Masking Process Research Articles

Epoxy Doped, Nano‐scale Phase‐separated Poly‐Acrylates with Potential in 3D Printing

AbstractAn efficient method to improve the mechanical performance of a commercially available photocure resin is described wherein the resin is modified with a mixture of a cycloaliphatic epoxy and an anhydride curing agent. Photocured samples are thermally treated in a subsequent step to cure the epoxy to obtain an interpenetrated polymer network (IPN) and also complete reaction of the acrylate monomers remaining from the photocure. The latter is accomplished by a thermal radical initiator added earlier into the formulation together with the epoxy‐anhydride. The thermal properties and microstructure of the resulting IPN are analyzed. Uniform and quantitative conversions are obtained, with glass transition temperatures comparable to conventional epoxies. The liquid, uncured samples containing different amounts of epoxy are stable at 30 °C for several weeks. In the fully cured epoxy‐rich materials, nano‐scale phase separation is observed by atomic force microscopy. This is corroborated by the existence of multiple relaxations determined by dynamic mechanical analysis analysis. Specimens from a formulation containing 50% by weight of epoxy‐anhydride are 3D printed in a customized masked image processing stereolithography, thermally treated, and are subjected to compression tests. Results show that Young's modulus increases by 900% over the neat resin.

Landsat-7 ETM+ Based Remote Sensing as a Tool for Assessing Lakes Water Quality Characteristics

The article describes a new method using remote sensing techniques to set the mathematical models that allow the estimation of the most relevant parameters for water quality monitored in Laguna de Sonso lake, Valle del Cauca, determined using Landsat-7 ETM+ multispectral images. Chlorophyll-a (Chl-a), Turbidity, Dissolved Oxygen (DO), and Total Phosphorus (P) are the parameters chosen for this study. The annual dry and wet seasons were defined, from 2010 to 2017, with a total of 70 images. It was necessary to carry out a process of masking the water Buchón (Eichhornia crassipes) and replacing pixels using the statistical average of the two established annual seasons. For the case of Chl-a, the NDI ratio between the red and near-infrared (NIR) bands was the best correlated with an ; for turbidity, a regression with the red band, with an ; for DO, the ratio with the highest correlation was a simple ratio (SR) between the green and blue bands, with an ; and for P, a regression of the NIR band was enough, presenting an . Finally, the adjusted mathematical models were obtained for each established parameter, allowing the estimation of each parameter to monitor the lagoon water quality using images from the ETM+ sensor.

Brown Spot Disease Severity Level Detection using Binary-RGB Image Masking

Agriculture is known as one of the main factor for a growth of a country. Paddy plantation is the most widely planted crop in Malaysia. The rice produced is the main food source to Malaysian’s people and source of income to this country as well. However, a disease known as Brown Spot (BS) attacks the paddy plants and threats their quality. This disease caused by bipolar fungus, which represent by the development of an oval, dark brown to purplish-brown spot on leaf. This disease observed as among the hazardous disease that may result in degradation of paddy production. Brown Spot disease could spread through airborne spores from plant to plant on the field. In this research, a system that could help people, especially farmers, to detect the disease at early stage is developed. The real image capture at paddy field is processed in the MATLAB software with image enhancement, background removal as well as binary and RGB image masking process. To determine the Brown Spot area, pixel intensity between the infected and non-infected areas is calculated. The severity level table developed by Horsfall and Heuberger is then used as reference to classify the severity level of Brown Spot disease. A GUI is created to detect the Brown Spot disease automatically. From the study conducted, the accuracy of Brown Spot detection is approximately 89% accurate compared to manual evaluation by plant pathology.

