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This study provided a thorough investigation of surface blistering and exfoliation behavior in germanium substrates with different crystal orientation, which is crucial for understanding the mechanism of smart-cut process in the fabrication of germanium-on-insulator. Two hundred-kilo-electron-volt H2+ ions with a fluence of 2.5 × 1016 ions/cm2 were implanted into (100)-oriented, (111)-oriented, and (110)-oriented n-type germanium wafers. Following ion implantation, the post-annealing treatments were conducted to drive the formation of blisters and craters in germanium. In conducting the characteristic analysis, hydrogen depth profiles were measured using SIMS. In situ optical microscopy observation was performed to measure the threshold temperature and onset time of the blisters and craters. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy was also employed to examine the micro-structural properties of hydrogen-induced radiation defects in the specimens. The kinetics of the thermally activated blistering process was also analyzed to estimate the effective activation energy for blister and crater formation. The results revealed that an obviously different morphology of the optically detectable blisters and craters can be identified in Ge(100), Ge(111), and Ge(110) specimens. Substrate orientation of germanium also makes a great impact on the blistering threshold temperature, the onset time and activation energy for blister and crater formation, and the development of hydrogen implantation-induced micro-cracks. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The influence of thermal stability on microstructure, surface morphology and residual stress for gate stack structure of HfZrO2 dielectrics grown by atomic layer deposition (ALD) were investigated. The difference of spectra, residual stress, and structures for HfZrO2 films are obtained by the changed thermal energy. A tetragonal to monoclinic phase transformation is observed during high temperature annealing for HfZrO2 films. The variations of spectra can be attributed to the different residual stress of ALD HfZrO2 films induced by the annealing temperature. The tensile residual stress of HfZrO2 films were increased when increasing annealing temperature either for N2 or O2 annealing. This work provides an extensive study for the interface characteristics of high-k/metal (HKMG) stacks at 28nm advanced CMOS technology node.

Hydrogen-induced surface blistering and exfoliation have become more useful index in assessing the mechanisms involved in the process of layer transfer in various semiconductor materials. This study focused specifically on determining the behaviors of germanium blistering and exfoliation induced by hydrogen molecular ion implantation. Germanium substrates were implanted with 200 keV H2 + ions to a fluence of 2.5 × 10 16 ions/cm 2 before undergoing furnace annealing (FA) treatments. Quantitative analysis using optical microscopy (OM) revealed a thermal evolution of optically-detectable blisters and craters, suggesting an optimal condition of 410 ◦ C, 1 hr. The mechanisms involved in the development of hydrogen blisters in germanium were also evidenced by hydrogen redistribution and microstructure evolution caused by thermal annealing. The measured effective activation energy levels necessary for blister and crater formation showed a noticeable increase in magnitude as compared to the previous result, which may be attributed to dose-dependent activation energy. Furthermore, in order to determine the effectiveness of the layer-splitting process at various post-annealing temperatures, characteristic time was defined based on the time evolution of the covered-area fraction of blisters and craters. The results indicated that a higher post-annealing temperature corresponds to a shorter characteristic time.

Aims: To develop a microbial strain producing poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)], in the absence of antibiotic supplementation (normally required to stabilize a recombinant plasmid), by constructing a recombinant Escherichia coli strain with phaCAB and vgb integrated into the chromosome. Methods and Results: The polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthesis operon (phaCAB) and the bacterial haemoglobin gene (vgb) were integrated downstream of nlpB (novel lipoprotein B) in E. coli K12, via homologous recombination, to form a recombinant strain, termed YH100. VHb encoded by the vgb gene was successfully expressed in YH100, as confirmed by Western blotting. P(3HB) synthesis by the YH100 strain grown in the absence of antibiotic was analysed by transmission electron microscopy. The yield of P(3HB) is 208 mg g−1. The thermal stability of P(3HB) produced from YH100 was similar to that of commercial P(3HB). Further, the polydispersity index (PDI) of the P(3HB) polymer derived from YH100 was 1·37, indicating that polymer uniformity was greater than that of commercial P(3HB), which had a PDI of 1·47. Conclusions: We successfully constructed a recombinant E. coli strain expressing exogenous genes, specifically phaCAB from Cupriavidus necator and vgb from Vitreoscilla stercoraria, integrated into the downstream of chromosomal dapA-nlpB locus. P(3HB) was stably produced by this strain, without any need for antibiotic supplementation to stabilize a recombinant plasmid at least for 48h. Significance and Impact of the Study: We report a genetic locus, the downstream of the nlpB locus in E. coli, in which the transcription of the exogenous genes is driven by the dapA-nlpB promoter without the need for the addition of inducer and antibiotic.

