bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Progressive Myoclonus Epilepsy of Unverricht‐Lundborg Type
Authors: Lehesjoki Anna‐Elina , Koskiniemi Marjaleena
Published: August 2005

Progressive myoclonus epilepsy of Unverricht‐Lundborg type (EPM1) is characterized by onset at age 6–15 years, stimulus‐sensitive myoclonus, tonic‐clonic seizures, and typical EEG findings, with marked sensitivity to photic stimulation. Previously the course of the disease was progressive throughout the life, and no biochemical or pathologic marker existed for the diagnosis of EPM1. With modern anticonvulsive therapy, the prognosis has improved significantly, the symptoms are nowadays relatively well controlled, and the disease may not always progress. Moreover, the molecular genetic findings have now made possible an etiologic diagnosis of EPM1. The positional cloning strategy was applied to identify the gene whose defects are responsible for EPM1. The underlying gene encodes cystatin B, a cysteine protease inhibitor. The major mutation worldwide is an unstable expansion of a dodecamer minisatellite repeat unit in the promoter region of the cystatin B gene. In addition, five “minor” mutations have been described. Cystatin B mutations are now known to account for both Mediterranean myoclonus and for “Baltic” myoclonus, described mainly from Finland, thus solving a long‐term controversy and proving that these two disorders are one single disease entity. The pathogenetic mechanisms in EPM1 are yet unknown, but in the majority of patients, a reduced level of the cystatin B gene product seems to be the primary mechanism in the pathology. Understanding the molecular pathogenesis of EPM1 may lead to the development of specific therapies for the disease.
Review of Controlled Trials of Gabitril (Tiagabine): A Clinician's Viewpoint
Authors: Loiseau Pierre
Published: August 2005

Summary: A recent problem for doctors has been the choice of which new antiepileptic drug (AED) to select for treatment of pharmacoresistant epilepsy. This article summarizes the clinical experience to date regarding the efficacy and safety of tiagabine (TGB; Gabitril) as adjunctive therapy in patients with partial‐onset seizures. In its early Phase II development, TGB was evaluated in two multicenter pilot studies. Each had an open‐label enrichment phase followed by a treatment phase with randomized, double‐blind, two‐period, cross‐over phases. Between 24 and 50% of patients experienced reductions in seizure rates of ≥50%, depending on the type of partial seizure. In Phase III, three double‐blind, parallel group, placebo‐controlled adjunctive studies determined the efficacy of TGB in patients with refractory partial seizures. The first was a dose‐response study employing doses of TGB‐HCl of 16, 32 or 56 mg/day. Significant reductions in seizure rates were found with 32 and 56 mg/day. The second and third studies evaluated the efficacy of dosing TGB twice, three times, and four times daily, all of which showed similar efficacy. TGB efficacy in partial seizures was supported in several open trials, and no tolerance to efficacy was noted in long‐term continuation studies. Tolerability was documented in all trials. Most adverse events were mild or moderate and transient, occurring during dose titration. They were clearly dose‐related. No relevant changes in hematologic and biochemical tests, vital signs, or body weight were attributable to TGB. TGB appears to be an effective new drug for partial seizures with an acceptable safety profile.
Mutual Benefits from Epilepsy Surgery in Developed and Developing Countries
Authors: Nayel Mohamed H.
Published: August 2005

Summary: The last three decades have seen tremendous progress in the surgical management of patients with intractable epilepsy involving all facets of diagnosis, localization, operative technique, and research. Unfortunately, such progress has taken place and is in operation only in the developed countries of North America, Europe, and Japan. Epilepsy surgery programs in the developing countries of South America, Asia, and particularly Africa, if they exist at all, are the result of the individual efforts of physicians who were fortunate enough to receive their training abroad. These physicians face difficulties in financing their programs and in obtaining the necessary equipment, and they work without the assistance of trained personnel or technicians. The exchange of experience between physicians in developed and developing countries may be mutually beneficial. In the face of the high cost of health care in developed countries, it is unrealistic to expect patients with intractable epilepsy to continue to undergo elaborate investigative procedures indefinitely. On the other hand, physicians in developing countries need to keep updated on the latest technology and research and have to receive the necessary support from developed countries to slowly build up their programs. The global perspective of physicians dealing with epilepsy patients may be broadened by exposure to the experience from the “other side of the fence” and will ultimately lead to better patient education and more focused patient care.
Characterizing the Patterned Images That Precipitate Seizures and Optimizing Guidelines To Prevent Them
Authors: Wilkins Arnold , Emmett John , Harding Graham
Published: August 2005

Summary:  The use of guidelines to prevent the broadcast of epileptogenic television program content has reduced the incidence of seizures in Britain and Japan. Epileptogenic content includes both flicker and patterns. The guidelines for flicker were developed on the basis of a model that related stimulus parameters to the proportion of patients affected. We here extend the model to pattern stimuli. A set of rules is advocated that keeps the level of risk to a consistent minimum and simplifies compliance. We propose that striped patterns that last >0.5 s, occupy more than one fourth the area of the screen, and have bright stripes >50 cd/m2 in luminance be restricted as regards the number of cycles admissible. The guidelines are estimated to protect at least two thirds of susceptible patients.
Is the Sleep‐deprivation EEG a Burden for Both Child and Parent?
Authors: Nijhof Sanne L. , Bakker Annelies L. M. , Van Nieuwenhuizen Onno , Oostrom Kim , Van Huffelen Alexander C.
Published: August 2005

Summary:  Background and Purpose: Inducing sleep deprivation is supposed to increase interictal epileptic discharges on EEGs from children suspected of having epilepsy. Although it is supposed that depriving a child from sleep is a burden for both child and parent, this assumption has not been investigated in any study so far.

