The antiferromagnet (AFM) and ferromagnet (FM) interface is a unique branch of magnetics of broad scientific interest. AFMs play an important role in spin‐orbit torque devices based on their ability ...to generate spin‐polarized current and exchange bias when combined with FMs. In this study, an interesting spin‐orbit torque (SOT) ratchet involving the exchange spring effect in an IrMn/CoFeB bilayer device with perpendicular anisotropy and exchange bias is developed. The combined use of electrical and spectroscopic analysis reveals that the exchange spring in IrMn/CoFeB bilayer yields unidirectional anisotropy, resulting in a collinear/orthogonal AFM/FM spin configuration at the interface upon switching CoFeB magnetization upward/downward. The ratcheting characteristics resulting from unidirectional anisotropy manifest in SOT switching. In this process, magnetization against the exchange spring features digital‐like switching with a sharp transition, whereas the reverse function is characteristic of analog switching with a gradual transition tail. The dual digital‐analog characteristics of the IrMn/CoFeB bilayer may be of benefit in neuromorphic and memory applications.
A spin‐orbit torque ratchet is discovered in an anti‐ferromagnet (IrMn)/ferromagnet (CoFeB) bilayer device with exchange bias. An exchange spring effect is found to be responsible for the unidirectional anisotropy of CoFeB, which supports the multilevel cell feature for neuromorphic applications. This finding opens a new avenue for the advanced spin‐orbit torque (SOT) technology.
This study investigates age-specific prostate-specific antigen (PSA) distributions in Taiwanese men and recommends reference ranges for this population after comparison with other studies. From ...January 1999 to December 2016, a total of 213,986 Taiwanese men aged above 19 years old without history of prostate cancer, urinary tract infection, or prostate infection were recruited from the Taiwan MJ cohort, an ongoing prospective cohort of health examinations conducted by the MJ Health Screening Center in Taiwan. Participants were divided into seven age groups. Simple descriptive statistical analyses were carried out and quartiles and 95th percentiles were calculated for each group as reference ranges for serum PSA in screening for prostate cancer in Taiwanese men. Serum PSA concentration correlated with age (r = 0.274, p<0.001). The median serum PSA concentration (5th to 95th percentile) ranged from 0.7 ng/ml (0.3 to 1.8) for men 20-29 years old (n = 6,382) to 1.6 ng/ml (0.4 to 8.4) for men over 79 years old (n = 504). The age-specific PSA reference ranges are as follows: 20-29 years, 1.80 ng/ml; 30-39 years, 1.80 ng/ml; 40-49 years, 2.0 ng/ml; 50-59 years, 3.20 ng/ml; 60-69 years, 5.60 ng/ml; 70-79 years, 7.40 ng/ml; over 80 years, 8.40 ng/ml. Almost no change occurred in the median serum PSA value in men 50 years old or younger, while a gradual increase was observed in men over 50. Taiwanese men aged 60 years above showed higher 95th percentile serum PSA values compared to Caucasian men and men in other Asian countries but were closer to those of Asian American and African American men. Results indicate significantly different PSA levels correlating to different ethnicities, suggesting that Oesterling's age-specific PSA reference ranges might not be appropriate for Taiwanese men. Our results should be further studied to validate the age-specific PSA reference ranges for Taiwanese men presented in this study.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK
The stability and activity of Platinum catalysts under the redox process are the key parameters affecting catalytic performance. Here, we investigated the surface species evolution of low‐loading Pt ...catalyst deposited on a Nafion membrane through e‐beam deposition during redox reactions by using in situ X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) combined with a static electrochemical cell. Operando ambient‐pressure XPS measurement revealed the oxide species (Ptδ+, Pt2+, and Pt4+) evolution over different potentials in the water layer constructed by an acid solution. The amount of Pt2+ increased with an increment of the anodic potential, whereas Pt4+ suddenly formed when the threshold voltage of the oxygen evolution reaction was crossed. Hysteresis of Pt2+ was revealed as Pt4+ was completely reduced when returning to the open circuit potential. Incorporating depth‐profiling studies enabled us to uncover the mechanism of oxide species evolution between the surface and subsurface of the Pt catalyst during a redox reaction.
