Thirty Years of Monte Carlo Simulations of Electronic Transport in Semiconductors: Their Relevance to Science and Mainstream VLSI Technology

We review briefly some aspects of the history of Monte Carlo simulations of electronic transport in semiconductors. In the early days their heavy computational cost rendered them suitable only to study problems of pure physics, as simpler models provided the answers necessary to design ‘electrostatically good’ devices. Now that scaling has taken another meaning (i.e., looking for alternative materials, crystal orientations, device geometries, etc.), Monte Carlo simulations may gain popularity once more, since they allow an efficient and reliable evaluation of speculative ideas. We show examples of both aspects of the results of Monte Carlo work.     

Memory and Emotions for the September 11, 2001, Terrorist Attacks in Patients With Alzheimer's Disease, Patients With Mild Cognitive Impairment, and Healthy Older Adults.

National traumatic events can produce extremely vivid memories. Using a questionnaire administered during telephone interviews, the authors investigated emotional responses to, and memory for. the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks in patients with Alzheimer's disease (AD), patients with mild cognitive impairment (MCI), and healthy older adults in the initial weeks following the event and again 3-4 months later. There were several notable findings. First, patients with AD showed less memory than patients with MCI and older adults. Second, patients with AD, but not patients with MCI or older adults, appeared to retain more memory for personal versus factual information. Third, patients with AD and older adults did not differ in the intensity of their reported emotional responses to the attacks, whereas patients with MCI reported relatively less intense emotional responses. Last, distortions of memory for personal information were frequent for all participants but were more common in patients with AD. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Biomagnification of perfluoroalkyl compounds in the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus) food web

The environmental distribution and the biomagnification of a suite of perfluoroalkyl compounds (PFCs), including perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS) and C8 to C14 perfluorinated carboxylates (PFCAs), was investigated in the food web of the bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops truncatus). Surficial seawater and sediment samples, as well as zooplankton, fish, and bottlenose dolphin tissue samples, were collected at two U.S. locations: Sarasota Bay, FL and Charleston Harbor, SC. Wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) effluents were also collected from the Charleston area (n = 4). A solid-phase extraction was used for seawater and effluent samples and an ion-pairing method was used for sediment and biotic samples. PFCs were detected in seawater (range <1-12 ng/L), sediment (range <0.01-0.4 ng/g wet weight (ww)), and zooplankton (range 0.06-0.3 ng/g ww). The highest PFC concentrations were detected in WWTP effluents, whole fish, and dolphin plasma and tissue samples in which PFOS, C8 and C10-PFCAs predominated in most matrices. Contamination profiles varied with location suggesting different sources of PFC emissions. Biomagnification factors (BMFs) ranged from <1 to 156 at Sarasota Bay and <1 to 30 at Charleston. Trophic magnification factors (TMFs) for PFOS and C8-C11 PFCAs indicated biomagnification in this marine food web. The results indicate that using plasma and liver PFC concentrations as surrogate to whole body burden in a top marine predator overestimates the BMFs and TMFs.     

Prevention of Clostridium botulinum Type A, Proteolytic B and E Toxin Formation in Refrigerated Pea Soup by Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014

The ability of Lactobacillus plantarum ATCC 8014 to inhibit Clostridium botulinum toxin production in pea soup was investigated. Soup containing C. botulinum spores (10³/g) with and without L. plantarum (10⁶/g) were evaluated. Soup containing only type A spores was toxic on days 1 and 2 when incubated at 35°C and 25°C, respectively. Soup containing only proteolytic type B spores was toxic on days 2 and 5 at 35°C and 25°C, respectively. Soup containing only type E spores was toxic at 25°C, 15°C, and 5°C in 7, 7, and 63 days respectively. No toxin was found in soup containing C. botulinum spores plus L. plantarum at any temperature studied.     

