Recovery Time and Fault Tolerance Improvement for Circuits mapped on SRAM-based FPGAs

The rapid adoption of FPGA-based systems in space and avionics demands dependability rules from the design to the layout phases to protect against radiation effects. Triple Modular Redundancy is a widely used fault tolerance methodology to protect circuits against radiation-induced Single Event Upsets implemented on SRAM-based FPGAs. The accumulation of SEUs in the configuration memory can cause the TMR replicas to fail, requiring a periodic write-back of the configuration bit-stream. The associated system downtime due to scrubbing and the probability of simultaneous failures of two TMR domains are increasing with growing device densities. We propose a methodology to reduce the recovery time of TMR circuits with increased resilience to Cross-Domain Errors. Our methodology consists of an automated tool-flow for fine-grain error detection, error flags convergence and non-overlapping domain placement. The fine-grain error detection logic identifies the faulty domain using gate-level functions while the error flag convergence logic reduces the overwhelming number of flag signals. The non-overlapping placement enables selective domain reconfiguration and greatly reduces the number of Cross-Domain Errors. Our results demonstrate an evident reduction of the recovery time due to fast error detection time and selective partial reconfiguration of faulty domains. Moreover, the methodology drastically reduces Cross-Domain Errors in Look-Up Tables and routing resources. The improvements in recovery time and fault tolerance are achieved at an area overhead of a single LUT per majority voter in TMR circuits.     

Influence of sintering temperature on secondary phases formation and microwave dielectric properties of Ca2Ce2Ti5O16 ceramics

Ca₂Ce₂Ti₅O₁₆ dielectric ceramics prepared by conventional solid-state ceramic route was investigated. Phase composition and microwave dielectric properties were measured using XRD and Vector network analyzer, respectively. XRD analysis of the calcined and sintered samples revealed the formation of CeO₂ and another unidentified phase (that vanished at ? 1400 °C) as secondary phases along with the parent Ca₂Ce₂Ti₅O₁₆ phase. The amount of the parent Ca₂Ce₂Ti₅O₁₆ phase increased with increasing sintering temperature from 1350 °C to 1450 °C accompanied by a decrease in the apparent density. The density decreased but ? _r and Q _u f _o increased with sintering temperature. An ? _r ～ 81.5, Q _u f _o ～ 5915 GHz and τ _f ～ 219 GHz were achieved for the sample sintered at 1450 °C.     

Variable Speed Wind Turbines for Power System Stability Enhancement

This paper investigates possible improvements in grid voltage stability and transient stability with wind energy converter units using modified P/Q control. The voltage source converter (VSC) in modern variable speed wind turbines is utilized to achieve this enhancement. The findings show that using only available hardware for variable-speed turbines improvements could be obtained in all cases. Moreover, it was found that power system stability improvement is often larger when the control is modified for a given variable speed wind turbine rather than when standard variable speed turbines are used instead of fixed speed turbines. To demonstrate that the suggested modifications can be incorporated in real installations, a real situation is presented where short-term voltage stability is improved as an additional feature of an existing VSC high voltage direct current (HVDC) installation     

Classification of Diabetic Macular Edema and Its Stages Using Color Fundus Image

Diabetic macular edema(DME)is a retinal thickening involving the center of the macula.It is one of the serious eye diseases which affects the central vision and can lead to partial or even complete visual loss.The only cure is timely diagnosis,prevention,and treatment of the disease.This paper presents an automated system for the diagnosis and classification of DME using color fundus image.In the proposed technique,first the optic disc is removed by applying some preprocessing steps.The preprocessed image is then passed through a classifier for segmentation of the image to detect exudates.The classifier uses dynamic thresholding technique by using some input parameters of the image.The stage classification is done on the basis of an early treatment diabetic retinopathy study(ETDRS)given criteria to assess the severity of disease.The proposed technique gives a sensitivity,specificity,and accuracy of 98.27%,96.58%,and 96.54%,respectively on publically available database.     

Superfluid density and critical current of3He in confined geometries

Superfluid³He in severely confined geometries is studied in the Ginzburg-Landau limit. Both A and B phases are analyzed in narrow slabs and in small cylinders. Physically measurable quantities include the superfluid density and the critical current, which are significantly suppressed by the boundaries. Related alterations in the phase diagram are also considered. For small lateral dimensions, the A phase can be favored even well below the polycritical pressure.     

Continuous collection of soluble atmospheric particles with a wetted hydrophilic filter

Approximately one-third of the area (14-mm diameter of a 25-mm diameter) of a 5-microm uniform pore size polycarbonate filter is continuously wetted by a 0.25 mL/min water mist. The water forms a continuous thin film on the filter and percolates through it. The flowing water substantially reduces the effective pore size of the filter. At the operational air sampling flow rate of 1.5 standard liters per minute, such a particle collector (PC) efficiently captures particles down to very small size. As determined by fluorescein-tagged NaCl aerosol generated by a vibrating orifice aerosol generator, the capture efficiency was 97.7+% for particle aerodynamic diameters ranging from 0.28 to 3.88 microm. Further, 55.3 and 80.3% of 25- and 100-nm (NH4)2SO4 particles generated by size classification with a differential mobility analyzer were respectively collected by the device. The PC is integrally coupled with a liquid collection reservoir. The liquid effluent from the wetted filter collector, bearing the soluble components of the aerosol, can be continuously collected or periodically withdrawn. The latter strategy permits the use of a robust syringe pump for the purpose. Coupled with a PM2.5 cyclone inlet and a membrane-based parallel plate denuder at the front end and an ion chromatograph at the back end, the PC readily operated for at least 4-week periods without filter replacement or any other maintenance.     

