The mechanism of the irradiation synergistic effect of silicon bipolar junction transistors explained by multiscale simulations of Monte Carlo and excited-state first-principle calculations.

Neutron and γ-ray irradiation damages to transistors are found to be non-additive, and this is denoted as the irradiation synergistic effect (ISE). Its mechanism is not well-understood. The recent defect-based model [Song and Wei, ACS Appl.

Serum antiretinal antibodies and cytokine profiling in autoimmune retinopathy and their association with clinical outcomes.

Purpose: Autoimmune retinopathy (AIR) is a group of autoimmune retinal diseases that can cause blindness. The purpose of this study is to investigate the profiles of serum antiretinal antibodies (ARAs) and cytokines and their association with disease diagnosis as well as clinical features in AIR.

Methods: The patients with presumed para (p) and non-paraneoplastic (np) AIR diagnosis, the patients with retinitis pigmentosa and bilateral uveitis as disease controls, and healthy subjects were prospectively enrolled.

Comparison of Clinical and Immunological Features of Para- and Non-Paraneoplastic Autoimmune Retinopathy in Chinese - A Series of 48 Cases.

Purpose: To characterize and compare clinical and immunological features of para(p)-autoimmune retinopathy (AIR) and non-para(np)-AIR and to assess the clinical significance of the presence of serum anti-retinal antibodies (ARAs).

Methods: We retrospectively reviewed 48 Chinese patients with p-AIR or np-AIR who took comprehensive ophthalmic examinations and lab tests of the presence of serum ARAs.

Results: p-AIR patients differed from np-AIR patients in terms of disease progression, ocular inflammation, findings of OCT, FFA, and presence of ARAs.

Management of autoimmune retinopathy treated with intravitreal dexamethasone implant.

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to evaluate clinical outcomes of autoimmune retinopathy (AIR) in the patients treated with intravitreal dexamethasone implant (IDI).

Method: Twenty-one eyes of 11 AIR patients treated with at least 1 injection of IDI were retrospectively reviewed. Clinical outcomes before and after treatment, including best corrected visual acuity (BCVA), optic coherence tomography (OCT), fundus autofluorescence (FAF), full-field electroretinography (ff-ERG), and visual field (VF) at last visit within 6 and/or 12 months, were recorded.

Speed-dependent adaptive partitioning in QM/MM MD simulations of displacement damage in solid-state systems.

Solids undergo displacement damage (DD) when interacting with energetic particles, which may happen during the fabrication of semiconductor devices, in harsh environments and in certain analysis techniques. Simulations of DD generation are usually carried out using classical molecular dynamics (MD), but classical MD does not account for all the effects in DD, as demonstrated by ab initio calculations of model systems in the literature. A complete ab initio simulation of DD generation is impractical due to the large number of atoms involved.

On-the-fly determination of active region centers in adaptive-partitioning QM/MM.

Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) methods are widely used in molecular dynamics (MD) simulations of large systems. By partitioning the system into active and environmental regions and treating them with different levels of theory, QM/MM methods achieve accuracy and efficiency at the same time. Adaptive-partitioning (AP) QM/MM allows the partition of the system to change during the MD simulation, making it possible to simulate processes in which the active and environmental regions exchange atoms or molecules, such as processes in solutions or solids.

Extending scaled-interaction adaptive-partitioning QM/MM to covalently bonded systems.

Quantum mechanics/molecular mechanics (QM/MM) is the method of choice for atomistic simulations of large systems that can be partitioned into active and environmental regions. Adaptive-partitioning (AP) methods extend the applicability of QM/MM, allowing active regions to change during the simulation. AP methods achieve continuous potential energy surface (PES) by introducing buffer regions in which atoms have both QM and MM characters.

One-year efficacy of intravitreal conbercept injection for macular oedema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion in Chinese patients.

Purpose: To evaluate intravitreal conbercept injection for treatment of macular oedema secondary to central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) in Chinese patients during 1-year follow-up in the real-world setting.

Methods: Twenty-seven eyes of 27 patients with macular oedema associated with CRVO were retrospectively reviewed. The eyes received monthly intravitreal conbercept injection (0.

Selective Early Glial Reactivity in the Visual Pathway Precedes Axonal Loss, Following Short-Term Cerebrospinal Fluid Pressure Reduction.

Purpose: To examine the early glial reactivity and neuron damage in response to short-term cerebrospinal fluid pressure (CSFp) reduction, as compared with intraocular pressure (IOP) elevation.

Methods: The experiment included 54 male Sprague-Dawley rats with elevated translaminar cribrosa pressure difference (TLPD), defined as IOP minus CSFp. These rats underwent either continuous CSF drainage for 6 hours (n = 18), or unilateral IOP elevation to 40 mm Hg for 6 hours (n = 18).

Direct Extraction of Excitation Energies from Ensemble Density-Functional Theory.

A very specific ensemble of ground and excited states is shown to yield an exact formula for any excitation energy as a simple correction to the energy difference between orbitals of the Kohn-Sham ground state. This alternative scheme avoids either the need to calculate many unoccupied levels as in time-dependent density functional theory (TDDFT) or the need for many self-consistent ensemble calculations. The symmetry-eigenstate Hartree-exchange (SEHX) approximation yields results comparable to standard TDDFT for atoms.