PCR coupled with electrospray ionization mass spectrometry (PCR/ESI-MS) was compared with culture for pathogen detection in peritoneal dialysis (PD)-related peritonitis. Of 21 samples of PD effluent, PCR/ESI-MS identified microorganisms in 18 (86%) samples, including Mycobacterium tuberculosis in 1 culture-negative sample. Of 15 double-positive samples, PCR/ESI-MS and culture reached levels of agreement of 100% (15/15) and 87.5% (7/8) at the genus and species levels, respectively. PCR/ESI-MS can be used for rapid pathogen detection in PD-related peritonitis.

Natural attenuation is a passive remedial approach that depends upon natural processes to degrade and dissipate contaminants in soil and groundwater. Intrinsic bioremediation is believed to be the major process among the natural attenuation mechanisms that account for the reduction of contaminant concentrations. In this study, a mass flux approach was used to calculate the contaminant mass reduction at a petroleum-hydrocarbon spill site. The mass flux technique is a simplified mass balance procedure, which is accomplished using the differences in total contaminant mass flux across two cross sections of the contaminant plume. The mass flux calculation results show that up to 86% of the dissolved total benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX) isomers removal was observed via natural attenuation at this site. Evidence for the occurrence of natural attenuation was the decreased contaminant mass flux through the plume cross sections along the transport path and limited spreading of the BTEX plume. Evi...

Aims: To develop an Aeromonas strain able to utilize inexpensive carbon sources such as starch for the synthesis of polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA). Methods and Results: A recombinant Aeromonas sp. (strain KC007-1) was constructed by introducing the PHB synthesis genes (phaCAB) into the bacterium. Strain KC001-R1 can not only use carbohydrate (including starch) for growth but also accumulate significant amounts of polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) in the cells. Conclusions: One of the present focuses on PHA production has been on lowering the production costs. Starch is an example of an inexpensive carbohydrate for use in industrial production of PHA. We have demonstrated that by introducing the phaCAB operon into Aeromonas sp. allowed the bacterium able to accumulated PHB using this substrate. Significance and Impact of the Study: Aeromonas spp. are able to synthesize PHA using fatty acids as carbon source. Although good robust growth results with use of starch as sole carbon source for Aeromonas, PHA synthesis does not occur. Strain KC007-R1 showed the ability to accumulate PHA in relative high amount with both carbohydrates and fatty acids as carbon source, and can be cultivated to a significant amount of cell mass and hence is a potential strain for further development for industrial applications.

Locally strained Si technology using embedded SiGe has been used to improve pMOSFET device performance through hole mobility enhancement. Embedded SiGe is achieved by selectively growing epitaxial SiGe film in recessed Si pMOSFET source and drain areas. Prior to selective SiGe epi growth, a thin layer of Si seed was employed to help nucleate following low-temperature selective SiGe epitaxial film in recessed source and drain areas. In combination with pre-epi wet clean and low-temperature chemical bake, use of Si seed resulted in improved SiGe film morphology and micro-loading effect, and further improved device performance.

Aims: To develop an efficient approach using a combination of phenotypic and genotypic methods for isolation of environmental bacteria that produce mid-chain-length polyhydroxyalkanoates (mcl-PHAs). Methods and Results: A viable-colony staining method using Nile red was used to screen for PHA-producing bacteria followed by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) screen using primers to amplify the partial nucleic acid sequence of the phaC1 synthase gene for confirmation. Microbes containing lipophilic storage compounds isolated from environmental samples could readily be detected by the colony staining method. They were further examined by Sudan Black staining to highlight the inclusions inside the cells. These isolates were subsequently subjected to PCR analysis. As a result, more than a hundred strains were identified as PHA-positive isolates from this screening approach. Conclusions: These results conclusively demonstrate that environmental bacterial strains able to accumulate the PHAs could readily be obtained by this screening method. Significance and Impact of the Study: We propose a polyphasic approach using a combination of phenotypic and genotypic screening method to rapidly screen and identify bacteria able to produce significant amounts of mcl-PHAs from environment. This approach can be adopted as a rapid screen for micro-organisms able to accumulate PHAs to be used for potential manufacture and other industrial applications.

T cells have been demonstrated to modulate ischemia-reperfusion injury (IRI) in kidney, lung, liver and intestine. The underlying mechanisms for T-cell engagement in IRI are unknown. We hypothesized that the T-cell receptor (TCR) plays a role in renal IRI, and examined the effects of TCR alpha/beta (alphabeta) and gamma/delta (gammadelta) deficiency on ischemic acute renal failure (ARF). TCR-specific deficiency in specific mice was confirmed by fluorescence-activated cell sorting analysis using monoclonal antibodies (Abs). IRI was induced by bilateral clamping of kidney pedicles for 30 min, followed by reperfusion. Serum creatinine and kidney histopathology were used to assess the severity of experimental ARF. TCR alphabeta-deficient mice were significantly protected from kidney dysfunction compared to wild-type (WT) littermates after IRI (P0.05). Histologic analysis demonstrated a significant reduction in renal tubular injury in both TCR alphabeta- and gammadelta-deficient mice compared to WT mice postischemia. TCR alphabeta-deficient mice had reduced tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 protein expression in kidney tissue compared to WT mice at 24 h postischemia using a microbead-based protein detection platform. Relative protection from kidney IRI did not correlate with neutrophil and macrophage infiltration of kidney tissue. Thus, the TCR plays a direct but modest pathophysiological role in kidney IRI. These data suggest that alloantigen-independent activation in IRI can lead to engagement of antigen-specific molecules on T cells. Furthermore, given that the TCR is already a target for diagnostics and therapeutic strategies in immune diseases, these approaches can now be harnessed for IRI.

