During pregnancy, mothers-to-be should adapt their diet to meet increases in nutrient requirements. Pregnant women appear to be keener to adopt healthier diets, but are not always successful. The objective of the present study was to determine whether a guided, stepwise and tailored dietary counselling programme, designed using an optimisation algorithm, could improve the nutrient adequacy of the diet of pregnant women, beyond generic guidelines. Pregnant women (n 80) who attended Notre-Dame-de-Bon-Secours Maternity Clinic were randomly allocated to the control or intervention arm. Dietary data were obtained twice from an online 3-d dietary record. The nutrient adequacy of the diet was calculated using the PANDiet score, a 100-point diet quality index adapted to the specific nutrient requirements for pregnancy. Women were supplied with generic dietary guidelines in a reference booklet. In the intervention arm, they also received nine sets of tailored dietary advice identified by an optimisation algorithm as best improving their PANDiet score. Pregnant women (n 78) completed the 12-week dietary follow-up. Initial PANDiet scores were similar in the control and intervention arms (60·4 (sd 7·3) v. 60·3 (sd 7·3), P = 0·92). The PANDiet score increased in the intervention arm (+3·6 (sd 9·3), P = 0·02) but not in the control arm (−0·3 (sd 7·3), P = 0·77), and these changes differed between arms (P = 0·04). In the intervention arm, there were improvements in the probabilities of adequacy for α-linolenic acid, thiamin, folate and cholesterol intakes (P < 0·05). Tailored dietary counselling using a computer-based algorithm is more effective than generic dietary counselling alone in improving the nutrient adequacy of the diet of French women in mid-pregnancy.

The Magnetism in Massive Stars (MiMeS) Project is a consensus collaboration among many of the foremost international researchers of the physics of hot, massive stars, with the basic aim of understanding the origin, evolution and impact of magnetic fields in these objects. At the time of writing, MiMeS Large Programs have acquired over 950 high-resolution polarised spectra of about 150 individual stars with spectral types from B5-O4, discovering new magnetic fields in a dozen hot, massive stars. The quality of this spectral and magnetic matériel is very high, and the Collaboration is keen to connect with colleagues capable of exploiting the data in new or unforeseen ways. In this paper we review the structure of the MiMeS observing programs and report the status of observations, data modeling and development of related theory.

Variations in the electrical and mechanical properties of silsesquioxane spin-on glass thin films are examined as a function of curing time and temperature. Particular attention is paid to the trade-off between producing low dielectric constant films, suitable for advanced microelectronic interconnection structures, and mechanically stable films, able to withstand semiconductor wafer fabrication processes. Two critical aspects of the mechanical stability of spin-on glasses are shown to be: the positive thermal expansion mismatch with silicon–leading to tensile film stresses; and reactivity with water–leading to susceptibility to stress-corrosion cracking.

The drive to reduce chemical consumption for cost savings is high in the semiconductor industry. Recently, studies have shown that the traditional 1:1:5 ratios of the SC1, SC2 cleans can be reduced and still maintain good cleaning. The optimization of process parameters must be done in accordance with the type of cleaning tool. Processes in wet decks may be optimized differently from single chamber tools, especially if extended bath lifetimes are expected. In this study, temperature reduction and dilution of the SC1 and SC2 cleans in a wet deck are examined for their effects on metals removal efficiency from silicon surfaces as measured by TRXRF. For an HF, SC1, SC2 sequence, good metal removal can be maintained by dropping the SC1 temperature down to 35°C and chemical ratio to 1:1:40. At too low an SC1 dilution and temperature, the Cu removal efficiency drops. In SC2, good metals removal remains without peroxide and a lower limit for HC1 is determined. It is also found that peroxide must be reduced if HCl is reduced in SC2. otherwise metals plating out from SC1 cannot be removed effectively. To understand the impact of these reduced cleans on gate oxide integrity, the electrical properties of 30 A gate oxides grown using these experimental pre-gate cleans is discussed.