Analog Applications Research Articles

High-Frequency Performance Characteristics of the Double-Gate Schottky Barrier Tunnel Field Effect Transistor in Analog and Radio-Frequency Applications

In this paper, a novel structure of Double Gate Schottky Barrier Tunnel Field Effect Transistor (DG-SBTFET) has been designed and simulated. The DG-SBTFET has two sources (NiSi) and two gate metals with an HfO2. Silvaco-TCAD simulator has been used for investigating the analog and radio frequency performance of the DG-SBTFET. The proposed device (DG-SBTFET) is compared with the conventional devices in terms of electrical parameters including ION current, ION/IOFF ratio, RF performance including transconductances (gm), cut-off frequency (f T ), transit time (r), gain bandwidth product (GBP), transconductance generation factor (TGF), and transconductance frequency product (TFP). Further, we simulate the linearity characteristics of the DG-SBTFET device is compared it with other conventional devices, including the second-order voltage intercept point (VIP2), third-order voltage intercept point (VIP3), and third-order input intercept point (IIP3). Hence, the proposed device (DG- SBTFET) is suitable for low-power and high-frequency applications.

(Digital Presentation) Comparison of Width and Temperature Influence on DIBL Effect in Junctionless and Inversion Mode Nanowire MOSFETs

Nanowire transistors constitute an alternative for the continuous downscaling of MOSFETs. These devices present a trigate architecture featuring the fin width (WFIN) and height (HFIN) with similar dimensions, in the order of tenths of nanometers [1], which improves the gate control on the channel charges, reducing short-channel effects (SCE) and improves electrical properties in both digital and analog applications [1].Junctionless nanowire transistors (JL) are easier to fabricate than inversion-mode MOSFETs [2]. They also are less vulnerable to the occurrence of SCE, which is one of the main concerns when downscaling the MOS transistor [3, 4]. Unlike inversion mode (IM) transistors, the junctionless device is made with a heavily doped silicon layer with the same doping type from source to drain [2, 5]. To lower the series resistance, the source and drain receive an additional doping step to increase their concentration.Although JL transistors are a good alternative for the continuous downscaling of MOS transistors, they still have their basic operation like any other transistor MOSFET. Therefore, it is not completely immune from SCE, such as Drain-Induced Barrier Lowering (DIBL) effect.In this work, a comparison between the DIBL effect in junctionless and inversion-mode nanowire transistors is performed. Experimental results at room and high temperatures are presented for devices with different channel widths.The JL and IM nanowire transistors used in this work were fabricated at CEA-Leti, as described in reference [6]. Devices with 10 parallel channels and channel length (L) of 40 nm and 100 nm were measured, fin width (WFIN) of 12 nm, 17 nm, 22 nm, and 42 nm. Two different values of drain voltage (VD) were applied for all devices, VD1 = 40 mV and VD2 = 800 mV. Finally, the DIBL has been calculated as DIBL=|VT2 – VT1| /(VD2 – VD1). The threshold voltage in both VD has been extracted as described in ref. [7].The analysis for DIBL as a function of fin width is shown in Figure 1(A). For devices with L=100nm, no SCE has been observed and all devices present Subthreshold Slope (SS) close to the theoretical limit. Also, for WFIN up to 22 nm, DIBL is the same both for IM and JL nanowires. When downscaling the length to 40 nm, despite of DIBL increase for all devices, no degradation on SS is seen for JL, whereas IM devices exhibit SS>82mV/dec. Considering reasonable characteristics, i.e., DIBL=100mV/V and S=80 mV/dec [8], except from WFIN=42nm, all JL devices meet these requirements, whereas no IM nanowire with L=40 nm could be used. Even if maximum allowable DIBL were increased to 120mV/V, only the narrowest IM with L=40nm would be acceptable.Aiming to verify the influence of the temperature on the DIBL, Figure 1(B) shows the variation of DIBL in relation to room temperature for IM and JL nanowires with L=100nm and WFIN=12nm, which have similar DIBL at 300K. One can see that DIBL variation with temperature in the IM device is larger than in JL. While the IM transistor presented a DIBL variation of 0.15(mV/V)/K, for the JL one, it is 0.11(mV/V)/K. These results indicate that apart from the good immunity to SCE, JL nanowires are less susceptible to DIBL variation with temperature. Acknowledgements The authors thank financial support from CAPES, CNPq and FAPESP.