Methods: To analyze the perception of the sleep deprivation procedure, we developed two questionnaires, one for the parent and one for the child over ten years of age at the time of the SDEEG. These questionnaires were sent to parents of all 179 patients and 47 children (older than ten) from which a SDEEG was obtained because of suspected epilepsy. A total of 103 questionnaires were returned by the parents and 18 by the children. The extent to which the SDEEG turned out to be inconvenient was assessed with regard to issues that covered the psychological and physical impact of the SDEEG.

Results: Our results showed that the whole procedure of the SDEEG proved to be a burden for 18.6% of the parents and 23.5% of the children. 49.6% of the parents reported complaints including their child‐ like fatigue, illness and in 2 cases even an increase in seizure frequency. Overall, 47.1% of the children described having symptoms the next day. These consisted mainly of fatigue.

Conclusion: Our survey shows that the SDEEG places a notable burden on both parent and child. This should be taken into consideration before requesting an SDEEG.
Status Gelasticus after Temporal Lobectomy: Ictal FDG‐PET Findings and the Question of Dual Pathology Involving Hypothalamic Hamartomas
Authors: Palmini Andre , Van Paesschen Wim , Dupont Patrick , Van Laere Koen , Van Driel Guido
Published: August 2005

Summary: Purpose:To present the first ictal fluorodeoxyglucose–positron emission tomography (FDG‐PET) evidence of the hypothalamic origin of gelastic seizures in a patient with a hypothalamic hamartoma (HH) and to raise the issue oftruedual pathology related to this entity.

Methods:Ictal FDG‐PET was acquired during an episode of status gelasticus with preserved consciousness, in a patient previously operated on for complex partial seizures (CPSs) due to a temporal lobe epileptogenic cyst.

Results:Ictal hypermetabolism was localized to the region of the HH during the status gelasticus. CPSs had been completely eliminated after temporal lobe surgery.

Conclusions:Ictal FDG‐PET independently confirmed that gelastic seizures in patients with HH do originate in the diencephalic lesion. An HH may coexist with another epileptogenic lesion, in a context of dual pathology.
Pattern‐reversal Visual Evoked Potentials in Patients with Newly Diagnosed Epilepsy
Authors: Genç Bülent O. , Genç Emine , Güney Figen , İlhan Nurhan
Published: August 2005

Summary:  Purpose: The possible occurence of evoked potential (EP) abnormalities in patients with newly diagnosed epilepsy has been little investigated. The main purpose of the present study was to investigate possible changes in pattern‐reversal visual evoked potential (P‐VEP) responses in newly diagnosed epilepsy patients.

Methods: By using P‐VEPs, latency values of the N75 and P100 together with amplitude values of P100 were recorded in newly diagnosed idiopathic epilepsy patients. The patients comprised two groups; nonphotosensitive (non‐PS), and photosensitive (PS) patients.

Results: Shortened N75 and normal P100 latencies of the P‐VEP with higher than normal P100 amplitudes were detected in PS patients. In non‐PS patients, N75 latencies of the P‐VEPs were unaffected; however, P100 latencies were prolonged, and P100 amplitudes were unchanged.

Conclusions: P‐VEPs are different from those of controls in previously untreated idiopathic epilepsy patients. Results also indicate different P‐VEP features in patients with and without photoparoxysmal responses. The changes might be the result of a disorder of one or more neurotransmitters or subtle morphologic damage such as microdysgenesis.
Tissue Doppler Imaging Identifies Asymptomatic Normotensive Diabetics with Diastolic Dysfunction and Reduced Exercise Tolerance
Authors: Saraiva Roberto M. , Duarte Dario M. , Duarte Monica P.C. , Martins Adriana F. , Poltronieri Alexandre V.G. , Ferreira Maria E. , Silva Marcia C. , Hohleuwerger Rosangela , Ellis Alberto , Rachid Mauricio B. , Monteiro Carla F.C. , Kaiser Sérgio E.
Published: August 2005

