Properties of purified direct steam grown silicon thermal oxides

Thermal silicon oxides are known to very effectively passivate silicon surfaces. Choosing a water vapor ambient instead of a dry oxygen atmosphere increases the oxidation rate by about one order of magnitude and considerably reduces process time and costs. State of the art pyrox systems produce steam by pyrolysis of hydrogen and oxygen gas. A new approach is the purification of vaporized deionized (DI) water. In this work we present a direct comparison of both steam generation systems, which are connected to the same quartz tube of an industrial high quality tube furnace. The higher steam saturation of the direct steam process enhances the growth rate by about 20% compared to a pyrolytic steam based process. On low-resistivity p-type substrates, excellent surface recombination velocities of around 25 cm/s are found for both systems after a forming gas anneal. Detailed characterization shows similar physical properties of the oxide layers grown by either steam from pyrolysis or purified steam. Moreover, thermal oxide rear surface passivated silicon solar cells show similar high efficiencies exceeding 18.0% irrespective of the applied steam generation technology.     

Video-assisted thoracic surgery thymectomy for myasthenia gravis

Video-assisted thoracic surgery thymectomy was employed in the management of myasthenia gravis in a series of 20 patients. As the technique evolved, the authors preferred a right-sided approach, and the technical details of the process are discussed. At a mean follow-up of 30 months, clinical results are comparable to published series of other approaches. It is hoped that the superior cosmesis associated with this less-invasive approach leads to earlier thymectomy in management of this disease.     

Flavonol glycosides and flavonol glucoside gallates from Peltophorum africanum

In this study of interactions occurring within the heart, isolated superfused strips of rabbit atria, containing the sinoatrial (s.a.) node, were subjected to sinusoidal subthreshold current pulses of varied frequencies and intensities. A.C. current from an R.C. oscillator was applied through a Grass stimulation isolation unit, push-pull connection, and non-polarizing (Ag-AgCl-KCl-Tyrode Agar-Agar) electrodes. A Grass polygraph and tachometer were used to record the applied pulses and nodal firing rates; simultaneous magnetic tape recordings were obtained and used for data analysis. Suction electrode recordings and oscilloscope displays were used to determine how the cyclic impulses affected cellular activity. The s.a. nodal rhythm was modified by subthreshold A.C. current applications; when frequencies were low, firing rates of the node were modulated by the A.C. and mean rates were reduced. As frequencies were progressively increased, slow waxings and wanings in heart rate were produced. These periodic fluctuations were not readily correlated with either the A.C. frequency nor the intrinsic nodal rate, but were representative of the difference between the two. As applied current frequency neared the pacemaker's intrinsic rate, a synchronization occurred and the discharges locked in at a specific phase of the applied current alternation. This synchronization maintained during slight further increases in A.C. frequency but above a critical rate this relationship broke down and the waxing and wanings in frequency of pacemaker rate again developed. It was concluded that pacemaker action of the s.a. node is effected by integration of cellular activity through electron coupling.     

A novel method for DEAE-dextran mediated transfection of adherent primary cultured human macrophages

The effects of regional and global ischemia on cellular electrical activity and on arrhythmias induced by reperfusion were studied at different Mg2+ concentrations (Mg2+o, 0, 1.2, and 4.8 mM) in perfused rat hearts. Surface electrograms and transmembrane potentials were recorded during control, 10 min of ischemia (perfusion arrest or coronary ligation), and reperfusion. Increasing Mg2+o from 0-4.8 mM decreased heart rate, did not alter action potential morphology, and had a strong antiarrhythmic action on reperfusion following coronary ligation. At low and normal Mg2+o, the incidence of tachyarrhythmias was between 70 and 80%. Global ischemia led to progressive atrioventricular block and the final ventricular beating rate was similar at all Mg2+o despite unequal initial values. The severity of arrhythmias was similar to that found after regional ischemia in Mg2+o = 0, but much lower at normal and high Mg2+o. The resting depolarization induced by coronary ligation decreased as Mg2+o was raised, but such a relation was not seen during global ischemia where the depolarization was less marked. The action potential duration did not vary with the ventricular rate between 160 and 380 beats per min but increased considerably when sinus rate was markedly slowed (40 to 80 bpm) by raising Mg2+o to 9.6 mM. Our data show that a high Mg2+o exerts a strong protection against reperfusion arrhythmias regardless of the type of ischemia. Modulation of the sinus rhythm by Mg2+ may contribute to its protective effect by decreasing K+o accumulation and Na+i loading during ischemia.     

