Thermally degradable maleimides for reworkable adhesives

New thermosetting materials were developed for reworkable adhesive applications by introducing acetal ester groups as thermally degradable linkages into maleimide compounds. The synthesis of compounds containing maleimide functionality and acetal ester linkages was conducted by a one‐step neat reaction from commercially available materials. The polymerization process and thermal degradation of the synthesized materials were studied. It was found that the acetal ester linkage degraded rapidly above 225 °C, and introduction of this linkage into the adhesive formulation led to improved reworkability of adhesively bonded substrates. A mechanism for reworkability was proposed based on the insight provided by experimental and modeling work. © 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Polym Sci Part A: Polym Chem 47: 1073–1084, 2009     

Copper(II) halide salts and complexes of 4-amino-2-fluoropyridine: synthesis,structure and magnetic properties

Reaction of 4-amino-2-fluoropyridine (2-F-4-AP) with copper halides produced the neutral coordination complexes: (2-F-4-AP)₂CuX₂ (X = Cl(1), Br(2)). 1 crystallizes in the orthorhombic space group Pccn in a distorted square planar geometry. Magnetic susceptibility data were fit to the uniform chain Heisenberg model resulting in C = 0.439(6)emu-K/mole-Oe and J = ?28(1) K. 2 crystallizes in the monoclinic space group C2/m and is closer to distorted tetrahedral. Intermolecular Br?Cu contacts generate a square layer. Magnetic data show very weak ferromagnetic interactions [C = 0.42(1)emu-K/mol-Oe, J = 0.71(2) K]. Similarly, reaction of 2-F-4-AP with copper halides and aqueous HX in alcohol solvents produced the salts (2-F-4-APH)₂CuX₄ (X = Cl(3), Br(4)). 3 crystallizes in the triclinic space group P-1. Crystal packing reveals short Cl?Cl contacts which generate a structural ladder. However, analysis of the magnetic data suggests that only the rails of the ladder produce a viable magnetic superexchange pathway; the uniform Heisenberg chain model provides C = 0.449(1)emu-K/mol-Oe and J = -6.9(1) K. 4 is isostructural and is also best fit by a chain model [J = ?2.7(4) K]. The brominated complex (2-F-3-Br-4-APH)₂CuBr₄·2H₂O, 5, (2-F-3-Br-4-APH = 4-amino-3-bromo-2-fluoropyridinium) was serendipitously produced as a byproduct of the synthesis of 4 and was characterized by single-crystal X-ray diffraction.     

Slicing and Dicing the Genome: A Statistical Physics Approach to Population Genetics

The inference of past demographic parameters from current genetic polymorphism is a fundamental problem in population genetics. The standard techniques utilize a reconstruction of the gene-genealogy, a cumbersome process that may be applied only to small numbers of sequences. We present a method that compares the total number of haplotypes (distinct sequences) with the model prediction. By chopping the DNA sequence into pieces we condense the immense information hidden in sequence space into a function for the number of haplotypes versus subsequence size. The details of this curve are robust to statistical fluctuations and are seen to reflect the process parameters. This procedure allows for a clear visualization of the quality of the fit and, crucially, the numerical complexity grows only linearly with the number of sequences. Our procedure is tested against both simulated data as well as empirical mtDNA data from China and provides excellent fits in both cases.     

A reverse isoperimetric inequality for J-holomorphic curves

We prove that the length of the boundary of a J-holomorphic curve with Lagrangian boundary conditions is dominated by a constant times its area. The constant depends on the symplectic form, the almost complex structure, the Lagrangian boundary conditions and the genus. A similar result holds for the length of the real part of a real J-holomorphic curve. The infimum over J of the constant properly normalized gives an invariant of Lagrangian submanifolds. We calculate this invariant to be \({2\pi}\) for the Lagrangian submanifold \({\mathbb{R} P^n \subset \mathbb{C} P^n.}\) We apply our result to prove compactness of moduli of J-holomorphic maps to non-compact target spaces that are asymptotically exact. In a different direction, our result implies the adic convergence of the superpotential.     

User equilibria for a parallel queueing system with state dependent routing

Consider a system of two queues in parallel, one of which is a ⋅|M|1 single-server infinite capacity queue, and the other a ⋅|G ^(N)|∞ batch service queue. A stream of general arrivals choose which queue to join, after observing the current state of the system, and so as to minimize their own expected delay. We show that a unique user equilibrium (user optimal policy) exists and that it possesses various monotonicity properties, using sample path and coupling arguments. This is a very simplified model of a transportation network with a choice of private and public modes of transport. Under probabilistic routing (which is equivalent to the assumption that users have knowledge only of the mean delays on routes), the network may exhibit the Downs–Thomson paradox observed in transportation networks with expected delay increasing as the capacity of the ⋅|M|1 queue (private transport) is increased. We give examples where state-dependent routing mitigates the Downs–Thomson effect observed under probabilistic routing, and providing additional information on the state of the system to users reduces delay considerably.     

The Forbes 400, the Pareto power-law and efficient markets

Statistical regularities at the top end of the wealth distribution in the United States are examined using the Forbes 400 lists of richest Americans, published between 1988 and 2003. It is found that the wealths are distributed according to a power-law (Pareto) distribution. This result is explained using a simple stochastic model of multiple investors that incorporates the efficient market hypothesis as well as the multiplicative nature of financial market fluctuations.     

Threshold voltage and C-V characteristics of SOIMOSFET's related to Si film thickness variation on SIMOX wafers

C-V characteristics of fully depleted SOI MOSFETs have been studied using a technique for measuring silicon-film thickness using a MOSFET. The technique is based on C-V measurements between the gate and source/drain at two different back-gate voltages, and only a large-area transistor is required. Using this technique, SOI film thickness mapping was made on a finished SIMOX wafer and a thickness variation of ±150 Å was found. This thickness variation causes as much as a 100-mV variation in the device threshold voltage. The silicon-film thickness variation and threshold-voltage variation across a wafer shows a linear correlation dependence for a fully depleted device. C-V measurements of the back-gate device yield the buried-oxide thickness and parasitic capacitances. The effects of GIDL (gate-induced drain leakage) current on C-V characteristics are also discussed