Incompatible Hardware Research Articles

S2745 Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia: An Unusual Cause of Hepatic Granulomas

Introduction: Hepatic granulomas (HG) are localized collections of inflammatory cells, found in 2 to 10% of patients who undergo liver biopsy. HG has a wide differential and, in some cases, may not lead to a definitive diagnosis. We present a rare case of chronic lymphoid leukemia (CLL) presenting as HG. Case Description/Methods: 70-year-old male with past history of CLL presented with fever, chills and night sweats for 2 weeks. Admission labs were significant for WBC count 25 and elevated LFTs with total bilirubin 3.67, Alkaline phosphatase 281, AST 41 and ALT 144. CT liver protocol showed diffuse hypodense liver lesions, classified as LIRADs 3 indeterminate lesions. MRI was contraindicated due to incompatible hardware. Infectious work up including cultures, viral and tick serologies, and acute and chronic liver serologies were negative and patient was observed off antibiotics and discharged. Subsequent liver biopsy revealed nodules of necrotizing granulomas but negative for CLL, Richter transformation, fungal or TB on special stains. Work up was expanded to rule out autoimmune causes, fungal, atypical viral, TB infections, hemochromatosis and sarcoidosis as a cause of HG, all of which resulted negative. Due to unclear diagnosis and persistent abnormal liver imaging, repeat liver biopsy was performed which revealed periportal and sinusoidal atypical lymphoid infiltrate with necrotizing granulomatous inflammation. Flow cytometry showed small CD 19+ B cells, consistent with CLL. This upstaged patient’s disease to Rai stage 2 and he was started on chemotherapy, which normalized LFTs and improved symptoms. Discussion: HG remains a diagnostic challenge for many clinicians. Common malignancies associated with hepatic granulomas are lymphoma, renal cell carcinoma and liver metastasis. CLL is not a well defined cause of hepatic granuloma. Other causes include drugs, bacterial, fungal, viral or parasitic infections, autoimmune disorders, TB and sarcoidosis. The histologic subtypes (caseating vs non caseating) may give a clue to the diagnosis. Progressive fibrosis, portal hypertension, and cirrhosis can rarely develop if not identified early. In patients with CLL, liver involvement may upstage the disease, necessitating more aggressive treatment. Assessment for associated clinical symptoms, targeted lab and radiological investigations, and characterization of the morphology and localization of granulomas will usually lead to a definitive diagnosis and appropriate treatment.

Status of Multimedia Resources with Special Reference to IIT Patna Library: Challenges and Issues

The present study is going to give the current status of multimedia resources in IIT Patna library. The study reveals the purpose of its usage, awareness about the webbased multimedia resources among the users and the biggest challenges and issues that are being faced while accessing these resources by the users in IIT Patna library. The survey method was adopted to conduct the study. A well-structured questionnaire was distributed to collect the data from the users of IIT Patna library. The findings of the study reveal that the maximum number of users (71.42%) are having awareness about web-based multimedia resources and they are using these resources on daily basis for their research purpose. The biggest constraints while using multimedia resources from shelves was found 'lack of subject access' with the highest percentage of 31.52%. Although most of the users (27.58%) using web based multimedia resources from library website were facing the problem of 'incompatible hardware & software'.

Virtualization of Legacy Instrumentation Control Computers for Improved Reliability, Operational Life, and Management.

Laboratories tend to be amenable environments for long-term reliable operation of scientific measurement equipment. Indeed, it is not uncommon to find equipment 5, 10, or even 20+ years old still being routinely used in labs. Unfortunately, the Achilles heel for many of these devices is the control/data acquisition computer. Often these computers run older operating systems (e.g., Windows XP) and, while they might only use standard network, USB or serial ports, they require proprietary software to be installed. Even if the original installation disks can be found, it is a burdensome process to reinstall and is fraught with "gotchas" that can derail the process-lost license keys, incompatible hardware, forgotten configuration settings, etc. If you have running legacy instrumentation, the computer is the ticking time bomb waiting to put a halt to your operation.In this chapter, I describe how to virtualize your currently running control computer. This virtualized computer "image" is easy to maintain, easy to back up and easy to redeploy. I have used this multiple times in my own lab to greatly improve the robustness of my legacy devices.After completing the steps in this chapter, you will have your original control computer as well as a virtual instance of that computer with all the software installed ready to control your hardware should your original computer ever be decommissioned.

