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Objectives: This study aimed to compare susceptibility map-weighted imaging (SMwI) using various MRI machines (three vendors) with N-3-fluoropropyl-2-β-carbomethoxy-3-β-(4-iodophe nyl)nortropane (18F-FP-CIT) PET in the diagnosis of neurodegenerative parkinsonism in a multi-centre setting. Methods: We prospectively recruited 257 subjects, including 157 patients with neurodegenerative parkinsonism, 54 patients with non-neurodegenerative parkinsonism, and 46 healthy subjects from 10 hospitals between November 2019 and October 2020. All participants underwent both SMwI and 18F-FP-CIT PET. SMwI was interpreted by two independent reviewers for the presence or absence of abnormalities in nigrosome 1, and discrepancies were resolved by consensus. 18F-FP-CIT PET was used as the reference standard. Inter-observer agreement was tested using Cohen's kappa coefficient. McNemar's test was used to test the agreement between the interpretations of SMwI and 18F-FP-CIT PET per participant and substantia nigra (SN). Results: The inter-observer agreement was 0.924 and 0.942 per SN and participant, respectively. The diagnostic sensitivity of SMwI was 97.9% and 99.4% per SN and participant, respectively; its specificity was 95.9% and 95.2%, respectively, and its accuracy was 97.1% and 97.7%, respectively. There was no significant difference between the results of SMwI and 18F-FP-CIT PET (p > 0.05, for both SN and participant). Conclusions: This study demonstrated that the high diagnostic performance of SMwI was maintained in a multi-centre setting with various MRI scanners, suggesting the generalisability of SMwI for determining nigrostriatal degeneration in patients with parkinsonism. Key Points: • Susceptibility map-weighted imaging helps clinicians to predict nigrostriatal degeneration. • The protocol for susceptibility map-weighted imaging can be standardised across MRI vendors. • Susceptibility map-weighted imaging showed diagnostic performance comparable to that of dopamine transporter PET in a multi-centre setting with various MRI scanners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Near-eye display technology is a rapidly growing field owing to the recent emergence of augmented and mixed reality. Ultrafast response time, high resolution, high luminance, and a dynamic range for outdoor use are all important for non-pixelated, pupil-forming optics. The current mainstream technologies using liquid crystals and organic materials cannot satisfy all these conditions. Thus, finely patterned light-emissive solid-state devices with integrated circuits are often proposed to meet these requirements. In this study, we integrated several advanced technologies to design a prototype microscale light-emitting diode (LED) arrays using quantum dot (QD)-based color conversion. Wafer-scale epilayer transfer and the bond-before-pattern technique were used to directly integrate 5-µm-scale GaN LED arrays on a foreign silicon substrate. Notably, the lithography-level alignment with the bottom wafer opens up the possibility for ultrafast operation with circuit integration. Spectrally pure color conversion and solvent-free QD patterning were also achieved using an elastomeric topographical mask. Self-assembled monolayers were applied to selectively alter the surface wettability for a completely dry process. The final emissive-type LED array integrating QD, GaN, and silicon technology resulted in a 1270 PPI resolution that is far beyond the retinal limit. Augmented reality technologies typically rely on near-eye displays, which requires displays with very high resolutions. Here, Bae et al demonstrate a quantum-dot integrated GaN light emitting diode arrays with a pixels per inch resolution of 1270, well beyond the retinal limit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The two-dimensional (2D) growth of cubic-structured (silicon) Si nanosheets (SiNSs) was investigated. Freestanding, single-crystalline SiNSs with a thickness of 5-20 nm were grown on various Si substrates under an atmospheric chemical vapor deposition process. Systematic investigation indicated that a diffusion-limited aggregation (DLA) environment that leads to dendritic growth in <110> directions at the initial stage is essential for 2D growth. The kinetic aspects under DLA environments that ascribe to the dendritic and 2D growth were discussed. Under the more dilute conditions made by addition of Ar to the flow of H, the SiNSs grew epitaxially on the substrates with periodic arrangement at a specific angle depending on the orientation of the substrate. It reveals that SiNSs always grew two dimensionally with exposing (111) surfaces. That is thermodynamically favorable. