An Experimental and Numerical Study on Glass Frit Wafer-to-Wafer Bonding

A thermo-mechanical wafer-to-wafer bonding process is studied through experiments on the glass frit material and thermo-mechanical numerical simulations to evaluate the effect of the residual stresses on the wafer warpage. To experimentally characterize the material, confocal laser profilometry and scanning electron microscopy for surface observation, energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy for microstructural investigation, and nanoindentation and die shear tests for the evaluation of mechanical properties are used. An average effective Young’s modulus of 86.5 ± 9.5 GPa, a Poisson’s ratio of 0.19 ± 0.02, and a hardness of 5.26 ± 0.8 GPa were measured through nanoindentation for the glass frit material. The lowest nominal shear strength ranged 1.13 ÷ 1.58 MPa in the strain rate interval to 0.33 ÷ 4.99 × 10 (Formula presented.) s (Formula presented.). To validate the thermo-mechanical model, numerical results are compared with experimental measurements of the out-of-plane displacements at the wafer surface (i.e., warpage), showing acceptable agreement

Translation, Cross-Cultural Adaptation, and Psychometric Validation of the Russian Coronary Artery Disease Education Questionnaire II (CADE-Q II) in chronic coronary syndrome patients

Aim. This study sought to translate, cross-culturally adapt, and psychometrically validate the Coronary Artery Disease Education Questionnaire II (CADE-Q II) in Russian.Material and methods. Independent translations and back-translations of the CADE-Q II were conducted by bilingual health professionals and certified translators, respectively. Experts met to consider cultural relevance of the items to Russian patients. The finalized version was then pilot tested in a group of patients to assess understanding and time to complete the tool. Following these steps, 303 patients with a diagnosis of stable coronary artery disease treated in the Outpatient Cardiology Department between April and November 2021 completed the CADE-Q II. The following psychometric properties were evaluated: confirmatory factor analysis, internal consistency (assessed by Cronbach's alpha), test-retest reliability (ICC), and criterion validity (assessed through the association with CADE-Q II and The Self Care of Coronary Heart Disease Inventory and SF-36 scores, among other characteristics from the participants including educational level).Results. After items were translated, revised, culturally adapted and finalized, 30 patients took 30 minutes to complete the CADE-Q II during pilot test and questionnaire was considered understandable by all. Factor analysis (Kaiser-Meyer-Olkin =0.692 and Bartlett's criterion of Sphericity <0.05) revealed four factors, all internally consistent and aligned with the original version of the questionnaire. Cronbach's alpha of subscales ranged from 0.61 to 0.88 and ICC was 0.81. Criterion validity was confirmed by significant differences in total CADE-Q II scores by participants' educational level and correlations between CADE-Q II and The Self Care of Coronary Heart Disease Inventory scores (r=0.251, p<0.05).Conclusion. The Russian CADE-Q II presented sufficient validity and reliability for use to assess disease-related knowledge of chronic coronary syndrome patients in Russia

Global well-posedness of the Kirchhoff equation and Kirchhoff systems

This article is devoted to review the known results on global well-posedness for the Cauchy problem to the Kirchhoff equation and Kirchhoff systems with small data. Similar results will be obtained for the initial-boundary value problems in exterior domains with compact boundary. Also, the known results on large data problems will be reviewed together with open problems.Comment: arXiv admin note: text overlap with arXiv:1211.300

Refined upper bounds on the coarsening rate of discrete, ill-posed diffusion equations

"We study coarsening phenomena observed in discrete, ill-posed diffusion equations that arise in a variety of applications, including computer vision, population dynamics and granular flow. Our results provide rigorous upper bounds on the coarsening rate in any dimension. Heuristic arguments and the numerical experiments we perform indicate that the bounds are in agreement with the actual rate of coarsening."http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/64211/1/non8_12_002.pd

Urban rainwater harvesting systems: Research, implementation and future perspectives.

