The pressure knapping technique develops circa 25,000 cal BP in Northeast Asia and excels at producing highly standardized microblades. Microblade pressure knapping spreads throughout most of Northeast Asia up to the Russian Arctic, and Alaska, in areas where the human presence was unknown. Swan Point CZ4b is the earliest uncontested evidence of human occupation of Alaska, at around 14,000 cal BP. It yields a pressure microblade component produced with the Yubetsu method, which is widespread in Northeast Asia during the Late Glacial period. Through the techno-functional analysis of 634 lithic pieces from this site, this study seeks to identify the techno-economical purposes for which the Yubetsu method was implemented. Data show that the microblade production system is related to an economy based on the planning of future needs, which is visible through blanks standardization, their overproduction, their functional versatility, and the segmentation of part of the chaîne opératoire. This expresses the efficiency and economic value of the microblade production system. The flexible use of pressure microblades identified at Swan Point CZ4b is also found in Japan, Korea, Kamchatka, and the North Baikal region, suggesting that their modes of use accompany the spread of early microblade pressure knapping over an immense territory across Beringia.

The in-depth perturbation of vicinal water by the surfaces of montmorillonite layers was investigated by relating the swelling pressure, Π, of the montmorillonite layers to the H-O-H bending frequency, ν2, of the interlayer water. For this purpose, an oriented montmorillonite gel was deposited on a porous filter in an environmental chamber. On its underside the filter was in contact with a solution maintained at atmospheric pressure. By admitting nitrogen gas at a known pressure to the environmental chamber, water was squeezed from the gel into the solution until equilibrium was reached and Π equalled the applied pressure. Then the gel was divided into 2 parts. One part was used for the gravimetric determination of the water content, mw/mc. It was possible, therefore, to determine mw/mc as a function of Π. The other part of the sample was transferred to an FTIR spectrometer where the ν2 of the water within it was measured by attenuated total reflectance. Thus, the same samples were used to determine the dependence of both Π and ν2 on mw/mc. It was found that Π and ν2 were both exponential functions of mc/mw and so a linear relation was found between ln(Π + 1) and ln(ν2/ν2°), where ν2° is the H-O-H bending frequency of bulk water. These results strongly support the conclusion that the in-depth perturbation of the water by the surfaces of the montmorillonite layers is primarily responsible for both the development of Π and the departure of ν2 from ν2°.

We examined the effect of an antimicrobial stewardship program (ASP), procalcitonin testing and rapid blood-culture identification on hospital mortality in a prospective quality improvement project in critically ill septic adults. Secondarily, we have reported antimicrobial guideline concordance, acceptance of ASP interventions, and antimicrobial and health-resource utilization.

The prevention, treatment and control of Haemonchus contortus have been increasingly problematic due to its widespread occurrence and anthelmintic resistance. There are very few descriptions of recombinant antigens being protective for H. contortus, despite the success of various native antigen preparations, including Barbervax. We recently identified an H. contortus excretory–secretory antigen, H. contortus adhesion-regulating molecule 1 (HcADRM1), that served as an immunomodulator to impair host T-cell functions. Given the prophylactic potential of HcADRM1 protein as a vaccine candidate, we hereby assessed the efficacies of HcADRM1 preparations against H. contortus infection. Parasitological and immunological parameters were evaluated throughout all time points of the trials, including fecal egg counts (FEC), abomasal worm burdens, complete blood counts, cytokine production profiles and antibody responses. Active vaccination with recombinant HcADRM1 (rHcADRM1) protein induced protective immunity in inoculated goats, resulting in reductions of 48.9 and 58.6% in cumulative FEC and worm burdens. Simultaneously, passive administration of anti-HcADRM1 antibodies generated encouraging levels of protection with 46.7 and 56.2% reductions in cumulative FEC and worm burdens in challenged goats. In addition, HcADRM1 preparations-immunized goats showed significant differences in mucosal and serum antigen-specific immunoglobulin G (IgG) levels, total mucosal IgA levels, haemoglobin values and circulating interferon-γ, interleukin (IL)-4 and IL-17A production compared to control goats in both trials. The preliminary data of these laboratory trials validated the immunoprophylactic effects of rHcADRM1 protein. It can be pursued as a potential vaccine antigen to develop an effective recombinant subunit vaccine against H. contortus under field conditions.

