A life-threatening cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR)-related injury can cause recurrent arrest after return of circulation. Such injuries are difficult to identify during resuscitation, and their contribution to failed resuscitation can be missed given the limitations of conventional CPR. Extracorporeal cardiopulmonary resuscitation (ECPR), increasingly being considered for selected patients with potentially reversible etiology of arrest, may identify previously occult CPR-related injuries by restoring arterial pressure and flow. Herein, we describe two cases of severe CPR-related injuries contributing to recurrent arrest. Each case had ECPR implemented within 60 minutes of the start of CPR. After the presumed cardiac etiology had been addressed with percutaneous coronary intervention, life-threatening cardiovascular injuries with recurrent arrest were noted, and resuscitative thoracotomy was performed under ECPR. One patient survived to hospital discharge.

ECPR may provide an opportunity to identify and correct severe resuscitation-related injuries causing recurrent arrest. Chest compression depth >6 cm, especially in older women, may contribute to these injuries.

The mitochondrial genome is maternally inherited in animals, despite the fact that paternal mitochondria enter oocytes during fertilization. Autophagy and ubiquitin-mediated degradation are responsible for the elimination of paternal mitochondria in Caenorhabditis elegans; however, the involvement of these two processes in the degradation of paternal mitochondria in mammals is not well understood. We investigated the localization patterns of light chain 3 (LC3) and ubiquitin in mouse and porcine embryos during preimplantation development. We found that LC3 and ubiquitin localized to the spermatozoon midpiece at 3 h post-fertilization, and that both proteins were colocalized with paternal mitochondria and removed upon fertilization during the 4-cell stage in mouse and the zygote stage in porcine embryos. Sporadic paternal mitochondria were present beyond the morula stage in the mouse, and paternal mitochondria were restricted to one blastomere of 4-cell embryos. An autophagy inhibitor, 3-methyladenine (3-MA), did not affect the distribution of paternal mitochondria compared with the positive control, while an autophagy inducer, rapamycin, accelerated the removal of paternal mitochondria compared with the control. After the intracytoplasmic injection of intact spermatozoon into mouse oocytes, LC3 and ubiquitin localized to the spermatozoon midpiece, but remnants of undegraded paternal mitochondria were retained until the blastocyst stage. Our results show that paternal mitochondria colocalize with autophagy receptors and ubiquitin and are removed after in vitro fertilization, but some remnants of sperm mitochondrial sheath may persist up to morula stage after intracytoplasmic spermatozoon injection (ICSI).

An indexed offset distance of the tricuspid septal leaflet ⩾8 mm/m2 is a quantitative criterion for the diagnosis of Ebstein’s anomaly. The purpose of this study was to investigate the validity of this criterion for the discrimination of Ebstein’s anomaly from pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum in neonatal patients. A total of 122 neonatal patients, 56 with Ebstein’s anomaly and 66 with pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum, were enrolled. Diagnosis of each anomaly was based on typical morphologic features. Echocardiographic variables, including the offset distance of the tricuspid septal leaflet, were measured via an offline analysis of images recorded before 1 month of age. The offset distance of the tricuspid septal leaflet was indexed by the body surface area, and the indexed offset distances in the Ebstein’s anomaly and pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum groups were 34.2 mm/m2 (7.1–119.1 mm/m2) and 7.2 mm/m2 (0.0–25.6 mm/m2), respectively. The indexed offset distance was ⩾8 mm/m2 in 29 (43.9%) of the patients with pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum; clinical and echocardiographic characteristics were comparable between these 29 patients and the remaining 37 patients with pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum. When an indexed offset distance ⩾8 mm/m2 was applied as a cut-off for the diagnosis of Ebstein’s anomaly, the sensitivity was 0.963 and the specificity was 0.561. In conclusion, indexed offset distance ⩾8 mm/m2 cannot be used as a cut-off for the diagnosis of complicated Ebstein’s anomaly in neonatal patients with pulmonary atresia with intact ventricular septum.

Interspecies intracytoplasmic sperm injection has been carried out to understand species-specific differences in oocyte environments and sperm components during fertilization. While sperm aster organization during cat fertilization requires a paternally derived centriole, mouse and hamster fertilization occur within the maternal centrosomal components. To address the questions of where sperm aster assembly occurs and whether complete fertilization is achieved in cat oocytes by interspecies sperm, we studied the fertilization processes of cat oocytes following the injection of cat, mouse, or hamster sperm. Male and female pronuclear formations were not different in the cat oocytes at 6 h following cat, mouse or hamster sperm injection. Microtubule asters were seen in all oocytes following intracytoplasmic injection of cat, mouse or hamster sperm. Immunocytochemical staining with a histone H3-m2K9 antibody revealed that mouse sperm chromatin is incorporated normally with cat egg chromatin, and that the cat eggs fertilized with mouse sperm enter metaphase and become normal 2-cell stage embryos. These results suggest that sperm aster formation is maternally dependent, and that fertilization processes and cleavage occur in a non-species specific manner in cat oocytes.

