Deposition of tantalum on steel by sputtering

Recent interest in tantalum deposition comes from two different applications. One is in microelectronics where thin tantalum films (\u3c 1 µm) are used as diffusion barrier layers for copper interconnects. The other involves its application as a material for corrosion and wear resistant coating on surfaces that are subjected to high stresses and harsh chemical and erosive environments. This thesis is a part of the investigation done at the Ion Beam and Thin Film Research Laboratory at NJIT to study the deposition conditions and properties of tantalum thin films. It includes the design and construction of Planar D.C. Magnetron Sputtering System and Cylindrical D.C. Magnetron Sputtering System for deposition on the planar and cylindrical surfaces of steel, respectively. The electrical characteristics of the cylindrical system were tested in a range of pressures and conditions for initiation and maintaining of discharge were established. The successful completion of planar magnetron system was demonstrated by deposition of tantalum films. The quality of these films has improved with refining of the deposition system and the process procedure. Tantalum films deposited in the planar magnetron sputtering system had thickness in the range of 4000 Å - 6000 Å. As a part of a pilot study, the films were analyzed using profilometry, Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM), X-ray Diffraction (XRD) and Rutherford Backscattering Techniques (RBS). The characteristics of the films were strongly dependent on the surface preparation and the residual gas in the deposition chamber. The presence of oxygen and water vapor in the residual gas results in films containing substantial amount of oxygen. Proper cleaning of steel substrates is essential for film integrity and adhesion. Surface preparation, including steel polishing, also influences crystallinity of the films. Typically, alpha and beta tantalum phases are present but there are indications that under controlled conditions pure alpha phase can be formed

Impact of Behavioral Health Consultant Intervention on Health Outcomes in an Integrated Primary Care Setting

Integrated Primary Care Models are fast gaining popularity, and often being advocated as an important step in enhancing patient care within a primary care setting. Several studies have shown a positive impact of Behavioral Health Consultant (BHC) intervention in terms of patient satisfaction, improvement in patient symptom scores and global mental functioning. However, additional studies are needed to assess if integrated behavioral health consultations can demonstrate measurable outcome improvements to quantify the benefits of this approach, related to some of the most commonly seen and treated medical diseases in a primary care setting. This study aims to measure three outcomes: change in HbA1c levels, PHQ-9 scores (validated clinical scale for depression), and compliance rates for follow-up of patients in a primary care setting before and after BHC intervention and to determine if there is a statistically significant change related to these health outcomes

A Retrospective Audit of Widal Testing For Enteric Fever in the City Of Ahmedabad

Introduction: Widal test has been used extensively for the sero-diagnosis of Enteric fever in India, however, its accuracy and reliability are debatable. We studied widal testing and widal positivity rates in the entire city of Ahmedabad for the diagnosis of Enteric Fever. Methods We screened all 1700 possible diagnostic laboratory facilities, in Ahmedabad, in the public and private sector. We performed telephonic surveys for the initial filtering of facilities that could be conducting widal testing. It was followed by physical visits to probable facilities to confirm testing methods and preservation of reports of widal testing. We followed a systematic process for screening and selection of 23 laboratories, which conducted widal tests and had reliable data. While 14 laboratories refused to share data, data provided by three of them were inappropriate and couldn’t be used.  We finally analyzed data from four large public hospitals, one private trust hospital and one corporate laboratory for variable periods in a span of 15 years (2000 – 2015). Result: The Widal testing rate was found to be 8.7% and widal positivity as 12.5% in a sample of 1.2 million clinically suspected in-patients. In 15 years, the private hospital had admitted 1/10th as many cases as all the public hospitals together. However, the widal testing and positivity rates were similar in both. We observed a lower proportion of widal positivity among children below 12 years and a disproportionate, but insignificant, gender distribution of widal positivity. Conclusion: This study indicates that the widal test, which is meant to be an initial screening test, is widely used in the city. We propose linkage of testing and reporting of widal with other more reliable and accurate tests such as Typhidot and blood culture in order to strengthen our knowledge of enteric fever epidemiology in India