(Digital Presentation) Analysis of MIS-HEMT Kink Effect in Saturation Region

The High Electron Mobility Transistor (HEMT) has been widely used in the field of power electronics and high frequency operation since 1983 (1), while presenting a simple circuit design for analog applications (2, 3), and for extreme harsh environments as well (3, 4). However, HEMTs presents a problem with gate leakage and current collapse which can be solved by introducing an insulator between the gate and semiconductor while maintaining the high performance, hence the Metal Insulator Semiconductor High Electron Mobility Transistor (MIS-HEMT) appears as a solution. The AlGaN/GaN heterostructures forms, at the interface, a sheet with high electron density (2DEG – 2 Dimension Electron Gas), which also presents a high electron mobility. The MIS structure presents a well know conduction between source and drain. As a result, the MIS-HEMT device presents multiple conductions. The focus of this work is to study how the multiple conductions of the MIS-HEMT impact on the output characteristics.The studied devices are, a MIS-HEMT with the gate insulator composed of a 2 nm Si3N4, and a GaN MOSFET of 25 nm of Al2O3 as the gate insulator, both devices were fabricated at imec Leuven – Belgium, and have the same dimensions: gate width of 5 µm and gate length of 600 nm. Their respective schematics are presented at figure 1.The drain current (IDS) as a function of drain voltage (VDS) for a MIS-HEMT (left) and GaN MOSFET (right) with multiple overdrive voltage (VGT) is presented in figure 2. The VDS ranges for these devices are different because they have different saturation points, although it is possible to notice that the MIS-HEMT shows greater current drive when compared to MOSFET considering the same VDS, which is likely due to the formation of the 2DEG as the main conducting mechanism in the MIS-HEMT.Previous works (5 – 8) showed that the MIS-HEMT have multiple conduction mechanisms dependent on VGT, and figure 3 shows the effect of those multiple conductions on the output current of the device where it is very likely that one of those conductions have different VDS sat. It is possible to notice higher values of IDS with increasing VGT, as expected. However, for high enough VGT, there is an anomalous IDS increase (kink) in the saturation region, that occurs due to the different conduction mechanism (MOS and HEMT conductions). This effect will be called as MIS-HEMT kink effect (MH kink effect). This MH Kink effect occurs when the HEMT conduction mechanism overcomes the MOS conduction.The output conductance (gD) as a function of VDS for the MOSFET is presented in figure 4. Figure 5 shows gD as a function of VDS for multiple VGT for the MIS-HEMT, where it is possible to see a peak in the gD (in saturation region) shifting to the right for increasing VGT, caused by the MH kink effect.In order to better visualize, the VDS value for which the MH kink takes place, it is plotted as a function of VGT in figure 6. It is possible to see that as VGT increases, the MK kink effect shifts for higher VDS values, thanks to the higher electron density in 2DEG making the HEMT conduction less dependent on VDS. Figure 1

Developing an instrument to examine students' analogical modeling competence: An example of electricity

AbstractScience education reforms advocate modeling as a core practice in which analogy is a significant form and analogical modeling is a creative process for scientific explanation and discovery. This study adopts the self‐generated analogical modeling approach involving electricity, which considers all the modeling subprocesses and includes two subtopics (circuits and energy) with incompatible ontological presuppositions as a conceptual space to develop an analogical modeling competence (AMC) instrument. Two constructs, phenomenon‐related abductive premises (Phenomenon‐AbPr) and analogical modeling processes (AMP), that describe the increasing sophistication of students' AMC (i.e., Level 0 experience to Level 4 high‐order relation) are considered. The procedures utilize a construct‐based approach of developing an assessment to validate the underlying constructs and subtopics to develop the mapping between the target and the analogical models, design items, and determine outcome spaces. Data were collected from 294 Grade 6 students to examine their AMC. The item response theory technique based on the Rasch partial credit model was used to validate the two‐phase model. Student results revealed that the infit and outfit mean square values were between 0.75 and 1.33, indicating acceptable item fit. Results revealed that students scored highest on the open series circuit and lowest on electric energy in the Phenomenon‐AbPr phase. Most students demonstrated relational mapping in the analogical model validation (Level 3) stage, which performed best in the AMP phase. However, they struggled to transfer factors during the analogical model application and deployment (Level 0). Implications for science assessment and teaching are discussed.

