Kinds Of Devices Research Articles

Is a Digital Nation a Voting Nation? Using Survey Data to Examine the Relationship Between Internet Use and Voting in the United States

Since the Internet first became a mainstream form of communication, researchers have sought to understand its impact on civic engagement. Given the unprecedented ability of Internet users to access volumes of information and news sources, connect with like-minded people around the world, and communicate instantaneously, it is important to understand how the Internet changes our community relationships and civic engagement. While early research painted a largely positive picture of the Internet’s impact, more recent work has pointed to the dangers posed by online echo chambers, misinformation, and the substitution of virtual interactions for real-life community activities. Against this backdrop, we explore the relationship between Internet use and voting in the 2016 and 2018 U.S. elections, paying particular attention to different kinds of devices, technologies, and online activities. In testing a statistical model of voting that includes indicators of Internet use and other relevant characteristics, we merge overlapping samples from four supplements to the U.S. Census Bureau’s Current Population Survey. First, the November 2017 edition of the National Telecommunications and Information Administration’s (NTIA) Internet Use Survey captures extensive information about Internet adoption and various devices used by Americans. The November 2016 and November 2018 Voting and Registration Supplements capture information regarding voter registration, turnout, and reported reasons for not voting. Finally, the September 2017 Volunteering and Civic Life Supplement captures other important markers of civic engagement, such as the various ways in which people volunteer and participate in activities in their communities. Taking advantage of the Current Population Survey’s sample design, which leads to households being included in eight monthly data collections over the course of sixteen months, we examine voting and Internet use while also controlling for variables such as ethnicity, age, gender, education, and income. Our preliminary findings suggest that Internet use was positively related to voter turnout in both the 2016 presidential election and 2018 midterm election. In both 2016 and 2018, an Internet user was more likely to vote than a non-user after controlling for other factors believed to be related to voter turnout. Other results are equally illuminating; for example, PC or tablet computer use was associated with a higher likelihood of voting, while smartphone use had no statistically significant impact. It is these and other results that our group incorporates into the paper and weaves a story about how the Internet impacts American civic participation.

Research progress of infrared electrochromic devices

Infrared electrochromic device is a kind of device whose infrared emissivity can change reversibly under electric field excitation. This kind of device has important applications in the fields of adaptive infrared camouflage and intelligent thermal control, and has become a research frontier and hot spot in the field of infrared radiation control. In this paper, the working principle, research status and progress of infrared electrochromic devices based on metal oxides, conductive polymers, graphene and metals are summarized, and the development trend of infrared electrochromic device is analyzed.

A benchtop single-sided magnet with NMR well-logging tool specifications – Examples of application

This article was written in honor of Prof. Bernhard Blümich, who has heavily impacted many areas of Magnetic Resonance and, in particular, low-field and portable NMR with numerous advances, concepts, innovations, and applications of this impressive technology. Many years ago, we decided to research and develop single-sided magnets for the area of petroleum science and engineering to study oil reservoir rocks in the laboratory under well-logging conditions. The global urge to exploit oil reserves requires the analysis of reservoirs, intending to characterize the yields before starting the production. Thus, well-logging tools have been developed to estimate the quality of oil and reservoir productivity. NMR logging is included in these analytical tools, and numerous operations using this kind of device were performed since the early 1950s. To contribute to this vital research area, we show the development of a new benchtop single-sided NMR system, with well-logging tool characteristics, a cylindrical sweet spot with 4 cm of diameter and length, with magnetic field of 47 mT centered at 11 cm from the magnet's surface and a constant gradient of 35.7 G/cm along z. This system was used in self-diffusion, T1-T2, and D-T2 measurements of standard liquids and rock cores, demonstrating its functionality.

Integrated Robotics Architecture with Kansei Computing and its Application

Robots communicating with humans have been widely utilised in our society. This type of communication can be limited when only one robot is involved. Meanwhile, expressing the same unified mood and emotion is difficult when several robots are working. Furthermore, realising expressions representing different cultures in the context of a global society is also challenging. To address these issues, we propose an integrated robot architecture (IRA) providing a communication environment, in which various robots and devices can be combined. In this architecture, meta-level messages are communicated between various kinds of devices using a unified communication protocol. The framework of Kansei computing is integrated for realising non-verbal expression. This method makes it possible to express emotions with colours synchronised with each utterance, according to the characteristics of the device and required culture. This paper also presents a system prototype and verifies its feasibility.