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The single living cell action potential was measured in an intracellular mode by using a vertical nanoelectrode. For intracellular interfacing, Si nanowires were vertically grown in a controlled manner, and optimum conditions, such as diameter, length, and nanowire density, were determined by culturing cells on the nanowires. Vertical nanowire probes were then fabricated with a complimentary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) process including sequential deposition of the passivation and electrode layers on the nanowires, and a subsequent partial etching process. The fabricated nanowire probes had an approximately 60-nm diameter and were intracellular. These probes interfaced with a GH cell and measured the spontaneous action potential. It successfully measured the action potential, which rapidly reached a steady state with average peak amplitude of approximately 10 mV, duration of approximately 140 ms, and period of 0.9 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The recent demonstration of thermal conductivity of rough electrolessly etched Si nanowire (Hochbaum et al., Nature, 451:163, ) attracted a lot of interest, because it could not be explained by the existing theory; thermal conductivity of rough Si nanowires falls below the boundary scattering of the thermal conductivity. However, nanoscale pores presented in the nanowires (Hochbaum et al., Nano Letters, 9:3550-3554, ) hinder one to be fully convinced that the surface roughness solely made a contribution to the significant reduction in thermal conductivity. In this study, we synthesized vapor-liquid-solid (VLS) grown rough SiGe nanowire and measured and theoretically simulated thermal conductivity of the nanowire. The thermal conductivity of rough SiGe nanowire is an order of magnitude lower than that of bulk SiGe and around a factor of four times lower than that of smooth SiGe nanowire. This significant reduction could be explained by the fact that the surface roughness scatters medium-wavelength phonons, whereas the long-wavelength phonons are scattered by phonon boundary scattering, and the short-wavelength phonons are scattered by alloy scattering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we synthesize VLS-grown rough Si nanowires using Mn as a catalyst with various surface roughnesses and diameters and measured their thermal conductivities. We grew the nanowires by a combination vapor-liquid-solid and vapor-solid mechanism for longitudinal and radial growth, respectively. The surface roughness was controlled from smooth up to about 37 nm by the radial growth. Our measurements showed that the thermal conductivity of rough surface Si nanowires is significantly lower than that of smooth surface nanowires and decreased with increasing surface roughness even though the diameter of the smooth nanowire was lower than that of the rough nanowires. Considering both nanowires were grown via the same growth mechanism, these outcomes clearly demonstrate that the rough surface induces phonon scattering and reduces thermal conductivity with this nanoscale-hole-free nanowires. Control of roughness induced phonon scattering in Si nanowires holds promise for novel thermoelectric devices with high figures of merit. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report on bifurcate reactions on the surface of well-aligned SiGe nanowires that enable fabrication of two different coaxial heterostructure nanowires. The SiGe nanowires were grown in a chemical vapor transport process using SiCl gas and Ge powder as a source. After the growth of nanowires, SiCl flow was terminated while O gas flow was introduced under vacuum. On the surface of nanowires was deposited Ge by the vapor from the Ge powder or oxidized into SiO by the O gas. The transition from deposition to oxidation occurred abruptly at 2 torr of O pressure without any intermediate region and enables selectively fabricated Ge/SiGe or SiO/SiGe coaxial heterostructure nanowires. The rate of deposition and oxidation was dominated by interfacial reaction and diffusion of oxygen through the oxide layer, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Potassium channels allow K+ ions to diffuse through their pores while preventing smaller Na+ ions from permeating. Discrimination between these similar, abundant ions enables these proteins to control electrical and chemical activity in all organisms. Selection occurs at the narrow selectivity filter containing structurally identified K+ binding sites. Selectivity is thought to arise because smaller ions such as Na+ do not bind to these K+ sites in a thermodynamically favorable way. Using the model K+ channel KcsA, we examined how intracellular Na+ and Li+ interact with the pore and the permeant ions using electrophysiology, molecular dynamics simulations and X-ray crystallography. Our results suggest that these small cations have a separate binding site within the K+ selectivity filter. We propose that selective permeation from the intracellular side primarily results from a large energy barrier blocking filter entry for Na+ and Li+ in the presence of K+, not from a difference of binding affinity between ions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]