Atomic layer deposition: Low temperature process well adapted to ULSI and TFT technologies

The high k dielectrics is an important materials to be integrate in future Ultra Large Scale Integration (ULSI) and future TFT technology. Indeed, to keep on the Moore\u27s Law curve, the reduction of silicon oxide (SiO2) thickness still required, but this reduction is hindered by tunneling current leakage limit. Consequently, it is important to replace SiO2 by another materials with high dielectric constant. The use of this material in manufacturing of gate dielectric in Thin-film transistor (TFT) and in Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) will increase gate capacitance with maintaining a low leakage current. Titanium dioxide is a good candidate due to its high dielectric constant in its rutile crystalline phase (180).This rutile structure is obtained at low temperature (250°C) by ALD deposition when TiO2 is deposited on ruthenium dioxide (RuO2) layer thanks to the small lattice mismatch between these two materials

Associations Between Maternal Post-traumatic Stress Disorder and Traumatic Events With Child Psychopathology: Results From a Prospective Longitudinal Study.

Introduction: Exposure to interpersonal violence (IPV) can lead to post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mothers, and in turn adversely affect the mother-child relationship during early development, as well as the mental health of their children. Our objectives are to assess: (1) the association of maternal IPV-PTSD to child psychopathology, (2) the association of maternal IPV independently of PTSD to child psychopathology, and (3) the relationship between child exposure to violence to the psychopathology of these children. Methods: We used data from the longitudinal Geneva Early Childhood Stress Project. The sample included 64 children [mean age at Phase 1 = 2.4 (1.0-3.7) years] of mothers with or without IPV-PTSD. Data on mothers was collected during Phase 1, using the Clinical Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS), the Brief Physical and Sexual Abuse Questionnaire (BPSAQ) and the Conflict Tactics Scale (CTS2). Modules of a semi-structured diagnostic interview, and the Violence Exposure Scale were used to collect information on child at Phase 2, when children were older [mean age = 7.02 (4.7-10)]. Results: A higher CAPS score in mothers when children were toddler-age was associated with an increased risk of symptoms of attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD; β = 0.33, p = 0.014) and PTSD in school-age children. The association between maternal IPV-PTSD and child PTSD (β = 0.48, p < 0.001) symptoms remained significant after adjustment for potential confounders. Among children, exposure to violence was associated with an increased risk of symptoms of generalized anxiety (β = 0.37, p = 0.006), major depressive (β = 0.24, p = 0.039), ADHD (β = 0.27, p = 0.040), PTSD (β = 0.52, p < 0.001), conduct (β = 0.58, p = 0.003) and oppositional defiant (β = 0.34, p = 0.032) disorders. Conclusion: Our longitudinal findings suggest that maternal IPV-PTSD during the period of child development exert an influence on the development of psychopathology in school-aged children. Mothers' IPV was associated with child psychopathology, independently of PTSD. Child lifetime exposure to violence had an additional impact on the development of psychopathology. Careful evaluation of maternal life-events is essential during early childhood to reduce the risk for the development of child psychopathology. Early efforts to curb exposure to violence in children and early intervention are both needed to reduce further risk for intergenerational transmission of trauma, violence, and related psychopathology

Impact of mothers' IPV-PTSD on their capacity to predict their child's emotional comprehension and its relationship to their child's psychopathology

Background: Previous studies demonstrated that when the violence-exposed child becomes a mother and interacts with her own child during early sensitive periods for social-emotional development, she may have difficulties providing sensitive responsiveness to the child's emotional communication. Such difficulties place the child's development of emotional comprehension (EC) and related self-regulation at risk. The aim of this study was to examine how mothers' interpersonal violence-related posttraumatic disorder (IPV-PTSD) would affect their children's EC and their own ability to predict their children's EC. We also investigated how mothers' predictive ability would correlate with child psychopathology. Methods: Sixty-one mother-child dyads (36 with IPV-PTSD) participated in this study. Children's (mean age = 7.0 years, SD = 1.1) EC was assessed with the Test of Emotion Comprehension (child TEC) and their psychopathology as reported by the mother was assessed with the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL) and as evaluated by a clinician using selected modules of the Kiddie Schedule for Affective Disorders and Schizophrenia (K-SADS). Mothers were measured for IPV-PTSD with the Clinician Administered PTSD Scale (CAPS) and for their capacity to predict their child's emotional comprehension (mother-responding-as-child TEC; mTEC). Results: We found no significant between-group differences in children's level of EC. Maternal PTSD was associated with lower scores on the mTEC, however. Reduced maternal scores on the mTEC were significantly associated with maternal report of increased aggressive child behaviour and with depression symptoms on the K-SADS. Further, scores on the mTEC interacted with maternal report of child aggression on child oppositional defiant disorder (ODD) symptoms on the K-SADS. Conclusion: These findings support that improving maternal emotional comprehension may help reduce child risk for psychiatric morbidity in this population

Identificação de polimorfismos em genótipos de Coffea arabica de uma coleção da Etiópia.

