Silicon-rich SiO x material is a good charge storage candidate for memory applications that promise a large memory window and low operation voltage. Nonvolatile memory (NVM) devices fabricated on excimer laser-annealed polysilicon using SiO2/SiO x /SiO x N y (OOxOn) structure are investigated with SiO2 blocking thicknesses changing from 15 to 20 to 30 nm. The Si-rich SiO x material exposed numerous non-bridging oxygen hole-centre defect sources and a rich silicon phase in the base material. These defects, as well as amorphous silicon clusters existing in the SiO x layer, enhance the charge storage capacity of the device. Retention properties were ensured by 3.2 nm SiO x N y tunnelling layer growth via N2O plasma-assisted oxynitridation. NVM characteristics showed a retention exceeding 85% of the threshold voltage shift after 104 s and greater than 70% after 10 years. Depending on the blocking thickness of 15, 20 or 30 nm, operating voltages varied from ±9 to ±13 V at a programming/erasing duration of only 1 ms. These excellent operating properties of the OOxOn structure make it a potential competitor among the new generation of memory structures on glass.

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In the transition to a market economy, in the rural Vietnam areas, the right to conduct production subjectively has been returned from cooperatives to the farm households. This individualization motivates the farmers to carry out their farming practices effectively. However, onfarm water management, because of physical interdependency among the farmers, can hardly be effectively carried out without cooperation of all the interdependent farmers. This paper, based on case studies of the main types of onfarm water management prevailing in the Red River Delta, analyses the changes in onfarm water management in the transition. It is found that, while the farmers carry out farming practices individually, the diminishing of the cooperative's role in onfarm water management is the main cause of the onfarm facilities' damages and unreliability of water supply to downstream area.The downstream farmers, depending on the changes in the role of cooperative in water management, take different countermeasures.In the best cases where the cooperatives can mobilize resources for a supplemental water supply, the farmers have to spend much more money and labour than the upstream farmers. In the other cases, they could not do anything other than to suffer from water shortage and delay water fee payment.The equity policy in water distribution and cost payment would enable the downstream farmers to invest in water recycling, thus increasing the system's efficiency. The integration at the village level of hamlet traditional organizations would be an effective body for onfarm water management.

Embedded nonvolatile memory (NVM) devices with solid-phase crystallized polycrystalline silicon (poly-Si) films and an oxide–nitride–oxynitride (ONOn) stack structure on a glass panel were fabricated and investigated for system-on-panel applications. Memory-in-pixel and memory blocks are expected to be integrated in display panels as the integration of display systems progresses. Poly-Si thin-film transistor technology and a low temperature method to deposit an ultrathin tunneling layer using plasma-assisted oxynitridation were used to fabricate embedded poly-Si NVM devices on glass panels. A memory window from +2.4to−1.72V was obtained at a low operating voltage with an erasing voltage of +11V and a programming voltage of −10V . Moreover, an extrapolation of the performance of the fabricated poly-Si NVM device suggests that it retains a threshold voltage window of more than 80% between the programming and erasing states up to 10years . The results demonstrate that the proposed devices with poly-Si layers using solid-phase crystallization and ONOn stack structures have suitable switching and retention characteristics for data storage applicable to real flat-panel display applications.

Dendritic cells (DCs) are professional antigen presenting cells (APCs) that represent the essential link between innate and acquired immunity. Otubain (OTUB) 1 is shown to deubiquitinate TRAFs to suppress virus‐induced inflammatory response. MAPK, a downstream molecule of TRAFs, is involved in regulating LPS‐induced immune reactions and its activation is sensitive to the presence of OTUB1. Little is known about contributions of OTUB1 to changes in biological properties of DCs. The present study, therefore, explored whether DC functions are influenced by OTUB1. To this end, DCs were isolated and cultured with GM‐CSF to attain bone marrow‐derived DCs (BMDCs) and followed by treatment with lipopolysaccharide (LPS) in the presence or absence of OTUB1 siRNA. Expression of markers of cellular maturation and proliferation were analyzed by flow cytometry, and secretion of inflammatory cytokines and ability to stimulate CD4+ T‐cells in allogenic mixed leukocyte reaction (allo‐MLR) by ELISA, cell migration by a transwell migration assay and phagocytic capacity by FITC‐dextran uptake measurement. As a result, treatment of the cells with OTUB1 siRNA prolonged activation of p38MAPK, increased CD54 expression and IL‐6 release and reduced FITC‐dextran uptake. Moreover, cytokine release produced from CD4+ T‐cells in allo‐MLR was different. The enhanced level of IFN‐γ, but not other cytokine production was observed in the presence of siRNA OTUB1. All the effects were completely abolished when the cells were exposed with p38MAPK inhibitor SB203580. In conclusion, OTUB1 prevents the prolonged activation of p38MAPK, which in turn compromises DC functions.