PKI dies hard

Public Key Infrastructure is staging a comeback, according to new research from European IT user association EEMA.     

Effect of stepper lens operating conditions on proximity effects in DUV optical lithography down to 250nm

Reduction of optical proximity effects (OPE), at deep uv wavelength of 248nm, caused by the variation of stepper lens operating conditions is investigated. It is shown that many of these effects, which increase as the Rayleigh limit is approached, can be minimised, and in many cases eliminated, by suitable choice of lens numerical aperture (NA) and partial coherence (sigma, σ).

Application of these results should enable the user of advanced wafer steppers to carry out high resolution lithography with a minimum of time consuming optical proximity correction (OPC).     

Some aspects of the analysis of coal by X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy

Bituminous coal samples from 84 distinct sources were analysed by conventional British Standards (BS) methods for phosphorus, sulphur, chlorine, ash and the ash-forming elements (calcium, silicon, aluminium, iron, sodium, magnesium, potassium, titanium and manganese). In most cases four determinations were made per element per source. Samples were crushed to ?212 μm (72 BS mesh) and pressed into aluminium cups at 20 t in^?2 (309 MPa) without binder or backing. Two pellets from each sample were analysed by wave-length dispersive X-ray fluorescence techniques, using a spectrometer equipped with a rhodium rube; the X-ray count took 60 s. The X-ray results were calibrated against the conventional results using multiple regression. The accuracy obtained was comparable with routine ‘wet chemical’ techniques. The X-ray technique is suitable for the routine determination of large numbers of samples.     

Modeling solute diffusion in aqueous polymer solutions

There are numerous models describing solute diffusion in polymer solutions. An analysis of these models demonstrates that none can provide a consistent explanation of the phenomenon observed for solutes that can be modeled as essentially solid spheres. For this reason, a new model based on a physical obstruction approach is presented. In this model, solute movement in the presence of polymer chains is assumed to be governed by the probability of the solute molecule encountering a series of openings between the chains larger than its hydrodynamic radius. The model is tested against data taken from the literature for a series of polymer solutions and solute probes and found to provide good agreement to the effects of solute size, polymer concentration, and polymer flexibility.     

Crystallization studies of semi-crystalline polymers under oscillatory shear using the rheometrics mechanical spectrometer

A method has been developed on the Rheometrics mechanical spectrometer using the eccentric rotating disks mode to study the crystallization kinetics of different semi-crystalline polymers (polyethylene, polypropylene, poly(butylene terephthalate) and Nylon 11) under oscillatory shear. Dynamic shear moduli (storage G′ and loss G″), loss tangent (tan δ), and dynamic viscosity (η′) were simultaneously, monitored during the crystallization process. The onset and completion of crystallization were characterized by the initial rise and final levelling off of G′, while the peak time, of crystallization (t_p) is calculated from the time elapsed between the onset and peak of crystallization which is indicated by the G″ or η′ maximum. In the case of polypropylene, going from a low frequency of ?0.1 rad/s, to higher frequencies of up to 10 rad/s, there is a monotonic decrease in peak time of crystallization (t_p) together with a progressive decrease in spherulitic morphology. The observed acceleration in crystallization is due predominantly to the increase in nucleation rate and orientation of chains in melt crystalline aggregate. The progressive disappearance of the spherulitic morphology is attributed to the disruption of the spherulite superstructure at higher frequencies of shear.     

Analysis and simulation of the grinding process. Part II: Mechanics of grinding

This paper is the second of three parts which describe the analysis and simulation of the grinding process. Generation of the workpiece surface depends on the interactions between the grains of the wheel and the workpiece. The grinding wheel surface generated by dressing was simulated by the method described in Part I. This part describes a method to investigate the process of grinding by simulating the cutting action of every grain which engages with the workpiece. Grinding forces are analysed by simulating the force on each grain which passes a section of the workpiece. The simulated workpiece surface shows features which are similar in nature to the experimental results. A more extensive comparison of simulated and experimental grinding behaviour is presented in Part III.     

Two computational regimes of a single-compartment neuron separated by a planar boundary in conductance space

Recent in vitro data show that neurons respond to input variance with varying sensitivities. Here we demonstrate that Hodgkin-Huxley (HH) neurons can operate in two computational regimes: one that is more sensitive to input variance (differentiating) and one that is less sensitive (integrating). A boundary plane in the 3D conductance space separates these two regimes. For a reduced HH model, this plane can be derived analytically from the V nullcline, thus suggesting a means of relating biophysical parameters to neural computation by analyzing the neuron's dynamical system.     

Addressing agent loss in vehicle formations and sensor networks

In this paper, we address the problem of agent loss in vehicle formations and sensor networks via two separate approaches: (1) perform a ‘self‐repair’ operation in the event of agent loss to recover desirable information architecture properties or (2) introduce robustness into the information architecture a priori such that agent loss does not destroy desirable properties. We model the information architecture as a graph G(V, E), where V is a set of vertices representing the agents and E is a set of edges representing information flow amongst the agents. We focus on two properties of the graph called rigidity and global rigidity, which are required for formation shape maintenance and sensor network self‐localization, respectively. For the self‐repair approach, we show that while previous results permit local repair involving only neighbours of the lost agent, the repair cannot always be implemented using only local information. We present new results that can be applied to make the local repair using only local information. We describe implementation and illustrate with algorithms and examples. For the robustness approach, we investigate the structure of graphs with the property that rigidity or global rigidity is preserved after removing any single vertex (we call the property as 2‐vertex‐rigidity or 2‐vertex‐global‐rigidity, respectively). Information architectures with such properties would allow formation shape maintenance or self‐localization to be performed even in the event of agent failure. We review a characterization of a class of 2‐vertex‐rigidity and develop a separate class, making significant strides towards a complete characterization. We also present a characterization of a class of 2‐vertex‐global‐rigidity. Copyright © 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Surface energy-mediated fibronectin adsorption and osteoblast responses on nanostructured diamond

Nanostructured diamond have potential applications in many biomedical related fields and demonstrated extraordinary capacity to influence cellular responses. Studying the surface property of nanodiamond and its influence to protein adsorption and subsequent cellular responses along with the mechanism behind such capacity becomes more important. Here the role of surface energy associated with nanostructured diamond in modulating fibronectin and osteoblast(OB, bone forming cells) responses was investigated. Nanocrystalline diamond(NCD) and submicron crystalline diamond(SMCD) films with controllable surface energy were prepared by microwave-enhanced plasma chemical vapor deposition(MPCVD) techniques. Fibronectin adsorption on the diamond films with varied surface energy values was measured via the enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay(ELISA) and the relationship between the surface energy and fibronectin adsorption was studied. The result indicated that fibronectin adsorption on nanostructured surfaces was closely related to both surface energy and material microstructures. The spreading and migration of OB aggregates(each containing 30–50 cells) on the NCD with varied surface energy values were also studied. The result indicates a correlation between the cell spreading and migration on nanodiamond and the surface energy of nanostructured surface.