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Chronic inflammation plays an important role in cancer development and progression. Cyclooxygenases-2 (COX-2) is a key enzyme in generating prostaglandins causing inflammation, is often found to be overexpressed in prostate cancer (PCa) and is correlated with PCa cell invasion and metastasis. We aim to investigate the molecular mechanism of how COX-2 promotes PCa cell invasion and metastasis and to evaluate the effect of COX-2 inhibitors in a selected model of PCa progression. Our results showed that the expression of COX-2 and Interleukin 1β (IL-1β) was upregulated in highly invasive PCa cells and was correlated with the activated levels of membrane-anchored serine protease matriptase. The expression levels of COX-2 were increased and were correlated with matriptase levels in PCa specimens. Moreover, results showed that COX-2 overexpression or a COX-2 product Prostaglandin E2 (PGE2) caused an increase in matriptase activation and PCa cell invasion, whereas COX-2 silencing antagonized matriptase activation and cell invasion. In addition, the inhibition of COX-2-mediated matriptase activation by Celebrex and sulindac sulfide suppressed the androgen-independent and COX2-overexpressing PCa PC-3 cell invasion, tumor growth and lung metastasis in an orthotopic xenograft model. Our results indicate that COX-2/matriptase signaling contributes to the invasion, tumor growth and metastasis of COX-2-overexpressing and androgen-independent PCa cells.

This paper introduces a novel all-in-one digital-analog heterogeneous integrated intelligent power module (IPM) which is composed of Si MOSFETs, Gate Driver and Micro Controller Unit (MCU). This novel all-in-one module realized by heterogeneous integration offers a System in Package (SiP) solution without causing serious Electromagnetic Compatibility (EMC), signal integrity and thermal issues. In addition, we designed the three-phase half-bridge inverter system formed by this IPM to compare with the system consisting of the same circuit and same bare dies of MOSFETs (TO-package), Gate Driver and MCU (SO-package). The performance shows that the inverter system which adopted this intelligent power module is capable of reducing system energy consumption, enhancing system efficiency (2-4%), and successfully shrinking system volume(>33%) at the same time. Besides, this SiP IPM can improve system reliability, electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) performance and pass the international standard of CISPR 11. Keywords-SiP, heterogeneous integration, IPM, EMC, power density.

A white low polyphenol sorghum, a red-waxy starch sorghum, a red-tannin sorghum with moderate polyphenol levels, and a red non-tannin sorghum were evaluated for susceptibility to Rhyzopertha dominica (Fab.) (Coleopter: Bostrychidae), the lesser grain borer. Density levels of 0 (untreated controls), 10, 20, or 30 mixed-sex adults were exposed on 100 g replicates of each of the varieties and removed after two weeks. Progeny production and physical damage were evaluated on each variety, along with quality characteristics such as moisture content, protein, starch, phenolic content, and kernel vitreousity. Progeny production and physical damage varied with density level and variety, but was generally lowest on the red-waxy sorghum. At the density level of 30 parental adults more progeny were found in the red-tannin sorghum compared to the other varieties. Starch content, kernel vitreousity and hardness was lower in the red-tannin sorghum. Total phenolic content was 2–3x greater in the red-tannin sorghum compared to the other varieties, but the high phenolic content did not seem to affect R. dominica progeny production. Results suggest the insects bypassed the bran layer of the sorghum varieties to feed on the germ and endosperm. Results of this study could be used to further explore the relationships between kernel hardness, chemical composition, and susceptibility to stored product insects, and incorporate results into management programs for maintaining quality of stored sorghum and processed sorghum food by-products.

Recently, electrical vehicle (EV) charger demand has been grown rapidly due to electrical vehicle development, so we designed a full SiC power module for EV charger system. The power consumption and thermal performance of EV charger module were evaluated by simulation software. Besides, we did the thermal resistance measurement of full SiC module and calibrated the Rjc (junction-case) .The simulation results show that we can reduce the size of heatsink because of higher system efficiency caused by full SiC power module. The advantage of using SiC chip in EV charger power module lose less power than silicon power module because of SiC chip’s electrical characteristic.

In Recent year, the traditional Si and wide band-gap power semiconductor devices, particularly Si MOSFET, Si IGBT, SiC MOSFET and GaN E-HEMT have gained considerable attention in several industrial applications such as the hybrid electric vehicle, the internet data center and aero-space applications. Attachment of power semiconductor devices to an insulated metal carrier substrate is essential for providing electrical and structural connections as well as a heat dissipation path. The die attach materials play a vital role in ensuring the system performance and reliability. In this study, the key technologies including multi-chip Cu paste sintering and panel level packaging have been developed. With an optimized process condition, a voidless die attaching joint was gained, and the die shear strength was as high as 70 MPa as sintering. Furthermore, the reduction of thermal resistance was measured by using Cu sintering, and the electrical performance of the newly developed Synchronous Rectifier was fully reported in this study.

