Influence analysis of ranking data

ranking data, partition maximum likelihood estimation, local influence, diagnostic measure,

Pathology in practice

No abstract available

TFT fabrication on MILC polysilicon film with pulsed rapid thermal annealing

Thin film transistors have been fabricated on the polysilicon from the process of metal induced lateral crystallization and pulsed rapid thermal annealing. The result shows that process of 10 cycles of 1 second at 800 °C thermal pulse annealing has enhanced the grain sizes and the transistors fabricated have improvement which almost doubled the performance of those without the rapid thermal annealing. This method has high potential for use in the fabrication of thin film transistors on low temperature glass substrate and application in solar cell and LCD

Study of porous silicon gas sensor

Porous silicon (Si) and porous poly-Si organic and humidity vapor sensors have been studied. For aluminum (Al)/porous Si/p-Si/Al Schottky diode sensor, the sensitivity compared to air at room temperature in 2600 ppm acetone, methanol, 2-propanol and ethanol vapor are about 400, 500, 1000 and 4000% respectively. Sensitivity for 800-2600 ppm ethanol is 200 to 4000%. The sensor can be converted into an Al/porous Si/Al resistor sensor with sensitivity of about 500 times for a humidity change of 43-75%. Both sensors have response time of about 0.5 min and sensitivity is repeatable and stable with time. The porous Si sensor can be integrated into other VLSI Si devices to form novel microelectronic systems

Effect of nickel in large grain poly-Si film formed by nickel induced lateral crystallization and new grain enhancement method

Large grain poly-silicon film (poly-Si) with high material quality and uniformity can have numerous novel applications such as providing a low cost alternative to form silicon-on-insulator (SOI) substrates and a breakthrough technology to ultra-dense 3-dimensional multi-layer SOI like devices and circuits. Nickel Induced Lateral Crystallization (NILC) of amorphous Si (a-Si) has been studied intensively, yet the grains are still small (∼ 1 μm). Recently, we have reported a novel method by combining NILC and a new annealing (at above 900 °C) to form poly-Si film with very large grains ranging from 10 μm to 100 μm. The film has good quality and the TFTs formed are highly comparable to SOI TFTs. This work further reports the effect of Ni to the new large-grain poly-Si film

How Useful is Glucose Detection in Diagnosing Cerebrospinal Fluid Leak? The Rational Use of CT and Beta-2 Transferrin Assay in Detection of Cerebrospinal Fluid Fistula

This report describes the sensitivity and specificity of glucose detection using Glucostix test strips and computed tomography (CT) of the skull base for confirming cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) fistulae in patients with persistent rhinorrhoea or otorrhoea, and comparing them with the beta-2 transferrin assay as the gold standard for CSF detection. Methods: Fluid samples from the nose were collected from 18 patients with suspected CSF fistulae. The samples were assayed for beta-2 transferrin using the Western blotting and immunostaining technique. CT (5 mm axial slice) of the skull base was performed for evidence of skull base fracture. The glucose levels and Glucostix results were compared. Results: Out of the 18 samples, 15 were positive for beta-2 transferrin and the leaks were validated surgically in 10 patients. Five leaks healed spontaneously with conservative management. Glucostix tests produced three false positive results from blood and nasal mucus contaminated fluid. Glucostix failed to detect another three CSF leaks resulting from false negative tests because of low CSF glucose levels. The Glucostix glucose test was non-specific and insensitive compared with the beta-2 transferrin assay. CT failed to detect three out of the 15 beta-2 transferrin-positive leaks but there were no false positive results. CT produced six negative results, of which three were false negatives. Conclusions: Glucose detection using Glucostix test strips is not recommended as a confirmatory test due to its lack of specificity and sensitivity. In the presence of a skull base fracture on CT and a clinical CSF leak, there is no need for a further confirmatory test. In cases where a confirmatory test is needed, the beta-2 transferrin assay is the test of choice because of its high sensitivity and specificity

SOI formation from amorphous silicon by novel grain enhancement method

Large grain (> 10 um) poly-Si film has been formed from nickel Metal Induced Lateral Crystallization (MILC) and subsequent high temperature annealing. The fabricated thin film transistors (TFT) have near SOI performance. The new technology has good potential to provide low cost SOI substrates, multilayer devices and other novel applications. ©2000 Materials Research Society