Integrated Circuits Interconnect Metallization for the Submicron Age

The interconnect metallization being used by the semiconductor industry has been aluminum or aluminum silicon. Aluminum silicon is being replaced by aluminum copper and aluminum copper silicon, due to its superior resistance to electromigration and hillock growth. This paper discusses the implementation of aluminum copper/silicon alloys in semiconductor processing, along with a review of the problems and advantages of the same

Properties of Ruthenium Oxide Coatings

Ruthenium oxide coatings have been deposited on titanium substrates using a flood coating process. These films were heat treated for varying times and temperatures. The resulting films subsequently were characterized by performing resistivity and SEM analyses. Resistivity of the ruthenium oxide coating was found to be extremely dependent upon the firing temperature. Effect of the process conditions and formulations of the coatings on the morphology with respect to their electrical characteristics is presented. Capacitors were fabricated using plates coated with ruthenium oxide coatings. Capacitance versus heat treatment temperatures are discussed and at one firing temperature (480\u27C), the capacitance was 50 times the control capacitor value

Molecular Docking Studies for the Assessment of Wound Healing Activity of Phytoconstituents in Heliotropium Indicum

One of the most crucial and complex processes is the skin's multi-stage process of healing after an injury. Heliotropium indicum is a potent antibiotic, anti- inflammatory, anti-neoplastic, anti-oxidant, and wound- healing agent. Heliotropium indicum Linn is the source of the chemical compound in question, which is abundant in sterols, ammines, volatile oils, and the pyrrolizidine alkaloids. Molecular docking studies were conducted on Heliotropium indicum using Argus lab 4.0.1 and Autodock 1.5.7. The proteins PDB ID:1YXO, 3V18, and 4G8R were selected because of their role in wound healing. The pieces work together with the protein responsible for mending wounds. The binding affinities of mupirocin and nitrofurazone are higher than those of the components stigmasterol, eugenol, borneol, and campesterol. In order to better customize Heliotropium indicum to our requirements, we now have a better knowledge of the components of the molecule that interact with their receptors in the wound healing process

Detailed Bathymetric Surveys in the Central Indian Basin

Over 420,000 line kilometers of echo-sounding data was collected in the Central Indian Basin. This data was digitized, merged with navigation data and a detailed bathymetric map of the Basin was prepared. The Basin can be broadly classified into three regions as high relief area, medium relief area and plain area represented by western, eastern and central portions of the Basin, respectively. The bathymetric map prepared from this survey is the first of its kind for this region and will in the future be used as a base by navigators and researchers

Study of Deposition Methods for Silicon Powder

Silicon powder tends to agglomerate at normal atmospheric conditions and is, hence, difficult to aerosolize. Several methods of aerosolizing silicon powder and finally depositing it on various substrates were investigated. This paper presents the investigated methods of aerosolization. The electrostatic spray coating used in dry paint application was found to be the most suitable. The general merits of this method and its use for silicon powder deposition to form films are discussed

Exploring the Design Space of Static and Incremental Graph Connectivity Algorithms on GPUs

Connected components and spanning forest are fundamental graph algorithms due to their use in many important applications, such as graph clustering and image segmentation. GPUs are an ideal platform for graph algorithms due to their high peak performance and memory bandwidth. While there exist several GPU connectivity algorithms in the literature, many design choices have not yet been explored. In this paper, we explore various design choices in GPU connectivity algorithms, including sampling, linking, and tree compression, for both the static as well as the incremental setting. Our various design choices lead to over 300 new GPU implementations of connectivity, many of which outperform state-of-the-art. We present an experimental evaluation, and show that we achieve an average speedup of 2.47x speedup over existing static algorithms. In the incremental setting, we achieve a throughput of up to 48.23 billion edges per second. Compared to state-of-the-art CPU implementations on a 72-core machine, we achieve a speedup of 8.26--14.51x for static connectivity and 1.85--13.36x for incremental connectivity using a Tesla V100 GPU

Effects of rare kidney diseases on kidney failure: a longitudinal analysis of the UK National Registry of Rare Kidney Diseases (RaDaR) cohort

