Measuring the severity of transboundary freshwater conflict: structural vs. behavioural indices in Africa

In the global crisis over access to clean, adequate freshwater, Africa is a special case. Not only are many African states under severe water stress, but the continent is one of the most hydrologically interconnected regions on the planet. With 113 rivers, lakes and aquifers that cross an international border, over 60% of Africa’s territory falls into a transboundary watershed. Africa’s hydrology is interdependent, and mass poverty and political volatility heighten the risk of conflict over freshwater resources. This paper compares two approaches to understanding the severity of transboundary freshwater conflict; one based in behavior and the other based on structural factors unique to each water resource and its users. The goal is to identify Africa’s water hot spots, or those areas where violence over water resources is most likely. The broader aim is to better understand how the way we measure severity affects our understanding of freshwater conflict, and how policy-makers might best approach water politics in Africa.     

Predicting Oil Ring Self-Lubricated Sleeve Bearing Temperature Rise and its Effect on Shaft Criticals

Several steps are involved in predicting the temperature rise within the babbitt/oil film of sleeve bearings. Initially, the viscous friction loss developed in the oil film is determined. This loss depends on the speed, length, and diameter of the journal, oil viscosity, and diametral clearance. A heat balance study then compares heat loss generation and dissipation rates. The final consideration is the ability of the oil rings to deliver the necessary oil flow rate. An approach for predicting sleeve bearing temperature rise and the adequacy of oil ring lubrication is described. It is shown that some of the design variables affecting the bearing temperature rise also influence the bearing oil film stiffness. The value of this stiffness plays a vital role in determining the shaft critical speed.     

Temperature accelerated gate oxide degradation under plasma-inducedcharging

Gate oxide charging during plasma processing of submicron devices becomes a serious yield and reliability concern, especially when oxide thickness and device dimensions shrink to the nanoscale region. This paper shows that wafer temperature is a crucial parameter for charging-induced oxide degradation due to plasma processing. Experimental results from plasma damaged submicron MOS transistors, namely low-level gate leakage and degraded charge-to-breakdown characteristics are analyzed from the point of view of conditions of electrical stress. Laboratory experiments simulating plasma charging, performed at 150°C, confirmed that elevated temperature during plasma processing strongly accelerates oxide degradation and even at low-level stress leads to effects observed in plasma damaged devices     

Hole trap generation in the gate oxide due to plasma-inducedcharging

The paper presents results of hole trapping studies in-thin gate oxide of plasma damaged MOS transistors. Process-induced damage was investigated with antenna test structures to enhance the effect of plasma charging. In addition to neutral electron traps and passivated interface damage, which are commonly observed plasma charging latent damage, we observed and identified hole traps, generated by plasma stress. The amount of hole traps increases with increasing antenna ratio, indicating that the mechanism of hole trap generation is based on electrical stress and current flow, forced through the oxide during plasma etching. The density of hole traps in the most damaged devices was found to be larger than that in reference, undamaged devices by about 100%     

Effects of intermittent illumination on perceptual-motor performance.

The experiment was designed to determine whether under conditions of intermittent illumination there is a significant impairment in performance as measured by perceptual-motor tasks. Performance on 5 such tasks under 5 conditions of flickering light was compared with performance under steady light. Time and error scores were considered. No gross detrimental effects of intermittent illumination were detected. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Spectrum of Soviet psychology: 1968 model.

The proceedings of the 3rd All-Union meeting of the Soviet Psychological Society contains abstracts of 906 communications. Relative strength of the different areas is indicated by the percentages of the total number of the papers: Philosophico-theoretical, 1; history, 1.2 psychophysiology, 2.2; general experimental, 20.7 personality and differential psychology, 5.9; child and educational, 29.2; technological, 12.8; medical, 15.2; social, 3.8; comparative, .7; physical eudcation and sports, 7.3%. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effect of carbon on thermal oxidation of silicon and electrical properties of SiO2-Si structures

Growth of thermal oxide on silicon implanted with carbon at low energies is studied and electrical characteristics of the resulting SiO₂-Si structures are evaluated. After excluding the effect of surface damage on the oxide growth kinetics, it was determined that for the carbon implant doses up to 10¹⁴ cm⁻² the effect on oxide growth kinetics is limited. At higher carbon doses significant retardation of oxide growth was observed. A clear correlation between carbon dose and electrical characteristics of SiO₂-Si structures has also been established. In the case of each parameter of concern in this study its degrActation with increased carbon dose above 10¹⁴cm⁻², which corresponds to carbon concentration in silicon of the order of 10¹⁹ cm³, was observed. These effects may come to play during thermal oxidation of silicon wafers subjected prior to oxidation to the reactive ion etching in carbon containing gases such as CF₄, CHF₃, and others.