Breakthrough Process Research Articles

Exploring and evaluating the index for interdisciplinary breakthrough innovation detection

PurposeThis study aims to establish a reliable index to identify interdisciplinary breakthrough innovation effectively. We constructed a new index, the DDiv index, for this purpose.Design/methodology/approachThe DDiv index incorporates the degree of interdisciplinarity in the breakthrough index. To validate the index, a data set combining the publication records and citations of Nobel Prize laureates was divided into experimental and control groups. The validation methods included sensitivity analysis, correlation analysis and effectiveness analysis.FindingsThe sensitivity analysis demonstrated the DDiv index’s ability to differentiate interdisciplinary breakthrough papers from various categories of papers. This index not only retains the strengths of the existing index in identifying breakthrough innovation but also captures interdisciplinary characteristics. The correlation analysis revealed a significant correlation (correlation coefficient = 0.555) between the interdisciplinary attributes of scientific research and the occurrence of breakthrough innovation. The effectiveness analysis showed that the DDiv index reached the highest prediction accuracy of 0.8. Furthermore, the DDiv index outperforms the traditional DI index in terms of accuracy when it comes to identifying interdisciplinary breakthrough innovation.Originality/valueThis study proposed a practical and effective index that combines interdisciplinary and disruptive dimensions for detecting interdisciplinary breakthrough innovation. The identification and measurement of interdisciplinary breakthrough innovation play a crucial role in facilitating the integration of multidisciplinary knowledge, thereby accelerating the scientific breakthrough process.

Marcus Antonius ταμίας ἀντιστράτηγος: first known case of Roman quaestors being granted praetoral powers

The article analyzes the inscription from the Delos island (ID 2. 1603), in which the official status of Marcus Antonius Orator is designated as ταμίας ἀντιστράτηγος - quaestor-propraetor, which is the first known case of Roman republican quaestors being granted the powers of praetors (quaestor pro praetore). Other epigraphic and narrative sources are involved into analysis. The author of the article dates the empowerment of quaestor M. Antonius with the powers of propraetor to 113 BC and rejects his case as an evidence that the pro praetore proquaestors were officially called quaestors in inscriptions (as was accepted in the historiography of the issue).

Electrochemical and chemical cycle for high-efficiency decoupled water splitting in a near-neutral electrolyte

Green hydrogen produced by water splitting using renewable electricity is essential to achieve net-zero carbon emissions. Present water electrolysis technologies are uncompetitive with low-cost grey hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, limiting their scale-up potential. Disruptive processes that decouple the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions and produce them in separate cells or different stages emerge as a prospective route to reduce system cost by enabling operation without expensive membranes and sealing components. Some of these processes divide the hydrogen or oxygen evolution reactions into electrochemical and chemical sub-reactions, enabling them to achieve high efficiency. However, high efficiency has been demonstrated only in a batch process with thermal swings that present operational challenges. This work introduces a breakthrough process that produces hydrogen and oxygen in separate cells and supports continuous operation in a membraneless system. We demonstrate high faradaic and electrolytic efficiency and high rate operation in a near-neutral electrolyte of NaBr in water, whereby bromide is electro-oxidized to bromate concurrent with hydrogen evolution in one cell, and bromate is chemically reduced to bromide in a catalytic reaction that evolves oxygen in another cell. This process may lead the way to high-efficiency membraneless water electrolysis that overcomes the limitations of century-old membrane electrolysis.

Numerical simulation analysis of CH4 breakthrough pressure in partially saturated low-permeability rock sample under multiple P-T conditions

Breakthrough pressure of CH4 is an important parameter in shale gas exploitation and the evaluation of cap rocks. To date, many studies have been carried out to investigate CH4 breakthrough pressure based on experimental methods, meanwhile, some studies have also proposed numerical simulation theories on multiphase flow in porous media. However, there are few studies on numerical simulation methods for predicting CH4 breakthrough pressure on rock-core scale under various conditions. Therefore, in this study, we propose a numerical method that can be used to predict CH4 breakthrough pressure in partially saturated low-permeability rock sample under multiple P-T conditions based on our published experimental results. The simulative results show that both CH4 breakthrough pressure and breakthrough time are exponentially related to temperature and pressure conditions, moreover, CH4 breakthrough pressure and breakthrough time decrease with increasing temperature and pressure. Under the multiple P-T conditions in this study, the effect of pressure on numerical results is greater than that of temperature. By comparing the numerical results with the published experimental data, it has been validated that the numerical method proposed in this study is reasonable. Furthermore, we have parametrically swept 3 key properties in CH4-H2O-rock systems, namely, dynamic viscosity, density, and interfacial tension; the order of the effects of 3 properties on the CH4 breakthrough process is, dynamic viscosity > interfacial tension > density. The numerical method established in this study can provide an important reference for the prediction of gas breakthrough process in rock core and for related numerical studies and engineering practice.

