High quality testing of grid style power gating

This paper shows that existing delay-based testing techniques for power gating exhibit fault coverage loss due to unconsidered delays introduced by the structure of the virtual voltage power-distribution-network (VPDN). To restore this loss, which could reach up to 70.3% on stuck-open faults, we propose a design-for-testability (DFT) logic that considers the impact of VPDN on fault coverage in order to constitute the proper interface between the VPDN and the DFT. The proposed logic can be easily implemented on-top of existing DFT solutions and its overhead is optimized by an algorithm that offers trade-off flexibility between test-application-time and hardware overhead. Through physical layout SPICE simulations, we show complete fault coverage recovery on stuck-open faults and 43.2% test-application-time improvement compared to a previously proposed DFT technique. To the best of our knowledge, this paper presents the first analysis of the VPDN impact on test qualit

Modeling the Impact of Process Variation on Resistive Bridge Defects

Recent research has shown that tests generated without taking process variation into account may lead to loss of test quality. At present there is no efficient device-level modeling technique that models the effect of process variation on resistive bridges. This paper presents a fast and accurate technique to model the effect of process variation on resistive bridge defects. The proposed model is implemented in two stages: firstly, it employs an accurate transistor model (BSIM4) to calculate the critical resistance of a bridge; secondly, the effect of process variation is incorporated in this model by using three transistor parameters: gate length (L), threshold voltage (V) and effective mobility (ueff) where each follow Gaussian distribution. Experiments are conducted on a 65-nm gate library (for illustration purposes), and results show that on average the proposed modeling technique is more than 7 times faster and in the worst case, error in bridge critical resistance is 0.8% when compared with HSPICE

A synchrony based approach for human robot interaction

As psychologists considered synchrony as an important parameter for social interaction, we hypothesize that in the case of social interaction, people focus their attention on regions of interest where the visual stimuli are synchronized with their inner dynamics. Then, we assume that a mechanism able to detect synchrony between internal dynamics of a robot and external visual stimuli can be used as a starting point for human robot interaction. Inspired by human psychological and neurobiological data, we propose a synchrony based neural network architecture capable of selecting the robot interaction partner and of locating Focus of Attention

Evaluation of Nurses Competency about Surgical Hand Scrubbing

Objective:  Hands play a significant role in organism transmission. Poor hand hygiene practices in health care settings lead to nosocomial infection. Aseptic practice is the cornerstone of current surgery, thus rigid adherence to prescribed sterile techniques in the operating room is essential.The objective of this study was to evaluate nurses’ competencies regarding surgical hand scrubbing. Material and Methods: Cross sectional observational design was used. The study was conducted in operating rooms in a tertiary care hospital, Lahore, Pakistan.This setting contains total seven operating rooms with 250 registered nurses. Sample size calculated through Slovin’s formula. Sample size was 154. Convenient sampling technique was used. An adopted checklist was used for observing the nurses’ practices of hand scrubbing. Data was analyzed in Statistical Software of Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25. Results:  Majority of nurses (72.7%) were between 21-30 years age group. Only 38.3% participants wore a face mask and surgical cap correctly and 61.7% did not wear correctly. Majority participants, 76% had short nails.All participants (100%) removed nail polish, artificial nails, and jewelry before scrubbing. Majority of participants applied a proper amount of Povidone iodine. Conclusion:  Operational hand scrub is very vital component of operative procedure. Results of this study showed inadequate practices of nurses in the operating room, which was overall 77%. There is a need to improve nurses’ practices so, periodically audit, manager supervision and feedback, workshops should be organized

Delay test for diagnosis of power switches

Power switches are used as part of power-gating technique to reduce leakage power of a design. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work in open-literature to show a systematic diagnosis method for accurately diagnosingpower switches. The proposed diagnosis method utilizes recently proposed DFT solution for efficient testing of power switches in the presence of PVT variation. It divides power switches into segments such that any faulty power switch is detectable thereby achieving high diagnosis accuracy. The proposed diagnosis method has been validated through SPICE simulation using a number of ISCAS benchmarks synthesized with a 90-nm gate library. Simulation results show that when considering the influence of process variation, the worst case loss of accuracy is less than 4.5%; and the worst case loss of accuracy is less than 12% when considering VT (Voltage and Temperature) variations

Dermatophytosis in patients referred for evaluation at a tertiary care teaching hospital in Kashmir, India

Background: Dermatophytoses invade the stratum corneum of the skin and other keratinized tissues derived from the epidermis. They are quite common and can be fairly accurately identified by a simple laboratory test. We conducted this study to identify the common dermatophytic infections in our setting.Methods: Clinically suspected tinea infections were referred to the Department of Microbiology of SKIMS Medical College Hospital, a tertiary-care teaching hospital in Srinagar, Kashmir. The affected area was cleaned with 70% alcohol, and scrapings were obtained. 10% KOH was used for keratinolysis. Samples were thoroughly examined for the presence of filamentous, septate, branched hyphae.Results: A total of 206 samples were analyzed. The overall KOH positivity rate was 44.7%. Of the 206 patients, 119 (57.8%) were males, and 142 (68.9%) resided in rural areas. The mean age of the patients was 32 years (range 4-72). Tinea corporis was the typical clinical manifestation (58.3%).Conclusions: Young and middle-aged males and people living in rural areas are at a higher risk of dermatophyte infections