The paper introduces a 600V/30A intelligent power module packaging structure which uses the thermal interface material (TIM) to be the insulation layer. This layer has the high thermal dissipation capability that helps to transfer the heat generated from power chips. The IPM are utilized for home applications such as air-conditioning, refrigerators, and washing machines etc. By fast switching the power chips to control the motor drive and save the energy. Compared to conventional direct bonded copper (DBC) type IPM, the developed IPM has the lighter packaging structure, simple fabrication process, and lower thermal conduction path that means a good performance will show up when using it for motor drive. Moreover, the TIM type IPM has passed the long term reliability test including thermal cycling test (TCT), highly-accelerated temperature and humidity stress test (HAST), and high temperature storage test (HTS).

For the demand of new energy vehicles, the market is driving the car brands especially in European Union, China and the United States, and their tier suppliers to develop the key components of the powertrain and electric systems for 12V micro-hybrid (start-stop) and 48V mild-hybrid electric vehicles. An automotive-grade synchronous rectifier composed of Si Power MOSFET and gate driver was developed to replace the conventional rectifer diodes for the improvement of the efficiency of AC-DC converting. Two synchronous rectifier modules were then integrated with an alternator system, the efficiency of AC-DC converting was found as high as 97% and the efficiency of the alternator system was determined to be 78%. The synchronous rectifier has been qualified the automotive-grade reliability tests including temperature cycling test (TCT), highly accelerated stress test (HAST), high temperature reverse bias (HTRB) and power cycling test (PCT) according to the AEC-Q101 standard, and could be adopted for the applications of 12V start-stop system and 48V belt-alternator starter generator (BSG) systems.

The transparent ZnO and Zn0.96Fe0.04O nanocrystalline films were deposited on the glass substrates by sol–gel method followed by repaid thermal annealing treatment. The grain size of the ZnO films was decreased by the doping of Fe. X-ray diffraction measurements of the films showed the same wurtzite hexagonal structure and preferential orientation along the c-axis. Temperature dependence resistivity showed a semiconductor transport behavior for both compositions. At high temperature region, the transport mechanism can be fitted with semiconductor behavior by Arrhenius equation, σ(T) = σ0 exp[−(Ea/kT)m] with m = 1. The activation energy Ea is increased from 0.47 meV for pure ZnO film to 0.69 meV for Zn0.96Fe0.04O film obtained from equation. At low temperature region, the resistivity can be fitted well with the behavior of Mott variable range hopping, σ(T) = σh0 exp[−(T0/T)n] with n = 1/4. The results demonstrate that the crystallization and the corresponding carrier transport behavior of the Zn1 − xFexO films are affected by the doping of Fe in the Zn1 − xFexO films.

Transparent conducting ITO thin film has been widely used as anode material in OLEDs due to its good optical transparency, low electrical resistivity, ease of patterning, high work function and efficient hole injection properties. The interface between ITO and organic layer in OLED device is thus important and can influence the electrical and luminescent properties. In this report, ITO substrates were treated with 20% H3PO4 solution. The corresponding changes in crystalline morphology were studied by X-ray diffraction. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and ultraviolet photoelectron spectroscopy (UPS) were performed at ∼10−9 Torr to study the work function and the valence band structure of ITO substrates. It was found that work function became slightly lower after the treatment, probably caused by the formation of metal complex compounds and metal hydroxides. The binding energy of In 3d5/2 shifted from 444.6 to 445.3 eV. This shifting was referred to the formation of In–OH bonding. It would be easier to provide electron by In–OH bonding than by In–O–In or Sn–O–Sn when photons reached ITO surface. The interface between ITO and CuPc was improved through polar surface and less aggregation. In addition, the OLED devices exhibited improved performance in both external quantum efficiency and luminescence efficiency.

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of different activation treatments on the development of IVM-derived and cloned bovine embryos. The effect of oocyte age (20h versus 24h after IVM) on the blastocyst rate was also investigated. No differences in the percentage of blastocyst development were observed between the oocytes matured for 20 and 24h (15% versus 27%, p>0.05). Reconstructed oocytes activated 4h after fusion (fusion before activation, FBA) had a higher blastocyst rate than those oocytes activated immediately after electrofusion (fusion and activation simultaneously, FAS) (26% versus 5%, p

An optical tilt sensor was developed and its performance was investigated. The tilt sensor set-up consisted of a laser light source, lenses and an image sensor. A precision reference tilt sensor was also installed on the same stage, and the measurement results of tilt angles using the optical and reference tilt sensors were correlated. The correlation coefficient (R-value) obtained under ideal conditions was 0.99454, indicating that the optical tilt sensor could produce as accurate measurements as the precision reference tilt sensor. The R-value decreased to 0.97714 and 0.93209 when the image sensor was shifted backwards and forwards from the focal plane by 1 mm, respectively. The R-value decreased to 0.96840 when the tilt sensor was performed with the room light turned on. There were not significant differences in the measurement results obtained with air conditioners turned on and off, indicating that the optical tilt sensor was robust and was not sensitive to the surrounding air turbulence. These findings are useful for the final design of the optical tilt sensor.