Swan Point in central Alaska contains the oldest recognized human occupation in Alaska (Cultural Zone 4b [CZ4b]), dating to circa 14,000 cal BP. This component consists of a microblade and burin industry with clear technological ties to the Siberian Upper Paleolithic Diuktai Culture. Through the systematic use of the Yubetsu method for the production of microblades, Swan Point is technologically more similar to Siberian microblade sites than to later-age (Denali complex) microblade sites in Alaska. The Yubetsu method is the hallmark of the Diuktai Culture, and in Alaska, Swan Point CZ4b is the only component with systematic production of microblades using the Yubetsu method. Other late Pleistocene and Holocene microblade sites in Alaska have an industry based on Campus-style, conical, or tabular microblade cores. Analysis of the collection furthers our understanding of how CZ4b relates to previous Siberian Diuktai-related assemblages and to later Alaskan Denali-related sites. We interpret the CZ4b component as representing a brief single event that has major cultural and technological implications for the early colonization process of North America.

An enormous effort is underway worldwide to attempt to detect gravitational waves. If successful, this will open a new frontier in astronomy. An essential portion of this effort is being carried out in Australia by the Australian Consortium for Interferometric Gravitational Astronomy (ACIGA), with research teams working at the Australia National University, University of Western Australia, and University of Adelaide involving scientists and students representing many more institutions and nations. ACIGA is developing ultrastable high-power continuous-wave lasers for the next generation interferometric gravity wave detectors; researching the problems associated with high optical power in resonant cavities; opening frontiers in advanced interferometry configurations, quantum optics, and signal extraction; and is the world's leader in high-performance vibration isolation and suspension design. ACIGA has also been active in theoretical research and modelling of potential astronomical gravitational wave sources, and in developing data analysis detection algorithms. ACIGA has opened a research facility north of Perth, Western Australia, which will be the culmination of these efforts. This paper briefly reviews ACIGA's research activities and the prospects for gravitational wave astronomy in the southern hemisphere.

Despite the increasing number of studies on the magnitude of Ne/N ratios, much remains unknown about the effects of demographic and environmental variables on Ne/N. We determined Ne/N for seven population size treatments, ranging from N = 2 to N = 960, in the red flour beetle Tribolium castaneum. Ne/N decreased with increasing N, as evidenced by a significant negative relationship between log N and Ne/N. Our results are consistent with other published data on the relationship between Ne/N and N. Effective population sizes in large populations may be much smaller than previously recognized. These results have important implications for conservation and evolutionary biology.

We present a systematic study on the correlation of hydrogen dilution profiles to structural properties materials and solar cell performance in nc-Si:H solar cells. We deposited nc-Si:H single-junction solar cells using a modified very high frequency (VHF) glow discharge technique on stainless steel substrates with various profiles of hydrogen dilution in the gas mixture during deposition. The material properties were characterized using Raman spectroscopy, X-TEM, AFM, and C-AFM. The solar cell performance correlates well with the material structures. Three major conclusions are made based on the characterization results. First, the optimized nc-Si:H material does not show an incubation layer, indicating that the seeding layer is well optimized and works as per design. Second, the nanocrystalline evolution is well controlled by hydrogen dilution profiling in which the hydrogen dilution ratio is dynamically reduced during the intrinsic layer deposition. Third, the best nc-Si:H single-junction solar cell was made using a proper hydrogen dilution profile, which caused a nanocrystalline distribution close to uniform throughout the thickness, but with a slightly inverse nanocrystalline evolution. We have used the optimized hydrogen dilution profiling and improved the nc-Si:H solar cell performance significantly. As a result, we have achieved an initial active-area cell efficiency of 9.2% with a nc-Si:H single-junction structure, and 15.4% with an a-Si:H/a-SiGe:H/nc-Si:H triple-junction solar cell structure.