Background: Early recognition of heart disease in diabetics is a highly desirable goal, and diastolic dysfunction, one of its earliest manifestations, can be readily assessed by tissue Doppler imaging. We tested in normotensive diabetics without signs of coronary artery disease whether tissue Doppler imaging would improve the diagnosis of diastolic dysfunction beyond classical criteria and identify patients already presenting impaired cardiac performance. Methods: We studied 79 patients (56 males, 55 type‐2 diabetes mellitus) who underwent Doppler echocardiography, and exercise testing. Diastolic dysfunction was diagnosed either based on European Study Group on Diastolic Heart Failure guidelines or by tissue Doppler imaging provided that both of the following criteria were met: Em/Am ratio <1; and Em < 8.5 cm/sec. Results: Tissue Doppler imaging identified diastolic dysfunction in 26.6% of diabetics, while classical criteria did so in 40.5% of the cases. The group identified by classical criteria did not differ significantly from patients without diastolic dysfunction, while in the group identified by Tissue Doppler imaging, significant differences were highlighted, including worse exercise tolerance and higher left ventricular mass index. Moreover, in multiple regression analysis, Em myocardial velocity and body mass index were the only variables independently related to exercise tolerance. Conclusion: Differently from classical criteria based on pulsed Doppler, Tissue Doppler imaging identifies a group of asymptomatic normotensive diabetics with diastolic dysfunction and reduced exercise tolerance. Confirmation of the prognostic importance of our findings could justify the use of Tissue Doppler imaging for diastolic function assessment in diabetics with otherwise healthy hearts.
Determinants of State Utilization of Public Institutions for Persons with Intellectual Disabilities in the United States
Authors: Rizzolo Mary C. , Heller Tamar , Braddock David
Published: August 2005

Abstract  Tested was a political socio‐economic model of state institution utilization for persons with intellectual disabilities in the United States. The variables examined included state personal income, political culture, legislative professionalism, size of state's chapter of The Arc, state spending per capita on the Home and Community Based Services (HCBS) Waiver, and utilization of nursing homes for the elderly. Results indicate the significance of the political culture and HCBS Waiver variables.
Evidence‐based emergency medicine at the ‘coal face’
Authors: Than Martin , Bidwell Susan , Davison Carol , Phibbs Rebecca , Walker Marg
Published: August 2005

While evidence‐based medicine may be trumpeted by zealots, managers and politicians, incorporating it into clinical practice is easier said than done. The present article aims to show that it can be achieved and gives some clinical examples to illustrate this. An appendix contains a summary of useful databases and websites for accessing good medical information and evidence, quickly and reliably near the bedside.
Evidence‐based medicine: Arguments for and against
Authors: Doherty Steven
Published: August 2005

In this article I will discuss the various definitions of evidence‐based medicine (EBM), and summarize the application, criticisms and limitations of EBM. The spectrum of evidence, from pathophysiological inference to randomized controlled trials, will be presented as a mechanism for filtering bias with more rigorous evidence being required when bias is more likely. Although randomized controlled trials and meta‐analyses are at the top of the evidence hierarchy, they are not always necessary, might not be the most appropriate forms of evidence for some clinical questions, and have their own limitation that need to be understood. Best available evidence, applied to individual patients, is the corner stone of EBM. Although there are valid criticisms and limitations of EBM, if these are understood then the practice of EBM can provide guidance to the clinician and enhance patient care.
Diagnostic use of C‐reactive protein in bacteraemic emergency department patients
Authors: Adams Nicholas G
Published: August 2005

Objective:  To assess C‐reactive protein (CRP) as a marker of bacteraemia in ED patients.

Methods:  A retrospective review of a convenience sample of adult patients was conducted at an urban, tertiary care, academic ED. Patients were included in the present study if they had CRP and blood cultures taken during their ED assessment. Neutropenic patients were excluded. Sensitivity, specificity, predictive values and likelihood ratios for CRP in the detection of bacteraemia were calculated.

Results:  Over a 12 month period 1214 patients were included in the present study. Blood cultures were positive in 77 (6.3%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 5.0–7.6%), and contaminated in 33 (2.7%, 95% CI 1.8–3.6%). An elevated CRP was 94% sensitive (95% CI 86–98%) and 18% specific (95% CI 16–20%) for concurrent bacteraemia. The positive likelihood ratio for bacteraemia with an elevated CRP was 1.15 (95% CI 1.07–1.23), and the negative likelihood ratio was 0.33 (95% CI 0.23–0.49).

Conclusion:  Although the present study has limitations, it appears to show that CRP has limited diagnostic utility for the detection of bacteraemia in ED patients.
On the Treatment of Uncertainties and Probabilities in Engineering Decision Analysis
Authors: Faber Michael Havbro
Published: August 2005

In the present paper an introduction is initially given on the interpretation of uncertainty and probability in engineering decision analysis and it is explained how, in some cases, uncertainties may change type depending on the “scale” of the applied modeling and as a function of time. Thereafter it is attempted to identify and outline the generic character of different engineering decision problems and to categorize these as prior, posterior, and preposterior decision problems, in accordance with the Bayesian decision theory. Finally, input is given to an ongoing discussion concerning the correctness and consistency of uncertainty modeling applied in the most recent reliability updating analysis for structural requalification and inspection and maintenance planning. To this end an outline is given in regard to appropriate uncertainty treatment in the probabilistic modeling for different types of decision problems.
A Nearshore Wave Energy Atlas for Portugal
Authors: Pontes M. T. , Aguiar R. , Oliveira Pires H.
Published: August 2005

