In this study, a high-performance InAlN/GaN high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) was fabricated using low-temperature microwave annealing (MWA) as the ohmic metal alloy process for the first time. Ni-Al alloy aggregation is significant for InAlN devices because of the high Al fraction in InAlN layer. Furthermore, the indium segregation and out-diffusion of the InAlN barrier layer resulted in lower drain current and the formation of extra trap centers. Compared with traditional rapid thermal annealing with a high-temperature process window, MWA results in simultaneously superior ohmic contact and wafer sheet resistances because of the superior surface morphology of the ohmic metal alloy in the MWA device. Moreover, the heterostructure interfacial quality of two-dimensional electron gas density can be maintained through low-temperature MWA, as indicated by reciprocal space map measurements. Furthermore, Baliga's figure-of-merit calculation indicated that the MWA-InAlN HEMT had superior DC characteristics, providing improved device radiofrequency bandwidth and output power density performance.

Lewis antigens related to the ABO blood group are fucosylated oligosaccharides and are synthesized by specific glycosyltransferases (FUTs). FUTs are involved in various biological processes including cell adhesion and tumor progression. The fucosyltransferase-2 gene (FUT2) encodes alpha (1,2) fucosyltransferase, which is responsible for the addition of the alpha (1,2)-linkage of fucose to glycans. Aberrant fucosylation occurs frequently during the development and progression of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC). However, the association of FUT2 polymorphisms with HCC development has not been studied. Therefore, we aimed to investigate the association of FUT2 polymorphisms with demographic, etiological, and clinical characteristics and with susceptibility to HCC. In this study, a total of 339 patients and 720 controls were recruited. The genotypes of FUT2 at four single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs281377, rs1047781, rs601338, and rs602662) were detected by real-time polymerase chain reaction from these samples. Compared with the wild-type genotype at SNP rs1047781, which is homozygous for nucleotides AA, at least one polymorphic T allele (AT or TT) displayed significant association with clinical stage (p = 0.048) and tumor size (p = 0.022). Our study strongly implicates the polymorphic locus rs1047781 of FUT2 as being associated with HCC development.

Experimental methods Original paper Running head: ANTIBODY BLOCKADE B7-H4 EFFECT Generation of avian-derived anti-B7-H4 antibodies exerts a blockade effect on the immunosuppressive response