Journal articles on the topic 'Tunnel barrier breakdown'

In severe carpal tunnel syndrome a continuum of neural changes takes place depending on the degree and duration of the compression, beginning with breakdown of the blood-nerve barrier, followed by endoneurial oedema and, subsequently, perineurial thickening and ischemia. Persisting chronic compression will eventually result in axonal degeneration. We report a case of longstanding carpal tunnel syndrome with amyloid deposits and the unusual intraoperative ‘Austrian flag’ sign.

In this paper, the influence of the microstructure of a metal on the breakdown mechanism of diodes with a Schottky barrier is studied. It is shown that in electronic processes occurring in the contact between a metal and a semi-conductor, the metal plays a very active role and is a more important contact partner than a semiconductor. Unlike the known mechanisms of breakdown of diodes (avalanche, tunnel and thermal), another mechanism is proposed in this paper - the geometric mechanism of the reverse current flow of Schottky diodes made using a metal with a poly-crystalline structure. The polycrystallinity of a metal transforms a homogeneous contact into a complex system, which consists of parallel-connected multiple elementary contacts having different properties and parameters.

Gallium oxide is a new generation of wide band gap materials, and its device has excellent performance. The barrier control of Ga₂O₃ Schottky diode by n⁺ high concentration epitaxial thin layer is studied. The results show that the performance of Schottky diode has greatly improved after epitaxy of n-type gallium oxide. The vertical current density is 496.88A·cm^–2, the reverse breakdown voltage is 182.30 V, and the calculated <i>R</i>_on is 0.27 mΩ·cm² when the epitaxial concentration is 2.6 × 10¹⁸ cm^–3 and the thickness is 5 nm. Further studies indicate that the current density increases with the increase of the layer thickness and the concentration. Theoretical analysis shows that the barrier is controlled by mirror force, series resistance and tunnel effect. Of them, the tunnel effect has the greatest influence, which makes the barrier height decrease with the layer concentration as <inline-formula><tex-math id="M1">\begin{document}$\sqrt {{n}}$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20211536_M1.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20211536_M1.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula> and the thickness as <inline-formula><tex-math id="M2">\begin{document}$\sqrt {{a}}$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20211536_M2.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20211536_M2.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula>. As a result, the hot emission current and the tunnel current increase simultaneously, which improves the performance of Ga₂O₃ Schottky diode.

In this presentation, we will review recent work on the integration of high permittivity dielectrics with wide and and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor devices to obtain improved high power and high frequency applications. We will first discuss the use of such structures for vertical power devices. The high permittivity dielectrics help to reduce surface fields and therefore prevent tunnel leakage from Schottky barriers [1]. Insertion of high permittivity dielectrics can also enable better field termination in high voltage vertical devices [2]. We will discuss recent results using such high permittivity dielectrics in vertical device structures based on Gallium Oxide, leading to high vertical electric fields up to 5.7 MV/cm being sustained in the structure. We will discuss the application of these high permittivity dielectrics for three-terminal high frequency [3] and high voltage [4,5] wide bandgap transistor applications. In lateral transistors built from wide and ultra-wide bandgap semiconductors, gate breakdown and non-uniform electric fields lead to average device breakdown fields that are significantly lower than material limits. We will show how high permittivity dielectrics inserted between the gate and drain can prevent gate breakdown, and also create much more uniform electric field profiles. An analytical model to explain this will be presented and compared with 2-dimensional device simulations. Finally, we will show experimental results for lateral devices from the high Al-composition AlGaN [6], -Ga2O3[7], and AlGaN/GaN [8] material systems, where in each case, we are able to achieve state-of-art breakdown performance for devices such as lateral Schottky diodes and transistors. For example, we have achieved up to 8.3 MV/cm field in high Al-content AlGaN devices, >5.5 MV/cm in -Ga2O3-based transistors, and >3 MV/cm lateral electric field in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs. The high breakdown fields also enable us to achieve state-of-art switching figures of merit in these devices. The authors acknowledge funding from NNSA ETI Consortium, AFOSR GAME MURI Program (Program Manager Dr. Ali Sayir), AFOSR (Program Manager Dr. Kenneth Goretta) NSF ECCS- and the DARPA DREAM program (Program Manger Dr. YK Chen), managed by ONR (Program Manager Dr. Paul Maki) for support of the work. References [1] Xia, Zhanbo, et al. "Metal/BaTiO3/β-Ga2O3 dielectric heterojunction diode with 5.7 MV/cm breakdown field." Applied Physics Letters 115.25 (2019): 252104. [2] Lee, Hyun-Soo, et al. "High-permittivity dielectric edge termination for vertical high voltage devices." Journal of Computational Electronics 19.4 (2020): 1538-1545. [3] Xia, Zhanbo, et al. "Design of transistors using high-permittivity materials." IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 66.2 (2019): 896-900. [4] Kalarickal, Nidhin Kurian, et al. "Electrostatic engineering using extreme permittivity materials for ultra-wide bandgap semiconductor transistors." IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 68.1 (2020): 29-35. [5] Hanawa, Hideyuki, et al. "Numerical Analysis of Breakdown Voltage Enhancement in AlGaN/GaN HEMTs With a High-k Passivation Layer." IEEE Transactions on Electron Devices 61.3 (2014): 769-775. [6] Razzak, Towhidur, et al. "BaTiO3/Al0. 58Ga0. 42N lateral heterojunction diodes with breakdown field exceeding 8 MV/cm." Applied Physics Letters 116.2 (2020): 023507. [7] Kalarickal, Nidhin Kurian, et al. "β-(Al0.18Ga0.82)2O3/Ga2O3 Double Heterojunction Transistor With Average Field of 5.5 MV/cm." IEEE Electron Device Letters 42.6 (2021): 899-902. [8] Rahman, Mohammad Wahidur, et al. "Hybrid BaTiO3/SiNx/AlGaN/GaN lateral Schottky barrier diodes with low turn-on and high breakdown performance." Applied Physics Letters 119.1 (2021): 013504.

