Designing Urban Pervasive Systems

A conceptual framework for designing and analyzing pervasive systems describes three aspects of these systems in the urban environment—architectural space, interaction space, and information sphere—and a spectrum of information "publicness."     

Transconductance and mobility of Si:B delta MOSFETs

Delta-doped MOSFETs have been fabricated in MBE-grown silicon using for the first time boron as the dopant within the delta layer. Current-voltage characteristics have been measured, and secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS) is used to confirm the location of the delta layer and the extent of layer broadening by diffusion during processing. Precise threshold voltages of the devices are difficult to determine since the devices (which all operate in depletion mode) take several volts to switch off. Transconductances of the devices have been measured, and it is shown how analysis of these results can yield estimates of the carrier mobility for transport along the delta layers despite the uncertainty in the threshold voltage. A clear transition is observed in the results which is attributed to the formation of a parasitic surface-channel field-effect transistor, providing conclusive evidence that the devices are conducting along a delta channel for part of the measured range of applied gate biases     

ON THE MODELLING OF PARTICLE-BODY INTERACTIONS IN STOKES FLOWS INVOLVING A SPHERE AND CIRCULAR DISC OR A TORUS AND CIRCULAR CYLINDER USING POINT SINGULARITIES

Few exact solutions of the Stokes equations are known, even for steady or quasi-steady flows, involving finite sized bodies, and numerical techniques generally have to be resorted to for finding solutions. However, quite effective modelling of flows involving complicated boundary geometries is possible using the three-dimensional Stokeslet and rotlet point singularities. Two problems are studied in detail. In the first example, exact solutions for the three-dimensional Stokeslet and rotlet placed axisymmetrically along the axis of a circular disc are found and combined with Brenner's first order interaction formulae to determine the effect of the presence of the disc on the force and torque acting on a particle whose dimensions are small compared with its distance from the disc. The results are compared with those of a full numerical integration of the Stokes equations for a sphere translating towards a disc. In the second example, Brenner's first order wall correction theory is applied to the motion of a particle in a circular cylinder using the exact solutions for a torus translating or rotating in isolation. The theoretical predictions for the drag on a torus settling symmetrically in a circular cylinder are compared with those determined experimentally.     

Deep submicron CMOS based on silicon germanium technology

The advantages to be gained by using SiGe in CMOS technology are examined, Conventional MOSFETs are compared with SiGe heterojunction MOSFETs suitable for CMOS technology and having channel lengths between 0.5 and 0.1 μm. Two-dimensional computer simulation demonstrates that the improved mobility in the SiGe devices, due to higher bulk mobility and the elimination of Si/SiO₂ interface scattering by the inclusion of a capping layer, results in significant velocity overshoot close to the source-end of the channel. The cut-off frequency, f_t , is found to increase by around 50% for n-channel devices while more than doubling for p-channel devices for typical estimates of mobility. The results offer the prospect of a more balanced CMOS and improved circuit speed especially when using dynamic logic     

Production of hydroxyl radicals in contracting skeletal muscle of cats

Reactive oxygen species increase during exhaustive contraction of skeletal muscle, but characterization of the specific species involved and their rates of production during nonexhaustive muscle contraction have not been investigated. We hypothesized that the production rate of hydroxyl radical (.OH) increases in contracting muscle and that this rate is attenuated by pretreatment with deferoxamine (Def) or dimethylthiourea (DMTU). We measured the rate of production of .OH before, during, and after 5 min of intermittent static contraction of the triceps surae muscles in cats (n = 6) using the formation of p-, m-, and o-tyrosines by hydroxylation of phenylalanine. L-Phenylalanine (30 mg/kg i.v.) was administered to each animal 3 min before contraction. Blood samples were collected from the popliteal vein 1 min before contraction; 1, 3, and 4.5 min during contraction; and 1 min after contraction. During and after contraction, the cumulative production rates of p-, m-, and o-tyrosines were elevated by 42.84 +/- 5.41, 0.25 +/- 0.04, and 0.21 +/- 0.03 nmol.min-1.g-1, respectively, compared with noncontracting triceps surae muscles. Pretreatment with Def (10 mg/kg i.v.; n = 5) or DMTU (10 mg/kg i.v.; n = 4) decreased the cumulative rates of production of p-, m-, and o-tyrosines during and after contraction. Additionally, the rate of tyrosine production increased in proportion to the percentage of maximal tension developed by the triceps surae muscles. These results directly demonstrate that .OH is produced in vivo in the skeletal muscle of cats during intermittent static contraction and that production can occur before the onset of fatigue.     

Analogue micropowered log-domain tone controller for auditoryprostheses

A micropower tone-control circuit comprising two first-order log-domain filters and a subtractor built with MOS transistors in weak inversion is described. The tone-controller is capable of providing bass cut/boost and treble cut operations. This circuit is being used in new designs of a conventional (acoustic) hearing-aid and cochlear implant     

Sensor-tissue interactions in neurochemical analysis with carbon paste electrodes in vivo

Characterization of voltammetric signals recorded with microelectrodes in the living brain is fraught with difficulties. In addition to being anatomically complicated, brain tissue presents the analytical electrochemist with a complex chemical environment that includes surfactants (lipids), electrode poisons (proteins), electrocatalysts such as glutathione and ascorbic acid, and a tissue matrix that both restricts mass transport to the electrode surface and reacts physiologically to the presence of the probe. Identification of electrochemical signals recorded in vivo with carbon paste electrodes is discussed in the context of these problems. This examination shows that modification of both the electrode surface by tissue, and of the tissue environment by the electrode have important implications for voltammetric signal analysis in vivo. Despite these problems, valuable data on the relationship between behaviour and chemical changes in the brain can be obtained using in vivo electrochemical techniques.     

Correlation of vibrational intensity with fluorescence lifetimes in π conjugated polymers

A series of novel pi (π) conjugated polymers, originating from the archetypical Polyphenylene vinylene, in which the phenyl units are successively replaced by the larger naphthyl and anthryl acene units, were previously found to have a well-defined relationship between their relative fluorescence yields and their vibrational characteristics, as determined by Raman spectroscopy. In this study the Strickler-Berg equation is used to probe the influence of continual substitution of higher order acene units into the conjugated backbone in terms of the variation of the radiative and non-radiative rates. The deconvolution of the radiative and non-radiative rates enables the correlation of the reduction of the Raman intensity and concomitant increase in the fluorescence yield with the reduction of the non-radiative rate. This confirms that the reduction of the non-radiative rate is the dominant process introduced by the vibrational confinement originating from systematic substitution of higher order acene units into the polymer backbone.     

Isolation of translactone-containing triterpenes with thrombin inhibitory activities from the leaves of Lantana camara

Methanolic extracts prepared from the leaves of Lantana camara have been found to inhibit human thrombin. An assay, in which thrombin activity is measured as a function of clot formation from fibrinogen, was used to guide the fractionation and purification of five principal active constituents (1-5), which were all characterized as 5,5-trans-fused cyclic lactone-containing euphane triterpenes.