WC–6.29Co nanocrystalline composite powder prepared by spray thermal decomposition–continuous reduction and carburization technology was consolidated by spark plasma sintering (SPS), spark plasma sintering with hot isostatic pressing (HIP), vacuum sintering and vacuum sintering with hot isostatic pressing (HIP). The mechanical properties, phases and microstructure of WC–6.29Co hardmetals prepared by different processes were researched. The results show that WC–6.29Co ultrafine cemented carbide consolidated by spark plasma sintering with hot isostatic pressing can reach 99.0% relative density, and transverse rupture strength (TRS) is more than 2740 MPa, Rockwell A hardness (HRA) is more than 93.8, the average grain size is less than 400 nm, and WC–6.29Co ultrafine cemented carbide with excellent properties is achieved. Although specimens consolidated by spark plasma sintering can reach 99.1% relative density, Rockwell A hardness is more than 94, but transverse rupture strength (TRS) is very low. Compared with specimens prepared by spark plasma sintering, there are no eta phases in specimens consolidated by spark plasma sintering with hot isostatic pressing. Furthermore the average grains size of specimens prepared by vacuum sintering or vacuum sintering with hot isostatic pressing is coarser than that of specimens prepared by spark plasma sintering with hot isostatic pressing, but mechanical properties are lower than that of specimens prepared by spark plasma sintering with hot isostatic pressing. Spark plasma sintering with hot isostatic pressing can not only decrease the average grain size of sintered specimens, but also increase mechanical properties of WC–6.29Co ultrafine cemented carbide. The specimens prepared by spark plasma sintering with hot isostatic pressing have better properties than those prepared by spark plasma sintering, vacuum sintering or vacuum sintering with hot isostatic pressing.

The effect of hydrogen embrittlement on the fatigue crack growth of IN 718 plate and laser-annealed specimens in hydrogen containing environment were investigated. Although the differences in tensile strength and impact toughness between solution-annealed (S) and aged (A) IN 718 specimens were significant, the experimental results indicated that both specimens within the low ΔK regime exhibited a similar fatigue behavior. As the ΔK increased above 30 MPa m , the solution-annealed specimen revealed a higher fatigue crack growth rate (FCGR) than the aged one. In general, the IN 718 alloy had a low sensitivity to hydrogen-enhanced fatigue crack growth, independent of hydrogen sources. Residual compressive stresses ahead of the crack tip were responsible for the improved resistance to fatigue crack growth in a laser-annealed specimen. For alloys with similar strength, IN 718 alloy trapped a huge amount of hydrogen in the matrix showing a less susceptibility to hydrogen-enhanced fatigue crack growth in comparison with the maraging steel. Additionally, fatigue-fractured appearance near crack initiation sites reveals quasi-cleavage fracture in embrittled specimens.

In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot (QD) lasers with emission wavelength at 1295 nm at room temperature are fabricated. The laser active region contains a threefold stack of QD layers with surface dot density of 4.56 × 1010 cm−2. The laser structure is aluminum-free with InGaP as cladding layers. Threshold current density of a narrow stripe laser of 8 μm wide and 3.5 mm long is 152.5 A/cm2. The highest relaxation oscillation frequency measured at room temperature is 1.8 GHz, corresponding to a modulation bandwidth of 2.8 GHz due to the small damping factor. From the above measurement, the differential gain and gain compression factor were extracted to be 4.3 × 10−16 cm2 and 3.4 × 10 −17 cm 3, respectively. Using these parameters, the maximum modulation bandwidth f 3 dB max is estimated as 7.9 GHz.

The authors report the growth, structural and optical characteristics of strained 10-period InAs1−xNx/In0.53Ga0.47As multiple quantum well (MQW) structures on InP substrates grown by gas-source molecular beam epitaxy. Atomic nitrogen was generated using a RF-plasma cell. Double crystal X-ray diffractometer (DXRD) measurements indicated that adding N to the InAs layer reduced the net compressive strain of the MQW. The highest nitrogen composition obtained in this study was 19.5%. It was also found that the incorporation of nitrogen resulted in red-shifted photoluminescence (PL) emission energy of the QWs. However, increased nitrogen composition broadened the DXRD linewidth and degraded PL intensity. The very broad PL linewidth might be related to alloy inhomogeneity. Finally, ridge waveguide lasers with different periods (n=2–8) of InAs0.97N0.03/InGaAs QWs as the gain medium were fabricated. A device with four QWs gave the best performance and demonstrated pulsed oscillation up to 260K at an emission wavelength of 2.38 µm with a threshold current density of 3.6 kA/cm2. This indicates the potential of InAsN as a material for mid-infrared applications.

Epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT) is well known to involve in tumor invasion and metastasis. Src homology region 2 domain-containing phosphatase 1 (SHP-1) functions as a potent tumor suppressor and also acts as a negative regulator of p-STAT3(Tyr705) oncogenic signaling. However, little is known about the molecular mechanism(s) through which SHP-1 regulates EMT during hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) progression. Here we first reported that endogenous SHP-1 protein levels were significantly downregulated in cells with mesenchymal characteristics and negatively correlated with p-STAT3(Tyr705) and vimentin but positively correlated with E-cadherin. SHP-1 overexpression abolished transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1)-induced p-STAT3(Tyr705) and EMT, as well inhibited migration and invasion but further rescued by signal transducer and activator of transcription factor 3 (STAT3) overexpression. Depletion of SHP-1 could induce a more increase in TGF-β1-induced p-STAT3(Tyr-705) and EMT characteristics, further supporting the mechanism that suppression of TGF-β1-induced EMT is dependent on SHP-1-mediated STAT3 inactivation. Constitutively overexpressed SHP-1 tyrosine phosphatase activity by D61A-mutated SHP-1 markedly reduced TGF-β1-induced p-STAT3(Tyr705) and EMT features but was not altered by C453S catalytic-dead mutant SHP-1. Consequently, SHP-1 acted as a powerful suppressor in preventing EMT by exerting its tyrosine phosphatase activity that directly downregulated p-STAT3(Tyr705). Most notably, we discovered a novel SHP-1 agonist SC-43 better than sorafenib to exert more potent anti-EMT effects in vitro as well as anti-metastatic growth in vivo. In conclusion, SHP-1 is a potent suppressor of HCC EMT and metastasis, thus highlighting that SC-43-SHP-1 axis may serve as a potential therapeutic target that antagonized p-STAT3(Tyr705) and thereby prevented HCC EMT and metastasis.

Protein tyrosine kinase and protein serine kinase activation has been implicated in the regulation of salivary cell proliferation and differentiation. Aberrant expression and alterations of certain tyrosine or serine kinases, such as Raf or erbB2, are known to trigger salivary tumor development (Li et al., 1997; Cho et al., 1999). It has been estimated that there are about 1000 to 2000 protein kinases in the mammalian genome, with 100 to 200 of them ( i.e., 10%) being tyrosine kinase (Hanks and Hunter, 1995). At present, there are approximately 85 different tyrosine kinases identified in the GenBank database. Based on the relatively slow rate of discovery in the past few years, 100 is a better approximation of the total number of tyrosine kinases encoded by each mammalian genome. It is reasonable to assume that there are about 30 to 50 tyrosine kinases expressed in a given cell at a given differentiation/proliferation stage. This number is large enough to provide a characteristic tissue-specific tyrosine kinase expression profile, but small enough to be identified in a simple screening. The hope for tyrosine kinases as differentiation or proliferation markers rests with the possibility for the identification and characterization of a differentiation/proliferation stage-specific expression pattern in salivary cells. Several ligands that transmit signal through receptor tyrosine kinases and/or Ras/Raf/ERK kinases have been extensively studied in salivary cells. This review focuses mainly on the signaling pathways activated bv Raf and Etk.