The kinematics of young and old stellar populations in nuclear rings of MUSE TIMER galaxies

Context.Studying the stellar kinematics of galaxies is a key tool in the reconstruction of their evolution. However, the current measurements of the stellar kinematics are complicated by several factors, including dust extinction and the presence of multiple stellar populations.Aims.We use integral field spectroscopic data of four galaxies from the Time Inference with MUSE in Extragalactic Rings (TIMER) survey to explore and compare the kinematics measured in different spectral regions that are sensitive to distinct stellar populations.Methods.We derive the line-of-sight velocity and velocity dispersion of both a young (≲2 Gyr) and an old stellar population from the spectral regions around the Hβline and the Ca II Triplet. In addition, we determine colour excess, mean age, and metallicity.Results.We report a correlation of the colour excess with the difference in the kinematic parameters of the Hβline and the Ca II Triplet range, which are dominated by young and old stellar populations, respectively. Young stellar populations, located primarily in nuclear rings, have higher velocity dispersions than old ones. These differences in the rings are typically ∼10 km s−1in velocity dispersion but can have a mean value as high as ∼24 km s−1in the most extreme case. Trends with age exist in the nuclear rings but are less significant than those with dust extinction. We report different degrees of correlation for these trends among the galaxies in the sample, which are related to the size of the Voronoi bins in their rings. No clear trends for the line-of-sight velocity differences are observed. The absence of these trends can be explained as a consequence of the Hβline masking process during the kinematic extraction, as confirmed by dedicated simulations.Conclusions.Our study demonstrates that kinematic differences caused by different stellar populations can be identified in the central regions of nearby galaxies, even from intermediate resolution spectroscopy. This opens the door to future detailed chemo-kinematic studies of galaxies, but also serves as a warning against deriving kinematics from full-spectrum fitting across very wide wavelength ranges when intense star formation is taking place.

Blind Photograph Watermarking with Robust Defocus-Based JND Model

Just noticeable distortion (JND) is widely employed to describe the perception redundancy in the quantization-based watermarking framework. However, the existing JND models are generally constructed to treat every region of the photograph with an equal focus level, whereas the defocus effect has never been considered. In this paper, the defocus feature, which can portray the aesthetic emphasis in the photograph, is provided to improve the perceptual JND model. Firstly, two indicators which consider the block energy in the defocus measurement (DM) are proposed. Then, the defocus feature map (DFM) is obtained by integrating the influence of the circumambient blocks, and it is applied to the proposed JND contrast masking (CM) processing. In this way, a new blind photograph watermarking method, with emphasis on defocus-JND estimation combined with the proposed CM, is presented. Simulations show that the proposed JND is more suitable for watermarking framework than some exiting JND models, and the proposed watermarking scheme with the improved defocus-based JND model has superior robustness compared with some watermarking schemes.

Multi-Scale Digital Image Correlation Analysis of In Situ Deformation of Open-Cell Porous Ultra-High Molecular Weight Polyethylene Foam.

Porous ultra-high molecular weight polyethylene (UHMWPE) is a high-performance bioinert polymer used in cranio-facial reconstructive surgery in procedures where relatively low mechanical stresses arise. As an alternative to much stiffer and more costly polyether-ether-ketone (PEEK) polymer, UHMWPE is finding further wide applications in hierarchically structured hybrids for advanced implants mimicking cartilage, cortical and trabecular bone tissues within a single component. The mechanical behaviour of open-cell UHMWPE sponges obtained through sacrificial desalination of hot compression-moulded UHMWPE-NaCl powder mixtures shows a complex dependence on the fabrication parameters and microstructural features. In particular, similarly to other porous media, it displays significant inhomogeneity of strain that readily localises within deformation bands that govern the overall response. In this article, we report advances in the development of accurate experimental techniques for operando studies of the structure–performance relationship applied to the porous UHMWPE medium with pore sizes of about 250 µm that are most well-suited for live cell proliferation and fast vascularization of implants. Samples of UHMWPE sponges were subjected to in situ compression using a micromechanical testing device within Scanning Electron Microscope (SEM) chamber, allowing the acquisition of high-resolution image sequences for Digital Image Correlation (DIC) analysis. Special masking and image processing algorithms were developed and applied to reveal the evolution of pore size and aspect ratio. Key structural evolution and deformation localisation phenomena were identified at both macro- and micro-structural levels in the elastic and plastic regimes. The motion of pore walls was quantitatively described, and the presence and influence of strain localisation zones were revealed and analysed using DIC technique.