Taxonomic study of subfamily Nepetoideae (Lamiaceae) by polynomorphological approach

The present study is insight into pollen morphology for characterizing species and their utility in the taxonomic separation of certain taxa of subfamily Nepetoideae (Lamiaceae) from Pakistan. The pollen micromorphology of 11 species of the Nepetoideae was analyzed and documented using light microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) for both qualitative and quantitative characteristics. Most species have hexazonocolpate pollen grains but trizonocolpate and tetrazonocolpate pollen with circular and oval amb were also rarely observed in Mentha spicata. The basic pollen shape in most of the studied species was subspheroidal but prolate grains were also observed in M. spicata, S. coccinea, and S. plebeia. The exine sculpturing of Nepetoideae pollen was taxonomically very informative particularly at subfamily level. Observations of exine sculpturing with SEM revealed various types of pollen grains: reticulate, bireticulate, microreticulate, perforate, aerolate, and gammate. The bireticulate type further subdivided into three subtypes based on the number of secondary lumina in each primary lumen and is characterized by varying characteristics of the secondary reticulum and primary muri. A significant variation was observed in colpus surface ornamentation. The maximum polar diameter was found in O. americanum (58 ± 5.8 μm) and the maximum equatorial diameter observed in O. basilicum (50.25 ± 1.37 μm). Pollen features of the studied species were discussed and compared based on the current taxonomical concepts. The results showed that pollen traits of the subfamily Nepetoideae was found significant to classify the taxa. Furthermore, pollen features provide additional evidence to distinguish macromorphologically similar taxa from each other.     

Macromorphological and micromorphological seed features of selected taxa of Caesalpiniaceae using light and scanning electron microscopy

Seed micromorphological and macromorphological characteristics of 12 taxa of Caesalpiniaceae from Pakistan have been studied, using light and scanning electron microscopy, to investigate the importance of seed coat features as a taxonomic tool. Great variations have been observed in color, shape, dimension, and seed surface pattern among the different genera of the family. A taxonomic key was prepared for the studied taxa. Six types of seed shapes were observed; circular, elliptical, irregular, oblong, oval, and ovoid. All examined seeds were hard except fragile seeds of Haematoxylom campechianum. Eight types of surface ornamentation have been noticed that include levigate, lugose, papillate, reticulate, reticulate irregular, reticulate regular, rhombus, and rogues. Majority of the taxa has been observed with thick ornamentation wall but thin ornamentation wall has also been recorded in few species. Fracture line of the various patterns was present in all taxa except genus Bauhinia. Three types of texture crudeness; coarse, medium, and fine have been recorded. Both micromorphological and macromorphological characters of seed are very fruitful in identification and classification of Caesalpiniaceae.     

Systematic approach to the correct identification of Asplenium dalhousiae (Aspleniaceae) with their medicinal uses

In present study, multiple microscope techniques were used for the systematics identification of the species Asplenium dalhousiae. The plant was collected from different phytogeographical and its natural habitat of Pakistan, where it shows higher diversity. Morphology, foliar epidermal anatomy, and spore morphological characters of the species were studied in detailed using multiple microscopic techniques through light microscopy (LM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). LM and SEM were used for the systematics identification of the species. Traditionally, the species is used in the ailment of many diseases, so the spore morphology, anatomical features, and morphological characters are relevant to describe the species taxonomy. The importance of multiple methods of taxonomic study (e.g., documentation and morphological characteristics) for characterizing herbs are important step in systematic certification to maintain the efficacy of herbal medicines. The aim of the present study is to examine the morphological, anatomical, and spore morphology of the species A. dalhousiae in more detailed for the correct taxonomic identification and their medicinal validation from Pakistan.     

Foliar epidermal anatomical characteristics of taxa of Iris subg. Scorpiris Spach (Iridaceae) from Turkey

Iris L. is one of the important genus of family Iridaceae, consist of 56 taxa naturally occurred in Turkey. The similarities and variations in the subgenus overlapping the taxonomic positions of the species in the subgenera and needs anatomical assessment especially by microscopic techniques. In this study, the taxonomic significance of leaf anatomical characters of 10 Iris subgenus Scorpiris taxa were studied in detail and the relationship among these taxa were evaluated using microscopy techniques. Fresh leaf samples of species were fixed in 70% alcohol solution for anatomical observation under microscope. Eleven different micromorphological features were statistically analyzed to delimit the species in subgenus. Based on morphological and anatomical similarities, we studied relationships among; (1) ssp. turcica, ssp. caucasica, I. nezahatiae and I. pseudocaucasica; (2) correlation between ssp. turcica and ssp. caucasica; (3) association of I. galatica, I. persica, ssp. margaretiae and ssp. stenophylla with each other; (4) relationship between ssp. stenophylla and ssp. margaretiae; and (5) relevance between I. aucheri and I. peshmeniana. Moreover, the taxonomy of subgenus Scorpiris has been discussed in detail with novel and diagnostic features based on micromorphological physiognomies. We found that four species in this study are endemic to Turkey, while seven are critically endangered geophytes in the country. The leaf anatomical characteristics of 10 taxa were divided into three groups. Main aim of this research was to study the taxonomy of the complex subgenus Scorpiris through microscopic techniques.