Ablation for the treatment of arrhythmias

Surgical ablation of supraventricular cardiac arrhythmias has been rendered obsolete by the various modalities of electromagnetic transcatheter ablation techniques. Any ablation technique, including surgery is essentially the controlled destruction of a substrate which is acting as a source or a critical circuit limb of an arrhythmia. The most successful and popular modality is radio frequency (RF) ablation although other modalities such as dc shock, laser, microwave, and ultrasound are also being investigated. This review discusses the role of electrical ablation, especially RF ablation, as a treatment for supraventricular tachyarrhythmia and reviews the engineering principles and biological responses to ablation. A brief synopsis of the results of electrical catheter ablation procedures is presented. RF catheter ablation is a successful technique in clinical arrhythmia management, with reported success rates of greater than 95% in many series. The indications for clinical RF catheter ablation continue to broaden     

标准串行交换技术蔚为主流 洞悉PCI Express与先进交换标准特性

背板互连特性 背板是位于机架内的互连装置,它可能具备或不具备智能功能,通常其上可以有各种插卡和电路板插在插槽上.被动式背板电路可能需要使用电阻、处理器或一些控制驱动器电路.过去,背板互连一直是附加的物理端口如插头、插座或无线端口,如发射器、接收器等装置.大部分情况下,背板上都会为交换卡保留1～2个插槽作为背板的基础架构和逻辑层.     

A High Throughput Configurable SDR Detector for Multi-user MIMO Wireless Systems

Spatial division multiplexing (SDM) in MIMO technology significantly increases the spectral efficiency, and hence capacity, of a wireless communication system: it is a core component of the next generation wireless systems, e.g. WiMAX, 3GPP LTE and other OFDM-based communication schemes. Moreover, spatial division multiple access (SDMA) is one of the widely used techniques for sharing the wireless medium between different mobile devices. Sphere detection is a prominent method of simplifying the detection complexity in both SDM and SDMA systems while maintaining BER performance comparable with the optimum maximum-likelihood (ML) detection. On the other hand, with different standards supporting different system parameters, it is crucial for both base station and handset devices to be configurable and seamlessly switch between different modes without the need for separate dedicated hardware units. This challenge emphasizes the need for SDR designs that target the handset devices. In this paper, we propose the architecture and FPGA realization of a configurable sort-free sphere detector, Flex-Sphere, that supports 4, 16, 64-QAM modulations as well as a combination of 2, 3 and 4 antenna/user configuration for handsets. The detector provides a data rate of up to 857.1 Mbps that fits well within the requirements of any of the next generation wireless standards. The algorithmic optimizations employed to produce an FPGA friendly realization are discussed.     

Spatial and Temporal Varying Thresholds for Cloud Detection in GOES Imagery

A new cloud detection technique has been developed and applied to GOES-12 Imager data. The bispectral composite threshold (BCT) technique uses only the 11- and 3.9- channels, and composite imagery generated from these channels, in a four-step cloud detection procedure to produce a binary cloud mask at single-pixel resolution. An innovative aspect of this algorithm is the use of 20-day composites of the 11- and the 11-3.9- channel difference imagery to represent spatially and temporally varying clear-sky thresholds for the bispectral cloud tests. The BCT cloud detection technique has been validated against a ldquotruthrdquo data set generated by the manual determination of the sky conditions from available satellite imagery for four seasons during 2003-2004. The day-and-night algorithm has been shown to determine the correct sky conditions 87.6% of the time (on average) over the eastern two-thirds of the U.S. and surroundings oceans. The incorrectly determined conditions arose from missing clouds 8.9% of the time or from overdetermining clouds 3.5% of the time. Nearly 82% of the misses came in the presence of low clouds. Only small variations in algorithm performance occurred between day-night, land-ocean, and between seasons. The algorithm performed best in the warmer seasons (90.9% correct during the summer versus 81.8% correct in the winter season) and during the day, when the solar illumination provides enhanced surface atmospheric cloud contrast in the infrared channels, and least well during the winter season. The algorithm was found to slightly underdetermine clouds at night and during times of low sun angle and tends to be cloud conservative during the day, particularly in the summertime.     

On the Development of Analogue Sampled-Data Signal Processing

This paper provides a historical perspective on thedevelopment of analogue sampled-data signal processing circuitsand systems. The evolution, role and current trends in the developmentof analogue sampled-data signal processing systems is surveyed.Firstly, the evolution of integrated circuit based techniques,culminating in the ubiquitous switched-capacitor technique istraced. Then the role that analogue sampled-data systems playwithin the context of a general information processing environmentis examined and the required characteristics are identified.Trends in silicon integrated circuit processing technology aresummarised and their impact on sampled analogue circuits areidentified. Finally, the application of analogue current-modetechniques, and in particular switched-currents, to overcomesome of the limitations of previous voltage based approaches,is discussed.     