This study presents a space and time-discontinous Galerkin (TDG) finite element method for analyzing three-dimensional linear transient elastodynamic problems. This novel method uses both the displacements and velocities as basic unknowns and approximates them as piecewise linear functions which are continuous in space and discontinuous in time. The improved algorithm employs the Gauss-Seidel method to calculate iteratively the solutions that exist in the numerical implementation. Stability analyses of TDG method reveal that such a method retains the unconditionally stable behavior with greater efficiency than other direct time integration algorithms. In addition, numerical examples are presented, demonstrating that the proposed method is more accurate than several commonly used algorithms in structural dynamic applications.

Optimization of halo profile for advanced MOSFET device is important to control device short channel effect as well as device leakage. Multiple halo implants, such as mixture of Indium and boron to tailor the halo formation, have been used widely for n-FET devices. Amid its AMU and solubility, Gallium has a potential for better halo activation than Indium and reduced lateral straggling than boron. Therefore, Gallium could be a promising specie for device improvement through 1) halo optimization in planar devices, or 2) ground plane for retrograde well for better FinFET leakage characteristics. In this paper, Gallium is used to replace high scattering P dopant (HS-P) halo for SRAM or HS-P cluster halo for core NFET using a poly-SiON 28nm process with bare wafers and device splits. Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) was employed for dopant profiles for as-implanted and after thermal process. It is shown that when replacing HS-P or HS-P cluster halo by Gallium an excessive device shift is observed. The overlap capacitance indicates that overlap lateral diffusion regions are significant different with Gallium halo than established process flow. The paper will discuss potential underlying physical mechanisms.

Optimization of halo profile for advanced MOSFET device is known to be very critical and challenging. Halo profiles around channel can cause carrier mobility degradation, leakage and higher Vt mismatch. Indium and high scattering P-type dopant (HS-P) mixed halo formation have been used widely for n-FET devices. Gallium has a better activation than Indium and is heavier specie than HS-P. Gallium could be promising specie for device improvement through halo optimization in planar devices or ground plane/retrograde well for better FinFET leakage characteristics. In this paper, Gallium is used to replace Indium halo on bare and device wafers using a poly-SiON 28nm process. Secondary Ion Mass Spectroscopy (SIMS) was employed for dopant profiles after anneals. Device gain in drive current with better Drain Induced Barrier Lowering or DIBL by 12mV was observed when Gallium replaced Indium in the HS-P/Indium mixed halo. The observed excessive device shift when Gallium was used to replace HS-P halo will be discussed in a future study. Ga for halo formation is not an plug/play and the interaction among the co-implant and dopant through implant induced damage should be investigated in the integration flow.

This paper studies how boron thermal diffusion in SiGe heterostructure are influenced by different source drain extension high-energy fluorine implant after SiGe thermal process for advanced HKMG SRAM device. Different fluorine profiles may introduce different fluorine concentration along Si/SiGe interface and result in fluorine interstitial cluster at different SiGe positions after SiGe 700°C thermal process. Blanket wafer secondary ion mass spectroscopy (SIMS) profiles were compared for different implant schemes and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) micrographs to establish the conditions under which F high energy implant suppresses B diffusion and cause breakthough dislocation at the bottom of SiGe. By tuning F co-implant from high energy into low energy, the breakthrough dislocations at the bottom of SiGe can be eliminated due to less clusters were formed. From real HKMG SRAM p-MOSFET device learning, better junction leakage improvement was found by Flow energy co-implant due to the elimination of cluster-induced dislocations. Ion/Ioff performance enhancement can also be found by suppresing boron transient enhanced diffusion (TED) from in-situ boron doped SiGe. Possible germanium concentration change inside SiGe with different boron diffusion mechanism by different fluorine co-implants may also influence the strain inside SiGe heterostructure and result in electrical device performance.