GLP-1 analogue as a novel approach for fertility treatment: unravelling the therapeutic potential: A narrative review

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogues have emerged as promising therapeutic agents for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Recent studies have suggested a potential role of GLP-1 in reproductive functions, offering new avenues for fertility treatment. This paper aims to review the current understanding of GLP-1 analogues to human reproduction, focusing on their potential application in fertility treatment, and discussing the molecular mechanisms and signalling pathways involved. Further, we highlight the challenges and future directions in the application of GLP-1 analogues for fertility treatment.

Experimental study of MISHEMT from 450 K down to 200 K for analog applications

This work presents an experimental analysis of Metal-Insulator-Semiconductor High Electron Mobility transistor (MISHEMT) operating in a temperature range from 450 K down to 200 K, focusing on analog applications. The drain current and consequently the saturation transconductance (gmsat) showed to be slightly dependent on gate length. The output conductance (gD) presents a higher dependence with gate length than gmsat for the whole temperature range due to the influence of MOS conduction that is strongly affected by short channel effect. There is also a kink in the behavior of these parameters at 350 K, most likely due to the competition of temperature effects on different conduction mechanisms. The transistors showed a good performance in terms of analog application, where the intrinsic voltage gain (AV) increases from 38 dB (at 200 K) to 43 dB (at 450 K) for 800 nm gate length while the unity gain frequency (fT) decreases from 1.8 GHz (at 200 K) to 800 MHz (at 450 K) for a gate length of 400 nm, which makes MISHEMT a good candidate for analog applications.

Rock aperture image acquisition and processing based on Mehanics moment, Steger theory and Fractal analysis

In the realm of rock engineering, the distribution of apertures plays a crucial role in predicting the stability of dams, slopes, and others, and it affects the energy transportation in rock mass. In this study, the rock slice samples were obtained using a fluorescent dyesoluble in field. They were examined under a microscope with ultraviolet light, yielding rock aperture image resolutions up to 3.9 μm/pixel. For image binarization, a novel image segmentation technique, grounded in mechanics moments, is investigated to extract the aperture networks from each slice image. For aperture extraction, an algorithm based on Steger's theory is put forth for irregularly-shaped apertures. For aperture analyses, various aperture parameters are assessed and scrutinized, employing 1D Fractal analysis. It is new that the 1D Fractal analysis is utilized for the entire aperture network instead of a single line-like aperture within an image. Ultimately, each aperture is measured and analyzed through continuous aperture images. Experimental results demonstrate that this innovative approach provides the comprehensive aperture information by processing multiple images and is suitable for other analogous applications.

GPU-accelerated calculation of proton microdosimetric spectra as a function of target size, proton energy, and bounding volume size

Objective. Shortcomings of dose-averaged linear energy transfer (LETD), the quantity which is most commonly used to quantify proton relative biological effectiveness, have long been recognized. Microdosimetric spectra may overcome the limitations of LETD but are extremely computationally demanding to calculate. A systematic library of lineal energy spectra for monoenergetic protons could enable rapid determination of microdosimetric spectra in a clinical environment. The objective of this work was to calculate and validate such a library of lineal energy spectra. Approach. SuperTrack, a GPU-accelerated CUDA/C++ based application, was developed to superimpose tracks calculated using Geant4 onto targets of interest and to compute microdosimetric spectra. Lineal energy spectra of protons with energies from 0.1 to 100 MeV were determined in spherical targets of diameters from 1 nm to 10 μm and in bounding voxels with side lengths of 5 μm and 3 mm. Main results. Compared to an analogous Geant4-based application, SuperTrack is up to 3500 times more computationally efficient if each track is resampled 1000 times. Dose spectra of lineal energy and dose-mean lineal energy calculated with SuperTrack were consistent with values published in the literature and with comparison to a Geant4 simulation. Using SuperTrack, we developed the largest known library of proton microdosimetric spectra as a function of primary proton energy, target size, and bounding volume size. Significance. SuperTrack greatly increases the computational efficiency of the calculation of microdosimetric spectra. The elevated lineal energy observed in a 3 mm side length bounding volume suggests that lineal energy spectra determined experimentally or computed in small bounding volumes may not be representative of the lineal energy spectra in voxels of a dose calculation grid. The library of lineal energy spectra calculated in this work could be integrated with a treatment planning system for rapid determination of lineal energy spectra in patient geometries.

