Showing papers on "Personal computer published in 2005"

Model of adoption and technology in households: a baseline model test and extension incorporating household life cycle

Abstract: Individual adoption of technology has been studied extensively in the workplace. Far less attention has been paid to adoption of technology in the household. In this paper, we performed the first quantitative test of the recently developed model of adoption of technology in households (MATH). Further, we proposed and tested a theoretical extension of MATH by arguing that key demographic characteristics that vary across different life cycle stages would play moderating roles. Survey responses were collected from 746 U.S. households that had not yet adopted a personal computer. The results showed that the integrated model, including MATH constructs and life cycle characteristics, explained 74 percent of the variance in intention to adopt a PC for home use, a significant increase over baseline MATH that explained 50 percent of the variance. Finally, we compared the importance of various factors across household life cycle stages and gained a more refined understanding of the moderating role of household life cycle stage.

OLINDA/EXM: the second-generation personal computer software for internal dose assessment in nuclear medicine.

Abstract: The OLINDA/EXM version 1.0 personal computer code was created as a replacement for the widely used MIRDOSE3.1 code. This paper documents the basic function of the code and how it is similar to and different from the MIRDOSE software. Methods: After creation of the code and α- and β-testing phases, a premarket notification submission (510(k)) was filed with the Food and Drug Administration to permit marketing of the code. Permission was granted in June 2004, and the code is currently being distributed through Vanderbilt University. Not all of the technical details of the dosimetry methods have been shown here, as they have been previously documented. Results: Agreement of doses between the MIRDOSE3.1 and OLINDA/EXM codes was good, within 1%–2% in most cases. Conclusion: The extensive testing of the OLINDA/EXM code, based on comparison with literature-established dose calculations and with the widely tested and accepted MIRDOSE3.1 code, should give users confidence in its output. The OLINDA/EXM code should be easy for MIRDOSE users to adopt and for new users to understand. It will be useful in standardizing and automating internal dose calculations, assessing doses in clinical trials with radiopharmaceuticals, making theoretic calculations for existing pharmaceuticals, teaching, and other purposes.

Slow-light optical buffers: capabilities and fundamental limitations

Abstract: This paper presents an analysis of optical buffers based on slow-light optical delay lines. The focus of this paper is on slow-light delay lines in which the group velocity is reduced using linear processes, including electromagnetically induced transparency (EIT), population oscillations (POs), and microresonator-based photonic-crystal (PC) filters. We also consider slow-light delay lines in which the group velocity is reduced by an adiabatic process of bandwidth compression. A framework is developed for comparing these techniques and identifying fundamental physical limitations of linear slow-light technologies. It is shown that slow-light delay lines have limited capacity and delay-bandwidth product. In principle, the group velocity in slow-light delay lines can be made to approach zero. But very slow group velocity always comes at the cost of very low bandwidth or throughput. In many applications, miniaturization of the delay line is an important consideration. For all delay-line buffers, the minimum physical size of the buffer for a given number of buffered data bits is ultimately limited by the physical size of each stored bit. We show that in slow-light optical buffers, the minimum achievable size of 1 b is approximately equal to the wavelength of light in the buffer. We also compare the capabilities and limitations of a range of delay-line buffers, investigate the impact of waveguide losses on the buffer capacity, and look at the applicability of slow-light delay lines in a number of applications.

Personalized Search Based on User Search Histories

Abstract: User profiles, descriptions of user interests, can be used by search engines to provide personalized search results. Many approaches to creating user profiles collect user information through proxy servers (to capture browsing histories) or desktop bots (to capture activities on a personal computer). Both these techniques require participation of the user to install the proxy server or the bot. In this study, we explore the use of a less-invasive means of gathering user information for personalized search. In particular, we build user profiles based on activity at the search site itself and study the use of these profiles to provide personalized search results. By implementing a wrapper around the Google [10] search engine, we were able to collect information about individual user search activities. In particular, we collected the queries for which at least one search result was examined, and the snippets (titles and summaries) for each examined result. User profiles were created by classifying the collected information (queries or snippets) into concepts in a reference concept hierarchy. These profiles were then used to re-rank the search results and the rank-order of the user-examined results before and after re-ranking were compared. Our study found that user profiles based on queries were as effective as those based on snippets. We also found that our personalized re-ranking resulted in a 34% improvement in the rank-order of the user-selected results.

