A comprehensive calibration of integrated magnetron sputtering and plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition for rare-earth doped thin films.

Unlabelled: A new integrated deposition system taking advantage of magnetron sputtering and electron cyclotron-plasma enhanced chemical vapour deposition (IMS ECR-PECVD) is presented that mitigates the drawbacks of each fabrication system. This tailor-made system provides users with highly homogeneous and pure thin films with less undesired hydrogen and well-controlled rare-earth concentration compared to existing methods of rare-earth doping, such as metalorganic powders, sputtering, and ion implantation. We established the first comprehensive report on the deposition parameters of argon flow and sputtering power to achieve desired rare-earth concentrations in a wide composition range of terbium (Tb) doped-silicon oxide (Tb:SiO) matrices including silicon-rich ( < 2), oxygen-rich ( > 2), and stoichiometric silicon oxide ( = 2).

Process-dependent mechanical and optical properties of nanostructured silicon carbonitride thin films.

Amorphous hydrogenated silicon carbonitride (a-SiCN:H) thin films were grown using electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapour deposition using a mixture of methane, nitrogen, and silane as precursors. The origin of the variation of macroscopic properties such as hardness (H), elastic modulus (E), photoluminescence (PL), and the optical band gap was investigated through their correlation with the microscopic features of a-SiCN:H thin films as a function of the process parameters, including the deposition temperature and methane gas flow rate. From a microstructural perspective, the thin films were investigated using x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, Rutherford backscattering spectrometry, elastic recoil detection, transmission electron microscopy, and x-ray diffraction.

A novel assessment and treatment approach to patients with Hashimoto's encephalopathy.

Unlabelled: Hashimoto's encephalopathy (HE) is rarely reported with only a few hundred cases published. Diagnosis is made in patients with an appropriate clinical picture and high antithyroperoxidase (anti-TPO) antibodies after infectious, toxic and metabolic causes of encephalopathy have been excluded. There is little objective data on the neurocognitive impairment in patients with HE and their improvement with treatment.

A practical tool for monitoring the performance of measuring systems in a laboratory network: report of an ACB Working Group.

Background A logical consequence of the introduction of robotics and high-capacity analysers has seen a consolidation to larger units. This requires new structures and quality systems to ensure that laboratories deliver consistent and comparable results. Methods A spreadsheet program was designed to accommodate results from up to 12 different instruments/laboratories and present IQC data, i.

Does eGFR improve the diagnostic capability of S-Creatinine concentration results? A retrospective population based study.

The use of MDRD-eGFR to diagnose Chronic Kidney Disease (CKD) is based on the assumption that the algorithm will minimize the influence of age, gender and ethnicity that is observed in S-Creatinine concentration and thus allow a single cut-off at which further diagnostic and therapeutic actions should be considered. This hypothesis is tested in a retrospective analysis of outpatients (N=93,404) and hospitalised (N=35,572) patients in UK and Sweden, respectively. An algorithm based on the same model as the MDRD-eGFR algorithm was derived from simultaneously measured S-Creatinine concentrations and Iohexol GFR in a subset of 565 patients.

Borderline thyroid function tests: so easy to look at, so hard to define.

Thyroid function tests are the most commonly requested endocrine investigations in both primary and secondary care. Attention to detail is vital, as the appropriate interpretation may point to conditions other than thyroid disease itself. We describe two cases of hypopituitarism masquerading as borderline thyroid function tests.