The nearshore wave energy resource in Portugal has been assessed through the development of ONDATLAS. This is an electronic atlas, compatible with Internet access, containing comprehensive wave climate and wave energy statistics for 78 points at about 20m water depth spaced variably ca.5-30km, 5 points at deep water, and 2 points at open ocean locations. The data were produced by a third-generation wind-wave model, complemented by an inverse-ray model that computes the directional spectra transformation from open ocean to the nearshore. Shoaling, refraction, bottom dissipation, and shelter by the coastline and/or neighboring islands are taken into account. ONDATLAS statistics comprise yearly and monthly values, variability and probability data for significant wave height, energy (mean) period, peak period and wave power, and directional histograms for wave and power direction. Joint probability distributions for various combinations of the above parameters are also available, as well as extreme values and return period for wave height and period parameters. A summary of the detailed verification of this model using long-term buoy measurements at four sites is presented. The main characteristics of ONDATLAS are described. The strong spatial variability that wave conditions exhibit at the coastal area are illustrated and a brief assessment of the nearshore resource at the Portugal mainland is presented.
Initial interface formation of Ta-based barriers on SiLK™ low dielectric constant films
Authors: Liu J. , Scharnberg M. , Bao J. , Im J. , Ho P. S.
Published: August 2005

Tantalum and its nitride were deposited onto dense SiLK™ low dielectric constant (low-k) films with e-beam evaporation and atomic layer deposition (ALD). In situ x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) studies revealed that the e-beam evaporated Ta formed charge-transfer complexes on the SiLK™ surface. Conventional thermal ALD process using TaCl5 chemistry had ready nucleation on the SiLK™ surface. Absence of “carbide”-like peak in C1s spectra throughout deposition suggested a similar interface formation mechanism. After an initial dielectric interface, the final nitride film was found to be metallic by e-beam evaporation but dielectric Ta3N5 by atomic layer deposition. XPS uptake curves indicated the thinnest interface for ALD Ta3N5 and the thickest interface for PVD Ta. This can be attributed to suppressed diffusion of Ta atoms in the presence of NH3 and limited diffusion of TaCl5 molecules in SiLK™.
Thermal excitation effects of photoluminescence of annealed GaInNAs∕GaAs quantum-well laser structures grown by plasma-assisted molecular-beam epitaxy
Authors: Wang S. Z. , Yoon S. F. , Fan W. J. , Liu C. Y. , Yuan S.
Published: August 2005

Ga In N As ∕ Ga As quantum well laser structures have been grown by plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy. Rapid thermal annealing was applied to suppress the nitrogen-related localized states in the material. These nitrogen-related localized states significantly quench the photoluminescence due to its low radiative recombination efficiency, compared to band-to-band transitions. Further, the thermal excitation processes of carriers from localized states to extended states result in the high temperature-sensitivity of light emission, which may lead to a low characteristic temperature if such structures are used in a laser diode. Our experiments have shown that annealing at 760°C for 120s is insufficient to totally eliminate the nitrogen-related localized states, which may require a higher temperature anneal process.
Highly c-axis oriented thin AlN films deposited on gold seed layer for FBAR devices
Authors: Tay Kok-Wan , Huang Cheng-Liang , Wu Long
Published: August 2005

In this study, highly c-axis oriented aluminum nitride (AlN) films are deposited on gold (Au) seed layer using a rf reactive sputtering method under various rf power and sputtering pressures. The evolution of preferred orientation and surface morphologies of the deposited films was studied by x-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscope, and atomic force microscope. It was found that the AlN films prepared using the higher rf power of 400 W and sputtering pressure of 7 mTorr were shown to have the stronger c-axis orientation and exhibit smoother morphologies. The fabricated film bulk acoustic-wave resonator (FBAR) devices considered here with AlN film thickness are 2.25μm, Au and Al are used as bottom electrode and top electrode with the thickness of 0.1 and 0.18μm, respectively. The effective electromechanical coupling coefficient (keff2), quality factor (Qfx) and resonant frequency of the fabricated FBAR device were about 1.47%, 535 and 2.172 GHz, respectively. Moreover, the effect of the top electrode materials, AlN and Al top electrode film thickness on the frequency response characteristics of FBAR devices is also investigated.
Development methodology for high-κ gate dielectrics on III–V semiconductors: GdxGa0.4−xO0.6∕Ga2O3 dielectric stacks on GaAs
Authors: Passlack Matthias
Published: August 2005

A three step methodology for the development of gate dielectrics on III–V semiconductors including atomistic interface studies, oxide template formation, and dielectric stack manufacturing has been proposed. The third and final step encompasses the realization of high-κ GdxGa0.4−xO0.6∕Ga2O3 dielectric stacks on GaAs. This article reports high-κ stacked gate oxides with an oxide relative dielectric constant of 20.8±1, a breakdown field exceeding 4MV∕cm, leakage currents of ≅2×10−8A∕cm2 at an electric field of 1MV∕cm, and a broad minimum of interface state density Dit⩽2×1011cm−2eV−1 on n-type GaAs suggesting a U-shaped Dit distribution. The proposed methodology can potentially be extended to high-κ gate dielectric development on elemental semiconductors such as Si and Ge and wide band gap semiconductors such as GaN.
Physical properties and high-temperature oxidation resistance of sputtered Si3N4∕MoNx nanocomposite coatings
Authors: Musil J. , Dohnal P. , Zeman P.
Published: August 2005