Software tool for analysis and visualization of GPS tracks in urban environments

Traffic in urban environments vary significantly depending on the areas of the city and the time of day. Nowadays, thanks to the large number of GPS devices that are integrated in all kinds of devices, it is possible to make a quantitative analysis of traffic. This contribution presents an application developed to analyse this information in a simple way and with a visual representation. One of its main advantages is that it is adaptable to any city in the world, as its internal algorithms adapt to the available data are presenting and adjusting it to the traffic through the city. This is done by extracting information directly from the data provided by GPS devices moving around the city. In addition, an analysis of the execution times of all application processes is presented to determine which parts involve a higher execution cost and determine the overall scalability of the application.

Fabrication and characterization of YBa<sub>2</sub>Cu<sub>3</sub>O<sub>7–</sub><inline-formula><tex-math id="Z-20210129174424">\begin{document}$_{ \delta}$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20201291_Z-20210129174424.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20201291_Z-20210129174424.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula> step-edge Josephson junctions on MgO substrate for high-temperature superconducting quantum interference devices

The YBa<sub>2</sub>Cu<sub>3</sub>O<sub>7–<i>δ</i></sub> (YBCO) step-edge Josephson junction on MgO substrate has recently been shown to have important applications in making advanced high-transition temperature (high-<i>T</i><sub>C</sub>) superconducting devices such as high-sensitivity superconducting quantum interference device (SQUID), superconducting quantum interference filter, and THz detector. In this paper, we investigate the fabrication and transport properties of YBCO step-edge junction on MgO substrate. By optimizing the two-stage ion beam etching process, steps on MgO (100) substrates are prepared with an edge angle <i>θ</i> of about 34°. The YBCO step-edge junctions are then fabricated by growing the YBCO thin films with a pulsed laser deposition technique and subsequent traditional photolithography. The resistive transition of the junction shows typical foot structure which is well described by the Ambegaokar-Halperin theory of thermally-activated phase slippage for overdamped Josephson junctions. The voltage-current curves with temperature dropping down to 77 K exhibit resistively shunted junction behavior, and the Josephson critical current density <i>J</i><sub>C</sub> is shown to follow the <inline-formula><tex-math id="Z-20210127094830-1">\begin{document}$(T_{\rm C}-T)^2$\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20201291_Z-20210127094830-1.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20201291_Z-20210127094830-1.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula> dependence. At 77 K, the <i>J</i><sub>C</sub> of the junction reaches 1.4 × 10<sup>5</sup> A/cm<sup>2</sup>, significantly higher than the range of 10<sup>3</sup>–10<sup>4</sup> A/cm<sup>2</sup> as presented by other investigators for YBCO step-edge junctions on MgO substrate with comparable <i>θ</i> of 35°–45°. This indicates a rather strong Josephson coupling of the junction, and by invoking the results of YBCO bicrystal junctions showing similar values of <i>J</i><sub>C</sub>, it is tentatively proposed that the presently fabricated junction might be described as an S-s′-S junction with s′ denoting the superconducting region of depressed <i>T</i><sub>C</sub> in the vicinity of the step edge or as an S-N-S junction with N denoting a very thin non-superconducting layer. By incorporating the MgO-based YBCO step-edge junction, high-<i>T</i><sub>C</sub> radio frequency (RF) SQUID is made. The device shows decent voltage-flux curve and magnetic flux sensitivity of 250 <inline-formula><tex-math id="Z-20210128093740-1">\begin{document}$ \text{μ}\Phi_0/{\rm Hz}^{1/2} $\end{document}</tex-math><alternatives><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20201291_Z-20210128093740-1.jpg"/><graphic xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" xlink:href="3-20201291_Z-20210128093740-1.png"/></alternatives></inline-formula> at 1 kHz and 77 K, comparable to the values reported in the literature. To further improve the RF SQUID performance, efforts could be devoted to optimizing the junction parameters such as the junction <i>J</i><sub>C</sub>. By using the YBCO step-edge junction on MgO substrate, high-<i>T</i><sub>C</sub> direct current SQUID could also be developed, as reported recently by other investigators, to demonstrate the potential of MgO-based step-edge junction in making such a kind of device with superior magnetic flux sensitivity.

