Elevated left ventricular end diastolic pressure is a risk factor for ventricular arrhythmias in patients with tetralogy of Fallot. The objective of this retrospective study was to identify echocardiographic measures associated with left ventricular end diastolic pressure >12 mmHg in this population. Repaired tetralogy of Fallot patients age ≥13 years, who underwent a left heart catheterisation within 7 days of having an echocardiogram were evaluated. Univariate comparison was made in echocardiographic and clinical variables between patients with left ventricular end diastolic pressure >12 versus ≤12 mmHg. Ninety-four patients (54% male) with a median age of 24.6 years were included. Thirty-four (36%) had left ventricular end diastolic pressure >12 mmHg. Patients with left ventricular end diastolic pressure >12mmHg were older (median 32.9 versus 24.0 years, p = 0.02), more likely to have a history of an aortopulmonary shunt (62% versus 38%, p = 0.03), and have a diagnosis of hypertension (24% versus 7%, p = 0.03) compared to those with left ventricular end diastolic pressure ≤12 mmHg. There were no significant differences in mitral valve E/A ratio, annular e’ velocity, or E/e’ ratio between patients with left ventricular end diastolic pressure >12 versus ≤12 mmHg. Patients with left ventricular end diastolic pressure >12mmHg had larger left atrial area (mean 17.7 versus 14.0 cm2, p = 0.03) and larger left atrium anterior–posterior diameter (mean 36.0 versus 30.6 mm, p = 0.004). In conclusion, typical echocardiographic measures of left ventricular diastolic dysfunction may not be reliable in tetralogy of Fallot patients. Prospective studies with the use of novel echocardiographic measures are needed.

Recent literature regarding drug-drug, herb-drug, and food-drug interactions must not be ignored; nor can they always be taken at face value. Studies have shown that St. John's wort (SJW) (Hypericum perforatum) can reduce plasma levels of indinavir, cyclosporin, digoxin, and possibly other drugs as well. Current knowledge regarding the metabolism of these medications suggests that the cytochrome P450 (CYP) drug metabolizing enzyme systems cannot account for all these effects. It has been reported that the P-glycoprotein (Pgp) transmembrane pump is also induced by SJW. Medications that are substrates of both CYP 3A4 a Pgp are of particular concern and may pose special interaction risks when combined with certain foods or botanical products such as SJW.

In future technology nodes, 22nm and below, carbon nanotubes (CNTs) may provide a viable alternative to Cu as an interconnect material. CNTs exhibit a current carrying capacity (up to 109 A/cm2), whilst also providing a significantly higher thermal conductivity (SWCNT ~ 5000 WmK) over Copper (106 A/cm2 and ~400WmK). However, exploiting such properties of CNTs in small vias is a challenging endeavor. In reality, to outperform Cu in terms of a reduction in via resistance alone, densities in the order of 1013 CNTs/cm2 are required. At present, conventional thermal CVD of carbon nanotubes is carried out at temperatures far in excess of CMOS temperature limits (400C). Furthermore, high density CNT bundles are most commonly grown on insulating supports such as Al2O3 and SiO2 as they can effectively stabilize metallic nanoparticles at elevated temperatures but this limits their application in electronic devices. To circumvent these obstacles we employ a remote microwave plasma to grow high density CNTs at a temperature of 400C on conductive underlayers such as TiN. We identify some critical factors important for high-quality CNTs at low temperatures such as control over the catalyst to underlayer interaction and plasma growth environment while presenting a fully CMOS compatible carbon nanotube synthesis approach

Because of their superior electronic properties and bottom-up growth mode, Carbon Nanotubes (CNT) may offer a valid alternative for high aspect ratio vertical interconnects in future generations of microchips. For being successful, though, CNT based interconnects must reach sufficiently low values of resistance to become competitive with current W or Cu based technologies. This essentially means that CMOS compatible processes are needed to produce dense CNT shells of extremely high quality with almost ideal contacts. Moreover, their electrical properties must be preserved at every process step in the integration of CNT into vertical interconnect structures. In this work this latter aspect is analyzed by studying the changes in the electrical characteristics when encapsulating CNT into different oxides. Oxide encapsulation is often exploited to hold the CNT in place and to avoid snapping during a polishing step. On the other hand, oxide encapsulation can influence the properties of the grown CNT which are directly exposed to possibly harmful oxidative conditions. Two different deposition techniques and oxides were evaluated: Chemical Vapor Deposition (CVD) of SiO2 (reference) and Atomic Layer Deposition (ALD) of Al2O3 in less aggressive oxidizing conditions. The two processes were transferred to CNT interconnect test structures on 200mm wafers and electrically benchmarked. The CNT resistance was measured in function of the CNT length which allows the extraction and individual distinction of the resistive contributions of the CNT and the contacts. It is shown that the encapsulating SiO2 deposited by CVD degrades the resistance of CNT by altering their quality. Directions for future improvements have been identified and discussed.

This study examined the impact of the 1998 Canadian ice storm on the physical and psychological health of older adults (age > 55 years) living with a chronic physical illness, namely osteoarthritis and/or osteoporosis. Although disasters are relatively rare, they are a useful means of examining the impact of a single stressor on a group of individuals. Specifically, we took advantage of a natural experiment to compare the responses of a group of 59 ice storm victims to those of 55 matched controls living outside the ice storm area. Data on disability, pain, self-reported health, helplessness, depression, and independence were assessed prior to the ice storm and approximately 17 months later. Older adults who reported greater helplessness and lost independence prior to the storm reported significantly greater ice storm stress and rumination and were more likely to report that the storm affected their condition. In addition, participants exposed to the ice storm reported significant changes in disability and pain nearly a year and a half later, compared to matched controls. These results suggest that older adults with chronic physical illness may be particularly vulnerable when faced with additional stressful events.

