Introducing VLSI computer-aided design into the EE curriculum: acase study

The authors describe a case study at Purdue University's School of Electrical Engineering in the successful integration of VLSI CAD (computer-aided design) into both the undergraduate and graduate curriculum. The courses in VLSI chip design use the Manassas VLSI Interactive System for Automation (MVISA), a CAD program that implements all stages in the VLSI design process including logic entry (schematic capture), logic simulation, timing analysis, design rule checking, placement of cells, and automatic and manual wiring. The successful integration was due to several factors, including university-industry-government cooperation; the development of a comprehensive set of interactive tutorials and notes describing the lab procedures and VLSI issues considered in the class; and a coherent, structured approach to teaching system design as well as the use of CAD tools in this process. Modern educational techniques, including computer-aided instruction and videotaped lectures on VLSI, also played a part in the development of the CAD courses     

The future of the microprocessor business

In a century in which technology left few aspects of life unchanged in some countries, the microprocessor may have been the most transformative of all. In three decades it has worked itself into our lives with a scope and depth that would have been impossible to imagine during its early development. In this paper, the authors argue that customization and speed-to-market will continue to drive the industry from the bottom up     

EEC policy for regulation of biotechnology products

The most important regulative EEC decisions concerning biotechnology products are the creation of the ‘concertation procedure’ for EEC-wide registration (Council Directive 87/22/EEC), and the authorization of the CPMP to adapt test requirements according to technical progress (Council Directive 87/19/EEC). Test requirements (Notes to Applicants) on pharmaceutical quality (MAB's, rDNA-derived products-cell substrates in preparation) and on preclinical safety testing have been published. The pre-clinical notes to applicants seek to overcome the current case-by-case procedure, which is unsatisfactory both for industry and regulatory authorities, by structuring the heterogeneous variety of products into product related test schemes, thus giving better orientation for applicants for marketing authorizations. There is a horizontal structure (4 product groups: hormones, cytokines, regulatory peptides/blood products, MAB/immunizing agents) and a vertical structure (depending on the biochemical deviation from the naturally occurring product). Allocation of a given product horizontally will determine the strategy, and vertically the depth of testing. Additional remarks concerning methods allow for deviations from test schemes developed for chemical products, in relation to species-restricted lack of response and immunotolerance. The concept of deriving test schemes from product characteristics has proved successful, but is subject to further improvement (e.g. including as additional structuring elements the generic familiarity, and use-related criteria spanning from substitution to pharmacodynamic effectuation with supraphysiological dose regimes), and making better use of the present knowledge of sera, vaccines and other biologicals (and their regulation), thus facilitating easier planning and performance of relevant pre-clinical safety testing.     

Avalanche breakdown and the probabilistic nature of laser-induced damage

This paper discusses the probabilistic nature of the damaging interaction between light and matter. It is shown that when one recognizes that there is some probability to induce damage at any level of optical irradiation, then the reported irreproducible damage-resistance properties of many useful materials can be understood. This point of view also explains why some optical components may be safely irradiated many times before damage occurs, though no other change in the material can be detected prior to the observation of damage. Experimental data showing the probability for surface damage as a function of power density are presented for several materials. The dependence of damage probability on optical field strength is similar to that of the dc ionization coefficients for semiconductors and gases on the applied field. This observation is discussed and it is suggested that a form of avalanche breakdown might be the cause of laser-induced damage.     

Rate models for cyclic separation processes — comparison with experimental results in cyclic electrodialysis

Two rate models for cyclic separation processes are discussed in terms of their applicability to cyclic electrodialysis. Both the constant-rate model and the concentration-dependent-rate model predict little or no separation when the fluid displacement cycle is continuous and in phase with a continuous electric current cycle. Modification of the cycles by periodically interrupting either the electric current or the fluid flow, or by out-of-phase operation, leads to large separation. These observations are shown to be in agreement with previously published experimental results.     

A test of the proposition: We want to be esteemed most by those we esteem most highly.

To test the proposition, college Ss were first asked to list the names of 15 campus friends. Then S was requested to rank them, according to preference as a study partner ("scholastic esteem"), desire to have them join a club of S's ("social esteem"), and desire to give them esteemable social or scholastic information about self. The results indicated a significant correlation between social esteem and the desire for the esteemed to have esteemable social and scholastic information. The scholastically esteemed were more a target for scholastic than social data. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)