A Low Power FinFET Charge Pump For Energy Harvesting Applications

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI)With the growing popularity and use of devices under the great umbrella that is the Internet of Things (IoT), the need for devices that are smaller, faster, cheaper and require less power is at an all time high with no intentions of slowing down. This is why many current research efforts are very focused on energy harvesting. Energy harvesting is the process of storing energy from external and ambient sources and delivering a small amount of power to low power IoT devices such as wireless sensors or wearable electronics. A charge pumps is a circuit used to convert a power supply to a higher or lower voltage depending on the specific application. Charge pumps are generally seen in memory design as a verity of power supplies are required for the newer memory technologies. Charge pumps can be also be designed for low voltage operation and can convert a smaller energy harvesting voltage level output to one that may be needed for the IoT device to operate. In this work, an integrated FinFET (Field Effect Transistor) charge pump for low power energy harvesting applications is proposed. The design and analysis of this system was conducted using Cadence Virtuoso Schematic L-Editing, Analog Design Environment and Spectre Circuit Simulator tools using the 7nm FinFETs from the ASAP7 7nm PDK. The research conducted here takes advantage of some inherent characteristics that are present in FinFET technologies, including low body effects, and faster switching speeds, lower threshold voltage and lower power consumption. The lower threshold voltage of the FinFET is key to get great performance at lower supply voltages. The charge pump in this work is designed to pump a 150mV power supply, generated from an energy harvester, to a regulated 650mV, while supplying 1uA of load current, with a 20mV voltage ripple in steady state (SS) operation. At these conditions, the systems power consumption is 4.85uW and is 31.76% efficient. Under no loading conditions, the charge pump reaches SS operation in 50us, giving it the fastest rise time of the compared state of the art efforts mentioned in this work. The minimum power supply voltage for the system to function is 93mV where it gives a regulated output voltage of $25mV. FinFET technology continues to be a very popular design choice and even though it has been in production since Intel's Ivy-Bridge processor in 2012, it seems that very few efforts have been made to use the advantages of FinFETs for charge pump design. This work shows though simulation that FinFET charge pumps can match the performance of charge pumps implemented in other technologies and should be considered for low power designs such as energy harvesting

Short-term operating plan for farms and ranches

stats082022upload"Timely decision making is essential for farm and ranch businesses. Decisions are a part of daily operations and vary greatly from prioritizing tasks to choosing inputs and deciding how much product to sell at a certain price. Most operations have primary decision makers who routinely make these decisions. It is important however, that others know how to proceed if the key decision maker(s) is/are unable to make decisions. This plan was developed to help farm and ranch families continue operating their businesses with minimal interruptions should the primary decision maker(s) be unable to make short-term decisions. The plan could be helpful in an unexpected situation such as hospitalization or military deployment."--Page 1.Mary Sobba (Field Specialist, Agricultural Business and Policy), Joni Harper (Community Engagement Specialist, Agriculture and Environment), Catherine Neuner (Community Engagement Specialist, Agriculture and Environment), Kyle Whittaker (Community Engagement Specialist, Agriculture and Environment

Short-term operating plan for farms and ranches

"Timely decision making is essential for farm and ranch businesses. Decisions are a part of daily operations and vary greatly from prioritizing tasks to choosing inputs and deciding how much product to sell at a certain price. Most operations have primary decision makers who routinely make these decisions. It is important however, that others know how to proceed if the key decision maker(s) is/are unable to make decisions. This plan was developed to help farm and ranch families continue operating their businesses with minimal interruptions should the primary decision maker(s) be unable to make short-term decisions. The plan could be helpful in an unexpected situation such as hospitalization or military deployment. For this plan, the short term is generally considered two weeks to six months. The purpose is to have organized information for family members to use to continue operating the farm or ranch business. Locating key information is stressful and time consuming, and this plan will help to reduce stress and save time."--First page.The following authors contributed to this plan: Mary Sobba (Field Specialist, Agricultural Business and Policy, MU Extension), Joni Harper (Community Engagement Specialist, Agriculture and Environment, MU Extension), Catherine Neuner (Community Engagement Specialist, Agriculture and Environment, MU Extension), Kyle Whittaker (Community Engagement Specialist, Agriculture and Environment, MU Extension)New 07/202

5 steps to buying meat direct from the farm

Written by Jennifer Lutes (Field Specialist in Agricultural Business), Kyle Whittaker (County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment), Eric Meusch (Field Specialist in Livestock), Rachel Hopkins, (County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment), Amie Breshears (County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment)."If you plan to buy an animal to have processed into packaged meat, then the process can present some learning curves. This publication can help you navigate that process in five steps. Identify desired meat products. Purchase animal from livestock producer. Find a processor that fits your needs. Understand your costs. Consider timing."--Page 1.Jennifer Lutes (Field Specialist in Agricultural Business), Kyle Whittaker (County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment), Eric Meusch (Field Specialist in Livestock), Rachel Hopkins (County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment), Amie Breshears (County Engagement Specialist in Agriculture and Environment)New 5/22Includes bibliographical reference

