Photonic Demodulator With Sensitivity Control

A current assisted photonic demodulator for use as a pixel in a 3-D time-of-flight imager shows nearly 100% static demodulator contrast and is operable beyond 30 MHz. An integrated tunable sensitivity control is also presented for increasing the distance measurement range and avoiding unwanted saturation during integration periods. This is achieved by application of a voltage on a dedicated drain tap showing a quenching of sensor sensitivity to below 1%     

Thermoelectric Converters of Human Warmth for Self-Powered Wireless Sensor Nodes

Solar cells are the most commonly used devices in customer products to achieve power autonomy. This paper discusses a complementary approach to provide power autonomy to devices on a human body, i.e., thermoelectric conversion of human heat. In indoor applications, thermoelectric converters on the skin can provide more power per square centimeter than solar cells, particularly in adverse illumination conditions. Moreover, they work day and night. The first sensor nodes powered by human heat have been demonstrated and tested on people in 2004-2005. They used the state-of-the-art 100-muW watch-size thermoelectric wrist generators fabricated at IMEC and based on custom-design small-size BiTe thermopiles. The sensor node is completed with a power conditioning module, a microcontroller, and a wireless transceiver mounted on a watchstrap     

Development of a Tunable Multiband UWB Radar Sensor and Its Applications to Subsurface Sensing

Development of a new tunable multiband ultra-wideband (UWB) radar sensor is presented. The UWB sensor integrates the transmitter, receiver, and antennas completely in a single package using microwave integrated circuits and operates over multiple pulse durations or frequency bands. The sensor can transmit pulses with duration varying from 450 to 1170 ps and peak power from 200 to 400 mW and can detect signals with a conversion gain of 6.5-9.5 dB and a dynamic range of 50dB over a 5.5-GHz RF bandwidth. It has a range resolution of around 1 in. The sensor performs well through tests of various samples, demonstrating its success for subsurface sensing. The multipulse/multiband feature allows the sensor to achieve both fine-range resolution and long operating range and enhanced target detection and classification     

Systems that Should Have Failed: Critical Infrastructure Protection in an Institutionally Fragmented Environment

Recent years have witnessed major governmental initiatives regarding critical infrastructure protection (CIP). During that same time, critical infrastructures (CIs) have undergone massive institutional restructuring under the headings of privatization, deregulation and liberalization. Little research has gone into understanding the interactions between these two developments. In this article, we outline the consequences of institutional restructuring for the changing ways in which CIs ensure the reliability and security of their networks and services. Neither Normal Accident Theory nor High‐Reliability Theory can account for reliability under these conditions. We then investigate the implications of these findings for CIP.     

A single-grain approach applied to the modeling of recrystallization kinetics for cold-rolled single-phase metals

A comprehensive model for the recrystallization kinetics is proposed which incorporates both microstructure and the textural components in the deformed state. The model is based on the single-grain approach proposed previously. The influence of the as-deformed grain orientation, which affects the stored energy via subgrain size and sub-boundary misorientation, is taken into account. The effects of the deformed grain geometry, the nucleation-site density, and the initial grain size prior to deformation on the recrystallization kinetics are assessed. The model is applied to the recrystallization kinetics of a cold-rolled AA1050 alloy.     

Trenched‐Sinker LDMOSFET (TS‐LDMOS) Structure for 2 GHz Power Amplifiers

This paper proposes a new LDMOSFET structure with a trenched sinker for high‐power RF amplifiers. Using a low‐temperature, deep‐trench technology, we succeeded in drastically shrinking the sinker area to one‐third the size of the conventional diffusion‐type structure. The RF performance of the proposed device with a channel width of 5 mm showed a small signal gain of 16.5 dB and a maximum peak power of 32 dBm with a power‐added efficiency of 25% at 2 GHz. Furthermore, the trench sinker, which was applied to the guard ring to suppress coupling between inductors, showed an excellent blocking performance below ?40 dB at a frequency of up to 20 GHz. These results confirm that the proposed trenched sinker should be an effective technology both as a compact sinker for RF power devices and as a guard ring against coupling.     

Pin&Play: the surface as network medium

Integrating appliances in the home through a wired network often proves to be impractical: routing cables is usually difficult, changing the network structure afterward even more so, and portable devices can only be connected at fixed connection points. Wireless networks are not the answer either: batteries have to be regularly replaced or changed, and what they add to the device's size and weight might be disproportionate for smaller appliances. In Pin&Play, we explore a design space in between typical wired and wireless networks, investigating the use of surfaces to network objects that are attached to it. This article gives an overview of the network model, and describes functioning prototypes that were built as a proof of concept.     

A strategy for improving patient satisfaction by the intensive training of residents in psychosocial medicine: a controlled, randomized study

PURPOSE: To use a controlled, randomized design to assess the effect on patient satisfaction of an intensive psychosocial training program for residents. METHOD: Twenty-six first-year residents, in two internal medicine and family practice community-based programs affiliated with the Michigan State University College of Human Medicine, were randomly assigned during 1991 and 1992 to a control group or a one-month intensive training program. Experiential teaching focused on many psychosocial skills required in primary care. A 29-item questionnaire administered before and after the residents' training evaluated their patients' satisfaction regarding patient disclosure, physician empathy, confidence in physician, general satisfaction, and comparison of the physician with other physicians. Analyses of covariance with groups and gender as factors and pre-training patient satisfaction scores as the covariate evaluated the effect of the training. RESULTS: The patients of the trained residents expressed more confidence in their physicians (p = .01) and more general satisfaction (p = .02) than did the patients of controls. The effect of training on patient satisfaction with patient disclosure (p < .01) and physician empathy (p < .05) was greater for female than for male residents. CONCLUSION: The intensive psychosocial training program for residents improved their patients' satisfaction.