System in package (SiP) is a superb candidate to enhance the area efficiency and performance of electronic packaging. Here, recent work on stacked chip type 3D SiP with vertically interconnected through hole vias are reported. The process includes; formation of 50um-diameter via holes, conformal deposition of SiO2 dielectric layer, deposition of Ta and Cu barrier layers, via filling by Cu electroplating, Cu/Sn bump formation for multi-chip stacking, and finally chip-to-PCB bonding using Sn-3.0Ag-0.5Cu solder and ENIG pad. A prototype 3D SiP stacked up to 10 layers was successfully fabricated.

A high frequency electrical model of the through hole via was proposed and the model parameters were extracted from measured S-parameters. The proposed model was verified by TDR/TDT (time domain reflectometry/time domain transmission) and eye-diagram measurement. Contact resistances of Cu via and bump joint were presented.

Adhesion of Cu and Cr to polyimide was studied by 90° peel test, AES, and X-ray diffraction. The two necessary conditions of the high adhesion strength were the presence of Cr interlayer and the preactivation of the polymer surface by RF plasma treatment. The Cr is thought to react with activated polyimide to form carbide-like bonds which enhance the adhesion strength drastically. Correlations between the peel strength and C260/Cr527 Auger PHR from the peeled metal strip were good. Qualitatively, the peel strength is related to the amount of plastic deformation done on the metal strip during peeling.

Diamond films were grown over Si substrate at 1253K by the hot filament chemical vapor deposition method using CH4/H2 gas mixture, and intrinsic stresses in the film were deduced from the ex-situ curvature measurements. In order to account for the creep deformation of the Si substrate, an elastic/plastic stress and strain analysis were conducted. Results showed that intrinsic stresses were generally several times larger than the average film stresses and always positive increasing with the film thickness. For the film thickness larger than 10μm, stress relaxation by creep of the substrate became significant, and must be considered for the accurate assessment of the film stress in diamond. Later, an analysis based on the grain growth accounted for the development of intrinsic stresses reasonably well.

Diamond films were grown over Si substrate at 1253K by the hot filament chemical vapor deposition method using CH4/H2 gas mixture, and intrinsic stresses in the film were deduced from the ex-situ curvature measurements. In order to account for the creep deformation of the Si substrate, an elastic/plastic stress and strain analysis were conducted. Results showed that intrinsic stresses were generally several times larger than the average film stresses and always positive increasing with the film thickness. For the film thickness larger than 10μm, stress relaxation by creep of the substrate became significant, and must be considered for the accurate assessment of the film stress in diamond. Later, an analysis based on the grain growth accounted for the development of intrinsic stresses reasonably well

Composite fibers composed of chitosan and single-wall carbon nanotubes (CNTs) have been fabricated using a wet spinning method. The dispersion was improved by the sonic agitation of the CNTs in a chitosan solution followed by centrifugation to remove tube aggregates and any residual catalyst. The mechanical behavior was investigated using a dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA). The mechanical tests showed a dramatic increase in Young's modulus for the chitosan/CNT composite fibers fabricated using the improved dispersion method. The strain on the microfibers was determined from tensile load measurements during pH switching in acidic or basic electrolyte solutions. The microfibers showed a general actuation behavior of expanding at pH = 2 and contracting at pH = 7 under low tensile loads. However, a reverse of this actuation behavior was exhibited under high tensile loads. This anomalous pH actuation is both new and surprising. It was explained from an analysis of the differences in sample stiffness and Poisson’s ratio under tensile load in electrolyte solutions with different pH values.

In this study, we have investigated the structure of nickel-cobalt silicide to understand its behavior at high temperature. Nickel-cobalt silicide was formed after two-step RTP at 500°C and 700°C respectively. We could observe by TEM that nickel-cobalt silicide consists of a structure which seems to be a Ni-Co-Si ternary phase. No nickel silicide phases and cobalt silicide phases were detected in nickel-cobalt silicide by XRD. From XPS depth profile, we could confirm that there is a cobalt composition gradient along the silicide.

Composite nanofibers including ferritin nanoparticles or multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were fabricated to enhance the physical properties of the nanofibers, such as the elastic modulus and electrical conductivity. The ferritin was homogeneously incorporated in the polymeric nanofibers, but excess carbon nanotubes (CNTs) added to the polymer solution resulted in the fabrication of composite nanofibers with rough surfaces. PVA/ferritin/CNT composite nanofibers were fabricated that had smooth surfaces, and had a good dispersion of ferritin and CNTs. These composite nanofibers are applicable to artificial muscles requiring enhanced physical properties.

