Room temperature transformations induced in SiO2 layers by chemical compounds: I

Transformations in the structure and the composition of SiO₂ films as a result of the action of some organic compounds at room temperature were studied by various methods. Secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) showed that hydrogen-containing species were removed from the SiO₂ layers (which were prepared by the thermal oxidation of silicon wafers) after a prolonged exposure to diethyl ether vapour. Electron microscopy and electron diffraction studies showed that the exposure led to the development of a crystalline phase in the SiO₂ layer. SIMS and transmission electron microscopy measurements both supported the view that the transformation from an amorphous structure to a denser more crystalline phase took place as a result of an interaction between molecules of diethyl ether and the SiO₂ surface. The removal of hydrogen-containing species seems to be a condition for this kind of transformation.In a recent short note¹ we have presented some preliminary results concerning amorphous-to-crystalline phase transformations in SiO₂ films which were prepared by the thermal oxidation of silicon wafers and which were treated at room temperature with various (mainly organic) compounds.Electron microscopy and electron diffraction studies clearly revealed the presence of a crystalline phase. Of the compounds investigated diethyl ether seemed to be the most active in inducing this type of transformation.In the following, more results will be given of investigations performed with the aim of understanding the phenomena and an explanation of the transformation mechanism will be offered.     

Antagonist effect of insulin-like growth factor I on protein kinase inhibitor-mediated apoptosis in human glioblastoma cells in association with bcl-2 and bcl-xL

OBJECT: Tamoxifen (TAM) has been found to be effective in inhibiting proliferation of glioblastoma cells in vitro, but clinical studies have been disappointing. The purpose of this study was to determine whether insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-I), a potential autocrine/paracrine mitogen produced by glioblastomas, interferes with the antimitogenic actions of TAM. METHODS: Human glioblastoma cells were treated with or without TAM and/or IGF-I in vitro and evaluated for: viability by the 3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenol tetrazolium bromide cleavage assay; apoptosis by histochemical analysis of nuclear morphology and 3'-OH DNA fragments; and expression of the IGF-I receptor, and the bcl-2, bcl-xL, and bax proteins by immunoblot analysis. In addition, p53 status was determined by DNA sequencing and by transient transfection with luciferase reporter plasmids containing wild-type or mutant p53. Results indicated that after 72 hours of exposure to 2 mg/ml TAM in vitro, 56.3% of WITG3 and 43.8% of U87-MG glioblastoma cells contained apoptotic nuclei (p < 0.01 compared with untreated cells). Apoptosis was independent of the presence of p53 because the WITG3 cells, in contrast to the U87-MG cells, expressed a mutant, nonfunctional p53. The WITG3 cells expressed IGF-I receptor proteins and demonstrated IGF-I binding. Exogenous IGF-I stimulated WITG3 cell proliferation and significantly (p < 0.05) antagonized the cytotoxic effects of TAM in a dose-dependent fashion; IGF-I, but not TAM, enhanced expression of bcl-2 and bcl-xL proteins; however, bax protein expression was unchanged by either treatment. CONCLUSIONS: Because many gliomas secrete large amounts of IGF-I in autocrine/paracrine growth pathways, these data may, in part, explain the failure of TAM to achieve clinical results as dramatic as those in vitro.     

Ion mixing at 20 keV: a comparison of the effects of Ga+, Ar+ and CF4+ ion irradiation

Medium-energy (some tens of keV) ion irradiation is frequently used in various technologies. It is well known that during this irradiation serious alterations are introduced to the material, changing its structure, composition, etc. While there are studies on the amorphization, no results have been reported on the medium-energy ion beam-induced mixing, however. In this work, we present Auger electron spectroscopy (AES) depth profiling measurements of Si/Cr multilayer samples, which were irradiated by various ions (Ga+, Ar+, CF4+) of 20 keV applying angles of incidence of 5 degrees (Ga+), 65 degrees (Ga+) and 75 degrees (Ar+, CF4+). The ion beam-induced mixing at the Si/Cr interface (the broadening of the interface) was measured as a function of the removed layer thickness. The weakest and strongest ion mixing (for a given removed layer thickness) were found for CF4+ and Ga+ 5 degrees irradiations, respectively. In the case of Ga+ irradiation, the larger the angle of incidence the weaker the ion mixing. The extent of mixing does not correlate with the corresponding projected range. Comparison of the experimentally measured ion mixed profiles with those given by dynamic TRIM simulations gave poor agreement for Ar+ and fails for Ga+ irradiations, respectively.     

