Thermally aware performance analysis of single-walled carbon nanotube bundle as VLSI interconnects

A comparative performance analysis in terms of delay, power dissipation, power delay product (PDP), and crosstalk noise between SWCNT bundle interconnects with resistance estimated using conventionally (temperature independent model), and thermally aware model is investigated. The results are also compared with those of currently used copper interconnects at 22 nm technology node. It is observed that, with rise in temperature from 300 to 500 K, SWCNT bundles have a lower delay than that of copper interconnect at different lengths from 100 to \(1000\,\upmu \hbox {m}\) whereas reverse is true for power dissipation. The SPICE simulation results further reveal that for temperature variations ranging from 300 to 500 K, compared to conventional metal (copper) conductors, crosstalk noise voltage levels (positive peaks) in capacitively coupled SWCNT bundle, at the far end of victim line, are significantly low. Moreover, a relative average improvement in delay, power, and PDP using a thermally aware model in comparison with a temperature independent model is about 22.44, 7.59 and 31.96 %, respectively, with length variations from 100 to \(1000\,\upmu \hbox {m}\), whereas for varied tube diameter is about 16.6, 5.6 and 19.72 %, respectively. The average relative improvement in the time duration reduction of victim output, for varied tube diameters, is about 21.7 % by using a thermally-aware model instead of a temperature-independent model of an SWCNT bundle resistance.     

Sequence-specific DNA cleavage by Fe2+-mediated fenton reactions has possible biological implications

Preferential cleavage sites have been determined for Fe2+/H2O2-mediated oxidations of DNA. In 50 mM H2O2, preferential cleavages occurred at the nucleoside 5' to each of the dG moieties in the sequence RGGG, a sequence found in a majority of telomere repeats. Within a plasmid containing a (TTAGGG)81 human telomere insert, 7-fold more strand breakage occurred in the restriction fragment with the insert than in a similar-sized control fragment. This result implies that telomeric DNA could protect coding DNA from oxidative damage and might also link oxidative damage and iron load to telomere shortening and aging. In micromolar H2O2, preferential cleavage occurred at the thymidine within the sequence RTGR, a sequence frequently found to be required in promoters for normal responses of many procaryotic and eucaryotic genes to iron or oxygen stress. Computer modeling of the interaction of Fe2+ with RTGR in B-DNA suggests that due to steric hindrance with the thymine methyl, Fe2+ associates in a specific manner with the thymine flipped out from the base stack so as to allow an octahedrally-oriented coordination of the Fe2+ with the three purine N7 residues. Fe2+-dependent changes in NMR spectra of duplex oligonucleotides containing ATGA versus those containing AUGA or A5mCGA were consistent with this model.     

Synthesis and characterization of coordination polymers of polyesters with pendant amino groups

Oligomeric polyester, namely, poly(tetramethylene aspartate) (PTMA), was synthesized from D ,L -aspartic acid and 1,4-butanediol by a melt-condensation technique. Polyester–metal complexes were synthesized by the reaction of PTMA with hydrated acetates of Mn(II), Co(II), Ni(II), Cu(II), Zn(II), Cd(II), Hg(II), Mg(II), Ca(II), Pb(II), and Ce(IV) in DMSO. The polyester–metal complexes were characterized by elemental analysis, IR spectral studies, magnetic susceptibility measurements, and thermogravimetry. The metal ions were found to be six-coordinated with two water molecules as additional ligands besides oxygen and nitrogen atoms of polyester repeating units. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) showed that coordination polymers are thermally more stable than is polyester. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 751–759, 1998     

Vibro-impact forced oscillations of a heavy mass particle along a rough circle excited by a single-frequency force

The first part of the article presents a motion analysis of a vibro-impact system based on an oscillator moving along a rough circle line in a vertical plane, under the action of an external single-frequency force. Non-ideality of the bond originates of sliding Coulomb’s type friction force with coefficient μ = tg α ₀. The oscillator consists of one heavy mass particle whose forced motion is limited by one stabile angular elongation limiter. The differential equation of motion of the analyzed vibro-impact system cannot be solved explicitly (in closed form). For its approximately solving, the software package WOLFRAM Mathematica 7 is used. The results are checked by using the software package MATLAB R2008a. The combination of the analytical–numerical results for the defined parameters of the analyzed vibro-impact system, is base for the motion analysis visualization, as a first part of this analytic research. In the second part, the influence of parameters (amplitude and circle frequency) of the external single-frequency force to the system motion, based on real geometry and kinetic parameters of the analyzed vibro-impact system, is investigated. As a result of this study in the second part of this article, there is a conclusion that the motion of the analyzed vibro-impact system in or out of the resonant area can be influenced, and this is significant for engineering practice.     