iPhone出奇“智”胜系列——爱疯又爱聊

在这新新人类的社会里,人人都喜爱在网络中聊天,不管是与同学胡乱调侃、与另一半传达爱意,还是与同事召开网络会议。生活中,我们都离不开它。在家聊天可以靠电脑,但是出门在外,想聊个QQ或是MSN的话,该怎么办呢？这时候“爱疯”的“疯子”肯定会说“用iPhone嘛!”没错,iPhone作为以服务和程序为重点的手机产品,相关的聊天工具怎么可能会少呢？     

Stable Light-Emitting Electrochemical Cells Using Hyperbranched Polymer Electrolyte

The choice of an adequate electrolyte is a fundamental aspect in polymer light-emitting electrochemical cells (PLECs) as it provides the in situ electrochemical doping and influences the performance of these devices. In this study, a hyperbranched polymer (Hybrane DEO750 8500) blended with a Li salt is used as a novel electrolyte in state-of-the-art Super Yellow (a polyphenylenevinylene) based LECs. Due to the desirable properties of the hyperbranched polymer and the homogeneous and smooth films that it forms with the emitting polymer, PLEC with excellent electroluminescent properties are obtained using a pulsed current bias scheme. The devices are very stable, with lifetimes in excess of 2000 h with initial luminance values above 450 cd m⁻², a peak efficiency of 12.6 lm W⁻¹, and sub-minute turn-on times. The stability of the devices is also studied by measuring the photoluminescence (PL) of the semiconductor during electroluminescent operation. The findings suggest that it is possible to observe the quenching of the PL in vertically stacked devices due to the advancement of the doped fronts in the film and an immediate PL recovery when the bias is removed.     

Analysis of Heuristic Graph Partitioning Methods for the Assignment of Packet Control Units in GERAN

Over the last few years, graph partitioning has been recognized as a suitable technique for optimizing cellular network structure. For example, in a recent paper, the authors proposed a classical graph partitioning algorithm to optimize the assignment of cells to Packet Control Units (PCUs) in GSM-EDGE Radio Access Network. Based on this approach, the quality of packet data services in a live environment was increased by reducing the number of cell re-selections between different PCUs. To learn more about the potential of graph partitioning in cellular networks, in this paper, a more sophisticated, yet computationally efficient, partitioning algorithm is proposed for the same problem. The new method combines multi-level refinement and adaptive multi-start techniques with algorithms to ensure the connectivity between cells under the same PCU. Performance assessment is based on an extensive set of graphs constructed with data taken from a live network. During the tests, the new method is compared with classical graph partitioning approaches. Results show that the proposed method outperforms classical approaches in terms of solution quality at the expense of a slight increase in computing time, while providing solutions that are easier to check by the network operator.     

Chloride and Indium‐Chloride‐Complex Inorganic Ligands for Efficient Stabilization of Nanocrystals in Solution and Doping of Nanocrystal Solids

Here, the surface functionalization of CdSe and CdSe/CdS core/shell nanocrystals (NCs) with compact chloride and indium‐chloride‐complex ligands is reported. The ligands provide not only short interparticle distances but additionally control doping and passivation of surface trap states, leading to enhanced electronic coupling in NC‐based arrays. The solids based on these NCs show an excellent electronic transport behavior after heat treatment at the relatively low temperature of 190 °C. Indeed, the indium‐chlorido‐capped 4.5 nm CdSe NC based thin‐film field‐effect transistor reaches a saturation mobility of μ = 4.1 cm² (V s)^?1 accompanied by a low hysteresis, while retaining the typical features of strongly quantum confined semiconductor NCs. The capping with chloride ions preserves the high photoluminescence quantum yield ( ≈ 66%) of CdSe/CdS core/shell NCs even when the CdS shell is relatively thin (six monolayers). The simplicity of the chemical incorporation of chlorine and indium species via solution ligand exchange, the efficient electronic passivation of the NC surface, as well as their high stability as dispersions make these materials especially attractive for wide‐area solution‐processable fabrication of NC‐based devices.     

Atomic Ni Anchored Covalent Triazine Framework as High Efficient Electrocatalyst for Carbon Dioxide Conversion

Electrochemically driven carbon dioxide (CO₂) conversion is an emerging research field due to the global warming and energy crisis. Carbon monoxide (CO) is one key product during electroreduction of CO₂; however, this reduction process suffers from tardy kinetics due to low local concentration of CO₂ on a catalyst's surface and low density of active sites. Herein, presented is a combination of experimental and theoretical validation of a Ni porphyrin‐based covalent triazine framework (NiPor‐CTF) with atomically dispersed NiN₄ centers as an efficient electrocatalyst for CO₂ reduction reaction (CO₂RR). The high density and atomically distributed NiN₄ centers are confirmed by aberration‐corrected high‐angle annular dark field scanning transmission electron microscopy and extended X‐ray absorption fine structure. As a result, NiPor‐CTF exhibits high selectivity toward CO₂RR with a Faradaic efficiency of >90% over the range from ?0.6 to ?0.9 V for CO conversion and achieves a maximum Faradaic efficiency of 97% at ?0.9 V with a high current density of 52.9 mA cm^?2, as well as good long‐term stability. Further calculation by the density functional theory method reveals that the kinetic energy barriers decreasing for *CO₂ transition to *COOH on NiN₄ active sites boosts the performance.