Whole-cell patch recordings were made from immature (six- to 12-day-old) rat rostral ventrolateral medulla neurons in brainstem slices. GABA or the specific GABA(B) receptor agonist (-)baclofen (10-50 microM) by superfusion or by pressure ejection induced an outward current or a hyperpolarization, which persisted in a tetrodotoxin (0.3 microM)-containing Krebs' solution in nearly every cell tested. The GABA(B) receptor antagonists 2-hydroxy saclofen (50-200 microM) and CGP 35348 (50-200 microM) dose-dependently suppressed baclofen-currents. Baclofen-currents were suppressed by barium (1 mM) but not by tetraethylammonium (20 mM), low Ca2+ (0.24 mM) solution or in a solution containing the Ca2+ chelator BAPTA-AM (10 microM). The outward current had an estimated reversal potential of -98, -77 and -52 mV in 3.1, 7 and 15 mM [K+]o. Pre-incubation of slices with pertussis toxin (500 microg/ml for 5-7 h) or intracellular dialysis with GDP-beta-S (500 microM) markedly reduced baclofen-currents. Baclofen in low concentrations (1-3 microM) that caused slight or no change of holding currents and of inward or outward currents induced by exogenously applied glutamate or glycine/GABA, decreased excitatory and inhibitory postsynaptic currents by an average of 86.5 +/- 4.3% and 78.4 +/- 2.7%. The GABA(B) antagonist CGP 35348 (100 microM) increased the excitatory postsynaptic currents by an average of 64%, without causing a significant change in holding currents in 10/18 cells tested. Our results indicate the presence of post- and presynaptic GABA(B) receptors in the rostral ventrolateral medulla neurons. Activation of postsynaptic GABA(B) receptors induces an outward K+ current which is barium-sensitive, Ca2+-independent and may be coupled to a pertussis-sensitive G-protein. Activation of presynaptic GABA(B) receptors attenuates excitatory or inhibitory synaptic transmission. More importantly, the observation that CGP 35348 enhanced excitatory synaptic currents implies a removal of tonic activation of presynaptic GABA(B) receptors by endogenously released GABA (disinhibition), supporting the hypothesis that these receptors may have a physiological role in regulating the input and output ratio in a subset of rostral ventrolateral medulla neurons in vivo.

This study compares three control structures of active noise cancellation for ducts: feedback control, feedforward control, and hybrid control. These structures are compared in terms of performance, stability, and robustness by using a general framework of the H ∞ robust control theory. In addition, the H ∞ synthesis procedure automatically incorporates the acoustic feedback path that is usually a plaguing problem to feedforward control design. The controllers are implemented by using a digital signal processor and tested on a finite-length duct. In an experimental verification, the proposed controllers are also compared with the well-known filtered- u least mean square (FULMS) controller. The advantages and disadvantages of each ANC structure as well as the adverse effects due to acoustic feedback are addressed.

Whole-cell patch recordings were made from rostral ventrolateral medulla neurons of two in vitro preparations: (i) brainstem–spinal cords of two- to five-day-old rats, and (ii) coronal brainstem slices of eight- to 12-day-old rats, and the inhibitory synaptic activities in these neurons have been studied. In brainstem–spinal cord preparations, Lucifer Yellow was diffused into the recording neurons at the end of experiments. Medullary neurons were characterized as: (i) spinally projecting by the appearance of an antidromic spike following electrical stimulation of the spinal tract between T2 and T3 segments, and (ii) adrenergic by the detection of phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase immunoreactivity in Lucifer Yellow-filled neurons. Of the 13 spinally projecting and phenylethanolamine-N-methyltransferase-positive medullary neurons, focal stimulation elicited in the presence of glutamate receptor antagonists an inhibitory postsynaptic potential in nine neurons. Inhibitory synaptic potentials were reversibly eliminated by the GABAA receptor antagonist bicuculline (10–20 μM) in six of nine neurons, by the glycine receptor antagonist strychnine (0.1–1 μM) in two and by a combination of bicuculline and strychnine in one neuron. In brainstem slice preparations, focal stimulation elicited three types of synaptic potential: (i) an excitatory postsynaptic potential, (ii) an inhibitory postsynaptic potential and (iii) a biphasic synaptic potential consisting of an excitatory synaptic potential followed by an inhibitory synaptic potential. Inhibitory synaptic potentials had a reversal potential between −70 and −80 mV, reversed their polarity in a low (6.7 mM) Cl−–Krebs' solution, and suppressed or blocked by either bicuculline or strychnine or both. Elimination of inhibitory synaptic potentials unmasked in some cells an excitatory synaptic potential or enhanced the excitatory synaptic potential component in medullary neurons with a biphasic response, indicating a marked convergence of excitatory and inhibitory inputs onto a single neuron. A population of medullary neurons appeared to be pacemaker neurons whereby they discharged spontaneously. When discharges were suppressed by membrane hyperpolarization, focal stimulation elicited inhibitory synaptic potentials in 8/23 neurons tested. Our results suggest that inhibitory synaptic potentials in medullary neurons are mediated by either GABA and/or glycine which open primarily Cl− channels. The prevalence of inhibitory synaptic potentials in medullary neurons indicates an essential role of inhibitory transmission in controlling the input and output ratio of these neurons.

Speckle contrast

An experimental investigation for transient forced convection heat transfer in a vertical rib-heated channel with a turbulence promoter has been systematically performed. Parametric studies including the steady-state convective heat flux, channel inlet velocity, channel spacing, and promoter location and height on transient heat transfer performance in a vertical rib-heated channel have been explored. A generalized distribution for transient convective heat flux is proposed; the channel inlet velocity is verified to be the most significant parameter affecting transient convective heat flux and Nusselt number distributions. Besides, the use of a turbulence promoter can effectively enhance transient heat transfer performances for all the ribs in both the entrance and the fully-developed regions of the channel. Furthermore, the present results reveal that the effect of channel inlet velocity is more significant on the heat transfer performance of ribs in the entrance region than in the fully-developed region of the channel, while the effect of promoter height is reverse. The effect of promoter height compared with that of promoter location has more significance on heat transfer performance in the fully-developed region.