Corruption in legal activities and ways to fight it

Corruption is one of the phenomena that can cause crises in various areas of social and societal development of every country, primarily in politics, economics, public administration, and it is one of the key prerequisites for the existence of organized crime.Since Ukraine declared its independence, the concept of corruption has become widespread in the national legal literature, speeches of politicians and state leaders. The analysis of legislation, scientific and reference literature allows us to claim that the concept of «corruption» was formed in ancient times and was generally understood as bribery.The article offers a study of modern methods of combating this phenomenon in legal practice. In the course of the research, the author identified alternative solutions to problematic issues and ways to improve the current state of jurisprudence so that it could be in line with European standards. The author also conducted a comparative analysis of how this issue has been addressed in other countries and the possibility of applying such experience in Ukraine.In particular, the author studied the process of an evolutionary breakthrough in the fight against corruption after the fall of the Soviet system both in Ukraine and in the neighboring post-Soviet countries. It is worth noting that most of the attention is focused on Romania and Slovakia, which have shown very positive results.The article analyzes the effectiveness of all anti-corruption bodies established to fight corruption, as well as the public’s attitude to their activities. The author highlights statistics regarding public confidence in the authorities and finds out what they consider to be the most corrupt in the country.The article discusses the existing problematic issues regarding anti-corruption measures, as there is a widespread practice of ignoring the law, which can lead to avoiding responsibility and the actual absence of real responsibility for corrupt practices. The effective fight against corruption in Ukraine requires proper legislative support, the creation of an effective system of state bodies, and ensuring their proper formation.In order to implement the best international practices in Ukraine to build a system of integrity in the private sector, the Law of Ukraine «On Prevention of Corruption» includes a special block of anti-corruption mechanisms aimed at preventing corruption in the activities of both state-owned and private entities.In view of the aforesaid, a corrupt act usually has a selfish purpose and a desire to receive illegal remuneration, to satisfy one’s own interest. Therefore, it can be determined that corruption is an act committed by an official or employee by abusing their position and/or authority for the benefit of an individual at their (or another person’s) request, with the purpose of obtaining remuneration and satisfying the person’s own interest.Anti-corruption activities are carried out within the framework of various legal relations. This circumstance necessitates the development of various means of preventing corruption that will help block this phenomenon in any social relations (in particular, in education).

(Invited) Decoupled Water Splitting for Green Hydrogen Production: Reshaping Water Electrolysis

Green hydrogen produced by splitting water molecules into hydrogen and oxygen using electricity from renewable energy sources is essential to reduce CO2 emissions, especially in hard-to-abate industrial sectors such as steelmaking and ammonia production. It is a critical component in the energy transition to fight climate change. The present technologies for green hydrogen production are alkaline and polymer electrolyte membrane water electrolysis. One thing in common to these technologies is the coupling between the hydrogen and oxygen evolution reactions (HER and OER, respectively), where both reactions occur concurrently in the same electrolytic cell. Therefore, a membrane or diaphragm divides the cell into two compartments to avoid hazardous H2/O2 mixing. This membrane architecture complicates the electrolyzers construction by adding gaskets and compression sealing to prevent H2/O2 crossover. This adds substantial costs and limits operation at high pressures and low-purity water. In addition, substantial energy losses, mostly due to the difficult OER, increase the cost of energy in this energy intensive technology. These drawbacks give rise to high cost of green hydrogen.To overcome these challenges, we developed alternative processes that decouple the generation of hydrogen and oxygen into two consecutive stages (time separation),1 or two cells (space separation),2 avoiding the need for membrane and sealing. In addition, we divided the OER, a difficult electrochemical reaction that requires four electrons and protons to generate an oxygen molecule on a single atomic reaction site, into two sub-reactions that occur on four sites, thereby enabling facile reactions and reducing the energy losses in water electrolysis. An ultrahigh efficiency of nearly 99% was demonstrated at lab scale,2 and we expect reaching above 90% at system scale. To bring this breakthrough process to reality we established H2Pro, an Israeli startup company that aims to produce green hydrogen at $1/kg by the end of this decade, based on our invention.3 Landman et al., Photoelectrochemical water splitting in separate oxygen and hydrogen cells, Nature Materials 16, 646–651 (2017).Dotan et al., Decoupled hydrogen and oxygen evolution by a two-step electrochemical – chemical cycle for efficient overall water splitting, Nature Energy 4, 786–795 (2019).Rothschild et al., Methods and system for hydrogen production by water electrolysis, United States Patent No. 2020/0040467 A1 (2020).

