bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025_split huggingface dataset:
Product warranty and quality control
Authors: Murthy D. N. P. , Wilson R. J. , Djamaludin I. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractWhen a product is sold with a warranty, the manufacturer incurs additional costs in the form of warranty servicing costs. Owing to quality variations in manufacturing, some of the items produced do not meet the design specification and are labelled as defective (or non‐conforming) items. The warranty servicing costs for such items are high and can be reduced through a weeding process. This paper deals with life testing as a means to weed out defective items being released, and examines the optimal testing period for three different types of warranties.
On parameter design of binary‐input‐and‐binary‐output dynamic systems
Authors: Yum Bong‐Jin , Kim Seong‐Jun 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis paper deals with the binary‐input‐and‐binary‐output (BIBO) dynamic parameter design problem. In the Taguchi two‐step procedure, the settings of control factors are first determined such that the so‐called standardized SN ratio is maximized, and then the levelling factor is adjusted to achieve the desired proportion of misclassification probabilities. The standardized SN ratio ηs is calculated assuming that levelling is conducted to make both misclassification probabilities equal. Then, a question arises whether or not ηs is still a valid measure for comparing different designs when the desired ratio α of the two misclassification probabilities is not 1 (as in some chemical or metallurgical separations). In addition, Taguchi did not explain what the optimization criterion is in the above two‐step procedure. In this paper, we first show that using ηs in the Taguchi approach can be justified even for the case where α is not 1. Then, we formulate the BIBO parameter design problem in terms of minimizing expected quadratic loss, and show that the Taguchi two‐step procedure can be also justified with respect to this criterion if a certain set of assumptions is satisfied. The appropriate value of α is also determined.
Localization and characterization of latch‐up sensitive areas using a laser beam: Influence on design rules of ICs in CMOS technology
Authors: Fouillat P. , Danto Y. , Dom J. P. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe technique of ‘scanning’ with a laser beam permits a localization of latch‐up sites in CMOS technology with a resolution less than one micron. Electrical simulations correlated to experimental curves of ‘supply current’ versus ‘photo‐induced current’ offer a good evaluation of the predominant parameters of the parasitic structure.
Reliability engineering concepts in design for usability
Authors: Kohoutek Henry J. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractEngineering and managerial response to the increased demand for more usable computer products is hindered by lack of relevant knowledge in the majority of current Research and Development environments. This paper proposes to use reinterpretation of the existing reliability engineering knowledge base into the language of design for usability, as a way to speed up acceptance and adoption of human factors engineering tools, methods and expertise into the computer designers' set of core competencies. Described similarities in concepts, definitions, formal models and practical aspects between reliability and usability, justify this proposal.
Quality and reliability research into the next century
Authors: Blanks H. S. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe paper examines the research needed to advance the science of Q&R and in particular looks at that required to overcome the present crisis in reliability prediction and assessment. Areas requiring special attention are methods for the objective grading of product and organizational quality, research into human error causes and prevention, better modelling of reliability for prediction purposes, the discovery and use of unreliability diagnostic parameters, and better understanding and application of accelerated testing. Accelerated testing, screening and reliability prediction should all be more failure‐mode‐specific than they are currently. Reliability physics should pay increased attention to the precise effect material and geometric defects have on device life.
Electrical measurements as performance indicators of electromigration
Authors: Jones B. K. , Xu Y. Z. , Denton T. C. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractMeasurements were made of various electrical parameters on metal interconnects at intervals during electromigration life tests. The results show a close correlation between the progression of electro‐migration and increases of the resistance values, harmonic content and excess noise. Also, the statistical trend of the variations of these parameters with normalized lifetime for a number of failed samples is very consistent with the trend during a continuously monitoring experiment, where the electrical properties of tracks were monitored continuously while being electrically and thermally stressed. There are implications in the potential importance of such measurements for the non‐destructive tests of electromigration.
Testing of a solder replacement technology
Authors: Hvims Henrik L. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractEnvironmental issues have an ever‐increasing influence on the selection of material and processes in electronic manufacturing. This paper discusses the use of conductive adhesives as a replacement for solder on SMT printed circuit boards. As a result of a world‐wide market survey, a number of conductive adhesives has been selected. One of the two key issues of this paper has been to uncover the market for adhesive types and their composition. The other key issue has been the technical investigation of the influence of component termination and printed circuit surface types on adhesive bonding stability. Four different types of adhesives on two different metal surfaces are compared with conventional solder technology. Each adhesive has been applied to the PCBs by either screen printing or dispensing according to the manufacturer's recommendation, followed by curing. All PCBs went through thermal and humidity cycling followed by electrical measurements of resistance. Finally all variants have been adhesion tested. All adhesive variants have been microsectioned for metallurgical and microstructure examination. Energy dispersive analysis of X‐ray (EDAX) of the metal particles in the adhesive has been carried out and documented. Rework of conductive joints is briefly commented on. Finally, aspects of occupational health are discussed concerning work with adhesive types. Work with epoxy based adhesives has been brought into special focus.
Optimal reliability and maintainability allocation in manufacturing systems
Authors: Calabria R. , Pulcini G. , Rapone M. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractIn this article an attempt has been made to solve an important task in the reliability management of manufacturing systems: the definition of reliability and maintainability specifications of parts, the general objective being to increase productivity while maintaining costs low. An analytical approach has been considered to evaluate an average index of production capability in series‐parallel systems. A heuristic optimization procedure has been developed to solve the following problems: (a) determine the optimal reliability and maintainability allocation of parts to achieve the maximum production index at a given cost; and (b) determine the optimal reliability and maintainability allocation of parts which minimizes the total cost of investments, subject to the constraint of meeting a system production requirement. Numerical examples prove the effectiveness of the proposed procedure and show that the application of optimization analyses can provide large gains in terms of either productivity or total cost.
Translation of the baldrige award criteria to a context more accessible to small companies
Authors: Dunn Robert H. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractExperience has shown that many small companies find it too costly or impractical to use the criteria of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award as a tool to improve their quality culture. A statelevel award has found a way to make the criteria more accessible to small companies without diluting the essence of the criteria. The Connecticut Quality Improvement Award has translated the specifics of the Baldrige criteria to a set of 37 questions to which applicants, or those wishing to use the criteria for self‐assessment, can respond with considerably reduced effort.
Shape changes of voids in bamboo lines: A new electromigration failure mechanism
Authors: Kraft O. , Möckl U. E. , Arzt E. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe behaviour of electromigration‐induced voids in narrow, unpassivated aluminium interconnects is examined. Failure voids are categorized in two different types: extended wedge‐shaped voids and narrow slit‐like voids. The occurrence of slits is found to increase with decreasing current density and line width. It is observed that shape changes of voids lead to the formation of the slit‐like voids. These shape changes may consume a major part of the lifetime of a conductor line. A model to describe the evolution of the void shape is presented.
Gate oxide evaluations from high‐e tests
Authors: Peck D. Stewart 
Published: July 2007

