Application profile for ISDN

The authors examine some key data processing applications to be used in conjunction with the voice and facsimile services as a platform for deploying ISDN (integrated services digital network) in North America. Special emphasis is placed on the emerging standards of both Accredited Standards Committees (ACS) T1 and X3 in an attempt to harmonize the computer and telecommunication industries towards providing the user with an integrated platform that is vendor-transparent and ubiquitous. This generic platform, which spans a large spectrum of businesses, is presented as a base context for defining user-specific needs and incubating the applications that directly relate to businesses. Distributed transaction processing, electronic data interchange, information retrieval, electronic mail, and file transfer together with seven supplementary services for voice and G4 facsimile are proposed for ISDN deployment in the marketplace. The authors describe how the relevant standards may be exercised through the various ISDN channels and emphasize the value of the North American ISDN User's Forum for commercializing this platform     

Une architecture massivement parallèle intégrée

This paper presents a new massively parallel MIMD architecture, halfway between the Connection Machine and hypercubes based on 32-bit processors. It is built from specific 8-bit processors arranged in a 2-D grid and communicating by message transfers. We discuss the communication problems, the instruction set of the basic processing unit, the programmation of the whole array and the use of a high level data-flow language.     

Deuterated liquid scintillator (NE230) as a fast neutron detectorfor cold-fusion and other research

Deuterated scintillators (NE230) can provide, without time-of-flight, usable neutron energy spectra for neutrons E _n⩾1 MeV. The authors have assembled and calibrated several of these detectors and used them in experiments searching for d+d fusion-neutron emission (E_n, 2.5 MeV) in Pd+D ₂O electrolysis and Ti+D₂ adsorption at LN temperatures. The detectors yielded direct fusion-neutron spectra and set limits in the Pd+D and Ti+D experiments of <7×10^-24 fusion n/s/dd pair and <3×10^-24 fusion n/s/dd pair respectively. In addition, these detectors have been used for in-beam accelerator experiments requiring coincidence between fast neutrons and scattered ions     

Jitter in ATM networks and its impact on peak rate enforcement

Cells arriving to an ATM network experience random delays due to queueing in upstream multiplexing stages, notably in customer premises. This is the phenomenon of jitter and the aim of the present paper is to study its influence on peak rate enforcement. We first introduce some general characterizations of jitter and then, describe two models of jittered flows based on simple queueing systems. We discuss the objectives of peak rate enforcement and study the impact of jitter on the dimensioning of jumping window and leaky bucket mechanisms. A useful synthetic characterization of jitter appears to be a remote quantile of the cell delay distribution expressed in units of the initial inter-cell interval.     

Forty-Five Years After Broadbent (1958): Still No Identification Without Attention.

According to D. E. Broadbent's (1958) selective filter theory, people do not process unattended stimuli beyond the analysis of basic physical properties. This theory was later rejected on the basis of numerous findings that people identify irrelevant (and supposedly unattended) stimuli. A careful review of this evidence, however, reveals strong reasons to doubt that these irrelevant stimuli were in fact unattended. This review exposed a clear need for new experiments with tight control over the locus of attention. The authors present 5 such experiments using a priming paradigm. When steps were taken to ensure that irrelevant stimuli were not attended, these stimuli produced no priming effects. Hence, the authors found no evidence that unattended stimuli can be identified. The results support a modern version of Broadbent's selective theory, updated to reflect recent research advances. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life task appraisals, spouse involvement in strategies, and daily affect among short- and long-term married couples.

The purpose of this study was to examine predictors and consequences of spouses' involvement in each others' strategies for pursuing important personal goals called life tasks. Husbands and wives within 39 short- and long-term marriages described five life tasks and provided appraisals of whether each was shared with their spouse. Participants later completed 14 consecutive diary entries recording daily life task pursuit strategies, the extent of spouse involvement in each, and measures of positive and negative affect. Results indicated that interdependence in life task appraisals prospectively predicted greater spouse involvement, and greater spouse involvement was associated with more positive affect for that day. Life task appraisals may provide avenues for understanding couples' strategies for dealing with goals or stressors and how those strategies affect mood. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)