Stabilization of Erodible Slopes with Geofibers and Nontraditional Liquid Additives

INE/AUTC 13.1

Filling Narrow Trenches by Iodine-Catalyzed CVD of Copper and Manganese on Manganese Nitride Barrier/Adhesion Layers

We present a process for the void-free filling of sub-100 nm trenches with copper or copper-manganese alloy by chemical vapor deposition (CVD). Conformally deposited manganese nitride serves as an underlayer that initially chemisorbs iodine. CVD of copper or copper-manganese alloy releases the adsorbed iodine atoms from the surface of the manganese nitride, allowing iodine to act as a surfactant catalyst floating on the surface of the growing copper layer. The iodine increases the growth rate of the copper and manganese by an order of magnitude. As the iodine concentrates near the narrowing bottoms of features, void-free, bottom-up filling of CVD of pure copper or copper-manganese alloy is achieved in trenches narrower than 30 nm with aspect ratios up to at least 5:1. The manganese nitride films also show barrier properties against copper diffusion and enhance adhesion between copper and dielectric insulators. During post-deposition annealing, manganese in the alloy diffuses out from copper through the grain boundaries and forms a self-aligned layer that further improves adhesion and barrier properties at the copper/insulator interface. This process provides nanoscale interconnects for microelectronic devices with higher speeds and longer lifetimes.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

Intranasal sufentail vs. intravenous morphine for acute pain in the emergency department

Introduction: Acute pain management in the emergency department (ED) requires prompt administration of safe and effective analgesia. ¬Traditional routes of administration for analgesia includes the oral (PO), intravenous (IV), or intramuscular routes (IM). When these routes of administration are not feasible, the intranasal (IN) route may be considered. Furthermore, a rapid onset of therapeutic effects may be observed due to the rich capillary network of the respiratory mucosa that is able to promptly transport the drug into systemic circulation. There is emerging literature that supports the use of analgesia via the IN route in the Emergency Department (ED). However, its use is often a topic of controversy due to the limited familiarity of medications that may be administered via the IN route, lack of readily available administration devices, and training on specific techniques necessary to use the devices appropriately. Methods: This was a single-center, prospective, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial which evaluated the use of IN sufentanil in adult patients who presented to the ED with acute pain. Patients were randomized to receive IN sufentanil 0.7mcg/kg or IV morphine 0.1mg/kg. The primary outcome was patient’s pain score as reported via the Numeric Rating Scale (NRS). Secondary outcomes were adverse events, consumption of rescue analgesia, and patient satisfaction of treatment. Results: Thirty patients were enrolled in each group. No significant difference (sufentail: 2.0 (interquartile range [IQR])=1.0-3.0 vs. morphine: 3.0, IQR=2.0-5.3, p=0.198) in the median pain scores was detected at 10 minutes after study intervention. No serious adverse events occurred. A significant difference in the median respiratory rate was detected at 10 minutes between the two groups (sufentanil: 17 bpm (IQR= 17-22) vs. morphine 18bpm (IQR= 14-19), p=0.014. Median oxygen saturation at 5 minutes was also statistically significantly different (sufentail: 100% (IQR = 98-100) vs. morphine: 98% (IQR= 96-100). No difference was detected in the amount of rescue analgesia utilized or length of stay. Patient satisfaction scores by the end of treatment were similar (sufentail: 10 (IQR= 7.8-10 vs. morphine 8 (IQR: 6-10), p=0.152. Conclusion: There is no significant difference in reduction of pain scores between IN sufentanil vs IV morphine for patients who presented to the ED with acute pain

Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) and Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of Copper-based Metallization for Microelectronic Fabrication

Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

Non-falciparum Malaria in Africa and Learning From Plasmodium vivax in Asia

To the Editor—We read with interest Groger and colleagues’ prospective study of Plasmodium ovale relapses in Gabon [1]. Their work is timely given non-falciparum malaria’s increasing prom-inence in Africa and the potential role of hypnozoite-induced relapses in this trend. Despite declines in Plasmodium falciparum transmission, molecular sur-veys have shown a 6-fold increase in the odds of P.  ovale infection in Tanzania from 2010 to 2016 [2], and a similar trend in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the species’ prevalence increased from 0.4 to 8.3% in national surveys con-ducted in 2007 and 2013 [3, 4]. Successful interventions against P.  falciparum in Zanzibar [5] and Uganda [6] have not had the same effect on non-falciparum species. Clearly, P.  ovale is becoming an increasingly important malaria in Africa

Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of Manganese Self-Aligned Diffusion Barriers for Cu Interconnections in Microelectronics

Barriers to prevent diffusion of copper, oxygen and water vapor were formed by CVD using a manganese precursor vapor that reacts with silica surfaces. The manganese metal penetrates only a few nanometers into the silica to make conformal amorphous manganese silicate layers. This MnSixOy was found to be an excellent barrier to the diffusion of Cu, O2 and H2O vapor. The adhesion strength of Cu to the MnSixOy was found to be sufficiently strong to satisfy the semiconductor industry requirements for interconnections in future microelectronic devices. CVD Mn dissolves into copper surfaces and then diffuses to increase adhesion to SiCNO capping layers.Chemistry and Chemical Biolog

Mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake by the voltage-dependent anion channel 2 regulates cardiac rhythmicity.

Tightly regulated Ca(2+) homeostasis is a prerequisite for proper cardiac function. To dissect the regulatory network of cardiac Ca(2+) handling, we performed a chemical suppressor screen on zebrafish tremblor embryos, which suffer from Ca(2+) extrusion defects. Efsevin was identified based on its potent activity to restore coordinated contractions in tremblor. We show that efsevin binds to VDAC2, potentiates mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake and accelerates the transfer of Ca(2+) from intracellular stores into mitochondria. In cardiomyocytes, efsevin restricts the temporal and spatial boundaries of Ca(2+) sparks and thereby inhibits Ca(2+) overload-induced erratic Ca(2+) waves and irregular contractions. We further show that overexpression of VDAC2 recapitulates the suppressive effect of efsevin on tremblor embryos whereas VDAC2 deficiency attenuates efsevin\u27s rescue effect and that VDAC2 functions synergistically with MCU to suppress cardiac fibrillation in tremblor. Together, these findings demonstrate a critical modulatory role for VDAC2-dependent mitochondrial Ca(2+) uptake in the regulation of cardiac rhythmicity

Hatano-Nelson model with a periodic potential

We study a generalisation of the Hatano-Nelson Hamiltonian in which a periodic modulation of the site energies is present in addition to the usual random distribution. The system can then become localized by disorder or develop a band gap, and the eigenspectrum shows a wide variety of topologies. We determine the phase diagram, and perform a finite size scaling analysis of the localization transition.Comment: 7 pages, 10 figure