College and University Ranking Systems: Global Perspectives and American Challenges

Examines how higher education ranking systems function, how other countries use ranking systems, and the impact of college rankings in the United States on student access, choice, and opportunity

A Systematic Approach for Evaluating Satellite Communications Systems

The aerospace environment imposes straight opera- tive conditions so every electronic system usually needs to be validated for these. The same way, communica- tion systems need to be evaluated before their intro- duction in aerospace applications. In the paper we present a new methodology for the evaluation of com- munication systems in space applications. The meth- odology aims, by abstraction, at identifying all the critical aspects for the evaluation and at defining a standard and reusable framework in order to be appli- cable to any Communication Systems. The methodol- ogy has been applied for the evaluation of three Data Bus for satellite communications: 1553, 1-Wire and Profibus DP RS 485 based systems have been analyzed and evaluate

Molecular diagnosis of grapevine fleck virus

A digoxigenin-labelled riboprobe was developed for the detection of grapevine fleck virus (GFkV) in infected tissues of grapevine leaves, roots and canes. The probe was GFkV-specific and was successfully used for virus identification both with dot spot assays, using alkali-treated crude sap, and tissue blot assays, using cross and longitudinal sections of leaf petioles. Primers designed for the amplification by reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction of a viral genome fragment 243 nucleotides in size, gave also positive and repeatable results. These newly developed molecular-based detection tools extend the range of available procedures for the sensitive identification of GFkV in naturally infected hosts

Guest Editorial: Special section on emerging trends and computing paradigms for testing, reliability and security in future VLSI systems

