Browse Articles

Field-free SOT switching in Pd/PdCo bilayers with a vertical gradient induced by rapid thermal annealing

Achieving field-free magnetization switching in spin–orbit torque (SOT) devices is essential for practical spintronic applications. While recent studies have proposed strategies involving complex multilayer structures or substrate symmetry engineering, which often necessitates high substrate temperatures during deposition, thereby limiting large-scale integration. Here, we demonstrate a simple and complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS)-compatible approach to achieve current-induced field-free SOT switching in Pd/PdCo bilayers deposited at room temperature and subsequently processed via rapid thermal annealing (RTA). We show that field-free SOT switching is robust across different substrates (Al2O3 and SiO2/Si) and is independent of the in-plane crystalline symmetry associated with the substrates. Systematic investigations reveal that the RTA-induced vertical composition gradient, coupled with gradient-induced Dzyaloshinskii–Moriya interaction, enables the observed field-free switching of magnetization. Furthermore, we clarify how annealing temperature, Co/Pd ratio, and Pd/PdCo bilayer stacking configuration influence the switching behavior. Our study establishes a viable strategy for field-free SOT switching with great CMOS compatibility, offering a promising path toward energy-efficient spintronic devices.

Synthesis and anti-antileishmanial profile of novel thiazolidine-4-one derivatives and molecular docking and molecular dynamics simulations studies

Impact of vitamin D on gene expression in Atlantic salmon skin

Vitamin D is a crucial micronutrient for vertebrate health that affects musculoskeletal function and likely modulates immune responses in tissues such as the skin. Infectious diseases are a critical concern in Atlantic salmon aquaculture due to the potential economic impact of stock losses, risks to fish welfare, and environmental sustainability. Since the skin is the first line of immunological defence, its ability to mediate host-pathogen interactions may be influenced by dietary vitamin D. This study examined the transcriptomic response of salmon skin after six months of dietary vitamin D supplementation, with an emphasis on immune-related gene expression. A total of 151 differentially expressed genes were identified, 27 of which are linked to inflammation, antigen presentation, and both innate and adaptive immunity. These results indicate that vitamin D could modulate cutaneous immune responses by reducing inflammation and enhancing innate defences, potentially improving resistance to many skin-associated salmon pathogens.

Observation of two-dimensional hole gas distribution and transport in GaN composite p-channel at cryogenic temperatures

The density of two-dimensional hole gas (2DHG) in gallium nitride (GaN)-based heterojunctions with strong polarization effects is generally considered to be temperature-independent. In this work, we observed that the hole transport in the GaN 2D/3D composite p-channel, which is preferred for GaN complementary devices and circuit integration, exhibits unconventional temperature dependence. At cryogenic temperatures, three distinct regions can be clearly observed. For T > 200 K, the measured hole density decreases exponentially with decreasing temperature due to the freeze-out of the bulk p-GaN. For 70 < T < 200 K, the hole transport is dominated by the 2DHG, and the hole sheet density shows weak temperature dependence. For T < 70 K, a spurious increase in the hole density occurs due to the increased significance of the defect-band conduction. This work reveals that the 2DHG density continues to decrease as a result of the variation of the Fermi level in the bulk p-GaN, which is restricted by compensation doping. Increasing the 2DHG density with higher modulation doping concentration in the barrier layer can weaken the temperature dependence of the 2DHG density and preserve the functionality of devices made thereon at cryogenic temperatures.

