Affective intelligence — the missing link?

Scientists have recently learned of many surprosing roles played by human emotion — especially in cognitive processes such as perception, decision making, memory, judgment, and more. Moreover, psychologists have redefined human intelligence to include emotional intelligence, especially the ability to accurately recognise and express affective information. This paper suggests that affective intelligence, the communication and management of affective information in human/computer interaction, is a key link that is missing in telepresence environments and other technologies that mediate human/human communication. This paper discusses new research in affective intelligence, and how it can impact upon and enhance the communication process, allowing the delivery of the more natural interaction that is critical for a true sense of telepresence.     

Can satellites unblock the Internet?

Anyone who has surfed the Internet knows how slow it can be. Some have even suggested that it could become entirely gridlocked early in the next millennium. The author explains how satellites could help avert such a catastrophe. The primary advantage of a satellite system for Internet delivery is the same as it is for other types of communication: coverage area. A single satellite in geostationary orbit can serve approximately one third of the planet's surface, so three can cover most of the world's population. For regions where terrestrial infrastructure is limited or nonexistent, satellite coverage may be the only option. The author discusses the proposed Teledesic broadband low Earth satellite system operating in the Ku band, which is backed by Microsoft, and its only direct competitor SkyBridge which is backed by Alcatel and Loral. The author also discusses the geosynchronous Earth orbit broadband satellite systems. The commercial viability of these systems is discussed     

Silicon-germanium—a promise into the future?

Comparing different semiconductor technologies and taking into account their actual performance/cost ratio, the current understanding is that the silicon technology is and will be the basis of IC fabrication also in the beginning of the next century. Due to new applications there is, however, a market’s demand to overcome the cutoff frequency limit inherent to silicon technology. Hitherto obtained results suggest that existing solutions may be challenged by SiGe or other silicon-based heterostructure devices. As an example of such heterostructure devices, in general, the first practical bandgap-engineered silicon device, namely, the SiGe heterojunction bipolar transistor, is discussed in more detail. However, to succeed commercially, the SiGe technology has to outperform the silicon technology and undersell the III–V technologies. To this end, the development of a heterojunction silicon-based CMOS technology will be of utmost importance. First results are encouraging and, hence, the very near future will probably show whether or not SiGe is a promise into the future. Fiz. Tekh. Poluprovodn. 33, 1032–1034 (September 1999) This paper was presented at the anniversary meeting of the scientific council of the A. F. Ioffe Physiotechnical Institute of the Russian Academy of Sciences on the occasion of selecting the author an honorary member of the Institute (September 28, 1998). This article was published in English in the original Russian journal. Reproduced here with stylistic changes by the Translation Editor.     

Can One Control the Vibrations of a Drum?

This paper considers the problem of constructing feedback stabilizing controllers for the wave operator on ⁿ (more generally AR systems determined by a hyperbolic operator). In order to accomplish this, it must first clarify the notion of an input-output structure on a distributed system, as well as what it means to interconnect two such systems. Both these notions are shown to be consequences of a structure which generalizes the standard causal structure of lumped systems determined by the flow of time. Given this apparatus, the paper then constructs feedback controllers which stabilize the wave equation along directions given by a proper cone in ⁿ.     

Telepresence — the future of telephony

Opportunities for future telepresence services, creating a sense of being present at a remote location, are outlined against a backdrop of telephony as an existing, highly successful telecommunications service. In providing a context for the papers of this themed issue, key telepresence technologies, the building blocks of future services, addressing issues in audio, data, video and virtual environments are reviewed. The practical complexity of commercial telepresence applications, where developments in component multimedia technologies must be complemented by advances in integration, interface and service, is also considered. The paper concludes with a commentary on early applications and a vision of more generic future telepresence solutions — Immersive Conferencing and Persistent Communities.     

Can the Shape of Nanoparticles Enable the Targeting to Cancer Cells over Healthy Cells?

Macropinocytosis is a consequence of oncogenic alterations of cancer cells while most healthy cells are non-macropinocytic. It is currently unclear whether macropinocytic cancer cells can be targeted rather than healthy cells, by adjusting the shape and size of nanoparticles. Herein, the endocytosis of two differently shaped nanoparticles; nanorods and nanospheres are compared in cancer and healthy cells. The cells are breast epithelial cancer cells (MCF7) and breast epithelial healthy cells (MCF10A) and pancreas cancer cells (PANC-1 cells) and non-tumourogenic patient-derived cancer-associated fibroblasts (CAFs). The endocytosis pathway is quantified by a combination of pair correlation microscopy and endocytosis inhibitors. MCF7 cells use clathrin-mediated endocytosis and macropinocytosis to take up the nanorods while MCF10A cells use predominantly clathrin-mediated endocytosis. Based on the comparison of endocytic behavior of cancer and healthy cells, MCF7 cells can be induced to take up more nanorods and suppress the metabolism and endocytosis of nanorods in MCF10A cells. The nanorods allow targeting to breast cancer MCF7 cells and pancreas cancer cells over the healthy cells. This study opens exciting possibilities for shape to target the cancer cells over healthy cells, by adjusting nanoparticle shape.     

