In software, hardware, and embedded system domains, debugging is the process of locating and correcting faults in a system. Depending on the context, the various characteristics of debugging induce different challenges and solutions. Post-silicon hardware debugging, for example, needs to address issues such as limited visibility and controllability, while debugging software entails other issues, such as the handling of distributed or non-deterministic computation. The challenges that accompany such issues are the focus of many current research efforts. Solutions for debugging range from interactive tools to highly analytic techniques. We have seen great advances in debugging technologies in recent years, but bugs continue to occur, and debugging still encompasses significant portions of the life-cycles of many systems. The session covered state-of-the-art approaches as well as promising new research directions in both the hardware and software domains.

This paper presents a step-up micro-power converter for solar energy harvesting applications. The circuit uses a SC voltage tripler architecture, controlled by an MPPT circuit based on the Hill Climbing algorithm. This circuit was designed in a 0.13 mu m CMOS technology in order to work with an a-Si PV cell. The circuit has a local power supply voltage, created using a scaled down SC voltage tripler, controlled by the same MPPT circuit, to make the circuit robust to load and illumination variations. The SC circuits use a combination of PMOS and NMOS transistors to reduce the occupied area. A charge re-use scheme is used to compensate the large parasitic capacitors associated to the MOS transistors. The simulation results show that the circuit can deliver a power of 1266 mu W to the load using 1712 mu W of power from the PV cell, corresponding to an efficiency as high as 73.91%. The simulations also show that the circuit is capable of starting up with only 19% of the maximum illumination level.

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The accumulation of lead in several bones of Wistar rats with time was determined and comparedQ3 for the different types of bones. Two groups were studied: a control group (n = 20), not exposedto lead and a contaminated group (n = 30), exposed to lead from birth, first indirectly throughmother’s milk, and then directly through a diet containing lead acetate in drinking water (0.2%).Rats age ranged from 1 to 11 months, with approximately 1 month intervals and each of thecollections had 3 contaminated rats and 2 control rats. Iliac, femur, tibia–fibula and skull havebeen analysed by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence technique (EDXRF). Samples offormaldehyde used to preserve the bone tissues were also analysed by Electrothermal AtomicAbsorption (ETAAS), showing that there was no significant loss of lead from the tissue to thepreservative. The bones mean lead concentration of exposed rats range from 100 to 300 mg g 1while control rats never exceeded 10 mg g 1. Mean bone lead concentrations were compared andthe concentrations were higher in iliac, femur and tibia–fibula and after that skull. However, ofall the concentrations in the different collections, only those in the skull were statisticallyQ4 significantly different (p o 0.05) from the other types of bones. Analysis of a radar chart alsoallowed us to say that these differences tend to diminish with age. The Spearman correlation testapplied to mean lead concentrations showed strong and very strong positive correlations betweenall different types of bones. This test also showed that mean lead concentrations in bones arenegatively correlated with the age of the animals. This correlation is strong in iliac and femur andvery strong in tibia–fibula and skull. It was also shown that the decrease of lead accumulationwith age is made by three plateaus of accumulation,

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The relative populations of the 1H- and 2H-tautomer of gas-phase 5-methyltetrazole (5MTZ) have been assessed through core-level photoelectron spectroscopy, and compared with the results obtained from Gaussian-n (Gn, n = 1, 2 and 3) and Complete Basis Set methods (CBS-4M and CBS-Q). The C 1s and N 1s core‚Äìelectron binding energies (CEBEs) for each ionization site of both tautomers have been computed using the Œîself-consistent-field (ŒîSCF) approach. The C 1s and N 1s XPS spectra, obtained at 313 K, yield a 1H/2H tautomer ratio of ca. 0.16/0.84 and 0.21/0.79, respectively.

The relative populations of the 1H- and 2H-tautomer of gas-phase 5-methyltetrazole (5MTZ) have been assessed through core-level photoelectron spectroscopy, and compared with the results obtained from Gaussian-n (Gn, n = 1, 2 and 3) and Complete Basis Set methods (CBS-4M and CBS-Q). The C 1s and N 1s core‚Äìelectron binding energies (CEBEs) for each ionization site of both tautomers have been computed using the Œîself-consistent-field (ŒîSCF) approach. The C 1s and N 1s XPS spectra, obtained at 313 K, yield a 1H/2H tautomer ratio of ca. 0.16/0.84 and 0.21/0.79, respectively.