The proposed mechanism of formation of inert mass, electric charge and gravitational mass through cavitational topological ruptures of complex space. Stabilization of gaps is carried out through the quantum generation of exchange inertial radiation. On the basis of the relations of non-relativistic quantum mechanics, such radiation was separated into two components: zeron radiation from the zero energy level of the quantum oscillator and heaton radiation from higher levels populated as a result of thermal excitations. Different signs of energy and temperature in two subspaces of the complex space form an antisymmetric excimer system of exchange inertial radiation generation, while the decomposition of these systems into monomers leads to the formation of stable and quasi-stable forms of matter. The parameters of such forms in elementary and cosmic systems are calculated. Quantitative relations in gravitational systems, obtained by the universal use of the constant fine structure and the extended analogue of the Planck constant, are consistent with actual data, in particular, regarding the jet expansion of the Metagalaxy, non-stationary processes in the interior and in the shells of celestial bodies, the mechanisms of thermoregulation of the Earth’s climate and the generation of the geomagnetic field. Turbulent energy cascades in tribocontact and collider systems, manifested in the emission spectra of excimer structures in these systems, are analyzed. The components of the inert mass of leptons, mesons, and hadrons were calculated, and the stabilization of the group velocity of heaton radiation quanta in the basis of giant nuclear resonances was found. The processes of tunnel breakdown of the energy barrier of excimers, which lead to the formation of energy vortices and jets in natural systems of different levels of organization, are analyzed. The negative consequences of mixing excimer structures of the inertial field with monomeric structures are shown on the example of well-known disasters in nuclear power and hydropower. It is shown that the widely reproduced Lorentz-invariant forms of the fields and the limitations of Einstein’s theories of relativity on the rate of propagation of interactions are adequate only in isolated monomeric systems where primitive conservation laws apply. The results obtained in the work are completely consistent with the fundamental theological concept of Creatio ex nihilo.

Si quantum dot (QD) devices fabricated by MOSFET technology are promising for future and ultimate quantum electronics such as quantum electrical standards and quantum computers. We have developed Si tunable-barrier QD devices with a quasi-gate-all-around (GAA) nanowire [1], which are designed to be used as basic elements such as single-electron (SE) transfer devices and qubits; the precise manipulation of charges and their states are realized in the QDs. The device is especially suitable for high-speed tunable-barrier SE pumps driven at GHz frequencies [2,3] which can generate an electric current via a single QD precisely equal to the elementary charge times the driving frequency and thereby are promising for quantum current standards [4]. To achieve a high accuracy using tunable-barrier SE pumps [5-7], proper designs of device structures are required to secure robust charge quantization. The potential shape of the QD and the entrance tunnel barrier [8] are critical parameters to dictate the pump accuracy because they determine the charging energy and energy filtering effect during SE capture into the QD. Furthermore, deep understanding of electron dynamics such as mechanism crossover of the dynamical charge quantization process [9] and quantum nonadiabatic excitation [10]/electron-phonon relaxation inside the QD are important to get optimal accuracy and extend the frequency breakdown of SE pumps. We have recently developed a device simulator of Si GAA-nanowire SE pumps [11], which is a useful tool to find optimal design and control parameters in all the above-mentioned respects. One of the long-desired targets of SE pumps is to close the quantum metrology triangle (QMT) [12] by checking the consistency among three quantum electrical standards: the SE current standard, the quantum Hall resistance standard, and Josephson voltage standard (JVS). The Japanese QMT project [13] has aimed to conduct the QMT experiment with sub-ppm uncertainty in a single dilution refrigerator by placing all the quantum electric standards inside it. Our key approaches are to use quantum Hall array resistance (QHAR) [14] and parallelized Si SE pumps, which provide higher resistance and current respectively, making the generated voltage more easily compared to JVS. In the project we have succeeded in developing a current-reversal technique with electromechanical relays to cancel out the drift and low frequency noise from various sources in the measurement setup, and applying it to high accuracy measurement of current delivered by a Si SE pump [15]. We have also recently performed a comparison measurement of two Si SE pump operated in parallel and thereby have confirmed a sub-ppm level accuracy [16]. All these progresses will lead to a more precise closure of QMT at deep sub-ppm level in the new future. Si MOSFET technology continues to expand its versatility into quantum electronics technology. This work was supported by JSPS KAKENHI Grant Number JP18H05258. A. Fujiwara et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 84, 1323 (2004); Appl. Phys. Lett. 88 053121 (2006). A. Fujiwara et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 92, 042102 (2008) G. Yamahata et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 106, 023112 (2015). N.-H. Kaneko et al., Meas. Sci. Technology 27 032001 (2016). B. Kaestner and V. Kashcheyevs, Rep. Prog. Phys. 78, 103901 (2015). G. Yamahata et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 109, 013101 (2016). S. P. Giblin et al., Metrologia 56, 044004 (2019). N. Johnson et al., Appl. Phys. Lett. 115, 162103 (2019). G. Yamahata et al., Phys. Rev. B 103, 245306 (2021). G. Yamahata et al., Nat. Nanotechnol. 14, 1019 (2019). A. Fujiwara et al., in the Conference on Precision Electromagnetic Measurements (CPEM 2022). F. Piquemal and G. Genevès, Metrologia 37, 207 (2000). https://www.jsps.go.jp/file/storage/grants/j-grantsinaid/12_kiban/ichiran_30/e-data/h_30_eng_18h05258.pdf; http://www.brl.ntt.co.jp/people/afuji/kakenS/ (only in Japanese). T. Oe et al., IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas. 66, 1475 (2017). S. Nakamura et al., IEEE Trans. Instrum. Meas, under review. S. Nakamura et al., in preparation.