All-polymer multilayer hollow core photonic fiber preforms were fabricated using consecutive deposition from a solvent phase of two polymers with high and low refractive indices (RI). Processing techniques for two polymer pairs—polystyrene (PS)/poly(methyl methylacrylate) (PMMA) and polycarbonate (PC)/poly(vinylene difloride) (PVDF)—were established. The fabrication process involved consecutive film deposition by solvent evaporation of polymer solutions on the inside of a rotating PMMA or PC tube, used as a cladding material. By injecting right volumes of the polymer solutions into a spinning tube the thickness of each layer could be reliably controlled from 20 to 100 μm. Proper selection of solvents and processing conditions was crucial for ensuring high optical and mechanical quality of a resultant preform, as well as compatibility of different polymer films during co-deposition. Preforms of 10 layers for PMMA/PS material combination and 15 layers for PVDF/PC were demonstrated. Fabrication of preforms with higher number of layers is readily possible and is only a question of preform fabrication time. An alternative method of preform fabrication by co-rolling of polymer bilayers is also presented in this paper, drawing of PMMA/PS, PVDF/PC fibers with up to 32 layers is demonstrated.

We present a fluid dynamics model for the drawing of hollow multilayer polymer optical fiber. A newtonian model is considered assuming slender geometries. Hollow core collapse during drawing and layer thickness non-uniformity are investigated as a function of draw temperature, draw ratio, feeding speed, core pressurization and mismatch of material properties in a multilayer.

Solid state crystallization of hydrogenated amorphous silicon (a-Si:H) prepared by hot-wire CVD is studied in solid phase epitaxy mode. By using a novel optical method combined with cross-sectional TEM and SIMS, a reduction of epitaxial growth speed is observed with increase in a-Si:H film thickness. Namely, in films thinner that 0.5 micron, solid phase epitaxy velocity depends linearly on film thickness. As the film thickness increases beyond 1 micron, the average velocity of solid phase epitaxy decreases considerably with respect to that in thinner films. In this regime, its velocity becomes also time-dependent: initial slow propagation of crystallization front gets considerably accelerated after the front has traveled above 400nm. SIMS thickness profiles of hydrogen shows considerably more residual hydrogen in thicker films after the start of solid phase epitaxy. In addition, prolonged pre-dehydrogenation at lower temperatures results in the increase in the average epitaxy speed in thicker films. These phenomena are likely related to delayed hydrogen outdiffusion in thicker films, which also leads to time-dependent speed of the solid-phase epitaxy front. We conclude that excess residual hydrogen reduces the rate of solid-phase crystalline growth.

Products formed from reactions of methyl iodide, 1-chloropropane, 1-iodopropane and 1-bromopropane with Na0 treated and untreated NaX and NaY zeolites were studied using solid state 13C NMR and IR spectroscopy. At room temperature, methyl iodide dissociates to form framework methoxy in untreated NaX with no reaction observed in untreated NaY. Upon Na0 treatment, both NaX and NaY reacts with methyl iodide to form framework methoxy, methane and ethane. Longer carbon chain 1-iodo, bromo and chloropropane were also studied. 1-iodopropane undergoes dehalogenation to form framework propoxy while 1-chloropropane and 1-bromopropane undergoes dehalogenation/ dehydrohalogenation to form framework propoxy and propene.

Future microprocessor technologies will require interlayer dielectric (ILD) materials with a dielectric constant (κ-value) less than 2.5. Organosilicate glass (OSG) materials must be nanoporous to meet this demand. However, the introduction of nanopores creates many integration challenges. These challenges include 1) integrating nanoporous films with low mechanical strength into conventional process flows, 2) managing etch profiles, 3) processinduced damage to the nanoporous ILD, and 4) controlling the metal/nanoporous ILD interface. This paper reviews research to maximize mechanical strength by engineering optimal pore structures, controlling trench bottom roughness induced by etching and understanding its relationship to pore size, repairing plasma damage using silylation chemistry, and sealing a nanoporous surface for barrier metal (liner) deposition.