\ua9 2024 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an Open Access article under the CC BY 4.0 licenseBackground: Individuals with rare kidney diseases account for 5–10% of people with chronic kidney disease, but constitute more than 25% of patients receiving kidney replacement therapy. The National Registry of Rare Kidney Diseases (RaDaR) gathers longitudinal data from patients with these conditions, which we used to study disease progression and outcomes of death and kidney failure. Methods: People aged 0–96 years living with 28 types of rare kidney diseases were recruited from 108 UK renal care facilities. The primary outcomes were cumulative incidence of mortality and kidney failure in individuals with rare kidney diseases, which were calculated and compared with that of unselected patients with chronic kidney disease. Cumulative incidence and Kaplan–Meier survival estimates were calculated for the following outcomes: median age at kidney failure; median age at death; time from start of dialysis to death; and time from diagnosis to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) thresholds, allowing calculation of time from last eGFR of 75 mL/min per 1\ub773 m2 or more to first eGFR of less than 30 mL/min per 1\ub773 m2 (the therapeutic trial window). Findings: Between Jan 18, 2010, and July 25, 2022, 27 285 participants were recruited to RaDaR. Median follow-up time from diagnosis was 9\ub76 years (IQR 5\ub79–16\ub77). RaDaR participants had significantly higher 5-year cumulative incidence of kidney failure than 2\ub781 million UK patients with all-cause chronic kidney disease (28% vs 1%; p<0\ub70001), but better survival rates (standardised mortality ratio 0\ub742 [95% CI 0\ub732–0\ub752]; p<0\ub70001). Median age at kidney failure, median age at death, time from start of dialysis to death, time from diagnosis to eGFR thresholds, and therapeutic trial window all varied substantially between rare diseases. Interpretation: Patients with rare kidney diseases differ from the general population of individuals with chronic kidney disease: they have higher 5-year rates of kidney failure but higher survival than other patients with chronic kidney disease stages 3–5, and so are over-represented in the cohort of patients requiring kidney replacement therapy. Addressing unmet therapeutic need for patients with rare kidney diseases could have a large beneficial effect on long-term kidney replacement therapy demand. Funding: RaDaR is funded by the Medical Research Council, Kidney Research UK, Kidney Care UK, and the Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity

Effects of rare kidney diseases on kidney failure: a longitudinal analysis of the UK National Registry of Rare Kidney Diseases (RaDaR) cohort

Background Individuals with rare kidney diseases account for 5–10% of people with chronic kidney disease, but constitute more than 25% of patients receiving kidney replacement therapy. The National Registry of Rare Kidney Diseases (RaDaR) gathers longitudinal data from patients with these conditions, which we used to study disease progression and outcomes of death and kidney failure. Methods People aged 0–96 years living with 28 types of rare kidney diseases were recruited from 108 UK renal care facilities. The primary outcomes were cumulative incidence of mortality and kidney failure in individuals with rare kidney diseases, which were calculated and compared with that of unselected patients with chronic kidney disease. Cumulative incidence and Kaplan–Meier survival estimates were calculated for the following outcomes: median age at kidney failure; median age at death; time from start of dialysis to death; and time from diagnosis to estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) thresholds, allowing calculation of time from last eGFR of 75 mL/min per 1·73 m2 or more to first eGFR of less than 30 mL/min per 1·73 m2 (the therapeutic trial window). Findings Between Jan 18, 2010, and July 25, 2022, 27 285 participants were recruited to RaDaR. Median follow-up time from diagnosis was 9·6 years (IQR 5·9–16·7). RaDaR participants had significantly higher 5-year cumulative incidence of kidney failure than 2·81 million UK patients with all-cause chronic kidney disease (28% vs 1%; p<0·0001), but better survival rates (standardised mortality ratio 0·42 [95% CI 0·32–0·52]; p<0·0001). Median age at kidney failure, median age at death, time from start of dialysis to death, time from diagnosis to eGFR thresholds, and therapeutic trial window all varied substantially between rare diseases. Interpretation Patients with rare kidney diseases differ from the general population of individuals with chronic kidney disease: they have higher 5-year rates of kidney failure but higher survival than other patients with chronic kidney disease stages 3–5, and so are over-represented in the cohort of patients requiring kidney replacement therapy. Addressing unmet therapeutic need for patients with rare kidney diseases could have a large beneficial effect on long-term kidney replacement therapy demand. Funding RaDaR is funded by the Medical Research Council, Kidney Research UK, Kidney Care UK, and the Polycystic Kidney Disease Charity

Boiler feed pump foundation bolts failures

Jindal Vyayanagar Steel Limited has two units of captive power plant of 2 x 130 MW capacity at their steel plant. Each unit has three (2W + 1 S) boiler feed pumps. The power plant was commissioned in 1996. The foundation bolts of the boilerfeed pumps located at discharge nozzle end were failing frequently. The base plate of the pump was also vibrating and this foundation bolt failures were attributed to the base plate vibrations. Normally the foundation bolts are expected to last till the life of the pump, a failure within 4-5 years of operation,implies too short a life. This case study was referred to TCE for the solution. This was resolved by performing stress analysis of the discharge piping of the BFP. Subsequent to this modification, the pumps are working satisfactorily