The Goal breakthrough model of goal reorientation: Explicit questions drive implicit processes

We propose and test the goal breakthrough model (GBM), which combines stage models of the creative process and of goal-functioning to explain where new ideas for action come from. The GBM posits that asking oneself questions (during a preparation phase) can prompt nonconscious thought (during an incubation phase), which can surface as new ideas for living (during an illumination or “aha” phase), which can lead to enhanced thriving in life (elaboration phase). In our first (retrospective) study, we find evidence supporting the three-step model and demonstrate links of the “aha” experience to felt self-integration, need-satisfaction, and well-being. In our second (prospective) study, we put participants through a breakthrough process, measuring their experiences at the beginning, middle, and end of that process. Similar patterns of effects emerged in both studies, providing preliminary support for the GBM. We discuss implications of the model.

Numerical Simulation of the Microscopic Plugging Mechanism and Particle Flow Process of the Microsphere System.

The microsphere system has small initial particle size, excellent swelling performance, simple manufacturing process, and strong plugging ability. It has great application potential in the field of plugging and profile control of deep reservoirs. Microspheres can effectively plug the pores of fractured cores, inhibit the rapid breakthrough process, and improve the sweep efficiency of the injected fluids. However, the microscopic plugging mechanism of microspheres on fractured cores is still unclear. In this study, the distribution of microspheres after plugging was observed through specially prepared core models. Furthermore, the microscopic plugging mechanism of microspheres in fractured reservoir cores was clarified, including direct microsphere plugging, cluster bridging plugging, adhesion plugging, extrusion-deformation plugging, and extrusion-crushing plugging. Then, particle flow simulation software was used to establish the fluid-solid coupling model of microsphere plugging, and then, the numerical simulation of the plugging process was realized by Python module programming. Through this study, the plugging effect of microspheres under different fracture opening conditions was clarified. Moreover, the effects of injection pressure difference, fracture width, and particle size ratio on the fluid-solid structures of microsphere plugging were analyzed. The results show that the smaller the particle size ratio, the greater the injection pressure difference, the fracture width, and the reduction magnitudes in fracture porosity and core permeability and the higher the plugging rate. The numerical simulation results well support the microsphere plugging mechanism obtained by experiments. The results of this study can provide theoretical and technical support for the development of deep profile control and flooding and enhanced oil recovery technology of the polymer microsphere dispersion system in fractured low-permeability reservoirs.

Site trials of methane capture from low-concentration coalbed methane drainage wells using a mobile skid-mounted vacuum pressure swing adsorption system

Coalbed methane (CBM) emissions account for a large part of methane (CH4) emission in the fossil energy area, and vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) is an effective method to recover low-concentration CBM. However, CBM supply can fluctuate in quality or quantity because of the constantly changing geological conditions, thus permanent large-scale factory mode is economically inappropriate. In this work, a highly integrated mobile skid-mounted prototype VPSA system was designed and installed, and site trials of low-concentration CH4 capture were, for the first time, carried out in a coal mine site of Huayang New Material Technology Group Co. Ltd in China. Site trials including breakthrough tests and VPSA experiments were conducted in a fluctuating range of CH4 (16–30%). The effects of flow rate, adsorption pressure, and feed concentration on the separation process were revealed using a breakthrough process, and their effects on the dynamic parameters were also analyzed. After purification, the CH4 content in product gas was increased from 16–30% to 43.3–70.7% which all meet the requirements of 4T grade city gas in China, and maximum CH4 productivity of 43.6 × 10−3 m3/(kg·h) can be achieved. More importantly, multicycle breakthrough tests demonstrated that superhydrophobic zeolite TUTJ-1 is more resistant to the effects of water and has more potential for capturing CH4 under humid conditions than activated carbon.

