Development of Thin Gate Oxides for Advanced CMOS Applications

A study has been performed to investigate oxynitrides as thin gate dielectrics. The method of nitridation was a two step process involving variations of nitrous oxide and oxygen thermal soak times. The investigation of oxynitride gate dielectric was carried out through the fabrication of MOS capacitors. Thickness measurements were obtained using VASE ellipsometry and CV analysis was performed to test the electrical integrity of the dielectric. The CV analysis resulted in high frequency curves that displayed a low frequency response due to minority charge

Community Insurgency: Constituency, School Choice, and the Common Good

This study explores the ways in which the democratic notion of the people may be enacted in the school choice arena. Through an investigation of a charter school movement in a rural and segregated district in the Deep South, we explore themes of the constituent paradox that enabled the community to move beyond individual interests towards an expression of the common good. It is argued that for the people to be invoked via the democratic claim, they must identify more deeply than the institutions of their representation and recognize an expanded form of individualism defined through participation over consumption

Special metrics and Triality

We investigate a new 8-dimensional Riemannian geometry defined by a generic closed and coclosed 3-form with stabiliser PSU(3), and which arises as a critical point of Hitchin's variational principle. We give a Riemannian characterisation of this structure in terms of invariant spinor-valued 1-forms, which are harmonic with respect to the twisted Dirac operator \Db on $\Delta\otimes\Lambda^1$. We establish various obstructions to the existence of topological reductions to PSU(3). For compact manifolds, we also give sufficient conditions for topological PSU(3)-structures that can be lifted to topological SU(3)-structures. We also construct the first known compact example of an integrable non-symmetric PSU(3)-structure. In the same vein, we give a new Riemannian characterisation for topological quaternionic K\"ahler structures which are defined by an $Sp(1)\cdot Sp(2)$-invariant self-dual 4-form. Again, we show that this form is closed if and only if the corresponding spinor-valued 1-form is harmonic for \Db and that these equivalent conditions produce constraints on the Ricci tensor.Comment: 41 pages. v2: typos corrected, presentation improved v3: final versio

The Automorphism Group of a Finite p-Group is Almost Always a p-Group

Many common finite p-groups admit automorphisms of order coprime to p, and when p is odd, it is reasonably difficult to find finite p-groups whose automorphism group is a p-group. Yet the goal of this paper is to prove that the automorphism group of a finite p-group is almost always a p-group. The asymptotics in our theorem involve fixing any two of the following parameters and letting the third go to infinity: the lower p-length, the number of generators, and p. The proof of this theorem depends on a variety of topics: counting subgroups of a p-group; analyzing the lower p-series of a free group via its connection with the free Lie algebra; counting submodules of a module via Hall polynomials; and using numerical estimates on Gaussian coefficients.Comment: 38 pages, to appear in the Journal of Algebra; improved references, changes in terminolog

Expression in grasses of multiple transgenes for degradation of munitions compounds on live fire training ranges

The deposition of toxic munitions compounds, such as hexahydro-1, 3, 5-trinitro-1, 3, 5-triazine (RDX), on soils around targets in live-fire training ranges is an important source of groundwater contamination. Plants take up RDX but do not significantly degrade it. Reported here is the transformation of two perennial grass species, switchgrass (Panicum virgatum) and creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera), with the genes for degradation of RDX. These species possess a number of agronomic traits making them well equipped for the uptake and removal of RDX from root zone leachates. Transformation vectors were constructed with xplA and xplB, which confer the ability to degrade RDX, and nfsI, which encodes a nitroreductase for the detoxification of the co-contaminating explosive 2, 4, 6-trinitrotoluene (TNT). The vectors were transformed into the grass species using Agrobacterium tumefaciens infection. All transformed grass lines showing high transgene expression levels removed significantly more RDX from hydroponic solutions and retained significantly less RDX in their leaf tissues than wild-type plants. Soil columns planted with the best-performing switchgrass line were able to prevent leaching of RDX through a 0.5-m root zone. These plants represent a promising plant biotechnology to sustainably remove RDX from training range soil, thus preventing contamination of groundwater

Cellulolytic Bacteria in the foregut of the dromedary camel (Camelus dromedarius)