Polycrystalline silicon has attracted our interest for their applications. Its electrical characteristics are closely correlated to the crystalline structure after electrical activation. The parameters related to crystalline structure are strongly influenced by implant and annealing techniques. We investigate the influence and sensitivity of implant / annealing / microstructure / mobility on sheet resistance (Rs) of doped polysilicon film, which is prepared by a CVD reactor and implanted by various germanium and boron conditions. We also combine with RTP/LSA sequences to active and recrystallize polysilicon. Finally, fitting results of XRD is used to calculate grain size which shows strong correlation with Rs. We study on using implant/annealing process to modulate polysilicon Rs and its grain size. Different dopant species and annealing techniques were discussed its influence on these parameters. Data shows that Rs is inverse on grain size and it can be adjusted by process conditions to meet device requirement.

This work presents an improved predictor/multi-corrector algorithm for linear structural dynamics problems, based on the time-discontinuous Galerkin finite element method. The improved algorithm employs the Gauss–Seidel method to calculate iteratively the solutions that exist in the phase of the predictor/multi-corrector of the numerical implementation. Stability analyses of iterative algorithms reveal that such an improved scheme retains the unconditionally stable behavior with greater efficiency than another iterative algorithm. Also, numerical examples are presented, demonstrating that the proposed method is more stable and accurate than several commonly used algorithms in structural dynamic applications.

The innovative precise-environment design in this study can reduce the leakage at the machine STI load lock outlet effectively and can remove the pollution source within a short period of time, so as to minimize the AMC in the clean room. This not only reduces the amount of product defects but also contributes greatly to the yield. The practical validation after the precise environment was installed showed that the Cl- concentration was reduced from 1.057 to 0.04 ppbv, indicating an improvement rate of as high as 96%. Therefore, this study evaluated the feasibility of installing a precise environment in on-site AMC heavy contamination machines, as well as for important machines used for metal etching, poly etching, BP TEOS, and so on. The results of this study contributed to the control of micro contamination in clean room environments significantly and increased the benefits of enhancing machine stability, increasing the process yield, and reducing wafer defects.

When selecting a fluoropolymer fitting design to be used in ultra high-purity chemical applications, decision makers must consider different performance characteristics. A recent study was conducted that measured key fitting attributes, such as fitting pull-out force, cleanliness and assembly time. The study compared commercially available nonwetted insert, flare, and wetted insert style fittings. The methodologies employed and the test results are detailed in this paper.

Modern techniques for dynamic control of chaotic systems are introduced. The problem of controlling chaos is addressed in the same conceptual framework as proposed by Ott, Grebogi and Yorke. However, the novelty here is the introduction of LQ and ℋ∞ techniques to address the problem. These techniques have been tested on representative systems, specifically the Logistic Map.

In Taiwan, due to improved domestic living standards, power consumption due to residential and industrial air conditioning systems has risen rapidly, resulting in peak power shortages. During the summer months, air conditioning power consumption takes up over 45% of the total power consumption. Therefore, energy-saving designs for air conditioning systems could be improved, energy-saving could be achieved.

SUMMARY This paper investigates two different longitudinal control policies for automatically controlled vehicles. One is based on maintaining a constant spacing between the vehicles while the other is based upon maintaining a constant headway (or time) between successive vehicles. To avoid collisions in the platoon, controllers have to be designed to ensure string stability, i.e the spacing errors should not get amplified as they propagate upstream from vehicle to vehicle. A measure of string stability is introduced and a systematic method of designing constant spacing controllers which guarantee string stability is presented. The constant headway policy does not require inter-vehicle communication to assure string stablity. Also, since inter-vehicle communication is not required it can be used in systems with mixed automated-nonautomated vehicles, e.g for AICC (Autonomous Intelligent Cruise Control). It is shown in this paper that for all the autonomous headway control laws, the desired control torques ...

To develop a microbial strain producing poly(3-hydroxybutyrate) [P(3HB)], in the absence of antibiotic supplementation (normally required to stabilize a recombinant plasmid), by constructing a recombinant Escherichia coli strain with phaCAB and vgb integrated into the chromosome.The polyhydroxyalkanoate (PHA) synthesis operon (phaCAB) and the bacterial haemoglobin gene (vgb) were integrated downstream of nlpB (novel lipoprotein B) in E. coli K12, via homologous recombination, to form a recombinant strain, termed YH100. VHb encoded by the vgb gene was successfully expressed in YH100, as confirmed by Western blotting. P(3HB) synthesis by the YH100 strain grown in the absence of antibiotic was analysed by transmission electron microscopy. The yield of P(3HB) is 208 mg g(-1) . The thermal stability of P(3HB) produced from YH100 was similar to that of commercial P(3HB). Further, the polydispersity index (PDI) of the P(3HB) polymer derived from YH100 was 1·37, indicating that polymer uniformity was greater than that of commercial P(3HB), which had a PDI of 1·47.We successfully constructed a recombinant E. coli strain expressing exogenous genes, specifically phaCAB from Cupriavidus necator and vgb from Vitreoscilla stercoraria, integrated into the downstream of chromosomal dapA-nlpB locus. P(3HB) was stably produced by this strain, without any need for antibiotic supplementation to stabilize a recombinant plasmid at least for 48h.We report a genetic locus, the downstream of the nlpB locus in E. coli, in which the transcription of the exogenous genes is driven by the dapA-nlpB promoter without the need for the addition of inducer and antibiotic.

