Process Issues Research Articles

Investigation of thermal effects in bulk oxide chemical mechanical polishing

Bulk oxide polishing occupies a substantial portion of time to achieve surface planarization in semiconductor manufacturing. Recently, thermal management has emerged as a critical issue in the polishing process. Fundamental research on thermal effects in oxide film polishing is essential for optimizing both the thermal management system and the polishing process itself. Experiments indicate that friction force, significantly influenced by wafer and retainer ring pressures as well as slurry species, plays a major role in determining polishing temperature, more so than slurry flow rate. An important finding is the temperature-dependent behavior of slurry particles, which generally reduce in size and concentrate more at higher temperatures, with aggregation starting at around 80 °C. High-temperature slurry deteriorated pad properties but enhance oxide film surface hydrolyzation. During a 60-s polishing process, the slurry temperature exhibited the maximum removal rate at 60 °C for fumed silica polishing, while for calcined ceria, the highest removal rate was observed at 20 °C. Pad B at ambient temperature, having similar hardness to Pad A at 60 °C, reduced the oxide film removal rate by 31.82 % for fumed silica and 40.94 % for calcined ceria. This indicates that pad hardness has a more pronounced effect on polishing with calcined ceria slurry.

EDUCATIONAL ISSUES IN THE RESOCIALIZATION PROCESS OF CRIMINAL OFFENDERS

The primary focus of the research is to investigate educational challenges in the process of resocializing individuals with criminal tendencies. The research aims to analyze educational issues in the resocialization process of offender to facilitate a more effective resocialization of criminally inclined individuals into society. The research tasks encompass various key objectives, including the analysis of offender characteristics, exploration of the formation process of offender personalities, formulation of proposals to mitigate the negative impact of macro-environmental factors, and development of resocialization recommendations. The novelty of the research is linked to changes in cultural values and social norms influencing the behavior, motivation, and transformation of social values among criminally inclined individuals. The outcomes of the research will contribute to the development of more effective strategies for crime prevention and the resocialization of offender personalities within society. The chosen research methods will provide a comprehensive insight into the formation of offender personalities and the factors influencing them. The monographic method will be utilized to describe existing research findings and provide conceptual explanations regarding offender personality and its formation mechanisms. The comparative method will be applied to assess issues related to the prevention of criminal activities among criminally inclined individuals in Latvia and other countries.

Research Progress on Taxus Extraction and Formulation Preparation Technologies.

Taxus, as a globally prevalent evergreen tree, contains a wealth of bioactive components that play a crucial role in the pharmaceutical field. Taxus extracts, defined as a collection of one or more bioactive compounds extracted from the genus Taxus spp., have become a significant focus of modern cancer treatment research. This review article aims to delve into the scientific background of Taxus extracts and their considerable value in pharmaceutical research. It meticulously sifts through and compares various advanced extraction techniques such as supercritical extraction, ultrasound extraction, microwave-assisted extraction, solid-phase extraction, high-pressure pulsed electric field extraction, and enzymatic extraction, assessing each technology's advantages and limitations across dimensions such as extraction efficiency, extraction purity, economic cost, operational time, and environmental impact, with comprehensive analysis results presented in table form. In the area of drug formulation design, this paper systematically discusses the development strategies for solid, liquid, and semi-solid dosage forms based on the unique physicochemical properties of Taxus extracts, their intended medical uses, and specific release characteristics, delving deeply into the selection of excipients and the critical technical issues in the drug preparation process. Moreover, the article looks forward to the potential directions of Taxus extracts in future research and medical applications, emphasizing the urgency and importance of continuously optimizing extraction methods and formulation design to enhance treatment efficacy, reduce production costs, and decrease environmental burdens. It provides a comprehensive set of preparation techniques and formulation optimization schemes for researchers in cancer treatment and other medical fields, promoting the application and development of Taxus extracts in pharmaceutical sciences.

BPA: A Novel Blockchain-Based Privacy-Preserving Authentication Scheme for the Internet of Vehicles

The Internet of Vehicles (IoV) connects an isolated individual on the road to share information, which can improve traffic efficiency. However, the promotion of information sharing brings the critical security issues of identity authentication, followed by privacy protection issues in the authentication process in the IoV. In this study, we designed a blockchain-based conditional privacy-preserving authentication scheme for the IoV (BPA). Our scheme implements zero-knowledge proof (ZKP) to verify the identities of vehicles, which moves the authentication process down to the Roadside Units (RSUs) and achieves decentralized authentication at the edge nodes. Moreover, blockchain technology is utilized to synchronize a consistent ledger across all RSUs for recording and disseminating vehicle authentication states, which enhances the overall authentication process efficiency. We provide a theoretical analysis asserting that the BPA ensures enhanced security and effectively protects the privacy of all participating vehicles. Experimental evaluations confirm that our scheme outperforms existing solutions in terms of the computational and communication overhead.

