bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Pattern of Paediatric Trauma on Operations
Authors: Woods KL , Russell RJ , Bree S , Mahoney PF , McNicholas J
Published: March 2013

Objectives

Recent military campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan have resulted in the treatment of children in British Medical facilities. In order to determine how care for children may develop in the future, it is necessary to understand the current situation. The aim of this article is to examine the pattern of paediatric trauma on recent operations in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Methods

Data was requested from the Joint Theatre Trauma Registry, held at the Royal Centre for Defence Medicine in Birmingham, on all trauma calls for patients aged under 16 between the dates 21/3/03 and 31/8/09. Data included age, gender, theatre of operation, injury mechanism and type, trauma scores and destination of the child.

Results

176 children were identified with 16.5% from Iraq and 83.5% from Afghanistan. The overall survival rate was 88.6% with survival rates in Iraq of 89.7% and in Afghanistan of 88.4%. Males accounted for 66.5% of admissions and the commonest age group was age 6-8 years. In 59.1% of total admissions the mechanism of injury was related to explosives. This differed between theatres with explosive injury causing 27.6 % of admissions in Iraq and 63.5% in Afghanistan. Injury Severity Scores (ISS) showed equal numbers of minor and severe injuries with fewer moderately injured patients. The median ISS of all data was nine. The median ISS from Iraq was 16 and the median ISS from Afghanistan was nine.

Conclusions

The treatment of children in British medical facilities whilst deployed on operations is likely to continue. An assessment of the injury patterns of paediatric patients on current deployments allows development of training and an understanding of logistic requirements. Data collection will also need to be adapted to meet the needs of paediatric patients. These remain issues that are being addressed by the Defence Medical Services.
CBRN Response and the Future
Authors: Holdsworth D , Bland S , O’Reilly D
Published: March 2013

The Haywood Medical Society met in June 2011 to discuss issues surrounding the preparedness of both civilian and military emergency services to deal with a CBRN threat.
Putting Role 1 First: The Role 1 Capability Review
Authors: Hodgetts TJ , Findlay S
Published: March 2013

Aim:

To quantify the risk for delivering care at Role 1 in the Land Environment (point of wounding to hospital care) on current operations and set the conditions for systematic change to enhance future capability.

Population:

UK, US and Danish Army Role 1 Subject Matter Experts (SMEs)

Methods:

(1) Questionnaire study of UK SMEs to determine capability gaps; (2) Questionnaire study of US and Danish SMEs to benchmark UK capability; (3) Semi-structured interviews of UK SMEs; (4) In-theatre evaluation of deployed Role 1.

Results:

Thirty two SMEs completed the questionnaire (68% response rate), comprising 25 medical officers (20 in clinical appointments; five in command and staff appointments), six nurses and one medical support officer. Results of the entire review were collated as a cross-Defence Lines of Development analysis, separating the specific experience of 1 Medical Regiment’s Hybrid Foundation Training (HFT), Mission Specific Training (MST) and deployment cycle from the analysis gained from questionnaire studies, SME consultation and documentary evidence.

Recommendations and Conclusions:

The review generated 77 recommendations and 38 sub-recommendations. The top six messages of the review were (1) To balance the expressed desire to increase the ratio of trained Team Medics with the reality of generating credible instructors with clinical experience; (2) To recognise that inadequate experience for Combat Medical Technicians in Primary Healthcare in the Firm Base undermines their operational preparedness; (3) To recognise that Current Regimental Aid Post (RAP) at contingency without power lacks the rudimentary infrastructure of a modern Medical Treatment Facility; (4) To recognise that inappropriate deployment of personnel with chronic disease or acutely limiting conditions is a consistent trend for 20 years that highlights continuing system weaknesses in applying protective medical grading; (5) To accept that General Practitioner manning requires re-evaluating as an Operational Pinch Point, reviewing all options to maintain operational effectiveness including, but not focusing on, incentives; and (6) To recognise that a best practice template for Role 1 Healthcare Governance has been created that must endure.
Factors Affecting Front Line Casualty Care in Afghanistan
Authors: Batham D , A Finnegan , Kiernan M , Wall C , Simpson RG
Published: March 2013

Objective:

Limited research has been undertaken to assess the effectiveness of pre-hospital care given at the point of wounding, nor how battlefield conditions affect the implementation of Battlefield Advanced Trauma Life Support (BATLS). This study examines the quality of care given at Role 1 and the psychological impact on clinical personnel of the application of current pre-hospital trauma management guidelines.

Method:

Data was collected through 17 digitally recorded semi-structured interviews with healthcare clinicians deployed in Role 1 medical facilities on OP HERRICK 14 following major medical incidents. Interview transcripts were subjected to content analysis based on a modified grounded theory approach.

Results:

Triage was found to be done poorly with individuals treating patients as they were found rather than by identifying clinical priorities. Pain management was not always achieved. Fluid replacement was hampered with difficulty in obtaining parenteral access. Subsequently fluids were sometimes given in excess of protocols. Clinical documentation was not always completed even after a patient had been evacuated. Some interesting elements were noted, such as post incident reports being used as a reflective process which may be self-developmental and help clinicians deal psychologically with the incident. Clinical personnel carry out their duties, irrespective of personal injury or threats to their safety. However their performance may be tapered under such stress. Human factors training prior to deployment may help to ensure adherence to BATLS protocols despite the complexities of the battle space.

