312 research outputs found
Integrating Through-Wafer Interconnects with Active Devices and Circuits
Through wafer interconnects (TWIs) enable vertical stacking of integrated circuit chips in a single package. A complete process to fabricate TWIs has been developed and demonstrated using blank test wafers. The next step in integrating this technology into 3D microelectronic packaging is the demonstration of TWIs on wafers with preexisting microcircuitry. The circuitry must be electrically accessible from the backside of the wafer utilizing the TWIs; the electrical performance of the circuitry must be unchanged as a result of the TWI processing; and the processing must be as cost effective as possible. With these three goals in mind, several options for creating TWIs were considered. This paper explores the various processing options and describes in detail, the final process flow that was selected for testing, the accompanying masks that were designed, the actual processing of the wafers, and the electrical test results
Low energy measurement of the 7Be(p,gamma)8B cross section
We have measured the cross section of the 7Be(p,gamma)8B reaction for E_cm =
185.8 keV, 134.7 keV and 111.7 keV using a radioactive 7Be target (132 mCi).
Single and coincidence spectra of beta^+ and alpha particles from 8B and 8Be^*
decay, respectively, were measured using a large acceptance spectrometer. The
zero energy S factor inferred from these data is 18.5 +/- 2.4 eV b and a
weighted mean value of 18.8 +/- 1.7 eV b (theoretical uncertainty included) is
deduced when combining this value with our previous results at higher energies.Comment: Accepted for publication in Phys. Rev. Let
A Measurement of the Coulomb Dissociation of 8B at 254 MeV/nucleon and the 8B Solar Neutrino Flux
We have measured the Coulomb dissociation of 8B into 7Be and proton at 254
MeV/nucleon using a large-acceptance focusing spectrometer. The astrophysical
S17 factor for the 7Be(p,gamma)8B reaction at E{c.m.} = 0.25-2.78 MeV is
deduced yielding S17(0)=20.6 \pm 1.2 (exp.) \pm 1.0 (theo.) eV-b.
This result agrees with the presently adopted zero-energy S17 factor obtained
in direct-reaction measurements and with the results of other
Coulomb-dissociation studies performed at 46.5 and 51.2 MeV/nucleon.Comment: paper to be published in Phys. Rev. Lett. 3 figures. New Version
fixes formatting problems with the figures only. There are no other change
Seroepidemiologic Study of Human Infections with Spotted Fever Group Rickettsiae in North Carolina
Increasing entomologic and epidemiologic evidence suggests that spotted fever group rickettsiae (SFGR) other than Rickettsia rickettsii are responsible for spotted fever rickettsioses in the United States. A retrospective seroepidemiologic study was conducted on stored acute- and convalescent-phase sera that had been submitted for Rocky Mountain spotted fever testing to the North Carolina State Laboratory of Public Health. We evaluated the serologic reactivity of the paired sera to R. rickettsii, Rickettsia parkeri, and Rickettsia amblyommii antigens. Of the 106 eligible pairs tested, 21 patients seroconverted to one or more antigens. Cross-reactivity to multiple antigens was observed in 10 patients, and seroconversions to single antigens occurred in 11 patients, including 1 against R. rickettsii, 4 against R. parkeri, and 6 against R. amblyommii. Cross-absorption of cross-reactive sera and/or Western blots identified two presumptive cases of infection with R. parkeri, two presumptive cases of infection with R. rickettsii, and one presumptive case of infection with R. amblyommii. These findings suggest that species of SFGR other than R. rickettsii are associated with illness among North Carolina residents and that serologic testing using R. rickettsii antigen may miss cases of spotted fever rickettsioses caused by other species of SFGR
7Be(p,gamma)8B astrophysical S-factor from precision cross section measurements
We measured the 7Be(p,gamma)8B cross section from E_cm = 186 to 1200 keV,
with a statistical-plus-systematic precision per point of better than +- 5%.
