The oxidative inducation test applied to medical PVC and other polymers

We have examined the applicability of this simple and effective test to polymer systems widely used in the medical industry. First, it was found that not every polymer examined exhibited a distinct onset of autocatalytic oxidation detectable by DSC. However, for cases where distinct onsets are found, powerful insights can be obtained. These included activation energy of the degradation, thermal oxidative shelf life prediction, and correlation, with product performances. Actual examples are presented to illustrate the utility of the test.     

Finite element analyses of repaired articular surfaces.

The response to a compressive load of a repaired cartilage surface, consisting of full-thickness repair tissue adjacent to normal cartilage, was predicted by the u-p finite element method and compared to that of a normal cartilage surface under the same loading conditions. By individually varying the aggregate modulus, permeability and Poisson's ratio for the repair tissue, analyses were performed to assess the contributions of each to the changes in mechanical behaviour. In comparing the repaired to normal surfaces, the presence of a softer repair tissue resulted in increased axial and decreased radial deformations at any given time point, while a repaired surface with an increased permeability compressed more easily due to the increased fluid flow and caused equilibrium to occur sooner. For smaller Poisson's ratio, the axial deformation was not different from normal if the aggregate modulus was the same as normal; however, the radial expansion was reduced as the repair tissue experienced a larger volume change. These results indicate that the presence of repair tissue in a joint surface can have a strong influence on the mechanical behaviour of the surface.     

Phase behavior of polycarbonate blends with selected halogenated polymers

Bisphenol A polycarbonate is shown to be miscible with a vinylidene chloride based polymer containing 13.5% by weight of vinyl chloride. On the other hand, polycarbonate is found to be immiscible with poly(vinyl chloride), poly(vinylidene fluoride), and polyepichlorohydrin.     

In situ polyurethane/silica composite formation via a sol‐gel process

Polyurethane acrylate anionomer (PUAA)/silica composite gels were prepared by the sol‐gel reaction of tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) and methacryloxypropyl trimethoxysilane (MPTS) incorporated to PUAA gels by using a swelling method. The formation and structure of composites were confirmed by FTIR, X‐ray diffraction, and SEM. As a result, we found that silica components in composites are located within the ionic domains of their gels and interacted with PUAA via hydrogen bonding. This drastically enhanced the mechanical properties of the composites. Mechanical properties are also improved by MPTS, because MPTS improves the dispersibility and adhesion of silica components in PUAA/silica composite gels. © 2002 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 84: 2327–2334, 2002     

Decision-directed maximum-likelihood estimation of OFDM framesynchronisation offset

The authors propose a method to estimate the synchronisation offset for orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) frame alignment without resort to pilot tones. A decision-directed maximum-likelihood estimation of frame synchronisation offset is derived, and the performance of the proposed scheme is confirmed by computer simulation for QAM systems     

Modeling the I-V characteristics of fully depleted submicrometerSOI MOSFET's

In this paper, an analytic current-voltage model for submicrometer fully-depleted (FD) silicon-on-insulator (SOI) MOSFET's is presented. This model takes into account the source/drain series resistances which can be especially high in thin film SOI devices. The effect of drain induced conductivity enhancement is also included, which is important for submicrometer channels. The model is verified by comparison to measured SOI I-V characteristics. Good agreement is obtained for SOI film thicknesses ranging from 40 to 220 nm and effective channel lengths down to 0.25 μm     

A quadruple well, quadruple polysilicon BiCMOS process for fast 16Mb SRAM's

An advanced, high-performance, quadruple well, quadruple polysilicon BiCMOS technology has been developed for fast 16 Mb SRAM's. A split word-line bitcell architecture, using four levels of polysilicon and two self-aligned contacts, achieves a cell area of 8.61 μm² with conventional I-line lithography and 7.32 μm² with I-line plus phase-shift or with deep UV lithography. The process features PELOX isolation to provide a 1.0 μm active pitch, MOSFET transistors designed for a 0.80 μm gate poly pitch, a double polysilicon bipolar transistor with aggressively scaled parasitics, and a thin-film polysilicon transistor to enhance bitcell stability. A quadruple-well structure improves soft error rate (SER) and allows simultaneous optimization of MOSFET and bipolar performance     

Situational influences on gender differences in agency and communion.

Gender differences were examined in the context of situational effects. Participants monitored interpersonal behavior for 20 days, using an event-sampling strategy. The monitored behaviors reflected dominance and submissiveness (components of agency) and agreeableness and quarrelsomeness (components of communion). The situations reflected differences in the status of work roles: interactions with boss, co-worker, and supervisee. Status influenced agency. Individuals were most agentic when with a supervisee and least agentic when with a boss. Gender did not influence agency but did influence communal behaviors. Women were more communal regardless of social role status; women were especially communal with other women, compared with men with men. Findings about agency supported a social role theory interpretation of gender differences. Results for communion were consistent with accounts of the influence of sex segregation on interpersonal relationships. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Monolithic SiGe Up‐/Down‐Conversion Mixers with Active Baluns

The purpose of this paper is to describe the implementation of monolithically matching circuits, interface circuits, and RF core circuits to the same substrate. We designed and fabricated on‐chip 1 to 6 GHz up‐conversion and 1 to 8 GHz down‐conversion mixers using a 0.8 µm SiGe hetero‐junction bipolar transistor (HBT) process technology. To fabricate a SiGe HBT, we used a reduced pressure chemical vapor deposition (RPCVD) system to grow a base epitaxial layer, and we adopted local oxidation of silicon (LOCOS) isolation to separate the device terminals. An up‐conversion mixer was implemented on‐chip using an intermediate frequency (IF) matching circuit, local oscillator (LO)/radio frequency (RF) wideband matching circuits, LO/IF input balun circuits, and an RF output balun circuit. The measured results of the fabricated up‐conversion mixer show a positive power conversion gain from 1 to 6 GHz and a bandwidth of about 4.5 GHz. Also, the down‐conversion mixer was implemented on‐chip using LO/RF wideband matching circuits, LO/RF input balun circuits, and an IF output balun circuit. The measured results of the fabricated down‐conversion mixer show a positive power conversion gain from 1 to 8 GHz and a bandwidth of about 4.5 GHz.