Conclusions:

The data identified a number of factors that affected clinicians ability to provide a high standard of casualty care. The general perception of this research cohort was that despite all the obstacles, the level of trauma care was of a high nature. However, the study provides pointers to a number of areas for future exploration where patient care was not BATLS protocol compliant.
Cutaneous Leishmaniasis in Royal Marines from Oruzgan, Afghanistan
Authors: Matheson Andy , Williams R , Bailey MS
Published: March 2013

Leishmaniasis is an infectious disease caused by Leishmania protozoa and occurs as a spectrum of clinical syndromes ranging from various forms of cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) to mucosal leishmaniasis (ML) and visceral leishmaniasis (VL). CL in Afghanistan is either zoonotic (ZCL) due to L. major or anthroponotic (ACL) due to L. tropica and there has been a prolonged epidemic of ACL in eastern Afghanistan since 1987. However, there have been remarkably few reports of CL due to L. tropica amongst foreign troops serving in Afghanistan since 2001. We describe two such cases in Royal Marines deployed to Oruzgan Province in Afghanistan from 2008-9. These patients illustrate important issues regarding the clinical features, referral, diagnosis, treatment and epidemiology of CL amongst foreign troops in Afghanistan. This disease has the potential to cause significant disruption to military personnel and units and so requires efficient management in order to maintain operational effectiveness.
Cold Injuries in Contemporary Conflict
Authors: Mitchell J , Simpson R , Whitaker John
Published: March 2013

Objectives:

To describe the cases of cold injury sustained during the most recent winter operational tour of Afghanistan, Op HERRICK 15.

Methods:

Retrospective review of all notified British military cases of cold injury sustained between 1 Oct 11 and 30 Mar 12 recorded by UK Medical Group Environmental Health Team.

Results:

14 patients with 13 Non-freezing Cold Injuries (NFCI) and two hypothermic injuries were identified. Five patients were of African ethnic decent. Eight out of 13 NFCI patients had probably suffered a previous injury, injuries were sustained from December until February and 9/13 NFCI patients had periods of static duties implicated in the injury mechanism. Eight patients were able to remain in operational theatre on restricted duties whilst 6/14 were evacuated home after sustaining their injuries.

Conclusions:

Although awareness and equipment have improved, cold injuries remain an important cause of Disease and Non Battle Injury on current operations within the British Military. Cases of cold injury are probably under reported and often stem from situations where risk would seem predicable. It is hoped this article will assist in enabling greater understanding of contemporary operational cold injuries and continuing the development of preventative strategies.
Experiences of Combat Medical Technician Continuous Professional Development on Operations
Authors: Randall-Carrick J
Published: March 2013

Whilst on operations, British military medical staff strive to provide high quality medical care to deployed soldiers. The application of UK Health Care Governance principles, particularly Clinical Professional Development (CPD), is especially challenging on operations. This article highlights some of the difficulties faced and the solutions generated to facilitate good CPD of Combat Medical Technicians (CMTs) deployed to Afghanistan on Operation HERRICK 13.

The article describes the opportunities for CMTs to develop their skills in the assessment and management of trauma and primary health complaints. It also describes the difficulties in capturing this development especially when the supervision of CMTs was limited, with variable communication modalities and within the current limitations of the CMT portfolio.

Solutions described include the use of individual reflective practice, face-to-face supervision and assessment by Medical Officers, Significant Event Reports, the mandatory After Action Review Process, and the development of formal standardised CMT CPD. This included refresher training after return from leave, Senior Medical Officer (SMO) weekly lectures and the SMO weekly report. Finally, the future of CMT CPD is raised and it is hoped that this article will stimulate debate into how to approach these challenges and refine these processes further.
Facile protection-free one-pot synthesis of 7-deaza-2′-deoxyguanosine-5′-triphosphate — A versatile molecular biology probe
Authors: Kore Anilkumar R. , Senthilvelan Annamalai , Srinivasan Balasubramanian , Shanmugasundaram Muthian
Published: March 2013

A simple, straightforward, reliable, and efficient protection-free “one-pot, three-step” chemical synthesis of 7-deaza-2′-deoxyguanosine-5′-triphosphate (7-deaza-dGTP) is described. The reaction involves monophosphorylation of 7-deaza-2′-deoxyguanosine using phosphorous oxychloride as the phosphorylating agent, followed by reaction with tributylammonium pyrophosphate, and subsequent hydrolysis affords 7-deaza-2′-deoxyguanosine-5′-triphosphate in a 52% yield with high purity (>99.9%).
ON PANSIOT WORDS AVOIDING 3-REPETITIONS
Authors: GORBUNOVA IRINA A. , SHUR ARSENY M.
Published: March 2013