All important systematic errors were measured including 8B backscattering
losses. We obtain S_17(0) = 22.3 +- 0.7(expt) +- 0.5(theor) eV-b from our data
at E_cm <= 300 keV and the theory of Descouvemont and Baye.Comment: 4 pages, 4 figure
2nd International External Quality Control Assessment for the Molecular Diagnosis of Dengue Infections
Dengue viruses (DENV) are the most widespread arthropod-borne viruses which have shown an unexpected geographic expansion, as well as an increase in the number and severity of outbreaks in the last decades. In this context, the accurate diagnosis and reliable surveillance of dengue infections are essential. The laboratory diagnosis of dengue relies on the use of several methods detecting markers of DENV infection present in patient serum. Molecular diagnosis methods are usually rapid, sensitive, and simple when correctly standardized. Moreover, PCR-based diagnosis techniques are able to readily detect DENV during the acute phase of the disease and may assume an important role in dengue diagnosis and surveillance. Different reverse transcriptase PCR (RT-PCR) methods have been developed and are currently available and should be standardized in each laboratory to maintain high quality performance. In this work an External quality assessment (EQA) activity has been carried out to evaluate the accuracy and quality of laboratory data for the molecular diagnosis and surveillance of dengue, which involved worldwide dengue reference laboratories. In conclusion, RT-PCR techniques for dengue diagnosis applied by the participating laboratories demonstrated the need of further improvement in most laboratories
Extrapolation of the astrophysical S factor for ^7Be(p,gamma)^8B to solar energies
We investigate the energy dependence of the astrophysical factor for the
reaction BeB, the primary source of high-energy solar
neutrinos in the solar chain. Using simple models we explore the model
dependence in the extrapolation of the experimental data to the region of
astrophysical interest near 20 keV. We find that below approximately 400 keV
the energy dependence is very well understood and constrained by the data for
the elastic scattering of low energy neutrons from Li. Above 400 keV
nuclear distortion of the wave function of the incident proton introduces a
significant model dependence. This is particularly important for the s-wave
contribution to the factor. The extracted value of S(0) is ~eVb. The first error is experimental while the second is an estimate
of the theoretical error in the extrapolation.Comment: 30 pages, 12 figures, 6 table
Three SRA-Domain Methylcytosine-Binding Proteins Cooperate to Maintain Global CpG Methylation and Epigenetic Silencing in Arabidopsis
Methylcytosine-binding proteins decipher the epigenetic information encoded by DNA methylation and provide a link between DNA methylation, modification of chromatin structure, and gene silencing. VARIANT IN METHYLATION 1 (VIM1) encodes an SRA (SET- and RING-associated) domain methylcytosine-binding protein in Arabidopsis thaliana, and loss of VIM1 function causes centromere DNA hypomethylation and centromeric heterochromatin decondensation in interphase. In the Arabidopsis genome, there are five VIM genes that share very high sequence similarity and encode proteins containing a PHD domain, two RING domains, and an SRA domain. To gain further insight into the function and potential redundancy among the VIM proteins, we investigated strains combining different vim mutations and transgenic vim knock-down lines that down-regulate multiple VIM family genes. The vim1 vim3 double mutant and the transgenic vim knock-down lines showed decreased DNA methylation primarily at CpG sites in genic regions, as well as repeated sequences in heterochromatic regions. In addition, transcriptional silencing was released in these plants at most heterochromatin regions examined. Interestingly, the vim1 vim3 mutant and vim knock-down lines gained ectopic CpHpH methylation in the 5S rRNA genes against a background of CpG hypomethylation. The vim1 vim2 vim3 triple mutant displayed abnormal morphological phenotypes including late flowering, which is associated with DNA hypomethylation of the 5′ region of FWA and release of FWA gene silencing. Our findings demonstrate that VIM1, VIM2, and VIM3 have overlapping functions in maintenance of global CpG methylation and epigenetic transcriptional silencing
The Be7(p,gamma)B8 cross section and the properties of Be7
We study the nonresonant part of the Be()B reaction using a
three-cluster resonating group model that is variationally converged and
virtually complete in the He+He+ model space. The importance of
using adequate nucleon-nucleon interaction is demonstrated. We find that the
low-energy astrophysical -factor is linearly correlated with the quadrupole
moment of Be. A range of parameters is found where the most important
Be and Li properties are reproduced simultaneously; the corresponding
-factor at keV is eVb.Comment: REVTEX, 8 pages and 2 postscript figures. MAP-9
Research priorities for freshwater mussel conservation assessment
Freshwater mussels are declining globally, and effective conservation requires prioritizing research and actions to identify and mitigate threats impacting mussel species. Conservation priorities vary widely, ranging from preventing imminent extinction to maintaining abundant populations. Here, we develop a portfolio of priority research topics for freshwater mussel conservation assessment. To address these topics, we group research priorities into two categories: intrinsic or extrinsic factors. Intrinsic factors are indicators of organismal or population status, while extrinsic factors encompass environmental variables and threats. An understanding of intrinsic factors is useful in monitoring, and of extrinsic factors are important to understand ongoing and potential impacts on conservation status. This dual approach can guide conservation status assessments prior to the establishment of priority species and implementation of conservation management actions.NF-R was supported by a post-doctoral fellowship (Xunta de Galicia Plan I2C 2017-2020, 09.40.561B.444.0) from the government of the autonomous community of Galicia. BY was supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education (no. 0409-2016-0022). DLS was supported by the G. E. Hutchinson Chair at the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies. AO was supported by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research (no. 17-44-290016). SV was funded by European Investment Funds by FEDER/COMPETE/POCI- Operacional Competitiveness and Internacionalization Programme, under Project POCI-01-0145-FEDER-006958 and National Funds by FCT-Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology, under the project UID/AGR/04033/2013. NF-R is very grateful to the University of Oklahoma Biological Survey for providing space to work in the U.S. and especially to Vaughn Lab members. Authors are very grateful to Akimasa Hattori, Allan K. Smith, Andrew Roberts, Daniel Graf, David Stagliano, David T. Zanatta, Dirk Van Damme, Ekaterina Konopleva, Emilie Blevins, Ethan Nedeau, Frankie Thielen, Gregory Cope, Heinrich Vicentini, Hugh Jones, Htilya Sereflisan, Ilya Vikhrev, John Pfeiffer, Karen Mock, Mary Seddon, Katharina Stockl, Katarzyna Zajac, Kengo Ito, Marie Capoulade, Marko Kangas, Michael Lange, Mike Davis, Pirkko-Liisa Luhta, Sarina Jepsen, Somsak Panha, Stephen McMurray, G. Thomas Watters, Wendell R. Haag, and Yoko Inui for their valuable contribution in the initial selection and description of extrinsic and intrinsic factors. We also wish to thank Dr. Amanda Bates, Chase Smith, and two anonymous reviewers for comments on earlier drafts of this manuscript. Any use of trade, firm, or product names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government
- …