Daily briefing: Mouse eyes can photosynthesize after a plant-to-animal transplant

TeO2-modified SiO2-B2O3-Al2O3 glasses with enhanced dielectric constant and dissipation factor for advanced semiconductor packaging applications

Experimental and numerical study on the flexural capacity of fiber mesh fabric-reinforced RC slabs

This study experimentally investigates the effects of embedded carbon and glass fiber mesh fabrics on the flexural performance of one-way reinforced concrete (RC) slabs. Five slab specimens, incorporating different fiber types (carbon and glass) and areal densities (120 g/m 2 and 240 g/m 2 ), were subjected to four-point bending tests. The experimental results demonstrate that fiber mesh reinforcement significantly enhances the mechanical behavior of RC slabs, particularly in terms of cracking control and load-bearing capacity. In terms of crack development, fiber mesh fabrics-reinforced slabs exhibited denser and finer crack patterns, with the 240 g/m 2 carbon fiber mesh showing the narrowest crack widths and most effective suppression of crack propagation. Compared to the unreinforced control specimen, the cracking load of fiber mesh fabrics-reinforced slabs increased by 14.2% to 114.2%, yield load by 21.3% to 48.7%, and ultimate load by 1.4% to 21.4%. Among them, the specimen reinforced with 240 g/m 2 carbon fiber mesh exhibited the most substantial improvement, achieving 114.2% higher cracking load, 48.7% higher yield load, and 21.4% higher ultimate load. At the same areal density, carbon fiber mesh outperformed glass fiber mesh, providing up to 25% improvement in cracking load, 18.8% in yield load, and 16.6% in ultimate load. Increasing the areal density from 120 g/m 2 to 240 g/m 2 also enhanced flexural performance, with cracking load improvements of 50% observed for both glass and carbon fiber mesh fabrics-reinforced slabs. Finally, the finite element (FE) models of the slabs were developed using the ABAQUS software. The FE simulations accurately replicated the crack development, deflection behavior, and load-transfer mechanisms observed in the experiments, validating the model’s reliability. These results provide critical insights for optimizing the design of fiber-reinforced concrete slabs.

Recoverable ultrathin Hf0.5Zr0.5O2-based ferroelectric tunnel junction

Here, we report a ferroelectric tunnel junction (FTJ) based on ultrathin Hf0.5Zr0.5O2 (HZO) that can be electrically recovered from memory fatigue to reach significantly prolongated endurance. A high remanent polarization (Pr) of 19 μC/cm2 is obtained in 3 nm-thick HZO ferroelectric films, and its robust ferroelectricity can be recovered by employing a unipolar negative voltage recovery pulse technique, leading to significantly-prolongated endurance up to 3.7 × 109 cycles and 4.53 × 1010 cycles under bipolar square-waveform field cycling at 105 and 106 Hz, respectively. The fabricated W/WOx/HZO/Pt FTJs exhibited giant tunnel electroresistance ratios of up to 5.8 × 105, attributable to the superb HZO ferroelectrics and the incorporation of sputtered highly conductive WOx interfacial layer. By implementing a similar single-pulse recovery to release the pinned oxygen vacancy defects from the interfaces, the FTJs delivered superior cycling endurance of 108 cycles with a large memory window over 13 000 under 10 ns single-pulse programming, demonstrating the great potential of ultrathin HZO based FTJs as a promising nonvolatile memory. This work would foresee a bright future and pave the way for the practical applications of ultrathin HZO-based FTJ memory.

A step-by-step guide for scientists who hate conference networking

Multifunctional activity of Mentha piperita essential oil nanoemulsion against Helicobacter pylori

Abstract Helicobacter pylori is a Gram-negative bacterium implicated in chronic gastric infections and gastric cancer, making it an important target for therapeutic intervention. Increasing antibiotic resistance of this pathogen has reduced the efficacy of conventional therapies, emphasizing the urgent need for alternative natural treatments. Mentha piperita essential oil exhibits antimicrobial and antioxidant activities, which are further enhanced when formulated as a nanoemulsion. Nanoemulsification improves solubility, stability, bioavailability, and bacterial targeting. Although essential oil–based nanoemulsions have shown antimicrobial potential, limited studies have systematically evaluated their effects on key virulence factors such as urease activity and biofilm formation in H. pylori . In this study, a Mentha piperita essential oil nanoemulsion stabilized with sodium dodecyl sulfate (MPNE–SDS) exhibited a mean particle size of 168 nm, a Polydispersity Index of 0.28, and maintained stability for up to three months. MPNE–SDS demonstrated potent antibacterial activity against H. pylori , with MIC values ranging from 6.25 to 50 µL/mL of nanoemulsion formulation, and showed enhanced efficacy compared to bulk essential oil. It also reduced whole-cell urease activity (IC₅₀ = 41.6 µL/mL) and inhibited biofilm formation (IC₅₀ = 24.5 µL/mL), while higher concentrations were required for biofilm eradication (EC₅₀ = 133 µL/mL). These findings indicate that MPNE–SDS enhances antibacterial performance and affects key H. pylori virulence-associated activities, suggesting its potential as a non-antibiotic approach and warranting further preclinical investigation.