The recently confirmed Dejean's conjecture about the threshold between avoidable and unavoidable powers of words gave rise to interesting and challenging problems on the structure and growth of threshold words. Over any finite alphabet with k ≥ 5 letters, Pansiot words avoiding 3-repetitions form a regular language, which is a rather small superset of the set of all threshold words. Using cylindric and 2-dimensional words, we prove that, as k approaches infinity, the growth rates of complexity for these regular languages tend to the growth rate of complexity of some ternary 2-dimensional language. The numerical estimate of this growth rate is ≈1.2421.
FROM REGULAR TO STRICTLY LOCALLY TESTABLE LANGUAGES
Authors: CRESPI REGHIZZI STEFANO , SAN PIETRO PIERLUIGI
Published: March 2013

A classical result (often credited to Y. Medvedev) states that every language recognized by a finite automaton is the homomorphic image of a local language, over a much larger so-called local alphabet, namely the alphabet of the edges of the transition graph. Local languages are characterized by the value k = 2 of the sliding window width in the McNaughton and Papert's infinite hierarchy of strictly locally testable languages (k-slt). We generalize Medvedev's result in a new direction, studying the relationship between the width and the alphabetic ratio telling how much larger the local alphabet is. We prove that every regular language is the image of a k-slt language on an alphabet of doubled size, where the width logarithmically depends on the automaton size, and we exhibit regular languages for which any smaller alphabetic ratio is insufficient. More generally, we express the trade-off between alphabetic ratio and width as a mathematical relation derived from a careful encoding of the states. At last we mention directions for theoretical development and application.
ON THE REALIZATION OF HIGH PERFORMANCE CURRENT CONVEYORS AND THEIR APPLICATIONS
Authors: ARSLAN EMRE , MINAEI SHAHRAM , MORGUL AVNI
Published: March 2013

In this work, a wideband and high-performance CMOS implementation of 2nd-generation current conveyor (CCII) is proposed. The proposed circuit is composed of a high performance voltage follower stage which is based on differential pairs to provide high voltage swings on input and output ports and a current follower stage. It is shown that the proposed voltage follower stage can be used to implement high performance 1st and 3rd-generation current conveyors (CCI and CCIII, respectively) that have very small equivalent impedances on ports X, high equivalent impedances on ports Y and Z and also high-valued voltage and current transfer bandwidths. 2nd and 3rd order filter circuits as well as a half-wave rectifier circuit are given to show the performance and usefulness of the proposed current conveyor circuits. The simulation and experimental results are given to verify the theoretical analyses.
RELATIVISTIC BOUND STATES IN THE PRESENCE OF SPHERICALLY RING-SHAPED q-DEFORMED WOODS–SAXON POTENTIAL WITH ARBITRARY l-STATES
Authors: IKHDAIR SAMEER M. , HAMZAVI MAJID , RAJABI A. A.
Published: March 2013

Approximate bound-state solutions of the Dirac equation with q-deformed Woods–Saxon (WS) plus a new generalized ring-shaped (RS) potential are obtained for any arbitrary l-state. The energy eigenvalue equation and corresponding two-component wave functions are calculated by solving the radial and angular wave equations within a shortcut of the Nikiforov–Uvarov (NU) method. The solutions of the radial and polar angular parts of the wave function are expressed in terms of the Jacobi polynomials. A new approximation being expressed in terms of the potential parameters is carried out to deal with the strong singular centrifugal potential term l(l+1)r-2. Under some limitations, we can obtain solution for the RS Hulthén potential and the standard usual spherical WS potential (q = 1).
BUSINESS MODEL ROADMAPPING: A PRACTICAL APPROACH TO COME FROM AN EXISTING TO A DESIRED BUSINESS MODEL
Authors: DE REUVER MARK , BOUWMAN HARRY , HAAKER TIMBER
Published: March 2013

Literature on business models deals extensively with how to design new business models, but hardly with how to make the transition from an existing to a newly designed business model. The transition to a new business model raises several practical and strategic issues, such as how to replace an existing value proposition with a new one, when to acquire new resources and capabilities, and when to start new partnerships. In this paper, we coin the term business model roadmapping as an approach to define the transition path from a current to a desired business model. We develop our approach based on core concepts from business model literature as well as technology roadmapping. The approach is illustrated using a simplified case study. We find that visualizing business model road maps elicits how operational actions and business model impacts are interrelated. The merits of business model roadmapping not only lie in defining a road map of actions and business model changes, but also in identifying and discussing trade-offs between strategic business model issues and operational activities. Especially if an organization still has to choose between different alternative business models, business model roadmapping may help to identify overlapping paths, path dependencies and points of no return.
Using unique assignments for reducing the bimodal grade distribution
Authors: Yadin Aharon
Published: March 2013

This article describes a study that was intended to reduce the bimodal grade distribution of students of the Management Information Systems department. Unlike the normal distribution that represents many natural groups, a bimodal distribution represents two, sometimes unique, sub-populations within one group. There are many studies of the causes of this phenomenon; however, this study is mainly concerned with finding ways to reduce it. The significance of a bimodal distribution lies in its ability to predict future failures, especially in the lower sub-population. Dealing with these future failures is important due to the sharp reduction in the number of enrolled students and the increase in the dropout rate that has stemmed from various reasons. This eight-year study focused on strengthening students' learning habits, which played a significant role in increasing students' overall motivation and levels of self-accountability and produced a more homogeneous group, as represented by the normal grade distribution.
A framework for enhancing the social good in computing education
Authors: Goldweber Michael , Barr John , Clear Tony , Davoli Renzo , Mann Samuel , Patitsas Elizabeth , Portnoff Scott
Published: March 2013

