The earliest tetrapodomorph fishes appear in Chinese deposits of Early Devonian age, and by the Middle Devonian they were widespread globally. Evidence for the earliest digitated tetrapods comes from largely uncontested Middle Devonian trackways and Late Devonian body fossils. The East Gondwana Provence (Australasia, Antarctica) fills vital gaps in the phylogenetic and biogeographic history of the tetrapods, with the Gondwanan clade Canowindididae exhibiting a high degree of endemism within the early part of the stem tetrapod radiation. New anatomical details of Koharalepis, from the Middle Devonian Aztec Siltstone of Antarctica, are elucidated from synchrotron scan data. These include the position of the orbit, the condition of the hyomandibular, the shape of the palate and arrangement of the vomerine fangs. Biogeographical and phylogenetic models of stem tetrapod origins and radiations are discussed.

A patient with no risk factors for malaria was hospitalized in New York City with Plasmodium falciparum infection. After investigating all potential sources of infection, we concluded the patient had been exposed to malaria while hospitalized less than 3 weeks earlier. Molecular genotyping implicated patient-to-patient transmission in a hospital setting.

Infect. Control Hosp. Epidemiol. 2015;37(1):113–115

Planet migration plays a crucial role in shaping planetary systems, and has therefore received a lot of attention in recent years in an effort to compare the statistical properties of observed exoplanets with the predictions of planet formation and migration theories. By modifying the propagation properties of the waves induced by the planet in the disk, the presence of a strong magnetic field can dramatically influence planet migration, in some cases reversing its direction. The more realistic case of a weaker magnetic field is less clear, although turbulent MHD simulations by Baruteau et al. (2011) suggest an effect on the corotation torque. Here, we present a study of the corotation torque in 2D laminar disks containing a toroidal magnetic field. We performed MHD simulations of the interaction between the magnetic field and the horseshoe motion of the gas, and found that this results in an additional corotation torque. This additional torque can be strong enough to reverse migration even for a field which pressure is only one percent of the thermal pressure. We speculate that this could lead to long range outward migration in the outer part of protoplanetary disks and may explain the observations by direct imaging of planets at several tens of AU from their star like the 4 planets system HR 8799.

Low-grade inflammation is a characteristic of the obese state, and adipose tissue releases many inflammatory mediators. The source of these mediators within adipose tissue is not clear, but infiltrating macrophages seem to be especially important, although adipocytes themselves play a role. Obese people have higher circulating concentrations of many inflammatory markers than lean people do, and these are believed to play a role in causing insulin resistance and other metabolic disturbances. Blood concentrations of inflammatory markers are lowered following weight loss. In the hours following the consumption of a meal, there is an elevation in the concentrations of inflammatory mediators in the bloodstream, which is exaggerated in obese subjects and in type 2 diabetics. Both high-glucose and high-fat meals may induce postprandial inflammation, and this is exaggerated by a high meal content of advanced glycation end products (AGE) and partly ablated by inclusion of certain antioxidants or antioxidant-containing foods within the meal. Healthy eating patterns are associated with lower circulating concentrations of inflammatory markers. Among the components of a healthy diet, whole grains, vegetables and fruits, and fish are all associated with lower inflammation. AGE are associated with enhanced oxidative stress and inflammation. SFA and trans-MUFA are pro-inflammatory, while PUFA, especially long-chain n-3 PUFA, are anti-inflammatory. Hyperglycaemia induces both postprandial and chronic low-grade inflammation. Vitamin C, vitamin E and carotenoids decrease the circulating concentrations of inflammatory markers. Potential mechanisms are described and research gaps, which limit our understanding of the interaction between diet and postprandial and chronic low-grade inflammation, are identified.

I have the honour of submitting to the Society, on behalf of the Executive Committee of the Silchester Excavation Fund, a full report of the discoveries made during the year 1901. This is also the record of the continued exploration of the site for the twelfth year in succession.

Work for the season was begun on 10th May by Mr. Mill Stephenson, who directed operations throughout until their conclusion on 13th November, with the exception of five weeks in July and August, when Mr. Herbert Jones was in charge. A deep debt of gratitude is due to these gentlemen for the time and trouble they have so freely bestowed upon the work.

We have the honour of submitting on behalf of the Executive Committee a report of the operations carried out by the Silchester Excavation Fund in 1900.

The work was begun on the 4th May under the direction of Mr. Frederick Davis, whose death in July last has deprived the Committee of valuable services freely given and intelligently performed. The further conduct of the work was undertaken by Mr. Mill Stephenson and Mr. Hope, and the closing operations, which were prolonged until 4th December, were also directed by Mr. Stephenson.

Atomic transport due to electromigration in interconnect lines in integrated circuits depends strongly on temperature. Therefore temperature nonuniformities can create sites of atomic flux divergence resulting in material accumulation or depletion leading to failure. The mechanical stress which will evolve at the sites of material flux divergence will oppose the electromigration driving force. A model is developed to describe the stress evolution during electromigration in the presence of temperature nonuniformnities. Solutions of the differential equations describing the electromigration-induced stress buildup are calculated numerically. The solutions are compared to experimental data in the literature.

Electron spin resonance and its use as a tool for building reliability into MOS oxides is reviewed.

In CMOS, the addition of chlorine particularly in TCA form to the growth of thermal oxides in logic technologies is well-known and pervasive. In addition to the increasing environmental concerns of chlorine use, one of the important parameters is the amount of metallic contamination due to transition metals such as Fe in the Si, and alkali metals like Na in the oxide since these phenomena effect both device performance and quality. However, the ability to measure this parameter on product material is not generally available due to inherent problems with most known methods. In this paper we report on the application of high-injection, frequency based optical surface photovoltage (SPV) and a more recent technique known as a contact potential difference (CPD) to both quantify and qualify as-grown oxides on CZ P-type silicon.

In this study, we present results of both in-situ and ex-situ measurements of stress generated during dry oxidation of silicon. We show that the mechanical stress in as-grown dry oxides is a strong function of oxidation temperature and oxide thickness, but a weak function of oxygen partial pressure. We have identified a structural relaxation phenomenon after the oxide is formed, and found that the viscosity of the oxide increases with its age; consequently, the stress relaxation slows down due to this increase of viscosity. In this paper, we present a one-dimensional mechanical model to simulate the stress generation and relaxation during dry oxidation of silicon. The simulations of both in-situ and ex-situ tests are in good agreement with the experimental measurements.

Interface decohesion is increasingly becoming a reliability concern in multilayer interconnect structures. It is therefore necessary to provide adhesion tests as a part of materials characterization procedures and to study the fundamental material properties that affect interface toughness. A sandwich structure 4-point bend test was developed for measuring the adhesion between interlayer dielectric and metal interfaces. This technique offers well defined and easily controllable fracture processes and simple analyses based rigorously on fracture mechanics. Using this technique, a number of interfaces were studied. For conventional interconnect systems consisting of Al lines and SiO2 as the interlayer dielectric, the focus was to improve the interface fracture toughness through structure design and process engineering. Potential low dielectric constant materials, such as polymers and porous SiO2, were also studied as candidates for interlayer dielectric materials in the future. Interface strengthening effects of both mechanical and chemical origin, including interface roughness and thin film plasticity, as well as alteration of chemical bonding were explored.