Zener diodes are widely used in electrical barriers to protect equipment operating in a potentially explosive atmosphere. Although normally not conducting, the zeners must have a high power rating so that their junction temperature meets safety factors when shunting the maximum fuse current. This often requires two or three lower voltage commercial zeners connected in series. Silicon carbide diodes have much higher thermal conductivity and maximum allowed junction temperature, so it should be possible to use one SiC zener in the place of two or three commercial diodes and/or allow use of higher fuse ratings. Low voltage SiC Zener diodes were fabricated and tested to evaluate potential benefits of their application as a component of intrinsically safe barriers. The diodes demonstrated mixed avalanche-tunnel breakdown at reverse bias voltages of 23 V with positive temperature coefficients of breakdown voltages of about 0.4 mV/°C. The diodes with mesa area of 4×10-4cm2 had maximum DC Zener current of 1.2 A and were capable of operating at ambient temperatures up to 500°C.

AbstractMagnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) with magnesium oxide (MgO) tunnel barrier is the core element of spin transfer torque-based magnetic random access memory. For the application in the space environment, the total ionizing dose radiation effects on MTJs need to be evaluated. In this work, the MTJs were exposed to X-ray radiation with different doses of up to 10 Mrad(Si). Measurements of current induced magnetization switching (CIMS) behavior of these MTJs were performed before and after radiation. The results show negligible changes in the tunneling magnetoresistance and current switching properties after 8 Mrad(Si) X-ray radiation. However, with a total dose of 9 Mrad(Si), a significant reduction in junction resistance of a fairly large number of MTJs was observed, which showed characteristics of MTJ breakdown. Moreover, in this study, all experimental MTJs became functionally disabled due to MgO breakdown under 10 Mrad(Si) X-ray radiation. The CoFeB/MgO/CoFeB interface microstructure was observed using X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy and high-resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). Interfacial structural results indicate that the MgO degradation and breakdown behavior caused by X-ray ionizing radiation can give rise to radiation-induced oxygen vacancies across the tunnel barrier oxide layer.

AbstractWe give an overview of the open-boundary planar supercell stack method (OPSSM), as a means for treating 3D quantum transport in mesoscopic tunnel structures. The flexibility of the method allows us to examine a variety of physical phenomena relevant to quantum transport. In this work we focus on the effects of interface roughness and embedded nanostructures in tunnel devices. Four representative applications of OPSSM are discussed: (1) interface roughness in double barrier resonant tunneling structures, (2) self-organized InAs quantum dot insertions in GaAs/AlAs double barrier structures, (3) tunneling characteristics of ultra-thin oxides with interface roughness, and, (4) embedded quantum wire model of dielectric breakdown. These examples demonstrate scattering and localization effects under different biasing conditions.

ABSTRACTThe diffusion of silicon into GaAs was investigated in this work. Shallow silicon carrier profile with doping levels in excess of 1018 cm−3 were obtained in GaAs by rapid thermal oxidation (RTO) of Si cap film in pure O2 with pressure 2 torr at 800 ∼ 900 ° C. SIMS revealed the presence of various degrees of interdiffusion in / near the interface between Si and GaAs as being a function of oxidation temperature and cap thickness. Ga and As atoms were observed in Si film. Silicon and oxygen were also found in the GaAs wafer. The silicon and arsenic atoms were segregated in / near the interface. The Si atoms could be driven further into GaAs by additional rapid thermal annealing (RTA) process. The above phenomena were confirmed by the electrical measurements taken on sheet resistance, doped dose, and mobility. The TaSix / GaAs Schottky barriers were also fabricated. The ideality factor, Schottky barrier height, and breakdown voltage are the functions of the doping level. This behavior could be accounted for by the theory of tunnel effect of Schottky barrier.

