A 16-Mbit/s adapter chip for the IBM token-ring local area network

The authors describe a 9.02×9.02-mm chip built in 1-μm CMOS with two levels of metal and an additional mask level for fabricating capacitors. It contains both analog and digital circuits and has provisions for self-test. The function includes the transmitter, receiver, protocol handler, an microprocessor, as well as interfaces for RAM/ROM storage, IBM PC bus, IBM PS/2 bus, IBM 3174 bus, and Motorola 68000 bus. The physical design terrains are formed by 24K circuits of standard cell gates, a 10K-circuit equivalent hand-honed custom microprocessor, and an analog macro. The chip operates from a single 5-V supply, and the power consumption is 0.8 W nominal at 16 Mb/s. The chip can also be operated at 4 Mb/s     

Near-infrared diode laser based spectroscopic detection of ammonia: a comparative study of photoacoustic and direct optical absorption methods

A photoacoustic spectroscopic (PAS) and a direct optical absorption spectroscopic (OAS) gas sensor, both using continuous-wave room-temperature diode lasers operating at 1531.8 nm, were compared on the basis of ammonia detection. Excellent linear correlation between the detector signals of the two systems was found. Although the physical properties and the mode of operation of both sensors were significantly different, their performances were found to be remarkably similar, with a sub-ppm level minimum detectable concentration of ammonia and a fast response time in the range of a few minutes.     

An integrated high-performance beam optics-nuclear processes framework with hybrid transfer map-Monte Carlo particle transport and optimization

An integrated beam optics-nuclear processes framework is essential for accurate simulation of fragment separator beam dynamics. The code COSY INFINITY provides powerful differential algebraic methods for modeling and beam dynamics simulations in absence of beam-material interactions. However, these interactions are key for accurately simulating the dynamics of heavy ion fragmentation and fission. We have developed an extended version of the code that includes these interactions, and a set of new tools that allow efficient and accurate particle transport: by transfer map in vacuum and by Monte Carlo methods in materials. The new framework is presented, along with several examples from a preliminary layout of a fragment separator for a facility for rare isotope beams.     

Fields in electrical devices containing soft nonlinear magnetic materials

The Colorado method for the solution of the non-linear form of Laplace's, Poisson's, and the diffusion partial differential equations is explained. Various boundary conditions can be satisfied. The transformation of the partial differential equation into a large set of finite difference equations is given. The discretization is based on a grid system consisting of two sets of orthogonal grid lines. The resulting meshes are nonuniform. Successive line overrelaxation method is used for the solution of the nonlinear equations in two steps. For the improvement of convergence, two methods of acceleration of convergence are described.     

Psychodynamics and the unconscious.

The original New Look integrated the constructivist-psychodynamic traditions of F. C. Bartlett and Freud. The unconscious (A. G. Greenwald's "New Look 3"; see record 1992-33868-001) is a logically different idea, although in practice it is often intertwined with constructivist-psychodynamic approaches. The unconscious is a pretheoretic term with a variety of problems: It has multiple and unsettled meanings; null reports need not signify null awareness; the conscious–unconscious dichotomy implied by the limen may not exist; even "absolute subliminality" (chance-level accessibility) is relative to the time interval of testing, as accessibility can increase to above-chance levels over time (hypermnesia). Yet, the phenomena that the unconscious sloppily subsumes are not simple or dumb. The capacity of subliminal perception should not be confused with the capacity of subliminal (unconscious) memory and cognition. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Distributed and hardware accelerated computing for clinical medical imaging using proton computed tomography (pCT)

Proton computed tomography (pCT) is an imaging modality that has been in development to support targeted dose delivery in proton therapy. It aims to accurately map the distribution of relative stopping power. Because protons traverse material media in non-linear paths, pCT requires individual proton processing. Image reconstruction then becomes a time-consuming process. Clinical-use scenarios that require images from billions of protons in less than ten or fifteen minutes have motivated us to use distributed and hardware-accelerated computing methods to achieve fast image reconstruction. Combined use of MPI and GPUs demonstrates that clinically viable image reconstruction is possible. On a 60-node CPU/GPU computer cluster, we achieved efficient strong and weak scaling when reconstructing images from two billion histories in under seven minutes. This represents a significant improvement over the previous state-of-the-art in pCT, which took almost seventy minutes to reconstruct an image from 131 million histories on a single-CPU, single-GPU computer.     

Stress relaxation due to steam curing

A new equation for isothermal relaxation of stress-relieved steel previously derived, has been modified to study stress losses in prestressed elements due to steam curing of concrete. A calculation method is proposed, which takes into account the effect of loosening during heating and of releasing of the prestressing force. The theory predicts a complete stress stabilization after steam curing up to times depending on temperature and duration of the steam curing. Furthermore, for longer periods the theory predicts an increase of the relaxation values. Tests performed show an excellent agreement between theory and experimental results.     

The effect of response bias on recall performance, with some observations on processing bias.

We explored H. L. Roediger and D. G. Payne's (see record 1986-13690-001) proposal that response bias does not affect recall performance and that it is therefore not necessary to control for response productivity in recall studies. Two initial experiments, contrary to expectation, corroborated Roediger and Payne's findings: Forced recall did not produce more correct recalls than free recall, even though forced recall produced substantially more false alarms than did free recall. However, in succeeding experiments involving pictorial and verbal stimuli, reliable response-bias effects on recall were demonstrated. The stimuli yielding response-bias effects were those associated with higher probabilities of being guessed by chance. In addition, some of the data suggest that processing-bias effects (differential retrieval effort) may be unintentionally induced by instructions and may significantly affect recall memory. Consequently, it is necessary to assess or to control response-bias effects, and, possibly, processing-bias effects in recall experiments in which level of recall is of interest. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Investigations of diffusion kinetics in Si/Ta/Cu/W and Si/Co/Ta systems by secondary neutral mass spectrometry

Proper understanding of the degradation mechanisms and diffusion kinetics of copper and cobalt interconnections for advanced microelectronics is important from the point of view of fundamental research and technology as well. In this paper Si(substrate)/Ta(10 nm)/Cu(25 nm)/W(10 nm) and Si(substrate)/Co(150 nm)/Ta(10 nm) samples, prepared by DC magnetron sputtering, were in investigated. The samples were annealed at several temperatures ranging from 423 K to 823 K for various times. The composition distributions were detected by means of Secondary Neutral Mass Spectrometry (SNMS). Microstructural characterization of samples was carried out by means of Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM). It is shown that the changes in the composition profiles were mainly caused by grain boundary, GB, diffusion and the effective GB diffusion coefficients of Ta in Cu were determined both by the “first appearance” and “centre-gradient” methods. The activation energy is 100 kJ/mol. The importance of the Ta penetration into the Cu and its accumulation at the Cu/W interface can lead to an increase of the Ta content in the copper film. This can be an important factor in the change/degradation of the physical parameters (e.g. the electrical resistance) of interconnects. Furthermore a Ta segregation factor in Cu was evaluated. Preliminary results in the Si(substrate)/Co(150 nm)/Ta(10 nm) indicate fast (GB) diffusion of the Si into the Co layer, formation of a cobalt silicide layer at the Co/Si interface and Si accumulation first at the Ta/Co interface and later a retarded accumulation at the free Ta surface.