The carbon footprint of surgical operations: 2023–2025 systematic review update

Surgical care significantly contributes to greenhouse gas emissions, with operating rooms consuming three to six times more energy than other departments relying heavily on single-use materials and anaesthetic gases. We conducted a systematic review of literature from 2023 to 2025 following PRISMA guidelines. The PubMed, Scopus and Healthcare LCA databases were searched, and eligibility criteria were applied. A total of 26 studies met inclusion criteria. Data were extracted on each study’s scope and system boundaries, reported emission values, identified carbon hotspots, and any mitigation strategies evaluated. A structured quality assessment was conducted to evaluate the reliability of the included studies and to identify potential sources of bias. The included studies demonstrated wide variability in reported carbon footprints of surgery, ranging from under 5 kgCO₂e for minor procedures to over over 400 kgCO₂e for complex single-stage operations and approximately 1,000 kgCO₂e for whole multistage patient pathways. This systematic review underscores that surgical operations could have a significant carbon footprint, with emissions hotspots concentrated in consumable materials and energy consumption. It also reveals substantial variability and methodological heterogeneity in how surgical carbon footprints are calculated, pointing to the urgent need for standardized life-cycle based frameworks in surgical settings. Establishing common standards will enable more reliable benchmarking of surgical emissions and better comparisons across studies.

Damage-free sputtered ITO top electrode for semi-transparent organic solar cells: Protective and electronic role of the MoO3 transport layer

We report on the integration of a sputtered indium tin oxide transparent top electrode for semi-transparent organic solar cells (ST-OSCs). To mitigate sputtering-induced damage to the underlying organic layers, a MoO3 interlayer is introduced, acting simultaneously as a hole transport layer and as a protective buffer layer during the sputtering process. The best-performing ST-OSC, based on wide-bandgap donor polymer PM6 and acceptor GS-ISO, achieved power conversion efficiencies (PCEs) of 4.6% under bottom illumination and 4% under top illumination. Furthermore, a mild thermal annealing (55 °C) for 5 h leads to a significant performance enhancement for ST-OSC, with PCE reaching up to 5.8%, resulting in improved operational stability compared to conventional opaque OSCs over 200 h testing.

Deep transferable label propagation with prototypical augmentation

Maintaining function and participation through tailored 24-hour movement behaviours for people living with multiple long-term conditions and frailty (The PERSONAL-AGILITY study): Protocol for a randomised controlled feasibility trial