Tunneling conductance spectroscopy in normal metal-superconductor junctions is an important tool for probing Andreev bound states in mesoscopic superconducting devices, such as Majorana nanowires. In an ideal superconducting device, the subgap conductance obeys specific symmetry relations, due to particle-hole symmetry and unitarity of the scattering matrix. However, experimental data often exhibits deviations from these symmetries or even their explicit breakdown. In this work, we identify a mechanism that leads to conductance asymmetries without quasiparticle poisoning. In particular, we investigate the effects of finite bias and include the voltage dependence in the tunnel barrier transparency, finding significant conductance asymmetries for realistic device parameters. It is important to identify the physical origin of conductance asymmetries: in contrast to other possible mechanisms such as quasiparticle poisoning, finite-bias effects are not detrimental to the performance of a topological qubit. To that end we identify features that can be used to experimentally determine whether finite-bias effects are the source of conductance asymmetries.

For poorly understood reasons, tissue plasminogen activator (TPA) therapy for ischemic stroke is limited by a narrow therapeutic window and by toxicities including hemorrhage. In this study we investigated the contribution of serpinf2 (Sf2, a2-plasmin inhibitor, a2-antiplasmin) to the success and complications of TPA therapy. Methods: Ischemic stroke was induced by MCA thromboembolism in anesthetized mice. Infarct size, hemorrhage and swelling were examined by a blinded observer. Breakdown of the blood brain barrier, MMP-9 expression and apoptosis were determined by quantitative immunohistochemistry. Results: TPA treatment within 15 min. of ischemia significantly reduced infarction (p<0.001). However, after 1 hr TPA had no effect and after 2.5 h TPA significantly increased infarction (p<0.01). As ischemic time prolonged, TPA treatment increased brain hemorrhage (p<0.001). Increasing levels of Sf2 doubled infarct size after TPA treatment (p<0.001) and quadrupled brain swelling (p<0.001). In contrast, when mice were given a specific Sf2 inactivator (Sf2-i) in combination with TPA, there was a significant increase in the dissolution of the thromboembolus by comparison to the same dose of TPA alone (p<0.001). The combination of an Sf2-I and TPA significantly decreased stroke size (p<0.001) and markedly reduced hemorrhage by comparison to TPA alone (p<0.001). In addition, the combination of TPA and an Sf2-i significantly improved survival (p<0.05). Consistent with its effects on reducing brain swelling, the addition of sf2-i to TPA therapy markedly reduced expression of matrix metalloproteinase 9 (p<0.01) and breakdown of the blood brain barrier (p<0.01). Addition of the Sf2-i also significantly reduced apoptosis (p<0.01) assessed by TUNEL and activated caspase 3 staining. Conclusion: Sf2 reduces TPA’s efficacy and enhances toxicity by increasing stroke infarct size and brain swelling. In contrast, inactivation of Sf2 increased the therapeutic window for TPA, which in turn reduced infarction, brain swelling and hemorrhage. Sf2-i also significantly reduced break down of the blood brain barrier and apoptosis. Thus inactivation of Sf2 may increase the therapeutic value of TPA.

Blood–brain barrier (BBB) dysfunction causing edema and hemorrhagic transformation is one of the pathophysiological characteristics of stroke. Protection of BBB integrity has shown great potential in improving stroke outcome. Here, we assessed the efficacy of exosomes extracted from healthy rat serum in protection against ischemic stroke in vivo and in vitro. Exosomes were isolated by gradient centrifugation and ultracentrifugation and exosomes were characterized by transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and nanoparticle tracking video microscope. Exosomes were applied to middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) rats or brain microvascular endothelial cell line (bEnd.3) subjected to oxygen-glucose deprivation (OGD) injury. Serum-derived exosomes were injected intravenously into adult male rats 2 h after transient MCAO. Infarct volume and gross cognitive function were assessed 24 h after reperfusion. Poststroke rats treated with serum-derived exosomes exhibited significantly reduced infarct volumes and enhanced neurological function. Apoptosis was assessed via terminal deoxynucleotidyl transferase (TdT)-mediated dUTP nick-end labeling (TUNEL) staining and the expression of B-cell lymphoma-2 (Bcl-2), Bax, and cleaved caspase-3 24 h after injury. Our data showed that serum exosomes treatment strikingly decreased TUNEL+ cells in the striatum, enhanced the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax, and inhibited cleaved caspase-3 production in MCAO rats and OGD/reoxygenation insulted bEnd.3 cells. Under the consistent treatment, the expression of microtubule-associated protein 1 light chain 3B-II (LC3B-II), LC3B-I, and Sequestosome-1 (SQSTM1)/p62 was detected by Western blotting. Autolysosomes were observed via TEM. We found that serum exosomes reversed the ratio of LC3B-II to LC3B-I, prevented SQSTM1/p62 degradation, autolysosome formation, and autophagic flux. Together, these results indicated that exosomes isolated from healthy serum provided neuroprotection against experimental stroke partially via inhibition of endothelial cell apoptosis and autophagy-mediated BBB breakdown. Intravenous serum-derived exosome treatment may, therefore, provide a novel clinical therapeutic strategy for ischemic stroke.