This article reports on structure, phase composition and high-T oxidation resistance of sputtered Mo–Si–N films. These films were dc reactively sputtered using an unbalanced magnetron equipped with a MoSi2 alloyed target in a mixture Ar and N2. A continuous increase of partial pressure of nitrogen pN2 from 0to0.6Pa makes it possible to produce two groups of composites: (1) MoSix+a-Si3N4 and (2) a-Si3N4+MoNx. The composites of the first group are crystalline and contain a low amount of the a-Si3N4 phase. On the contrary, the composites of the second group are amorphous and the a-Si3N4 phase dominates in these films. Sputtered films were characterized using XRD, EPMA, microhardness measurements, thermogravimetric measurements and SEM. It was found that the thermal annealing of Mo–Si–N films in flowing air at temperatures Ta⩾900°C results in a loss of the film mass (Δm<0). This loss of weight is due to the decomposition of MoNx>1→Mo+N(g) and the formation of volatile MoOx oxides, which diffuse out of film. This process results in (i) the formation of thin porous oxide surface layer and (ii) the loss of film mass. A very low (Δm≈0.01mg∕cm3) decrease of the film mass is obtained in the case when the Mo–Si–N film contains a large (>60vol%) amount of Si3N4 phase and stoichiometric (x=1) or substoichiometric (x<1) MoNx nitride. In these films the loss of weight does not increase with increasing Ta up to 1300°C. This fact demonstrates the high-T oxidation resistance of the a-Si3N4∕MoNx<1 composite. The temperature Ta=1300°C is not a physical limit of the high-T oxidation resistance of the a-Si3N4∕MoNx⩽1 composite but only the limit of Si substrate used in our annealing experiments. The microhardness H of the a-Si3N4∕MoNx<1 composite is also quite high and achieves approximately up to 25GPa.
Microfabrication and application of high-aspect-ratio silicon tips
Authors: Wang Yaqiang , van der Weide Daniel W.
Published: August 2005

We report a new process combining reactive ion etching (RIE) and deep RIE (DRIE) tools for microfabrication of high-aspect-ratio (HAR) silicon tips with heights >40μm and aspect ratios of 7. We integrate atomic force microscope (AFM) cantilevers with HAR tips and compare AFM scans using an HAR tip and a commercial tip. Our results demonstrate the advantage of HAR tips for metrology applications.
Impact of buried capping layer on electrical stability of advanced interconnects
Authors: Yiang K. Y. , Yoo W. J. , Krishnamoorthy Ahila
Published: August 2005

Electrical leakage and breakdown of low-dielectric constant (low-k) dielectrics are increasingly becoming major reliability issues as inter-metal spacings in interconnects scale towards the 0.1μm technology node. In Cu damascene structures, these issues are greatly alleviated by the retention of a thin layer of hardmask, which is also known as buried capping layer (BCL), after chemical-mechanical polishing. It is found that a BCL of 100Å thickness in Cu∕SiOC interdigitated comb structures effectively reduces the leakage current by one order of magnitude and improves breakdown strength by a factor of 1.5–2. In addition, the BCL is able to prevent the formation of process-induced traps in the low-k dielectric. These findings can have important and positive reliability considerations for Cu∕low-k integration schemes.
Chemical patterning for the highly specific and programmed assembly of nanostructures
Authors: Kannan Balaji , Kulkarni Rajan P. , Satyanarayana Srinath , Castelino Kenneth , Majumdar Arun
Published: August 2005

We have developed a new chemical patterning technique based on standard lithography-based processes to assemble nanostructures on surfaces with extraordinarily high selectivity. This patterning process is used to create patterns of aminosilane molecular layers surrounded by highly inert poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecules. While the aminosilane regions facilitate nanostructure assembly, the PEG coating prevents adsorption of molecules and nanostructures, thereby priming the semiconductor substrate for the highly localized and programmed assembly of nanostructures. We demonstrate the power and versatility of this manufacturing process by building multilayered structures of gold nanoparticles attached to molecules of DNA onto the aminosilane patterns, with zero nanocrystal adsorption onto the surrounding PEG regions. The highly specific surface chemistry developed here can be used in conjunction with standard microfabrication and emerging nanofabrication technology to seamlessly integrate various nanostructures with semiconductor electronics.
Low temperature deposition of epitaxial BaTiO3 films in a rotating disk vertical MOCVD reactor
Authors: Dhote A. M. , Meier A. L. , Towner D. J. , Wessels B. W. , Ni J. , Marks T. J.
Published: August 2005