“The Stinkier the Better!”—A Case Study on the Reinvention of River Snail Noodles and the Transformation of Taste in China

ABSTRACT This article uses luosifen – river snail rice noodles that originated in Liuzhou, China – as a lens to explore the relationship between food production and the breakthrough processes that prompt young urbanites in contemporary China to acquire new and exotic tastes. Although snail noodles, famous for their stinky smell, have recently gained recognition as a national intangible cultural heritage, the consumption of snail noodles in China today is actually a reinvented tradition developed from those of the Zhuang and Han ethnic groups. The current popularity of snail noodles results from neoliberal consumerism, advancements in food packaging and technology, and new ways for consumers to engage each other in social relationships created by social media, all in the context of rapid social change and urbanization. The Liuzhou local government’s strategy of transforming snail noodles from modern street food into exotic culinary heritage has opened up new forms of cultural and social capital.

Insights into gas migration in saturated GMZ bentonite using the RCP technique

In a deep geological repository for disposal of high-level radioactive waste, understanding of gas migration behavior in bentonite materials is one of the most important issues for safety assessment of the repository. This study tries to provide insights into gas transport properties in saturated bentonite tested under a constant-volume condition using the residual capillary pressure (RCP) technique. In this regard, a test setup was developed and gas injection tests were conducted on saturated GaoMiaoZi (GMZ) bentonite specimens using the RCP technique. Among which, some specimens that experienced initial gas breakthrough processes were re-saturated and re-submitted to conduct the subsequent gas injection tests. During the tests, gas permeability and gas breakthrough pressures were measured. Gas migration mechanism at lower gas injection pressures was analyzed and the influence of repetitive breakthroughs on sealing efficiency of saturated GMZ bentonite was discussed. Results show that as dry density increases from 1.3 to 1.7 g/cm3, gas breakthrough pressure increases from 1.37 to 8.56 MPa. Explanations to this conclusion could be that with increasing dry density, the proportion of large pores decreases and the strongly adsorbed water on the surface of minerals increases, leading to harder capillary displacement of pore water and thus a higher gas breakthrough pressure. Meanwhile, both diffusion and advection could play significant roles during the gas migration process at lower injection pressures, while advection could gradually become the dominant transport mechanism as gas injection pressures increase to higher values. Finally, after experienced a gas breakthrough process, the breakthrough pressure of compacted bentonite specimen might not recover to its initial value by re-saturating the specimen, indicating that degradation of sealing capacity of the bentonite materials induced by gas breakthrough process is irreversible.

Selective and efficient separation of biomass hydrolysate levulinic acid and formic acid from aqueous solution

The recovery of levulinic acid (LA) and formic acid (FA) from aqueous solutions and actual biomass hydrolysates by using the stepwise adsorption method was investigated for the first time. The carbon molecular sieve was used as the adsorbent for FA and microporous activated carbon was used as the adsorbent for LA according to the steric hindrance effect of the pore channels and the difference in molecular diameter of FA and LA. The adsorption data of LA and FA onto their respective adsorbents were measured and numerically analyzed by adopting batch adsorption experiment and fixed-bed column methods. In the study of static adsorption equilibrium experiment, the Langmuir equation fitted the data of LA adsorption on activated carbon, while the Freundlich equation fitted well the adsorption data of FA adsorption on carbon molecular sieve. In the kinetic study, the LA adsorption on activated carbon and FA adsorption on carbon molecular sieve confirmed the PSO model. Moreover, the effect of various conditions on fixed-bed column adsorption progress was investigated, which indicated that the adsorption property improved with feed flow rate, column length, temperature decreasing and initial concentration increasing. The Yoon-Nelson model was adopted to predict and analyze the whole process of adsorption breakthrough and consistent well with the experimental data. The separation of LA and FA was realized by continuous fractional adsorption.