Rekompensata za koszty odzyskiwania należności – wybrane zagadnienia

Compensation for recovery costs – selected issues The subject of consideration is the right of the creditor to demand a flat-rate compensation for recovery costs from the debtor, established in the Act on Prevention of Excessive Delays in Commercial Transactions. Since its introduction into the Polish legal order, this right has given rise to significant interpretative doubts, particularly concerning the prerequisites for rendering the compensation immediately due and payable, the debtor’s ability to defend against this claim, and the issue of including the compensation in the costs of the lawsuit or in the value of the subject matter of the dispute in court proceedings. These doubts, in the author’s opinion, are largely due to the shortcomings of the legal regulation of compensation, which does not include in its scope many important issues, as well as its highly autonomous nature, which in turn prevents the analogous application of solutions concerning other legal institutions

Evaluation of n-type gate-all-around vertically-stacked nanosheet FETs from 473 K down to 173 K for analog applications

This work presents an experimental evaluation of n-type, gate-all-around (GAA), vertically stacked nanosheet field effect transistors (NSFETs) operating in a temperature (T) range from 473 K down to 173 K and focusing on their use for analog applications. Devices with gate lengths (Lgate) of 28 nm to 200 nm were analyzed. Besides exhibiting a slight short channel effect, the shorter transistors show a good performance in terms of analog application, presenting at 173 K an intrinsic voltage gain (AV) of 30 dB and unit gain frequency (fT) of 185 GHz. This is also seen in two figures of merit that characterize the transistor performance for analog circuit design: the transistor efficiency (gm/IDS) and the gain frequency product (AV*fT). The optimum region of operation was demonstrated to be at strong inversion by the trade-off between gm/IDS and fT, where in this region Lgate = 28 nm presents a gain frequency product of ∼ 5,5THz at T = 173 K. At lower temperature, as expected, it is confirmed that the carrier mobility and the subthreshold swing (SS) improve while the threshold voltage (VT) increases.

Curcumin and analogues against head and neck cancer: From drug delivery to molecular mechanisms

BackgroundHead and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) is one of the most life-threatening diseases which also causes economic burden worldwide. To overcome the limitations of traditional therapies, investigation into alternative adjuvant treatments is crucial. PurposeCurcumin, a turmeric-derived compound, demonstrates significant therapeutic potential in diverse diseases, including cancer. Furthermore, research focuses on curcumin analogues and novel drug delivery systems, offering approaches for improved efficacy. This review aims to provide a comprehensive overview of curcumin's current findings, emphasizing its mechanisms of anti-HNSCC effects and potential for clinical application. MethodAn electronic search of Web of Science, MEDLINE, and Embase was conducted to identify literature about the application of curcumin or analogues in HNSCC. Titles and abstracts were screened to identify potentially eligible studies. Full-text articles will be obtained and independently evaluated by two authors to make the decision of inclusion in the review. ResultsCurcumin's clinical application is hindered by poor bioavailability, prompting the exploration of methods to enhance it, such as curcumin analogues and novel drug delivery systems. Curcumin could exhibit anti-cancer effects by targeting cancer cells and modulating the tumor microenvironment in HNSCC. Mechanisms of action include cell cycle arrest, apoptosis promotion, reactive oxygen species induction, endoplasmic reticulum stress, inhibition of epithelial-mesenchymal transition, attenuation of extracellular matrix degradation, and modulation of tumor metabolism in HNSCC cells. Curcumin also targets various components of the tumor microenvironment, including cancer-associated fibroblasts, innate and adaptive immunity, and lymphovascular niches. Furthermore, curcumin enhances the anti-cancer effects of other drugs as adjunctive therapy. Two clinical trials report its potential clinical applications in treating HNSCC. ConclusionCurcumin has demonstrated therapeutic potential in HNSCC through in vitro and in vivo studies. Its effectiveness is attributed to its ability to modulate cancer cells and interact with the intricate tumor microenvironment. The development of curcumin analogues and novel drug delivery systems has shown promise in improving its bioavailability, thereby expanding its clinical applications. Further research and exploration in this area hold great potential for harnessing the full therapeutic benefits of curcumin in HNSCC treatment.