Automatic Generation of Interfaces between Incompatible Hardware Intellectual Properties (IPs) from UML Models

The presented work deals with automatic interfaces generation for incompatible hardware Intellectual properties (IPs) from UML models. Our aim is to provide Systems On Chips (SOCs) designers with an UML based environment for modelling, configuring incompatible IPs, and automatic generation of interface in a standard Hardware Description Language (HDL) like VHDL. In our case, each IP is modelled as an UML component with well defined interface including input and output signals and some attributes. The whole SOC is modelled via UML structure diagram. Memory timing constraints are modelled via UML timing diagrams. Communication protocols for incompatible IPs are modelled via statecharts with hierarchic and concurrent states. From these diagrams, a Finite State Machine with Data path (FSMD) for interface is generated automatically. The latter is then translated to a VHDL code.

Hardware quality vs. network size in the home video game industry

This paper analyzes competition between multiple proprietary and incompatible hardware systems when indirect network effects are present and software is provided competitively by third party developers. A discrete-choice demand structure is employed within a game theoretic setting to allow for a continuum of market share possibilities. Empirical evidence supports the claim that excess inertia is not a pervasive problem. Two data sets covering the life of the home video game industry (yearly from 1976 to 2003 and monthly January 1995 to October 2007) yield three main results: (1) market share is 11.4 times more sensitive to hardware quality than network size, (2) the number of available games is 3.69 times more sensitive to hardware quality than network size, and (3) hardware quality has a larger impact than network size on the probability of hardware success.

Indirect network effects and the impact of trade liberalization: A note

In this note, we examine how trade liberalization affects production structure in the presence of indirect network effects (hardware/software systems). For these purposes we construct a simple two-country model of trade with two incompatible hardware technologies. It is shown that, given that both types of hardware exist before trade liberalization, liberalization and increased intra-industry trade in software products may reduce the variety of hardware technology via intensified network effects. It is also shown that, contrary to the findings of previous studies on intra-industry trade, some consumers may become worse off as the result of trade.

Software exclusivity and the scope of indirect network effects in the U.S. home video game market

This paper investigates the scope of indirect network effects in the home video game industry. We argue that the increasing prevalence of non-exclusive software gives rise to indirect network effects that exist between users of competing and incompatible hardware platforms. This is because software non-exclusivity, like hardware compatibility, allows a software firm to sell to a market broader than a single platform's installed base. We look for evidence of market-wide network effects by estimating a model of hardware demand and software supply. Our software supply equation allows the supply of games for a particular platform to depend not only on the installed base of that platform, but also on the installed base of competing platforms. Our results indicate the presence of both a platform-specific network effect and—in recent years—a cross-platform (or generation-wide) network effect. Our finding that the scope of indirect network effects in this industry has widened suggests one reason that this market, which is often cited as a canonical example of one with strong indirect network effects, is no longer dominated by a single platform.

Software Exclusivity and the Scope of Indirect Network Effects in the U.S. Home Video Game Market

This paper investigates the scope of indirect network effects in the home video game industry. We argue that the increasing prevalence of non-exclusive software gives rise to indirect network effects that exist between users of competing and incompatible hardware platforms. This is because software non-exclusivity, like hardware compatibility, allows a software firm to sell to a market broader than a single platform's installed base, leading to a dependence of any particular platform's software on all firms' installed bases. We look for evidence of these market-wide network effects by estimating a model of hardware demand and software supply. Our software supply equation allows the supply of games for a particular platform to depend not only on the installed base of that platform, but also on the installed base of competing platforms. Our results indicate the presence of both a platform-specific network effect and - in recent years - a cross-platform (or generation-wide) network effect. Our finding that the scope of indirect network effects in this industry has widened suggests one reason that this market, which is often cited as a canonical example of one with strong indirect network effects, is no longer dominated by a single platform.