Evaluation of Concordance Between Original Death Certifications and an Expert Panel Process in the Determination of Sudden Unexplained Death in Childhood

The true incidence of sudden unexplained death in childhood (SUDC), already the fifth leading category of death among toddlers by current US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates, is potentially veiled by the varied certification processes by medicolegal investigative offices across the United States. To evaluate the frequency of SUDC incidence, understand its epidemiology, and assess the consistency of death certification among medical examiner and coroner offices in the US death investigation system. In this case series, 2 of 13 forensic pathologists (FPs) conducted masked reviews of 100 cases enrolled in the SUDC Registry and Research Collaborative (SUDCRRC). Children who died aged 11 months to 18 years from 36 US states, Canada, and the United Kingdom had been posthumously enrolled in the SUDCRRC by family members from 2014 to 2017. Comprehensive data from medicolegal investigative offices, clinical offices, and family members were reviewed. Data analysis was conducted from December 2014 to June 2020. Certified cause of death (COD) characterized as explained (accidental or natural) or unexplained, as determined by SUDCRRC masked review process. In this study of 100 cases of SUDC (mean [SD] age, 32.1 [31.8] months; 58 [58.0%] boys; 82 [82.0%] White children; 92 [92.0%] from the United States), the original pathologist certified 43 cases (43.0%) as explained COD and 57 (57.0%) as unexplained COD. The SUDCRRC review process led to the following certifications: 16 (16.0%) were explained, 7 (7.0%) were undetermined because of insufficient data, and 77 (77.0%) were unexplained. Experts disagreed with the original COD in 40 cases (40.0%). These data suggest that SUDC incidence is higher than the current Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimate (ie, 392 deaths in 2018). To our knowledge, this is the first comprehensive masked forensic pathology review process of sudden unexpected pediatric deaths, and it suggests that SUDC may often go unrecognized in US death investigations. Some unexpected pediatric deaths may be erroneously attributed to a natural or accidental COD, negatively affecting surveillance, research, public health funding, and medical care of surviving family members. To further address the challenges of accurate and consistent death certification in SUDC, future studies are warranted.

Masked Autoencoder for Distribution Estimation on Small Structured Data Sets.

Autoregressive models are among the most successful neural network methods for estimating a distribution from a set of samples. However, these models, such as other neural methods, need large data sets to provide good estimations. We believe that knowing structural information about the data can improve their performance on small data sets. Masked autoencoder for distribution estimation (MADE) is a well-structured density estimator, which alters a simple autoencoder by setting a set of masks on its connections to satisfy the autoregressive condition. Nevertheless, this model does not benefit from extra information that we might know about the structure of the data. This information can especially be advantageous in case of training on small data sets. In this article, we propose two autoencoders for estimating the density of a small set of observations, where the data have a known Markov random field (MRF) structure. These methods modify the masking process of MADE, according to conditional dependencies inferred from the MRF structure, to reduce either the model complexity or the problem complexity. We compare the proposed methods with some related binary, discrete, and continuous density estimators on MNIST, binarized MNIST, OCR-letters, and two synthetic data sets.

Microstructuring glass surfaces using a combined masking and microslurry-jet machining process

The combined application of a conventional photoresist masking process and microslurry-jet (MSJ) mechanical removal process was studied for microstructuring the surface of glass. Masking patterns made of a photocurable resin (SU-8) were created on the glass, and both the SU-8 patterns and exposed glass surface were simultaneously removed using the MSJ. When the sacrificial patterns of the SU-8 were removed by the MSJ, the glass surface with microstructures was created. Post-treatment, such as removal of the SU-8 patterns, was not required. Confocal microscopy results confirmed that continuously curved convex structures up to 30 μm in diameter and 4 μm in height with highly transparent glass surfaces were created. The microstructures reduced the hydrophilicity of the glass surfaces. Future studies on identifying materials compatible with glass for making masking patterns and showing good wear resistance might prove the feasibility of this method in producing structured engineering surfaces.