This paper addresses two interrelated problems currently confronting computer science education, motivating students while simultaneously providing them with the skills they'll need to solve complex interconnected problems. We describe a framework for motivating computer science students by adding the context of social good to introductory computing assignments. Adding the context in this manner also goes some way to addressing the need for graduates to have skills, attributes and behaviours appropriate to contributing to social good outcomes. Accompanying this, we provide 14 concrete examples of introductory computing projects that convey and reinforce computing's social relevance and potential for positive societal impact.
Nearest Neighbor-Based Classification of Uncertain Data
Authors: Angiulli Fabrizio , Fassetti Fabio
Published: March 2013

This work deals with the problem of classifying uncertain data. With this aim we introduce the Uncertain Nearest Neighbor (UNN) rule, which represents the generalization of the deterministic nearest neighbor rule to the case in which uncertain objects are available. The UNN rule relies on the concept of nearest neighbor class, rather than on that of nearest neighbor object. The nearest neighbor class of a test object is the class that maximizes the probability of providing its nearest neighbor. The evidence is that the former concept is much more powerful than the latter in the presence of uncertainty, in that it correctly models the right semantics of the nearest neighbor decision rule when applied to the uncertain scenario. An effective and efficient algorithm to perform uncertain nearest neighbor classification of a generic (un)certain test object is designed, based on properties that greatly reduce the temporal cost associated with nearest neighbor class probability computation. Experimental results are presented, showing that the UNN rule is effective and efficient in classifying uncertain data.
Message-Passing Algorithms for Sparse Network Alignment
Authors: Bayati Mohsen , Gleich David F. , Saberi Amin , Wang Ying
Published: March 2013

Network alignment generalizes and unifies several approaches for forming a matching or alignment between the vertices of two graphs. We study a mathematical programming framework for network alignment problem and a sparse variation of it where only a small number of matches between the vertices of the two graphs are possible. We propose a new message passing algorithm that allows us to compute, very efficiently, approximate solutions to the sparse network alignment problems with graph sizes as large as hundreds of thousands of vertices. We also provide extensive simulations comparing our algorithms with two of the best solvers for network alignment problems on two synthetic matching problems, two bioinformatics problems, and three large ontology alignment problems including a multilingual problem with a known labeled alignment.
Confidence Weighted Mean Reversion Strategy for Online Portfolio Selection
Authors: Li Bin , Hoi Steven C. H. , Zhao Peilin , Gopalkrishnan Vivekanand
Published: March 2013

Online portfolio selection has been attracting increasing attention from the data mining and machine learning communities. All existing online portfolio selection strategies focus on the first order information of a portfolio vector, though the second order information may also be beneficial to a strategy. Moreover, empirical evidence shows that relative stock prices may follow the mean reversion property, which has not been fully exploited by existing strategies. This article proposes a novel online portfolio selection strategy named
Confidence Weighted Mean Reversion
(CWMR). Inspired by the mean reversion principle in finance and confidence weighted online learning technique in machine learning, CWMR models the portfolio vector as a Gaussian distribution, and sequentially updates the distribution by following the mean reversion trading principle. CWMR’s closed-form updates clearly reflect the mean reversion trading idea. We also present several variants of CWMR algorithms, including a CWMR mixture algorithm that is theoretical universal. Empirically, CWMR strategy is able to effectively exploit the power of mean reversion for online portfolio selection. Extensive experiments on various real markets show that the proposed strategy is superior to the state-of-the-art techniques. The experimental testbed including source codes and data sets is available online.
Measuring the Visual Complexities of Web Pages
Authors: Wu Ou , Hu Weiming , Shi Lei
Published: March 2013

Visual complexities (VisComs) of Web pages significantly affect user experience, and automatic evaluation can facilitate a large number of Web-based applications. The construction of a model for measuring the VisComs of Web pages requires the extraction of typical features and learning based on labeled Web pages. However, as far as the authors are aware, little headway has been made on measuring VisCom in Web mining and machine learning. The present article provides a new approach combining Web mining techniques and machine learning algorithms for measuring the VisComs of Web pages. The structure of a Web page is first analyzed, and the layout is then extracted. Using a Web page as a semistructured image, three classes of features are extracted to construct a feature vector. The feature vector is fed into a learned measuring function to calculate the VisCom of the page.

In the proposed approach of the present study, the type of the measuring function and its learning depend on the quantification strategy for VisCom. Aside from using a category and a score to represent VisCom as existing work, this study presents a new strategy utilizing a distribution to quantify the VisCom of a Web page. Empirical evaluation suggests the effectiveness of the proposed approach in terms of both features and learning algorithms.
A Comprehensive Study of Techniques for URL-Based Web Page Language Classification
Authors: Baykan Eda , Henzinger Monika , Weber Ingmar
Published: March 2013

Given only the URL of a Web page, can we identify its language? In this article we examine this question. URL-based language classification is useful when the content of the Web page is not available or downloading the content is a waste of bandwidth and time.