Reliability and Validity of Useful Field of View Test Scores as Administered by Personal Computer

Abstract: The Useful Field of View test (UFOV(1)) is a measure of processing speed that predicts driving performance and other functional abilities in older adults. In comparison to a number of other visual and cognitive measures, the UFOV measure has consistently been found to be the strongest predictor of motor vehicle crashes of older adults. This measure has valuable applications in that computerized, performance-based measures that are predictive of crashes in the elderly population can provide an objective criterion for determining the need for driver restriction or rehabilitation. Administration of the UFOV test has evolved from the standard version (administered via touch-screen with the Visual Attention Analyzer) to two briefer versions, which are administered on a personal desktop computer (PC) using either a touch screen or mouse response option. These new versions of the test are briefer and require less specialized equipment, making the test more portable and practical for use in clinical settings. This study examined the reliability and validity of the scores from these two new versions. Results indicate that test-retest reliabilities of the scores from the UFOV PC versions are high (r's= 0 .884 for mouse and 0.735 for touch), and performance on both PC versions correlates well with performance on the standard version (r's = 0.658 for mouse and 0.746 for touch). Furthermore, scores were highly correlated (r = 0.916) when participants used either a touch screen or a mouse to input responses. In conclusion, the reliability and validity coefficients are of sufficient magnitude to make the touch and mouse PC versions of the UFOV practical for use in clinical evaluations.

A multiparameter wearable physiologic monitoring system for space and terrestrial applications

Abstract: A novel, unobtrusive and wearable, multiparameter ambulatory physiologic monitoring system for space and terrestrial applications, termed LifeGuard, is presented. The core element is a wearable monitor, the crew physiologic observation device (CPOD), that provides the capability to continuously record two standard electrocardiogram leads, respiration rate via impedance plethysmography, heart rate, hemoglobin oxygen saturation, ambient or body temperature, three axes of acceleration, and blood pressure. These parameters can be digitally recorded with high fidelity over a 9-h period with precise time stamps and user-defined event markers. Data can be continuously streamed to a base station using a built-in Bluetooth RF link or stored in 32 MB of on-board flash memory and downloaded to a personal computer using a serial port. The device is powered by two AAA batteries. The design, laboratory, and field testing of the wearable monitors are described.

Systems and methods for improved data sharing and content transformation

Abstract: A user's personal computer (101) can be turned into a personal network server (103) for easily sharing personal digital information (200) with other people using a wide variety of devices. There are a variety of alternative ways in which such file sharing on the user's computer can be implemented, such as with a client-side server approach, a hosted server approach, and an automated publish approach. Depending upon a variety of factors, the requested shared data may be intelligently and dynamically transformed to better fit the requesting party's needs. Programming interfaces are available to third parties that allow for access to the shared data and for providing customized instructions on what to do when transforming the data.

The end of corporate computing

Abstract: Information technology is undergoing an inexorable shift from being an asset that companies own ? in the form of computers, software and myriad related components ? to being a service that they purchase from utility providers. Three technological advances are enabling this change: virtualization, grid computing and Web services. Virtualization erases the differences between proprietary computing platforms, enabling applications designed to run on one operating system to be deployed elsewhere. Grid computing allows large numbers of hardware components, such as servers or disk drives, to effectively act as a single device, pooling their capacity and allocating it automatically to different jobs. Web services standardize the interfaces between applications, turning them into modules that can be assembled and disassembled easily. The resulting industry will likely have three major components. At the center will be the IT utilities themselves ? big companies that will maintain core computing resources in central plants and distribute them to end users. Serving the utilities will be a diverse array of component suppliers ? the makers of computers, storage units, networking gear, operating and utility software, and applications. And finally, large network operators will maintain the ultrahigh-capacity data-communication lines needed for the system to work. IT?s shift from an in-house capital asset to a centralized utility service will overturn strategic and operating assumptions, alter industrial economics, upset markets and pose daunting challenges to every user and vendor. The history of the commercial application of IT has been characterized by astounding leaps, but nothing that has come before ? not even the introduction of the personal computer or the opening of the Internet ? will match the upheaval that lies just over the horizon.

What Can You Learn from a Cell Phone? Almost Anything!.