Introduction: Missions beyond low Earth orbit (LEO) will expose astronauts to ionizing radiation (IR) in the form of solar energetic particles (SEP) and galactic cosmic rays (GCR) including high atomic number and energy (HZE) nuclei. The gastrointestinal (GI) system is documented to be highly radiosensitive with even relatively low dose IR exposures capable of inducing mucosal lesions and disrupting epithelial barrier function. IR is also an established risk factor for colorectal cancer (CRC) with several studies examining long-term GI effects of SEP/GCR exposure using tumor-prone APC mouse models. Studies of acute short-term effects of modeled space radiation exposures in wildtype mouse models are more limited and necessary to better define charged particle- induced GI pathologies and test novel medical countermeasures (MCMs) to promote astronaut safety.Methods: In this study, we performed ground-based studies where male and female C57BL/6J mice were exposed to γ-rays, 50 MeV protons, or 1 GeV/n Fe-56 ions at the NASA Space Radiation Laboratory (NSRL) with histology and immunohistochemistry endpoints measured in the first 24 h post-irradiation to define immediate SEP/GCR-induced GI alterations.Results: Our data show that unlike matched γ-ray controls, acute exposures to protons and iron ions disrupts intestinal function and induces mucosal lesions, vascular congestion, epithelial barrier breakdown, and marked enlargement of mucosa-associated lymphoid tissue. We also measured kinetics of DNA double-strand break (DSB) repair using gamma-H2AX- specific antibodies and apoptosis via TUNEL labeling, noting the induction and disappearance of extranuclear cytoplasmic DNA marked by gamma-H2AX only in the charged particle-irradiated samples. We show that 18 h pre-treatment with curcumin-loaded nanolipoprotein particles (cNLPs) delivered via IV injection reduces DSB-associated foci levels and apoptosis and restore crypt villi lengths.Discussion: These data improve our understanding of physiological alterations in the GI tract immediately following exposures to modeled space radiations and demonstrates effectiveness of a promising space radiation MCM.

Cardiac arrest (CA) and subsequent CPR constitute a clinically relevant form of global ischemia-reperfusion injury (IR). Global IR often results in widespread ischemic brain damage and severe neurologic sequelae. In the present study, we sought to describe the functional, histologic, and radiographic brain changes that occur following CA/CPR. 8–10 week old C57BL/6 mice were subjected to 12 minutes of normothermic cardioplegic CA and resuscitated with chest compressions, mechanical ventilation, and epinephrine. Sham mice underwent surgery, but not CA. At 3 and 24 hours, 10-point functional neurological score and rectal temperature were assessed prior to trans-cardiac perfusion with PBS and 10% buffered formalin. Sectioned brains were stained using hematoxylin and eosin (H/E) and the terminal deoxyuridine triphosphate nick end-labeling (TUNEL) technique. An additional cohort of mice underwent quantitative diffusion MRI at 24 and 72 hours, gadolinium (Gd)-enhanced MRI at 24 hours, and quantitative T2 imaging at 72 hours. Compared to shams, mice undergoing CA/CPR displayed significantly lower functional neurological score at 3 hours (3±2 vs. 10±0; P<.001) and 24 hours (8±1 vs. 10±0, P<.05), and significantly higher rectal temperature at 3 hours (35.8±1.5 vs. 34.1±0.8, P<.001) and lower rectal temperature at 24 hours (33.8±2.5 vs. 37.1±0.8, P=.08). TUNEL and H/E staining revealed injury in the cortex, thalamus, hippocampus, and cerebellum, but neither a consistent pattern nor clear temporal progression was observed. Gd-enhanced MRI revealed increased signal intensity, particularly in the cortex, after CA (3.7×105±0.96×105 vs. 0.66×105±0.017×105, P<.05), consistent with breakdown of the blood-brain barrier. Diffusion MRI revealed a strong trend towards globally decreasing diffusion coefficients at 24 and 72 hours (P=0.14), consistent with widespread cell death. In our model of CA, global IR results in poor neurological function and global injury by MRI that is not reflected by early histology. MRI thus appears to be a more sensitive measure of visualizing neurological injury in the early stages after CA and may predict the delayed neuronal death remarked upon by other authors.