AbstractRecent published data show the complete pattern of defect failures, intrinsic failures and the transition region between them. This explains many earlier misinterpretations. It provides a life curve for intrinsic failures, extending far beyond observation times in most cases, using a plot of acceleration factors independent of the 1/E vs. E relationship controversy between 6MV/cm. Life is linear with 1/E at 6MV/cm and above.Estimates of defect densities are available from the transition region, and are capable of extrapolation from high‐E life tests to low gradients of operation. At voltage gradients much below 6MV/cm, however, this extrapolation cannot be corroborated in the long straight line of the transition. A single point test can be performed at about the time to the inflection point at 8 or 9 MV/cm stress to serve as a quality control point for the oxide defect density.This transition life line, however, can be used to derive a plot of failure rate which can be used to define screening procedures.
Fast image registration based on geometric correspondence between two levels of pyramid structure
Authors: Onoe Morio , Sone Mitsuo 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe use of a pyramid structure has been known to reduce the time required for image registration. Discussions on a required search range without backtracking, however, have been mostly experimental. In Tanimoto's example the range of 2 × 2 was insufficient, and he suggested the use of a 4 × 4 range, namely, the choice of the best of 16. However, his discussion was not complete. This paper presents a theory based on geometric rather than analog correspondence between levels. First, the upper left corner candidate and best estimate positions in template images of each level, respectively, are defined. Then a required search range is considered. It is shown that even a range of 4 × 4 is insufficient. The discussion is extended to cover the case of analog correspondence. Results obtained are applied to the registration of dynamic images using SSDA (Sequential Similarity Detection Algorithm). A substantial reduction of time is achieved by the use of a pyramid structure in comparison with a conventional method, which uses only the lowest level.
Absolute stability of neural networks
Authors: Matsuoka Kiyotoshi 
Published: July 2007