We built URL-based language classifiers for English, German, French, Spanish, and Italian by applying a variety of algorithms and features. As algorithms we used machine learning algorithms which are widely applied for text classification and state-of-art algorithms for language identification of text. As features we used words, various sized n-grams, and custom-made features (our novel feature set). We compared our approaches with two baseline methods, namely classification by country code top-level domains and classification by IP addresses of the hosting Web servers.

We trained and tested our classifiers in a 10-fold cross-validation setup on a dataset obtained from the Open Directory Project and from querying a commercial search engine. We obtained the lowest F1-measure for English (94) and the highest F1-measure for German (98) with the best performing classifiers.

We also evaluated the performance of our methods: (i) on a set of Web pages written in Adobe Flash and (ii) as part of a language-focused crawler. In the first case, the content of the Web page is hard to extract and in the second page downloading pages of the “wrong” language constitutes a waste of bandwidth. In both settings the best classifiers have a high accuracy with an F1-measure between 95 (for English) and 98 (for Italian) for the Adobe Flash pages and a precision between 90 (for Italian) and 97 (for French) for the language-focused crawler.
Mapping of streaming applications considering alternative application specifications
Authors: Zhai Jiali Teddy , Nikolov Hristo , Stefanov Todor
Published: March 2013

Streaming applications often require a parallel Model of Computation (MoC) to specify their application behavior and to facilitate mapping onto Multi-Processor System-on-Chip (MPSoC) platforms. Various performance requirements and resource budgets of embedded systems ask for an efficient design space exploration (DSE) approach to select the best design from a design space consisting of a large number of design choices. However, existing DSE approaches explore the design space that includes only architecture and mapping alternatives for an initial application specification given by the application designer. In this article, we first show that a design often might not be optimal if alternative specifications of a given application are not taken into account. We further argue that the best alternative specification consists of only independent and load-balanced application tasks. Based on the
Polyhedral Process Network
(PPN) MoC, we present an approach to analyze and transform an initial PPN to an alternative one that contains only independent processes if possible. Finally, by prototyping real-life applications on both FPGA-based MPSoCs and desktop multi-core platforms, we demonstrate that mapping the alternative application specification results in a large performance gain compared to those approaches, in which alternative application specifications are not taken into account.
A lifetime aware buffer assignment method for streaming applications on DRAM/PRAM hybrid memory
Authors: Lee Daeyoung , Oh Hyunok
Published: March 2013

This article proposes a lifetime aware buffer assignment method for streaming applications like multimedia specified in a synchronous dataflow (SDF) graph on a DRAM/PRAM hybrid memory in which the endurance of PRAM is limited. We determine whether buffers are assigned to DRAM or PRAM to minimize the writing frequency of PRAM. To solve the problems, we formulate them using Answer Set Programming. Experimental results show that the proposed approach increases the PRAM lifetime by 63% compared with no optimization, and shows the tradeoff between PRAM and DRAM size to guarantee a lifetime constraint.
Cache persistence analysis
Authors: Cullmann Christoph
Published: March 2013

To compute a worst-case execution time (WCET) estimate for a program, the architectural effects of the underlying hardware must be modeled. For modern processors this results in the need for a cache and pipeline analysis.

The timing-relevant result of the cache analysis is the categorization of the accesses to cached memory. Categorizations that are obtainable by the well-known must and may cache analysis [Ferdinand 1997] are always-hit, always-miss and not-classified. The cache persistence analysis tries to provide additional information for the not-classified case to limit the number of misses.

There exists a cache persistence analysis by Ferdinand and Wilhelm based on abstract interpretation computing these classifications. In this article, we present a correctness issue with this analysis. To fix this issue, we propose two new abstract interpretation based persistence analyses and show their safety. One is based on the known may analysis and a second one on the concept of conflict counting.

For
fully timing compositional architectures
[Wilhelm et al. 2009] the persistence information is straightforward to use. We will apply the concepts of persistence analysis for the first time to state-of-the-art architectures that exhibit both timing anomalies and domino effects. Such architectures do not allow the analyzer to quantify the costs of a single cache hit or miss in isolation. To make the usage of the persistence information feasible, we integrate the presented novel persistence analyses together with a novel path analysis approach into the industrially used WCET analyzer aiT.
Heuristic search for adaptive, defect-tolerant multiprocessor arrays
Authors: Vasilikos Vasileios , Smaragdos Georgios , Strydis Christos , Sourdis Ioannis
Published: March 2013

In this article, new heuristic-search methods and algorithms are presented for enabling highly efficient and adaptive, defect-tolerant multiprocessor arrays. We consider systems where a homogeneous multiprocessor array lies on top of reconfigurable interconnects which allow the pipeline stages of the processors to be connected in all possible configurations. Considering the multiprocessor array partitioned in substitutable units at the granularity of pipeline stages, we employ a variety of heuristic-search methods and algorithms to isolate and replace defective units. The proposed heuristics are designed for off-line execution and aim at minimizing the performance overhead necessarily introduced to the array by the interconnects' latency. An empirical evaluation of the designed algorithms is then carried out, in order to assess the targeted problem and the efficacy of our approach. Our findings indicate this to be a NP-complete computational problem, however, our heuristic-search methods can achieve, for the problem sizes we exhaustively searched, 100% accuracy in finding the optimal solution among 10
19
possible candidates within 2.5 seconds. Alternatively, they can provide near-optimal solutions at an accuracy which consistently exceeds 70% (compared to the optimal solution) in only 10
-4
seconds.
Fusing statecharts and java
Authors: Marinescu Maria-Cristina , Sánchez César
Published: March 2013