The C-terminal domains of gammaS-crystallin pair about a distorted twofold axis

The 2-domain gammaS-crystallin, a highly conserved early evolutionaryoff-shoot of the gamma-crystallin family, is located in the water-richregion of eye lenses. The expressed C-terminal domain, gammaS-C, has beencrystallized and the 2.56 A X-ray structure determined. There are twodomains in the asymmetric unit which pair about a distorted twofold axis.One of the domains has an altered conformation in a highly conserved regionof the protein, the tyrosine corner. The distorted gammaS-C dimer ofdomains is compared with the highly symmetrical, equivalent recombinantdimer of C-terminal domains from gammaB- crystallin. Sequence changes closeto the interface, that distinguish gammaS from the other gamma-crystallins,are examined in order to evaluate their role in symmetrical domain pairing.     

Hybrid Photopatterned Enzymatic Reaction (HyPER) for in Situ Cell Manipulation

The ability to design artificial extracellular matrices as cell‐instructive scaffolds has opened the door to technologies capable of studying the fate of cells in vitro and to guiding tissue repair in vivo. One main component of the design of artificial extracellular matrices is the incorporation of biochemical cues to guide cell phenotype and multicellular organization. The extracellular matrix (ECM) is composed of a heterogeneous mixture of proteins that present a variety of spatially discrete signals to residing cell populations. In contrast, most engineered ECMs do not mimic this heterogeneity. In recent years, photo‐deprotection has been used to spatially immobilize signals. However, this approach has been limited mostly to small peptides. Here we combine photo‐deprotection with enzymatic reaction to achieve spatially controlled immobilization of active bioactive signals that range from small molecules to large proteins. A peptide substrate for transglutaminase factor XIII (FXIIIa) was caged with a photo‐deprotectable group, which was then immobilized to the bulk of a cell‐compatible hydrogel. With focused light, the substrate can be deprotected and used to immobilize patterned bioactive signals. This approach offers an innovative strategy to immobilize delicate bioactive signals, such as growth factors, without loss of activity and enables in situ cell manipulation of encapsulated cells.     

Direct numerical study of hypersonic flow about a swept parabolic body

Direct numerical simulations (DNS) of hypersonic flow about a swept parabolic body have been performed to study the global stability of flow in the leading-edge region of a swept blunt body. Previous stability investigations have been based on local models but have not fully succeeded in reproducing the established experimental findings. The current flow configuration represents a more realistic model and is thus expected to resolve some of the remaining questions. However, novel approaches like DNS-based global stability theory are necessary for such flow models and are employed in this study. As a result, boundary-layer modes have been identified by different but complementary techniques as the dominant instability mechanism. The DNS starting with small-amplitude white noise provide further evidence for the presence of non-modal effects which may be important in the subcritical regime. From a methodological point of view, the potential for quantitative flow analysis by combining numerical simulations with advanced iterative techniques represents a promising direction for investigating the governing physical processes of complex flows.     

Estimation of Quantum Channels with Finite Resources

We examine the problem of determining the parameters that describe a quantum channel. It is assumed that the users of the channel have at best only partial knowledge of it and make use of a finite amount of resources to estimate it. We discuss simple protocols for the estimation of the parameters of several classes of channels that are studied in the current literature. A quantitative measures of the quality of the estimation schemes can be given on the basis of the standard deviation or of the fidelity. Protocols that employ entangled particles are also discussed. The use of entangled particles as a nonclassical resource enhances the estimation quality of some classes of quantum channel. Further, the methods presented here can be extended to higher dimensional quantum systems. PACS: 03.67.Hk