Parameter studies including the channel spacing, convective heat flux, channel inlet velocity, turbulence-promoter location and height on heat transfer performance and pressure drop in a vertical ribheated channel have been explored in detail. In addition, the rib/overall channel Nusselt numbers and the coefficient of channel pressure drop C p are correlated and presented in terms of relevant dimensionless parameters studied. The experimental results show that the installation of turbulence promoter on the opposite shrouding insulated wall in the vertical rib-heated channel can effectively enhance all the rib heat transfer performances in the channel and avoid hot spots occurring in the ‘quasi-equilibrium’ hightemperature regime. Taking both thermal and flow aspects into consideration simultaneously, Nu and C p increase hand in hand with increasing ratio of promoter height to channel spacing t / H . This tendency is consistent with the increased levels of flow disturbance, or turbulence mixing, promoted by the protruding ribs and the installed turbulence promoter.

A highly scaled, high performance 45 nm CMOS technology utilizing extensive immersion lithography to achieve the industry's highest scaling factor with ELK (k=2.55) BEOL is presented. A record gate density 2.4X higher than that of 65 nm is achieved. Refined strained-CMOS demonstrated 1200/750 μA/μm Idsat at 100 nA/μm Ioff, Vdd=1 V, which has the best Ion-Lg performance reported for bulk CMOS device. The proposed 45 nm technology is not only manufacturing friendly but also has well-controlled leakage and mismatch evidenced by a functional 32 Mb 0.242 μm2 SRAM.

Manganese oxide powders were prepared by spray pyrolysis from manganese acetate solution with various pyrolysis temperatures and directly collected via high-voltage electrostatic deposition technique (ESD). The as-prepared powders were coated onto graphite substrates by electrophoretic deposition technique (EPD). The as-prepared powders and/or coatings were examined by X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), cyclic voltammetry (CV), and etc. XRD data determined the phase of the as-prepared powders as nanocrystalline Mn3O4 phase, manganese hydroxide and residual acetate. In addition, the electrochemical characteristics of the resulting powder mixtures were examined by cyclic voltammetry and charge/discharge cycling in electrolyte for redox supercapacitor applications.

The interaction of epitaxially strained SiGe and super annealing or millisecond anneal in high performance PFET fabrication was, for the first time, systematically investigated. When super annealing was applied, the quality of SiGe/Si interface, affected by subsequent ion implantation and post-SiGe thermal treatment, played an important role in SiGe strain relaxation incurring channel stress loss and defect injection to Si substrate resulting in high junction leakage. Defect injection mechanism was proposed to explain the defect formation in Si substrate. The new processing scheme, which preserved SiGe as relaxation-free and avoided defect injection, was developed and for 32nm technology. The device performance gain with 10% Id, sat increment resulting from fully strained SiGe was achieved.

Modelling methodologies including a dynamic stress evolution are proposed in this work to characterize the relative stress-induced voiding (SIV) probability inside via of various Cu/low k interconnects. Seven patterns being representative of versatile IC design units are selected. It is demonstrated that our modelling approach can serve as a good method identifying the most troublesome layout units to inside-via SIV, and the results aligned well with the experimental data. From our studies, two kinds of layout styles when designed together are found detrimental: (1) the layout units with via(s) subjected to significant upper-metal edge confinement and (2) the one with via close to big vacancy sources.

The process development, characterization and performance evaluation of low-k dielectrics to form multi-level Cu interconnects for the 65 nm CMOS technology node are presented. Significant modifications and improvements over 90nm node have been implemented to overcome those challenges as design rules shrink, which include top via corner rounding control for the robust EM/SM reliability, and inline e-beam inspection for via/trench processes optimization. An in-house developed ECP additive "Trameca" for good Cu gap filling and a controllable hump height for good CMP performance are adopted to achieve tight Rs distributions. The facts that 100% yields of 2.1 millions via chain structure and open/short free on 5m long comb/meander structures along with SM/EM meeting the spec all demonstrated the technology to be a highly manufacturable BEOL process for 65 nm technology node.

In(Ga)As/GaAs quantum-dot lasers with emission wavelength at 1295 nm at room temperature are fabricated. The highest relaxation oscillation frequency measured at room temperature is 1.8 GHz, corresponding to a modulation bandwidth of 2.8 GHz.