This article presents FUSE, an approach for modeling and implementing embedded software components which starts from a main-stream programming language and brings some of the key concepts of Statecharts as first-class elements within this language. Our approach provides a unified programming environment which not only preserves some of the advantages of Statecharts' formal foundation but also directly supports features of object-orientation and strong typing. By specifying Statecharts directly in FUSE we eliminate the out-of-synch between the model and the generated code and we allow the tuning and debugging to be done within the same programming model. This article describes the main language constructs of FUSE and presents its semantics by translation into the Java programming language. We conclude by discussing extensions to the base language which enable the efficient static checking of program properties.
metro
II
Authors: Davare Abhijit , Densmore Douglas , Guo Liangpeng , Passerone Roberto , Sangiovanni-Vincentelli Alberto L. , Simalatsar Alena , Zhu Qi
Published: March 2013

Cyber-Physical Systems
are integrations of computation and physical processes and as such, will be increasingly relevant to industry and people. The complexity of designing CPS resides in their heterogeneity. Heterogeneity manifest itself in modeling their functionality as well as in the implementation platforms that include a multiplicity of components such as microprocessors, signal processors, peripherals, memories, sensors and actuators often integrated on a single chip or on a small package such as a multi-chip module. We need a methodology, tools and environments where heterogeneity can be dealt with at all levels of abstraction and where different tools can be integrated. We present here Platform-Based Design as the CPS methodology of choice and
metro
II, a design environment that supports it. We present the metamodeling approach followed in
metro
II, how to couple the functionality and implementation platforms of CPS, and the simulation technology that supports the analysis of CPS and of their implementation. We also present examples of use and the integration of
metro
II with another popular design environment developed at Verimag, BIP.
Pacemaker control of heart rate variability
Authors: Bogdan Paul , Jain Siddharth , Marculescu Radu
Published: March 2013

Cardiac diseases, like those related to abnormal heart rate activity, have an enormous economic and psychological impact worldwide. The approaches used to control the behavior of modern pacemakers ignore the fractal nature of heart rate activity. The purpose of this article is to present a Cyber Physical System approach to pacemaker design that exploits precisely the fractal properties of heart rate activity in order to design the pacemaker controller. Towards this end, we solve a finite horizon optimal control problem based on the heartbeat time series and show that this control problem can be converted into a system of linear equations. We also compare and contrast the performance of the fractal optimal control problem under six different cost functions. Finally, to get an idea of hardware complexity, we implement the fractal optimal controller on a Virtex4 FPGA and report some preliminary results in terms of area overhead.
Approximating the Girth
Authors: Roditty Liam , Tov Roei
Published: March 2013

This article considers the problem of computing a minimum weight cycle in weighted undirected graphs. Given a weighted undirected graph
G
= (
V
,
E
,
w
), let
C
be a minimum weight cycle of
G
, let
w
(
C
) be the weight of
C
, and let
w
max
(
C
) be the weight of the maximum edge of
C
. We obtain three new approximation algorithms for the minimum weight cycle problem: (1) for integral weights from the range [1,
M
], an algorithm that reports a cycle of weight at most 4 3
w
(
C
) in
O
(
n
2
log
n
(log
n
+ log
M
)) time; (2) For integral weights from the range [1,
M
], an algorithm that reports a cycle of weight at most
w
(
C
) +
w
max
(
C
) in
O
(
n
2
log
n
(log
n
+ log
M
)) time; (3) For nonnegative real edge weights, an algorithm that for any
ε
> 0 reports a cycle of weight at most (4 3 +
ε
)
w
(
C
) in
O
(1
ε
n
2
log
n
(log log
n
)) time.

In a recent breakthrough, Williams and Williams [2010] showed that a subcubic algorithm, that computes the exact minimum weight cycle in undirected graphs with integral weights from the range [1,
M
], implies a subcubic algorithm for computing all-pairs shortest paths in directed graphs with integral weights from the range [−
M
,
M
]. This implies that in order to get a subcubic algorithm for computing a minimum weight cycle, we have to relax the problem and to consider an approximated solution. Lingas and Lundell [2009] were the first to consider approximation in the context of minimum weight cycle in weighted graphs. They presented a 2-approximation algorithm for integral weights with
O
(
n
2
log
n
(log
n
+ log
M
)) running time. They also posed, as an open problem, the question whether it is possible to obtain a subcubic algorithm with a
c
-approximation, where
c
< 2. The current article answers this question in the affirmative, by presenting an algorithm with 4/3-approximation and the same running time. Surprisingly, the approximation factor of 4/3 is not accidental. We show, using the new result of Williams and Williams [2010], that a subcubic combinatorial algorithm with (4/3 −
ε
)-approximation, where 0 <
ε
≤ 1/3, implies a subcubic combinatorial algorithm for multiplying two boolean matrices.
An O(log n)-Approximation Algorithm for the Edge-Disjoint Paths Problem in Eulerian Planar Graphs
Authors: Kawarabayashi Ken-Ichi , Kobayashi Yusuke
Published: March 2013