With the rapid advancement of computing technologies in all domains (i.e., handheld devices, autonomous vehicles, medical devices, and massive supercomputers), testability, reliability and security of electronic systems are crucial issues to guarantee safeness of human life. Emerging technologies coupled with new computing paradigms (e.g., approximate computing, neuromorphic computing, in-memory computing) are together exacerbating these problems posing significant challenges to researchers and designers. To address this increased complexity in the hardware testing/reliability/security domain, it is imperative to employ design and analysis methods working at all levels of abstraction, starting from the system level down to the gate level. In this context, the selected papers span from the important field of the yield analysis and modeling, which is becoming fundamental for the manufacturing of modern technologies to the error detection, correction and recovery when the new devices are operative on field. At the same time, papers do not forget that the fault tolerance can be achieved by a cross-layer approach to the dependability that includes the analysis of the effect of faults and the techniques and methodologies to deploy more resilient devices by means of hardening of the design. Eventually, the dependability of the systems is nowadays deeply linked with the security aspects, including the impact on the design trade-offs and the test and validation. The IEEE VLSI Test Symposium (VTS) invited the highest-ranked papers to be included in this special issue of IEEE Transactions on Emerging Technologies in Computing (TETC) in 2020. All aspects of design, manufacturing, test, monitoring and securing of systems affected by defects and malicious attacks are covered by the accepted paper. It is our great pleasure to publish this special issue containing 12 high-quality papers covering all aspects of the emerging trends on testing and reliability: - FTxAC: Leveraging the Approximate Computing Paradigm in the Design of Fault-Tolerant Embedded Systems to Reduce Overheads by Aponte-Moreno, Alexander; Restrepo-Calle, Felipe; Pedraza, Cesar, the design of Fault-Tolerant systems is exploited by means of approximate computing techniques to reduce the implicit overhead of the common redundancy. - A Statistical Gate Sizing Method for Timing Yield and Lifetime Reliability Optimization of Integrated Circuits by Ghavami, Behnam; Ibrahimi, Milad; Raji, Mohsen, the reliability of CMOS devices is improved tackling the joint effect of process variation and transistor aging. - 3D Ring Oscillator based Test Structures to Detect a Trojan Die in a 3D Die Stack in the Presence of Process Variations by Alhelaly, Soha; Dworak, Jennifer; Nepal, Kundan; Manikas, Theodore; Gui, Ping; Crouch, Alfred, the issue of Trojan insertion into 3D integrated circuits has been explored from the use of in-stack circuitry and various testing procedures point of view, showing their detection capability. - Defect Analysis and Parallel Testing for 3D Hybrid CMOS-Memristor Memory by Liu, Peng; You, Zhiqiang; Wu, Jigang; Elimu, Michael; Wang, Weizheng; Cai, Shuo; Han, Yinhe, a new parallel March-like test is proposed to test CMOS Molecular architectures. - Attacks toward Wireless Network-on-Chip and Countermeasures by Biswas, Arnab Kumar; Chatterjee, Navonil; Mondal, Hemanta; Gogniat, Guy; DIGUET, Jean-Philippe, Wireless Network-on-Chip security vulnerabilities are described and their countermeasures proposed. - A Novel TDMA-Based Fault Tolerance Technique for the TSVs in 3D-ICs Using Honeycomb Topology (by Ni, Tianming; Yang, Zhao; Chang, Hao; Zhang, Xiaoqiang; Lu, Lin; Yan, Aibin; Huang, Zhengfeng; Wen, Xiaoqing) proposes a chain-type time division multiplexing access (TDMA)-based fault tolerance technique showing huge area overheads reduction. - Design and analysis of secure emerging crypto-hardware using HyperFET devices by Delgado-Lozano, Ignacio María; Tena-Sánchez, Erica; Núñez, Juan; Acosta, Antonio J., Power Analysis attacks against FinFET device have been tackled by incorporating HyperFET devices to deliver an x25 factor security level improvement. - Detection, Location, and Concealment of Defective Pixels in Image Sensors by TAKAM TCHENDJOU, Ghislain; SIMEU, Emmanuel, image sensors are empowered with online diagnosis and self-healing methods to improve their dependability. - Defect and Fault Modeling Framework for STT-MRAM Testing by Wu, Lizhou; Rao, Siddharth; Taouil, Mottaqiallah; Cardoso Medeiros, Guilherme; Fieback, Moritz; Marinissen, Erik Jan; Kar, Gouri Sankar; Hamdioui, Said, a framework to derive accurate STT-MRAM fault models is described, together with its employment to model resistive defects in interconnect and pinhole defects in MTJ devices, allowing test solutions for detecting those defects. - Online Safety Checking for Delay Locked Loops via Embedded Phase Error Monitor by Huang, Shi-Yu; Chu, Wei, the Automotive Safety Integrity Level (ASIL) is targeted by proposing a phase error monitoring scheme for Delay-Locked Loops (DLLs). - Protecting Memories against Soft Errors: The Case for Customizable Error Correction Codes by Li, Jiaqiang; Reviriego, Pedro; Xiao, Li; Wu, Haotian, the memory protection is supported by a tool able to automate the error correction code design. - Autonomous Scan Patterns for Laser Voltage Imaging by Tyszer, Jerzy; Cheng, Wu-Tung; Milewski, Sylwester; Mrugalski, Grzegorz; Rajski, Janusz; Trawka, Maciej, authors demonstrate how to reuse on-chip EDT compression environment to generate and apply Laser Voltage Imaging-aware scan patterns for advanced contactless test procedures. We sincerely hope that you enjoy reading this special issue, and would like to thank all authors and reviewers for their tremendous efforts and contributions in producing these high-quality articles. We also take this opportunity to thank the IEEE Transactions on Emerging Topics in Computing (TETC) Editor-in-Chief (EIC) Prof. Cecilia Metra, past Associate Editor Ramesh Karri, the editorial board, and the entire editorial staff for their guidance, encouragement, and assistance in delivering this special issue

