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No description available.

The phenomenon where small numbers produce faster left than right responses and large numbers produce faster right than left responses (The SNARC effect) has been used as evidence for obligatory activations of magnitude. In two experiments, I used the SNARC effect to examine crosstalk using a psychological refractory period (PRP) paradigm. In Experiment 1, subjects made a parity judgment to the second number, while ignoring the first number in session 1 or performing a magnitude judgment on the number in session 2. In Experiment 2, subjects performed a magnitude judgment on the second number. They ignored the first number in session 1 or performed a parity judgment on the number in session 2. The results supported two conclusions. First, presentation of a number produced obligatory representations of magnitude even if the number was to be ignored. Second, early representations of magnitude resulted in crosstalk on processing of the subsequent number.

The predicted growth in mobile phone traffic and the move towards enhanced mobility will lead to a need for a wireless infrastructure that provides increasing bandwidth per user. It is envisaged that our world will become increasingly interconnected, with mobile communications enabling us to perform an increasing range of tasks. / Future wireless networks will require an optical network to provide antenna Base Stations with sufficient bandwidth to provide individual users with a larger bandwidth. The combined optical and wireless network is referred to as a “fibre-radio” or “radio-over-fibre” or “fibre-wireless”; network. It is expected that such high-capacity networks will use Wavelength Division Multiplexing (WDM) to increase the total bandwidth transmitted over the optical access network. Such a high-capacity network would not be achievable using a single wavelength or using a copper or coax network. Optical crosstalk is present in WDM optical networks and degrades the received signal quality, increasing the bit-error-rate. Two types of crosstalk occur, depending on whether the crosstalk channel is a different wavelength to the signal or at the same wavelength (out-of-band and in-band crosstalk, respectively). An important consideration for fibre-radio networks is whether or not the optical network transports data at baseband, using standard intensity modulation, or at an RF frequency, using subcarrier modulation. The nature of the optical modulation scheme has implications for the design of the Central Office and the Base Stations, and potentially for optical crosstalk. (For complete abstract open document)

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Delaware, 2009. / Principal faculty advisor: Fouad Kiamilev, Dept. of Electrical & Computer Engineering. Includes bibliographical references.

Thesis (M.Phil.)--Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2009. / Includes bibliographical references (p. 69-73).

A new data capturing technique for a potentially coupled bus of lines is proposed that always accommodates fast operation. The proposed method utilizes multiple reference voltages available within a line's receiving logic and the initial conditions of the involved wires in order to determine early and accurately the transmitted data in the current cycle. The presented data reading technique rarely requires repeater insertion and it can considerably accelerate signal propagation. The introduced logic at the receiver-end of a victim wire entails an affordable area overhead. Experimental results are given in the 65nm CMOS process for interconnects of various lengths. An architecture is proposed that allows for data reading with fault detection capability on lines which are likely to operate under a potentially wide range of capacitive coupling. In order to develop such a methodology, multiple reference or threshold voltages in the receiving logic of the lines are considered instead of typically one. The proposed technique utilizes the additional reference voltages to evaluate whether an intermittent fault has occurred during the capture of the transmitted data. Some combinational logic is introduced on the receiver side to accomplish this task. The mechanism is initially illustrated on a line with one adjacent aggressor. Subsequently, the case of a line with two adjacent aggressors is discussed and it is shown how to generalize the technique for wide buses. In this work the efficiency of the detection mechanism is evaluated for both single and multiple faulty occurrences. A novel circuit to treat crosstalk induced glitches on local interconnects is presented. Design irregularities and manufacturing defects on wires may result in spurious electrical events that impact the reliability of the interconnect infrastructure. The proposed methods act by dynamically adjusting the threshold voltage of the receiving gate on the victim line. The proposed technique can be used in combination with encoding algorithms on data buses. A comparative study in the 180nm CMOS process is presented that supports the applicability of the approach. Transient faults due to radiation have become increasingly observable in combinational logic. This is due to the weakening of inherent protective mechanisms that logic traditionally held against such flawed spurious events. Further boosting of such effects is increasingly probable due to the interaction of transients appearing at the inputs of logic gates. Such multiple instances of transients can arise either because of re-convergent circuit paths or because of significant reduction in the critical charge of modern technologies. The latter, in particular, makes more than one circuit nodes susceptible to the same high energy ions. A static transient propagation is employed to address possible transient interaction and to compute its worst-case effects in logic. The quantified effects of interest are the maximum duration and slope of the resulting hazards at the circuit outputs. A hardening methodology is also proposed to protect combinational logic from such events. For this purpose, filtering circuits are inserted in logic and several placement algorithms are developed and evaluated.