Os marcadores moleculares são ferramentas importantes para acelerar os programas de melhoramento. Para o cafeeiro, uma espécie perene, o uso de marcadores é particularmente desejável devido ao tempo e recursos gastos para o lançamento de uma nova cultivar. Duas espécies do gênero Coffea são responsáveis por quase toda a produção de café: Coffea arabica e C. canephora. Contudo, para C. arabica, o número de marcadores polimórficos é relativamente baixo comparado a C. canephora e outras culturas, uma vez que a espécie apresenta baixa diversidade genética. Muitos estudos com marcadores genéticos foram feitos para analisar a diversidade da C. arabica, mas os resultados não foram eficientes para a discriminação genotípica detalhada e mapeamento genético. O Instituto Agronômico do Paraná (IAPAR) possui uma coleção de 132 acessos de C. arabica originários da Etiópia, que apresentam variabilidade fenotípica com potencial para serem utilizados para exploração da diversidade. Neste sentido, este estudo buscou analisar a diversidade nucleotídica pela identificação de polimorfismos, SNPs e INDELs, de uma população do centro de origem de C. arabica, associado com o sequenciamento de nova geração. O RNA-seq de dois tecidos, frutos e folhas, de quatro genótipos de C. arabica de uma população da Etiópia, C. arabica cv. Mundo Novo e de um dos seus ancestrais de C. arabica ? C. eugenioides, foram sequenciados pela metodologia Illumina HiSeq2000. Os reads obtidos foram processados e posteriormente as sequências foram mapeadas em uma referência de C. canephora para identificação dos polimorfismos. Foram feitas duas estratégias: i) na primeira estratégia, foi utilizado uma ferramenta chamada SNiPloid com critérios de cobertura para o polimorfismo identificado e ii) uma segunda estratégia que considera os polimorfismos encontrados diretamente dos arquivos de detecção dos polimorfismos. Os resultados identificaram um número grande de polimorfismos. Na primeira estratégia, foram encontrados pelo menos 5.500 SNPs potenciais para a genotipagem e na segunda, 103.791 SNPs potenciais. Para essa última, ainda é necessário estabelecer critérios e filtros para escolher os polimorfismos que serão inicialmente genotipados. Os dados também mostraram a importância de utilizar um grupo mais diverso de genótipos associado com o sequenciamento de nova geração para detecção de SNPs. Este trabalho será importante para direcionar futuros trabalhos na caracterização da diversidade genética em C. arabica, além de estudos de mapeamento genético por associação

Prediction of survival with second-line therapy in biliary tract cancer: Actualisation of the AGEO CT2BIL cohort and European multicentre validations

BACKGROUND: The benefit of second-line chemotherapy (L2) over standard first-line (L1) gemcitabine plus cisplatin (GEMCIS) or oxaliplatin (GEMOX) chemotherapy in advanced biliary tract cancer (aBTC) is unclear. Our aim was to identify and validate prognostic factors for overall survival (OS) with L2 in aBTC to guide clinical decisions in this setting. METHODS: We performed a retrospective analysis of four prospective patient cohorts: a development cohort (28 French centres) and three validation cohorts from Italy, UK and France. All consecutive patients with aBTC receiving L2 after GEMCIS/GEMOX L1 between 2003 and 2016 were included. The association of clinicobiological data with OS was investigated in univariate and multivariate Cox analyses. A simple score was derived from the multivariate model. RESULTS: The development cohort included 405 patients treated with L1 GEMOX (91%) or GEMCIS. Of them, 55.3% were men, and median age was 64.8 years. Prior surgical resection was observed in 26.7%, and 94.8% had metastatic disease. Performance status (PS) was 0, 1 and 2 in 17.8%, 52.4% and 29.7%, respectively. Among 22 clinical parameters, eight were associated with OS in univariate analysis. In multivariate analysis, four were independent prognostic factors (p < 0.05): PS, reason for L1 discontinuation, prior resection of primary tumour and peritoneal carcinomatosis. The model had the Harrell's concordance index of 0.655, a good calibration and was validated in the three external cohorts (N = 392). CONCLUSION: We validated previously reported predictive factors of OS with L2 and identified peritoneal carcinomatosis as a new pejorative factor in nearly 800 patients. Our model and score may be useful in daily practice and for future clinical trial design

Metal-Insulator-Metal Devices with High-K Dielectric for Nonvolatile or Dynamic Random Access Memories

International audienc

Growth of high dielectric constant TiO2 films in capacitors using a low temperature ALD process

International audienc

Understanding the Interface Reaction During ALD Deposition of Thin TiO2 Films on RuO2 Layer—Impact on Physical and Electrical Properties of TiO2

International audienc

High capacitance 3D MIM structures achieved by ALD deposited TiO2 for advanced DRAM applications

International audienc