Characterization of Si/Si_(1-y)C_y superlattices grown by surfactant assisted molecular beam epitaxy

Si/Si_(0.97)C_(0.03) superlattices grown on Si(001) substrates by Sb surfactant assisted molecular beam epitaxy are characterized by in situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED), atomic force microscopy, transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and high resolution x‐ray diffraction. The RHEED shows that, in the absence of Sb, the growth front roughens during Si_(0.97)C_(0.03) growth and smooths during subsequent Si growth. In contrast, when Sb is present, the growth front remains smooth throughout the growth. This observation is confirmed by cross‐sectional TEM, which reveals that for samples grown without the use of Sb, the Si/Si_(0.97)C_(0.03) interfaces (Si_(0.97)C_(0.03) on Si) are much more abrupt than the Si_(0.97)C_(0.03)/Si interfaces. In the case of Sb assisted growth, there is no observable difference in abruptness between the two types of interfaces. Atomic force microscopy micrographs of the Si_(0.97)C_(0.03) surface reveal features that could be the source of the roughness observed by RHEED and TEM

Sb-surfactant-mediated growth of Si/Si1–yCy superlattices by molecular-beam epitaxy

Si/Si0.97C0.03 superlattices were grown on Si(001) substrates by molecular beam epitaxy (MBE) to study the use of Sb as a surfactant during Si1–yCy growth. In situ reflection high energy electron diffraction (RHEED) shows that while carbon easily disrupts the two-dimensional growth of homoepitaxial Si, such disruption is suppressed for layers grown on Sb-terminated Si(001) surfaces. Cross-sectional transmission electron microscopy (TEM) reveals that for samples grown without the use of Sb, the Si/Si0.97C0.03 interfaces (Si0.97C0.03 on Si) were much more abrupt than Si0.97C0.03/Si interfaces. In the case of Sb-mediated growth, differences in abruptness between the two types of interfaces were not readily observable

Sequence signature analysis of chromosome identity in three Drosophila species

BACKGROUND: All eukaryotic organisms need to distinguish each of their chromosomes. A few protein complexes have been described that recognise entire, specific chromosomes, for instance dosage compensation complexes and the recently discovered autosome-specific Painting of Fourth (POF) protein in Drosophila. However, no sequences have been found that are chromosome-specific and distributed over the entire length of the respective chromosome. Here, we present a new, unbiased, exhaustive computational method that was used to probe three Drosophila genomes for chromosome-specific sequences. RESULTS: By combining genome annotations and cytological data with multivariate statistics related to three Drosophila genomes we found sequence signatures that distinguish Muller's F-elements (chromosome 4 in D. melanogaster) from all other chromosomes in Drosophila that are not attributable to differences in nucleotide composition, simple sequence repeats or repeated elements. Based on these signatures we identified complex motifs that are strongly overrepresented in the F-elements and found indications that the D. melanogaster motif may be involved in POF-binding to the F-element. In addition, the X-chromosomes of D. melanogaster and D. yakuba can be distinguished from the other chromosomes, albeit to a lesser extent. Surprisingly, the conservation of the F-element sequence signatures extends not only between species separated by approximately 55 Myr, but also linearly along the sequenced part of the F-elements. CONCLUSION: Our results suggest that chromosome-distinguishing features are not exclusive to the sex chromosomes, but are also present on at least one autosome (the F-element) in Drosophila

Cancer risk in mothers of men operated for undescended testis

BACKGROUND: Undescended testis, or cryptorchidism, occurs in 2–5% of boys born at term, and by 12 months of age about 1% of all boys have manifest cryptorchidism. Several hormonal substances control this process and disruption of the foetal sex-hormones balance is a potential cause of undescended testis, however, to a great extent the aetiology of cryptorchidism is unclear. METHODOLOGY: To study risk factors involved in the aetiology of undescended testis, we assessed cancer risk in 15,885 mothers of men operated for undescended testis in Sweden. Women were followed-up for a median period of 23 years during which 811 first primary malignancies occurred. Their cancer incidence was compared with that in the general population estimating standardized incidence ratio (SIR) and corresponding 95% confidence interval (CI). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The overall cancer risk experienced by the mothers of cryptorchid men did not differ significantly from that of the general population (SIR = 0.94; 95% C.I. = 0.88–1.01). Specifically, there was a reduction in ovarian cancer risk (SIR = 0.72; 95% C.I. = 0.51–0.99), while the risk of lung (SIR = 1.38 95% C.I. 1.03–1.81) and biliary tract/liver cancer (SIR: 1.76, 95% CI: 1.03–2.82) were increased. CONCLUSIONS: Although we cannot rule out the role of chance, our data suggest a positive association between undescended testis and maternal lung cancer and a negative association with ovarian cancer, where the first may be partly attributable to smoking and the second to an altered hormonal milieu during pregnancy and thus both exposures may be risk factors for cryptorchidism