Transforming environmental governance: critical action intellectuals and their praxis in the field

Over the past decade, widespread concern has emerged over how environmental governance can be transformed to avoid impending catastrophes such as climate change, biodiversity loss, and livelihood insecurity. A variety of approaches have emerged, focusing on either politics, technological breakthrough, social movements, or macro-economic processes as the main drivers of change. In contrast, this paper presents theoretical insights about how systemic change in environmental governance can be triggered by critical and intellectually grounded social actors in specific contexts of environment and development. Conceptualising such actors as critical action intellectuals (CAI), we analyze how CAI emerge in specific socio-environmental contexts and contribute to systemic change in governance. CAI trigger transformative change by shifting policy discourse, generating alternative evidence, and challenging dominant policy assumptions, whilst aiming to empower marginalized groups. While CAI do not work in a vacuum, nor are the sole force in transformation, we nevertheless show that the praxis of CAI within fields of environmental governance has the potential to trigger transformation. We illustrate this through three cases of natural resource governance in Nepal, Nicaragua and Guatemala, and Kenya, where the authors themselves have engaged as CAI. We contribute to theorising the ‘how’ of transformation by showing the ways CAI praxis reshape fields of governance and catalyze transformation, distinct from, and at times complementary to, other dominant drivers such as social movements, macroeconomic processes or technological breakthroughs.

A core–shell amidoxime electrospun nanofiber affinity membrane for rapid recovery Au (III) from water

An affinity membrane was prepared by coaxial electrospinning and amidoxime (AONFA), and it was applied to selectively recovery Au (III) from an aqueous solution. The static adsorption results showed that, when pH at 5, the maximum adsorption capacity of AONFA membrane for Au (III) was 509.3 mg·g −1 . AONFA membrane exhibit much higher affinity and selectivity towards Au (III) than other metal cations. The membrane could be regenerated effectively by mixture solution of thiourea and HCl, and the desorption ratio reached almost 100% after 4 hours desorption. The dead-end filtration results showed that, the membrane utilization efficiency and adsorption capacity can be improved by increasing the flow rate, while increasing the concentration shorted the breakthrough process and had little impact to adsorption capacity. We can flexibly adjust the flow rate and concentration according to the situation to obtain the maximum utilization efficiency of the membrane in filtration process. The dynamic adsorption capacity is higher than the static adsorption capacity. The adsorption mechanism for Au (III) is electrostatic adsorption and reduction. Thus, AONFA membrane filtration was demonstrated to be a promising method for continuous recover Au (III) from wastewater.

Human recognition by utilizing voice recognition and visual recognition

Audio-visual detection and recognition system is thought to become the most promising methods for many applications includes surveillance, speech recognition, eavesdropping devices, intelligence operations, etc. In the recent field of human recognition, the majority of the research be- coming performed presently is focused on the reidentification of various body images taken by several cameras or its focuses on recognized audio-only. However, in some cases these traditional methods can- not be useful when used alone such as in indoor surveillance systems, that are installed close to the ceiling and capture images right from above in a downwards direction and in some cases people don't look straight the cameras or it cannot be added in some area such as W.C. or sleeping room. Thus, its commonly difficult to identify any movement or breakthrough process, on the other hand when need to pursue suspect when enter a building or party to identify his location and/or listen to his speech only and isolate it from other voices or noises, the other. Hence, the use of the hybrid combination technique is very effective. In this work, we proposed a multimodal human recognition approach that utilizes both the face and audio and is based upon a deep convolutional neural network (CNN). Mainly, to solve the challenge of not capturing part of the body, final results of recognizing via separate CNNs of VGG Face16 and ResNet50 are joined together depending on the score-level combination by Weighted Sum rule to enhance recognition performance. The results show that the proposed system success to recognise each person from his voice and/or his face captured. In addition, the system can separate the person voice and isolate it from noisy environment and determine the existence of desired person.

Vacuum pressure swing adsorption process with carbon molecular sieve for CO2 separation from biogas

A 3-bed 6-step vacuum pressure swing adsorption (VPSA) process for biogas upgrading using carbon molecular sieve (CMS) adsorbent is here studied both experimentally and numerically. The selected CMS adsorbent, with micropore size distribution in the range of 0.3−0.65 nm, obtained a high kinetic selectivity of 163 but a low equilibrium selectivity of 2.4 for CO2/CH4. A biogas mixture containing 55 % CH4 balanced with CO2 was effectively upgraded to a 98 % CH4 purity product with a CH4 recovery higher than 83 % using a desorption pressure at 0.1 bar and a light product purge-to-feed (P/F) ratio of 0.1. Meanwhile, VPSA process experiments indicated that a lower feed velocity with a longer cycle time achieved much higher CH4 purity with a slight decrease of CH4 recovery. A lower desorption pressure more efficiently improved the degree of regeneration of the CMS adsorbent than increasing the P/F ratio. A non-isothermal mathematical process model, deployed a macropore-micropore bi-linear driving force mass transfer model, was validated by comparison to both dynamic column breakthrough and VPSA process experiments.

