Sisl: Several Interfaces, Single Logic

Modern interactive services such as information and e-commerce services are becoming increasingly more flexible in the types of user interfaces they support. These interfaces incorporate automatic speech recognition and natural language understanding and include graphical user interfaces on the desktop and web-based interfaces using applets and HTML forms. To what extent can the user interface software be decoupled from the service logic software (the code that defines the essential function of a service)? Decoupling of user interface from service logic directly impacts the flexibility of services, or how easy they are to modify and extend. To explore these issues, we have developed Sisl, an architecture and domain-specific language for designing and implementing interactive services with multiple user interfaces. A key principle underlying Sisl is that all user interfaces to a service share the same service logic. Sisl provides a clean separation between the service logic and the software for a variety of interfaces, including Java applets, HTML pages, speech-based natural language dialogue, and telephone-based voice access. Sisl uses an event-based model of services that allows service providers to support interchangeable user interfaces (or add new ones) to a single consistent source of service logic and data. As part of a collaboration between research and development, Sisl is being used to prototype a new generation of call processing services for a Lucent Technologies switching product.     

Integrated starter generator for 42-V powernet using induction machine and direct torque control technique

This paper describes an integrated starter generator (ISG) for automobile applications with 42-V powernet. This system is based on an induction machine which is directly mounted on the engine crankshaft and controlled using the technique of direct torque control (DTC). The suitability of the technique for ISG application is explained. The control structure of DTC for ISG application is described. Detailed experimental results from a 1.4-1 diesel engine are presented demonstrating the performance of the system during cranking as well as generation. The ISG also incorporates the feature of "on the fly start" during generation mode. Details of a low voltage high current power converter developed for this application are also given.     

The Role of the Prefrontal Cortex in the Maintenance of Verbal Working Memory: An Event-Related fMRI Analysis.

Neuroimaging studies have been inconclusive in characterizing the role of the prefrontal cortex (PFC) for maintaining increasingly larger amounts of information in working memory (WM). To address this question, the authors collected event-related functional MRI data while participants performed an item-recognition task in which the number of to-be-remembered letters was parametrically modulated. During maintenance of information in WM, the dorsolateral and the ventrolateral PFC exhibited linearly increasing activation in response to increasing WM load. Prefrontal regions could not be distinguished from one another on the basis of load sensitivity, but the dorsolateral PFC had stronger functional connectivity with the parietal and motor cortex than the ventrolateral PFC. These results suggest an increasingly important role for the PFC in actively maintaining information as the amount of that information increases. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Formal Verification Successes at Motorola

Formal tools are either too labor intensive or are completely impractical for industrial-size problems. This paper describes two formal verification tools used within Motorola, Versys2 and CBV, that challenge this assertion. The two tools are being used in current design verification flows and have shown that it is possible to seamlessly integrate formal tools into existing design flows.     

Stochastic inverse heat conduction using a spectral approach

An adjoint‐based functional optimization technique in conjunction with the spectral stochastic finite element method is proposed for the solution of an inverse heat conduction problem in the presence of uncertainties in material data, process conditions and measurement noise. The ill‐posed stochastic inverse problem is restated as a conditionally well‐posed L₂ optimization problem. The gradient of the objective function is obtained in a distributional sense by defining an appropriate stochastic adjoint field. The L₂ optimization problem is solved using a conjugate‐gradient approach. Accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed approach is appraised with the solution of several stochastic inverse heat conduction problems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Effects of activator characteristics on the reaction product formation in slag binders activated using alkali silicate powder and NaOH

The influence of different levels of alkalinity, expressed using the Na₂O-to-source material ratio (n) and activator SiO₂-to-Na₂O ratio (M_s), on the compressive strength development of, and reaction product formation in sodium silicate and NaOH powder activated slag binder systems is discussed. Higher n value mixtures are found to exhibit higher early and later age compressive strengths. An increase in M_s results in reduced early age and slightly increased later age strengths. Compositional coefficients, which are functions of n and M_s are proposed, that relate to the early and later age strengths of the activated slag binders as well as to the shift in the FTIR spectra. The reaction product formation in these systems as a function of the total alkalinity is explained using the shifts of the dominant peak in the FTIR spectra. Fundamental changes in reaction products of powder activated binders as a function of alkalinity is observed. The deductions from the peak shifts are substantiated using the FTIR spectra of the pastes before and after salicylic acid–methanol (SAM) attack.     

Natural rubber (Hevea Brasiliensis)-based quasi-solid electrolyte as a potential candidate for arresting recombination and improving performance in aqueous dye-sensitized solar cells

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - We successfully fabricated dye sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) employing a quasi-solid state electrolyte based on pristine insulator natural...     

Influence of iron doping towards the physicochemical and biological characteristics of hydroxyapatite

Hydroxyapatite (HAP) is the naturally occurring mineral form of calcium apatite and the most studied material as a bone substituent. Considering HAP's inherent properties, this study explored changes in HAP's characteristics from doping with other metals such as Fe. To form pure HAP and Fe-HAP with different amounts of Fe, we used the hydrothermal approach, and the composites that formed were thoroughly analyzed for their crystallinity, surface bonding, morphology, magnetic behavior, mechanical strength, biocompatibility, hemocompatibility, and in vitro cytotoxicity. The powder XRD studies confirmed the samples' crystallinity, and the lowest crystalline size was 19.7 nm in 10Fe-HAP. The FTIR analysis confirmed the formation of HAP by the hydroxyl, phosphate, and carbonate groups. The FESEM demonstrated that the morphology of the pure HAP was rod-shaped, which transformed into spheres after Fe doping. The EDS analysis confirmed the successful formation of HAP and Fe-HAP composites. The magnetic studies indicated the diamagnetic behavior of the pure HAP, while the Fe-doped HAPs had a superparamagnetic nature with saturation magnetizations (M_s) of 2Fe-HAP, 4Fe-HAP, and 10Fe-HAP at 0.0062, 0.0092, and 0.029 emu/g respectively. Assessment of the mechanical properties, biocompatibility, hemocompatibility, and cytotoxicity indicated that the Fe-doped HAPs were superior to the pure HAP, and among the Fe-HAPs, the 10Fe-HAP) had the highest amount of Fe and the best characteristics. The studies also indicated that Ca²⁺ interactions influenced the cells via HAP doping with that of Fe, equally increasing the physicochemical and biological properties.