The Role of Wafer Edge in Wafer Bonding Technologies

Semiconductor Wafer Bonding is a key process step for many technologies such as engineered substrates (SOI and cavity SOI Wafers) MEMS (sensors, microfluidics), 3D integration (device stacking) and wafer thinning (temporary wafer bonding). Almost all publications in the field of wafer bonding are concerned with how bonding is working and can be performed at the actual wafer area. It is also well known that any disturbances on the wafer surface, such as particles, scratches, areas with increased surface roughness, or steps from the wafer processing act in most of the wafer bonding technologies as points of discontinuities with negative influences on the bonding behavior (generation of voids, non-hermeticity, reduced bonding strength). Due to the general geometry of the wafers and their defined sizes they have an edge. This wafer edge has special properties and also acts as an area of discontinuities. Even in well-established wafer bonding techniques, which allow close to perfect bonding of the wafer area, at the wafer edge there are smaller or wider unbonded areas. In particular, in industrial production processes, these unbonded areas are often the cause of process problems in the process steps after wafer bonding. For example, wet chemicals can be tapped in such unbonded areas and become released later into other tools, parts of the poorly bonded wafer edge can flake off, and in the grinding process wafers can break due to missing mechanical support at unbonded edge areas. The reasons for these unbonded areas can originate in different process areas such as the raw wafer manufacturing (here the wafer edge is initially defined), in the wafer processing before bonding (for every process step the wafer edge is a zone of discontinuities with special effects and inhomogeneities), in the bonding process (here the bonding needs to be formed until the very edge of the wafer) and in the process steps after the wafer bonding (bonded wafer edges can be easily damaged).In the proposed paper the influence of wafer edge effects on different wafer bonding technologies, such as direct, anodic and glass frit bonding, will be discussed, and improvements will be described. In this abstract, only one short example will be given: Semiconductor wafer bonding is used to process cavity SOI-Wafers to allow the advantageous production of absolute pressure sensors. Here, two kinds of wafers, which later become the pressure sensor membrane by grinding and polishing, have to be bonded to a carrier wafer containing etched cavities. For discrete pressure sensors, the use of bulk wafers is sufficient for the membrane, but due to the edge roll-off, a very slight transition from the actual wafer edge to the actual wafer area, some unbonded areas occur at the wafer edge, which disturb the subsequent processing (chemical trapping, flaking). For CMOS integrated pressure sensors, epi-wafers need to be used as membrane wafers. These epi wafers often have a so-called epi crown, a ridge at the wafer edge resulting from the growth of the epitaxial layer. This epi crown, over a wide area, prevents both wafers from coming into the required close contact to form the direct bond. This results in a poor bonding yield, and the wafers often cannot even be processed further on production tools. To allow bonding up to the wafer edge, special unsymmetrical edge geometries with reduced edge roll off, can be used for the bulk wafers [1]. To engineer the bonded wafer edge in advance, the wafer edge can be lowered in a defined way before the direct bonding by masking and silicon etching processes, to produce a very clean, well bonded wafer edge after grinding and polishing of the membrane wafer [2]. This preparation process removes the epi crown, thus allowing a very good bonding yield when bonding epi-wafers. It can be also used for bulk wafers to obtain a very defined wafer edge (see figure 1).It can be concluded that the wafer edge is a zone of discontinuities causing problems during wafer bonding. If the bonding problems at the edge are understood, they can be solved efficiently by suitable countermeasures.