Hypermedia presentation generation in Hera

Hera is a model-driven methodology for designing Semantic Web Information Systems (SWIS). Based on the principle of separation-of-concerns, Hera defines models to describe the different aspects of an SWIS. These models are represented using RDF, the foundation language of the Semantic Web. Hera is composed of two phases: the data collection phase, which integrates data from different sources, and the presentation generation phase, which builds a hypermedia presentation for the integrated data. The focus of this paper is on the hypermedia presentation generation phase and the associated model specifications. The Hera presentation generation phase has two variants: a static one that computes at once a full Web presentation, and a dynamic one that computes one-page-at-a-time by letting the user influence the next Web page to be presented. The dynamic variant proposes, in addition to the models from the static variant, new models to capture the data resulted from the user's interaction with the system. The implementation is based on a sequence of data transformations applied to the Hera models that eventually produces a hypermedia presentation.     

Transactional Memory for Unstructured Mesh Simulations

In this paper we study transactional memory (TM) as a new tool for threading codes in this new era of multi- and many-core computers. In particular, we investigate the features and study the applicability of transactional memory as an efficient and easy-to-use alternative for handling memory conflicts in unstructured mesh simulations that use shared memory. The software tool used for our preliminary analysis of this novel construct is IBM’s freely available Software Transactional Memory (STM) system. For our studies, we developed the BUSTM benchmark which is a test code with state-of-the-art unstructured-mesh bookkeeping. The numerical algorithms are simplified yet still exhibit most of the salient features of modern unstructured mesh methods. We apply STM to two frequently used algorithm types used in multi-physics codes with realistic 3-D meshes. Our computational experiments indicate a good fit between these application scenarios and the TM features.     

Autonomous GPR Surveys using the Polar Rover Yeti

The National Science Foundation operates stations on the ice sheets of Antarctica and Greenland to investigate Earth's climate history, life in extreme environments, and the evolution of the cosmos. Understandably, logistics costs predominate budgets due to the remote locations and harsh environments involved. Currently, manual ground‐penetrating radar (GPR) surveys must preceed vehicle travel across polar ice sheets to detect subsurface crevasses or other voids. This exposes the crew to the risks of undetected hazards. We have developed an autonomous rover, Yeti, specifically to conduct GPR surveys across polar ice sheets. It is a simple four‐wheel‐drive, battery‐powered vehicle that executes autonomous surveys via GPS waypoint following. We describe here three recent Yeti deployments, two in Antarctica and one in Greenland. Our key objective was to demonstrate the operational value of a rover to locate subsurface hazards. Yeti operated reliably at ?30 °C, and it has has good oversnow mobility and adequate GPS accuracy for waypoint‐following and hazard georeferencing. It has acquired data on hundreds of crevasse encounters to improve our understanding of heavily crevassed traverse routes and to develop automated crevasse‐detection algorithms. Importantly, it helped to locate a previously undetected buried building at the South Pole. Yeti can improve safety by decoupling survey personnel from the consequences of undetected hazards. It also enables higher‐quality systematic surveys to improve hazard‐detection probabilities, increase assessment confidence, and build datasets to understand the evolution of these regions. Yeti has demonstrated that autonomous vehicles have great potential to improve the safety and efficiency of polar logistics. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

The M2a Macrophage Phenotype Accompanies Pulmonary Granuloma Resolution in Mmp12 Knock-Out Mice Instilled with Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes

Sarcoidosis is a chronic disease with unknown etiology and pathophysiology, characterized by granuloma formation. Matrix Metalloproteinase-12 (MMP12) is an elastase implicated in active granulomatous sarcoidosis. Previously, we reported that oropharyngeal instillation of multiwall carbon nanotubes (MWCNT) into C57Bl/6 mice induced sarcoid-like granulomas and upregulation of MMP12. When Mmp12 knock-out (KO) mice were instilled with MWCNT, granuloma formation occurred 10 days post-instillation but subsequently resolved at 60 days. Thus, we concluded that MMP12 was essential to granuloma persistence. The aim of the current study was to identify potential mechanisms of granuloma resolution in Mmp12KO mice. Strikingly, an M2 macrophage phenotype was present in Mmp12KO but not in C57Bl/6 mice. Between 10 and 60 days, macrophage populations in MWCNT-instilled Mmp12KO mice demonstrated an M2c to M2a phenotypic shift, with elevations in levels of IL-13, an M2 subtype-regulating factor. Furthermore, the M2 inducer, Apolipoprotein E (ApoE), and Matrix Metalloproteinase-14 (MMP14), a promoter of collagen degradation, were upregulated in 60-day MWCNT-instilled Mmp12KO mice. In conclusion, alveolar macrophages express two M2 phenotypes in Mmp12KO mice: M2c at 10 days when granulomas form, and M2a at 60 days when granulomas are resolving. Findings suggest that granuloma resolution in 60-day Mmp12KO mice requires an M2a macrophage phenotype.