AbstractA sufficient condition for the state of a recurrent neural network to converge stably to an equilibrium state is the symmetry of the weights of connections between constituent units. However, generally, it imposes a strong restriction on the capability of the network. Although several stability conditions have been proposed for asymmetric recurrent networks, they are too strict and not useful for actual neural networks. Six new stability conditions are derived herein by using two types of Lyapunov functions. Some of them provide milder constraints on the connection weights than the conventional results, and others are particularly useful when the mutual connections between units have opposite signs of weights.
An automatic measurement for intracranial volume using 3‐D image processings
Authors: Yasuda Takami , Harada Koji , Yokoi Shigeki , Toriwaki Jun‐Ichiro 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThis paper discusses the method of automatically extracting the intracranial region from the X‐ray CT image and measuring its volume. In craniofacial surgery, the predicted increase of the intracranial volume after surgery is the important criterion to evaluate the effectiveness of the surgery.By applying the three‐dimensional (3‐D) image processing and the shape interpolation, a method is devised which almost automatically extracts the intracranial region and measures its volume. The processing method and the result of measurement are reported herein. The method can be applied to measure the intracranial volume before the surgery, after the surgery, and the intracranial volume simulated before the surgery for the postoperative skull. The feature of the method is that the intracranial volume can be determined for the post‐surgical and planned skull, even if there exists a number of holes due to the surgery.
A multistage stereo method giving priority to reliable matching
Authors: Yamaguchi Akashi , Shirai Yoshiaki , Nakayama Osafumi , Asada Minoru 
Published: July 2007

AbstractThe main problem with stereo vision is the method of searching for corresponding points in the left and right images. The correspondence problem becomes especially difficult in the case of complex scenes because many corresponding candidates are found for a weak feature point.This paper proposes a multistage stereo method which determines the more reliable matching pairs first and later those less reliable, with the latter determined based on the first result. A feature point is a zero‐crossing point (ZC). If the contrast is high at a ZC, then the position and the direction of the ZC are clearly determined and the matching result is also reliable.Therefore, the proposed method determines first the correspondence of ZCs with higher contrast. For each ZC in the left image, the corresponding candidates in the right image are those with a similar contrast and direction. For ZCs in a small region in the left image, a histogram of the disparity of all the matching pair candidates is obtained and the disparity of the region is determined by the profile of the histogram. Once the disparity of the window is obtained, the disparity of each ZC in the region is determined. After the forementioned processing is finished, a similar processing is repeated for ZCs with lower contrasts. Experiments with complicated indoor scenes proved that the proposed method is better than a conventional single‐stage method.
Detection of optical flow from a noisy image
Authors: Chiba Masataka , Ozawa Shinji 
Published: July 2007