Introduction Maintaining function and participation through tailored 24-hour movement behaviours for people living with multiple long-term conditions (MLTC) and frailty (The PERSONAL-AGILITY study) is a research programme which aims to develop and evaluate a complex behaviour change intervention. The intervention uses a range of approaches tailored for individuals living with MLTC and frailty, and their carers, incorporating novel technology to improve 24-hour movement behaviours and, consequently, quality of life and physical function. This paper outlines the protocol for a randomised controlled trial (RCT) evaluating the feasibility and acceptability of the PERSONAL-AGILITY intervention, study design and procedures. Methods and analysis A feasibility RCT, with 2:1 allocation to the PERSONAL-AGILITY intervention or usual care control. The primary outcome is the feasibility and acceptability of a future definitive RCT investigating the effectiveness of the PERSONAL-AGILITY intervention, assessed against prespecified progression criteria, including eligibility, recruitment, retention, and outcome measure completion rates. The trial will be conducted at the University Hospitals of Leicester and comprise a 24-week tailored behaviour change intervention delivered by members of the PERSONAL-AGILITY research team. A target sample of 50 people with MLTC and frailty, and their carer (optional), will be recruited. A range of secondary outcomes including body composition, blood pressure, physical activity, sleep, physical function, and quality of life will be assessed at baseline, 12, and 24 weeks to help identify the primary or co-primary outcomes for participants with MLTC and frailty and their carers. A mixed methods process evaluation will examine the acceptability, feasibility and fidelity of intervention delivery and trial procedures. This study will inform the feasibility and design of a future definitive RCT. Ethics and dissemination The trial has been approved by South Central Oxford B Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 24/SC/0367). Participants will be asked to provide consent to take part in the PERSONAL-AGILITY study by a trained member of the research team. Findings will be disseminated via peer reviewed journals, presentations and communications with health care professionals, patients and the public. Trial registration: International Standard Randomised Controlled Trial Number 14362764. URL to registry record: https://www.isrctn.com/ISRCTN14362764 . Date of registration: 25 th November 2024.

Integrated structural and physiological adaptations of Buffel grass (Cenchrus ciliaris) to aridity gradients

A novel hybrid framework integrating GA-driven 3D ResUNetGAN for MRI brain tumor segmentation

Accurate brain tumor segmentation by multi-modal MRI is crucial for diagnosis, treatment planning, and prognostic assessment. This work proposes a novel hybrid architecture within a GA optimized by 3D residual U-Net (ResUNet) with generative adversarial network (GAN) for the accurate segmentation of tumor subregions, namely the tumor core (TC), whole tumor (WT), and enhancing tumor (ET), using a dataset collected from BraTS2023 (437 training and 188 validation). By using GAs, we enable the computer to automatically find the best model structure and training settings, which helps keep the model simple enough to avoid overfitting while being powerful enough to generalise well to new data. The GAN part of our method trains the model to draw more realistic and consistent boundaries around tumor regions in MRI scans, thereby improving the overall quality of the segmentation. In our experiments, this GA-ResUNetGAN approach performed better than several leading methods, such as 3D UNet, DynUNet, UNETR, SwinUNETR, and the standard ResUNet, especially in accurately identifying TC, WT, and ET parts—achieving Dice scores of 0.94, 0.96, and 0.91 on the validation set. In addition, K-Fold cross-validation was performed to ensure consistent performance across different data splits. While the method involves more processing work than some baseline techniques, it provides improved segmentation quality and boundary delineation on the evaluated dataset. These results demonstrate the advantages of combining evolutionary optimization with adversarial deep learning for challenging medical imaging tasks.

Optimized inverse kinematics solutions for a 6-DOF robot

Abstract Inverse kinematics (IK) for surgical robotic manipulators requires a balance between computational speed, pose accuracy, and robustness to poor initialization and near-singular configurations. This paper presents a controlled comparative evaluation of optimization-based IK solvers for a 6-DOF industrial robot (Viper 650s) under a unified constrained optimization framework with identical robot modelling assumptions, constraints, trajectories, and evaluation metrics. Six methods are investigated, spanning standalone and hybrid techniques: Sequential Quadratic Programming (SQP), Branch and Bound (B&B), Ant Colony Optimization (ACO), and three hybrid configurations (ACO-SQP, B&B-SQP, and a three-stage ACO-B&B-SQP pipeline). All methods are assessed using the same evaluation framework to examine the practical effect of combining global exploration, bounded search-space reduction, and local refinement on path-following accuracy. Two representative trajectories (a planar triangle and a spatial helix) are executed with repeated trials, and performance is evaluated in terms of trajectory execution time and geometric path-tracking error, supplemented by repeated-run statistical summaries. The optimization methods are implemented in MATLAB and tested within the Automation Control Environment (ACE). The results show that the ACO-B&B-SQP pipeline achieved the lowest mean path error on both trajectories under the present setup, whereas SQP remained the fastest. The study is positioned as a unified comparative evaluation framework for optimization-based IK on the Viper 650s robot, incorporating the implementation and evaluation of a three-stage ACO–B&B–SQP hybrid pipeline within this common framework.