Academic Staff Commitment towards Implementing Curriculum from Multicultural Perspectives in Eastern Ethiopia Higher Education

This study aimed to investigate academic staff commitment to implementing curriculum from multicultural perspectives in Eastern Ethiopian higher education. This problem is instigated by the long-term ignored area or multicultural issues in teaching and learning process in higher education in Ethiopia which, in turn, has become a basis of the increase of plentiful difficulties. To achieve the intended objective, a descriptive design was employed. The data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire and analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study revealed that the commitment of academic staff was low and there was no gender difference in implementing curriculum. Based on the findings, it is concluded that if academic staff had been committed and used culturally responsive pedagogy, the implementation of a multicultural curriculum would have been ensured. Therefore, based on these findings implications were made for future research and suggested addressing and alleviating salient problems.

Terjemahan Ungkapan Slang dalam Novel To All The Boys I’ve Loved Before karya Jenny Han

The current issue in the translation process is the inappropriate choice of technique, which affects the accuracy and acceptability of the translation, as well as the need to identify slang expressions from the source language to the target language to ensure the style aligns with the target language's characteristics. Therefore, this study aims to analyze the techniques used to translate slang expressions from English (the source language) into Indonesian (the target language) using the theories of Butkuiviena and Petrulionē (2010), and Vinay and Darbelnet (1995) in the novel To All The Boys I've Loved Before, while also analyzing the linguistic style of the slang translation from English into Indonesian using Joos's theory (1967). The research method employed is qualitative, with document analysis for data collection. Meanwhile, the data analysis method uses thematic analysis. The results show that the most dominant technique used by translators for translating slang expressions is the literal technique. This finding suggests that the literal translation technique is generally capable of accommodating and sufficiently accurate in translating slang expressions in this novel, which features light and casual language use. Given that the novel narrates a simple teenage story, the dominant linguistic style in the translation of slang expressions is casual style. This finding reflects that the novel's style closely resembles the preferred linguistic style of young readers, who tend to be more relaxed, friendly, and open.

The Issue of Execution Process in Civil Procedure Law in Indonesia

That a judicial process is a way to resolve issues that arise in society. A good judicial process will promote the creation of justice in society. However, the fact is that not all judicial processes can be carried out to create justice in society, such as when a court decision cannot be enforced or executed, then the judicial process is considered incapable of creating a sense of justice for the community. This study will discuss the issues of execution process in civil procedural law in Indonesia. The research method used is normative juridical. The research concludes that successful execution terminates the series of civil case resolutions. However, obstacles that occur are technical obstacles such as direction of the crowd at the execution site, and substantive obstacles in the decision, namely the decision does not clearly detail the object and procedure of execution.

Education and biopolitics: deconstructing authority in Polish textbooks

The article examines the mutual relations between education, biopolitics and authority. The objective is to deconstruct authority in relation to three biopolitical issues: abortion, sexual orientation, and IVF. This deconstruction is performed by analysis of the manifestations and strategies of authority employed in Polish textbooks for four subjects at secondary school: social studies, family life education, ethics, and religion. This provided an answer to the question both about the significance of biopolitical issues in the education process and about the role of authority in their construction. The main rhetorical practices for the construction of authority were science, using the strategy of “stating facts”; law, with the strategy of “establishing order”; and religion, whose strategy is “initiating opposition”. In the article, I conduct a qualitative analysis of each of the three rhetorical practices and make conclusions on the role of authority in the process of teaching biopolitical issues in school.

Continuous quality improvement project to reduce the downtime of medical linear accelerators: A case study at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital

ObjectiveTo analyse and continually improve existing issues in the quality improvement process of medical linear accelerators (LINACs) and enhance the quality control management of LINACs. MethodsData were collected from eight LINACs (sourced from three manufacturers) at Zhejiang Cancer Hospital using Excel diaries between January 2019 and December 2020. The data description and analysis were performed using the analytic hierarchy process, SPSSAU and Excel software, and mean-time-to-repair (MTTR)/mean-time-between-failure (MTBF) metrics. Continuous quality improvement was executed using the quality control circle (QCC) quality management method. ResultsAfter quality improvement, the risk frequency of ‘LINAC down’ events decreased by 43.63% and downtime was reduced by 40.45%. The weight of downtime risk improved by 73.69%. The MTTR recovery value increased by 31.90%, and MTBF reliability increased by 2.97 h. The simulation results demonstrated that the proposed quality improvement measures could effectively decrease the frequency and duration of downtimes, consequently extending the normal operational time of LINACs. ConclusionTransitioning from instant repair to preventative maintenance can enhance the operational efficiency of equipment and yield economic benefits for hospitals. The QCC method and the event risk evaluation model are effective in reducing the downtime of LINACs and improving their quality control management.