Doping effects of Li–Sb content on the structure and electrical properties of [(Na0.5K0.5)1 − x(Li)x(Sb)x(Nb)1 − xO3] lead-free piezoelectric ceramics

Ceramic samples of [Na_0.5K_0.5]_1 ? x(Li)_x(Sb)_x(Nb)_1 ? xO₃ (NKNLS) (x = 0.04–0.06) were prepared by high temperature solid-state reaction method. X-ray diffraction analysis of the powder samples suggests the formation of a single-phase material with transformation from orthorhombic to tetragonal crystal structure with increase in Sb content. Dielectric studies show a diffuse phase transition about 100 °C and another phase ferroelectric–paraelectric transition at 330 °C. Polarization vs. electric field (P–E) hysteresis studies show maximum remanent polarization (Pr ～ 0.66 C m^?2) for composition x = 0.05. AC conductivity in the compound increases with increase in temperature which may be attributed due to oxygen vacancies and show negative temperature coefficient of resistance (NTCR) effect.     

Verification of some building materials as gamma-ray shields

The shielding properties for gamma rays of a few low Z materials were investigated. The values of the mass attenuation coefficient, equivalent atomic number, effective atomic number, exposure buildup factor and energy absorption buildup factor were calculated and used to estimate the shielding effectiveness of the samples under investigation. It has been observed that the shielding effectiveness of a sample is directly related to its effective atomic number. The shielding character of any sample is a function of the incident photon energy. Good shielding behaviour has been verified in soil samples in the photon energy region of 0.015-0.30 MeV and of dolomite in 3-15 MeV. The results have been shown graphically with more useful conclusions.     

Colorimetric detection of nucleic acid signature of shiga toxin producing Escherichia coli using gold nanoparticles

Enterohemorrhagic E. coil (EHEC) serotype O157:H7 is one of the major pathogens, responsible for the severe disease outbreaks. EHEC causes diseases in humans through production of shiga-like toxin leading to bloody diarrhea. The toxin is encoded by stx2 gene in E. coli. The current methodology for detection of EHEC relies on fluorogenic-substrate based culture media or nucleic acid amplification based Real-Time Polymerase Chain Reaction assays that are either time consuming or need expensive instrumentation. In this study, the optical properties of gold nanoparticles (GNPs) have been exploited for detection of nucleic acid of Escherichia coli O157:H7. The stx2 gene representing EHEC signature has been targeted using the gold nanoparticle probes. Gold nanoparticles (GNPs) of 20 +/- 0.2 nm were synthesised by citrate reduction method and characterised by spectroscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The GNPs were functionalised with 19 and 22 bp of thiolated single stranded DNA complementary to target highly conserved 149 bp region of stx2 gene. Transmission Electron Microscopy revealed the hybridization, aggregation and reduction in the interparticle distances of the GNP probes in the presence of target DNA. The aggregation and the spectral shift in the plasmon band observed with 10(6) copies of target DNA indicates feasibility of a simple and quick colorimetric 'spot and read' test in contrast to amplification based detection methods.     

Numerical investigation of hydrogen absorption in a stackable metal hydride reactor utilizing compartmentalization

In this paper, a three-dimensional model for hydrogen absorption in a metal alloy has been developed, validated against the experimental data in the literature, and then applied to a novel design for a hydrogen storage unit. The proposed design is similar to the fuel cell stack, but here the Membrane Electrode Assembly (MEA) has been replaced by a metal hydride (MH) reactor placed between the flow-field plates. These are stacked together to achieve the required amount of hydrogen storage. The flow-field plates have channels engraved on one side for hydrogen supply and on the other, for coolant/heating medium. It is known that the effectiveness of a hydrogen storage unit is directly related to its heat transfer area, and therefore, the choice of its geometry is very important. The larger the size, the more the resistance to heat transfer. Although, the internal tubular heat exchangers have proven to be effective in heat transfer, they pose severe challenges such as cooling/heating medium leakage due to tube erosion, stresses generated, etc. and they displace the active metal hydride from the tank. The present stacked MH reactor configuration helps to overcome these challenges by stacking small MH reactors together and there is no chance of the cooling/heating medium leaking into the metal hydride. Numerical simulations were performed to investigate the effect of coolant flow rate and percentage of flow-field plate rib area exposed to the MH reactor on temperature evolution and the amount of hydrogen stored. Further, a detailed study was carried out to understand the effect of compartmentalization of the MH reactor on temperature distribution. The results revealed that compartmentalization substantially helps to uniformly distribute the temperature in the metal bed, which is very important to maintain uniform utilization of the metal powder. Consequently, the uniform metal powder density for repeated absorption-desorption cycles without significant loss of its hydrogen storage capabilities.