Epitaxial BaTiO3 thin films were deposited on MgO (100) in a rotating disk vertical metalorganic chemical vapor deposition (MOCVD) reactor at 700°C. The metalorganic sources used were titanium tetraisopropoxide and the highly volatile fluorinated barium precursor (Ba(hfa)2∙pentaethyleneglycolethylbutylether(PEB)). To facilitate growth at the lower temperature while suppressing the formation of BaF2 impurity phases, a strong oxidant consisting of a mixture of 80% N2O and 20% O2 was employed. The BaTiO3 films deposited at 700°C are phase pure and show only BaTiO3 {001} x-ray diffraction peaks. The x-ray rocking curve full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the BaTiO3 (002) peak was 0.82°. The fourfold symmetry and coincident position of the {110} peaks for both the film and substrate confirms in-plane epitaxy of cube-on-cube orientation. The Φ-scan FWHM of the BaTiO3 film is 1.05°. The growth temperature in this work is lower than the temperatures used in most comparable thermal MOCVD epitaxial oxide processes for BaTiO3.
Acceptability of compulsory powers in the community: the ethical considerations of mental health service users on Supervised Discharge and Guardianship
Authors: Canvin K , Bartlett A , Pinfold V
Published: August 2005

Objectives:To explore mental health service users’ views of existing and proposed compulsory powers.

Design:A qualitative study employing in-depth interviews. Participants were asked to respond to hypothetical questions regarding the application of compulsory powers under the Mental Health Act 1983 for people other than themselves.

Setting:Community setting in Southeast England.

Participants:Mental health service users subject to Supervised Discharge/Guardianship.

Results:Participants considered that the use of compulsory powers was justified if there were some ultimate benefit, and if there was evidence of mental health problems, dangerousness, or a lack of insight. However, participants rejected intrusions into their autonomy and privacy.

Conclusions:This paper’s participants indicated that the proposed CTO may be unacceptable because it would threaten service users’ autonomy. Service users’ acceptance of proposed changes is conditional and they emphasised the importance of consent; there is no suggestion that consent will be required for the CTO. The findings also have implications for the exploration of mental health service users’ views and how they might contribute to policy, service planning, and research.
A GENERAL INITIAL CONDITION OF INFLATIONARY COSMOLOGY ON TRANS-PLANCKIAN PHYSICS
Authors: KE KE
Published: August 2005

We consider a more general initial condition satisfying the minimal uncertainty relationship. We calculate the power spectrum of a simple model in inflationary cosmology. The results depend on perturbations generated below a fundamental scale, e.g. the Planck scale.
GENERALIZED IMPEDANCE BOUNDARY CONDITIONS FOR SCATTERING BY STRONGLY ABSORBING OBSTACLES: THE SCALAR CASE
Authors: HADDAR HOUSSEM , JOLY PATRICK , NGUYEN HOAI-MINH
Published: August 2005

We derive different classes of generalized impedance boundary conditions for the scattering problem from strongly absorbing obstacles. Compared to existing works, our construction is based on an asymptotic development of the solution with respect to the medium absorption. Error estimates are derived to validate the accuracy of each condition.
GROUP-BASED FAILURE EFFECTS ANALYSIS
Authors: JENAB K. , DHILLON B. S.
Published: August 2005

This paper presents the multi-based experts Failure Effects Analysis (FEA). The experts' opinions differ substantially because the experts do not often agree on the level of the failure factors (failure probability, non-detection probability, severity of effect, and expected cost) and the functions/subsystems attributes (e.g., importance). Therefore, conflict always occurs in Group-based Failure Effects Analysis (GFEA). The approach uses fuzzy Risk Priority Category (RPC) and group decision-making techniques to study both the failure effects on the functions/subsystems and the failure risk category with uncertain information. In addition, the approach uses the compensated operators to allow the tradeoffs either among failure factors or among functions/subsystems attributes. A solved example is presented to demonstrate the Group-based Failure Effects Analysis (GFEA) application.
DYNAMIC SOFTWARE RELIABILITY PREDICTION: AN APPROACH BASED ON SUPPORT VECTOR MACHINES
Authors: TIAN LIANG , NOORE AFZEL
Published: August 2005

A support vector machine (SVM) modeling approach for software reliability prediction is proposed. Based on the structural risk minimization principle, the learning scheme of SVM is focused on minimizing an upper bound of the generalization error that eventually results in better generalization performance. The SVM learning scheme is applied to the failure time data, forcing the network to learn and recognize the inherent internal temporal property of software failure sequence. Further, the SVM learning process is iteratively and dynamically updated after every occurrence of new failure time data in order to capture the most current feature hidden inside the software failure behavior. The performance of our proposed approach has been tested using four real-time control and flight dynamic application data sets and compared with feed-forward neural network and recurrent neural network modeling approaches. Experimental results show that our proposed approach adapts well across different software projects, and has a better next-step prediction performance.
STATISTICALLY INFERENTIAL ANALOGIES BETWEEN ARITHMETIC AND GEOMETRIC PROCESSES
Authors: LEUNG FRANCIS KIT-NAM
Published: August 2005

