Design of random doping fluctuation resistant structures of semiconductor devices

An automated technique is presented for the computation of the doping profiles that minimize the intrinsic fluctuations of various parameters induced by random doping fluctuations in semiconductor devices. The technique is based on the computation of the doping sensitivity functions of the parameters under consideration and the constrained minimization of the standard deviation of fluctuations by using the Lagrange multipliers technique. The technique is then applied to the minimization of the random doping induced fluctuations of the threshold voltage in 40-nm channel length MOSFET device.     

Fiber Bridging during Melt Electrowriting of Poly(ε-Caprolactone) and the Influence of Fiber Diameter and Wall Height

Melt electrowriting (MEW) is a direct-writing technology for small diameter fibers; however, due to electrostatic attraction, the technique is restricted in how close these microfibers can be positioned on the collector. Here, the minimum interfiber distance between parallel poly(ε-caprolactone) MEW microfibers is determined for different fiber diameters and number of layers on noncoated and star-shaped poly(ethylene oxide-stat-propylene oxide) (sP(EO-stat-PO))-coated glass coverslips. The effect of the fiber diameter, the number of fiber layers, and shape of turning loops affect precision and the minimum interfiber distance. Single fibers with diameter of 5, 10, and 15 µm have a minimum interfiber distance without fiber bridging of 33 ± 2.7, 54 ± 2.2, and 62 ± 2.7 µm, respectively. Increasing the number of layers to ten increases this minimum interfiber distance approximately twofold to 60 ± 3.5, 97 ± 4.5, and 102 ± 2.7 µm for the increasing fiber diameters. The sP(EO-stat-PO) slightly increases the minimum interfiber distance for the 15 µm diameter group only, with spacing for the 5 and 10 µm fibers unaffected by the coating. Identifying and determining the fabrication limits for MEW is highly instructional for users working and designing scaffolds with this technology.     

Peculiarities of Neurostimulation by Intense Nanosecond Pulsed Electric Fields: How to Avoid Firing in Peripheral Nerve Fibers

Intense pulsed electric fields (PEF) are a novel modality for the efficient and targeted ablation of tumors by electroporation. The major adverse side effects of PEF therapies are strong involuntary muscle contractions and pain. Nanosecond-range PEF (nsPEF) are less efficient at neurostimulation and can be employed to minimize such side effects. We quantified the impact of the electrode configuration, PEF strength (up to 20 kV/cm), repetition rate (up to 3 MHz), bi- and triphasic pulse shapes, and pulse duration (down to 10 ns) on eliciting compound action potentials (CAPs) in nerve fibers. The excitation thresholds for single unipolar but not bipolar stimuli followed the classic strength–duration dependence. The addition of the opposite polarity phase for nsPEF increased the excitation threshold, with symmetrical bipolar nsPEF being the least efficient. Stimulation by nsPEF bursts decreased the excitation threshold as a power function above a critical duty cycle of 0.1%. The threshold reduction was much weaker for symmetrical bipolar nsPEF. Supramaximal stimulation by high-rate nsPEF bursts elicited only a single CAP as long as the burst duration did not exceed the nerve refractory period. Such brief bursts of bipolar nsPEF could be the best choice to minimize neuromuscular stimulation in ablation therapies.     

Ceramics based on calcium phosphates substituted with magnesium ions for bone regeneration

In this study, chemical precipitation methods were used to obtain ceramic materials doped with magnesium ions in order to improve the regeneration properties of materials used for tissue engineering. Two different ratios of magnesium oxide were used to dope the ceramic powder, more precisely 5% and 10%. The synthesized materials were characterized to determine the calcination temperature of the precursor powder by means of thermal analysis; to determine the mineralogical composition, X-ray diffraction was employed and the scanning electron microscopy was used to determine the microstructure. To make use of these ceramics as biomaterials, viability and proliferation cell tests have been performed. Since synthetic materials have several limitations with regard to medical applications, the materials based on HAp substituted with Mg ions are a promising solution for the regeneration of bone defects because they have a similar bone structure. The presence of Mg in the material proves to be beneficial because this element plays an important role in bone cell regeneration, and more specifically, in stimulating osteoblast proliferation. The materials synthesized in this work present a suitable morphology for uses in bone regeneration because they offer to cells a friendly environment for growth and anchoring.     