The availability of relatively reliable and comparable data onlineand the increasing emphasis on statistical and formal researchmethods has led many political scientists to dismiss research inforeign countries as a waste of time and money. We leave that debateto others (see, e.g., Comparative Politics Organized Section 2005; Qualitative MethodsOrganized Section 2004).Instead, we offer suggestions for maximizing the contributions offieldwork to the production of original research. We pay particularattention to research in developing countries owing to the uniquechallenges of undertaking research there, but we believe ourinsights are applicable to field research more generally.

The integration of high-density CNT bundles as via interconnects in a CNT/Cu-hybrid BEOL stack is evaluated. CNT via-conduits may greatly improve heat dissipation and as such lower interconnect resistance and improve electromigration resistance. Each carbon shell of the nanotube contributes to electrical and thermal conduction and densities as high as 5×1013 shells per cm2 are estimated necessary. CNT growth processes on BEOL compatible metals are presented with tube densities up to 1012cm−2 and shell densities approaching 1013 cm−2 on blanket substrates. Selective growth of CNT bundles with carbon shell densities around 1012cm−2 is demonstrated with high yield. Ohmic behavior of TiN/CNT/Ti contacts is shown with a CNT via resistivity of 1.2 mΩ cm.

We have investigated p-type doping of Si and SiGc layers in M BE by using two different boron sources. One is a SiB alloy which is prepared in situ by melting elemental boron into Si. Typical B concentrations in the source material are a few percent. Doping levels within 1×1018 cm−3 and 5.5×1019 cm−3 can be adjusted within the temperature range of 350°C to 850°C. No indication of segregation or memory effects is found. The activation is between 90 and 100%. The second p-type doping source investigated is a diborane (B2H6) gas source. Diborane provides doping capability in the range between 1016. to 1020. The incorporation efficiency at 550°C is about 2×10'3. It depends on the diborane exposure and the substrate temperature. The activation at 550°C is above 90%. For lower growth temperatures the activation is considerably reduced. The problem of memory effects is discussed.

The thermal stability of Si/Si0.85Ge0.15/Si p-type modulation doped double heterostructures grown by the Ultra High Vacuum/ Chemical Vapor Deposition technique has been examined by Hall measurement, transmission electron microscopy, secondary ion mass spectroscopy, and Raman spectroscopy. As deposited heterostructures showed two-dimensional hole gas formation at the abrupt Si/SiGe and SiGe/Si interfaces. Annealing at 800 °C. for 1 hr. caused the diffusion of boron acceptors to the heterointerfaces, degrading the hole mobilities observed in the two dimensional hole gas. Rapid redistribution of boron, causing a loss of the 2 dimensional carrier behavior, was observed after a 900 °C, 0.5 hr. anneal. Neither Ge interdiffusion nor the generation of misfit dislocations were observed in the annealed heterostructures, evincing the defect-free crystal quality of these as-grown strained heteroepitaxial layers. The superior stability of these heterostructures have strong positive implications for Si:Ge heterojunction devices.

Differential scanning calorimetry and x-ray diffraction analysis were utilized to monitor solid state reactions in mechanically deformed Ni/Ti multilayered composites. Solid state reactions at temperatures less than = 650 K result in the formation of a highly disordered phase which is apparently amorphous.The subsequent nucleation and growth at higher temperatures of intermetallic compounds from the amorphous phase is examined. The relatively small thickness of amorphous material (less than 100 Å) which can be grown by solid state reaction in our Ni/Ti samples, combined with the indication that a disordered interface such as that produced by mechanical deformation facilitates these reactions in the Ni-Ti system, may provide some explanation for the relatively high degree of success experienced in the production of amorphous Ni- Ti by means of ball milling. Comparisons are made to results obtained in the Ni-Zr system.

Differential scanning calorimetry and X-ray diffraction have been utilized to monitor the solid state amorphization reaction in crystalline Ni/Zr multilayers. Enthalpy of mixing of amorphous NiZr alloys has been measured. Kinetics of amorphous phase formation and thermal stability have been discussed in some detail.

A transition metal (e.g., Ru3 (CO)12, Pt/C) catalyzed process for Si-N bond formation is discussed that provides a new route to mono-, oligo-, and polysilazanes. The catalysts function by activating Si-H bonds in the pres-ence of ammonia. Polymeric silazanes can also be produced from oligomers in the presence of ammonia at low temperatures. This method allows us to control or modify the composition of the polysilazane during or after the polymeriza-tion. A variety of polysilazanes were prepared and converted to Si3 N4 with ceramic yields ranging from 55%-85%. By varying the monomers and reaction conditions, we can control the nitrogen and carbon content in the preceramic polymers, which enables us to obtain ceramic products that are primarily Si3N4and simultaneously minimizes the coproduction of SiC and C.

The physics of multicharged ions has considerably developped during the last few years. Aside from its fundamental interest and its motivation for fusion research with Tokamak devices where charge exchange involving highly charged impurities are important, this new effort in this direction is due to the development of new sources of highly charged ions.

We report results concerning spectroscopic study of radiative transitions observed during the collision between multicharged N5+ ions with a helium or molecular hydrogen target. Nx+ ions are produced with the E.C.R. ion source in Grenoble (Geller and Jacquot 1981). The N5+ ions are then selected with two 168° bending magnets and finally sent into the target chamber where they collide either with He or H2 gas. Spectra are observed with a grazing incidence (82°) spectrometer equipped with photon detection.

The Authors report detailed observations on a set of triplets analyzed by means of the Rorschach test as well as by Buck's drawing test. The findings prove the importance of this research in pointing out — with more detail than by current clinical methods — the original traits of the mind of each individual in this set of triplets.