In this paper, the author discusses estimation procedures for K independent, homogeneous geometric processes (GPs), parallel to those for K independent, homogeneous arithmetic processes (APs) derived by Leung.3 In addition, he corrects two minor mistakes appearing in Leung,3 on pp. 231–232. In the course of developing the fourth and fifth estimators for [Formula: see text], the mean of [Formula: see text], the author was inspired to derive two additional corresponding estimators for [Formula: see text], the mean of [Formula: see text]. For the reader's easy reference, the results of both the APs derived in Leung3 and GPs derived in this paper are summarized in a table. Finally, the author draws some conclusions of the applicability of an AP and/or a GP based on partial findings of two real case studies.
A performance study of data layout techniques for improving data locality in refinement-based pathfinding
Authors: Niewiadomski Robert , Amaral José Nelson , Holte Robert C.
Published: August 2005

The widening gap between processor speed and memory latency increases the importance of crafting data structures and algorithms to exploit temporal and spatial locality. Refinement-based pathfinding algorithms, such as Classic Refinement (CR), find quality paths in very large sparse graphs where traditional search techniques fail to generate paths in acceptable time. In this paper, we present a performance evaluation study of three simple data structure transformations aimed at improving the data reference locality of CR. These transformations are robust to changes in computer architecture and the degree of compiler optimization. We test our alternative designs on four contemporary architectures, using two compilers for each machine. In our experiments, the application of these techniques results in performance improvements of up to 67% with consistent improvements above 15%. Analysis reveals that these improvements stem from improved data reference locality at the page level and to a lesser extent at the cache line level.
iTV handbook: technologies & standards
Authors: Schwalb Eddie
Published: August 2005

Interactive television (iTV) is an evolutionary merging of digital TV and the internet. iTV technology offers new powerful ways for consumers to interact with content and service providers. In Europe, iTV has gained significant traction during the turn of the century. For example, about 500,000 viewers signed up for SkyDigital's email service during 2000. In another example, Nickelodeon's "Watch Your Own Week" voting application was available to SkyDigital viewers during Oct 22-27 2001. While only 100,000 votes were anticipated for the whole week, this goal was reached within two days; a total of 578,000 votes were recorded for the week. Today, Europe counts tens of millions of iTV consumers.The iTV Handbook is a broad overview of the business and technical issues, and could be used as a textbook for an introductory technical course: it lays out the current thinking on commercially viable uses of iTV, surveys the related technical standards, and describes a broad range of technologies and the relationships among them. A whole chapter is devoted to the big picture of the iTV food chain, and another key chapter is devoted to a survey of media streaming methods. A "file system in the sky" is described which is the broadcasting equivalent of the network file system, and can be used to eliminate the notorious "hot spot" encountered when millions of receivers are trying to access a small set of pages. The book provides many rare insights into the nuts and bolts of the technologies being used. For example, the book presents part of the theoretical foundation for MP3 compression, and describes in detail many popular file formats used to deliver iTV content, including GIF, QuickTime, AVI, and ZIP.
A low-power in-order/out-of-order issue queue
Authors: Bai Yu , Bahar R. Iris
Published: August 2005

To better address power concerns, a good design strategy should be flexible enough to dynamically reconfigure available resources according to the application's needs such that extra power is dissipated only when it is really needed. In this work, we focus on power-aware solutions for the issue queue (IQ) in an out-of-order superscalar processor. We propose two schemes that partition the IQ into FIFOs such that only the instructions at the head of each FIFO may request to issue. We then monitor the processor and dynamically vary the number and/or size of FIFOs in accordance with utilization. Experimenting with two different distributions in power dissipation, we show up to 69% reduction in power dissipation in the wakeup and arbitration loop, while constraining performance degradation to be no more than 5%.
Implementing branch-predictor decay using quasi-static memory cells
Authors: Juang Philo , Skadron Kevin , Martonosi Margaret , Hu Zhigang , Clark Douglas W. , Diodato Philip W. , Kaxiras Stefanos
Published: August 2005

With semiconductor technology advancing toward deep submicron, leakage energy is of increasing concern, especially for large on-chip array structures such as caches and branch predictors. Recent work has suggested that larger, aggressive branch predictors can and should be used in order to improve microprocessor performance. A further consideration is that more aggressive branch predictors, especially multiported predictors for multiple branch prediction, may be thermal hot spots, thus further increasing leakage. Moreover, as the branch predictor holds state that is transient and predictive, elements can be discarded without adverse effect. For these reasons, it is natural to consider applying
decay
techniques---already shown to reduce leakage energy for caches---to branch-prediction structures.Due to the structural difference between caches and branch predictors, applying decay techniques to branch predictors is not straightforward. This paper explores the strategies for exploiting spatial and temporal locality to make decay effective for bimodal, gshare, and hybrid predictors, as well as the branch target buffer (BTB). Furthermore, the predictive behavior of branch predictors steers them towards decay based not on state-preserving, static storage cells, but rather quasi-static, dynamic storage cells. This paper will examine the results of implementing decaying branch-predictor structures with dynamic---appropriately,
decaying
---cells rather than the standard static SRAM cell.Overall, this paper demonstrates that decay techniques can apply to more than just caches, with the branch predictor and BTB as an example. We show decay can either be implemented at the architectural level, or with a wholesale replacement of static storage cells with quasi-static storage cells, which naturally implement decay. More importantly, decay techniques can be applied and should be applied to other such transient and/or predictive structures.
The effects of subpixel addressing on users' performance and preferences during reading-related tasks
Authors: Gugerty Leo , Tyrrell Richard A. , Aten Thomas R. , Edmonds K. Andy
Published: August 2005

