A device to measure the cross-sectional area of soft connectivetissues

A device has been designed and fabricated to measure the cross-sectional area of soft connective tissues ex vivo. It consists of two displacement transducers; one sensing tissue thickness and the other sensing width. Outputs are recorded (via an analog to digital interface) using a personal computer. Numerical integration of a thickness versus width plot computes cross-sectional area. This plot also provides a quality check of acquired data. This device has been successfully used in biomechanical studies of rabbit patellar tendons, rat medial collateral ligaments, and dissected specimens of human fascia.     

Electrical and optical feedback in an InGaAs/InP light-amplifyingoptical switch (LAOS)

A circuit model for optical and electrical feedback has been developed to investigate the cause of negative differential resistance (NDR) switching in a series connected heterojunction phototransistor (HPT) light-emitting diode (LED) device. The model considers optical feedback from the light generated in the LED, electrical feedback from the holes thermally emitted over the LED cladding layer, nonlinear gain of the HPT, the Early effect, and leakage resistance. The analysis shows that either electrical or optical feedback can be the dominant cause for the NDR, depending upon their relative strengths. The NDR observed in the devices was caused primarily by electrical feedback since the optical feedback is weak. For low input power, avalanche breakdown appears to initiate the NDR in the devices although avalanching alone cannot cause NDR     

Extending the power line LAN up to the neighborhood transformer

This article reports on the performance of audio, video, multimedia, and other high-data-rate in-home networking applications. The article starts by describing the problems encountered in power line communication channels in terms of frequency response and noise characteristics, and explains how in-home power line LANs can be extended to the neighborhood transformer. OFDM physical layers providing speeds of 45 Mb/s and 200 Mb/s as well as QoS and security are introduced. Finally, the results of large tests involving several thousands of nodes are described.     

The origination and optimization of Si/SiO/sub 2/ interface roughness and its effect on CMOS performance

As CMOS device dimensions scale down to 100 nm and beyond, the interface roughness between Si and SiO/sub 2/ has become critical to device performance and reliability. Si/SiO/sub 2/ interface roughness degrades channel mobility decreasing drive currents. The authors have used atomic force microscopy to study surface roughness in the processing of 0.16 /spl mu/m CMOS integrated circuits. All of the process steps that could potentially affect the interface roughness have been studied. The results show that oxidation is the major contributor to the interface roughness. The rms roughness is found to be linearly dependent on oxide thickness. Transistors with Si/SiO/sub 2/ interface rms roughness that has been reduced from 1.6 to 1.1 /spl Aring/ by reducing oxide thicknesses show improved device drive currents. This technique for interfacial smoothing and device performance improvement has the advantage of being easily implemented in today's technology.     

Improved Poisson intensity estimation: denoising application using Poisson data

Recently, Timmermann and Nowak developed algorithms for estimating the means of independent Poisson random variables. The algorithms are based on a multiscale model where certain random variables are assumed to obey a beta-mixture density function. Timmermann and Nowak simplify the density estimation problem by assuming the beta parameters are known and only one mixture parameter is unknown. They use the observed data and the method of moments to estimate the unknown mixture parameter. Taking a different approach, we generate training data from the observed data and compute maximum likelihood estimates of all of the beta-mixture parameters. To assess the improved performance obtained by the proposed modification, we consider a denoising application using Poisson data.     

MPEG-21: The 21st century multimedia framework

The lack of interoperable (and thus standardized) solutions is stalling the deployment of advanced multimedia packaging and distribution applications although most of the individual technologies are indeed already present. This motivated MPEG (ISO/IEC JTCl SC29 WGI I) in June 2000 to start working on the definition of enabling normative technology for the multimedia applications of the 21st century: MPEG-21 "Multimedia Framework." MPEG-21's approach is to define a framework to support transactions that are interoperable and highly automated, specifically taking into account digital rights management (DRM) requirements and targeting multimedia access and delivery using heterogeneous networks and terminals. This article first outlines the context and background of the MPEG-21 initiative. Then, an overview of MPEG-21 technology is given. Subsequently, it is discussed how MPEG-21 can provide solutions for universal multimedia access (UMA). UMA is also one of the use cases that has led to the creation of a new part in MPEG-21 dealing with digital item adaptation. Finally, this article concludes with an overview of MPEG-21 related activities and an outlook on future developments.     

An investigation of bulk recycling planning for an electronics recycling facility receiving industrial returns versus residential returns

Since most end-of-life electronics equipment contain hazardous materials such as lead solder alloys or lead-impregnated glass, it is important to divert them from landfills. For end-of-life products that are not repairable and do not contain reusable parts, bulk recycling is an alternative to recover base materials. In this paper, we contrast production and recycling planning and distribution decisions, activities, and costs. We reveal that while a traditional production facility connects suppliers and customers, a recycling facility connects both "input" and "output" customers. As a result, decisions in short-term bulk recycling planning include what products to accept, what products to process and reprocess, and what products to carry in inventory. Many recyclers set prices to receive "input" based on experience. For various prices to receive "input", we use a new analytical model to investigate the sensitivity of the short-term bulk recycling planning decisions in products from two different sources: industrial returns versus residential returns. The results of the case study show that different decisions are recommended for the industrial returns versus the residential returns when the total quantity of the incoming products is equal.     

Accidents,often the result of an ‘uncontrolled business process’—a study in the (Dutch) chemical industry

Often companies in the (petro‐) chemical industry claim that all possible countermeasures against potential accidents have been taken and therefore accidents are unforeseeable. In this paper we question this statement by analysing the pre‐warning signals (precursors) preceding a number of industrial accidents. 17 accidents that occurred in the (petro‐) chemical industry have been investigated by exploring FACTS, an accident database containing information about industrial accidents worldwide. This paper will demonstrate that the existence of precursor information could have been used to foresee and even prevent these accidents if a proper control action had been initiated. The accidents are analysed further, according to a control model, which was adapted from that of C. Argyris. It demonstrates the ineffectiveness of several elements of business process control loops and that the so‐called ‘double‐loop learning’ cycle is more important than the ‘single‐loop learning’ cycle if one considers safety improvement. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of backbone fluorination on the carrier mobility in alkoxy and alkyl substituted conducting polymers of the poly(phenylenevinylene) type

Summary We report the synthesis of some new backbone fluorinated polymers of the poly(phenylenevinylene) type. The new polymers were characterised by NMR, SEC and X-ray powder diffraction. The charge carrier mobilities were determined using pulse radiolysis time resolved microwave conductivity (PR-TRMC) and the carrier mobilities were compared to the similar non-fluorinated analogues. The changes in charge carrier mobilities as a function of molecular substitution pattern is discussed in terms of other materials properties such as electronic structure and absorption properties. The major result is that it was found possible for this type of material to alter the electronic energy levels by molecular substitution without imparting significant changes in the magnitude of the charge carrier mobilities and the optical properties.     

Control of a Batch Processing Machine Serving Compatible Job Families

We consider the control of a single batch processing machine with random arrivals, random processing times, and compatible job families (jobs from different families may be processed together in the same batch, with the processing time distribution of the entire batch determined by the job family in the batch having the greatest expected processing time). The objective is to minimize the long-run average time that jobs spend in the system. We present properties possessed by the optimal policies and discuss the structure of these policies. We next develop a simple heuristic scheduling policy to control the machine. Simulation results are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of our heuristic over a wide range of problem instances.