Managing the Metaphors of Change

For most leaders and change agents, one seven-word expression has become synonymous with resistance to change: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it!” On the surface, it’s a straightforward, rather blunt statement of fact and advice: “Don’t mess with what’s already working.” As usually interpreted, however, it’s a slogan of resistance, defiantly asserting: “No change is wanted or needed here; go tinker somewhere else!” Considered symbolically, it may also reveal an unarticulated set of assumptions about change and the organization in question. Every individual, and for that matter, cultural system, views and interprets empirical events through a set of beliefs and assumptions. Often these beliefs and assumptions are subconscious and rarely examined or questioned. They just are. Yet they exert a profound influence over how a person sees a situation, and what actions will or will not be taken. If, for example, someone implicitly assumes that interpersonal communication is like calling another person on the telephone, then any miscommunication might be attributed to a “bad connection” or “static on the line.” Viewed as a computerto-computer interface, the difficulties might be alternatively defined as “incompatible software or hardware.” Depending on the implicit view, different remedies are likely to be suggested: “Let’s hang up and try again,” or “Let’s make sure we are both using the same (computer) language.” This discussion advances the proposition that these underlying, usually unarticulated understandings about a situation are often shaped and revealed metaphorically. Furthermore, because these understandings are critical to how people assess the need for change—and indeed, their conception of change itself—paying attention to managing the metaphors of change becomes a critical competency for leaders and change agents.

Coordinating Technology: Studies in the International Standardization of Telecommunications (review)

Reviewed by: Coordinating Technology: Studies in the International Standardization of Telecommunications * Andrew Barry (bio) Coordinating Technology: Studies in the International Standardization of Telecommunications. By Susanne K. Schmidt and Raymund Werle. Cambridge, Mass.: MIT Press, 1998. Pp. viii+365; illustrations, tables, notes/references, index. $35. Until relatively recently the dynamics of technical standardization were of only marginal academic and political concern. David Noble’s America by Design: Science, Technology and the Rise of Corporate Capitalism (New York: Knopf, 1977) pioneered the study of these questions, and during the last fifteen years the situation has changed dramatically. On the one hand, the work of historians, economists, and sociologists, including Paul David, Ken Alder, Thomas Hughes, Michel Callon, and M. Norton Wise, has indicated the critical importance of standards to the process of sociotechnical changes and the conduct of modern systems of government. On the other hand, standardization has become a matter of considerable economic and political importance. The European Community has made the process of technical harmonization central to the project of European political integration, and every computer user knows the problems of incompatible hardware and software. Susanne Schmidt and Raymund Werle’s study of the international standardization of telecommunications is clearly indebted to recent work in the field, but it is narrower in focus than the work of, for example, David or Hughes. Coordinating Technology is a scholarly and specialist work, modest in its general theoretical ambitions, and precise and detailed in its analysis of the complexities of standardization. It will be an essential reference for those concerned with standardization of telecommunications and, more generally, with the role of committees of experts in the development of industrial standards. The book is organized into two parts. The first provides a broad description of the dynamics of standardization, an account of the role of different institutions in the telecommunications standardization process, and an exposition of the authors’ theoretical framework, which they term “actor-centered institutionalism.” In general terms they contrast this approach to the study of technology with social constructivist analyses in two ways. First, they reject what they see as the sociological reductionism of some forms of constructivist analysis, while accepting its general insights. Second, they go beyond the comparatively narrow confines of social constructivist literature, citing relevant work in political science, economics, and economic history. Schmidt and Werle are much more interested in understanding the complexity of institutionalized forms of standardization than in making a general contribution to theory. The virtues of their pragmatic approach to theory are shown to best effect in chapter 4, in a judicious appraisal of the strengths and weaknesses of game theory in accounting [End Page 153] for the dynamics of standardization in institutional settings. In criticizing game theory they point to the importance of uncertainty in the development of technology. “A closer look at ‘real world’ standardization points to a feature that has been neglected in game-theoretic models of standardization. In many cases the technical problem and/or the economic implications of alternatives are uncertain. In consequence, individual preferences may stay indeterminate and ambivalent during considerable periods of the standardization process” (p. 105). The empirical focus of the book is on the workings of the Comité consultatif international télégraphique et téléphonique (CCITT), which along with the International Telecommunications Union (ITU) standardization sector are the central institutions involved in international telecommunications standardization. One of the strengths of Schmidt and Werle’s study is its sense of the specificity of the organization and culture of the CCITT. In telecommunications some form of standardization is generally of benefit to everybody, but the adoption of particular standards may be perceived to benefit some more than others. In these circumstances, if one wants to understand telecommunications standardization, then one must analyze the internal rules and procedures of the CCITT itself and, in particular, which “institutionalized rules exist to facilitate consensus once issues are contentious” (p. 139). The second part of the book contains detailed case studies of the dynamics of standardization of Interactive Videotex, Facsimile, and Message Handling (X.400) in the CCITT. In the case of Interactive Videotex, conflicting economic interests and political investments blocked the possibility of compromise, whereas in the other two...