Abstract: One and a half billion people, all over the world, are walking around with powerful computers in their pockets and purses The fact is they often do not realize it, because they call them something else But today 's high-end cell phones have the computing power of a mid-1990s personal computer (PC)—while consuming only one one-hundredth of the energy Even the simplest, voice -only phones have more complex and powerful chips than the 1969 on-board computer that landed a spaceship on the moon

Orthopaedic Implant With Sensors

Abstract: The present invention relates to an orthopaedic implant, such as a bone plate, for the fixation of bone where the implant also has at least one microchip and at least one sensor connected to the microchip. The sensor or sensors are configured to receive physical stimulus from a portion of the implant or the patient's tissue such as temperature, pressure, and strain. The information received from the sensor or sensors is gathered by the microchip and transmitted to a receiver, such as a personal computer, outside the patient. This information enables doctors to diagnose the useful life of the implant, the load sharing of the bone plate, and possible complications typically associated with orthopaedic implants such as infection, fracture non-union, and fatigue. The implant may also have one or more electrodes located on its surface which emit an electric current to stimulate healing of the broken or fractured bone.

Implementation of a modern resonant ultrasound spectroscopy system for the measurement of the elastic moduli of small solid specimens

Abstract: The use of mechanical resonances to determine the elastic moduli of materials of interest to condensed-matter physics, engineering, materials science and more is a steadily evolving process. With the advent of massive computing capability in an ordinary personal computer, it is now possible to find all the elastic moduli of low-symmetry solids using sophisticated analysis of a set of the lowest resonances. This process, dubbed “resonant ultrasound spectroscopy” or RUS, provides the highest absolute accuracy of any routine elastic modulus measurement technique, and it does this quickly on small samples. RUS has been reviewed extensively elsewhere, but still lacking is a complete description of how to make such measurements with hardware and software easily available to the general science community. In this article, we describe how to implement realistically a useful RUS system.

Computer system for monitoring actual performance to standards in real time

Abstract: The present invention provides a system and method for conducting a management session between a supervisor and an employee or other subordinate. The system utilizes a handheld personal computer (12) that is programmed with multiple supervisory functions (40, 42, 44), which are displayed in an integrated format to reduce the number of supervisory sessions required for a given employee. The system also provides for the capture and storage (24) of automatic work measurement data, which can be integrated with other work measurement data captured by one or more sensing devices within the employee's workspace, and performance to standards can be reviewed in real time via real-time alerts or at the end of the evaluation (16, 32).

Bayesian coestimation of phylogeny and sequence alignment

Abstract: Two central problems in computational biology are the determination of the alignment and phylogeny of a set of biological sequences. The traditional approach to this problem is to first build a multiple alignment of these sequences, followed by a phylogenetic reconstruction step based on this multiple alignment. However, alignment and phylogenetic inference are fundamentally interdependent, and ignoring this fact leads to biased and overconfident estimations. Whether the main interest be in sequence alignment or phylogeny, a major goal of computational biology is the co-estimation of both. We developed a fully Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo method for coestimating phylogeny and sequence alignment, under the Thorne-Kishino-Felsenstein model of substitution and single nucleotide insertion-deletion (indel) events. In our earlier work, we introduced a novel and efficient algorithm, termed the "indel peeling algorithm", which includes indels as phylogenetically informative evolutionary events, and resembles Felsenstein's peeling algorithm for substitutions on a phylogenetic tree. For a fixed alignment, our extension analytically integrates out both substitution and indel events within a proper statistical model, without the need for data augmentation at internal tree nodes, allowing for efficient sampling of tree topologies and edge lengths. To additionally sample multiple alignments, we here introduce an efficient partial Metropolized independence sampler for alignments, and combine these two algorithms into a fully Bayesian co-estimation procedure for the alignment and phylogeny problem. Our approach results in estimates for the posterior distribution of evolutionary rate parameters, for the maximum a-posteriori (MAP) phylogenetic tree, and for the posterior decoding alignment. Estimates for the evolutionary tree and multiple alignment are augmented with confidence estimates for each node height and alignment column. Our results indicate that the patterns in reliability broadly correspond to structural features of the proteins, and thus provides biologically meaningful information which is not existent in the usual point-estimate of the alignment. Our methods can handle input data of moderate size (10–20 protein sequences, each 100–200 bp), which we analyzed overnight on a standard 2 GHz personal computer. Joint analysis of multiple sequence alignment, evolutionary trees and additional evolutionary parameters can be now done within a single coherent statistical framework.