In this article, we study an approximation algorithm for the maximum edge-disjoint paths problem. In this problem, we are given a graph and a collection of pairs of vertices, and the objective is to find the maximum number of pairs that can be connected by edge-disjoint paths. We give an
O
(log
n
)-approximation algorithm for the maximum edge-disjoint paths problem when an input graph is either 4-edge-connected planar or Eulerian planar. This improves an
O
(log
2
n
)-approximation algorithm given by Kleinberg [2005] for Eulerian planar graphs. Our result also generalizes the result by Chekuri et al. [2004, 2005] who gave an
O
(log
n
)-approximation algorithm for the maximum edge-disjoint paths problem with congestion two when an input graph is planar.
Approximation Algorithms for a Minimization Variant of the Order-Preserving Submatrices and for Biclustering Problems
Authors: Hochbaum Dorit S. , Levin Asaf
Published: March 2013

Finding a largest Order-Preserving SubMatrix, OPSM, is an important problem arising in the discovery of patterns in gene expression. Ben-Dor et al. formulated the problem in Ben-Dor et al. [2003]. They further showed that the problem is NP-complete and provided a greedy heuristic for the problem. The complement of the OPSM problem, called MinOPSM, is to delete the least number of entries in the matrix so that the remaining submatrix is order preserving. We devise a 5-approximation algorithm for the MinOPSM based on a formulation of the problem as a quadratic, nonseparable set cover problem. An alternative formulation combined with a primal-dual algorithm improves the approximation factor to 3. The complexity of both algorithms for a matrix of size
m
×
n
is
O
(
m
2
n
). We further comment on the related biclustering problem.
Study of Hydrophilic Si Direct Bonding with Ultraviolet Ozone Activation for 3D Integration
Authors: Fan Ji , Chong Gang Yih , Tan Chuan Seng
Published: March 2013

Wafer-level hydrophilic silicon direct bonding is demonstrated using ultraviolet ozone (UVO) activation. The activation is performed at room temperature in atmospheric ambient for 3, 6, 9, and 12 min under UVO exposure, respectively. The activation process helps to form a hydrophilic surface (contact angle < 7°) for hydrophilic bonding and to improve the surface roughness to <0.25 nm possibly by removing the surface hydrocarbon contaminants. After annealing at 200°C for 3 hr, excellent bonding strength is achieved. High bonding uniformity is obtained in the bonded wafers which are activated for 3 min exposure in UVO. Helium over-pressure in a bombing chamber and helium leak rate detection by a mass spectrometer are used for hermeticity measurement of Si cavities sealed and bonded after UVO activation. The detected helium leak rate indicates that the best hermeticity can be obtained with an activation time of 3 min. The C-V curves of the metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) capacitors which are fabricated using UVO clean on the Si surface prove that prolonged exposure to UVO can degrade the bonding quality.
Hydrophilic Wafer Bonding - An Acid/Base Concept
Authors: Reiche Manfred
Published: March 2013

An acid/base concept allows a more detailed description of the wafer bond process on molecular scale. Based on the concept the increase of hydrophilicity obtained after different pretreatments can be explained. It is shown that the basicity of the surface effects polymerization reactions increasing the concentration of bonding sites for water and therefore the hydrophilicity.
Surface Activiation for Semiconductor Wafer Direct Bonding Using Polymer-Stripping Wet Chemicals
Authors: Knechtel Roy , Klingner Holger , Frohn Natalie , Wünschre Heike
Published: March 2013

State of the art polymer strippers were identified and successfully evaluated as interesting alternatives as CMOS compatible wet activations for semiconductor wafer direct bonding processes including both high and low temperature annealing for bond interface strengthening.
Advanced Process Control in Megasonic- Enhanced Pre-Bonding Cleaning
Authors: Dussault Donald , Fournel Frank , Dragoi Viorel
Published: March 2013

The increased complexity of microelectronic and sensor applications that have emerged over the past decade have driven wafer bonding to mature as a production technology for both MEMS and 3D stacked die manufacturing. The use of CMOS device wafers has restricted the types of viable bonding processes to low temperature fusion bonding, adhesive bonding and metal bonding. Due to the specific requirements of CMOS technology the allowed bonding processes had to be adapted in order to fulfill the specific CMOS-compatibility demands. This paper presents a novel single wafer Megasonic based cleaning method with enhanced process control capabilities. This cleaning process is integrated in low temperature fusion bonding process and enables higher bonding yields and a reduction in process fluid usage.
Structure of Directly Bonded Interfaces Between Si and SiC
Authors: Yoshimoto Masahiro , Araki Ryosuke , Kurumi Takamasa , Kinoshita Hiroyuki
Published: March 2013