InAsN/InGaAs multiple quantum wells (MQWs) structures for midinfrared diode lasers is grown on (100) InP substrates by using a VG V-80H gas-source molecular epitaxy (GSMBE). After the GSMBE growth, the laser sample is annealed at 575/spl deg/C for 20 min under N ambient in order to improve the crystal quality. The PL spectrums of the laser structure before and after annealing are studied. Then the structure is processed into 50-nm-wide broad-area lasers. Laser oscillation under pulsed injection current was obtained from 10K to 260K.

We report the coherent phonon spectroscopy of InGaP-GaAs-InGaP SQWs, in which a localized interfacial optical phonon is identified. The GaAs-InGaP heterointerface quality can be characterized by measuring the dephasing time of this interfacial phonon mode.

The activation procedure used in nuclear transfer (NT) is one of the critical factors affecting the efficiency of animal cloning. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of two electrical field strengths (EFS) for activation on the developmental competence of caprine NT embryos reconstructed from ear skin fibroblasts of adult Alpine does. The NT embryos were obtained by transfer of the quiescent fibroblasts at the fourth passage into the enucleated metaphase II (M II) oocytes. Four to five hours after electrical fusion, the NT-embryos were activated by EFS either at 1.67 or at 2.33 kV/cm and immediately incubated in 6-DMAP (2 mM) for 4 h. The cleavage rate of the NT-embryos activated with 2.33 kV/cm was greater than that activated with 1.67 kV/cm after in vitro culture for 18 h (65.6% versus 19.6%, p0.001). No pregnancy was found in 14 recipient does after transferring 51 NT embryos at 1-2 cell stages activated with 1.67 kV/cm. In contrast, two of the seven recipients were pregnant and gave birth to three kids after transferring 61 NT embryos at 1-2 cell stages activated by 2.33 kV/cm. The birth weights of three cloned kids were within the normal range of Alpine goats. However, one kid died 1h after birth while the remaining two are still healthy. DNA analysis by polymerase chain reaction (single-strand conformation polymorphism, SSCP) confirmed that the three kids were genetically identical to the nuclear donor.

We propose a new scheme of the lensed fiber employing a pyramid-shaped fiber (PSF) for coupling the high-power diode lasers into the single-mode fibers (SMFs). First, the PSF was fabricated by grinding technique and then heating in a fusing splicer to form a quasi-ellipsoidal endface which described by the symmetric radius of curvatures in two axes. For an optimum microlens with high coupling efficiency, the dominate radius of curvature is typically smaller than the fiber mode field diameter. The advantage of the PSF structure was to be able to form the microlenses with small dominate rdius of curvatures and high asymmetric ratios of radius of curvatures, and therefore, this novel PSF can form microlenses with high aspect ratios to match the far field of the 980nm high power diode lasers which were used in the application of erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA). A coupling efficiency of 83% has been demonstrated. A simplified and practical model was propsed to predict the radius of curvatures in the fabrication. The calculation of divergence angles and aspect ratios of lensed fiber far-field patterns were included in this study.

A master of an optical disk for next generation, HD-DVD, was fabricated by an electron beam mastering system with robust design method to find out the optimal process parameters. In the current study, a negative resist with high sensitivity, SAL601, was used, and was exposed by an electron beam recorder, obducat, EBR200. Many mastering parameters such as acceleration voltage, beam current, linear velocity while recording, baking process and other uncontrollable factors were all considered simultaneously. The implication of the robust design data was also discussed in detail. Furthermore, the influences of each control factors upon the optical disk mastering process were disclosed as well. Finally, the effective and optimal parameters of the mastering process are also shown.

We have measured the anisotropic two photon absorption (TPA) of AlGaAs-GaAs MQW that exhibits a two-photon transition from confined-to-continuum states. We also have measured the anisotropic nonlinear refractive indices of AlGaAs-GaAs MQW. From the inspection of the TPA spectra and fitting the data, we found that the excitons resulting from two-photon transitions from confined-to-continuum states exhibit reduced binding energies and this is in good agreement with the theory.

The characteristics of hole formation in the laser welding technique for optoelectronic packaging have been investigated by metallographic microscopes. The results show that the hole dimension depends on the power density of the laser beam and the hole disappears as the power density falls below 4/spl times/10/sup 5/ W/cm/sup 2/. The hole generation between welded sections can cause spatial nonuniformity of solidification-shrinkage during the laser welding process, resulting in the generation of micromovement. Micromovement due to the failure mechanism of the hole formation during the laser welding process may affect the alignment for optoelectronic packages, particularly for single-mode fiber applications. Based on our understanding of laser welding process characteristics, a reliability study of receptacle laser packages is currently under investigation.