Lifetime characterization of capacitive RF MEMS switches

Abstract: RF MEMS switches provide a low-cost, high performance solution to many RF/microwave applications and these switches will be important building blocks for designing phase shifters, switched filters and reflector array antennas for military and commercial markets. In this paper, progress in characterizing of THALES capacitive MEMS devices under high RF power is presented. The design, fabrication and testing of capacitive RF MEMS switches for microwave/mm- wave applications on high-resistivity silicon substrate is presented. The switches tested demonstrated power handling capabilities of 1W (30 dbm) for continuous RF power. The reliability of these switches was tested at various power levels indicating that under continuous RF power. In addition a description of the power failures and their associated operating conditions is presented. The PC-based test stations to cycle switches and measure lifetime under DC and RF loads have been developed. Best-case lifetimes of 1010 cycles have been achieved in several switches from different lots under 30 dbm RF power.© (2005) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.

Wireless handheld device with local biometric authentication

Abstract: The invention is directed to a wireless handheld device that securely accesses one or more remote devices subject to locally authenticating a user via biometrics. The device may be implemented as a wireless mouse with a biometric sensor incorporated with a scroll wheel that captures a biometric from the user and authenticates the user to the device using the captured biometric. More specifically, the captured biometric is compared to a template stored in memory. The device transmits a wireless signal, such as a command stream including the user's user name and password, to access the remote devices when the captured biometric matches the template. However, the device does not operate when the user is not authenticated. Accordingly, the invention may be particularly useful to log-on and log-off a user who frequently leaves and returns to a personal computer or various remote devices during the course of a day.

THINC: a virtual display architecture for thin-client computing

Abstract: Rapid improvements in network bandwidth, cost, and ubiquity combined with the security hazards and high total cost of ownership of personal computers have created a growing market for thin-client computing. We introduce THINC, a virtual display architecture for high-performance thin-client computing in both LAN and WAN environments. THINC virtualizes the display at the device driver interface to transparently intercept application display commands and translate them into a few simple low-level commands that can be easily supported by widely used client hardware. THINC's translation mechanism efficiently leverages display semantic information through novel optimizations such as offscreen drawing awareness, native video support, and server-side screen scaling. This is integrated with an update delivery architecture that uses shortest command first scheduling and non-blocking operation. THINC leverages existing display system functionality and works seamlessly with unmodified applications, window systems, and operating systems.We have implemented THINC in an X/Linux environment and compared its performance against widely used commercial approaches, including Citrix MetaFrame, Microsoft RDP, GoToMyPC, X, NX, VNC, and Sun Ray. Our experimental results on web and audio/video applications demonstrate that THINC can provide up to 4.8 times faster web browsing performance and two orders of magnitude better audio/video performance. THINC is the only thin client capable of transparently playing full-screen video and audio at full frame rate in both LAN and WAN environments. Our results also show for the first time that thin clients can even provide good performance using remote clients located in other countries around the world.

The collective: a cache-based system management architecture

Abstract: This paper presents the Collective, a system that delivers managed desktops to personal computer (PC) users. System administrators are responsible for the creation and maintenance of the desktop environments, or virtual appliances, which include the operating system and all installed applications. PCs run client software, called the virtual appliance transceiver, that caches and runs the latest copies of appliances locally and continuously backs up changes to user data to a network repository. This model provides the advantages of central management, such as better security and lower cost of management, while leveraging the cost-effectiveness of commodity PCs.With a straightforward design, this model provides a comprehensive suite of important system functions including machine lockdown, system updates, error recovery, backups, and support for mobility. These functions are made available to all desktop environments that run on the x86 architecture, while remaining protected from the environments and their many vulnerabilities. The model is suitable for managing computers on a LAN, WAN with broadband, or even computers occasionally disconnected from the network like a laptop. Users can access their desktops from any Collective client; they can also carry a bootable drive that converts a PC into a client; finally, they can use a remote display client from a browser to access their desktop running on a remote server.We have developed a prototype of the Collective system and have used it for almost a year. We have found the system helpful in simplifying the management of our desktops while imposing little performance overhead.