the key ideas behind this decoding technique are utilizing the shift search algorithm. Only those error patterns of weight less than 5 are necessary to be stored in the memory. By utilizing the hash search scheme for finding error pattern, the decrease of CPU time in decoding process is about 38% and the size of memory requirement is about 6% more than binary search scheme. Moreover, the new method could be utilized in real-time systems because of high speed and low memory requirement. It is readily adaptable suitable for use in automation link establish (ALE) system and Digital Signal Processing (DSP) systems.

Aim: To develop an approach to enhance polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB) production via the coexpressed phaCAB and vgb genes controlled by arabinose PBAD promoter in Escherichia coli. Method and Results: The polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHAs) synthesis operon, (phaCAB), from Ralstonia eutropha was overexpressed under the regulation of the arabinose PBAD promoter in Escherichia coli, and the vgb gene encoding bacterial haemoglobin from Vitreoscilla stercoraria (VHb) was further cloned at downstream of phaCAB to form an artificial operon. The cell dry weight (CDW), PHB content and PHB concentration were enhanced around 1·23-, 1·57-, and 1·93-fold in the engineered cell harbouring phaCAB–vgb (SY-2) upon 1% arabinose induction compared with noninduction (0% arabinose). Furthermore, by using a recombinant strain harbouring PBAD promoter-vgb along with native promoter-phaCAB construction, the effect of vgb expression level on PHB biosynthesis was positive correlation. Conclusions: The results exploit the possibility to improve the PHB production by fusing the genes phaCAB–vgb from different species under the arabinose regulation system in E. coli. It also demonstrates that increase in VHb level enhances the PHB production. Significance and Impact of the Study: We were successful in providing a new coexpressed system for PHB synthesis in E. coli. This coexpressed system could be regulated by arabinose inducer, and is more stable and cheaper than other induced systems (e.g. IPTG). Furthermore, it could be applied in many biotechnology or fermentation processes.

The boundary element method (BEM) for linear elasticity in its curent usage is based on the boundary integral equation for displacements. The stress field in the interior of the body is computed by differentiating the displacement field at the source point in the BEM formulation, via the strain field. However, at the boundary, this method gives rise to a hypersingular integral relation which becomes numerically intractable. A novel approach is presented here, where hyper-singular kernels for stresses on the boundary are made numerically tractable through the imposition of certain equilibrated displacement modes. Numerical results are also presented for benchmark problems, to illustrate the efficacy of the present approach. Solutions are compared to the commonly used boundary stress algorithm wherein the boundary stresses are computed from known boundary tractions, and derivatives of known displacements tangential to the boundary. An extension of this approach to solve linear elasticity problems using the traction boundary integral equation (TBIE) is also discussed.

In this paper, the conducted susceptibility of vehicle electronic circuit to external common- mode disturbances was studied using the mixed-mode S-parameters method. The proposed method uses the common-to-differential mode conversion to account for conducted susceptibility. According to the experimental results, the correlation between the BCI test and the mixed-mode S-parameters method is in good agreement for predicting the immunity weakness.

Hepatic angiomyolipoma (AML) is a rare, primarily benign, mesenchymal tumour. The present report consists of three cases of AML and the approaches undertaken to achieve a diagnosis. Although the histological features of hepatic angiomyolipoma (AML) are highly variable, true malignant change is extremely rare with only a few reported cases. Most patients with hepatic AML are asymptomatic, and their tumours are found incidentally during routine health check-ups. Previous studies suggested that this disease can be managed by conservative treatment with follow-up. Surgical intervention may be needed in selected patients with symptomatic masses to alleviate effects on neighbouring organs. Unfortunately, hepatic AML is often misdiagnosed, leading to unnecessary surgery in many cases. In the present report, cases of AML were classified into three types based on the imaging findings of fatty and vascular composition (Table 1). These classifications may be useful in alerting radiologists to specific tumour presentations that facilitate correct diagnosis.

The application of the boundary integral methods to the problem of acoustics, exterior to a three‐dimensional surface, suffers, in general, from the nonexistence of nonuniqueness of its solutions at frequencies that are characteristic of the associated interior problem. The formulation that is most suitable for numerical implementation still appears to be that proposed by Burton and Miller [Proc. R. Soc. London Ser. A 323, 201–210 (1971)]. However, the hypersingular kernels present in such a formulation render it computationally unattractive. Previous attempts to regularize such hypersingular kernels involved the use of double surface integrals, or implicit use of tangential operators, or closed‐form evaluations of hypersingular integrals. The method of double surface integrals is computationally highly inefficient, even though it allows higher‐order interpolation schemes on the surface. The other two approaches are more conducive to the assumption of a constant value for each of the variables (pressure a...

