Influence of device engineering on the analog and RF performances of SOI MOSFETs

This work presents a systematic comparative study of the influence of various process options on the analog and RF properties of fully depleted (FD) silicon-on-insulator (SOI), partially depleted (PD) SOI, and bulk MOSFET's with gate lengths down to 0.08 /spl mu/m. We introduce the transconductance-over-drain current ratio and Early voltage as key figures of merits for the analog MOS performance and the gain and the transition and maximum frequencies for RF performances and link them to device engineering. Specifically, we investigate the effects of HALO implantation in FD, PD, and bulk devices, of film thickness in FD, of substrate doping in SOI, and of nonstandard channel engineering (i.e., asymmetric Graded-channel MOSFETs and gate-body contacted DTMOS).     

Combining natural language with direct manipulation: the conceptual framework for a hybrid human-computer interface

This paper describes the development of a conceptual model of an interaction system for future human-computer interaction. It is suggested that an integrated system is the most promising solution for diverse users and tasks. A ' hybrid interaction system' is considered, which tries to efficiently direct manipulation, menu selection, and natural language. The mechanism of the natural language interface module is described in more detail. Finally, the allocation of functionalities for generalized tasks on the conceptual model is considered from the taxonomic approach.     

Synthesis and properties of aminopropyl nucleic acids

Oligonucleotides that contain up to three aminopropyl nucleoside analogues have been synthesized. Dimers of aminopropyl adenine and thymidine were prepared and used as building blocks by applying phosphoramidite chemistry. Both R and S isomers of the aminopropyl nucleosides were used. This incorporation led to a reduction of thermal stability of double-stranded DNA. Furthermore, the (R)-adenine analogue, which yielded (S)-APNA, can be considered as a candidate for universal base pairing.     

A remark on the complexity of consistent conjunctive query answering under primary key violations

A natural way for capturing uncertainty in the relational data model is by allowing relations that violate their primary key. A repair of such relation is obtained by selecting a maximal number of tuples without ever selecting two tuples that agree on their primary key. Given a Boolean query q, CERTAINTY(q) is the problem that takes as input a relational database and asks whether q evaluates to true on every repair of that database. In recent years, CERTAINTY(q) has been studied primarily for conjunctive queries. Conditions have been determined under which CERTAINTY(q) is coNP-complete, first-order expressible, or not first-order expressible. A remaining open question was whether there exist conjunctive queries q without self-join such that CERTAINTY(q) is in PTIME but not first-order expressible. We answer this question affirmatively.     

Information and communication technologies in the life of university freshmen: An analysis of change

The passage from secondary school to university puts students in an environment with different expectations. Not only the expectations towards learning might change, but also towards ICT competences and computer use. The purpose of this article is to find out whether freshmen, after 6 months at the university, changed their self-perception of ICT competences and computer use in comparison with their behaviour at secondary school, and what factors can explain the self-perception of ICT competences and computer use in secondary school, in the university and their possible change. Based on a panel research among 714 freshmen of a large university, this article answers the following questions: (1) What is the self-perception of ICT competences among freshmen and is there a change in this self-perception 6 months after entering the university? (2) How often and for what purpose do freshmen use a computer and is there a change in the frequency of the use of a computer? (3) What factors might influence this attitude, behaviour, and possible change? In function of the basic components of Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (Venkatesh, Morris, Davis, & Davis, 2003) hypotheses was developed and tested to answer these questions. Students who consider the computer to be a useful instrument, have control over the computer, possess a certain level of Internet competence, and are at ease with computers are more likely to have the skills needed to maintain a computer, to develop a web site, and to use basic ICT skills. The predictors have little influence on Internet usage. The same predictors contribute modestly to the explanation of the different frequencies of computer use, and a few of the predictors explain parts of change in ICT skills and frequency of computer use.     

Antichains and compositional algorithms for LTL synthesis

In this paper, we present new monolithic and compositional algorithms to solve the LTL realizability problem. Those new algorithms are based on a reduction of the LTL realizability problem to a game whose winning condition is defined by a universal automaton on infinite words with a k-co-Büchi acceptance condition. This acceptance condition asks that runs visit at most k accepting states, so it implicitly defines a safety game. To obtain efficient algorithms from this construction, we need several additional ingredients. First, we study the structure of the underlying automata constructions, and we show that there exists a partial order that structures the state space of the underlying safety game. This partial order can be used to define an efficient antichain algorithm. Second, we show that the algorithm can be implemented in an incremental way by considering increasing values of k in the acceptance condition. Finally, we show that for large LTL formulas that are written as conjunctions of smaller formulas, we can solve the problem compositionally by first computing winning strategies for each conjunct that appears in the large formula. We report on the behavior of those algorithms on several benchmarks. We show that the compositional algorithms are able to handle LTL formulas that are several pages long.     

Semantic-based web service discovery and chaining for building an Arctic spatial data infrastructure

Increasing interests in a global environment and climate change have led to studies focused on the changes in the multinational Arctic region. To facilitate Arctic research, a spatial data infrastructure (SDI), where Arctic data, information, and services are shared and integrated in a seamless manner, particularly in light of today's climate change scenarios, is urgently needed. In this paper, we utilize the knowledge-based approach and the spatial web portal technology to prototype an Arctic SDI (ASDI) by proposing (1) a hybrid approach for efficient service discovery from distributed web catalogs and the dynamic Internet; (2) a domain knowledge base to model the latent semantic relationships among scientific data and services; and (3) an intelligent logic reasoning mechanism for (semi-)automatic service selection and chaining. A study of the influence of solid water dynamics to the bio-habitat of the Arctic region is used as an example to demonstrate the prototype.     

Urinary aflatoxin M1 in Port-au-Prince and a rural community in north-east Haiti

Aflatoxins (AFs) are hepatocarcinogenic mycotoxins that can contaminate grains and oil seeds in tropical and sub-tropical areas and have been detected in maize and peanut products of Haiti. The first objective was to assess human exposure to AFs among Haitians at an urban hospital (GHESKIO) and a rural health centre (HCBH). The second objective was to test the association between AF exposure and reported dietary intake of potentially contaminated foods, such as maize, peanut products and milk. Measurement of urinary AFM1 by HPLC revealed that among 367 participants 14% and 22% at GHESKIO and HCBH, respectively, had detectable AFM1. The maximum and median AFM1 concentrations for all detected samples were 700 pg AFM1 ml^–1 and 11.7 pg ml^–1, respectively. Detection of AFM1 was significantly associated with peanut consumption (p < 0.05). Controlling for diet and age group in a logit model, patients who reported peanut consumption the day of the survey and patients from HCBH had greater log odds of excreting detectable AFM1 (p < 0.001 and 0.002, respectively); females had lower log odds (p = 0.020). Recalled frequency of consuming non-dairy animal-sourced foods, an indicator of diet quality, approached significance (p = 0.056) as an inverse predictor of urinary AFM1 detection. The findings augur the need for interventions that will improve food safety in Haiti and limit exposure to AFs, particularly among rural communities.