Biomimetic phase change capsules with conch shell structures for improving thermal energy storage efficiency

Latent heat storage system utilizing a packed-bed setup with encapsulated phase change materials (EPCMs) can address the issues of mismatched energy supply and demand, in addition to preventing the leakage concerns associated with unencapsulated PCMs, which has a broad application prospect. Drawing on the principles of biomimicry, this work proposes bionic-conch and bionic-mitochondrial encapsulation models for PCMs and analyzes the heat transfer performance with different structures. Significantly, the thermal energy storage efficiency of the bionic-conch structure surpassed that of the bionic-mitochondrial and straight-fin structures by 43.11 % and 14.62 %, respectively. The enhanced thermal energy storage efficiency of the bionic-conch is attributed to the spiral fins within, which considerably amplify the heat exchange surface area. Furthermore, in order to obtain the bionic-conch capsule structure with optimal thermal properties, the present work investigates the influence of fins on the melting characteristics of PCMs. The results show that increasing fins empower the thermal energy storage efficiency by 402.89 % and thermal response rate by 616.93 %, respectively. However, there is an issue of slow melting process in the annular region and incorporating an array of a slightly off-center heat-conducting ring (SOHR) is considered to enhance localized heat transfer. The suggest that it can alleviate the problem of slow heat transfer rate in the local annular region and increase the average internal temperature. Furthermore, in order to compensate for the loss of thermal energy capacity of the fin structure, this work also investigated the effect of different wall thicknesses on the thermal performance of the phase change capsule. Interestingly, decreasing the wall thickness significantly increases the heat capacity. In concrete terms, the thermal energy capacity of 0.5 mm wall thickness is increased by 22.87 % compared to 2 mm. This study may provide new enlightenment for the optimization of green energy.

전주기 관점에서 살펴본 일본의 사용후 배터리 안전규제 특징 분석

The importance of the used battery field is growing as it is a market that is bound to grow as secondary batteries rapidly emerge, but technology development and industrial revitalization are hindered by issues such as safety management. The study analyzes the characteristics of Japan’s used battery regulations from a life-cycle perspective and seeks to provide implications for establishing similar policies in Korea. The analysis results are as follows. First, Japan is managing battery data by establishing a digital platform considering the entire value chain and life cycle. Second, Japan is strengthening its demonstration project for reuse of used batteries. Third, Japan is promoting technology development with ‘standards’ in mind to secure the battery supply chain. As safety is a key issue in the future transition process from internal combustion engine vehicles to eco-friendly vehicles, research on the topic of safety must continue to be conducted in the future. This study is significant in that it provides implications by reviewing systems and policies that Korea can refer to through an analysis of the case of Japan.

A prediction model for drilling temperature of CFRP/Ti stacks and green cooling strategy considering chip ejection process

Drilling temperature has always been a hot issue in the drilling process of CFRP/Ti stacks. Accurately predicting drilling temperature is necessary for reliable optimization of drilling parameters. However, since the drilling process involves two materials and may affect each other, the prediction of temperature during drilling is still a challenge. In this paper, a novel drilling temperature model is established to predict the temperature distribution in CFRP workpiece during the drilling process of CFRP/Ti stacks, considering the minor cutting edge and titanium alloy chip ejection process. Specifically, according to different drilling phases, in addition to considering the heat source of the cutting zone of different materials, the heat source generated by the interaction of minor cutting edge and rebound hole wall of CFRP and the heat source formed by the thermal-mechanical effect of Ti chip ejection process are also considered. The results show that the prediction errors of peak temperature in CFRP entrance and stack interface region during drilling are within 15.8 % and 10.9 %, respectively, which indicates the validity of the model. Finally, the green cooling strategy (High and low frequency compound vibration-assisted drilling) is adopted to significantly reduce the peak temperature in the drilling process by controlling the chip morphology and ejection process, which further proves that the thermo-mechanical action of Ti chips on CFRP cannot be ignored, and provides reference for temperature modeling and low-damage processing of CFRP/metal stacks.