Investigating the impact of COVID-19 on sustainable food supply chains

Purpose- The ongoing pandemic has gravely affected different facets of society and economic trades worldwide. During the outbreak, most manufacturing and service sectors were closed across the globe except for essential commodities such as food and medicines. Consequently, recent literature has focused on studying supply chain resilience and sustainability in different pandemic contexts. This research adds to the existing literature by exploring the economic, environmental and societal aspects affecting the food supply chain and assessing the impact of COVID-19 on food sustainability. Design/methodology/approach- A survey method has been adopted with a questionnaire instrument investigating the role of technology, government policies, geopolitics and intermediaries on sustainable organisational management. A five-point Likert scale (i.e., 1: strongly disagree; 5: strongly agree) is used to evaluate the responses. The findings are based on 131 responses from entry-level workers and senior executives of different food supply chains across Asia and Europe. The data has been analysed to derive insights into the impacts of this pandemic. Findings- The survey concludes with the significant impact of COVID-19 on the three pillars of sustainability, i.e. economic, social, and environmental dimensions. The empirical analysis shows digitalization and its applications help mitigate the negative effect of COVID-19 on sustainability. In addition, the supportive government policies and intermediatory interventions were helpful in improving sustainability at each level. Social/Research/Practical Implications- The findings have implications for businesses and policymakers. Companies can learn from the advantages of digitalization to counter the challenges imposed by the pandemic or similar situations in the future in maintaining the sustainability of their supply chains. Managers can also learn the importance of effective organisational management in driving sustainability. Finally, policymakers can devise policies to support businesses in adopting sustainable practices in their supply chains. Originality/value- Our study adds to the limited literature exploring the impact of COVID-19 on food supply chain sustainability through the Triple Bottom Line (TBL) lens. This is also one of the first empirical studies to examine the effect of technology, government and organisational management practices on the sustainability of food supply chains

Blood Vessels as Regulators of Neural Stem Cell Properties

In the central nervous system (CNS), a precise communication between the vascular and neural compartments is essential for proper development and function. Recent studies demonstrate that certain neuronal populations secrete various molecular cues to regulate blood vessel growth and patterning in the spinal cord and brain during development. Interestingly, the vasculature is now emerging as a critical component that regulates stem cell niches during neocortical development, as well as during adulthood. In this review article, we will first provide an overview of blood vessel development and maintenance in embryonic and adult neurogenic niches. We will also summarize the current understanding of how blood vessel-derived signals influence the behavior of neural stem cells (NSCs) during early development as well as in adulthood, with a focus on their metabolism

Can NLP Models 'Identify', 'Distinguish', and 'Justify' Questions that Don't have a Definitive Answer?

Though state-of-the-art (SOTA) NLP systems have achieved remarkable performance on a variety of language understanding tasks, they primarily focus on questions that have a correct and a definitive answer. However, in real-world applications, users often ask questions that don't have a definitive answer. Incorrectly answering such questions certainly hampers a system's reliability and trustworthiness. Can SOTA models accurately identify such questions and provide a reasonable response? To investigate the above question, we introduce QnotA, a dataset consisting of five different categories of questions that don't have definitive answers. Furthermore, for each QnotA instance, we also provide a corresponding QA instance i.e. an alternate question that ''can be'' answered. With this data, we formulate three evaluation tasks that test a system's ability to 'identify', 'distinguish', and 'justify' QnotA questions. Through comprehensive experiments, we show that even SOTA models including GPT-3 and Flan T5 do not fare well on these tasks and lack considerably behind the human performance baseline. We conduct a thorough analysis which further leads to several interesting findings. Overall, we believe our work and findings will encourage and facilitate further research in this important area and help develop more robust models.Comment: TrustNLP Workshop at ACL 202

Regulation of inflammatory responses by IL-17F

Although interleukin (IL) 17 has been extensively characterized, the function of IL-17F, which has an expression pattern regulated similarly to IL-17, is poorly understood. We show that like IL-17, IL-17F regulates proinflammatory gene expression in vitro, and this requires IL-17 receptor A, tumor necrosis factor receptor–associated factor 6, and Act1. In vivo, overexpression of IL-17F in lung epithelium led to infiltration of lymphocytes and macrophages and mucus hyperplasia, similar to observations made in IL-17 transgenic mice. To further understand the function of IL-17F, we generated and analyzed mice deficient in IL-17F or IL-17. IL-17, but not IL-17F, was required for the initiation of experimental autoimmune encephalomyelitis. Mice deficient in IL-17F, but not IL-17, had defective airway neutrophilia in response to allergen challenge. Moreover, in an asthma model, although IL-17 deficiency reduced T helper type 2 responses, IL-17F–deficient mice displayed enhanced type 2 cytokine production and eosinophil function. In addition, IL-17F deficiency resulted in reduced colitis caused by dextran sulfate sodium, whereas IL-17 knockout mice developed more severe disease. Our results thus demonstrate that IL-17F is an important regulator of inflammatory responses that seems to function differently than IL-17 in immune responses and diseases