The nitrogen content in tantalum nitride (TaN x ) thin films, where x indicates that TaN x is not generally stoechiometric, can be measured directly by XPS. This is the purpose of the present study. However, the XPS spectra of TaN x present electron energy loss spectroscopy (EELS) peaks that lead to a complex peak fitting, particularly for self-passivated thin films. A complete peak fitting procedure based upon Tougaard's background, the Doniach-Sunjic Function and EELS peaks, is presented. It is applied to two self-passivated TaN x thin films elaborated by reactive sputtering and presenting a different nitrogen content. The physical properties of these surfaces are interpreted in terms of Ta 4f 7/2 chemical states directly dependent on the nitrogen content. The main results are discussed and improvements are proposed to the method.

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A program of patient education was set up at the CHU of Nantes, for groups of children with asthma in 1997. The aim of this study is to realize a formative evaluation to corelate with some effects. This study was proposed to 99 families with asthmatic children. A written questionnaire, was administered to the parents and children, exploring their satisfaction with the programme, their general knowledge and know-how, biomedical parameters. The observation focused on skills and day-to-day life with the illness. The study was completed by 21 families. The majority of the children, aged 7 to 11 years old, had asthma that needed treatment. All of the parents and children were satisfied with their visit to "l'espace du souffle". They all declared having increased their general knowledge and know-how and biomedical parameters did better. They did, however, feel that they did not know enough about how to recognise precursory symptoms of an attack, about how to practise a sport or how to use "corticoids". They also could not control their personal fear during an attack. During the oral questionnaire a general feeling of stress and worry was clearly noticeable in the parents feeling, that did not appear in the written questionnaire. This patient education program appears to be beneficial. Furthermore, this evaluation highlights some subjects that pass unseen during current individual consultations.