This paper proposes a coarse-fine dual-loop architecture for the digital low drop-out (LDO) regulators with fast transient response and more than 200-mA load capacity. In the proposed scheme, the ...output voltage is coregulated by two loops, namely, the coarse loop and the fine loop. The coarse loop adopts a fast current-mirror flash analog to digital converter and supplies high output current to enhance the transient performance, while the fine loop delivers low output current and helps reduce the voltage ripples and improve the regulation accuracies. Besides, a digital controller is implemented to prevent contentions between the two loops. Fabricated in a 28-nm Samsung CMOS process, the proposed digital LDO achieves maximum load up to 200 mA when the input and the output voltages are 1.1 and 0.9 V, respectively, with a chip area of 0.021 mm 2 . The measured output voltage drop of around 120 mV is observed for a load step of 180 mA.
•Deformed steel fibers in UHPC provide better pullout resistance than straight steel fiber.•Highest average bond strengths of straight and deformed steel fibers in UHPC are obtained at inclination ...angle of 30° or 45°.•Highest pullout energies are obtained in twisted and half-hooked steel fibers at aligned and highly inclined conditions, respectively.•Best tensile performance of UHPFRC is found with straight steel fiber, followed by twisted, half-hooked, and hooked steel fibers.•Correlation between single fiber pullout and tensile behaviors of UHPFRC with deformed steel fibers is fairly low.
This study investigates the effects of steel fiber type on the pullout and tensile performance of ultra-high-performance fiber-reinforced concrete (UHPFRC). For this, four different types of steel fibers, i.e., straight, twisted, hooked, and half-hooked, were used. In order to consider random fiber orientation in UHPFRC, various inclination angles, ranging from 0° to 60°, were considered for the pullout tests. Test results indicated that better pullout resistance was obtained in the deformed (twisted, hooked, and half-hooked) steel fibers embedded in ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC) than that of the straight steel fiber as fiber breakage was prevented. The highest bond strengths of all steel fiber types were found when they were inclined 30° or 45°, while their slip capacities increased with increasing inclination angle. The hooked steel fiber exhibited the highest bond strengths at all inclination angles, while the twisted and half-hooked steel fibers exhibited the highest pullout energies at aligned and highly inclined (45° and 60°) conditions, respectively. In contrast to the pullout test results, the best tensile performance of UHPFRC was achieved by incorporating straight steel fibers, followed by the twisted, half-hooked, and hooked steel fibers. The poorer tensile performance of UHPCs reinforced with the deformed steel fibers was because of the severe matrix damage from excessive mechanical anchorage and fiber congestion, leading to insufficient matrix volume. Similarly, a relatively weak correlation between the fiber pullout and tensile behaviors of UHPFRC was observed. Therefore, a new pullout test method, which is able to consider the fiber random orientation and spacing, is required in order to improve the correlation.
ObjectiveGastric cancer (GC) is a leading cause of cancer-related mortality. Although microbes besides Helicobacter pylori may also contribute to gastric carcinogenesis, wild-type germ-free (GF) ...mouse models investigating the role of human gastric microbiota in the process are not yet available. We aimed to evaluate the histopathological features of GF mouse stomachs transplanted with gastric microbiota from patients with different gastric disease states and their relationships with the microbiota.DesignMicrobiota profiles in corpus and antrum tissues and gastric fluid from 12 patients with gastric dysplasia or GC were analysed. Thereafter, biopsied corpus and antrum tissues and gastric fluid from patients (n=15 and n=12, respectively) with chronic superficial gastritis, intestinal metaplasia or GC were inoculated into 42 GF C57BL/6 mice. The gastric microbiota was analysed by amplicon sequencing. Histopathological features of mouse stomachs were analysed immunohistochemically at 1 month after inoculation. An independent set of an additional 15 GF mice was also analysed at 1 year.ResultsThe microbial community structures of patients with dysplasia or GC in the corpus and antrum were similar. The gastric microbiota from patients with intestinal metaplasia or GC selectively colonised the mouse stomachs and induced premalignant lesions: loss of parietal cells and increases in inflammation foci, in F4/80 and Ki-67 expression, and in CD44v9/GSII lectin expression. Marked dysplastic changes were noted at 1 year post inoculation.ConclusionMajor histopathological features of premalignant changes are reproducible in GF mice transplanted with gastric microbiota from patients with intestinal metaplasia or GC. Our results suggest that GF mice are useful for analysing the causality of associations reported in human gastric microbiome studies.