Selective area epitaxial (SAE) growth of strained SiGe:B (Boron) in the recessed source/drain (S/D) region of an MOS device is known to improve Si-PMOS performance due to enhancement of hole mobility and reduction of S/D resistance. However, the process may be adversely affected by pattern loading effects, SiGe relaxation, dislocation formation, dopant precipitation and contamination. These effects, if not controlled, will deteriorate device performance and yield. A nondestructive, in-line SAE process monitoring approach on patterned wafers is especially desired. A specialized, contact-less, carrier lifetime-based Room Temperature - Photoluminescence (RT-PL) method meets this demand. The RT-PL tool, which uses a novel excitation path design to achieve carrier confinement, device-suitable probing depth, submicron scanning resolution and a micron probe size, offers a quick, non-destructive assessment of strain, defects and contamination for SAE. In this paper, a systematic evaluation of blanket and selective growth layers is illustrated using layers with a Ge content of 15-25%, undoped and B-doped at ~10 20 cm -3 concentration. For the as-grown conditions, we observed that SiGe remains in an unrelaxed state without extended dislocations being formed. These results suggest that SiGe composition could be further modified to optimize the associated mobility enhancement. Uniformity variations associated with SiGe composition and B-doping were identified. Excessive boron precipitation, metallic particle-originated defects and large contamination regions induced by processing tools were also exposed. The multiple and unique insights enabled through the RT-PL technique provide significant benefits towards decreasing process development and integration time, maintaining SiGe process in control and reducing device fabrication costs.

Carbon and fluorine co‐implantation have shown encouraging junction formation improvement, especially for P‐type junctions. In this paper, Xj of 20 nm, Rs of 730 ohms/sq and abruptness of 3.5 nm/decade were obtained using carbon co‐implantation at 6 keV, 2×1015 ions/cm2, BF2 implant and spike annealing. With LSA, the sheet resistance decreases to 640 ohm/sq. Rs decreased 7% at 1050°C RTP and decreased 13% at 1000°C RTP combined with laser spike annealing. We implemented germanium, carbon, and fluorine co‐implanted junctions for SDE fabrication for 65 nm node devices. Results indicated that both decrease in overlap capacitance and junction leakage have proportional correlation with C co‐implant dosage. However, Vt needs to be optimized. Device optimization by combining C co‐implantation with LSA can yield better control of short channel effects due to the co‐implantation and better activation due to the LSA.

A theoretically optimum optical duobinary transmission system is demonstrated experimentally at 10 Gb/s. The optimum duobinary system achieves a 4.4 dB enhancement in optically pre-amplified receiver sensitivity compared to a conventional duobinary system.

This study evaluates the effect of chlorination bulking control on water quality and phosphate release/uptake in an anaerobic-oxic activated sludge system. A series of batch experiments with different specific NaOCl mass dose were conducted to determine the sludge settling properties, supernatant water quality and phosphate metabolism behavior of filamentous bulking sludge. The harvested sludge was from a continuous-flow anaerobic-oxic (A/O) activated sludge pilot-plant, i.e., enhanced biological phosphorus removal (EBPR) system, operated with 15 days of sludge retention time. The filamentous bacteria in the A/O pilot plant were identified to be Thiothrix according to Eikelboom's classification techniques, which was in accordance with the high influent sulfate concentration of this study (50 mg/L sulfate). Increasing NaOCI concentration, as revealed by experimental results, obviously decreased the sludge settling properties (SVI values and zone settling velocities) and meanwhile significantly reduced supernatant water quality (COD, SS, TP) mainly due to higher suspended solids caused by floc disruption. Moreover, the nine-hour batch experiments indicated that high NaOCI dosage (40 mg/gMLSS) completely deteriorated phosphate metabolism of EBPR sludge. Such a high dosage of chlorination further confirmed overdosing through disappearance of intracellular PHB and death of protozoa by microscopic investigation. Still, phosphate release/uptake behavior of EBPR sludge properly functions at low NaOCl dosage (5 mg/g MLSS). Besides, phosphate metabolism worsens rapidly before the SVI value reaches its lowest level. These findings imply that determining NaOCI requirement with merely SVI values can readily result in chlorination overdosing. Proper NaOCI dosage requires a delicately balanced consideration between sludge settling improvement, water quality demand and phosphate metabolism. Batch test of phosphate release/uptake is apparently a prerequisite to conclude an appropriate NaOCl dosage for bulking control.