Corruption Risk Maps as a Solution for the Management of Resources in the Context of Environmental Disasters

Corruption in the public sector is an elusive and opaque phenomenon. Government reaction to disasters and its consequent investment in economic resources constitute a favourable opportunity for nepotism, embezzlement and other criminal situations. Detection of these scenarios requires the application of sophisticated methodologies that should be incorporated into the processes of disaster risk management. The use of corruption risk maps has been put forward as a potential solution to this problem. This technique acts as a disincentive to corrupt behaviour in government processes through collective and agreed anticipation of acts of corruption. Corruption may happen at all levels of government, given that economic resources for disaster relief are distributed at municipal, provincial and national levels. This tool helps detect and measure incidents of corruption in government processes and simultaneously designs and executes corrective mechanisms. This paper discusses the advantages derived from the analogue and digital application of this instrument, presenting the requirements for its use, its potential and future challenges. The identification of benefits has been made possible by the incremental application of the tool within the framework of a process of institutional transformation of the national government in Paraguay with the institutional and financial support of UNDOC and USAID.

Encapsulation of cobalt prussian blue analogue-derived ultra-small CoP nanoparticles in electrospun N-doped porous carbon nanofibers as an efficient bifunctional electrocatalyst for water splitting

Transition metal phosphides have been considered as prospective bifunctional electrocatalysts for overall water splitting due to high activity and excellent stability. In this work, we report a facile strategy for synthesizing high-dispersion cobalt Prussian blue analogue-derived CoP nanoparticles that are decorated on N-doped electrospun porous carbon nanofibers (denoted as CoP@CNF). The CoP@CNF is obtained using electrospinning, subsequent carbonization, and phosphatization treatment. Due to the high conductivity, abundance of electrocatalytic active sites, and the synergistic effect between ultra-fine CoP nanoparticles and porous N-doped electrospun carbon nanofibers, the prepared CoP@CNF catalyst exhibits remarkable activity with low overpotentials (127 and 300 mV) at 10 mA cm−2, and small Tafel slopes (73.4 and 73.8 mV dec−1) for hydrogen evolution reaction and oxygen evolution reaction in alkaline electrolyte, respectively. A water electrolyzer cell fabricated by applying CoP@CNF as both anode and cathode catalysts needs 1.64 V to achieve 10 mA cm−2, and exhibits remarkably long-term stability. This work provides useful guidance for the preparation of bifunctional nanocomposite electrocatalysts and further extends the application of Prussian blue analogues in the field of energy conversion.

Performance analysis of nanosheet transistor with drain/source extension and high-k spacer optimizations for analog applications

Performance analysis of nanosheet transistor with drain/source extension and high-k spacer optimizations for analog applications

DEKONSTRUKSI FATWA MENGENAI LARANGAN BUNGA BANK (QIYAS VS ISTIHSAN)

Deconstruction is intended to serve as critique to the method of determining the prohibition status of bank interest, which is analogous to usury, as well as reconstructing the issue with other methods to produce a more implementable fatwa, especially in a pluralistic society. Normative legal research is carried out using a historical approach and a conceptual approach regarding usury and interest, as well as the methods and the rationale for the prohibition of both. Application of analogy (qiyas) can bring "unsatisfactory" results as a method of granting the legal status of bank interest in the context of a pluralistic society because this reasoning method is heavily focusing on 'illat (ratio legis, legal cause) and does not consider space, time, and circumstances involved. Meanwhile, the application of istihsan (juristic preference) is possible with justification for emergency (necessity), 'urf (custom) and maslahah (benefit), resulting in different legal status of bank interest that not all bank interest is haram. This provides convenience in its implementation within a pluralistic society.

