Improving accuracy in detecting acoustic onsets.

In current cognitive psychology, naming latencies are commonly measured by electronic voice keys that detect when sound exceeds a certain amplitude threshold. However, recent research (e.g., K. Rastle & M. H. Davis, 2002) has shown that these devices are particularly inaccurate in precisely detecting acoustic onsets. In this article, the authors discuss the various problems and solutions that have been put forward with respect to this issue and show that classical voice keys may trigger several tens of milliseconds later than acoustic onset. The authors argue that a solution to this problem may come from voice keys that use a combination of analogue and digital noise (nonspeech sound) detection. It is shown that the acoustic onsets detected by such a device are only a few milliseconds delayed and correlate highly (up to .99) with reaction time values obtained by visual waveform inspection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

An Effective Power-Aware At-Speed Test Methodology for IP Qualification and Characterization

Advanced nanometer technologies have led to a drastic increase in operational frequencies resulting in the performance of circuits becoming increasingly vulnerable to timing variations. The increasing process spread in advanced nanometer nodes poses considerable challenges in predicting post-fabrication silicon performance from timing models. Thus, there is a great need to qualify basic building structures on silicon in terms of critical parameters before they could be integrated within a complex System-on-Chip (SoC). The work of this paper presents a configurable circuit and an associated power-aware at-speed test methodology for the purpose of qualifying basic standard cells and complex IP structures to detect the presence of timing faults. Our design has been embedded within test-chips used for the development of the 28 nm Fully Depleted Silicon On Insulator (FD-SOI) technology node. The relevant silicon results and analysis validate the proposed power-aware test methodology for qualification and characterization of IPs and provide deeper insights for process improvements.     

Analysis and Test of Resistive-Open Defects in SRAM Pre-Charge Circuits

In this paper, we present an exhaustive study on the influence of resistive-open defects in pre-charge circuits of SRAM memories. In SRAM memories, the pre-charge circuits operate the pre-charge and equalization at a certain voltage level, in general Vdd, of all the couples of bit lines of the memory array. This action is essential in order to ensure correct read operations. We have analyzed the impact of resistive-opens placed in different locations of these circuits. Each defect studied in this paper disturbs the pre-charge circuit in a different way and for different resistive ranges, but the produced effect on the normal memory action is always the perturbation of the read operations. This faulty behavior can be modeled by Un-Restored Write Faults (URWFs) and Un-Restored Read Faults (URRFs), because there is an incorrect pre-charge/equalization of the bit lines after a write or read operation that disturbs the following read operation. In the last part of the paper, we demonstrate that the test of URWFs is more effective in terms of resistive defect detection than that of URRFs and we list the necessary test conditions to detect them.

Mild and neutral deprotections catalyzed by cerium(IV) ammonium nitrate

The development of a novel, chemoselective, and catalytic deprotection methodology that proceeds under mild and neutral conditions is described, and its mechanism of action is analyzed in some detail. The scope, limitations, and advantages of this protocol are discussed. Selected applications in synthesis are also highlighted.     

Correlation between activity and acidity on zeolites: a high temperature infrared study of adsorbed acetonitrile

The influence of the temperature on the protonation of acetonitrile by acidic zeolites was studied by infrared spectroscopy. Acidity at room or low temperature was not correlated with the protonation temperature, but the zeolitic structure played an important role. A new technique is presented for the study of the acidity of solids under reaction conditions. A good correlation was obtained in a series of various zeolites between the catalytic activity in the cracking of n-hexane and the protonation temperature of acetonitrile. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Growth Kinetics and Characterization of Chromia Scales Formed on Ni–30Cr Alloy in Impure Argon at 700 °C

Oxidation of Metals - The oxidation of a Ni–30Cr alloy at 700 °C in impure argon was studied in order to provide new elements of understanding on chromia scale growth in low...     

Algorithm selection and instance space analysis for curriculum-based course timetabling

Journal of Scheduling - We propose an algorithm selection approach and an instance space analysis for the well-known curriculum-based course timetabling problem (CB-CTT), which is an important...     

Rehydration process of milk protein concentrate powder monitored by static light scattering

Static light scattering (SLS) was applied to monitor the rehydration process of milk protein concentrate (MPC) powder. The size distribution and volume concentration of the suspended powder particles were measured to quantify the dissolution kinetics of MPC powder. The results obtained showed that the low solubility index reported for MPC85 (85% protein) powder at room temperature was the consequence of slow dissolution kinetics rather than the presence of a large amount of insoluble material in the rehydrated powder. The rehydration process of MPC85 powder occurs in two overlapping steps: the disruption of agglomerated particles into primary powder particles and, simultaneously, the release of material from the powder particles into the surrounding aqueous phase. The latter process appeared to be the rate-limiting step of dissolution of MPC85 and was accelerated by an increase of the solvent temperature.     

Ellipsometry of reflected and scattered fields for the analysis of substrate optical quality

Specular ellipsometry is a well-known and efficient technique to characterize surfaces and coatings. This technique has been extended to the measurement of scattered light. We present an experimental setup, using a polarization modulator, which permits us to characterize transition layers and roughness without a calibration procedure. Experimental results are presented concerning transition layers for damage threshold applications and for rough surfaces or bulks.     

pH-controlled diffusion of proteins with different pI values across a nanochannel on a chip

Electrostatic interactions dominate the diffusion of proteins in a nanochannel, which was measured and modeled for pH values above and below the isoelectric points of three lectin proteins. Maximal diffusion coefficients were obtained when the proteins were neutral at their pI. This pH-controlled transport led to a separation of biomolecules across the nanochannel. A pI shift was observed, due to reversible adsorption of proteins on the walls, which affects the pH in the nanochannel.