For the first time, an avionic grade MVA AM LCD with wide viewing angle has been developed for use in either landscape or portrait mode. The development of a high resolution Multi-domain Vertical Alignment (MVA) Active Matrix Liquid Crystal Display (AM LCD) is described. Challenges met in this development include achieving the required performance with high luminance and sunlight readability while meeting stringent optical (image quality) and environmental performance requirements of avionics displays. In this paper the optical and environmental performance of this high resolution 14.1” MVA-AM-LCD are discussed and some performance comparisons to conventional AM-LCDs are documented. This AM LCD has found multiple Business Aviation and Military display applications and cockpit pictures are presented.

GAS, a primitives-based generic knowledge acquisition shell which allows users to easily construct and then execute a domain-specific knowledge acquisition tool for specific problem domains, is described. It contains problem solving primitives, acquisition primitives, interaction primitives, representation schemas, learning primitives, and knowledge processing primitives in order to construct specific knowledge acquisition tools efficiently. This approach relieves knowledge engineers from selecting and applying different knowledge acquisition tools for different domains. GAS has been developed as an open architecture so that further enhancement can be done easily. >

The authors describe mwKAT, an interactive knowledge acquisition tool generated from GAS, a generic acquisition shell. It is used for acquiring knowledge about multimedia software and hardware components to provide suggestions for multimedia workstation development. The authors describe how mwKAT is generated from GAS and how mwKAT acquires and analyzes relevant knowledge pieces. mwKAT uses problem solving primitives such as parameter proposing, violation checking, and fix proposing to incrementally construct an intermediate knowledge base represented by a dependency model. These primitives identify necessary domain knowledge, check possible weakness in the knowledge base, and guide users to revise constrained parameters. >

The daily scheduling for a research and development (R&D) pilot line of semiconductor wafer fabrication is addressed. An integer programming problem formulation is given, which captures the salient features, such as high variety and very low volume, cyclic process flows, batching at diffusion machines, single mask for each photolithography operation, loop test, and engineering splitting and merging of wafer lots. A solution methodology for scheduling flow shops based on Lagrangian relaxation is extended to solve this class of problems. It may also effectively handle data inaccuracy and cope with production uncertainties. Numerical results demonstrate both the feasibility and potential of this method. >

Microbiologically influenced corrosion (MC) of steel has been attributed to the activity of biofilms that include anaerobic microorganisms such as iron-respiring bacteria, yet the mechanisms by which these organisms influence corrosion have been unclear. To study this process, we generated mutants of the iron-respiring bacterium Shewanella oneidensis strain MR-1 that were defective in biofilm formation and/or iron reduction. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy was used to determine changes in the corrosion rate and corrosion potential as a function of time for these mutants in comparison to the wild type. Counter to prevailing theories of MC, our results indicate that biofilms comprising iron-respiring bacteria may reduce rather than accelerate the corrosion rate of steel. Corrosion inhibition appears to be due to reduction of ferric ions to ferrous ions and increased consumption of oxygen, both of which are direct consequences of microbial respiration.

To determine the prevalence of colonization by Corynebacterium ulcerans, we cultured samples from the cephalic implant-skin margin and pharynx of 26 rhesus macaques and one pig-tailed macaque. All but one of the samples from the cephalic implants yielded a mixed population of bacteria. C. ulcerans grew from the cephalic implants in 56% and from the pharynx in 3% of the implanted animals. We screened nine of these isolates for diphtheria toxin (DT) and phospholipase D (PLD). Polymerase chain reactions (PCR) failed to identify DT in any of the tested isolates, which also lacked DT activity in Elek tests. However, all nine isolates tested had PLD toxin activity as determined by conjoint hemolysis on sheep blood agar plates in the presence of equi factor (Rhodococcus equi). In addition, PCR assays and Southern blot hybridization confirmed the presence of pld in the isolates. The role of the PLD toxin in promoting colonization of cephalic implants by C. ulcerans is unknown. We found C. ulcerans to be a frequent contaminant of the cephalic implant-skin margin. Further studies are necessary to investigate the relative clinical importance of this organism and the efficacy of various implant maintenance protocols in preventing infection.

A 50-year-old woman who had been on maintenance hemodialysis for 5 years developed severe anemia resistant to treatment with iron supplements and erythropoietin 4 months prior to hospital admission. Her stool occult blood test was positive, and an initial panendoscopy revealed evidence of possible antral gastritis. However, repeated administration of sucralfate, H2 blockers and a proton pump inhibitor was not effective in preventing further gastrointestinal tract blood loss and subsequent refractory anemia. She required multiple blood transfusions and hospital admissions during this period. There was no obvious coagulopathy or thrombocytopenia. After her third admission, a second panendoscopy demonstrated the typical picture of watermelon stomach. A trial of hormone therapy with estrogen and progesterone increased the hemoglobin level within a month without further evidence of active gastrointestinal bleeding. From our experience with this case, we found that the diagnosis of antral vascular ectasia (watermelon stomach) with bleeding requires a high degree of clinical alertness and careful endoscopic examination. Estrogen and progesterone therapy may provide a good option for treating the disease in uremic patients without an obvious complication. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first report demonstrating the use of maintenance hormone therapy in a female uremic patient to successfully treat watermelon gastric bleeding.