Brassinosteroids Improve Postharvest Quality, Antioxidant Compounds, and Reduce Chilling Injury in ‘Arrayana’ Mandarin Fruits under Cold Storage

‘Arrayana’ mandarin is one of the most cultivated citrus species in Colombia, but this fruit has a short postharvest life and is sensitive to chilling injury (CI) during cold storage. Generating strategies that decrease CI to mandarin can reduce quantitative and qualitative losses postharvest. Brassinosteroids (BR) have been used as a sustainable technology to alleviate CI in fruits and improve postharvest quality. This study evaluated the effect of applying the 24-epibrasinolide analogue (EBR), at doses of 5 mg L−1; DI-31 analogue, at 5 and 10 mg L−1; and control, on the main physical and biochemical characteristics of ‘Arrayana’ mandarin stored at 4 °C for 40 days and, subsequently, 7 days at room temperature (shelf life). The application of EBR and DI-31 analogues reduced the appearance of CI in the exocarp of ‘Arrayana’ mandarin fruits by reducing electrolyte leakage, maintaining membrane integrity, and increasing antioxidant activity and phenol content at the end of cold storage and shelf life. This was especially pronounced with 5 mg L−1 of EBR. Similarly, the BR maintained the postharvest quality of mandarins by reducing weight loss, respiratory intensity, and chlorophyll degradation; increasing β-carotene; and maintaining titratable acidity and soluble solids. Our research reports, for the first time, CI tolerance in Arrayana mandarin using natural (EBR) and spirostanic (DI-31) analogues and illustrates the tolerance functionality of the DI-31 analogue on CI in the fruit postharvest.

Reconfigurable signal modulation in a ferroelectric tunnel field-effect transistor

Reconfigurable transistors are an emerging device technology adding new functionalities while lowering the circuit architecture complexity. However, most investigations focus on digital applications. Here, we demonstrate a single vertical nanowire ferroelectric tunnel field-effect transistor (ferro-TFET) that can modulate an input signal with diverse modes including signal transmission, phase shift, frequency doubling, and mixing with significant suppression of undesired harmonics for reconfigurable analogue applications. We realize this by a heterostructure design in which a gate/source overlapped channel enables nearly perfect parabolic transfer characteristics with robust negative transconductance. By using a ferroelectric gate oxide, our ferro-TFET is non-volatilely reconfigurable, enabling various modes of signal modulation. The ferro-TFET shows merits of reconfigurability, reduced footprint, and low supply voltage for signal modulation. This work provides the possibility for monolithic integration of both steep-slope TFETs and reconfigurable ferro-TFETs towards high-density, energy-efficient, and multifunctional digital/analogue hybrid circuits.

Krüppel-homologue 1 regulates the development of Tuta absoluta and its cascade regulation pattern in the juvenile hormone signalling pathway.

Tomato leaf miner, Tuta absoluta (Meyrick), is one of the most destructive quarantine pests globally. It has been confirmed that Krüppel-homologue 1 (kr-h1) plays a key role in the regulation of juvenile hormone (JH). However, it is unclear how kr-h1 regulates the synthesis of JH and its cascade regulation pattern in tomato leaf miner. Here, we obtained the six JH signalling genes (kr-h1, Methoprene-tolerant, Forkhead box O, Juvenile acid methyltransferase, Juvenile hormone esterase and Fatty acid synthase 2), and applied RNA interference to explore the role of kr-h1 and the seven genes (plus Vitellogenin) regulation relationship in T. absoluta. Bioinformatics analysis revealed the structural characteristics of kr-h1 protein and JH receptor Met, which contained eight C2H2 zinc finger structures and three typical domains of the bHLH-PAS family, respectively. The expression levels of Met and Vg were upregulated after RNAi of kr-h1 gene, while the gene levels of JHAMT and FAS2 were downregulated. Furthermore, topical application of JH analogue to second instar larvae could induce the expression of kr-h1 and inhibit the expression of Met. Our study reveals the mechanism by which kr-h1 regulates JH pathway genes, which could be applied to control the growth of tomato leaf miners.