Foregut digesta from five feral dromedary camels were inoculated into three different enrichment media: cotton thread, filter paper, and neutral detergent fiber. A total of 283 16S rRNA gene sequences were assigned to 33 operational taxonomic units by using 99% species-level identity. LIBSHUFF revealed significant differences in the community composition across all three libraries

How Did the West Usurp the Rest? Origins of the Great Divergence over the Longue Durée

Traditional explanations of the “rise of the West” have located the sources of Western supremacy in structural or long-term developmental factors internal to Europe. By contrast, revisionist accounts have emphasized the conjunctural and contingent aspects of Europe's ascendancy, while highlighting intersocietal conditions that shaped this trajectory to global dominance. While sharing the revisionist focus on the non-Western sources of European development, we challenge their conjunctural explanation, which denies differences between “West” and “East” and within Europe. We do so by deploying the idea of uneven and combined development (UCD), which redresses the shortcomings found on both sides of the debate: the traditional Eurocentric focus on the structural and immanent characteristics of European development and the revisionists’ emphasis on contingency and the homogeneity of Eurasian societies. UCD resolves these problems by integrating structural and contingent factors into a unified explanation: unevenness makes sense of the sociological differences that revisionists miss, while combination captures the aleatory processes of interactive and multilinear development overlooked by Eurocentric approaches. From this perspective, the article examines the sociologically generative interactions between European and Asian societies’ development over the longue durée and traces how the breakdown of feudalism and the rise of capitalism in Europe were fundamentally rooted in and conditioned by extra-European structures and agents. This then sets up our conjunctural analysis of a central yet underappreciated factor explaining Europe rise to global dominance: the disintegration of the Mughal Empire and Britain's colonization of India

Exploring the role of morphemes in word reading

Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/88078/1/RRQ.40.4.3.pd

The Journal of Microelectronic Research

https://scholarworks.rit.edu/meec_archive/1013/thumbnail.jp

Critical research gaps and translational priorities for the successful prevention and treatment of breast cancer

INTRODUCTION Breast cancer remains a significant scientific, clinical and societal challenge. This gap analysis has reviewed and critically assessed enduring issues and new challenges emerging from recent research, and proposes strategies for translating solutions into practice. METHODS More than 100 internationally recognised specialist breast cancer scientists, clinicians and healthcare professionals collaborated to address nine thematic areas: genetics, epigenetics and epidemiology; molecular pathology and cell biology; hormonal influences and endocrine therapy; imaging, detection and screening; current/novel therapies and biomarkers; drug resistance; metastasis, angiogenesis, circulating tumour cells, cancer 'stem' cells; risk and prevention; living with and managing breast cancer and its treatment. The groups developed summary papers through an iterative process which, following further appraisal from experts and patients, were melded into this summary account. RESULTS The 10 major gaps identified were: (1) understanding the functions and contextual interactions of genetic and epigenetic changes in normal breast development and during malignant transformation; (2) how to implement sustainable lifestyle changes (diet, exercise and weight) and chemopreventive strategies; (3) the need for tailored screening approaches including clinically actionable tests; (4) enhancing knowledge of molecular drivers behind breast cancer subtypes, progression and metastasis; (5) understanding the molecular mechanisms of tumour heterogeneity, dormancy, de novo or acquired resistance and how to target key nodes in these dynamic processes; (6) developing validated markers for chemosensitivity and radiosensitivity; (7) understanding the optimal duration, sequencing and rational combinations of treatment for improved personalised therapy; (8) validating multimodality imaging biomarkers for minimally invasive diagnosis and monitoring of responses in primary and metastatic disease; (9) developing interventions and support to improve the survivorship experience; (10) a continuing need for clinical material for translational research derived from normal breast, blood, primary, relapsed, metastatic and drug-resistant cancers with expert bioinformatics support to maximise its utility. The proposed infrastructural enablers include enhanced resources to support clinically relevant in vitro and in vivo tumour models; improved access to appropriate, fully annotated clinical samples; extended biomarker discovery, validation and standardisation; and facilitated cross-discipline working. CONCLUSIONS With resources to conduct further high-quality targeted research focusing on the gaps identified, increased knowledge translating into improved clinical care should be achievable within five years