How management information systems might add value to the decision-making process in organizations

The management information systems are a fundamental issue of the decision-making process in any organization. So, the main motivation for this study was to understand how management information systems might or might not add value to the decision-making process within organizations. To carry out this study, authors have mainly focused on key concepts such as “Management Information System (MIS)” and “decision-making process” through an extensive review of bibliography and papers seeking to delimitate the state of art regarding the identification of their theoretical frameworks. The literature review confirmed that the main mechanism in which management information systems might add value to the decision-making process goes beyond the process itself, helping organizations to make better decisions based on data not on guesses. Another conclusion is that, while strengthening and improving the managers’ decisions, it facilitates and improves communication and collaboration. They seem to play a crucial role in enhancing the decision-making process having impact in the organizations’ performance at all levels. Finally, for suggestions of future studies, researchers should analyze more deeply the effectiveness of the three performance indicators for measuring such contributions of MIS to the decision-making process: speed, precision, and complexity.

Farmers’ cooperatives and smallholder farmers’ access to credit: Evidence from China

Farmers’ cooperatives serve as effective means of transforming smallholder farmers’ production methods in the process of agricultural modernization in developing countries. This paper aims to examine the credit effects of farmers’ cooperatives by employing a framework based on institutional finance theory. Based on the 2021 China Household Finance Survey data, an endogenous switching probit model is employed to explore the impact of cooperative membership on smallholder farmers’ access to credit. The research findings indicate the following: i) Farmers’ cooperatives possess information advantages, as financial institutions gain access to smallholder farmers’ information through the organized value chains of farmers’ cooperatives, leading to a direct reduction in transaction costs and an improvement in access to credit. ii) Farmers’ cooperatives can promote smallholder farmers’ agricultural investments, increase household income for smallholder farmers, enhance the liquidity of farmland, and further improve access to credit for smallholder farmers. Therefore, farmers’ cooperatives represent an inevitable trend in the agricultural modernization of developing countries. Rural financial institutions should alter their financial models and resolve adverse selection and moral hazard issues in the credit process through organizational approaches, thereby enhancing access to credit for smallholder farmers.

Microstructure evolution and property of high manganese steel coatings by laser shock assisted laser wire cladding

Field-assisted laser cladding (FALC) overcomes the limitations of laser cladding through the inherent advantages brought about by the use of various auxiliary energy fields (AEFs). Laser wire cladding (LWC) is limited by the common problems of laser cladding but has a promising future due to the extremely high material utilization rate. In this study, a laser shock assisted laser wire cladding (LSALWC) manufacturing process was proposed. In situ laser shock was introduced into the LWC to obtain finer grains structure and improve product performance. LSALWC does not change the composition of the coating, does not require the use of pretreatment and post-treatment, and does not reduce the efficiency of production. Using high manganese steel (HMS) as the model alloy, LSALWC was employed to achieve the expectation of reducing the proportion of columnar grains, refine the microstructure of columnar grains, and transform columnar grains into equiaxed grains. Compared with the sample (LC) manufactured by LWC, the performance of the sample (LSA) manufactured by LSALWC has been improved, the hardness increased from 285 ± 5 HV0.5 to 303 ± 6 HV0.5, the volume wear rate decreased from 2.1 × 10−4 mm3/N·m to 1.7 × 10−4 mm3/N·m, the primary dendrite spacing of the coating was reduced by 11.5%, and the heterogeneity of coating was more obvious. The cladding process under laser shock was studied using a high-speed camera, and the influence of laser shock on the coating was explained. The mechanism of the performance improvement of the LSA sample was explained. This study showed the disturbance of the molten pool was enhanced by laser shock, and the dendrites at the bottom were deflected or even broken. The broken dendrites were dispersed with the liquid flow and became new nucleation sites. Laser shock increased the supercooling during solidification by reducing the temperature gradient in the molten pool, and created an environment conducive to grain nucleation and growth. This process mitigates various issues in the casting process of HMS and provides a novel method for regulating the grain and microstructure of laser cladding. This research delves into the coupling between the AEF and the dynamic behavior of the molten pool, culminating in a model depicting the evolution of laser cladding solidification under the influence of the AEF, which will provide a new perspective for the research of FALC.

The Impact of Fishing Ban Policy on Marine Ecological Environment

This study aims to explore the impact of implementing fishing moratorium policies on the marine ecological environment in the Bohai Sea region. The marine environment in this area has been long degraded, primarily due to excessive fishing and pollution. This study focuses on the before and after effects of the fishing moratorium policy on the marine ecological environment. Research methods include literature review and data analysis, analyzing the marine environmental conditions in the region prior to the implementation of the fishing moratorium policy. The results show that implementing the fishing moratorium policy can effectively restore the marine ecological environment, enhance species diversity, and stabilize the structure of marine biological communities. Additionally, the fishing moratorium policy provides guarantee for the sustainable utilization of fishery resources. However, there are still some issues in the implementation process of the fishing moratorium policy, such as reduction in fishermen's income and decline in fishery output. Future research needs to further explore how to optimize the fishing moratorium policy and balance marine ecological protection with the economic interests of fishermen. In conclusion, the impact of implementing fishing moratorium policies in the Bohai Sea region on the marine ecological environment is significant but still requires further improvement and optimization.