Impact Absorbing Wrist Guard for Snowboarders

The tendency of snowboarders to fall with outstretched hands has led to a high number of wrist injuries. Commercial wrist guards are restrictive, bulky and transfer impact force from the wrist to the forearm and elbow. Consequently, many snowboarders do not wear wrist guards. The goal of this project was to increase use of wrist guards and decrease wrist fractures by creating a thin, non-restrictive design with superior impact absorption. The final prototype incorporated removable individual cells of a shear-thickening polymer in a protective glove liner. The flexible and slim design increased the comfort of the user. Drop weight impact testing demonstrated impact force absorption in a simulated fall of 61-68% within a temperature range of -4 to 68 degrees Fahrenheit

Evaluating the Vulnerability of Boston’s Inner Harbor Designated Port Areas to Sea Level Rise and Coastal Storms

As climate change raises sea levels (SLR) and exacerbates storm surges, the frequency and severity of coastal flooding will increase. Boston’s shoreline is increasingly vulnerable to flooding. Industries in the Designated Port Areas (DPAs) of Boston Harbor pose risks to public health and the environment because of toxic chemicals used and stored on-site. The goal of this project was to assess the vulnerability of DPAs in Boston harbor to SLR and coastal storms. We evaluated three different aspects of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity, and ability to cope on 18 different sites within four of Boston’s DPAs. Our report highlights the need for more systematic evaluation and planning by stakeholders to mitigate the risks associated with flooding due to SLR and coastal storm surge

Levofloxacin prophylaxis in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma (TEAMM): a multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled, randomised, phase 3 trial.

BACKGROUND: Myeloma causes profound immunodeficiency and recurrent, serious infections. Around 5500 new cases of myeloma are diagnosed per year in the UK, and a quarter of patients will have a serious infection within 3 months of diagnosis. We aimed to assess whether patients newly diagnosed with myeloma benefit from antibiotic prophylaxis to prevent infection, and to investigate the effect on antibiotic-resistant organism carriage and health care-associated infections in patients with newly diagnosed myeloma. METHODS: TEAMM was a prospective, multicentre, double-blind, placebo-controlled randomised trial in patients aged 21 years and older with newly diagnosed myeloma in 93 UK hospitals. All enrolled patients were within 14 days of starting active myeloma treatment. We randomly assigned patients (1:1) to levofloxacin or placebo with a computerised minimisation algorithm. Allocation was stratified by centre, estimated glomerular filtration rate, and intention to proceed to high-dose chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation. All investigators, patients, laboratory, and trial co-ordination staff were masked to the treatment allocation. Patients were given 500 mg of levofloxacin (two 250 mg tablets), orally once daily for 12 weeks, or placebo tablets (two tablets, orally once daily for 12 weeks), with dose reduction according to estimated glomerular filtration rate every 4 weeks. Follow-up visits occurred every 4 weeks up to week 16, and at 1 year. The primary outcome was time to first febrile episode or death from all causes within the first 12 weeks of trial treatment. All randomised patients were included in an intention-to-treat analysis of the primary endpoint. This study is registered with the ISRCTN registry, number ISRCTN51731976, and the EU Clinical Trials Register, number 2011-000366-35. FINDINGS: Between Aug 15, 2012, and April 29, 2016, we enrolled and randomly assigned 977 patients to receive levofloxacin prophylaxis (489 patients) or placebo (488 patients). Median follow-up was 12 months (IQR 8-13). 95 (19%) first febrile episodes or deaths occurred in 489 patients in the levofloxacin group versus 134 (27%) in 488 patients in the placebo group (hazard ratio 0·66, 95% CI 0·51-0·86; p=0·0018. 597 serious adverse events were reported up to 16 weeks from the start of trial treatment (308 [52%] of which were in the levofloxacin group and 289 [48%] of which were in the placebo group). Serious adverse events were similar between the two groups except for five episodes (1%) of mostly reversible tendonitis in the levofloxacin group. INTERPRETATION: Addition of prophylactic levofloxacin to active myeloma treatment during the first 12 weeks of therapy significantly reduced febrile episodes and deaths compared with placebo without increasing health care-associated infections. These results suggest that prophylactic levofloxacin could be used for patients with newly diagnosed myeloma undergoing anti-myeloma therapy. FUNDING: UK National Institute for Health Research

Science and technology requirements to explore caves in our Solar System

Research on planetary caves requires cross-planetary-body investigations spanning multiple disciplines, including geology, climatology, astrobiology, robotics, human exploration and operations. The community determined that a roadmap was needed to establish a common framework for planetary cave research. This white paper is our initial conception