We report the experimentally obtained response surfaces of silicon etching rate, aspect ratio dependent etching (ARDE), photoresist etching rate, and anisotropy parameter in a time multiplexed inductively coupled plasma etcher. The data were collected while varying eight etching variables. The relevance of electrode power, pressure, and gas flow rates is presented and has been found to agree with observations reported in the literature. The observed behavior presented in this report serves as a tool to locate and optimize operating conditions to etch high aspect ratio structures. The performance of this deep reactive ion etcher allows the tailoring of silicon etching rates in excess of 4 m/min with anisotropic profiles, nonuniformities of less than 4% across the wafer, and ARDE control with a depth variation of less than 1 m for trenches of dissimilar width. Furthermore it is possible to prescribe the slope of etched trenches from positive to reentrant.

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Most patients with adult intussusception in our series were men, and most intussusceptions were benign and of enteric origin. The most sensitive diagnostic modality is abdominal CT scan. Operative reduction is recommended for enteric intussusceptions but not for colonic intussusceptions. The prognosis of adult intussusception after surgery is good except for malignant intussusception.

This study examined the involvement of medial temporal lobe, especially the hippocampus, in processing spatial and nonspatial relations using episodic and semantic versions of a relational judgment task. Participants studied object arrays and were tested on different types of relations between pairs of objects. Three prevalent views of hippocampal function were considered. Cognitive map theory (O'Keefe and Nadel (1978) The Hippocampus as a Cognitive Map. USA: Oxford University Press) emphasizes hippocampal involvement in spatial relational tasks. Multiple trace theory (Nadel and Moscovitch (1997) Memory consolidation, retrograde amnesia and the hippocampal complex Curr Opin Neurobiol 7:217-227) emphasizes hippocampal involvement in episodic tasks. Eichenbaum and Cohen's ((2001) From Conditioning to Conscious Recollection: Memory Systems of the Brain. USA: Oxford University Press) relational theory predicts equivalent hippocampal involvement in all relational tasks within both semantic and episodic memory. The fMRI results provided partial support for all three theories, though none of them fit the data perfectly. We observed hippocampal activation during all relational tasks, with increased activation for spatial compared to nonspatial relations, and for episodic compared to semantic relations. The placement of activation along the anterior-posterior axis of the hippocampus also differentiated the conditions. We suggest a view of hippocampal function in memory that incorporates aspects of all three theories.

The natural product justicidin A, an arylnaphthalide lignan isolated from Justicia procumbens, significantly inhibited the growth of human colorectal cancer cells HT-29 and HCT 116 at day 6 post-treatment. Further study revealed that justicidin A-treated HT-29 and HCT 116 colorectal cancer cells died of apoptosis. Justicidin A treatment caused DNA fragmentation and an increase in phosphatidylserine exposure of the cells. The number of cells in the sub-G1 phase was also increased upon justicidin A treatment. Caspase-9 but not caspase-8 was activated, suggesting that justicidin A treatment damaged mitochondria. The mitochondrial membrane potential was altered and cytochrome c and Smac were released from mitochondria to the cytoplasm upon justicidin A treatment. The level of Ku70 in the cytoplasm was decreased, but that of Bax in mitochondria was increased by justicidin A. Since Ku70 normally binds and sequesters Bax, these results suggest that justicidin A decreases the level of Ku70 leading to translocation of Bax from the cytosol to mitochondria to induce apoptosis. Oral administration of justicidin A was shown to suppress the growth of HT-29 cells transplanted into NOD-SCID mice, suggesting chemotherapeutic potential of justicidin A on colorectal cancer cells.