HSDPA is the inevitable choice of 3G development in the future

If WCDMA is stepping into mature period as the gradual progress of GSM, then HSDPA is becoming the focus as the gradual progress of WCDMA to which industry is paying close attention. HSDPA is a mobile broadband solution based on WCDMA. Just add the corre     

Multiservice billing system — a platform for the future

Billing systems are key competitive weapons for telecommunications companies. BT is developing a new generation billing system under the auspices of its Billing 90s programme. The term adopted in this paper for the system is multiservice billing system (MSBS). The paper outlines the strategic business issues which have shaped the design of MSBS. It describes the scale and complexity of the problem which makes the construction of a multiservice platform such a difficult feat of software engineering. The concept of a common product model, which underpins the systems design, is introduced. The later sections provide a brief outline of the architecturers physical realisation.     

Can multiple subchannels improve the delay performance of RTS/CTS-based MAC schemes?

We analyze the delay performance of RTS/CTS-based (Request-To-Send/Clear-To-Send) multi-channel MAC (Medium Access Control) schemes for wireless networks. These schemes usually employ multiple data subchannels for data transmission and one control subchannel to send the RTS/CTS dialogue for channel reservation. Through theoretical analysis and simulations, we show that, in fully-connected networks, such multi-channel MAC schemes suffer longer delays than the corresponding single channel MAC scheme, that puts the RTS/CTS dialogue on the same channel as data packet transmissions. This conclusion holds even when data packets have different priorities and higher priority traffic is sent ahead of lower priority traffic.     

Can the light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) detect extracellular potentials of cardiac myocytes?

The light-addressable potentiometric sensor (LAPS) measures localized photo-induced currents from a silicon wafer, which are dependent on the local surface potential and on the intensity of the light pointer. In this study the ability of the LAPS to record extracellular potentials of adherent cells was investigated. Time dependent LAPS photocurrent signals that correlated in time with contractions were recorded from beating cardiac myocytes cultured on LAPS surfaces. Signals could be recorded both when the LAPS was biased to working points where the photocurrent was maximally sensitive to potential changes and when it was biased to working points where the photocurrent was insensitive to changes in surface potential. Therefore, signals could not be predominantly created by changes in extracellular potential and might be related to mechanical contractions. One possible explanation might be, that the cell-induced modulation of photocurrents arose as a result of cell shape changes. Such alterations in cell shape might have focused and defocused the light pointer and, thus, modulated its intensity. To further test this hypothesis, height changes of beating cardiac myocytes were measured with an atomic force microscope (AFM). They were found to match well with signals derived from LAPS measurements. Therefore, it can be concluded, that LAPS signals were mainly determined by the periodic changes in shape of beating heart cells, and this interference precludes the measurements of extracellular electrophysiological potentials from these cells.     

Prospects for the future of resonant tunnelling devices — Part 1

In recent years has been a revival of experimental and theoretical interest in resonant tunnelling devices, largely motivated by the impressive progress achieved in MBE. Following our March 1992 feature, this 2-part article updates some of the recent advances in resonant tunnelling and presents several topics concerning the DBRTS.     

Can agile methods enhance mechatronics design education?

This paper presents a study of the integration of agile methods into mechatronics design education, as performed at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. The chosen method, Scrum, and the context of the studied capstone course are presented.With the integration of Scrum into the capstone projects, an educational favorable alternative is identified, to previously used design methodologies such as more traditional stage-gate methods as the Waterfall or method or the V-model. This is due to the emphasis on early prototyping, quick feedback and incremental development. It still might not be the favorable method for use in large scale industrial development projects where formal procedures might still be preferred, but the pedagogical advantages in mechatronics education are valuable. Incremental development and rapid prototyping for example gives many opportunities for students to reflect and improve. The Scrum focus on self-organizing teams also provides a platform to practice project organization, by empowering students to take responsibility for the product development process.Among the results of this study, it is shown that it is possible and favorable to integrate Scrum in a mechatronics capstone course and that this can enhance student preparation for a future career as mechatronics designers or product developers. It is also shown that this prepares the students with a larger flexibility to handle the increased complexity in mechatronics product development and thereby enabling the project teams to deliver results faster, more reliable and with higher quality.     

