type 2 diabetes with failure and success of metformin monotherapy. We had recruited 381 type 2 diabetes diagnosed for more than two years in a university hospital. Then based on medical records, we identified 12 subjects as the metformin-failure group and 14 as the metformin-success group, who maintained HbA1C>7% with not only metformin or with metformin monotherapy, respectively. We collected the biochemical data and analyzed the gut microbiota by Illumina sequencing of 16S rRNA gene. The result showed that while the two groups having similar clinical characteristics, the gut microbiota were significantly different by principal coordinates analysis. In addition, the metformin-success group had decreased richness and evenness. Furthermore, butyrate-producing gut microbiota including Butyrivibrio and Blautia producta increased in the metformin-success group. The short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs), including acetate, butyrate, and propionate, are produced by gut microbiota. The imbalance in the ratio of the SCFAs, such as decrease in butyrate and increase in acetate, leads to metabolic derangements in type 2 diabetes. Our finding showed that the metformin-success group were associated with butyrate-producing gut microbiota. In conclusion, the gut microbiota that can reverse the imbalance of SCFAs might be the key for diabetes to have sustained metabolic benefits with metformin monotherapy. Disclosure W. Hung: None. W. Hung: None. Funding Kaohsiung Medical University

The photo-elastic stress metrology is well known measurement technique widely used in mechanical engineering applications since at least 1940 [1]. Its use in semiconductor manufacturing has been limited since the direct measurements of the stress in silicon are complicated by relatively low values of stress-optic coefficient and need of use on NIR array detectors. The advent of flexible electronics and wide spread of use of PI films as passivation layer give opportunity to take advantage of very strong stress induced birefringence effect in PI for practical application. Here we present practical tool enabling measurement of stress in PI films with resolution down to 1 MPa. The optical system comprises of (light emitting device) LED panel (light source), polarization components, color filters and camera. Due to the birefringence caused by the stress, the sample changes the light into the elliptically polarized light. To analyze the elliptically polarized light and to eliminate the ambiguity when unwrapping the phase, we employed three (550 nm, 589 nm, and 632 nm) placed directly in front of the camera. We demonstrate performance of this system for flat panel displays having dimensions up 185 cm x 150 cm (G6). Discuss throughput and repeatability of this metrology. We also discuss scalability of this metrology. [1] K. Ramesh, “Digital Photoelasticity Advanced Techniques and Applications,” Springer, 2000.

The increasing trend of carbapenem-resistant Acinetobacter baumannii (CRAB) worldwide has become a concern, limiting therapeutic alternatives and increasing morbidity and mortality rates. The immunomodulation agent ammonium trichloro (dioxoethylene-O,O′-) tellurate (AS101) was repurposed as an antimicrobial agent against CRAB. Between 2016 and 2018, 27 CRAB clinical isolates were collected in Taiwan. The in vitro antibacterial activities of AS101 were evaluated using broth microdilution, time-kill assay, reactive oxygen species (ROS) detection and electron microscopy. In vivo effectiveness was assessed using a sepsis mouse infection model. The MIC range of AS101 for 27 CRAB isolates was from 0.5 to 32 µg/mL, which is below its 50% cytotoxicity (approximately 150 µg/mL). Bactericidal activity was confirmed using a time-kill assay. The antibacterial mechanism of AS101 was the accumulation of the ROS and the disruption of the cell membrane, which, in turn, results in cell death. The carbapenemase-producing A. baumannii mouse sepsis model showed that AS101 was a better therapeutic effect than colistin. The mice survival rate after 120 h was 33% (4/12) in the colistin-treated group and 58% (7/12) in the high-dose AS101 (3.33 mg/kg/day) group. Furthermore, high-dose AS101 significantly decreased bacterial population in the liver, kidney and spleen (all p &lt, 0.001). These findings support the concept that AS101 is an ideal candidate for further testing in future studies.

In this study, comparison of capacitance-voltage (C-V) characteristics between silicon-germanium (SiGe) MOSCAPs with and without a silicon oxide capping layer were investigated. The SiGe channel with silicon oxide capping layer exhibits an improved C-V property at room temperature but has an abnormal shift and depression at low temperature (77K). We determined threshold voltage shift was induced by the Fermi-level when ambient temperature was changed. The addition silicon capping layer was responsible for introducing defects resulting in depression and hump in the C-V measurements. A physical model was established by modifying the alternating current (AC) pulse amplitude during the C-V measurement.