Configurable controlling device having an associated editing program

Abstract: A configurable controlling device and associated editor program that allows a consumer to create on a personal computer for downloading to the controlling device a user interface comprised of user interface pages having icons which icons, when activated on the controlling device, cause the controlling device to perform a function, such as to transmit a command to an appliance, to change the user interface page being displayed, etc. The editor program allows for the visualization of links created between user interface pages, single step assigning of commands to logical groups of function keys (both iconic and hard keys), single step assigning of backgrounds to groups of user interface pages, and pre-rendering of user interface pages prior to the downloading of the user interface to the controlling device.

AC to DC power supply with PFC for lamp

Abstract: An AC-to-DC converter with PFC or without PFC generates an output constant voltage at any predetermined value (no matter less or more than input line peak voltage, or even equal to input line peak voltage) with an input line AC voltage with wide range (Typical sinusoidal 110 VAC, 60 Hz or 220 VAC, 50 Hz). It is mainly used as power supply for lamp. Previous power supply for lamp has low frequency component or high frequency component. (1) Low frequency light cause eyes pupil and crystalline lens will adjust 60 times, 120 or many times per second to cause eyes tired. Pupil open wide and crystalline lens adjust to collect more light to focus on retina for seeing clearly at weak light while pupil open narrow and crystalline lens adjust to collect less light to focus on retina at strong light to prevent retina from strong light harm and hurt. In the long run, muscles to control pupil and crystalline lens become very tired and become flabby. Then the muscle can't adjust pupil and crystalline according to distance and brightness so that myopia is caused. (2) High frequency voltage causes lamp brightness changes too fast. Eyes can not adjust fast enough to follow the brightness change of lamp for high frequency voltage. But high frequency large current on the secondary cause high EMI that has risk to harm people's health. High frequency light causes EMI issue. Peoples' eyes can't keep up with high frequency light. Peak strong light shine on the retina for pupil can't shrink at high frequency light. In the long run, retina will be harmed and affect eyesight is affected, cornea dryness or crystalline lens opacity is caused. My invention of power supply lamp has only DC constant voltage on lamp. Lamp's brightness is constant and has no low frequency or high frequency component Thus peoples' eyes and health are protected to maximum extent. The output voltage is regulated at predetermined DC constant value by feedback. You can adjust feedback potentiometer value to set output voltage. Potentiometer and resistor voltage divider with auxiliary winding, (opto-coupler, digital isolator or direct feedback) compose the dimming feedback circuit. It is convenient to adjust the brightness of lamp for eyes' comfort by adjusting the potentiometer resistance value. My invention can be used directly on second category lamp that doesn't need high voltage with ballast to start the lamp. Most of them use heat generated by filament or diode etc to create light. Such as Halogen, Incandescent, LED, PAR lamp, miniature sealed beam lamp, Projection lamp, automotive lamp, some stage and studio lamp, DC fluorescent lamp etc. The converter realized pulse-by-pulse or other current limit protection by sense the current sense resistor or signal transformer. One stage DC sinusoidal to DC constant converter 206 can be implemented by all kinds of topologies other than the following topologies as long as they can convert DC sinusoidal voltage to DC constant voltage. Buck, Boost, Buck-boost, Noninverting buck-boost ,H-Bridge, Watkins-Johnson, Current-fed bridge, Inverse of Watkins-Johnson, Cuk, SEPIC, Inverse of SEPIC, Buck square, full bridge, half bridge, Forward, Two-transistor Forward, Push-pull, Flyback, Push-pull converter basedon Watkins-Johnson, Isolated SEPIC, Isolated Inverse SEPIC, Isolated Cuk, Two-transistor Flyback etc One stage AC to DC converter 206 can be realized by discrete components without controller 209 , active startup circuit, feedback circuit or sample circuit. Main switch and active startup circuit can be integrated in IC controller. The AC to DC converter is not used only for lamp. It is can also be used for any device requires DC power supply in all the industrial areas. (Telecommunication, Storage, Personal computer, cell phone power supply and charger, video game etc) For example, Bus AC to DC converter, PFC converter, PFC converter for lighting Computer power supply, Monitor power supply, notebook adapter, LCD TV, AC/DC adapter, adjusted voltage charger, Power tool charger, Electronic ballast, Video game power supply etc.

Multi axis differential optical absorption spectroscopy (MAX-DOAS) of gas and aerosol distributions.

