Kinetics of copper drift in PECVD dielectrics

We quantified the drift of Cu ions into various PECVD dielectrics by measuring shifts in capacitance-voltage behavior after subjecting Cu-gate MOS capacitors to bias-temperature stress. At a field of 1.0 MV/cm and temperature of 100°C, Cu ions drift readily into PECVD oxide with a projected accumulation of 2.7×10¹³ ions/cm ² after 10 years. However, in PECVD oxynitride, the projected accumulation under the same conditions is only 2.3×10¹⁰ ions/cm². These findings demonstrate the necessity of integrating drift barriers, such as PECVD oxynitride layers, in Cu interconnection systems to ensure threshold stability of parasitic field n-MOS devices     

Estimating computation times of data-intensive applications

We present a holistic approach to estimation that uses rough sets theory to determine a similarity template and then compute a runtime estimate using identified similar applications. We tested the technique in two real-life data-intensive applications: data mining and high-performance computing.     

Characterization and expression of two chicken cDNAs encoding ubiquitin fused to ribosomal proteins of 52 and 80 amino acids

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) with HeCd laser-induced fluorescence (LIF) detection and its application in forensic toxicology is demonstrated by the determination of D-lysergic acid diethylamide (LSD) in blood. Following precipitation of proteins, washing of the evaporated supernatant and extraction, the residue was reconstituted in methanol and injected electrokinetically (10 s, 10 kV). The total analysis time for quantification of LSD was 8 min using a citrate-methanol buffer, pH 4.0. With this buffer system it is possible to separate LSD, nor-LSD, iso-LSD and iso-nor-LSD. Using a specific sample preparation, electrokinetic injection, extended light path (bubble cell) capillaries and especially LIF detection (lambda(ex) 325 nm, lambda(em) 435 nm), a limit of detection of 0.1-0.2 ng LSD per ml blood could be obtained. The limit of quantitation was about 0.4-0.5 ng/ml. The quantitative evaluation for LSD was carried out using methylergometrine as internal standard. The precision expressed as coefficient of variation (C.V.) and accuracy of the method were <20% and 86-110%, respectively. The application of the method to human blood samples from two forensic cases and a comparison with radioimmunoassay demonstrated that the results were consistent.     

A biphasic developmental pattern of circulating leptin in the male rhesus macaque (Macaca mulatta)

To help elucidate the physiological role of leptin during somatic and sexual maturation, circulating concentrations of leptin were measured in 36 male rhesus monkeys of ages ranging from 0-20 yr. The body weight of these animals showed a steady increase of approximately 1 kg/yr during the first decade of life and reached a plateau at approximately 13 yr. In contrast, serum leptin concentrations showed a biphasic developmental pattern, which was highlighted by a strong negative correlation with body weight (r = -0.74, P < 0.001) before the onset of puberty (at approximately 3.5 yr) and by a strong positive correlation afterward (r = 0.77, P < 0.001). Overall, the developmental changes in serum leptin concentrations closely mimicked the expected developmental changes in serum testosterone concentrations (r = 0.62, P < 0.001), which were highly elevated at birth, fell to basal levels during the juvenile phase of development, and gradually rose again after the initiation of puberty. However, mean serum leptin concentrations during the peripubertal period itself (3-5 yr) were significantly lower (P < 0.01) than those observed during the first year of life or those observed in fully mature adults (i.e. > 7 yr) (3.5 +/- 0.3, 1.4 +/- 0.2, and 3.3 +/- 0.6 ng/ml, respectively). These data demonstrate that the role of leptin in energy homeostasis of primates is more than a simple linear relationship, being highly dependent upon the developmental age. Furthermore, the data do not support the hypothesis that leptin plays a major role in triggering the onset of puberty in primates, although the strong correlation between serum concentrations of leptin and testosterone suggests that the secretion of these two hormones may be causally linked.     

A Fault Tree Approach to Quality Control by Variables

Based on the analogy between the events ``component failed' (in reliability) and ``measurement out of tolerances' (in quality control) acceptance sampling by variables is investigated when using the measurements made at several check-points for each device to be tested. The joint use of the fault-tree approach (especially in terms of min-cuts and min-paths) and of finite-sample hypothesis testing, leads to estimates of consumer and producer risks of a quality control procedure taking into account the internal design (functional diagram) of each device. As an example, a tuneable frequency multiplier is fully treated.     

Temporal reasoning in blood gas diagnosis

Abstract: The aim of this paper is to describe a system whereby an intensive care unit patient's condition can be monitored and assessed over time using mostly blood gas analysis data. The first six sections analyse some major temporal reasoning approaches (with limited examples from other related areas) with the aim of selecting one for the task at hand. The last sections describe the PONJIP temporal blood gas analysis expert system with its main components, including user interfaces customised to the doctor's requirements. Since the overall aim of this paper is to describe an expert system used for the evaluation of the possible contribution of temporal medical reasoning from blood gas data, research specific to other application areas or data will not be covered here.