Can Whiskers Grow on Bulk Lead-Free Solder?

Many possible mechanisms for whisker growth exist, each possible in various scenarios investigated in the literature. This contribution addresses the importance of residual mechanical stress in a solder alloy for providing some of the energy necessary to drive possible whisker growth. We investigate the indentations made on bulk lead-free solder (Sn3.5Ag) to introduce various levels of residual energy associated with localized residual stresses. We confirm that localized residual stresses, in the absence of a thin-film geometry, significant oxide thickness, and interdiffusional stresses from intermetallic Cu-Sn compounds, do not result in the formation of whiskers in bulk Sn3.5Ag. Thus, the combination of stresses associated with thin films (either thermal misfit, plating, or chemical) and the oxidation of Sn at the surface is likely required for continuous whisker growth.     

Polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells: The future for photovoltaics?

Based on performance, material availability, consumer acceptance, life expectancy, environmental considerations and the potential for low cost, thin-film polycrystalline silicon solar cells are well placed to have a significant impact in the future. of key importance will be the achievement of performance targets, because module efficiencies of at least 15% are probably necessary in the long term for photovoltaics to have a significant impact in grid-connected applications. Strategies for achieving these performance levels with mediocre material quality and only moderate surface passivation and light trapping are presented. the challenges associated with the supporting substrate choice and layer depostion techniques and structures are discussed and the psesent practices reviewed. Important considerations include device performance, cost, throughput, device area and simplicity of fabrication and operation. Promising efficiencies in the vicinity of 15% have already been demonstrated using a number of different crystalline silicon layer-formation techniques. Novel device structures based on incorporation of narrow bandgap materials (Si/Ge alloys) or defect layers, quantum wells and the impurity photovoltaic effect are considered, with particular emphasis given to approaches that compensate for the current loss in thin-film cells. It appears increasingly likely that polycrystalline silicon thin-film solar cells will have an impact on the development of photovoltaics in the future and may in fact provide the means for the substantial cost reductions necessary for significant penetration into utility markets.     

Light Out‐Coupling Management in Perovskite LEDs—What Can We Learn from the Past?

The research on perovskite light‐emitting diodes (PeLEDs) has experienced an exponential growth in the past six years. The highest external quantum efficiencies (EQEs) have surpassed 20%, 20%, and 10% for red, green, and blue colored LEDs, respectively. Considering the internal quantum efficiency is already approaching unity owing to the high material quality, the limiting factor for further improving the EQE is mainly the poor light out‐coupling efficiencies. Here, by reviewing the progress on the light out‐coupling studies for PeLEDs, organic LEDs (OLEDs), conventional semiconductor LEDs, and other special LEDs, the rational design guidelines are summarized for enhancing PeLED out‐coupling. Briefly, these design guidelines include: 1) introducing nanostructures into the active layer or tuning the thickness of it to couple out the waveguide modes, 2) adding nanostructures between the active layer and transparent electrodes to couple the waveguide modes to substrate modes, 3) adding nanostructures such as nanowires to the glass substrate to couple the substrate mode to air. Essentially, these guidelines indicate that implementing nanophotonic engineering on PeLEDs is a highly promising direction to explore, so as to substantially enhance the device performance.     

Scan Chain Hold-Time Violations: Can They be Tolerated?

Scan chain hold-time violations may occur due to manufacturing defects or to errors in timing closure process during the physical design stage. The latter type of violations prohibits the test of manufactured chips, leading to a zero yield, although these chips with scan hold-time violations may be perfectly functional. In this paper, we propose a suite of techniques which enable the diagnosis and the tolerance of scan hold-time violations. The proposed diagnosis technique can be utilized for any scan chain hold-time violation in order to pinpoint, in minimal diagnosis application time, the cause of the violation. The proposed tolerance technique is more targeted towards violations that lead to systematic failure of parts; it enables the generation of test patterns to screen out the defective parts in the presence of scan hold-time violations, perfectly restoring the yield in a cost-effective manner. The techniques that we propose are non-intrusive, as they utilize only basic scan capabilities, and thus impose no design changes. We also extend this discussion for fast-to-rise and fast-to-fall errors, intermittent scan hold-time violations, and functional hold-time violations.