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The present work proposes the development of a bio-battery composed by an ultrathin monolithic structure of an electrospun cellulose acetate membrane, over which was deposited metallic thin film electrodes by thermal evaporation on both surfaces. The electrochemical characterization of the bio-batteries was performed under simulated body fluids like sweat and blood plasma [salt solution - 0.9% (w/w) NaCl]. Reversible electrochemical reactions were detected through the cellulose acetate structure. Thus, a stable electrochemical behavior was achieved for a bio-battery with silver and aluminum thin films as electrodes. This device exhibits the ability to supply a power density higher than 3μWcm-2.Finally, a bio-battery prototype was tested on a sweated skin, demonstrating the potential of applicability of this bio-device as a micropower source. © 2010 Elsevier B.V.

Thin-film transistors (TFTs) were fabricated using a 20-nm-thick indium molybdenum oxide (IMO) semiconductor layer at room temperature. The grazing incidence X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed that the deposited films are amorphous. The average transmittance (400-2500 nm) and the optical band gap are ∼88% and 3.95 eV, respectively. The TFTs fabricated on glass substrates showed a saturation mobility of 4.0 cm2/Vċ s with an I ON/IOFF ratio of 2 × 103 and a threshold voltage of-1.1 V, which are encouraging preliminary results in order to develop IMO as high-performance semiconductor layer. © 2011 IEEE.

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The two-photon absorption of few-electron ions has been studied by using second-order perturbation theory and Dirac's relativistic equation. Within this framework, the general expressions for the excitation cross sections and rates are derived including a full account of the higher-order multipole terms in the expansion of the electron-photon interaction. While these expressions can be applied to any ion, independent of its particular shell structure, detailed computations are carried out for the two-photon absorption of hydrogen-, helium-, and berylliumlike ions and are compared with the available theoretical and experimental data. The importance of relativistic and nondipole effects in the analysis and computation of induced two-photon transitions is pointed out. Moreover, we discuss the potential of these transitions for atomic parity-violation studies in the high-Z domain.

The two-photon absorption of few-electron ions has been studied by using second-order perturbation theory and Dirac's relativistic equation. Within this framework, the general expressions for the excitation cross sections and rates are derived including a full account of the higher-order multipole terms in the expansion of the electron-photon interaction. While these expressions can be applied to any ion, independent of its particular shell structure, detailed computations are carried out for the two-photon absorption of hydrogen-, helium-, and berylliumlike ions and are compared with the available theoretical and experimental data. The importance of relativistic and nondipole effects in the analysis and computation of induced two-photon transitions is pointed out. Moreover, we discuss the potential of these transitions for atomic parity-violation studies in the high-Z domain.

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An ultrasonic assisted solid‚Äìliquid extraction method was developed to determine the level of lead in the brain and urine of rats. Lead was determined by electrothermal atomic absorption spectrometry with longitudinal-Zeeman background correction. Several analytical drawbacks were addressed and overcome, namely small brain sample mass and the formation of precipitate in the urine samples. Utrasonication provided by an ultrasonic probe succeeded in extracting lead from brain samples. Furthermore, it was demonstrated that the formation of a precipitate lowered the lead content in the liquid phase of the urine. Lead was back extracted from the precipitate to the liquid phase with the aid of ultrasonic energy and acidifying the urine with 10% v/v nitric acid. A microwave-assisted acid digestion protocol was used to check the completeness of the lead extraction. The within bath and between bath precision was 5% (n = 9) and 7% (n = 3) respectively. The limit of quantification was 1.05 Œºg g‚àí1 for brain samples and 2.1 Œºg L‚àí1 for urine samples. A total of 6 samples of urine and 12 samples of brain from control rats and another 6 samples of urine and 12 samples of brain from rats fed with tap water rich in lead acetate were used in this research. Lead levels in brain and urine from exposed rats ranged from1.9 ¬± 0.2 Œºg g‚àí1 to 3.5 ¬± 0.2 Œºg g‚àí1 and from 752 ¬± 56 Œºg L‚àí1 to 60.9 ¬± 1.2 mg L‚àí1 respectively. Statistically significant differences of levels of lead in brain and urine were found between exposed and non exposed rats.