Supercritical CO2-based solvents in next generation microelectronics processing

Large amount of chemicals and highly purified-water are needed in microelectronic manufacture. The ability of solutions to penetrate tiny spaces will become significantly more challenging as the feature size of semiconductor devices decreases to nanoscale dimensions and the functional complexity of integrated circuitries (ICs) ever increases. Supercritical fluids (SCFs) possess a unique combination of properties (no surface tension and gas-like viscosity) that can potentially be exploited for application in microelectronics manufacturing and processing in response to needs for material-compatible cleaning systems, small-dimension developing solvents, and low chemical-use processes. Recent microelec- tronics processes for cleaning and rinsing of patterned porous low-k dielectrics and drying of photo- resist in CO2-based solvents are the main focus of this review. Additional topics in supercritical fluid processing include spin coating of photoresists, development with nanoscale dimensions, metal deposition and silylation.     

Amino-terminal fragments of mutant huntingtin show selective accumulation in striatal neurons and synaptic toxicity

Huntington disease (HD) is caused by expansion of a glutamine repeat in the amino-terminal region of huntingtin. Despite its widespread expression, mutant huntingtin induces selective neuronal loss in striatal neurons. Here we report that, in mutant mice expressing HD repeats, the production and aggregation of N-terminal huntingtin fragments preferentially occur in HD-affected neurons and their processes and axonal terminals. N-terminal fragments of mutant huntingtin form aggregates and induce neuritic degeneration in cultured striatal neurons. N-terminal mutant huntingtin also binds to synaptic vesicles and inhibits their glutamate uptake in vitro. The specific processing and accumulation of toxic fragments of N-terminal huntingtin in HD-affected striatal neurons, especially in their neuronal processes and axonal terminals, may contribute to the selective neuropathology of HD.     

10-Hydroxy-Δ2-decenoic acid in the honeybee(Apis mellifera)

Zusammenfassung Die Mandibulardrüsen der Honigbienen-Arbeiterinnen enthalten 10-Hydroxy-²-decensäure. Es wird angenommen, dass diese Drüsen die Quelle der im Weisel- und Arbeiterinnenlarvenfutter vorkommenden 10-Hydroxy-²-decensäure sind.     

Solutions for a cultivated planet

Increasing population and consumption are placing unprecedented demands on agriculture and natural resources. Today, approximately a billion people are chronically malnourished while our agricultural systems are concurrently degrading land, water, biodiversity and climate on a global scale. To meet the world's future food security and sustainability needs, food production must grow substantially while, at the same time, agriculture's environmental footprint must shrink dramatically. Here we analyse solutions to this dilemma, showing that tremendous progress could be made by halting agricultural expansion, closing 'yield gaps' on underperforming lands, increasing cropping efficiency, shifting diets and reducing waste. Together, these strategies could double food production while greatly reducing the environmental impacts of agriculture.     

Visual motion and cortical velocity

Recent studies have revealed some remarkably simple relationships between visual performance and the neuroanatomy of the visual pathways. The visual field is mapped topographically on the surface of the striate cortex in man; the projection is large for the central visual field and is progressively compressed towards the periphery. Visual acuity decreases with distance from the fovea in proportion to the estimated cortical magnification factor, M (the extent of striate cortex in millimetres corresponding to a degree of arc in visual space). If a stimulus is magnified at peripheral locations in proportion to 1/M, it becomes equally resolvable across the visual field. This scaling procedure (M-scaling) maintains equivalence of the cortical projection of stimuli with different visual field loci. We have used M-scaling to investigate motion perception as a visual field variable. We report here that both the lower threshold of motion and adaptation to motion are uniform for M-scaled stimuli, and are related to the velocity of the 'cortical image'.