AbstractTo obtain motion parameters from a moving object in a time‐varying image or to obtain information on a three‐dimensional structure and the collocation of an object, it is necessary to obtain the displacement from the object on the image prior to further processing. For this purpose, the gradient‐based method by which the motion of the object on the image can be detected directly form the spatio‐temporal changes of its brightness is widely used. However, in cases where the image contains noise or the conditions required for the gradient‐based method are not satisfied, a large error occurs in the estimation of the object.This paper proposes a method in which the optical flow is represented using polar coordinates, and all the conditions required for its magnitude and argument are considered when they are derived. The magnitude of the optical flow of a pixel and the correlation between its argument and neighboring pixels are examined using true motion. The method detects only the optical flow caused by true motion of an object, eliminating optical flows caused by noise, so that the gradient‐based method may be applied.
Ebrahim Golestan's The Treasure: A Parable of Cliché and Consumption
Authors: Sprachman Paul 
Published: July 2007

Asrar-e Ganj-e Darreh-ye Jenni [The Secrets of the Treasure of Possessed Valley], hereafter The Treasure, is the name of both a novel and a film by Ebrahim Golestan (b. 1922), the important short story writer and filmmaker now living in London. Golestan made the film in the fall and winter of 1971, and later, in the summer and fall of 1974, reworked the screenplay into a novel. This perspective is critically useful, for it helps to explain the presence of certain cinematic touches in the novel's composition. But, before a review of these touches, here is a summary of the contents of The Treasure.The action of The Treasure betrays the simplicity of a parable. While plowing his field, a poor farmer accidentally uncovers an ancient burial chamber loaded with gold artifacts. Realizing that the trove would somehow liberate him from his bumpkin existence, he brings pieces of it to a jeweler in the city.
Alcohol and Drug Problems in Minority Groups
Authors: Kamien M. 
Published: July 2007

Abstract: Alcohol is a very recent introduction to the long history of Aboriginal occupation of Australia. The patterns of drinking have arisen as a copy of binge drinking which was and still is a common form of drinking in outback Australia. Grafted onto this is the cultural heritage of sharing as well as the tension release obtained for those at the lowest rung of Australia's socio‐economic ladder.Abstract: Doctors and nurses are supposed to be the educated members of society and should be expected to go more than half the way in bridging the cultural gap necessary to initiate preventive and curative services to one of the major health problems facing Aborigines and other ethnic groups in Australia.
A New Hypothesis for Microvascular Inflammation in Shock and Multiorgan Failure: Self‐Digestion by Pancreatic Enzymes
Authors: SCHMID‐SCHÖNBEIN GEERT W. , HUGLI TONY E. 
Published: July 2007

ABSTRACTShock is accompanied by a severe inflammatory cascade in the microcirculation, the origin of which has been hypothesized in the past to be associated with specific mediators such as endotoxin, oxygen free radicals, nitric oxide, cytokines, and lipid products. But no intervention with clinical effectiveness has been derived from these ideas to date. The authors propose here a new hypothesis suggesting that degradative enzymes, synthesized in the pancreas as part of normal digestion, may play a central role in shock and multiorgan failure. These powerful enzymes have the ability to digest almost every biological material. Self‐digestion (i.e. autodegradation) is prevented by compartmentalizing the fully activated degradative enzymes in the intestinal lumen by the mucosal barrier. In shock, maintenance of the mucosal barrier is impaired and it becomes permeable to pancreatic enzymes. Digestive enzymes thereby gain access to the wall of the intestine and initiate self‐digestion of submucosal extracellular matrix proteins and interstitial cells. The process leads to generation and release of a host of strong inflammatory mediators. The authors hypothesize that inhibition of pancreatic enzymes in the lumen of the intestine can serve to attenuate formation of these inflammatory mediators in ischemic tissues following hemorrhagic shock, and consequently prevent cell and tissue injury as well as multiorgan failure.
Obesity Exacerbates Sepsis‐Induced Inflammation and Microvascular Dysfunction in Mouse Brain
Authors: VACHHARAJANI VIDULA , RUSSELL JANICE M. , SCOTT KEITH L. , CONRAD STEVEN , STOKES KAREN Y. , TALLAM LAKSHMI , HALL JOHN , GRANGER D. NEIL 
Published: July 2007

