High-reliability GaAs-AlGaAs HBTs by MBE with Be base doping andInGaAs emitter contacts

The authors have developed a modified MBE growth process to produce high-gain n-p-n GaAs-AlGaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) with a mean time to failure (MTTF) of 1.5×10⁸ h at 125°C. Beryllium incorporation and diffusion are controlled through a combination of reduced substrate temperature and increased As/Ga flux ratio during MBE growth, resulting in extremely stable HBT profiles. The authors also demonstrate graded InGaAs surface layers with nonalloyed refractory metal contacts that significantly improve ohmic reliability compared to alloyed AuGe contacts. The ability to produce robust HBTs by MBE is critically important to this technology     

Surface tailoring of an ethylene propylene diene elastomeric terpolymer via plasma‐polymerized coating of tetramethyldisiloxane

In the research presented here, we explore the use of a low‐energy plasma to deposit thin silicone polymer films using tetramethyldisiloxane (TMDSO) (H(CH₃)₂? Si? O? Si? (CH₃)₂H) on the surface of an ethylene propylene diene elastomeric terpolymer (EPDM) in order to enhance the surface hydrophobicity, lower the surface energy and improve the degradation/wear characteristics. The processing conditions were varied over a wide range of treatment times and discharge powers to control the physical characteristics, thickness, morphology and chemical structure of the plasma polymer films. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) shows that pore‐free homogeneous plasma polymer thin films of granular microstructure composed of small grains are formed and that the morphology of the granular structure depends on the plasma processing conditions, such as plasma power and time of deposition. The thicknesses of the coatings were determined using SEM, which confirmed that the thicknesses of the deposited plasma‐polymer films could be precisely controlled by the plasma parameters. The kinetics of plasma‐polymer film deposition were also evaluated. Contact angle measurements of different solvent droplets on the coatings were used to calculate the surface energies of the coatings. These coatings appeared to be hydrophobic and had low surface energies. X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and photoacoustic Fourier‐transform infrared (PA‐FT‐IR) spectroscopy were used to investigate the detailed chemical structures of the deposited films. The optimum plasma processing conditions to achieve the desired thin plasma polymer coatings are discussed in the light of the chemistry that takes place at the interfaces. Copyright © 2004 Society of Chemical Industry     

Towards a Dual-Tip STM Application in Mesoscopic Electron Transport

A new design for a dual-tip scanning tunneling microscope (STM) is presented. The design is a variation on the mechanically controllable break-junction with two electron beam-induced deposition nano-tips. The new design enables one to scan surfaces simultaneously with two probes having a nano-gap separation. By collecting the lateral current flowing between the tips, the transconductance map can then be compared with the STM images for local characterizations of the electron transport. Since the lateral beam carries the property of the density of states of the surface at momentum space, the dispersion of the electronic structure should give an orientation and position dependence of the local transconductance current. In addition, the reduced terminal separation, on the order of the characteristic mesoscopic length scales, is likely to be sensitive to a variety of typically observed interactions and interference effects.     

Coating of carbon-fiber surface by silicon carbide via sol-gel mixtures of tetraethyl orthosilicate and phenolic resin

The preparation of a SiC coating on a carbon fiber surface using a sol-gel mixture of tetraethyl orthosilicat (TEOS) and phenolic resin was studied. FTIR and SEM investigations indicated that the SiC coating can be formed by carbothermal reduction of the sol-gel mixture at 1420°C for 15–20 min in an argon atmosphere. TGA of the coated fiber was also performed, showing that the SiC coating improves the thermooxidative stability of the carbon fiber. With the thickness of the obtained coating of 0.47 μm using a C/Si ratio of 4, this treatment does not affect the carbon fiber strength.     

Intraocular concentrations of chemotherapeutic agents after systemic or local administration

OBJECTIVES: To investigate the concentrations of carboplatin and etoposide achieved in the aqueous and vitreous humors after intravenous infusion in nonhuman primates, and to investigate whether local administration of carboplatin might result in higher concentrations in the vitreous humor. METHODS: Macaca fascicularis primates were treated with 1 of 3 regimens: (1) intravenous carboplatin (18.7 mg/kg), etoposide (5 mg/kg), and vincristine sulfate (0.05 mg/kg), (2) peribulbar carboplatin (10 mg/mL), or (3) episcleral balloon carboplatin (10 mg/mL). Concentrations of chemotherapeutic agents were measured in the plasma and in the aqueous and vitreous humors. RESULTS: No measurable amount of etoposide was detected in the aqueous or vitreous humor after intravenous administration. Mean measured peak vitreous concentration of carboplatin after intravenous administration was 0.31 microg/mL, which was 1% of the peak plasma value. Mean measured peak vitreous concentrations of carboplatin after peribulbar or episcleral balloon administration were 2.38 microg/mL and 2.95 microg/mL, respectively, which represent 7.68- and 9.52-fold increases over the concentration achieved after intravenous administration. No serious toxic effect was observed in any animal. CONCLUSIONS: Peribulbar and episcleral balloon administration of carboplatin seemed to be safe and resulted in higher vitreous concentrations than intravenous administration in this model. These results suggest that these alternate routes of delivery should be explored in children with vitreous seeding of retinoblastoma.     

