A mathematical model for wet-chemical diffusion-controlled mask etching through a circular hole

Asymptotic solutions are presented for diffusion-controlled wet-chemical etching through a round hole in a mask. The three-dimensional diffusion field is assumed to be axisymmetric and fully developed. Two time regimes are considered. The first applies when the etched depth is small in comparison with the width of the mask opening. In the second, the depth of etching is much greater than the width of the mask opening. Explicit solutions are found for the shape of the etched surface as a function of the physical parameters. Among other things it is found that, as long as the etched pits are shallow, etching through small apertures is faster than through larger ones. The opposite is true for deep pits.     

Heat or mass transfer from an open cavity

Summary This paper presents a mathematical model for heat or mass transfer from an open cavity. It is assumed that the Péclet number, based on conditions at the cavity, and the Prandtl number are both large. The model assumes heat- or mass-transfer boundary layers at the rim of the cavity vortex flow. Heat or mass exchange with the surrounding fluid occurs in a free boundary layer which spans the mouth of the cavity. It is shown that the solution depends upon a single parameter only. This parameter is determined by the flow field. For small and large values of matched asymptotic expansions are presented. The model is illustrated for a few simple flows in closed cavities. Etching, clot formation in flowing blood, lubrication and cooling of rough surfaces are mentioned as possible fields of application.     

A multiple-layer finite-element model of the surface EMG signal

The effect of skin, muscle, fat, and bone tissue on simulated surface electromyographic (EMG) signals was examined using a finite-element model. The amplitude and frequency content of the surface potential were observed to increase when the outer layer of a homogeneous muscle model was replaced with highly resistive skin or fat tissue. The rate at which the surface potential decreased as the fiber was moved deeper within the muscle also increased. Similarly, the rate at which the surface potential decayed around the surface of the model, for a constant fiber depth, increased. When layers of subcutaneous fat of increasing thickness were then added to the model, EMG amplitude, frequency content, and the rate of decay of the surface EMG signal around the limb decreased, due to the increased distance between the electrodes and the active fiber. The influence of bone on the surface potential was observed to vary considerably, depending on its location. When located close to the surface of the volume conductor, the surface EMG signal between the bone and the source and directly over the bone increased, accompanied by a slight decrease on the side of the bone distal to the active fiber. The results emphasize the importance of distinguishing between the effects of material properties and the distance between source and electrode when considering the influence of subcutaneous tissue, and suggest possible distortions in the surface EMG signal in regions where a bone is located close to the skin surface.     

Applying multidisciplinary policy analysis to factors affecting coal use

Continued economic growth requires abundant and relatively inexpensive energy. However, energy resource development and use are often accompanied by environmental degradation. Coal use, in particular, exacerbates problems at the interface between energy use, economic growth, and environmental quality. Governmental decision-makers are being called upon to address many technically and politically complex public policy issues at this interface. Multidisciplinary policy analyses are increasingly successful in resolving the technical aspects of these issues.Several different types of integrated assessments are briefly mentioned. Two case studies are then described—one in which a systems analysis approach is being used for utility systems planning and the other in which risk and decision analysis is helping to resolve the multiple objectives and uncertainties inherent in decisions concerning the health hazards associated with coal gasification and the allocation of funds for proposed research projects concerning the Great Plains Coal Gasification Plant. A third case study illustrates how expertise and prior experience in different disciplines can be used to address the many technical issues surrounding acid precipitation.     

Improved myoelectric prosthesis control using targeted reinnervation surgery: a case series.

Targeted reinnervation is a surgical technique developed to increase the number of myoelectric input sites available to control an upper-limb prosthesis. Because signals from the nerves related to specific movements are used to control those missing degrees-of-freedom, the control of a prosthesis using this procedure is more physiologically appropriate compared to conventional control. This procedure has successfully been performed on three people with a shoulder disarticulation level amputation and three people with a transhumeral level amputation. Performance on timed tests, including the box-and-blocks test and clothespin test, has increased two to six times. Options for new control strategies are discussed.     

Finite element modeling of electromagnetic signal propagation in aphantom arm

Improving the control of artificial arms remains a considerable challenge. It may be possible to graft remaining peripheral nerves in an amputated limb to spare muscles in or near the residual limb and use these nerve-muscle grafts as additional myoelectric control signals. This would allow simultaneous control of multiple degrees of freedom (DOF) and could greatly improve the control of artificial limbs. For this technique to be successful, the electromyography (EMG) signals from the nerve-muscle grafts would need to be independent of each other with minimal crosstalk. To study EMG signal propagation and quantify crosstalk, finite element (FE) models were developed in a phantom-arm model. The models were validated with experimental data collected by applying sinusoidal excitations to a phantom-arm model and recording the surface electric potential distribution. There was a very high correlation (r>0.99) between the FEM data and the experimental data, with the error in signal magnitude generally less than 5%. Simulations were then performed using muscle dielectric properties with static, complex, and full electromagnetic solvers. The results indicate that significant displacement currents can develop (>50% of total current) and that the fall-off of surface signal power varies with how the signal source is modeled     

Nuclear counterparts of the cytoplasmic mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene: a problem of ancient DNA and molecular phylogenies

Monkey mummy bones and teeth originating from the North Saqqara Baboon Galleries (Egypt), soft tissue from a mummified baboon in a museum collection, and nineteenth/twentieth-century skin fragments from mangabeys were used for DNA extraction and PCR amplification of part of the mitochondrial 12S rRNA gene. Sequences aligning with the 12S rRNA gene were recovered but were only distantly related to contemporary monkey mitochondrial 12S rRNA sequences. However, many of these sequences were identical or closely related to human nuclear DNA sequences resembling mitochondrial 12S rRNA (isolated from a cell line depleted in mitochondria) and therefore have to be considered contamination. Subsequently in a separate study we were able to recover genuine mitochondrial 12S rRNA sequences from many extant species of nonhuman Old World primates and sequences closely resembling the human nuclear integrations. Analysis of all sequences by the neighbor-joining (NJ) method indicated that mitochondrial DNA sequences and their nuclear counterparts can be divided into two distinct clusters. One cluster contained all temporary cytoplasmic mitochondrial DNA sequences and approximately half of the monkey nuclear mitochondriallike sequences. A second cluster contained most human nuclear sequences and the other half of monkey nuclear sequences with a separate branch leading to human and gorilla mitochondrial and nuclear sequences. Sequences recovered from ancient materials were equally divided between the two clusters. These results constitute a warning for when working with ancient DNA or performing phylogenetic analysis using mitochondrial DNA as a target sequence: Nuclear counterparts of mitochondrial genes may lead to faulty interpretation of results.