Sociodemographic and mental health predictors of mental health service use across provider types

Objective To examine trends in mental health service use across four provider types (family doctors, psychiatrists, psychologists, and social workers) and identify sociodemographic predictors of provider-specific access in Canada. Methods This study analyzes seven cycles (2007–2020) of the Canadian Community Health Survey, a nationally representative cross-sectional survey. Trends over time were examined using weighted proportions and counts of service users. Weighted multivariable logistic regression models were applied to the 2019–2020 cycle to assess associations between sociodemographic factors and provider-specific service use. Results Family doctors were consistently the most accessed providers for mental health concerns, followed by psychologists and social workers, with psychiatrists being least accessed. Psychologist and social worker use increased between 2017 and 2019. In the adjusted regression models (2019–2020), women had higher odds of using family doctors (AOR = 1.21, 95% CI: 1.05–1.39) and social workers (1.19, 1.02–1.40) and lower odds of psychiatrists (AOR = 0.66, 95% CI:0.55–0.79) than men. Adults 65 + had greater odds of family-doctor use (AOR = 4.82, 95% CI: 3.59–6.47) and lower odds of psychologist (AOR = 0.33, 95% CI: 0.24–0.45) and social-worker use (AOR = 0.21, 95% CI:0.16–0.29) than ages 12–17. Post-secondary education (vs less than secondary school) was associated with higher psychologist use (AOR = 1.83, 95% CI 1.12–2.98). Higher income (≥$80,000 vs < $20,000) was associated with lower psychiatrist use (AOR = 0.66, 95% CI 0.50–0.86). Non-Indigenous respondents more often used psychologists (AOR = 1.58, 95% CI: 1.13–2.23), and respondents who are not a visible minority more often used family doctors (AOR = 1.37, 95% CI:1.06–1.77). Conclusion This study reveals a stratified mental health care system in Canada, where sociodemographic factors shape who accesses which providers. While primary care dominates, growth in psychologist and social worker use suggests shifting patterns of engagement. Findings underscore the need for policies that address financial and structural barriers, promote equitable access, and expand coverage for community-based mental health providers.

Contradictive-objective-solution (C-OS) matrix research for technology gap analysis of electrolytic copper foil

Implicit 3D geological modeling method based on expert knowledge constraints: A case study from the Songshugang Mining District, Hengfeng County, Jiangxi Province, China

Implicit 3D geological modeling offers advantages in rapid model construction; however, purely data-driven approaches have limitations in modeling accuracy and often fail to represent complex geological structures faithfully. To enhance the accuracy and applicability of implicit 3D geological modeling, a method that integrates data-driven approaches with expert knowledge constraints is proposed. Using Leapfrog Geo as the platform, this study integrated multi-source data (boreholes, exploration line profiles) with geological expertise and a priori constraints, to achieve a high-precision reconstruction of the complex geological structure and 3D grade distribution in the Songshugang Ta-Nb deposit, Hengfeng, Jiangxi. Subsequently, deep-seated mineralization targets were predicted. The results demonstrate that this method significantly enhances the modeling accuracy and efficiency for intricate geological bodies. The constructed three-dimensional geological model indicates that the mineralization enrichment zones are located at the contact zones between sodic feldspar granite and the overlying potassic feldspar granite and greisenized granite, as well as between sodic feldspar granite and the underlying biotite granite. Based on this, two favorable mineral exploration targets have been predicted in the deeper regions.