Practical Application of Hybrid Modelling to Naturally Fractured Reservoirs

This article presents application of a hybrid method for modelling discrete fracture network in an actual naturally fractured reservoir (NFRs) (Palm Valley, Australia). The hybrid method integrates features of geological, statistical, artificial intelligence, and conditional hierarchical stochastic simulation techniques. Both discrete and continuum fracture information could be utilized, such as statistical distributions of fracture orientations, spatial distributions of fracture density, and discrete multi-fractal dimensions. The final output is a 3D network model of discrete fractures, with their corresponding details of location, size, and orientation. The results show an improvement of the hybrid method over previous fracture models.     

Reasoning about non-immediate triggers in biological networks

Modeling molecular interactions in signalling networks is important from various perspectives such as predicting side effects of drugs, explaining unusual cellular behavior and drug and therapy design. Various formal languages have been proposed for representing and reasoning about molecular interactions. The interactions are modeled as triggered events in most of the approaches. The triggering of events is assumed to be immediate: once an interaction is triggered, it should occur immediately. Although working well for engineering systems, this assumption poses a serious problem in modeling biological systems. Our knowledge about biological systems is inherently incomplete, thus molecular interactions are constantly elaborated and refined at different granularity of abstraction. The model of immediate triggers can not consistently deal with this refinement. In this paper we propose an action language to address this problem. We show that the language allows for refinements of biological knowledge, although at a higher cost in terms of complexity.      

Low phase noise millimeter-wave frequency sources using InP-basedHBT MMIC technology

A family of millimeter-wave sources based on InP heterojunction bipolar transistor (HBT) monolithic microwave/millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) technology has been developed. These sources include 40-GHz, 46-GHz, 62-GHz MMIC fundamental mode oscillators, and a 95-GHz frequency source module using a 23.8-GHz InP HBT MMIC dielectric resonator oscillator (DRO) in conjunction with a GaAs-based high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) MMIC frequency quadrupler and W-band output amplifiers. Good phase noise performance was achieved due to the low 1/f noise of the InP-based HBT devices. To our knowledge, this is the first demonstration of millimeter-wave sources using InP-based HBT MMIC's     

Quantitative studies on the movement of fluid and lymphocytes through periodontal tissue and into the draining lymph.

Chronic lymph drainage techniques in sheep have been used to map the pathways and to quantify the fluid and cell traffic through periodontal tissues. The continuous collection of cervical and prescapular lymph has demonstrated that 65% of labelled protein tracer injected into the periodontal tissues could be found in lymph over a period of 7.5 hours. Nearly 90% of the total radioactivity could be accounted for between the lymph and the tissue site. When silk was impregnated with radiolabelled albumin and a tooth ligated, the kinetics of the subsequent appearance of the tracer in lymph emphasized the ease with which macromolecules surrounding the teeth gain access to the lymphatics, regional lymph nodes, and immune apparatus. Animals were primed with BCG and then tuberculin (delayed hypersensitivity) lesions were simultaneously induced in the skin, bowel, and periodontium. When T cells were labelled with radioisotopes and their migration from blood to lymph measured, the periodontal tissue traffic pattern was distinct from the traffic pattern through DTH in the skin and also distinct from the pattern through the small intestine. This indicates that the lymphocyte traffic through the inflamed periodontium has unique features. This tissue specificity was not apparent when lesions were induced with TNFalpha. The static assessment of lymphocyte subsets within the tissues was also assessed with immunohistochemistry.     

Penicillin vs. erythromycin in the treatment of diphtheria

PURPOSE: To review the University of Florida experience in treating ependymomas, analyze prognostic factors, and provide treatment recommendations. METHODS AND MATERIALS: Forty-one patients with ependymoma and no metastases outside the central nervous system received postoperative radiotherapy with curative intent between 1966 and 1989. Ten patients had supratentorial lesions, 22 had infratentorial lesions, and 9 had spinal cord lesions. All patients had surgery (stereotactic biopsy, subtotal resection, or gross total resection). Most patients with high-grade lesions received radiotherapy to the craniospinal axis. Low-grade intracranial lesions received more limited treatment. Spinal cord lesions were treated using either partial spine or whole spine fields. RESULTS: Of 32 intracranial tumors, 21 recurred, all at the primary site; no spinal cord tumors recurred. Overall 10-year survival rates were 51% (absolute) and 46% (relapse-free); by tumor site: spinal cord, 100%; infratentorial, 45%; supratentorial, 20% (p = 0.002). On multivariate analysis, tumor site was the only factor that influenced absolute survival (p = 0.0004); other factors evaluated included grade, gender, age, duration of symptoms, resection extent, primary tumor dose, treatment field extent, surgery-to-radiotherapy interval, and days under radiotherapy treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Patients with supratentorial or infratentorial tumors receive irradiation, regardless of grade. Craniospinal-axis fields are used when spinal seeding is radiographically or pathologically evident. Spinal cord tumors are treated using localized fields to the primary site if not completely resected. Failure to control disease at the primary site remains the main impediment to cure.