CHF/sub 3/+BCl/sub 3/ mixed-gas reactive ion etching process was used to study the etching characteristics of InGaP materials. After optimizing the etching conditions, we applied this technology to the gate-recess process of InGaP/InGaAs double doped-channel FET (DCFET) fabrication. The maximum transconductance of 180 mS/mm for a gate length of 1.0 /spl mu/m was obtained, and the cut off frequencies were f/sub i/=13 GHz and f/sub max/=30 GHz. InGaP/InGaAs DCFETs biased at class A demonstrated a power-added efficiency of 16.6%, a gain of 7 dB, and an output power density of 185 mW/mm at 1.9 GHz.

As an alternative to AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs) for microwave applications, InGaP/GaAs HBTs with carbon-doped base layers grown by metal organic molecular beam epitaxy (MOMBE) with excellent DC, RF, and microwave performance are demonstrated. As previously reported, with a 700-AA-thick base layer (135- Omega /sq sheet resistance), a DC current gain of 25, and cutoff frequency and maximum frequency of oscillation above 70 GHz were measured for a 2- mu m*5- mu m emitter area device. A device with 12 cells, each consisting of a 2- mu m*15- mu m emitter area device for a total emitter area of 360 mu m/sup 2/, was power tested at 4 GHz under continuous-wave (CW) bias condition. The device delivered 0.6-W output power with 13-dB linear gain and a power-added efficiency of 50%. >

Distribution of secretoneurin-like immunoreactivity (SN-LI) was studied in the rat sympathetic ganglia/adrenal gland, enteric and sensory ganglia by immunohistochemical methods. SN-LI nerve fibers formed basket-like terminals surrounding many of the postganglionic neurons of the superior cervical, stellate, paravertebral chain ganglia, coeliac/superior mesenteric and inferior mesenteric ganglia. Postganglionic neurons of the superior cervical and other sympathetic ganglia exhibited low-to-moderate levels of SN-LI. In all these sympathetic ganglia, clusters of small diameter (10 microm) cells, which may correspond to the small intensely fluorescent (SIF) cells, were found to be intensely labeled. Surgical sectioning or ligation of the cervical sympathetic trunk for 7-10 days resulted in a nearly total loss of SN-LI fibers in the superior cervical ganglia, whereas immunoreactivity in the postganglionic neurons and small diameter cells remained essentially unchanged. In the thoracolumbar and sacral segments of the spinal cord, SN-LI nerve fibers were detected in the superficial layers of the dorsal horn as well as in the intermediolateral cell column (ILp). Occasionally, SN-LI somata were noted in the ILp. SN-LI nerve fibers formed a delicate plexus underneath the capsule of the adrenal gland, some of which traversed the adrenal cortex and reached the adrenal medulla. While heavily invested with SN-LI nerve terminals, chromaffin cells seemed to express a low level of SN-LI. In the enteric plexus, varicose SN-LI nerve fibers and terminals formed a pericellular network around many myenteric and submucous ganglion cells; the ganglionic neurons were lightly to moderately labeled. A population of ganglion cells in the dorsal root, nodose and trigeminal ganglia exhibited moderate-to-strong SN-LI. The detection of SN-LI in nerve fibers and somata of various sympathetic ganglia, enteric plexus and adrenal medulla and in somata of the sensory ganglia implies an extensive involvement of this peptide in sympathetic, enteric and sensory signal processing.

In vivo and in vitro experiments were undertaken to evaluate the effects of pituitary adenylate cyclase activating polypeptide-38 (PACAP-38) on rat sympathetic preganglionic neurons (SPNs). Intrathecal injection of PACAP-38 (0.1–1 nmol) via an implanted cannula to the T2-T3 segments of urethane-anesthetized adult rats caused a dose-dependent increase of mean arterial blood pressure from minutes to over 1 h. The pressor response was not antagonized by prior injection of the PACAP type II receptor antagonist PACAP 6-38 (0.5 nmol), but was significantly attenuated by prior intravenous administration of phentolamine (1 mg/kg). As a positive control, intrathecal injection of glutamate (1 μmol) and substance P (SP, 5 nmol) caused a short- and long-lasting pressor response. Vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP, 1 nmol) had no significant pressor effect. In the second series of experiments, whole-cell patch recordings were made from antidromically identified SPNs of immature (12–16-day-old) rat thoracolumbar spinal cord slices. Applied to the spinal cord slices by superfusion, PACAP-38 (10–30 nM) caused intense neuronal discharges with or without a long-lasting membrane depolarization. The depolarization was not prevented by superfusing the slices with tetrodotoxin (0.3 μM) or low Ca 2+ (0.25 mM) solution, indicating that PACAP-38 directly depolarized the SPNs. The depolarization was insensitive to the type II PACAP receptor antagonist PACAP 6-38 . Collectively, these results provide evidence that PACAP-38 exerts a potent and long-lasting excitatory effect on SPNs, leading to an increase of spinal sympathetic outflow and one of the consequences of which is an elevation of blood pressure.