Rhamnolipid as a unique emulsifier to stabilize sesame oil‐in‐water beverage emulsions formed by ultrasound‐induced cavitation: Optimizing the formulation and physical properties

Rhamnolipid (RL) is a surfactant biosynthesized by Pseudomonas aeruginosa strains. The RL feasibility as a high-efficient emulsifier in increasing the physical stability of sesame oil (SO)-based beverage emulsions formed by the ultrasound-assisted emulsification process was studied. The concentration of SO (2.02%–6.98% wt/wt), and RL (0.49%–1.51% wt/wt) was adequately optimized based on the analysis of physical stability, turbidity loss rate (TLR), size index, density, and viscosity characteristics using the central composite rotatable design-response surface methodology. The overall optimum region to attain the highest stability (92.64%), viscosity ratio (0.338), and density (1.017 g/cm3), and the lowest TLR (0.216 Ǻ/day) and size index (0.240) based on the adequate second-order polynomial models (R2 = 0.956–0.991) was obtained at the combined level of 2.75% (wt/wt) SO and 0.662% (wt/wt) RL. No significant difference between the observed and predicted values fitted to second-order polynomial models was found. RL as an efficient biosurfactant can stabilize food-grade emulsion systems. Practical applications Sesame and its oil have some health-promoting properties such as antioxidative, antihypertensive, hypocholesterolemic, anticancer, and immunoregulation. There is a possibility to used SO in the development and production of beverages due to its high nutritional value in the prevention of chronic diseases. However, sesame has a slightly bitter aftertaste causing its low capita consumption. The emulsification as an efficient masking process can considerably reduce its bitter taste in the final product. Using rhamnolipid as a bio-emulsifier for this purpose is interesting. Beverage emulsion based on SO can be potentially interesting for consumers and beverage industries.

Design and Fabrication of Reliable Power Efficient Bistable MEMS Switch Using Single Mask Process

A bistable DC switch based on buckled beams and thermal actuation has been designed, fabricated and characterised. The buckled beams, which require very low actuation force and provide a sufficiently large contact force, are designed based on a parametric study. U-shaped thermal actuators are designed to provide the actuation force with minimum electrical power. The compact switch is fabricated using a simple single mask process on a SOI wafer. The average switching power is measured to be 60 $mW$ , while the average switching delay is 350 ${\mu }s$ . The power-delay product of about $20~{\mu }J$ is the lowest reported so far for bistable MEMS switches based on thermal actuation. The switch retains functionality even after 5 million switching cycles. [2020-0026]

Specialized Lead Design of Leadframe Packages for Improved Mold Adhesion

This paper presents an advanced design of Quad-Flat No-leads (QFN) and Quad-Flat Package (QFP) leadframe to mitigate the propagation of delamination between high stress level areas particularly the mold-to-leads interface. The integration of through-hole mechanism on leadframe provides mechanical anchoring of mold material to the lead junction interface and/or vice versa. To produce interlocking, the through-hole design will be penetrated by the epoxy mold compound during conventional molding process affixing each individual lead to the encapsulation material. On the other hand, the package design is materialized through repeated cycle of chemical etching and masking process during leadframe manufacturing, the mechanical anchoring can be implemented on the conventional design of carriers. This approach, considering the design and assembly method of the new leadframe design, is a cost-effective alternative in improving the interfaces of key material such as mold and leadframe.

Apparent Motion Induces Activity Suppression in Early Visual Cortex and Impairs Visual Detection.

Apparent motion (AM) is induced when two stationary visual stimuli are presented in alternating sequence. Intriguingly, AM leads to an impaired detectability of stimuli along the AM path (i.e., AM-induced masking). It has been hypothesized that AM triggers an internal representation of a moving object in early visual cortex, which competes with stimulus-evoked representations of visual stimuli on the motion path in early visual cortex of 25 human adults (16 female). We tested this hypothesis by measuring BOLD responses in early visual cortex during the process of AM-induced masking, using fMRI and population receptive field methods. Surprisingly, and counter to our hypothesis, we showed that AM suppressed, rather than increased, BOLD responses along early visual (V1 and V2) representations of the AM path, including regions that were not directly activated by the AM inducer stimuli. This activity suppression of the visual response predicted the subsequent reduction in detectability of the target that appeared in the middle of the AM path. Our data thereby provide direct empirical evidence for suppressive neural mechanisms underlying AM and suggest that illusory motion can render us blind to objects on the motion path by suppressing neural activity at the earliest cortical stages of visual perception.SIGNIFICANCE STATEMENT When two spatially distinct visual objects are presented in alternating sequence, apparent motion (AM) occurs and impairs detectability of stimuli along its path. The underlying mechanism is thought to be that increased activation in human early visual cortex evoked by AM interferes with the representation of the stimulus. Strikingly, however, we show that AM suppresses neural activity along the motion path, and the strength of activity suppression predicts the subsequent behavioral performance decrement in terms of detecting a stimulus along the AM path. Our findings provide empirical evidence for a suppressive, rather than faciliatory, mechanism underlying AM.