A Si-on-SiC wafer in which the Si wafer is directly bonded to the semi-insulating single-crystal 6H-SiC without an intermediate layer was developed. A remarkable improvement in the heat-dissipation performance due to the high thermal conductivity of SiC was demonstrated for Si metal oxide semiconductor field-effect transistors fabricated on the bonded wafers. In transmission electron microscopy (TEM), linear defects similar to misfit dislocations with a density of 2-6 × 107 lines/cm−2 were observed in plan-view TEM images of the Si/SiC interfaces. Comparison between Si(001)/6H-SiC(0001) and Si(111)/6H-SiC(0001) interfaces implies that the linear defects were formed on the Si side of the Si/SiC interface. Disordered Si layers with thicknesses of several atomic layers were observed in the cross-sectional TEM images, and the thickness is minimized at an annealing temperature of 1000{degree sign}C. The trap density at the interface was determined by admittance spectroscopy to be ~1 × 1011 cm−2eV−1 at most.
Influence of Interfacial Particles on Unbonded Area in Semiconductor Wafer Bonding: An Experimental Approach
Authors: Kim Lee Hyun-Joon , Kim Ara , Jeon Jongpil , Kim Donghyun , Woo Kwangje , Park Bongmo
Published: March 2013

Unbonded areas created during wafer bonding by the interfacial particles are observed for different particle sizes in the bonding between Si and GaN wafers. Previous studies predicted that the unbonded area would be about 1000 times larger than the particle height in general. They also suggested that the elastomechanical instability effect would lead the abrupt decrease of unbonded area to the same order with the height as the particle becomes smaller than the critical size. However in this study, it is observed that the unbonded areas are much smaller than the theoretical prediction for the particles larger than the critical size. The microscopic analysis exhibits that the deformation of particles reduces the size of unbonded area while the elastomechanical instability does not occur. The results emphasize that the effect of deformation must be considered in setting the particle control criteria.
Interface Morphology and Electrical Properties of Bonded GaAs/GaAs Wafers at Different Temperatures
Authors: Chang Sheng-Chieh , Wu YewChung Sermon , Chang Nancy
Published: March 2013

The microstructure and electrical properties of p-GaAs/n-GaAs bonded interface were investigated. When temperature increase above 600{degree sign}C, the amorphous oxide layer declined and formed perfect bonding area. Current-voltage characteristic shows typical diode behaviors in all temperature conditions.
A New Combined Process of Formic Acid Pretreatment for Low-temperature Bonding of Copper Electrodes
Authors: Yang Wenhua , Akaike Masatake , Fujino Masahisa , Suga Tadatomo
Published: March 2013

A new combined process of formic acid pretreatment for low temperature Cu direct bonding was developed. Cu film and Cu micro-electrodes were treated by formic acid with Pt as catalyst to realized low temperature Cu micro-electrodes bonding. Cu film surface was analyzed through XPS analysis before and after treatment. Surface oxide was reduced by formic acid treatment at 200{degree sign}C. The effect of formic acid treatment with heated Pt as catalyst is better than that without Pt as catalyst or with room temperature Pt as catalyst. Cu film and Cu micro-electrodes samples were bonded together at 200{degree sign}C in N2 after formic acid treatment with/without Pt catalyst. With heated Pt catalyst treatment, the bonding is stronger than that without Pt catalyst. Bonding strength increases with longer load time. Bonding interface was observed by SEM-EDX. At bonding interface, oxide and carbon intensity are as fewer as those of other position on Cu electrode.
Low-Temperature Cu-Cu Wafer Bonding
Authors: Rebhan Bernhard , Hesser Günter , Duchoslav Jiri , Dragoi Viorel , Wimplinger Markus , Hingerl Kurt
Published: March 2013

Metal thermo-compression bonding is a process suitable for 3D interconnects applications at wafer level. The process requires typically bonding temperatures of ~400{degree sign}C and high contact pressure applied during bonding. Temperature reduction below such values is required in order to solve some issues regarding wafer-to-wafer misalignment after bonding and to minimize thermo-mechanical stresses. Low-temperature (LT) Cu-Cu wafer bonding was successfully demonstrated at 175{degree sign}C. The bond quality, bond strength, metal interface layers microstructure and chemical composition of Cu-Cu wafer pairs bonded under different process conditions were investigated. Experimental results on various Cu native oxide methods evaluation as well as results obtained for various bonding and annealing temperatures are presented.
The Effects of Composition and Design of Experiment on the Quality of Al-Ge Eutectic Bonding for Wafer Level Packaging
Authors: Huang Xin-Hua , Cheng Chun-Wen , Liu Ping-Yin , Hsieh Yuan-Chih , Chao Lan-Lin , Tsai Chia-Shiung , Huang David , Colinge Cindy
Published: March 2013

The aluminum-germanium (Al-Ge) eutectic system was studied for the optimization of bonding parameters for hermetic sealing applications. The parameters that were varied included the ratio of aluminum to germanium, bonding temperature, force, and time. It was found that the critical eutectic ratio of Al to Ge produced a finer intermetallic distribution and better uniformity across wafers leading to higher shear strength. Design of experiment (DOE) was used to determine the most influential process parameters. Bond temperature and force had the largest effect on shear strength.