Electrical properties of N2O/NH3 plasma grownoxynitride on strained-Si

Growth of ultrathin (<100 Å) oxynitride on strained-Si using microwave N₂O and NH₃ plasma is reported. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results indicate a nitrogen-rich layer at the strained-Si/SiO₂ interface. The electrical properties of oxynitrides have been characterized using a metal-insulator-semiconductor (MIS) structure. A moderately low value of insulator charge density (6.1×10¹⁰ cm^-2) has been obtained for NH₃ plasma treated N₂O oxide sample. Nitrided oxide shows a larger breakdown voltage and an improved charge trapping properties under Fowler-Nordheim (F-N) constant current stress     

An automated, parallel processing approach to biomolecular sample preparation

Sample preparation for DNA and RNA assays is a prime candidate for laboratory automation. A novel, parallel processing device that performs the three separate liquid-handling functions necessary for such sample preparation-dispensing, pipetting, and pressurizing-is presented. The device comprises an array of fine nozzles connected by fluidic channels to automatically and precisely distribute flow between one source and an array of points. The design principles, as well as the experimental and computational methods used to develop the device, are described. Test results, including accuracy, uniformity, volume range, and timing, are presented. The functionality of the device is demonstrated by performing a solid-phase extraction of DNA with two types of microcolumns.     

Atomic-Resolution Structures and Mode of Action of Clinically Relevant Antimicrobial Peptides

Global rise of infections and deaths caused by drug-resistant bacterial pathogens are among the unmet medical needs. In an age of drying pipeline of novel antibiotics to treat bacterial infections, antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are proven to be valid therapeutics modalities. Direct in vivo applications of many AMPs could be challenging; however, works are demonstrating encouraging results for some of them. In this review article, we discussed 3-D structures of potent AMPs e.g., polymyxin, thanatin, MSI, protegrin, OMPTA in complex with bacterial targets and their mode of actions. Studies on human peptide LL37 and de novo-designed peptides are also discussed. We have focused on AMPs which are effective against drug-resistant Gram-negative bacteria. Since treatment options for the infections caused by super bugs of Gram-negative bacteria are now extremely limited. We also summarize some of the pertinent challenges in the field of clinical trials of AMPs.     

Rapid design space exploration by hybrid fuzzy search approach for optimal architecture determination of multi objective computing systems

Design Space Exploration (DSE) with multi-parametric objective in High Level Synthesis (HLS) involves assessing the various design points in the architecture design space to find the optimum solution for the design according to the system requirements specified. Due to the time to market pressure, the cost of solving the problem of architecture selection by exhaustive analysis is strictly forbidden. The tradeoffs linked to the selection of the appropriate design point during architecture evaluation needs careful assessment for efficient design space exploration. Further DSE requires satisfying multiple conflicting multi objective conditions such as increase in accuracy of evaluation during DSE with simultaneous speedup in the exploration process. This paper presents a novel hybrid design space exploration approach which is a combination of the Priority Factor (PF) method and Fuzzy search technique that is rapid and accurate in architecture evaluation and selection. The proposed approach for DSE when applied on a number of benchmarks yielded superior results compared to the current existing DSE approach for architecture selection. The comparison results of the proposed hybrid approach with the current existing approach for different benchmarks are shown and the speedups obtained are also presented.     

An Improved Method for Load Taxonomy Using Sample Shifting Technique and Signature Analysis

This paper illustrates an improved method of classification of electrical appliances, particularly for domestic loads, to construct load taxonomy on the basis of their signature analysis. Each electrical load is characterized by its own distinct signature and hence load signature analysis is useful in monitoring the health of the equipment, power quality, in determining individual energy usage etc. type of services. On the other hand, load taxonomy classifies these loads in several clusters on the basis of some features extracted from their signatures. In traditional methods of construction of load taxonomy, different signature patterns based on power metrics, V-I trajectories, Eigen vectors, etc. In this proposed method, with the adoption of sample shifting technique the required number of feature extraction is reduced to a lower value to find out various signature patterns than those are required in traditional load taxonomies. Moreover, a better taxonomy, having well separated groups of loads is achieved with lower number of extracted features.     

Simulation of single phase non-Newtonian flow characteristics of heavy crude oil through horizontal pipelines

The effect of diameter, velocity, and temperature on flow properties of heavy crude oil in three horizontal pipelines using computational fluid dynamics (CFD) was studied. The flow characteristics were simulated by using CFD software, ANSYS Fluent 6.2. The mesh geometry of the pipelines having inner diameter of 1, 1.5, and 2 inch were created by using Gambit 2.4.6. From grid independent study, 221, 365 mesh sizes were selected for simulation. The CFD ANSYS Fluent 6.2 Solver predicted the flow phenomena, pressure, pressure drop, wall shear stress, shear strain rate, and friction factor. A good agreement between experimental and CFD simulated values was obtained.     

Nano Molecular‐Platform: A Protocol to Write Energy Transmission Program Inside a Molecule for Bio‐Inspired Supramolecular Engineering

In a coded self‐assembly, a simple code is written in the molecule, which self‐assembles the molecules into a fractal like structure, which acts as a seed for the next step. As the molecule turns into a complex seed, the code transforms into another form and several seeds self‐assemble into another structure, which acts as a seed for the next step. Until now, this technology was considered as a prerogative of nature. Here, a dendritic network is used to write a basic code by synthetically attaching 32 molecular rotors and doping two controller molecules in its cavity. The code live, which is an energy transmission path in the molecule, is imaged. When the energy transmission path or code is triggered, a series of products generate one after another spontaneously. Two examples are: i) dendritic seed (5–6 nm)→paired nanowire (≈12 nm)→nanowire (≈200 nm)→microwire (500 nm)→wire like rod (1–2 μm)→jelly→rectangular sheet (5 μm). ii) dendritic seed→nano‐sphere (20 nm)→micro‐sphere (500 nm)→large balls(1 μm)→oval shape rod (5–10 μm)→Y, L or T shaped rod assembly. The energy level interactions are tracked using spectroscopy how exactly a directed energy transfer code generates multi‐step synthesis from nano to the visible scale.     

Error Detecting Dual Basis Bit Parallel Systolic Multiplication Architecture over GF（2^m）

An error tolerant hardware efficient verylarge scale integration （VLSI） architecture for bitparallel systolic multiplication over dual base, which canbe pipelined, is presented. Since this architecture has thefeatures of regularity, modularity and unidirectionaldata flow, this structure is well suited to VLSIimplementations. The length of the largest delay pathand area of this architecture are less compared to the bitparallel systolic multiplication architectures reportedearlier. The architecture is implemented using Austria Micro System＇s 0.35 μm CMOS （complementary metaloxide semiconductor） technology. This architecture canalso operate over both the dual-base and polynomialbase.     

Temperature behavior and compensation of light-emitting diode

This letter offers a fresh insight into the behavior of light-emitting diode (LED) over temperature. Theoretically and by measurement, it has been shown that equi-intensity curves in the diodes current-voltage plane are nearly a straight line over a very wide range of temperatures. Based on this property, bias voltage and resistance value of a bias circuit have been realized and practical measurement shows the peak-to-peak light intensity variation decreases from 99 % (in case of fixed current bias) to 6 % over the temperature range of -20 C to +80 C for the LED IN6092. This circuit uses no separate temperature sensor or compensating mechanism, but responds directly to the junction temperature of the diodes. This prevents any error caused by temperature gradient, or by self-heating due to power dissipation in the diode.