Optimization of Masking Process of Steel Tube During Atmospheric Plasma Spraying, for Use in Serial Production

This study deals with the influence of selected technological factors on hardness, surface quality and topography of substrates after 24 layers of NiCr plasma was self-peeled off. The paper also deals with frequency of self-peeling the layers and the SEM observation of the deposited layers and substrates. Presented procedures and experimental results demonstrate changes and resistance of individual materials after an application of 24 plasma coatings. Samples from materials duralumin, chromium steel and material with the coating Ni-Cu-Ni were tested. The least impact for surface changes of substrate had samples from chromium steel. For this reason, chromium steel samples were also tested and compared for self-peeling frequency with respect to the number of coating layers and angle of surface. The main objective of this work was to select material, angle of plasma spraying and surface cleanliness that will show the least change in hardness and roughness after multiple plasma spraying with respect to the longest life of the cover mask. Cover mask is necessary for covering required areas of steel tube that must not be affected by plasma spraying, for use in serial production.

Heterogeneous data release for cluster analysis with differential privacy

Many models have been proposed to preserve data privacy for different data publishing scenarios. Among these models, ϵ-differential privacy has drawn increasing attention in recent years due to its rigorous privacy guarantees. While many existing solutions using ϵ-differential privacy deal with relational data and set-valued data separately, most of the real-life data, such as electronic health records, are in heterogeneous form. Privacy protection on heterogeneous data has not been widely studied. Furthermore, many existing works in privacy protection consider preserving the utility for the tasks of frequent itemset mining or classification analysis, but few works have focused on data publication for cluster analysis. In this paper, we propose the first differentially-private solution to release heterogeneous data for cluster analysis. The challenge facing us is how to mask raw data without any explicit guidance. Our approach addresses this challenge by converting a clustering problem to a classification problem, in which class labels can be used to encode the cluster structure of the raw data and assist the masking process. The approach generalizes the raw data probabilistically and adds noise to them for satisfying ϵ-differential privacy. Through extensive experiments on real-life datasets, we validate the performance of our approach.

A METHOD OF WAVELET ANALYSIS OF TIME SERIES OF PARAMETERS OF DIELECTRIC ABSORPTION OF ELECTRICAL INSULATING STRUCTURES

Introduction: In the objects of control there are always a number of interfaces, for example, solid insulation – electrode. On contacting surfaces, free surface charges are transferred. Surface conductivity leads to fluctuations in the measured values of the capacitance and the tangent of the dielectric loss angle of solid insulation, the state of which is determined. The drain off of the surface charge does not lead to a decrease in the scatter of the measured dielectric absorption parameters. One of the main reasons for the significant time spread of the dielectric absorption parameters, and to a large extent (three orders of magnitude) of the dielectric loss tangent are tribo charges caused by triboelectrification of cable structural elements. Tribo charges cause internal noise in electrical insulating structures, masking processes in the polymer insulation itself. Purpose: Substantiation of a method for analyzing the time series of dielectric absorption parameters, which provides increased accuracy of control and diagnostics of solid polymer insulation of electrical insulation structures based on filtering experimental data using wavelet transform. Methodology: The inefficiency of filtering the spectra of time series using a low filter based on the direct Fourier transform is shown. Multilevel wavelet decomposition of the time series of parameters is presented, and the efficiency of applying wavelet transforms to identify high-frequency and low-frequency components in the measured values. Practical value: The method of analyzing the time series of dielectric absorption parameters using the wavelet transform, proposed for the first time, makes it possible to increase the accuracy of monitoring and diagnostics of solid polymer insulation both at the manufacturing stage and in the operation of electrical insulating structures. This method is the basis for creating a database of control results for assessing the state of solid polymer insulation of electrical insulation structures, in particular, power and information cables.