Accurate Temperature Reconstruction in Radiofrequency Ablation for Atherosclerotic Plaques Based on Inverse Heat Transfer Analysis.

Radio frequency ablation has emerged as a widely accepted treatment for atherosclerotic plaques. However, monitoring the temperature field distribution in the blood vessel wall during this procedure presents challenges. This limitation increases the risk of endothelial cell damage and inflammatory responses, potentially leading to lumen restenosis. The aim of this study is to accurately reconstruct the transient temperature distribution by solving a stochastic heat transfer model with uncertain parameters using an inverse heat transfer algorithm and temperature measurement data. The nonlinear least squares optimization method, Levenberg-Marquardt (LM), was employed to solve the inverse heat transfer problem for parameter estimation. Then, to improve the convergence of the algorithm and reduce the computational resources, a method of parameter sensitivity analysis was proposed to select parameters mainly affecting the temperature field. Furthermore, the robustness and accuracy of the algorithm were verified by introducing random noise to the temperature measurements. Despite the high level of temperature measurement noise (ξ = 5%) and larger initial guess deviation, the parameter estimation results remained closely aligned with the actual values, with an overall ERMS consistently below 0.05. The absolute errors between the reconstruction temperature at the measurement points TC1, TC2, and TC3, and the actual temperature, remained within 0.33 °C, 2.4 °C, and 1.17 °C, respectively. The Levenberg-Marquardt algorithm employed in this study proficiently tackled the ill-posed issue of inversion process and obtained a strong consistency between the reconstructed temperature the actual temperature.

Transitions of care: An aerodigestive provider assessment survey

ObjectiveTo create, validate, and apply an aerodigestive provider assessment survey. MethodsA survey assessing provider knowledge and current practice in the transition of patients with chronic aerodigestive disorders from pediatric to adult care was drafted by a multidisciplinary expert panel. Once agreement of the initial survey items was obtained, the survey was distributed to a national multidisciplinary panel of aerodigestive experts for review. Responses from the national panel were systematically quantified and a content validity index (CVI) was calculated. A final survey was developed and distributed to pediatric and adult aerodigestive providers. ResultsFrom the initial 22 items presented to the national panel, 20 of the initial questions were included in the final instrument. Two additional questions were developed as a result of feedback from the expert panel. All items included in the survey had an Item Content Validity Index (I-CVI) of >0.85. The average Scale CVI in proportion to the average proportion of relevance (S-CVI/Ave) for the tool was 0.88. The average Scale CVI in proportion to universal agreement (S-CVI/UA) was 0.52. The survey was then administered to pediatric and adult specialty providers at our institution. Twenty-two providers completed the final survey. ConclusionThe content validity index measurements from this newly developed survey suggest that it is a valid tool for assessing current knowledge and practice in care transitions among patients with complex aerodigestive needs. The survey developed in this project has been used to identify knowledge gaps and process issues that can be addressed to ease the transition of adolescents from pediatric specialty care into adult specialty care.

Correlation Study on Voiding in Underfill of Large Quantity Ball Grid Array Chip Using Machine Learning

Abstract This paper investigates voiding issues in the underfilling process of ball grid array (BGA) chip packages under various parameter settings such as chip conveyor speed, valve pressure, temperature, and dispense pattern complicate. The study identifies valve pressure as the primary cause of voiding in large quantity BGA chips, achieving 88.9% in accuracy, supported with the deformation of the valve nozzle. Additionally, the findings reveal that racing effects occurs due to asymmetry of the solder ball array arrangement with percentage difference between the TSAM BGA chips experiments and its simulation counterparts in the range of 0.089–3.65%.

Dynamic voltage restorer performance analysis using fuzzy logic controller and battery energy storage system for voltage sagging

Power quality is a major issue in the power transfer process. This is caused by disturbances such as voltage sags, voltage spikes, and harmonics. Voltage sag is the most common disturbance in the electric power system. However, the dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) is the most effective device for voltage sags. This research uses the DVR to overcome voltage sags using fuzzy logic controller (FLC) and battery energy storage system (BESS) to improve the performance of the DVR. The results showed that DVR using FLC improved the quality of voltage recovery compared to BESS because FLC injected a greater voltage of 0.0991 pu than BESS.