Abstract: We present and demonstrate a relatively simple algorithm, which converts a set of slant column density measurements of oxygen dimers (O4) and NO2 at several different elevation angles to determine the atmospheric aerosol extinction and the absolute concentration and mixing ratio of NO2 within the atmospheric boundary layer. In addition the height of the atmospheric boundary layer can usually be derived, also the technique can be readily extended to determine the concentration of several other trace gases including SO2, CH2O, or glyoxal. The algorithm is based on precise radiation transport modelling determination, taking into account the actual aerosol scenario as determined from the O4 measurements. The required hardware is simple encompassing essentially a miniature spectrometer, a small telescope, a pointing mechanism, and a Personal Computer (PC). Effectively the technique combines the simplicity of a passive MAX-DOAS observation with the capability of a much more complex active DOAS instrument to determine path-averaged, absolutely calibrated mixing ratios of atmospheric trace gases at relatively high accuracy.

A system-on-chip digital pH meter for use in a wireless diagnostic capsule

Abstract: This paper describes the design and implementation of a system-on-chip digital pH meter, for use in a wireless capsule application. The system is organized around an 8-bit microcontroller, designed to be functionally identical to the Motorola 6805. The analog subsystem contains a floating-electrode ISFET, which is fully compatible with a commercial CMOS process. On-chip programmable voltage references and multiplexors permit flexibility with the minimum of external connections. The chip is designed in a modular fashion to facilitate verification and component re-use. The single-chip pH meter can be directly connected to a personal computer, and gives a response of 37 bits/pH, within an operating range of 7 pH units.

Special-purpose computer HORN-5 for a real-time electroholography.

Abstract: In electroholography, a real-time reconstruction is one of the grand challenges. To realize it, we developed a parallelized high-performance computing board for computer-generated hologram, named HORN-5 board, where four large-scale field programmable gate array chips were mounted. The number of circuits for hologram calculation implemented to the board was 1,408. The board calculated a hologram at higher speed by 360 times than a personal computer with Pentium4 processor. A personal computer connected with four HORN-5 boards calculated a hologram of 1,408×1,050 made from a three-dimensional object consisting of 10,000 points at 0.0023 s. In other words, beyond at video rate (30 frames/s), it realized a real-time reconstruction.

Measuring the Digital Divide in the United States: Race, Income, and Personal Computer Ownership

Abstract: This article demonstrates how the Lorenz Curve and the Gini coefficient can be used to measure inequalities in home personal computer (PC) ownership in the United States at the national, regional, and state levels. Our empirical investigation, based on supplemental data from the Current Population Survey of the U.S. Census, indicates that income inequalities are substantially smaller within white households owning a PC than African American households, at all geographic scales. While income inequalities among PC owners (households) have decreased between 1994 and 2001 in all regions and states, the magnitude of this inequality has declined more rapidly among whites compared to African Americans.

Applying the ISO/IEEE 11073 standards to wearable home health monitoring systems.

Abstract: Objective. The goal of this effort was to investigate the feasibility of applying the ISO/IEEE 11073 (a.k.a. X73) standards, originally intended for bedside monitoring in hospital environments, to wearable, multi-sensor monitoring systems designed for home healthcare. Methods. The X73 upper-layer sub-standards (i.e., nomenclature specification, domain information model, application profiles, and vital sign device descriptions) were adopted and implemented on microcontroller-based sensor hardware to provide plug-and-play medical components. Three types of system elements (base stations, data loggers, and sensor units) perform the functionality required in this standards-based home health monitoring system and communicate using Bluetooth wireless modules. The base station incorporates a LabVIEW interface running on a personal computer. Each data logger and sensor unit is implemented on a microcontroller-driven embedded platform. Sensor units include wearable sensors (e.g., electrocardiograph, pulse oximeter) and nearby sensors (e.g., weight scale, ambient environment sensors). Results. The standards-based prototype system with an open architecture achieves plug-and-play performance suitable for a home environment. Each wireless element in the body/home area network can automatically detect other nearby devices, associate with them, and exchange data with them as appropriate. Conclusions. With minor modifications, the X73 standards can be successfully applied to wearable, wireless, point-of-care systems in the home.

