An electronic synaptic device based on HfOTiO bilayer structure memristor with self-compliance and deep-RESET characteristics.

We reported on a Ti/HfO/TiO/Pt memristor with self-compliance, deep-RESET characteristics and excellent switching performance, including ultrafast program/erase speed (10 ns), a large memory window (10) and good pulse endurance (10 cycles). The self-compliance and deep-RESET characteristics are beneficial for protecting the device from permanent breakdown in both SET and RESET processes especially under the pulse operation mode. In addition to bistable state switching, we also achieved multiple or even continuous conductance state switching under a DC sweep and a pulse-train operation mode in the Ti/HfO/TiO/Pt memristor, which can be seen as a substitution of a biological synapse.

a-SiNx:H-based ultra-low power resistive random access memory with tunable Si dangling bond conduction paths.

The realization of ultra-low power Si-based resistive switching memory technology will be a milestone in the development of next generation non-volatile memory. Here we show that a high performance and ultra-low power resistive random access memory (RRAM) based on an Al/a-SiNx:H/p(+)-Si structure can be achieved by tuning the Si dangling bond conduction paths. We reveal the intrinsic relationship between the Si dangling bonds and the N/Si ratio x for the a-SiNx:H films, which ensures that the programming current can be reduced to less than 1 μA by increasing the value of x.

Fabricating a silicon nanowire by using the proximity effect in electron beam lithography for investigation of the Coulomb blockade effect.

We present an approach to fabricate a silicon nanowire relying on the proximity effect in electron beam lithography with a low acceleration voltage system by designing the exposure patterns with a rhombus sandwiched between two symmetric wedges. The reproducibility is investigated by changing the number of rhombuses. A device with a silicon nanowire is constructed on a highly doped silicon-on-insulator wafer to measure the electronic transport characteristics.

A novel foam vehicle for delivery of topical corticosteroids.

Skin, particularly the uppermost layer--the stratum corneum--presents a formidable, largely impassable barrier to the entry of most compounds. Recently, a novel thermolabile, low-residue foam vehicle, VersaFoam (Connetics Corp, Palo Alto, Calif), has emerged that offers a number of clinical and cosmetic advantages for the delivery of therapeutic agents through the skin. Two corticosteroids--mid-potency betamethasone valerate and ultra-high-potency clobetasol propionate--are now available in this formulation, and other products are in development to deliver clindamycin and ketoconazole in the foam vehicle.

MT1-MMP-dependent and -independent regulation of gelatinase A activation in long-term, ascorbate-treated fibroblast cultures: regulation by fibrillar collagen.

Human skin fibroblasts were cultured long-term in the presence of ascorbic acid to allow formation of a three-dimensional collagen matrix, and the effects of this on activation of secreted matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) were examined. Accumulation of collagen over time correlated with increased levels of both mature MMP-2 and cell-associated membrane type 1-MMP (MT1-MMP), and subsequently increased mRNA levels for MT1-MMP, providing temporal resolution of the "nontranscriptional" and "transcriptional" effects of collagen on MT-1MMP functionality. MMP-2 activation by these cultures was blocked by inhibitors of prolyl-4-hydroxylase, or when fibroblasts derived from the collagen alpha1(I) gene-deficient Mov-13 mouse were used.