Regulation of the two-pore domain potassium channel, THIK-1 and THIK-2, by G protein coupled receptors.

A member of THIK (two pore domain halothane-inhibited K+) channels, THIK-1, was reported as a target of Gi/o-coupled receptors (Gi/o-Rs) in neurons and microglia. We confirmed that in HEK293T cells the THIK-1 channel is activated by Gi/o-Rs and found that Gq-coupled receptors (Gq-Rs) also activates the channel. The effects of Gi/o-Rs and Gq-Rs were inhibited by the Gi/o inhibitor pertussis toxin and phospholipase C (PLC) inhibitor, respectively. The effects of Gi/o-Rs were attenuated when consensus Gβγ binding motif at the C-tail of the THIK-1 channel was mutated, suggesting that Gβγ serves as a THIK-1 channel activator upon the stimulation of Gi/o-Rs. As to the effects of Gq-Rs on the THIK-1 channel, a protein kinase C inhibitor and calcium chelators failed to inhibit the effect of a Gq coupled muscarinic M1R. Neither the hydrolysis of phosphatidyl inositol bisphosphate induced by voltage sensitive phosphatase nor the application of a diacylglycerol analogue, OAG, increased the channel current. The mediator of Gq-dependent activation of the THIK-1 channel remained unsolved. The effects of Gi/o- and Gq-Rs on the THIK-2 channel were also investigated, by using a THIK-2 mutant channel whose N-terminal domain is deleted to improve the surface membrane expression. We observed that Gi/o- and Gq-Rs activate the mutated THIK-2 channel, similarly to the THIK-1 channel. Interestingly, heterodimeric channels of THIK-1 and THIK-2 responded to Gi/o-R and Gq-R stimulation. Taken together, Gi/o- or Gq-Rs activates the THIK-1 and THIK-2 channels in a Gβγ or PLC dependent manner, respectively.

Role of inheritance during tectonic inversion of a rift system in basement-involved to salt-decoupled transition: analogue modelling and application to the Pyrenean–Biscay system

Abstract. The reactivation of former rift systems and passive margins during tectonic inversion and their incorporation into fold-and-thrust belts result in significant structural differences not only between internal and external domains, but also along-strike. The Basque–Cantabrian and Asturian systems are among the best examples to address the role of along-strike changes in rift inheritance since they show a transition from salt to basement-inherited structures divided by a transition zone separating thick- from thin-skinned structural domains. While both domains have been widely described in the literature, the transfer system separating the two has not been sufficiently investigated due to poor seismic imaging and the lack of large-scale outcrops. This contribution aims to address the linkage between basement-controlled (i.e. thick-skinned) and salt-decoupled (i.e. thin-skinned) domains and to describe how deformation is accommodated in the transitional zone between these domains. An experimental programme based on analogue models has been designed that was inspired by the transition from the thin-skinned Basque–Cantabrian Pyrenees to the east to the thick-skinned Asturian Massif to the west. As observed in nature, experimental results show that oblique structures (at low angle with the shortening direction) form in the transitional domain, and their location depends on the linkage of the active structures occurring in both surrounding thick- and thin-skinned domains at different positions. Nevertheless, their orientation and evolution are controlled by the underlying decoupling horizon (i.e. salt). The deformation in the thick-skinned domain produces significant topography over a narrow deformation area due to the lack of effective decoupling levels. On the contrary, deformation in the thin-skinned domain is more distributed due to decoupling, resulting in a wider deformation area of less topography. As a result, syn-contractional sedimentation occurs mainly in the foreland basin in front of the thick-skinned domain, whereas it is observed in the foreland but also in piggyback basins in the thin-skinned domain.