Introduction Sydney, Australia has experienced a sustained period of building and infrastructure development. There are hundreds of kilometres of bitumen and rail currently being laid. There are significant building projects in large central sites such as Darling Harbour and Barangaroo on the famous Harbour foreshore. The period of development has offered an unprecedented opportunity for the New South Wales (NSW) State Government to arrest the attention of the Sydney public through kilometres of construction hoarding. This opportunity has not been missed, with the public display of a new logo, complete with pithy slogan, on and around all manner of government projects and activities since September 2015. NSW is “making it happen” according to the logo being displayed. At first glance it is a proactive, simple and concise slogan that, according to the NSW Government brand guidelines, has a wide remit to be used for projects that relate to construction, economic growth, improved services, and major events. However, when viewed through the lens of public, expert, and media research into Sydney infrastructure development it can also be read as a message derived from reactive politics. This paper elucidates turning points in the history of the last decade of infrastructure building in NSW through qualitative primary research into media, public, and practice led discourse. Ultimately, through the prism of Colin Hay’s investigation into political disengagement, I question whether the current build-at-any-cost mentality and its mantra “making it happen” is in the long-term interest of the NSW constituency or the short-term interest of a political party or whether, more broadly, it reflects a crisis of identity for today’s political class. The Non-Launch of the New Logo Image 1: An ABC Sydney Tweet. Image credit: ABC Sydney. There is scant evidence of a specific launch of the logo. Michael Koziol states that to call it an unveiling, “might be a misnomer, given the stealth with which the design has started to make appearances on banners, barriers [see: Image 1, above] and briefing papers” (online). The logo has a wide range of applications. The NSW Government brand guidelines specify that the logo be used “on all projects, programs and announcements that focus on economic growth and confidence in investing in NSW” as well as “infrastructure for the future and smarter services” (30). The section of the guidelines relating to the “making it happen” logo begins with a full-colour, full-page photograph of the Barangaroo building development on Sydney Harbour—complete with nine towering cranes clearly visible across the project/page. The guidelines specifically mention infrastructure, housing projects, and major developments upfront in the section denoted to appropriate logo applications (31). This is a logo that the government clearly intends to use around its major projects to highlight the amount of building currently underway in NSW.In the first week of the logo’s release journalist Elle Hunt asks an unnamed government spokesperson for a definition of “it” in “making it happen.” The spokesperson states, “just a buzz around the state in terms of economic growth and infrastructure […] the premier [the now retired Mike Baird] has used the phrase several times this week in media conferences and it feels like we are making it happen.” Words like “buzz,” “feels like” and the ubiquitous “it” echo the infamous courtroom scene summation of Dennis Denuto from the 1997 Australian film The Castle that have deeply penetrated the Australian psyche and lexicon. Denuto (played by actor Tiriel Mora) is acting as a solicitor for Darryl Kerrigan (Michael Caton) in fighting the compulsory acquisition of the Kerrigan family property. In concluding an address to the court, Denuto states, “In summing up, it’s the constitution, it’s Mabo, it’s justice, it’s law, it’s the Vibe and, no that’s it, it’s the vibe. I rest my case.” All fun and irony (the reason for the house acquisition that inspired Denuto’s now famous speech was an airport infrastructure expansion project) aside, we can assume from the brand guidelines as well as the Hunt article that the intended meaning of “making it happen” is fluid and diffuse rather than fixed and specific. With this article I question why the government would choose to express this diffuse message to the public?Purpose, Scope, Method and ResearchTo explore this question I intertwine empirical research with a close critique of Colin Hay’s thesis on the problematisation of political decision-making—specifically the proliferation of certain tenets of public choice theory. My empirical research is a study of news media, public, and expert discourse and its impact on the success or otherwise of major rail infrastructure projects in Sydney. One case study project, initially announced as the North West Rail Line (NWR) and recently rebadged as the Sydney Metro Northwest (see: http://www.sydneymetro.info/northwest/project-overview), is at the forefront of the infrastructure building that the government is looking to highlight with “making it happen.” A comparison case study is the failed Sydney City Metro (SCM) project that preceded the NWR as the major Sydney rail infrastructure endeavour. I have written in greater detail on the scope of this research elsewhere (see: Richardson, “Curatorial”; “Upheaval”; “Hinterland”). In short, my empirical secondary research involved a study of print news media from 2010 to 2016 spanning Sydney’s two daily papers the Sydney Morning Herald (SMH) and the Daily Telegraph (TELE). My qualitative research was conducted in 2013. The public qualitative research consisted of a survey, interviews, and focus groups involving 149 participants from across Sydney. The primary expert research consisted of 30 qualitative interviews with experts from politics, the news media and communications practice, as well as project delivery professions such as architecture and planning, project management, engineering, project finance and legal. Respondents were drawn from both the public and private sectors. My analysis of this research is undertaken in a manner similar to what Virginia Braun and Victoria Clarke term a “thematic discourse analysis” (81). The intention is to examine “the ways in which events, realities, meanings and experiences and so on are the effects of a range of discourses operating within society.” A “theme” captures “something important about the data in relation to the research question,” and represents, “some level of patterned response or meaning within the data set.” Thematic analysis therefore, “involves the searching across a data set—be that a number of interviews or focus groups, or a range of texts—to find repeated patterns of meaning” (80-86).Governing Sydney: A Legacy of Inability, Broken Promises, and Failure The SCM was abandoned in February 2010. The project’s abandonment had long been foreshadowed in the news media (Anonymous, Future). In the days preceding and following the announcement, news media articles focussed almost exclusively on the ineptitude and wastefulness of a government that would again fail to deliver transport it had promised and invested in (Cratchley; Teutsch & Benns; Anonymous, Taxation). Immediately following the decision, the peak industry body, Infrastructure Partnerships Australia, asserted, “this decision shreds the credibility of the government in delivering projects and will likely make it much harder to attract investment and skills to deliver new infrastructure” (Anonymous, Taxation). The reported ineptitude of the then Labor Government of NSW and the industry fallout surrounding the decision were clearly established as the main news media angles. My print media research found coverage to be overwhelmingly and consistently negative. 