We present a patient with thyroid cancer, who developed respiratory acidosis, tachycardia and hyperthermia during isoflurane anesthesia. Malignant hyperthermia was suspected on the basis of clinical manifestation and laboratory finding. With early diagnosis and treatment the patient survived the episode.

Extended abstract of a paper presented at Microscopy and Microanalysis 2006 in Chicago, Illinois, USA, July 30 – August 3, 2006

Behaviorally, sigma1 agents modulate opioid analgesia. To examine possible mechanisms responsible for these interactions, we have identified a cell line containing both sigma1 and opioid receptors. [3H](+)-pentazocine binding in BE(2)-C human neuroblastoma cells is high affinity (KD 3.4 +/- 0.7 nM) and high density (Bmax 2.98 +/- 0.14 pmol/mg protein). Competition studies reveal a selectivity profile similar to that of sigma1 sites in guinea pig brain. (+)-Pentazocine has no effect upon either basal or forskolin-stimulated cyclase in the BE(2)-C cells, but cAMP accumulation is inhibited by the morphine, DPDPE and naloxone benzoylhydrazone. (+)-Pentazocine at concentrations as high as 10 microM does not affect this opioid effect, implying that sigma1/opioid interactions are not mediated at the level of the cell. This suggest that their behavioral interactions result from interacting neural circuits. Although (+)-pentazocine is without effect in the cyclase system, it does block carbachol-stimulated phosphoinositol turnover (IC50 6.5 +/- 1.14 microM). The specificity of the effect is confirmed by the ability of haloperidol (1 microM) to shift the IC50 value of (+)-pentazocine 2-fold to the right.

(+)Pentazocine antagonizes morphine analgesia as potently as its (-)-isomer, ruling out an opioid receptor mechanism of action and suggesting, which suggests a role for sigma 1 receptors. Systemic (+) pentazocine also reverses supraspinal or spinal morphine analgesia. 1,3-Di(2-tolyl)guanidine, a sigma ligand with no appreciable opioid receptor affinity, antagonizes morphine analgesia. The actions of both (+)pentazocine and 1,3-di(2-tolyl)guanidine are reversed by haloperidol, which has high affinity for both sigma and D2 receptors, but not by the D2-selective antagonist (-)sulpiride, which lacks activity at sigma sites. The antiopioid sigma system is tonically active. Haloperidol, but not (-)sulpiride, decreases morphine ED50 almost 2-fold. The antiopioid system modulates only mu analgesia. Unlike analgesia, (+)pentazocine does not influence morphine's inhibition of gastrointestinal transit or lethality. (+)Pentazocine also antagonizes kappa 1, kappa 3 and delta analgesia through sigma mechanisms in a haloperidol-sensitive manner. (-)Sulpiride is inactive. Alone, haloperidol enhances kappa 1, kappa 3 and delta analgesia more dramatically than morphine, which indicates that the sigma system is active against all opioid analgesic systems. Sigma systems are responsible for some strain differences in kappa receptor sensitivity. Unlike CD-1 mice, BALB-C mice are relatively insensitive toward the kappa 1 agent U50,488H and the kappa 3 analgesic naloxone benzoylhydrazone. Blockade of the sigma system with haloperidol eliminates these strain differences. In conclusion, sigma 1 systems functionally antagonize opioid analgesia without affecting morphine's effects on gastrointestinal transit or lethality. The antiopioid sigma system is tonically active and is more active against kappa analgesia than mu.(ABSTRACT TRUNCATED AT 250 WORDS)

A new vehicle following controller is proposed for autonomous intelligent vehicles. The proposed vehicle following controller not only provides smooth transient maneuvers for unavoidable nonzero initial conditions but also guarantees the asymptotic platoon stability without the availability of feedforward information. Furthermore, the achieved asymptotic platoon stability is shown to be robust to sensor delays and an upper bound for the allowable sensor delays is also provided in this paper.

An 87-year-old woman who had had a lower abdominal mass for 32 years underwent a laparotomy. Surgery revealed a 21-cm left ovarian dermoid cyst with torsion. Pathologic examination showed a hemorrhagic infarct due to torsion, mucinous cystadenoma and tuberculosis within the tumor. Tuberculosis was also found in the endometrium, both ovaries, oviducts and omentum. The patient's recovery was uneventful after surgery and medical treatment. The clinical manifestations of tuberculosis can vary widely. Tuberculosis of an ovarian dermoid cyst may be silent for a long period of time unless other complications occur.