A Case Study on Artefact-based RE Improvement in Practice

Most requirements engineering (RE) process improvement approaches are solution-driven and activity-based. They focus on the assessment of the RE of a company against an external norm of best practices. A consequence is that practitioners often have to rely on an improvement approach that skips a profound problem analysis and that results in an RE approach that might be alien to the organisational needs. In recent years, we have developed an RE improvement approach (called \emph{ArtREPI}) that guides a holistic RE improvement against individual goals of a company putting primary attention to the quality of the artefacts. In this paper, we aim at exploring ArtREPI's benefits and limitations. We contribute an industrial evaluation of ArtREPI by relying on a case study research. Our results suggest that ArtREPI is well-suited for the establishment of an RE that reflects a specific organisational culture but to some extent at the cost of efficiency resulting from intensive discussions on a terminology that suits all involved stakeholders. Our results reveal first benefits and limitations, but we can also conclude the need of longitudinal and independent investigations for which we herewith lay the foundation

The Association between HIV Infection, Antiretroviral Therapy and Cervical Squamous Intraepithelial Lesions in South Western Nigerian Women.

Findings from studies that evaluated the effect of antiretroviral drug use on the development of cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion differed in their conclusions. This study investigated the association between HIV infection, antiretroviral drug use and cervical squamous intraepithelial lesion in a high HIV and cervical cancer burden setting- Nigeria

Microbial risk assessment of drinking water based on hydrodynamic modelling of pathogen concentrations in source water

Norovirus contamination of drinking water sources is an important cause of waterborne disease outbreaks. Knowledge on pathogen concentrations in source water is needed to assess the ability of a drinking water treatment plant (DWTP) to provide safe drinking water. However, pathogen enumeration in source water samples is often not sufficient to describe the source water quality. In this study, the norovirus concentrations were characterised at the contamination source, i.e. in sewage discharges. Then, the transport of norovirus within the water source (the river Gota alv in Sweden) under different loading conditions was simulated using a hydrodynamic model. Based on the estimated concentrations in source water, the required reduction of norovirus at the DWTP was calculated using quantitative microbial risk assessment (QMRA). The required reduction was compared with the estimated treatment performance at the DWTP. The average estimated concentration in source water varied between 4.8 x 10(2) and 7.5 x 10(3) genome equivalents L-1; and the average required reduction by treatment was between 7.6 and 8.8 Log(10). The treatment performance at the DWTP was estimated to be adequate to deal with all tested loading conditions, but was heavily dependent on chlorine disinfection, with the risk of poor reduction by conventional treatment and slow sand filtration. To our knowledge, this is the first article to employ discharge-based QMRA, combined with hydrodynamic modelling, in the context of drinking water. (C) 2015 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved

SOTER on ROS: A Run-Time Assurance Framework on the Robot Operating System

We present an implementation of SOTER, a run-time assurance framework for building safe distributed mobile robotic (DMR) systems, on top of the Robot Operating System (ROS). The safety of DMR systems cannot always be guaranteed at design time, especially when complex, off-the-shelf components are used that cannot be verified easily. SOTER addresses this by providing a language-based approach for run-time assurance for DMR systems. SOTER implements the reactive robotic software using the language P, a domain-specific language designed for implementing asynchronous event-driven systems, along with an integrated run-time assurance system that allows programmers to use unfortified components but still provide safety guarantees. We describe an implementation of SOTER for ROS and demonstrate its efficacy using a multi-robot surveillance case study, with multiple run-time assurance modules. Through rigorous simulation, we show that SOTER enabled systems ensure safety, even when using unknown and untrusted components.Comment: 20th International Conference on Runtime Verificatio