Removal of multiple metal ions from wastewater by a multifunctional metal-organic-framework based trap.

The design and preparation of multifunctional adsorbent for practical wastewater treatment is still an enormous challenge. To remove multiple metal ions from wastewater, we developed a broad-spectrum metal ions trap named UIO-67-EDTA by incorporation of ethylenediaminetetraacetic acid into robust UIO-67. The adsorption experiments for 15 kinds of heavy metal ions including hard acid (Mn2+, Ba2+, Al3+, Cr3+, Fe3+), borderline acid (Co2+, Ni2+, Cu2+, Zn2+, Pb2+, Sn2+, Bi2+), soft acid (Ag+, Cd2+, Hg2+), and two kinds of dissolved minerals (Mg2+, Ca2+) show that the trap is very effective both in batch adsorption processes and breakthrough processes. At a pH value of 4.0, the removal efficiency for all metal ions was over 98% within 10 min, and the maximum static adsorption capacity for the representative metal ions Cr3+, Hg2+and Pb2+ was up to 416.67, 256.41, and 312.15 mg g-1, respectively. The adsorption kinetics fitted well with the pseudo-second-order model, indicating that the chemical adsorption was the rate-determining step in the adsorption process. Meanwhile, the material showed high stability and recyclability, the removal efficiency for the three representative metals was still maintained over 93% after five consecutive adsorption cycles.

Luminescent cellulose-based porous binary metal-organic gels in an adsorption bed for effective adsorption and sensitive detection of chlortetracycline hydrochloride

Three novel (Fe-Eu) JLUE-MOGs were successfully fabricated through a solvothermal method and employed to construct the double-effect system for antibiotics adsorption and detection. The characterizations highlighted the properties of ample active sites, large surface areas and hierarchical porous structures, which did contribute to superb and rapid chlortetracycline hydrochloride (CTC) adsorption by JLUE-MOGs. Besides, the effects of initial pH values, JLUE-MOG dosages and co-existing inorganic ions on the CTC adsorption could be explained by pore filling, π-π EDA interaction, electrostatic interaction, water affinity as well as hydrogen bonding. Moreover, the optimized condition was cross-explored by response surface methodology (RSM) with tiny differences compared to actual experiments. In addition, fluorescent JLUE-MOG-7 was implemented for sensitive recognition of CTC and reflecting adsorption processes. Furthermore, shaping JLUE-MOG-7@cellulose aerogels were fabricated as filter materials for applying into an adsorption bed. The breakthrough process was fitted well by Bohart–Adams model and Thomas model, along with recognizable fluorescence changes of immobilized adsorbents. This work develops efficient and luminescent powder-like JLUE-MOGs for antibiotics adsorptive enrichment and sensitive detection. More importantly, immobilized JLUE-MOG@cellulose aerogels, as promising and alternative adsorbents with real-time fluorescence changes, can be utilized for continuously pollutants removal in real wastewater treatment.

Asymptotic Model of Breakthrough Pressure in Partially Saturated Porous Media with Microvisualization Step-by-Step Breakthrough Experiments

Mastering the breakthrough process and predicting the breakthrough pressure in partially saturated porous media (PSPM) are crucial for evaluating the sealing ability of reservoir caprock to hydroca...

Added Noise in Oscillators Caused by the Transistor Base Emitter Breakdown Phenomenon

When increasing the RF power level in transistor oscillators to achieve better phase noise performance a reverse voltage breakdown of the base emitter junction of the oscillator transistor can occur. This results in increased phase noise and long term-transistor degradation. Common transistor simulation models/simulators do not have this effect included in their library, so the simulations fail to predict correct oscillator behavior. Starting from common oscillator topologies and active devices the critical waveforms were analyzed and related to the generated noise spectra. A theoretical explanation of the breakthrough process will be given, and the simulation models will be enhanced. Finally, recommendations are made how to avoid breakdown effects and the active device degradation in practical designs.