Excitons in Time-Dependent Density-Functional Theory.

This chapter gives an overview of the description of the optical and dielectric properties of bulk insulators and semiconductors in time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT), with an emphasis on excitons. We review the linear-response formalism for periodic solids, discuss excitonic exchange-correlation kernels, calculate exciton binding energies for various materials, and compare the treatment of excitons with TDDFT and with the Bethe-Salpeter equation.

Excitations and benchmark ensemble density functional theory for two electrons.

A new method for extracting ensemble Kohn-Sham potentials from accurate excited state densities is applied to a variety of two-electron systems, exploring the behavior of exact ensemble density functional theory. The issue of separating the Hartree energy and the choice of degenerate eigenstates is explored. A new approximation, spin eigenstate Hartree-exchange, is derived.

A minimal model for excitons within time-dependent density-functional theory.

The accurate description of the optical spectra of insulators and semiconductors remains an important challenge for time-dependent density-functional theory (TDDFT). Evidence has been given in the literature that TDDFT can produce bound as well as continuum excitons for specific systems, but there are still many unresolved basic questions concerning the role of dynamical exchange and correlation (xc). In particular, the roles of the long spatial range and the frequency dependence of the xc kernel f(xc) for excitonic binding are still not very well explored.

Effect of cusps in time-dependent quantum mechanics.

Within nonrelativistic quantum mechanics, spatial cusps in initial wave functions can lead to nonanalytic behavior in time. We suggest a method for calculating the short-time behavior in such situations. For these cases, the density does not match its Taylor expansion in time, but the Runge-Gross proof of time-dependent density functional theory still holds, as it requires only the potential to be time analytic.

The role of CCR1 expression in the retinal degeneration in rd mice.

Purpose: Chemokine receptors are reported to be involved in neuronal cell death and CNS neurodegenerative diseases. The aim of the current study was to investigate the expression of CCR1, a major chemokine receptor for CC chemokines in retinal dystrophy in rd (retinal degeneration) mice and further explore its role in photoreceptor degeneration.

Materials And Methods: The expression levels of CCR1 mRNA in the whole control and rd retinas at postnatal days (P) 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 were determined by RT-PCR assay.

Pelvic floor reconstruction using human acellular dermal matrix after cylindrical abdominoperineal resection.

Purpose: Patients who undergo cylindrical abdominoperineal resection can have significant complications, especially those who require pelvic reconstruction using myocutaneous flaps. Reconstruction using a biomaterial may be a novel alternative. The purpose of this study is to report the initial results of pelvic reconstruction using human acellular dermal matrix after cylindrical abdominoperineal resection.

Must Kohn-Sham oscillator strengths be accurate at threshold?

The exact ground-state Kohn-Sham (KS) potential for the helium atom is known from accurate wave function calculations of the ground-state density. The threshold for photoabsorption from this potential matches the physical system exactly. By carefully studying its absorption spectrum, we show the answer to the title question is no.

Activation of nuclear factor-kappaB during retinal degeneration in rd mice.

Purpose: Transcription factors of the nuclear factor-kappa beta (NF-kappaB) family have been demonstrated to play an important role in the regulation of gene expression in the chronic neurodegenerative disorders. The aims of the current study were to investigate the alteration of NF-kappaB activity during retinal degeneration in rd mice and further explore its role in photoreceptor apoptosis.

Methods: Activation of NF-kappaB and its nuclear translocation in the retina of rd mice at postnatal days (P) 8, 10, 12, 14, 16, 18, and 28 were studied by immunohistochemical analysis using NF-kappaB P65 antibody.

Microglial activation in human diabetic retinopathy.

Objective: To investigate microglial activation in human diabetic retinopathy.

Methods: Paraffin sections from 21 eyes of 13 patients with diabetic background, preproliferative, or proliferative retinopathies and 10 normal eyes of 9 individuals were studied with immunolabeling of microglia with antibodies against HLA-DR antigen, CD45, or CD68.

Results: In the healthy human eyes, ramified microglial cells were scattered in the inner retinal layers.

Activation of microglia and chemokines in light-induced retinal degeneration.

Purpose: Microglial cells, which are activated and recruited by chemokines, have been shown to play crucial roles in neuronal degenerations of the central nervous system (CNS). This study investigated the activation and migration of retinal microglial cells and expression of chemokines in retinas in light-induced photoreceptor degeneration in mice.

Methods: Ninety-five Balb/cJ mice were kept in cyclic light for 1 week followed by dark adaptation for 48 h prior to light exposure of 3 h at 3.

Identification of sequential events and factors associated with microglial activation, migration, and cytotoxicity in retinal degeneration in rd mice.

Purpose: To elucidate the role of activated microglia in the photoreceptor apoptosis of rd mice by identifying sequential events and factors associated with microglial activation, migration, and cytotoxicity during retinal degeneration.

Methods: Photoreceptor apoptosis in rd mice at postnatal days (P)8, 10, 12, 14, 16, and 18 was detected by terminal dUTP transferase nick end labeling (TUNEL). Retinal microglia were identified by CD11b antibody.