Viroids of grapevines in Italy

Rebviroide in ItalienEs wird über das Vorkommen niedermolekularer RNAs bei 48 Vitis-vinifera-Stämmen und 15 amerikanischen Vitis-Arten und Kreuzungen aus Italien, Osteuropa, Mittelmeer- und Nahost-Ländern berichtet. In den Sämlingen zweier Sorten wurden keine derartigen RNAs gefunden. Aufgrund ihres elektrophoretischen Verhaltens wurden diese RNAs vorläufig identifiziert als Grapevine yellow speckle-Viroid (GYSVd), Grapeivine-Viroid 2 (GVd2) und Hop stunt-Viroid (HSVd). Das letztere Viroid löste bei künstlich infizierten Pflanzen von Tomate cv. Rutgers und Gurke cv. Suyo Befallssymptome aus. HSVd, GYSVd und GVd2 wurden in 97, 92 bzw. 11 % der untersuchten Proben wiedergefunden. In der Regel lagen Mischinfektionen vor, wobei die Kombination von HSVd mit GYSVd überwog. Diese beiden Viroide kamen regelmäßig in Reben mit den Symptomen von Yellow speckle oder Vein banding vor. Es wurde keine eindeutige Beziehung zwischen dem Vorkommen eines der Viroide und Rebkrankheiten mit unklarer Ätiologie, wie Vein necrosis oder Fleck, gefunden

A Novel Survey Tool to Quantify the Degree and Duration of STEMI Regionalization Across California.

IntroductionCalifornia has been a global leader in regionalization efforts for time-critical medical conditions. A total of 33 local emergency medical service agencies (LEMSAs) exist, providing an organized EMS framework across the state for almost 40 years. We sought to develop a survey tool to quantify the degree and duration of ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) regionalization over the last decade in California.MethodsThe project started with the development of an 8-question survey tool via a multi-disciplinary expert consensus process. Next, the survey tool was distributed at the annual meeting of administrators and medical directors of California LEMSAs to get responses valid through December, 2014. The first scoring approach was the Total Regionalization Score (TRS) and used answers from all 8 questions. The second approach was called the Core Score, and it focused on only 4 survey questions by assuming that the designation of STEMI Receiving Centers must have occurred at the beginning of any LEMSA's regionalization effort. Scores were ranked and grouped into tertiles.ResultsAll 33 LEMSAs in California participated in this survey. The TRS ranged from 15 to 162. The Core Score range was much narrower, from 2 to 30. In comparing TRS and Core Score rankings, the top-tertiles were quite similar. More rank variation occurred between mid- and low-tertiles.ConclusionThis study evaluated the degree and duration of STEMI network regionalization from 2004 to 2014 in California, and ranked 33 LEMSAs into tertiles based upon their TRS and their Core Score. Successful application of the 8-item survey and ranking strategies across California suggests that this approach can be used to assess regionalization in other states or countries around the world

Grapevine cvs Primitivo, Zinfandel and Crljenak kastelanski: Molecular analysis by AFLP

Research Not

Identification of the agent of grapevine fleck disease

An antiserum against an Italian isolate of grapevine phloem-limited isometric virus (GPLIV) was used in an ELISA survey carried out for assessing the natural distribution of the virus and its association with fleck disease. A total of 591 vines of Vitis rupestris were checked for the presence of GPLIV. Of 150 plants with fleck symptoms, 138 (92 %) were ELISA-positive and 12 (8 %) negative. Of 441 symptomless V. rupestris, 435 (98,6 %) were ELISA-negative and 6 (1,4 %) positive for GPLIV. The virus was detected in about 30 % of 694 vines of different origin grown in Apulia (Southern Italy). The highest infection (53 %) was in a commercial vineyard of cv. Italia and the lowest (8 %) in a plot of certified and visually selected rootstocks. Fleck-infected, but not fleck-free V. rupestris contained virus particles and vesiculated inclusion bodies in phloem tissues. LN 33 plantlets derived from in vitro culture of meristem tips from ELISA-positive fleck-infected mother plants were found to be free from GPLIV, as ascertained by ELISA and thin-sectioning. These vines failed to induce fleck symptoms when grafted on V. rupestris. It is concluded that GPLIV is the agent of fleck and, therefore, it should be renamed grapevine fleck virus (GFKV)