70% of the articles studied were negatively inclined. Furthermore, approximately one-quarter featured statements pertaining directly to government paralysis and inability to deliver infrastructure.My public, expert, and media research revealed a number of “repeated patterns of meaning,” which Braun and Clarke describe as themes (86). There are three themes that are particularly pertinent to my investigation here. To describe the first theme I have used the statement, an inability of government to successfully deliver projects. The theme is closely tied to the two other interrelated themes—for one I use the statement, a legacy of failure to implement projects successfully—for the other I use a cycle of broken promises to describe the mounting number of announcements on projects that government then fails to deliver. Some of the more relevant comments, on this matter, collected throughout my research appear below.A former Sydney radio announcer, now a major project community consultation advisor, asserts that a “legacy issue” exists with regards to the poor performance of government over time. Through the SCM failure, which she asserts was “a perfectly sound idea,” the NSW Government came to represent “lost opportunities” resulting in a “massive erosion of public trust.” This sentiment was broadly mirrored across the public and industry expert research I conducted. For example, a public respondent states, “repeated public transport failures through the past 20 years has lowered my belief in future projects being successful.” And, a former director general of NSW planning asserts that because of the repeated project failures culminating in the demise of the SCM, “everybody is now so cynical”.Today under the “making it happen” banner, the major Sydney rail transport project investment is to the northwest of Sydney. There was a change of government in 2011 and the NWR was a key election promise for the incoming Premier at the time, Barry O’Farrell. The NWR project, (now renamed Sydney Metro Northwest as well as extended with new stages through the city to Sydney’s Southwest) remains ongoing and in many respects it appears that Sydney may have turned a corner with major infrastructure construction finally underway. Paradoxically though, the NWR project received far less support than the SCM from the majority of the 30 experts I interviewed. The most common theme from expert respondents (including a number working on the project) is that it is not the most urgent transport priority for Sydney but was instead a political decision. As a communications manager for a large Australian infrastructure provider states: “The NWR was an election promise, it wasn’t a decision based on whether the public wanted that rail link or not”. And, the aforementioned former director general of NSW planning mirrors this sentiment when she contends that the NWR is not a priority and “totally political”.My research findings strongly indicate that the failure of the SCM is in fact a vitally important catalyst for the implementation of the NWR. In other words, I assert that the formulation of the NWR has been influenced by the dominant themes that portray the abilities of government in a negative light—themes strengthened and amplified due to the failure of the SCM. Therefore, I assert that the NWR symbolises a desperate government determined to reverse these themes even if it means adopting a build at any cost mentality. As a respondent who specialises in infrastructure finance for one of Australia’s largest banks, states: “I think in politics there are certain promises that people attempt to keep and I think Barry O’Farrell has made it very clear that he is going to make sure those [NWR] tunnel boring machines are on the ground. So that’s going to happen rain, hail or shine”. Hating Politics My empirical research clearly elucidates the three themes I term an inability of government to successfully deliver projects, a legacy of failure and a cycle of broken promises. These intertwining themes are firmly embedded and strengthening. They also portray government in a negative light. I assert that the NWR, as a determined attempt to reverse these themes (irrespective of the cost), indicates a government at best reactive in its decision making and at worst desperate to reverse public and media perception.The negativity facing the NSW government seems extreme. However, in the context of Colin Hay’s work, the situation is perhaps more inevitable than surprising. In Why We Hate Politics (2007), Hay charts the history of public disengagement with western politics. He does this largely by arguing the considerable influence of problematic key tenets of public choice theory that permeate the discourse of most western democracies, including Australia. They are tenets that normalise depoliticisation and cast a lengthy shadow over the behaviour and motivations of politicians and bureaucrats. Public choice can be defined as the economic study of nonmarket decision-making, or, simply the application of economics to political science. The basic behavioral postulate of public choice, as for economics, is that man is an egoistic, rational, utility maximizer. (Mueller 395)Originating from rational choice theory generally and spurred by Kenneth Arrow’s investigations into rational choice and social policy more specifically, the basic premise of public choice is a privileging of individual values above rational collective choice in social policy development (Arrow; Dunleavy; Hauptman; Mueller). Hay asserts that public choice evolved as a theory throughout the 1960s and 70s in order to conceptualise a more market-orientated alternative to the influential theory of welfare economics. Both were formulated in response to a need for intervention and regulation of markets to correct their “natural tendency to failure” (95). In many ways public choice was a reaction to the “idealized depiction of the state” that welfare economics was seen to be propagating. Instead a “more sanguine and realistic view of the […] imperfect state, it was argued, would lead to a rather safer set of inferences about the need for state intervention” (96). Hay asserts that in effect by challenging the motivations of elected officials