Subpixel addressing is a font-rendering technology that triples the apparent horizontal resolution of liquid crystal displays. Four experiments measured the effects of subpixel addressing (Microsoft's ClearType) relative to standard (aliased) font-rendering techniques. Participants preferred, and gave higher readability ratings to, text that had been rendered using subpixel addressing. Subpixel addressing also significantly improved the accuracy of lexical decisions and the accuracy and speed of sentence comprehension. Subpixel addressing did not affect word-naming performance or reading speed during pleasure reading. Taken together, these findings suggest that subpixel addressing provides substantial benefits to users while adding no costs to display hardware.
Auditory perception of 3D size
Authors: Ottaviani Laura , Rocchesso Davide
Published: August 2005

For representing complex data through auditory display, the ecological approach to sound perception, if combined with the most advanced techniques for physical modeling, seems to form a good strategy to translate information into sound by composition of auditory scenes and to create an object-based auditory information space.We examine the auditory perception of one feature of simulated 3D resonators: the size. In prior publications, we assessed the ability of humans to distinguish the shapes of (spherical and cubic) resonators, and we investigated pitch perception and its relationship to the volume of the enclosures. In this paper, we focus on the latter topic, introducing our most recent experiments and results. We validate previous results in a more controlled environment and, in particular, we investigate whether the specific procedure used in the auditory display may affect the users' performance.The results of the experiment show that even the perception of a basic object property such as size can be affected by the listening procedure and can be decoupled from object shape only in controlled conditions.
Call for short articles
Authors: Ghaoui Claude
Published: August 2005

You are cordially invited to submit short articles to this international publication. Multiple submissions are permitted and the same author(s) can publish up to two papers if accepted.
"Fancy a Schmink?"
Authors: Reid Josephine , Hyams Jenny , Shaw Kate , Lipson Mathew
Published: August 2005

In this article we describe a week-long public field trial called Schminky. On the basis of findings from the trial we consider the design implications for spontaneous, networked, sound-based games. The venue for the trial was a cafe in a digital media center. The article reflects on the role of place and the notion of embedded histories.
Dynamic voltage scheduling with buffers in low-power multimedia applications
Authors: Im Chaeseok , Ha Soonhoi , Kim Huiseok
Published: August 2005

Power-efficient design of multimedia applications becomes more important as they are used increasingly in many embedded systems. We propose a simple dynamic voltage scheduling (DVS) technique, which suits multimedia applications well and, in case of soft real-time applications, allows all idle intervals of the processor to be fully exploited by using buffers. Our main theme is to determine the minimum buffer size to maximize energy saving in three cases: (i) single task, (ii) multiple subtask, and (iii) multitask. We also present a technique of adjusting task deadlines for further reducing energy consumption in the multiple-subtask and multitask cases. Unlike other DVS techniques using buffers, we guarantee to meet the real-time latency constraint. Experimental results show that the proposed technique does indeed achieve significant power reduction in real-world multimedia applications.
Multilevel μTESLA
Authors: Liu Donggang , Ning Peng
Published: August 2005

Broadcast authentication is a fundamental security service in distributed sensor networks. This paper presents the development of a scalable broadcast authentication scheme named multilevel μTESLA based on μTESLA, a broadcast authentication protocol whose scalability is limited by its unicast-based initial parameter distribution. Multilevel μTESLA satisfies several nice properties, including low overhead, tolerance of message loss, scalability to large networks, and resistance to replay attacks as well as denial-of-service attacks. This paper also presents the experimental results obtained through simulation, which demonstrate the performance of the proposed scheme under severe denial-of-service attacks and poor channel quality.
An analysis of a resource efficient checkpoint architecture
Authors: Akkary Haitham , Rajwar Ravi , Srinivasan Srikanth T.
Published: August 2005

Large instruction window processors achieve high performance by exposing large amounts of instruction level parallelism. However, accessing large hardware structures typically required to buffer and process such instruction window sizes significantly degrade the cycle time. This paper proposes a novel checkpoint processing and recovery (CPR) microarchitecture, and shows how to implement a large instruction window processor without requiring large structures thus permitting a high clock frequency.We focus on four critical aspects of a microarchitecture: (1) scheduling instructions, (2) recovering from branch mispredicts, (3) buffering a large number of stores and forwarding data from stores to any dependent load, and (4) reclaiming physical registers. While scheduling window size is important, we show the performance of large instruction windows to be more sensitive to the other three design issues. Our CPR proposal incorporates novel microarchitectural schemes for addressing these design issues---a selective checkpoint mechanism for recovering from mispredicts, a hierarchical store queue organization for fast store-load forwarding, and an effective algorithm for aggressive physical register reclamation. Our proposals allow a processor to realize performance gains due to instruction windows of thousands of instructions without requiring large cycle-critical hardware structures.