Hydrido-organo-siloxane-polymer (HOSP), a typical silsesquioxane-based low dielectric constant material, was etched with ions of different incident angles in CHF3 plasma. The etch rate normalized to the rate obtained with ions incident perpendicular to the surface deviated from the general cosine dependence on the ion incident angle. That is, the rate deviated to over-cosine values at low ion angles below 70°, due to the physical sputtering of the surface by energetic ions, and to under-cosine values at high angles, above 70°, due to the redeposition of particles emitted from the bottom. The roughness of the etched surface also varied with the ion incident angle as a result of the surface etching by energetic ions and the redeposition of particles emitted from the bottom. For example, when the bias voltage was –100V, the surface roughness was different according to three angle regions: i) ion bombardment dominant region below 70°, ii) intermediate region between 70° and 85o, and iii) redeposition dominant region above 85°. The surface composition and chemical structure after etching were also affected by the ion incident angle. The F/C atomic in the surface layer was much lower at ion angles higher than 70° than below 70° because cage-like Si-O bonds were more rapidly dissociated by F atoms from fluorocarbon polymer layer than network Si-O bonds at high angles. This information obtained in this study is useful for predicting the profile and surface characteristics of interconnection patterns in microelectronics fabrication.

The swelling behavior of chitosan hydrogels in ionic liquid–water binary systems was studied using hydrophilic room-temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) to elucidate the swelling properties of chitosan hydrogels. It was confirmed that chitosan hydrogels are much stiffer after immersing in a pure RTIL because the water existing inside the chitosan polymer network is extracted into the RTIL. The pH of the binary system changes when the RTIL is in contact with water. The chitosan hydrogels were fully dissociated at a 90% water content in the BMI-BF4-water binary system. The equilibrium binary system content behavior of the chitosan hydrogels depended upon the amount of free water present. The water behavior in a pure RTIL was examined using differential scanning calorimetry.

In this investigation on the formation of multiple-layered Kirkendall voids at Cu/Sn–3.5Ag solder joints, Sn–3.5Ag solder balls were reacted with Cu under bump metallurgy (UBM), which was electroplated using bis-sodium sulfopropyl–disulfide, C6H12O6S4Na2 (SPS) additive. The sequence of multilayer Kirkendall voids and Cu–Sn IMC (intermetallic compounds) formations are explained with the aid of cross-sectional scanning electron microscopy (SEM) micrographs and schematic diagrams. During the aging treatment at 150 °C, layers of Cu6Sn5/Cu3Sn formed at the solder joints and Kirkendall voids nucleated at the Cu3Sn/Cu interface as a result of the segregation of residual S originating from SPS. However, with Kirkendall void growth, the net section area of the Cu/Cu3Sn interface decreased and the Cu flux into Cu3Sn was inhibited. As the atomic ratio of Cu against Sn in the Cu3Sn dropped, transformation of Cu3Sn into Cu6Sn5 ensued. Subsequent diffusion of Sn atoms into the remaining Cu UBM through the remaining ligament of the Cu6Sn5/Cu interface precipitated secondary Cu3Sn beneath the primary Cu3Sn/Cu interface, and the secondary Kirkendall voids formed at the new Cu3Sn/Cu interface and so on.

Copper was supplied to Sn–3.5Ag by electroplating Cu/Ni double under-bump metallization (UBM), and the amount of Cu was controlled by varying the Cu UBM thickness. Supposed Cu contents in the solder were; 0.2, 0.5, and 1.0 wt%, respectively, and the solder joint microstructure was investigated after 1, 5, and 10 reflows. In the case of specimens with 0.2 and 1.0 wt% Cu, only one type of intermetallic compound (IMC) formed, either (Cu,Ni)6Sn5 or (Ni,Cu)3Sn4, while two types formed in specimen with 0.5 wt% Cu. No correlation could be found between the solder joint microstructure and the ball shear test. However, drop test results showed two opposite trends. The drop resistance of 0.2 and 1.0 wt% Cu specimens was quite good initially but degraded dramatically with multiple reflows, in contrast to that of the 0.5 wt% Cu specimen, which was very poor after one reflow but improved substantially later on. The former was ascribed to thickening of IMC during reflow, while the latter was related to (Ni,Cu)3Sn4 thickening beneath (Cu,Ni)6Sn5 and subsequent spalling of (Cu,Ni)6Sn5 from (Ni,Cu)3Sn4.