Techniques for pairing remote controllers with host devices

Abstract: Techniques for associating a wireless controller to a host device are disclosed. Once associated, the host device is responsive to the associated wireless controller but not responsive to other wireless controllers that may be in the vicinity. Subsequently, if desired, the association with the wireless controller can be removed and a different association with another wireless controller can be invoked. As an example, the wireless controller can be a portable remote controller, and the host device can be a personal computer, a home stereo, a portable media player, or a docking station for a portable media player. In one implementation, the portable remote controller can be an infrared remote controller.

Making Silicon Valley : innovation and the growth of high tech, 1930-1970

Abstract: I n Making Silicon Valley, Christophe Lecuyer shows that the explosive growth of the personal computer industry in Silicon Valley was the culmination of decades of growth and innovation in the San Francisco-area electronics industry. Using the tools of science and technology studies, he explores the formation of Silicon Valley as an industrial district, from its beginnings as the home of a few radio enterprises that operated in the shadow of RCA and other East Coast firms through its establishment as a center of the electronics industry and a leading producer of power grid tubes, microwave tubes, and semiconductors. He traces the emergence of the innovative practices that made this growth possible by following key groups of engineers and entrepreneurs. He examines the forces outside Silicon Valley that shaped the industry -- in particular the effect of military patronage and procurement on the growth of the industry and on the development of technologies -- and considers the influence of Stanford University and other local institutions of higher learning. Lecuyer argues that Silicon Valley's emergence and its growth were made possible by the development of unique competencies in manufacturing, in product engineering, and in management. Entrepreneurs learned to integrate invention, design, manufacturing, and sales logistics, and they developed incentives to attract and retain a skilled and motivated workforce. The largest Silicon Valley firms -- including Eitel-McCullough (Eimac), Litton Industries, Varian Associates, Fairchild Semiconductor, and Intel -- dominated the American markets for advanced tubes and semiconductors and, because of their innovations in manufacturing, design, and management, served as models and incubators for other electronics ventures in the area.

On the transition densities for reflected diffusions

Abstract: Diffusion models in economics, finance, queueing, mathematical biology, and electrical engineering often involve reflecting barriers. In this paper, we study the analytical representation of transition densities for reflected one-dimensional diffusions in terms of their associated Sturm–Liouville spectral expansions. In particular, we provide explicit analytical expressions for transition densities of Brownian motion with drift, the Ornstein– Uhlenbeck process, and affine (square-root) diffusion with one or two reflecting barriers. The results are easily implementable on a personal computer and should prove useful in applications.

[Health Status of the German population: results of a representative survey using the EuroQol questionnaire]

Abstract: Purpose The EuroQol questionnaire (EQ-5D) is an instrument for subjectively describing and valuing health states. The purpose of this study was to measure the health status of the German population using the EQ-5D and to analyse the influence of sociodemographic factors. Methods As part of the European Study of the Epidemiology of Mental Disorders (ESEMeD) a representative sample of the non-institutionalised population aged 18 and above in Germany was surveyed by personal computer-based interviews in 2002/2003. Besides questions relating to the prevalence of psychiatric disorders and their risk factors, the health status of 3552 respondents was recorded using the EQ-5D. Frequency and factors of influence on problems in the EuroQol items mobility, self-care, usual activities, pain/discomfort, anxiety/depression as well as the valuation of health state on the visual analog scale (VAS) were analysed. Results 36 % of the respondents report problems in at least one of the EuroQol items; most frequent were problems in the dimension pain/discomfort (28 %), followed by mobility (17 %), everyday activities (10 %), anxiety/depression (4 %) and self-care (3 %). The mean VAS score was 77.4. Except for anxiety/depression the frequency of problems increased significantly with age and decreased with income. Women reported significantly more problems than men with regard to pain/discomfort and self-care. Having received more than 9 years of school education and being employed was associated with significantly fewer problems in all dimensions of the EuroQol. Living with a partner was associated with significantly fewer problems in the dimensions of self-care, usual activities and anxiety/depression. Multivariate analyses confirmed the effect of age, school education and employment on the frequency of problems, whereas for living with a partner only effects on self-care and anxiety/depression, and for gender only effects on pain/discomfort were confirmed. Income had no effect on frequency of problems in multivariate analyses. Young age, more than 9 years of school education, employment and living with a partner had a significantly positive effect on VAS score in multivariate analyses, while gender and income had no effect. Conclusions The EQ-5D is a simple health state classification system, that can be used to detect variations in the health status of a population. This study provides EQ-5D-norm values for the German population.