The surface species evolution on membrane electrode with low‐loading Platinum catalyst is investigated by operando ambient‐pressure X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy. The results provide a better understanding of the interaction between the conductive metallic Pt catalyst and hydrophilic oxide overlayer for oxygen evolution reaction.
True‐blue Ir(III) phosphors are designed, synthesized, and applied to multilayered organic true‐blue‐light‐emitting diodes with CIEx,y color chromaticity of (0.15,0.11) and maximum external quantum ...efficiency of ∼12%, demonstrating unprecedented performance among all blue‐phosphorescent OLEDs ever documented. The molecular‐design strategy and subsequent device‐fabrication protocol reveal a major development in OLEDs.
Optical industry has since been employing the use of ultra-high precision machining (UHPM) to manufacture wide range of optical products
.
One of the major materials used for producing optical ...product is optical silicon. However, improving surface quality of the product within 10 nm R
a
has remained a research focus. Surface roughness during optical silicon turning which is an important quality determinant depends on factors such as feed rate, depth of cut, cutting speed, nose radius, clearance, and rake angles. To achieve required/targeted quality characteristic, there is need for appropriate selection of these process parameters. Therefore, to create a manufacturing industry that is autonomous, a reliable monitoring system for increased production needs to be developed. This research discussed process parameter selection through variation and application of acoustic emission monitoring technique for obtaining optimal surface roughness in ultra-high precision turning (UHPT) of optical silicon using the Taguchi L9 design. The result obtained showed 100% similarity between the experimental and acoustic emission prediction and the superiority of cutting speed over both nose radius and rake angle.
From the perspective of health economics, the evaluation of drug-related cost effectiveness and clinical utility is crucial. We conducted a cost-utility analysis of two first-line drugs, tenofovir ...alafenamide (TAF) and entecavir (ETV), in the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) patients. We performed inverse probability of treatment weighting (IPTW) to match the independent variables between the two treatment groups. The incremental cost effectiveness ratio (ICER) of the two treatment groups was simulated using a decision tree with the Markov annual-cycle model. A total of 54 patients treated with TAF and 98 with ETV from January 2016 to December 2020 were enrolled. The total medical cost in the TAF group was NT$76,098 less than that in the ETV group, and TAF demonstrated more effectiveness than ETV by 3.19 quality-adjusted life years (QALYs). When the time horizon was set at 30 years, the ICER of the TAF group compared with the ETV group was -NT$23,878 per QALY, suggesting more cost savings for TAF. Additionally, with the application of TAF, over NT$366 million (approximately US$12 million) can be saved annually. TAF demonstrates cheaper medical costs and more favorable clinical QALYs than ETV. To balance health insurance benefits and cost effectiveness, TAF is the optimal treatment for CHB.
This study aims to monitor the occurrence of diffractions generated by periodic tool marks during single-point diamond turning (SPDT) of aspheric surfaces. The diffraction of lens surface caused by ...SPDT results in dizziness and discomfort to users. By monitoring the SPDT process, the diffraction of the lens can be effectively prevented. The acoustic emission (AE) signals were utilized to monitor the processing defects. Hence, this study proposes the method to apply AE signals analyzed by design of experiment (DOE), wavelet analysis, and support vector machine (SVM) in identifying the occurrence of diffraction in SPDT process. The original AE signals were decomposed by wavelet analysis, and the coefficients of energy were determined. The energy coefficient of the first detail layer (D1) and the process parameter, feed rate, were fed into the SVM to determine whether diffraction was formed. It is confirmed that the high-frequency energy of the AE signal is correlated with the diffraction occurrence. The prediction model referring to feed rate can predict the occurrence of diffraction in SPDT with 95.8% accuracy.
Chronic kidney disease (CKD) is a serious global public health challenge, but there is limited information on the connection between air pollution and risk of CKD.