and public servants, public choice theory “assumed the worst”, branding all parties self-interested and declaring the state inefficient and ineffective in the delivery of public goods (96). Although, as Hay admits, public choice advocates perhaps provided “a healthy cynicism about both the motivations and the capabilities of politicians and public officials,” the theory was overly simplistic, overstated and unproven. Furthermore, when market woes became real rather than theoretical with crippling stagflation in the 1970s, public choice readily identify “villains” at the heart of the problem and the media and public leapt on it (Hay 109). An academic theory was thrust into mainstream discourse. Two results key to the investigations of this paper were 1) a perception of politics “synonymous with the blind pursuit of individual self interest” and 2) the demystification of the “public service ethos” (Hay 108-12). Hay concludes that instead the long-term result has been a conception of politicians and the bureaucracy that is “increasingly synonymous with duplicity, greed, corruption, interference and inefficiency” (160).Deciphering “Making It Happen” More than three decades on, echoes of public choice theory abound in my empirical research into NSW infrastructure building. In particular they are clearly evident in the three themes I term an inability of government to successfully deliver projects, a legacy of failure and a cycle of broken promises. Within this context, what then can we decipher from the pithy, ubiquitous slogan on a government logo? Of course, in one sense “making it happen” could be interpreted as a further attempt to reverse these three themes. The brand guidelines provide the following description of the logo: “the tone is confident, progressive, friendly, trustworthy, active, consistent, getting on with the job, achieving deadlines—“making it happen” (30). Indeed, this description seems the antithesis of perceptions of government identified in my primary research as well as the dogma of public choice theory. There is certainly expert evidence that one of the centrepieces of the government’s push to demonstrate that it is “making it happen”, the NWR, is a flawed project that represents a political decision. Therefore, it is hard not to be cynical and consider the government self-interested and shortsighted in its approach to building and development. If we were to adopt this view then it would be tempting to dismiss the new logo as political, reactive, and entirely self-serving. Further, with the worrying evidence of a ‘build at any cost’ mentality that may lead to wasted taxpayer funds and developments that future generations may judge harshly. As the principal of an national architectural practice states:politicians feel they have to get something done and getting something done is more important than the quality of what might be done because producing something of quality takes time […] it needs to have the support of a lot of people—it needs to be well thought through […] if you want to leap into some trite solution for something just to get something done, at the end of the day you’ll probably end up with something that doesn’t suit the taxpayers very well at all but that’s just the way politics is.In this context, the logo and its mantra could come to represent irreparable long-term damage to Sydney. That said, what if the cynics (this author included) tried to silence the public choice rhetoric that has become so ingrained? What if we reflect for a moment on the effects of our criticism – namely, the further perpetuation and deeper embedding of the cycle of broken promises, the legacy of failure and ineptitude? As Hay states, “if we look hard enough, we are likely to find plenty of behaviour consistent with such pessimistic assumptions. Moreover, the more we look the more we will reinforce that increasingly intuitive tendency” (160). What if we instead consider that by continuing to adopt the mantra of a political cynic, we are in effect perpetuating an overly simplistic, unsubstantiated theory that has cleverly affected us so profoundly? When confronted by the hundreds of kilometres of construction hoarding across Sydney, I am struck by the flippancy of “making it happen.” The vast expanse of hoarding itself symbolises that things are evidently “happening.” However, my research suggests these things could be other things with potential to deliver better public benefits. There is a conundrum here though—publicly expressing pessimism weakens further the utility of politicians and the bureaucracy and exacerbates the problems. Such is the self-fulfilling nature of public choice. ConclusionHay argues that rather than expecting politics and politicians to change, it is our expectations of what government can achieve that we need to modify. Hay asserts that although there is overwhelming evidence that we hate politics more now than at any stage in the past, he does not believe that, “today’s breed of politicians are any more sinful than their predecessors.” Instead he contends that it is more likely that “we have simply got into the habit of viewing them, and their conduct, in such terms” (160). The ramifications of such thinking ultimately, according to Hay, means a breakdown in “trust” that greatly hampers the “co-operation,” so important to politics (161). He implores us to remember “that politics can be more than the pursuit of individual utility, and that the depiction of politics in such terms is both a distortion and a denial of the capacity for public deliberation and the provision of collective goods” (162). What then if we give the NSW Government the benefit of the doubt and believe that the current building boom (including the decision to build the NWR) was not entirely self-serving but a line drawn in the sand with the determination to tackle a problem that is far greater than just that of Sydney’s transport or any other single policy or project problem—the ongoing issue of the spiralling reputation and identity of government decision-makers and perhaps even democracy generally as public choice ideals proliferate in western democracies like that of Australia’s most populous state. As a partner in a national architectural and planning practice states: I think in NSW in particular there has been such an under investment in infrastructure and so few of the promises have been kept […]. Who cares if NWR is right or not? If they actually build it they’ll be the first government in 25 years to do anything.ReferencesABC Sydney. “Confirmed. This is the new logo and phrase for #NSW getting its first outing. What do you think of it?” Twitter. 1 Sep. 2015. 19 Jan. 2017 <https://twitter.com/abcsydney/status/638909482697777152>.Arrow, Kenneth, J. Social Choice and Individual Values. New York: Wiley, 1951.Braun, Virginia, and Victoria Clarke. “Using Thematic Analysis in Psychology.” Qualitative Research in Psychology 3 (2006): 77-101. The Castle. Dir. Rob Sitch. 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