Published onlineJournal ArticleReviewThis is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from IWA Publishing via the DOI in this record.While the practice of rainwater harvesting (RWH) can be traced back millennia, the degree of its modern implementation varies greatly across the world, often with systems that do not maximize potential benefits. With a global focus, the pertinent practical, theoretical and social aspects of RWH are reviewed in order to ascertain the state of the art. Avenues for future research are also identified. A major finding is that the degree of RWH systems implementation and the technology selection are strongly influenced by economic constraints and local regulations. Moreover, despite design protocols having been set up in many countries, recommendations are still often organized only with the objective of conserving water without considering other potential benefits associated with the multiple-purpose nature of RWH. It is suggested that future work on RWH addresses three priority challenges. Firstly, more empirical data on system operation is needed to allow improved modelling by taking into account multiple objectives of RWH systems. Secondly, maintenance aspects and how they may impact the quality of collected rainwater should be explored in the future as a way to increase confidence on rainwater use. Finally, research should be devoted to the understanding of how institutional and socio-political support can be best targeted to improve system efficacy and community acceptance

DIVERSIDAD DE LOS NEMATODOS DE TETRA COLA ROJA ASTYANAX AFF. PARANAE (TELEOSTEI: CHARACIDAE) DE SITIOS CONTAMINADOS DE UN SISTEMA DE RÍO TROPICAL

Aquatic systems are affected by a great variety of anthropogenic activities that alter the water quality through the introduction of organic and inorganic pollutants, consequently impacting all trophic levels of a biological community. The relationship between parasite species diversity and organic pollution in the high Paraná River basin, Paraná, Brazil was investigated during two seasons (Winter and Summer) of 2011. A total of 114 red-tail-lambari (Astyanax aff. paranae Eigenmann, 1914) were sampled from a non-impacted location (Perobas Reserve) and from impacted regions (agricultural and urban regions, upstream and downstream the city of Campo Mourão, respectively). The nematode Spinitectus yorkei Travassos, Artigas & Pereira, 1928 was found on the preserved area, while the nematode Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus Travassos, Artigas & Pereira, 1928 was found only on the severely polluted areas. The variability of the prevalence index suggests that the structure of the parasite community is affected at different ways by the same levels of pollutants on the water. The observed results assume that the alteration in parasite diversity can be related to increased organic pollution, and that the differences in the parasite community from different environments can be related to biotic stress.Los sistemas acuáticos se ven afectados por una gran variedad de actividades antropogénicas que alteran la calidad del agua a través de la introducción de contaminantes orgánicos e inorgánicos, por consiguiente, afectan a todos los niveles de la comunidad biológica. De esta forma, la relación entre la diversidad de especies de parásitos y la contaminación orgánica en la cuenca del alto Paraná, Paraná, Brasil, se investigó en dos temporadas (invierno y verano) de 2011. Un total de 114 tetra cola roja (Astyanax aff. paranae Eigenmann, 1914) se muestrearon en un sitio no impactado (Reserva Perobas) y en regiones impactadas (zonas agrícolas y urbanas, aguas arriba y aguas abajo de la ciudad de Campo Mourão, respectivamente). El nematodo Spinitectus yorkei Travassos, Artigas y Pereira, 1928 se encuentran en la zona protegida, mientras que el nematodo Procamallanus (Spirocamallanus) inopinatus Travassos, Artigas y Pereira, 1928 se encuentran sólo en las zonas gravemente contaminadas. La variabilidad del índice de prevalencia sugiere que la estructura de la comunidad de parásitos se ve afectada en diferentes formas por el mismo nivel de contaminantes en el agua. Los resultados observados asumen que la alteración en la diversidad parasitaria puede estar relacionada con el aumento de la contaminación orgánica, y que la respuesta de la comunidad de parásitos a las tensiones ambientales puede ser utilizada como bioindicadora

Notch signaling during human T cell development

Notch signaling is critical during multiple stages of T cell development in both mouse and human. Evidence has emerged in recent years that this pathway might regulate T-lineage differentiation differently between both species. Here, we review our current understanding of how Notch signaling is activated and used during human T cell development. First, we set the stage by describing the developmental steps that make up human T cell development before describing the expression profiles of Notch receptors, ligands, and target genes during this process. To delineate stage-specific roles for Notch signaling during human T cell development, we subsequently try to interpret the functional Notch studies that have been performed in light of these expression profiles and compare this to its suggested role in the mouse