New type of charged-particles detector based on point contacts formed in a GaAs-AlGaAs heterostructure by split-gates

We propose a new principle for a low temperature semiconductor detector of charged particles with possibly submicron lateral resolution based on point contacts formed in the 2-dimensional electron gas (2DEG) of a GaAs-Al_xGa_1-xAs heterostructure using split-gates. The detector operates up to liquid nitrogen temperatures. Impinging particles excite locally extra donors in the doping layer of the heterostructure. By measuring simultaneous increase in the conductances of 3 point contacts due to the impacts of charged particles the position of penetration is calculated using the Thomas-Fermi approximation for screening in 2DEG.     

Why should the steel industry do anything with their PCBtransformers?

EPA regulations force owners of PCB (polychlorinated biphenyl) equipment to carefully review regulatory compliance and develop PCB risk management programs. The EPA is currently planning new PCB regulations that may add additional PCB management requirements. The author briefly reviews the EPA regulations, highlighting the more commonly violated requirements. Several risk management techniques are presented and discussed. A method of quantifying PCB equipment owning cost is presented     

Detection of interphase instability from luminescence of reaction products

The reaction between chlorine and an alkaline solution of hydrogen peroxide is suggested for the investigation of chemothermocapillary convection [1].Vitebsk Branch of the Institute of Solid State and Semiconductors Physics, Academy of Sciences of Belarus, Vitebsk, Belarus. Translated from Inzhenerno-Fizicheskii Zhurnal, Vol. 66, No. 1, pp. 30–33, January, 1994.     

Hereditary neuralgic amyotrophy and hereditary neuropathy with liability to pressure palsies: two distinct clinical, electrophysiologic, and genetic entities

Fistulas secondary to Crohn's disease occur in about 33% of patients. A colobronchial fistula complicating Crohn's disease is very rare, having been reported only twice previously. We present an unusual fistula secondary to Crohn's colitis that originated from the splenic flexure and crossed the diaphragm to involve the bronchial tree.     

Adaptive digital notch filter design on the unit circle for theremoval of powerline noise from biomedical signals

Investigates adaptive digital notch filters for the elimination of powerline noise from biomedical signals. Since the distribution of the frequency variation of the powerline noise may or may not be centered at 60 Hz. Three different adaptive digital notch filters are considered. For the first case, an adaptive FIR second-order digital notch filter is designed to track the center frequency variation. For the second case, the zeroes of an adaptive IIR second-order digital notch filter are fixed on the unit circle and the poles are adapted to find an optimum bandwidth to eliminate the noise to a pre-defined attenuation level. In the third case, both the poles and zeroes of the adaptive IIR second-order filter are adapted to track the center frequency variation within an optimum bandwidth. The adaptive process is considerably simplified by designing the notch filters by pole-zero placement on the unit circle using some suggested rules. A constrained least mean-squared algorithm is used for the adaptive process. To evaluate their performance, the three adaptive notch filters are applied to a powerline noise sample and to a noisy EEG as an illustration of a biomedical signal     

Addressing substrate coupling in mixed-mode ICs: simulation andpower distribution synthesis

This paper describes new techniques for the simulation and power distribution synthesis of mixed analog/digital integrated circuits considering the parasitic coupling of noise through the common substrate. By spatially discretizing a simplified form of Maxwell's equations, a three-dimensional linear mesh model of the substrate is developed. For simulation, a macromodel of the fine substrate mesh is formulated and a modified version of SPICE3 is used to simulate the electrical circuit coupled with the macromodel. For synthesis, a coarse substrate mesh, and interconnect models are used to couple linear macromodels of circuit functional blocks. Asymptotic Waveform Evaluation (AWE) is used to evaluate the electrical behavior of the network at every iteration in the synthesis process. Macromodel simulations are significantly faster than device level simulations and compare accurately to measured results. Synthesis results demonstrate the critical need to constrain substrate noise and simultaneously optimize power bus geometry and pad assignment to meet performance targets     

Photonic packet switches: architectures and experimentalimplementations

Photonic packet switches offer high speed, data rate and format transparency, and flexibility required by future computer communications and cell-based telecommunications networks. In this paper, we review experimental progress in state-of-the-art photonic packet switches with an emphasis on all-optical guided-wave systems. The term all-optical implies that the data portion of a packet remains in optical format from the source to the destination. While the data remain all-optical, both optical and optoelectronic techniques have been used to process packet routing functions based on extremely simple routing protocols. An overview of the design issues for all-optical photonic packet switching is given and contrasted with electronic packet switch implementations. Low-level functions that have been experimentally implemented include routing, contention resolution, synchronization, and header regeneration. System level demonstrations, including centralized photonic switching and distributed all-optical multihop networks, will be reviewed     

ACT3: a high-speed, high-precision electrical impedance tomograph

Presents the design, implementation, and performance of Rensselaer's third-generation adaptive current tomograph, ACT3. This system uses 32 current sources and 32 phase-sensitive voltmeters to make a 32-electrode system that is capable of applying arbitrary spatial patterns of current. The instrumentation provides 16 b precision on both the current values and the real and reactive voltage readings and can collect the data for a single image in 133 ms. Additionally, the instrument is able to automatically calibrate its voltmeters and current sources and adjust the current source output impedance under computer control. The major system components are discussed in detail and performance results are given. Images obtained using stationary agar targets and a moving pendulum in a phantom as well as in vivo resistivity profiles showing human respiration are shown     

Calculation of shift of avalanche transit time phase delay due tooptically injected carriers in indium phosphide avalanche diodes

A computer method for the calculation of the phase shift due to optically injected carriers in an InP avalanche transit time diode has been suggested using the numerically simulated negative resistance profiles in the depletion layer of the diode. The results show that the phase shift due to hole injection is larger than that due to electron injection which explains the pronounced effect of photogenerated hole leakage current in modulating the microwave properties of InP diodes