13,729 research outputs found
Megasonic Enhanced Electrodeposition
A novel way of filling high aspect ratio vertical interconnection (microvias)
with an aspect ratio of >2:1 is presented. High frequency acoustic streaming at
megasonic frequencies enables the decrease of the Nernst-diffusion layer down
to the sub-micron range, allowing thereby conformal electrodeposition in deep
grooves. Higher throughput and better control over the deposition properties
are possible for the manufacturing of interconnections and metal-based MEMS.Comment: Submitted on behalf of EDA Publishing Association
(http://irevues.inist.fr/handle/2042/16838
The Planar Tree Packing Theorem
Packing graphs is a combinatorial problem where several given graphs are
being mapped into a common host graph such that every edge is used at most
once. In the planar tree packing problem we are given two trees T1 and T2 on n
vertices and have to find a planar graph on n vertices that is the
edge-disjoint union of T1 and T2. A clear exception that must be made is the
star which cannot be packed together with any other tree. But according to a
conjecture of Garc\'ia et al. from 1997 this is the only exception, and all
other pairs of trees admit a planar packing. Previous results addressed various
special cases, such as a tree and a spider tree, a tree and a caterpillar, two
trees of diameter four, two isomorphic trees, and trees of maximum degree
three. Here we settle the conjecture in the affirmative and prove its general
form, thus making it the planar tree packing theorem. The proof is constructive
and provides a polynomial time algorithm to obtain a packing for two given
nonstar trees.Comment: Full version of our SoCG 2016 pape
Insurgent Asylum Policies in European Cities: A Multi-Level Governance Perspective
Cities worldwide operate on the frontlines to support forced migrants. Some of these cities even overstep their formal prerogatives by refusing to comply with, and at times overtly subverting, the prescriptions of national authorities. This article builds a conceptual framework to understand such forms of insurgent urban asylum policy-making. We argue that insurgency depends on how city governments mediate the constraints and opportunities that emanate from the horizontal and vertical dimensions of multi-level governance, which capture city-level political dynamics as well as intergovernmental interactions. To illustrate our framework, we compare asylum policy-making in Barcelona, Milan, and Munich during the 2010s "refugee crisis." While Munich invested in rather uncontroversial integration programs, Milan and Barcelona overstepped their jurisdictional boundaries and supported migrants considered "illegal" by national governments. These insurgent responses were enacted as a "remedy from below," stemming from a sense of urgency that was not as pressing for Munich's policy-makers because of the greater capacity of Germany's asylum system.ISSN:1078-0874ISSN:1552-833
Determination of Gd concentration profile in UO2-Gd2O3 fuel pellets
A transversal mapping of the Gd concentration was measured in UO2-Gd2O3
nuclear fuel pellets by electron paramagnetic resonance spectroscopy (EPR). The
quantification was made from the comparison with a Gd2O3 reference sample. The
nominal concentration in the pellets is UO2: 7.5 % Gd2O3. A concentration
gradient was found, which indicates that the Gd2O3 amount diminishes towards
the edges of the pellets. The concentration varies from (9.3 +/- 0.5)% in the
center to (5.8 +/- 0.3)% in one of the edges. The method was found to be
particularly suitable for the precise mapping of the distribution of Gd3+ ions
in the UO2 matrix.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figures, 2 tables. Submitted to Journal of Nuclear
Material
Symposium: The Future of Law and Development, Part IV
This Symposium has been a wonderful forum for identifying a number of challenges that Law and Development will face going forward. Like many of the contributors, I have thought about these issues as both an academic and as a practitioner/government adviser. I have concluded that the Law and Development movement suffers from both an inability to get good results (if we could figure out what âgoodâ results actually are) and a lack of follow up regarding implementation efforts.
As to the former, it is not clear to me that those of us in the field actually know what results we want to achieveâor that we can actually (and accurately) measure them. Mariana Prado noted that in some areas it is easy to gauge success, such as in antitrust or telecoms. If telecom prices go down, Prado suggests, the antitrust suit is successful. I would argue that quantifying success is not so easy, even in these areas. In many cases, looking at easily quantifiable measures such as case counts or the number of successful prosecutions does not in fact measure success. Agencies might bring lots of small but unimportant antitrust cases to raise their number of wins. Moreover, agencies might bring a âwinningâ case even if the underlying economics behind the case do not mesh with any real consumer loss. For example, in a given developing world country, competitors might push the agency to bring a series of vertical restraints cases against efficient competitors. Finally, even if lower telecom rates result from an antitrust win, is such a win really a success of Law and Development? We have serious endogeneity issues in trying to attribute reduced telecom rates to a particular technical assistance intervention. It could be that rates would have gone lower regardless of the antitrust case. Foreign entrants, changes in technology across platforms (such as voice over internet or wimax), or a change in tariff policy by the telecom regulator may have affected telecom rates
Enhanced Anandamide Plasma Levels in Patients with Complex Regional Pain Syndrome following Traumatic Injury: A Preliminary Report
The complex regional pain syndrome (CRPS) is a disabling neuropathic pain condition that may develop following injuries of the extremities. The pathogenesis of this syndrome is not clear; however, it includes complex interactions between the nervous and the immune system resulting in chronic inflammation, pain and trophic changes. This interaction may be mediated by chronic stress which is thought to activate the endogenous cannabinoid (endocannabinoid) system (ECS). We conducted an open, prospective, comparative clinical study to determine plasma level of the endocannabinoid anandamide by high-performance liquid chromatography and a tandem mass spectrometry system in 10 patients with CRPS type I versus 10 age- and sex-matched healthy controls. As compared to healthy controls, CRPS patients showed significantly higher plasma concentrations of anandamide. These results indicate that the peripheral ECS is activated in CRPS. Further studies are warranted to evaluate the role of the ECS in the limitation of inflammation and pain. Copyright (C) 2009 S. Karger AG, Base
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