This study examines the implications of the fiber type and the distance between fibers on the pullout behavior of steel fibers embedded in ultra-high-performance concrete (UHPC). For this, three ...different types of steel fibers, i.e., straight, hooked, and twisted, and four different distances between fibers, corresponding to fiber volume fractions of 1%, 2%, and 7% and a fiber bundle, were considered. To evaluate the effect of the distance between fibers, four individual fibers were included in a single dog-bone specimen, and a single fiber specimen was also fabricated and tested as a control specimen. Test results indicate that the twisted steel fiber exhibited the greatest pullout resistance, followed by the hooked and straight steel fibers. Approximately 30% lower bond strengths were obtained for the specimens with multiple fibers as compared to those with a single fiber, regardless of the fiber type and distance between fibers. The average bond strengths of the hooked and twisted steel fibers were improved by decreasing the distance between fibers up to 1 mm, corresponding to a volume fraction of 7%, while the bundled fiber specimens provided the poorest pullout resistance in terms of bond strength and energy absorption capacity for all types of fibers. The reduction rate of pullout resistance was the most significant for the straight fiber, relative to the hooked and twisted fibers. Minor matrix damage was obtained for the straight fiber specimen, and its pullout performance was not influenced by the surrounding fibers. In contrast, severe matrix damage was observed for the hooked and twisted fibers, and they were overlapped, causing a larger spalling area with a closer fiber distance.
Aflatoxins are carcinogenic secondary metabolites produced by Aspergillus section Flavi that contaminates a wide variety of food and feed products and is responsible for serious health and economic ...consequences. Fermented foods are prepared with a wide variety of substrates over a long fermentation time and are thus vulnerable to contamination by aflatoxin-producing fungi, leading to the production of aflatoxin B1. The mitigation and control of aflatoxin is currently a prime focus for developing safe aflatoxin-free food. This review summarizes the role of major aflatoxin-degrading enzymes such as laccase, peroxidase, and lactonase, and microorganisms in the context of their application in food. A putative mechanism of enzyme-mediated aflatoxin degradation and toxicity evaluation of the degraded products are also extensively discussed to evaluate the safety of degradation processes for food applications. The review also describes aflatoxin-degrading microorganisms isolated from fermented products and investigates their applicability in food as aflatoxin preventing agents. Furthermore, a summary of recent technological advancements in protein engineering, nanozymes, in silico and statistical optimization approaches are explored to improve the industrial applicability of aflatoxin-degrading enzymes.
X-box binding protein 1 (XBP1) mRNA processing plays a crucial role in the unfolded protein response (UPR), which is activated in response to endoplasmic reticulum (ER) stress. Upon accumulation of ...the UPR-converted XBP1 mRNA splicing from an unspliced (u) XBP1 (inactive) isoform to the spliced (s) XBP1 (active) isoform, inositol-requiring enzyme 1 α (IRE1α) removes a 26-nucleotide intron from uXBP1 mRNA. Recent studies have reported the assessment of ER stress by examining the ratio of sXBP1 to uXBP1 mRNA (s/uXBP1 ratio) via densitometric analysis of PCR bands relative to increased levels of sXBP1 to uXBP1 using a housekeeping gene for normalization. However, this measurement is visualized by gel electrophoresis, making it very difficult to quantify differences between the two XBP1 bands and complicating data interpretation. Moreover, most commonly used housekeeping genes display an unacceptably high variable expression pattern of the s/uXBP1 ratio under different experimental conditions, such as various phases of development and different cell types, limiting their use as internal controls. For a more quantitative determination of XBP1 splicing activity, we measured the expression levels of total XBP1 (tXBP1: common region of s/uXBP1) and sXBP1 via real-time PCR using specific primer sets. We also designed universal real-time PCR primer sets capable of amplifying a portion of each u/s/tXBP1 mRNA that is highly conserved in eukaryotes, including humans, monkeys, cows, pigs, and mice. Therefore, we provide a more convenient and easily approachable quantitative real-time PCR method that can be used in various research fields to assess ER stress.
Cognitive impairments occur on a continuous spectrum in multiple cognitive domains showing individual variability of the deteriorating patterns; however, often, cognitive domains are studied ...separately.