A look at several memory management units, TLB-refill mechanisms, and page table organizations

Virtual memory is a staple in modem systems, though there is little agreement on how its functionality is to be implemented on either the hardware or software side of the interface. The myriad of design choices and incompatible hardware mechanisms suggests potential performance problems, especially since increasing numbers of systems (even embedded systems) are using memory management. A comparative study of the implementation choices in virtual memory should therefore aid system-level designers.This paper compares several virtual memory designs, including combinations of hierarchical and inverted page tables on hardware-managed and software-managed translation lookaside buffers (TLBs). The simulations show that systems are fairly sensitive to TLB size; that interrupts already account for a large portion of memory-management overhead and can become a significant factor as processors execute more concurrent instructions; and that if one includes the cache misses inflicted on applications by the VM system, the total VM overhead is roughly twice what was thought (10--20% rather than 5--10%).

A look at several memory management units, TLB-refill mechanisms, and page table organizations

Virtual memory is a staple in modem systems, though there is little agreement on how its functionality is to be implemented on either the hardware or software side of the interface. The myriad of design choices and incompatible hardware mechanisms suggests potential performance problems, especially since increasing numbers of systems (even embedded systems) are using memory management. A comparative study of the implementation choices in virtual memory should therefore aid system-level designers.This paper compares several virtual memory designs, including combinations of hierarchical and inverted page tables on hardware-managed and software-managed translation lookaside buffers (TLBs). The simulations show that systems are fairly sensitive to TLB size; that interrupts already account for a large portion of memory-management overhead and can become a significant factor as processors execute more concurrent instructions; and that if one includes the cache misses inflicted on applications by the VM system, the total VM overhead is roughly twice what was thought (10--20% rather than 5--10%).

Design principles for open and reusable shop-floor control software

Integrating a heterogeneous manufacturing environment means using information technology to provide appropriate access to accurate and timely information. While individual systems provide valuable solutions to particular manufacturing or transport problems, quick and easy information-sharing throughout the shop-floor has become almost impossible. Yet, information-sharing is increasingly critical for the success of the company and its manufacturing goals. Whether data comes from a device or an application in the manufacturing environment, the critical success factor in shop-floor integration is the ability to turn data into useful information, to distribute it, and to share it regardless of application, device, hardware, operating system, and network used. Manufacturing environments are changing constantly and the technology surrounding and supporting them is often changing faster. Solving manufacturing problems by acquiring a variety of incompatible hardware and software from multiple vendors has created a complex application and device integration problem. This paper describes an approach that makes the task of application integration easier. The concept focuses on achieving application independence and was verified in an assembly cell at a truck component factory.

Integrating substation automation

Even though automation and remote control of electric power substations began as long ago as the early 1960s, the integration of intelligent electronic devices is still far from complete, especially in North America. The principal obstacle to greater interoperability is the plethora of incompatible hardware interfaces and protocols. The list includes intelligent electronic devices, computer platforms, operating systems, communications networks, and graphical user-interfaces. An analysis is given of how to integrate these assorted technologies into a single substation control system, while overcoming any obstacles to implementation. The benefits of the integrated system to the utility operations is also be enumerated.

A Principles-Based Enterprise Architecture: Lessons from Texaco and Star Enterprise

Star Enterprise is a joint venture partnership between Texaco Inc. and the Saudi Arabian Oil Company. Created in 1988, it became fully operational on January 1, 1989. This new organization inherited staff, facilities, and information resources existing within Texaco Inc. at the time of formation. A significant opportunity for the new organization was to create a new Enterprise Information Technology Architecture to support business functions and management decision making. While this venture was an opportunity, it was also a challenge because of the existing information technology that was comprised of incompatible hardware and nonintegrated systems. This paper describes the architecture that emerged and reviews its current status. Two major contributions of the paper are to identify the principles upon which the architecture is being created and to review what has been learned to date in the process of implementing the architecture.

Disentangling application and presentation in distributed computing: architecture and protocol to enable a flexible, common user interface

The author describes an architecture and a protocol to solve a number of problems that may arise in a distributed computing setting, including incompatible hardware and software environments, incompatible user interfaces, and customization requirements. The focus is on providing an enabling environment for flexible user interface specification that can provide both common functionality and, if needed, local customization. The overall architecture of the solution is described, and examples of the protocol for specifying user interface functionality are presented.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>