The aim of this study was to ...investigate the association between long-term exposure to particulate matter (PM) with an aerodynamic diameter of less than Formula: see text (Formula: see text) and the development of CKD in a large cohort.
A total of 100,629 nonCKD Taiwanese residents age 20 y or above were included in this study between 2001 and 2014. Ambient Formula: see text concentration was estimated at each participant's address using a satellite-based spatiotemporal model. Incident CKD cases were identified by an estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) of less than Formula: see text. We collected information on a wide range of potential confounders/modifiers during the medical examinations. Cox proportional hazard regression was applied to calculate hazard ratios (HRs).
During the follow-up, 4,046 incident CKD cases were identified, and the incidence rate was 6.24 per 1,000 person-years. In contrast with participants with the first quintile exposure of Formula: see text, participants with the fourth and fifth quintiles exposure of Formula: see text had increased risk of CKD development, adjusting for age, sex, educational level, smoking, drinking, body mass index, systolic blood pressure, fasting glucose, total cholesterol, and self-reported heart disease or stroke, with an HR 95% confidence interval (CI) of 1.11 (1.02, 1.22) and 1.15 (1.05, 1.26), respectively. A significant concentration-response trend was observed (Formula: see text). Every Formula: see text increment in the Formula: see text concentration was associated with a 6% higher risk of developing CKD (HR: 1.06, 95% CI: 1.02, 1.10). Sensitivity and stratified analyses yielded similar results.
Long-term exposure to ambient Formula: see text was associated with an increased risk of CKD development. Our findings reinforce the urgency to develop global strategies of air pollution reduction to prevent CKD. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP3304.
Celotno besedilo
Dostopno za:
CEKLJ, DOBA, IZUM, KILJ, NUK, OILJ, PILJ, PNG, SAZU, SIK, UILJ, UKNU, UL, UM, UPUK, VSZLJ
With the penetration of renewable energy, the power quality (PQ) becomes the important issue for operation stability of power system. The efficient monitoring mechanism for different multiple PQ ...disturbances is the fundamental infrastructure for modernization of power system. However, the diverse PQ signals result in numerous analysis techniques and make the integration of PQ monitoring difficult. To resolve the above-mentioned problem, the Prony-based PQ analysis mechanism is proposed in this paper. The commonly seen PQ disturbances, such as the fundamental frequency deviation, harmonics, interharmonics, voltage fluctuations (flickers), and PQ events, can be easily analyzed and detected with Prony-based technique and integrated for the design of monitoring system. The performance of proposed analysis mechanism can be verified by the implementation in the Pingtung ac microgrid of Taiwan.
COVID-19 is threatening human health worldwide but no effective treatment currently exists for this disease. Current therapeutic strategies focus on the inhibition of viral replication or using ...anti-inflammatory/immunomodulatory compounds to improve host immunity, but not both. Traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) compounds could be promising candidates due to their safety and minimal toxicity. In this study, we have developed a novel
bioinformatics workflow that integrates multiple databases to predict the use of honeysuckle (
) and Huangqi (
) as potential anti-SARS-CoV-2 agents. Using extracts from honeysuckle and Huangqi, these two herbs upregulated a group of microRNAs including
,
, and
, which are critical to reduce the pathogenesis of SARS-CoV-2. Moreover, these herbs suppressed pro-inflammatory cytokines including IL-6 or TNF-α, which were both identified in the cytokine storm of acute respiratory distress syndrome, a major cause of COVID-19 death. Furthermore, both herbs partially inhibited the fusion of SARS-CoV-2 spike protein-transfected BHK-21 cells with the human lung cancer cell line Calu-3 that was expressing ACE2 receptors. These herbs inhibited SARS-CoV-2 M
activity, thereby alleviating viral entry as well as replication. In conclusion, our findings demonstrate that honeysuckle and Huangqi have the potential to be used as an inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2 virus entry that warrants further
analysis and functional assessment of miRNAs to confirm their clinical importance. This fast-screening platform can also be applied to other drug discovery studies for other infectious diseases.
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