Laser Patterning a Graphene Layer on a Ceramic Substrate for Sensor Applications.

This paper describes a method for patterning the graphene layer and gold electrodes on a ceramic substrate using a Nd:YAG nanosecond fiber laser. The technique enables the processing of both layers and trimming of the sensor parameters. The main aim was to develop a technique for the effective and efficient shaping of both the sensory layer and the metallic electrodes. The laser shaping method is characterized by high speed and very good shape mapping, regardless of the complexity of the processing. Importantly, the technique enables the simultaneous shaping of both the graphene layer and Au electrodes in a direct process that does not require a complex and expensive masking process, and without damaging the ceramic substrate. Our results confirmed the effectiveness of the developed laser technology for shaping a graphene layer and Au electrodes. The ceramic substrate can be used in the construction of various types of sensors operating in a wide temperature range, especially the cryogenic range.

Test Process and Results of Potential Masking of Sterilizing-Grade Filters.

Pre-use/post-sterilization integrity testing (PUPSIT) has been a widely debated topic for the last several years. To a large extent, the debate is because of the fact that scientific data were not available to provide additional clarity that could inform appropriate risk-based judgements and commensurate actions. To gain clarity, the Parenteral Drug Association (PDA) and BioPhorum Organizations Group (BioPhorum) formed the Sterile Filtration Quality Risk Management (SFQRM) consortium in late 2017. The consortium goals have been to fill existing gaps in scientific data as adequately as possible with studies and industry guidance that would provide professionals and license holders with the ability to make informed decisions about appropriate risk-management strategies. This paper is one in a series of publications that are the result of the collaboration, and these should be considered together and viewed holistically in order to determine the best course of action with regard to PUPSIT. In total, the four papers cover the following areas: (1) data mining to determine the influence of fluid properties on integrity test values, (2) filter masking studies and results (this publication), (3) risk assessment and management from filter production to end use, and (4) points to consider in the best practice of the use of PUPSIT. In total, 25 manufacturers and filter suppliers have contributed to the work of the Consortium, deploying their filtration experts and pooling their collective knowledge and applied science experience to address these questions. This effort has also been supported by many independent experts currently available who have contributed to and driven the Filtration Interest Group in the PDA for many years. Both PDA and BioPhorum have prioritized this program and combined their approaches to deliver this comprehensive body of work. We hope that collectively the publications aid decision making and create greater certainty and confidence and above all alignment between suppliers, manufacturers, and regulators alike on these important questions.

Individual differences in anxiety and automatic amygdala response to fearful faces: A replication and extension of Etkin et al. (2004)

Trait anxiety refers to the stable tendency to attend to threats and experience fears and worries across many situations. According to the widely noticed, pioneering investigation by Etkin et al. (2004) trait anxiety is strongly associated with reactivity in the right basolateral amygdala to non-conscious threat. Although this observation was based on a sample of only 17 individuals, no replication effort has been reported yet. We reexamined automatic amygdala responsiveness as a function of anxiety in a large sample of 107 participants. Besides self-report instruments, we administered an indirect test to assess implicit anxiety. To assess early, automatic stages of emotion processing, we used a color-decision paradigm presenting brief (33 ms) and backward-masked fearful facial expressions. N = 56 participants were unaware of the presence of masked faces. In this subset of unaware participants, the relationship between trait anxiety and basolateral amygdala activation by fearful faces was successfully replicated in region of interest analyses. Additionally, a relation of implicit anxiety with masked fear processing in the amygdala and temporal gyrus was observed. We provide evidence that implicit measures of affect can be valuable predictors of automatic brain responsiveness and may represent useful additions to explicit measures. Our findings support a central role of amygdala reactivity to non-consciously perceived threat in understanding and predicting dispositional anxiety, i.e. the frequency of spontaneously occurring anxiety in everyday life.