Iniencephaly: a rare birth defect

Iniencephaly is form of neural tube defect which includes occipital bone defect at foramen magnum along with fixed retroflexion of fetal head and absence of fetal neck. Incidence of iniencephaly is 0.1-10 in 10,000 pregnancies. There is a known female predilection for this condition. Iniencephaly has a poor prognosis. It can be diagnosed antenatally by raised maternal serum alpha-fetoprotein and typical ultrasound features. Termination should be advised to patients who present before 20 weeks. Herein we are describing a case of iniencephaly who presented at 27 weeks of gestation with a brief review of literature

Variability-Aware Design of Static Random Access Memory Bit-Cell

The increasing integration of functional blocks in today's integrated circuit designs necessitates a large embedded memory for data manipulation and storage. The most often used embedded memory is the Static Random Access Memory (SRAM), with a six transistor memory bit-cell. Currently, memories occupy more than 50% of the chip area and this percentage is only expected to increase in future. Therefore, for the silicon vendors, it is critical that the memory units yield well, to enable an overall high yield of the chip. The increasing memory density is accompanied by aggressive scaling of the transistor dimensions in the SRAM. Together, these two developments make SRAMs increasingly susceptible to process-parameter variations. As a result, in the current nanometer regime, statistical methods for the design of the SRAM array are pivotal to achieve satisfactory levels of silicon predictability. In this work, a method for the statistical design of the SRAM bit-cell is proposed. Not only does it provide a high yield, but also meets the specifications for the design constraints of stability, successful write, performance, leakage and area. The method consists of an optimization framework, which derives the optimal design parameters; i.e., the widths and lengths of the bit-cell transistors, which provide maximum immunity to the variations in the transistor's geometry and intrinsic threshold voltage fluctuations. The method is employed to obtain optimal designs in the 65nm, 45nm and 32nm technologies for different set of specifications. The optimality of the resultant designs is verified. The resultant optimal bit-cell designs in the 65nm, 45nm and 32nm technologies are analyzed to study the SRAM area and yield trade-offs associated with technology scaling. In order to achieve 50% scaling of the bit-cell area, at every technology node, two ways are proposed. The resultant designs are further investigated to understand, which mode of failure in the bit-cell becomes more dominant with technology scaling. In addition, the impact of voltage scaling on the bit-cell designs is also studied

Quantitative Discourse Cohesion Analysis of Scientific Scholarly Texts using Multilayer Networks

Discourse cohesion facilitates text comprehension and helps the reader form a coherent narrative. In this study, we aim to computationally analyze the discourse cohesion in scientific scholarly texts using multilayer network representation and quantify the writing quality of the document. Exploiting the hierarchical structure of scientific scholarly texts, we design section-level and document-level metrics to assess the extent of lexical cohesion in text. We use a publicly available dataset along with a curated set of contrasting examples to validate the proposed metrics by comparing them against select indices computed using existing cohesion analysis tools. We observe that the proposed metrics correlate as expected with the existing cohesion indices. We also present an analytical framework, CHIAA (CHeck It Again, Author), to provide pointers to the author for potential improvements in the manuscript with the help of the section-level and document-level metrics. The proposed CHIAA framework furnishes a clear and precise prescription to the author for improving writing by localizing regions in text with cohesion gaps. We demonstrate the efficacy of CHIAA framework using succinct examples from cohesion-deficient text excerpts in the experimental dataset.Comment: 26 pages, 8 figures, 4 table

Target Network Selection Algorithm based on Required Dwell Time Estimation

In wireless communication of fourth generation the expectation to integrate a diverse heterogeneous wireless network leads to a worldwide seamless mobility. For seamless mobility in heterogenous wireless networks, selection of best target network from available network is primary goal for handovers. To achieve this goal, we devise a target network selection algorithm to enhance the user satisfaction level.The method relies on a dwell time and prediction of received signal strength. By observing the Predicted received signal strength for a specified dwell time duration, a mobile node is able to decide whether to tigger the handoff process or not. Once the handoff process is triggered. Target network is selected depending upon a cost function. The Simulated results shows that, the proposed algorithm improves the handover performance by measuring the received signal strength accurately. It also selects the optimum target network quantitatively. Therefore, results obtained through our proposed algorithm are more accurate as compared to existing handover algorithms

STATISTICAL ANALYSIS FOR PERFORMANCE COMPARISON

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Assessing the Village Model and the Village To Village Network in advocating aging in place for older Americans

Thesis (M.C.P.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Urban Studies and Planning, 2012.This electronic version was submitted by the student author. The certified thesis is available in the Institute Archives and Special Collections.Cataloged from student submitted PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 58-62).Aging in Place allows seniors to remain in their choice of residence for as long as possible, using local services and conveniences to live safely and independently. The Village Model is a component of this movement, recognized as a community-based and peer-support network, which allows older Americans to age in their homes and remain active in their community. While it is generally accepted that the first Village emerged in 2001, tens of new Villages have been established over the last few years (presently over 50 are operating and 120 are in planning). When the movement gained significant momentum, the Village to Village Network (VtVN) was established in 2009 as a response to national inquiries. VtVN, which is fundamentally an online tool, connects Villages across the country and provides technical support for developing and maintaining Villages. In this thesis, I present my research work on behalf of the ICA Group, a non-profit consultancy, as I evaluate how successfully VtVN has been able to meet the needs of its constituency (the Villages). I used three methods to make this assessment: 1. completing a literature review on policies related to older Americans and the Aging in Place movement; 2. conducting research on network structures, both through a literature review and case studies of other nationwide networks; and 3. employing a survey instrument to interview the leadership of existing Villages regarding their experience with their community and the Village to Village Network. Using these analyses, I provide recommendations to the Village to Village Network on how to improve the organization for its membership (the Villages) and for advocating the Aging in Place movement.by Vasudha Gupta.M.C.P