Molecular Dynamics and Evolution of Centromeres in the Genus Equus

The centromere is the chromosomal locus essential for proper chromosome segregation. While the centromeric function is well conserved and epigenetically specified, centromeric DNA sequences are typically composed of satellite DNA and represent the most rapidly evolving sequences in eukaryotic genomes. The presence of satellite sequences at centromeres hampered the comprehensive molecular analysis of these enigmatic loci. The discovery of functional centromeres completely devoid of satellite repetitions and fixed in some animal and plant species represented a turning point in centromere biology, definitively proving the epigenetic nature of the centromere. The first satellite-free centromere, fixed in a vertebrate species, was discovered in the horse. Later, an extraordinary number of satellite-free neocentromeres had been discovered in other species of the genus Equus, which remains the only mammalian genus with numerous satellite-free centromeres described thus far. These neocentromeres arose recently during evolution and are caught in a stage of incomplete maturation. Their presence made the equids a unique model for investigating, at molecular level, the minimal requirements for centromere seeding and evolution. This model system provided new insights on how centromeres are established and transmitted to the progeny and on the role of satellite DNA in different aspects of centromere biology.     

A Firm‐Level Analysis on the Relative Difference between Technology‐Driven and Market‐Driven Disruptive Business Model Innovations

Using the business model concept as a theoretical framework, this paper examines the relative disruptiveness potential between technology‐driven and market‐driven innovations. The study analyses retrospectively four case studies comprising two technologically sophisticated IT innovations and two technologically less sophisticated market‐driven innovations starting from their inception to the point of disruption over a period of 5–15 years. It finds that, while the disruption process of technology‐driven innovation conforms to the patterns predicted by disruptive innovation theory, the disruption process of market‐driven disruptive business model innovation depicts a bottleneck shape, where the positive effects of initial strategic choice, model specialization and investments on disruptiveness potential reach the maximum level and start to stagnate due to the same initial strategic choice and cost factors. Implications for researchers and practitioners are discussed.     

Effect of diethyl ether blended with neem oil methyl esters in CI engine

Vegetable oils are now considered to be a potential alternative that can be used in place of partial or total substitution of diesel fuels. In this study, we used diethyl ether as an oxygenated additive to investigate the possible use of higher percentages of biodiesel in an unmodified diesel engine. Neem oil was selected for biodiesel production. The tests were performed at a steady-state condition in a single-cylinder constant speed DI diesel engine. The combustion process involved in diesel engine would be improved and the particulate matter would be reduced if these biodiesels are blended. An experimental investigation is carried out to establish the emission characteristics of a direct injection diesel engine using diethyl ether as additive in Neat Neem oil Biodiesel. Emissions of hydro carbon oxides of nitrogen and carbon monoxide significantly reduced by adding diethyl ether into neem oil biodiesel at 10% and 20% on volume basis.     

A Multiphase Pore Scale Network Model of Gas Exchange in Apple Fruit

A multiphase pore scale network model was developed to describe mass transfer in apple fruit. The 3D microscale geometry of the tissue was reconstructed from synchrotron radiation tomography images. Individual cells and pores were identified using a watershed segmentation procedure on a Euclidean distance map of the tissue microstructure. Further morphological characteristics of each individual pore, including its volume, connections to the neighbors and the connected area between the pore and its neighbors, were determined. The tissue was represented by a network of nodes (simplified individual pores and cells) that were interconnected by tubes. The transport of the respiratory gases O₂ and CO₂ between two nodes was modelled using diffusion laws and irreversible thermodynamics, while respiration was taken into account in the individual cellular nodes. A numerical procedure was applied to simulate the gas transport within the discrete network and to compute the local diffusivities of the links in the network. The predicted overall gas diffusivities compared well to experimental data and results computed from a microscale continuum model, thereby validating the pore scale network model. This approach is a computationally attractive alternative to a continuum multiphase approach for modelling gas transport in fruit.     

The Effect of Relationship Characteristics and Relational Communication on Experiences of Hurt From Romantic Partners

This study expands the relational turbulence model (RTM; Solomon & Knobloch,) by theorizing about how characteristics of relationships and relational judgments influence people's experiences of hurtful messages. Previous applications of RTM to hurt have uncovered associations among relational characteristics that influence people's hurtful experiences; however, the process by which these characteristics influence experiences of hurt remains unclear. We propose that relational communication (specifically, perceptions of dominance, and disaffiliation) is the mechanism linking relational qualities to hurt. A multigroup SEM was conducted to test for the possibility of sex differences. Results showed that people's experiences of hurt vary as a function of both relationship characteristics and relational inferences. Results also indicated a difference in path coefficients for males and females.