Isotherms,kinetics, and thermodynamic studies for adsorption of pigments and oxidation products in oil bleaching from catfish waste

Abstract

The aim of this work was to study the bleaching of oil extracted from the heads of the catfish by thermomechanical process through equilibrium, kinetics, and thermodynamics adsorption studies. The condition for the bleaching step was with 1% (w/w) adsorbent composed of 95% activated earth and 5% activated carbon (w/w). The pseudo-first order and pseudo-second order models were the most appropriate to represent the adsorption kinetics. The temperature of 80?°C increased the adsorption capacity of the two adsorbates, and the activation energies values were of 47.47 and 44.82?kJ mol^?1, respectively, for the adsorption of carotenoids and peroxides. The Langmuir model was the most appropriate to describe the bleaching equilibrium curves. The thermodynamic parameters revealed that the processes were endothermic, favorable, and spontaneous and the interaction between adsorbent and adsorbate was physical.     

Efficient Total Chemical Synthesis of 13C=18O Isotopomers of Human Insulin for Isotope‐Edited FTIR

Isotope‐edited two‐dimensional Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (2 D FTIR) can potentially provide a unique probe of protein structure and dynamics. However, general methods for the site‐specific incorporation of stable ¹³C=¹⁸O labels into the polypeptide backbone of the protein molecule have not yet been established. Here we describe, as a prototype for the incorporation of specific arrays of isotope labels, the total chemical synthesis—via a key ester insulin intermediate—of 97 % enriched [(1‐¹³C=¹⁸O)Phe^B24] human insulin: stable‐isotope labeled at a single backbone amide carbonyl. The amino acid sequence as well as the positions of the disulfide bonds and the correctly folded structure were unambiguously confirmed by the X‐ray crystal structure of the synthetic protein molecule. In vitro assays of the isotope labeled [(1‐¹³C=¹⁸O)Phe^B24] human insulin showed that it had full insulin receptor binding activity. Linear and 2 D IR spectra revealed a distinct red‐shifted amide I carbonyl band peak at 1595 cm^?1 resulting from the (1‐¹³C=¹⁸O)Phe^B24 backbone label. This work illustrates the utility of chemical synthesis to enable the application of advanced physical methods for the elucidation of the molecular basis of protein function.     

Fast Ray Tracing of Implicit Surfaces

A ray-tracing algorithm is described for rendering implicit surfaces formed with C¹-continuous bounded functions f ( x , y , z ). This class of functions includes such popular implicit models as blobby molecules, metaballs, soft objects and convolution surfaces. The algorithm employs analytical methods only, which makes it fast, robust, and numerically stable.
An earlier version of this work was presented at the 3rd International Workshop on Implicit Surfaces held in Seattle in 1998.     

Phase-sensitive spatially-modulated surface plasmon resonance polarimetry for detection of biomolecular interactions

We here describe a scheme of spatially modulated surface plasmon resonance (SPR) polarimetry that enables to combine ultra-high phase sensitivity with good signal-to-noise background. The proposed approach uses spatial modulation of s-polarized component by birefringent elements and the extraction of phase-polarization information by Fourier-transform methods. This scheme was tested for monitoring the interactions between an antibody and its biological partner. Our experimental data, collected by amplitude-sensitive and phase-sensitive polarimetry demonstrate that the latter scheme provides at least one order of magnitude improvement in terms of detection limit.     

The complexity and approximation of fixing numerical attributes in databases under integrity constraints

Consistent query answering is the problem of characterizing and computing the semantically correct answers to queries from a database that may not satisfy certain integrity constraints. Consistent answers are characterized as those answers that are invariant under all minimally repaired versions of the original database. We study the problem of repairing databases with respect to denial constraints by fixing integer numerical values taken by attributes. We introduce a quantitative definition of database repair, and investigate the complexity of several decision and optimization problems. Among them, Database Repair Problem (DRP): deciding the existence of repairs within a given distance to the original instance, and CQA: deciding consistency of answers to simple and aggregate conjunctive queries under different semantics. We provide sharp complexity bounds, identifying relevant tractable and intractable cases. We also develop approximation algorithms for the latter. Among other results, we establish: (a) The -hardness of CQA. (b) That DRP is MAXSNP-hard, but has a good approximation. (c) The intractability of CQA for aggregate queries for one database atom denials (plus built-ins), and also that it has a good approximation.     

Scaling Properties of Superfluid 3He in Aerogel

We have investigated the superfluid transition of ³ He in different samples of silica aerogel. Several of these samples have been characterized using x-ray imaging, yielding information about the microstructure of the aerogel. In comparing new measurements on a 99.5% sample with previous observations on the behavior of ³ He in 98% porous aerogel we have found evidence for a scaling of the superfluid transition temperature to the correlation length of the aerogel. Furthermore, the superfluid density exhibits a similar universal behaviour over a range of values of reduced temperature. We discuss these new results in the context of superfluid pairing in the presence of a correlated disorder, specifically focussing on the fractal nature of the aerogel.