The present study investigated aging individual variations of cognitive abilities and related resting-state functional connectivity (rsFC) using data-driven approach. Cognitive and neuroimaging data were obtained from 62 elderly outpatients with cognitive decline. Principal component analysis (PCA) was conducted on the cognitive data to determine patterns of cognitive performance, then data-driven whole-brain connectome multivariate pattern analysis (MVPA) was applied on the neuroimaging data to discover neural regions associated with the cognitive characteristic.
The first component (PC1) delineated an overall decline in all domains of cognition, and the second component (PC2) represented a compensatory relationship within basic cognitive functions. MVPA indicated rsFC of the cerebellum lobule VIII and insula with the default-mode network, frontoparietal network, and salience network inversely correlated with PC1 scores. Additionally, PC2 score was related to rsFC patterns with temporal pole and occipital cortex.
The featured primary cognitive characteristic depicted the importance of the cerebellum and insula connectivity patterns in of the general cognitive decline. The findings also discovered a secondary characteristic that communicated impaired interactions within the basic cognitive function, which was independent from the impairment severity.
A simple methodology is developed to realize chiroptical function induced through superstructural chirality of a matrix of helical nanofilaments formed by achiral molecules. In this work, circularly ...polarized luminescence is demonstrated in nanosegregated mesophase comprising only achiral molecules. An achiral molecular mixture of a bent‐core host and a rod‐like guest blended with a fluorescent dye is prepared. Circularly polarized luminescence confirms that the chiral superstructure consisting only of achiral molecules may serve as a chiral super nanospace for inducing chiral emissions from the fluorescent dye that exhibits rod‐like molecular ordering. In other words, the formation of a chiral superstructure by the segregated rod‐like molecules embedded in helical nanofilaments (bent‐core molecules) is confirmed. The results provide a novel strategy for constructing dissymmetric circularly polarized luminescence materials based on achiral molecules, which is potentially applicable in future information and display technologies.
Circularly polarized luminescence (CPL) from a nanosegregated mesophase consisting of only achiral molecules is demonstrated in this work. CPL is induced through self‐assembled chiral aggregates (in chiral super nanospace) formed only by achiral molecules. The results introduce the possibility of developing a novel technique for constructing practical CPL‐active materials.
The recollection of childhood memories is affected by the subjects involved, such as father and mother, and by the context. This study aimed to clarify the neural influence of autobiographical memory ...related to the parent-child relationship on psychological health in adulthood. Twenty-nine healthy volunteers participated in a functional magnetic resonance imaging experiment using a childhood memory recollection task, in which they appraised the emotion a parent would have provided in a given situation. Whole-brain univariate and psychophysiological interaction analyses were performed. Neuroimaging results indicated notable involvement of the caudal anterior cingulate cortex and precuneus in autobiographical memory related to the parent-child relationship, and their activities were closely associated with the level of depression and self-esteem, respectively. The functional connectivity results indicated increased connectivity between the caudal anterior cingulate cortex and fusiform gyrus for the father-positive condition compared to the mother-positive condition and there was a positive correlation between the strength of connectivity between the two regions and the anxiety level. Our findings suggest the processing of negative affect and the personalness of autobiographical memories are distinctly engaged depending on the parent in question and the situational valence. The present study illuminates the impact of autobiographical memory processes on various dimensions of psychological health.
A sense of gratitude is a powerful and positive experience that can promote a happier life, whereas resentment is associated with life dissatisfaction. To explore the effects of gratitude and ...resentment on mental well-being, we acquired functional magnetic resonance imaging and heart rate (HR) data before, during, and after the gratitude and resentment interventions. Functional connectivity (FC) analysis was conducted to identify the modulatory effects of gratitude on the default mode, emotion, and reward-motivation networks. The average HR was significantly lower during the gratitude intervention than during the resentment intervention. Temporostriatal FC showed a positive correlation with HR during the gratitude intervention, but not during the resentment intervention. Temporostriatal resting-state FC was significantly decreased after the gratitude intervention compared to the resentment intervention. After the gratitude intervention, resting-state FC of the amygdala with the right dorsomedial prefrontal cortex and left dorsal anterior cingulate cortex were positively correlated with anxiety scale and depression scale, respectively. Taken together, our findings shed light on the effect of gratitude meditation on an individual's mental well-being, and indicate that it may be a means of improving both emotion regulation and self-motivation by modulating resting-state FC in emotion and motivation-related brain regions.
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