Synthetic biology and microdevices : a powerful combination

Recent developments demonstrate that the combination of microbiology with micro-and nanoelectronics is a successful approach to develop new miniaturized sensing devices and other technologies. In the last decade, there has been a shift from the optimization of the abiotic components, for example, the chip, to the improvement of the processing capabilities of cells through genetic engineering. The synthetic biology approach will not only give rise to systems with new functionalities, but will also improve the robustness and speed of their response towards applied signals. To this end, the development of new genetic circuits has to be guided by computational design methods that enable to tune and optimize the circuit response. As the successful design of genetic circuits is highly dependent on the quality and reliability of its composing elements, intense characterization of standard biological parts will be crucial for an efficient rational design process in the development of new genetic circuits. Microengineered devices can thereby offer a new analytical approach for the study of complex biological parts and systems. By summarizing the recent techniques in creating new synthetic circuits and in integrating biology with microdevices, this review aims at emphasizing the power of combining synthetic biology with microfluidics and microelectronics

Thermal Characterization and Lifetime Prediction of LED Boards for SSL Lamp

This work presents a detailed 3-D thermo-mechanical modelling of two LED board technologies to compare their performance. LED board are considered to be used in high power 800 lumen retrofit SSL (Solid State Lighting) lamp. Thermal, mechanical and life time properties are evaluated by numerical modelling. Experimental results measured on fabricated LED board samples are compared to calculated data. Main role of LED board in SSL lamp is to transport heat from LED die to a heat sink and keep the thermal stresses in all layers as low as possible. The work focuses on improving of new LED board thermal management. Moreover, reliability and lifetime of LED board has been inspected by numerical calculation and validated by experiment. Thermally induced stress has been studied for wide temperature range that can affect the LED boards (-40 to +125°C). Numerical modelling of thermal performance, thermal stress distribution and lifetime has been carried out with ANSYS structural analysis where temperature dependent stress-strain material properties have been taken into account. The objective of this study is to improve not only the thermal performance of new LED board, but also identification of potential problems from mechanical fatigue point of view. Accelerated lifetime testing (e.g., mechanical) is carried out in order to study the failure behaviour of current and newly developed LED board

Optimizing construction of scheduled data flow graph for on-line testability

The objective of this work is to develop a new methodology for behavioural synthesis using a flow of synthesis, better suited to the scheduling of independent calculations and non-concurrent online testing. The traditional behavioural synthesis process can be defined as the compilation of an algorithmic specification into an architecture composed of a data path and a controller. This stream of synthesis generally involves scheduling, resource allocation, generation of the data path and controller synthesis. Experiments showed that optimization started at the high level synthesis improves the performance of the result, yet the current tools do not offer synthesis optimizations that from the RTL level. This justifies the development of an optimization methodology which takes effect from the behavioural specification and accompanying the synthesis process in its various stages. In this paper we propose the use of algebraic properties (commutativity, associativity and distributivity) to transform readable mathematical formulas of algorithmic specifications into mathematical formulas evaluated efficiently. This will effectively reduce the execution time of scheduling calculations and increase the possibilities of testability

Saxony's capital Dresden: On the way to become Eastern Germany's first Innovative Milieu?

In this paper, the chances of Saxonys capital city Dresden to become Eastern Germanys first high-tech-region is discussed. A presentation of the theoretical background of innovative milieux is followed by an overview of the regions universities, R&D institutes and other facilities relevant for milieu formation. Afterwards, the establishment of high-tech enterprises in the Dresden area is analyzed. The paper concludes giving a view of the regions further development potential. --

Thermal And Mechanical Analysis of High-power Light-emitting Diodes with Ceramic Packages

In this paper we present the thermal and mechanical analysis of high-power light-emitting diodes (LEDs) with ceramic packages. Transient thermal measurements and thermo-mechanical simulation were performed to study the thermal and mechanical characteristics of ceramic packages. Thermal resistance from the junction to the ambient was decreased from 76.1 oC/W to 45.3 oC/W by replacing plastic mould to ceramic mould for LED packages. Higher level of thermo-mechanical stresses in the chip were found for LEDs with ceramic packages despite of less mismatching coefficients of thermal expansion comparing with plastic packages. The results suggest that the thermal performance of LEDs can be improved by using ceramic packages, but the mounting process of the high power LEDs with ceramic packages is critically important and should be in charge of delaminating interface layers in the packages.Comment: Submitted on behalf of TIMA Editions (http://irevues.inist.fr/tima-editions

VLSI Revisited - Revival in Japan

This paper describes the abundance of semiconductor consortia that have come into existence in Japan since the mid-1990s. They clearly reflect the ambition of the government - through its reorganized ministry METI and company initiatives - to regain some of the industrial and technological leadership that Japan has lost. The consortia landscape is very different in Japan compared with EU and the US. Outside Japan the universities play a much bigger and very important role. In Europe there has emerged close collaboration, among national government agencies, companies and the EU Commission in supporting the IT sector with considerable attention to semiconductor technologies. Another major difference, and possibly the most important one, is the fact that US and EU consortia include and mix partners from different areas of the semiconductor landscape including wafer makers, material suppliers, equipment producers and integrated device makers.semiconductors, Hitachi, Sony, Toshiba, Elpida, Renesas, Sematech, VLSI, JESSI, MEDEA, ASPLA, MIRAI, innovation system

Enhancement of polar phases in PVDF by forming PVDF/SiC nanowire composite

Different contents of silicon carbide (SiC) nanowires were mixed with Poly(vinylidene fluoride) (PVDF) to facilitate the polar phase crystallization. It was shown that the annealing temperature and SiC content affected on the phase and crystalline structures of PVDF/SiC samples. Furthermore, the addition of SiC nanowire enhanced the transformation of non-polar α phase to polar phases and increased the relative fraction of β phase in PVDF. Due to the nucleating agent mechanism of SiC nanowires, the ion-dipole interaction between the negatively charged surface of SiC nanowires and the positive CH2 groups in PVDF facilitated the formation of polar phases in PVDF