ABSTRACTObjective: Obese patients with sepsis have higher morbidity and mortality than lean counterparts, but the mechanisms involved are unknown. The authors examined the inflammatory and thrombogenic responses of the cerebral microvasculature to sepsis induced by cecal ligation and perforation in obese and lean wild‐type mice.Methods: Leukocyte and platelet adhesion in cerebral microvasculature and behavioral responses were measured in wild‐type and obese mice 4 h postperforation. P‐selectin expression in different vascular beds was assessed 6 h postperforation. The effects of immunoblockade of P‐selectin, ICAM‐1, and CD18 on leukocyte and platelet recruitment were evaluated in obese septic animals.Results: Cerebral venules of obese and wild‐type mice assumed a proinflammatory and prothrombogenic phenotype 4 h post‐perforation, with greatly exaggerated responses in obese mice compared to the lean counterparts. These enhanced responses were attenuated by blocking P‐selectin, CD18, or ICAM‐1. Obese mice also exhibited a more profound behavioral deficit after sepsis, which appears to be unrelated to the recruitment of leukocytes and platelets. Cecal ligation and perforation‐induced P‐selectin expression was greater in obese mice compared with lean counterparts.Conclusions: These findings suggest that the increased morbidity to sepsis in obesity may result from exaggerated microvascular inflammatory and thrombogenic responses that include the activation of endothelial cells with subsequent expression of adhesion molecules, such as P‐selectin.
Interactions of Platelets, Blood‐Borne Tissue Factor, and Fibrin During Arteriolar Thrombus Formation In Vivo
Authors: SIM DEREK S. , FLAUMENHAFT ROBERT , FURIE BARBARA C. , FURIE BRUCE 
Published: July 2007

ABSTRACTThrombus formation following vascular injury is an essential component of both hemostasis and pathologic vessel occlusion. This process occurs in a closed, pressurized environment in which blood flows rapidly over the injury site. Thrombus formation must occur quickly to reduce blood loss, but is carefully modulated to limit vessel occlusion. Circulating cells, plasma proteins, vessel wall components, and physical forces such as shear all influence thrombus formation. Historically, thrombus formation has been studied by isolating the separate components of blood involved in clot formation. With improved optical techniques, investigators have increasingly studied thrombus formation under conditions of flow in vitro and in live animals in vivo. Using multichannel fluorescence intravital videomicroscopy, the authors have studied the changes in the kinetics and deposition of platelets, fibrin, and tissue factor at the injury site during thrombosis in transgenic mice, bone marrow transplanted mice, and mice treated with pharmacological agents that modulate thrombosis. The differences in the kinetics of accumulation of the various components of thrombus in these mice have provided new insights about thrombus formation in arterioles. This review discusses the role of platelet intracellular signaling, P‐selectin expression on platelets, and tissue factor‐bearing microparticles in thrombus formation.
Characterization of endothelin converting enzyme from intact cells of a permanent human endothelial cell line EA.hy926
Authors: Ahn Kyunghye , Pan Sharon M. , Zientek Michael A. , Guy Pamela M. , Sisneros Andre M. 
Published: July 2007

AbstractEndothelin converting enzyme (ECE) from intact cells of a permanent human endothelial cell line, EA.hy926, was studied by examining the effects of phosphoramidon, an endothelin converting enzyme inhibitor, on the levels of secreted endothelin‐1 and big endothelin‐1. The specific ECE activity was demonstrated by a phosphoramidon dose‐dependent decrease in ET‐1 level with a concomitant increase in big ET‐1 level. By using a specific neutral endopeptidase 24.11 (NEP 24.11) inhibitor, thiorphan, it was also shown that the phosphoramidon‐sensitive ET‐1 degrading activity in this cell line is due to the NEP 24.11 activity. Other serine, acid, and cysteine protease inhibitors had no effect on the endogenous synthesis of ET‐1 and big ET‐1 supporting the evidence that ECE is insensitive to these protease inhibitors as has been demonstrated with the isolated enzyme.