No abstract

Non-invasive acquisition of mRNA data from the skin can be extremely useful for understanding skin physiology and diseases. Inspired by the holocrine process, in which the sebaceous glands secrete cell contents into the sebum, we focused on the possible presence of mRNAs in skin surface lipids (SSLs). We found that measurable levels of human mRNAs exist in SSLs, where the sebum protects them from degradation by RNases. The AmpliSeq transcriptome analysis was modified to measure SSL-RNA levels, and our results revealed that the SSL-RNAs predominantly comprised mRNAs derived from sebaceous glands, the epidermis, and hair follicles. Analysis of SSL-RNAs non-invasively collected from patients with atopic dermatitis revealed increased expression of inflammation-related genes and decreased expression of terminal differentiation-related genes, consistent with the results of previous reports. Further, we found that lipid synthesis-related genes were downregulated in the sebaceous glands of patients with atopic dermatitis. These results indicate that the analysis of SSL-RNAs is a promising strategy to understand the pathophysiology of skin diseases.

No abstract

In this letter we describe a method for producing large areas of Si(001) surfaces which are (i) free of atomic steps and (ii) arranged in regular patterns on the wafer. The first step is the fabrication of a two-dimensional grating structure using e-beam lithography and reactive ion etching. This grating is then annealed within the appropriate temperature window in ultrahigh vacuum to produce the desired array of (001) step-free regions. We illustrate the success of the method through the use of low-energy electron microscopy for a few repeat spacings on test structures each extending over a 3×3 mm2 area. Alternative processing steps are discussed as well as application to submicron device technology.

GaNAs alloys were successfully grown on GaAs substrates by low-pressure metalorganic vapor phase epitaxy (MOVPE) with all organometallic sources of triethylgallium (TEG), tertiarybutylarsine (TBA), and dimethylhydrazine (DMHy). For nitrogen, the desorption coefficient of 30 kcal/mol was derived from the nitrogen incorporation dependence on growth temperature. Since the nitrogen concentration above 3% was easily achieved by our growth technique, the combination of TBA-DMHy as V precursors is a candidate for the growth of other III-V alloys containing nitrogen. We observed a decrease in PL intensity with enhancing nitrogen incorporation into solids. In order to recover from degradation of optical properties, rapid thermal annealing (RTA) was demonstrated and found to be effective. Therefore MOVPE using TBA-DMHy combined with postgrowth annealing is expected to obtain GaNAs alloys with high nitrogen concentration as well as excellent optical properties.

Two types of 4H-silicon carbide (SiC) MOSFETs are proposed in this paper. One is the novel designed V-groove trench MOSFET that utilizes the 4H-SiC (0-33-8) face for the channel region. The MOS interface using this face shows the extremely low interface state density (D it ) of 3 × 10 11 cm −2 eV −1 , which causes the high channel mobility of 80 cm 2 V −1 s −1 results in very low channel resistance. The buried p + regions located close to the trench bottom can effectively alleviate the electric field crowding without the significant sacrifice of the increase of the resistance. The low specific ON-state resistance of 3.5 m cm 2 with sufficiently high blocking voltage of 1700 V is obtained. The other is the double implanted MOSFET with the carefully designed junction termination extension and field-limiting rings for the edge termination region, and the additional doping into the junction FET region. With a high-quality and high-uniformity epitaxial layer, 6 mm × 6 mm devices are fabricated. The well balanced specific ON-state resistance of 14.2 m cm 2 and the blocking voltage of 3850 V are obtained for 3300 V application. Index Terms-(0-33-8) face, 4H-silicon carbide (SiC), buried p + region, channel mobility, field-limiting ring (FLR), junction FET (JFET), junction termination extension (JTE), MOSFET, V-groove trench.Yasuki Mikamura received the B.E. and M.E. degrees in electrical engineering from Kyoto University, Kyoto, Japan, in 1983 and 1985, respectively.

STriplejunction cells with AMI .5 efficiencies of over 33% have been demonstrated. A planar type InGaPlGaAs monolithic dual-junction cell was fabricated on a semi-insulating GaAs substrate, which has high infra-red transparency. Then a dual-junction cell, with efficiency of 27-28%, was mechanically stacked on an InGaAs cell fabricated on an InP substrate. The bottom InGaAs cell showed a efficiency of 6.2% under the InGaPlGaAs cell, and a total efficiency of 33-34% was achieved for the four-terminal triple-junction cell.

No abstract