Master of Science / Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering / William B. Kuhn / Crosstalk and electromagnetic interference (EMI) are constant problems in the design of RF circuits. There have been several studies to analyze and improve isolation of transmission lines, but the focus has been mainly on digital circuits or the isolation goals have been on the order of 40-60 dB. When the isolation goals are much more stringent, such as 80-100 dB, much of a designer’s time is still spent ensuring that a circuit meets isolation and EMI constraints. This typically involves the use of extensive metal shielding over a circuit board. This thesis presents results from an isolation and EMI study to provide a simple reference that can be applied to typical substrates, provided proper scaling is used between substrates. The results in this thesis are reported from DC to 30 GHz using a low cost 4-layer FR4 process. The changes in isolation between various transmission lines types are investigated while varying line separation and length. It is shown that isolation between ground-backed coplanar waveguide (GBCPW) and stripline traces can reach 100dB through L-band and 60dB through Ku-band for 1.3in traces separated by 150mils. Due to the heavy usage of filters in RF design, the isolation between edge-coupled bandpass filters is also studied. It is seen that isolation levels of 100dB through L-band by enclosing the filters within stripline technology is possible, provided that signal launches and layer transitions are carefully designed. Within the passband of the 20 GHz filter tested, the isolation is less but is still significantly improved by use of enclosed stripline. Lastly, a preliminary assessment of EMI is presented which focuses on radiation levels as well as variables that can degrade isolation performance. The data illustrated in this thesis can provide guidance in the early stages of RF circuit design to determine appropriate structures to meet given design requirements. It also helps to assess the degree to which additional metal shielding can be avoided in PC board systems that use multi-layer technologies.

The development of complex metazoans depends on the integration of a handful of signalling pathways that eventually modulate precise patterns of gene expression. The fact that just a few pathways are involved in the generation of such complexity in different organisms, suggests that these are highly regulated and conserved processes. The accurate spatio-temporal coordination of the signalling pathways controls the assignation of different cell fates and their patterning into tissues and organs. The source of diversity relies on the different possible interactions between signalling pathways, such as, the combination of signals and the order in which they are received by the cell or crosstalk. Due to their importance in development, abnormal signalling through these pathways has been strongly associated with developmental disorders, cancers and other diseases. The Notch and Wnt signalling pathways are key components of the intricate network that controls gene expression during development, and genetic analysis in Drosophila has highlighted that interactions between these two signalling pathways are important during this process.This thesis investigates the cross-regulatory interactions between Notch and Wnt signalling pathways in mammals. Using transcriptional reporter assays and biochemical analysis, I have found two molecular mechanisms underlying the inhibitory crosstalk between Notch and β-catenin, the effector of Wnt signalling pathway, in mammalian cells. At the membrane Notch inhibits β-catenin transcriptional activity through Deltex mediated endocytosis of Notch and a component required for β-catenin activation. This is similar to results observed in Drosophila. In the nucleus, I have identified a novel mechanism by which NICD-dependent transcription of Hes/Hey family of transcription factors prevents the activation of Wnt signalling pathway. This mechanism involves the formation of a physical complex between Hey1 and β-catenin/TCF, which allows Hey to block Wnt transcriptional activation. Additionally, I have found that these two mechanisms are conserved across vertebrates.Together the findings of this thesis improve our understanding of the molecular mechanism underlying the Notch/Wnt crosstalk. In turn, this will give an insight into unravelling how a handful of signalling pathways can generate sufficient diversity in signalling output to specify the hundreds of different cell fates generated to make a mammal. Elucidating these signalling networks will also contribute to our understanding of diseases, both their aetiology, by knowing how changes in one signal can influence another, and their treatment as mimicking points of crosstalk is likely to generate very specific therapeutic agents.

No / This paper presents an investigation of the design optimization in microstrip lines to reduce the crosstalk level using Fuzzy Logic. In microstrip lines length and spacing, termination conditions of interconnection and output impedance of gates are the major components that cause crosstalk. In order to design high speed printed circuit board (PCB) with optimum interconnection configuration, it is essential to reduce the crosstalk to its minimum tolerance level. A design methodology is proposed to correlate electrical parameters and physical configuration of lines to the crosstalk phenomena. This design is subsequently optimized using Fuzzy Logic to reduce the level of crosstalk. A set of experiments is carried out to demonstrate the capabilities of the design and optimization methods. The effect of the geometrical configuration of the lines on crosstalk, particularly the spacing, is highlighted.