Design and Implementation of a Low-cost Irradiance - Temperature Data Logging Meter for Solar PV Applications

The rapid exhausting traditional energy sources and the contemporary constantly intensifying energy entreaty with respects to biological matters have reinforced concentrated research on solar energy novelty. Capturing maximum energy from the sun by applying photovoltaic solar technology is challenging. A limited feature that affect the solar energy harvest of such technology include the photovoltaic material, topographical area of solar irradiances, surrounding temperature and climate, the angle of sun and orientation of the panel. This work presents an automated and low-cost irradiance-temperature (W/m2) logging meter, Low-Cost Sensor (Pyranometer) to measure Solar Irradiance in Nsukka, Nigeria. The core distinctive of this device is the low-cost of all its mechanisms. The design of this device is grounded on by means of temperature sensor DHT11 and phototransistor PT202C. This design was implemented for the periods of 90 days along with standard pyranometer and thermometer installed to two 250 watts photovoltaic (PV) solar panel similar at University of Nigeria, Nsukka. This device enhanced sensitiveness to solar irradiance, permitting a brilliant feedback of the device in a range from approximately 250 to 1200 x10-9 m. This device incapacitates out dated complications in this kind of device and propositions comparable features to those of thermopile-based irradiance meter and, hence, can be used at all setting up where consistent sizing of solar isolation is required and the overall result indicates that the coefficient of correlation of the solar isolation gotten with the projected device is 0.9996.

Automatic Signature Verification in the Mobile Cloud Scenario: Survey and Way Ahead

On-line signature verification is typically carried out with the use of digitizing tablets specifically designed for the aim. So far, stand-alone systems have been mainly inspected, but the current distributed/cloud scenario and the amount of mobile devices in everyday life is calling for a new challenge. Within this scenario, signatures are acquired around the world with different kinds of devices and processed on multiple platforms in order to be verified. Through the paper, the different phases of the signature verification process in the new scenario are presented and the most valuable results are discussed considering the following aspects: accessibility and usability, interoperability, security and performance. Achievements as well as weakness are focused to highlight promising directions for further research and technology development.

Contact resistance corrected-electrical characteristics with channel length effects in π-conjugated small-molecule benzanthracene organic thin film transistors

In this work, bottom-contact p-type organic thin-film transistors based on small-molecule benzanthracene with various channel lengths were fabricated, characterized, and theoretically investigated. The fabricated devices showed a pronounced shift for threshold voltage as the function of channel length. Electrical parameters characterizing fabricated devices have been systematically evaluated as a function of channel length with and without contact resistance in the calculation. Contact resistance (Rc) and channel resistance (Rch) are extracted individually using the transfer line method (TLM) for output characteristic curves that were done only at low drain voltage (linear regime). The effect of contact resistance on the values of various OTFTs parameters is more pronounced in short channel length devices. The obtained results revealed that the linear regime's corrected mobilities of short channel devices are about 15% smaller than uncorrected mobility. Comparatively, the corrected threshold voltage values were found to be nearly close to uncorrected values for all channel lengths. The analytical model was also applied to reproduce output characteristics in the linear regime of different channel lengths devices with or without contact resistance. It was found that the calculated results were in good agreement with the measured results (when considering the effect of contact resistance), which confirms that the used model can correctly describe the charge transport in these kinds of devices.

Microneedle systems as medical devices for esthetical treatments: A risk assessment approach.

Microneedling devices are being used as a surgical technique without a clear regulatory category. They can become dangerous considering that these kind of devices can easily be bought and used by nonqualified people. Our aim has been to demonstrate that microneedling devices used in dermatological surgery are Medical Devices according to the current regulations. After a thorough review in the European Union and USA medical device classification, we consider microneedling systems as Class II (US) or IIa (EU). Therefore, they must follow the regulations established for medical devices. A risk assessment has also been made, in which the technical and scientific deficiencies in their design and manufacturing have been recognized in addition to including compulsory information for the regulatory agencies and most importantly for the final user. It can be concluded that microneedling is an interesting tool in dermatology although more information related to its safety needs to be submitted. In addition, its use by nonprofessional people does not guarantee the safety of the user.

Acceptance of a Virtual Reality Headset Designed for Fall Prevention in Older Adults: Questionnaire Study.

BackgroundFalls are a common phenomenon among people aged 65 and older and affect older adults’ health, quality of life, and autonomy. Technology-based intervention programs are designed to prevent the occurrence of falls and their effectiveness often surpasses that of more conventional programs. However, to be effective, these programs must first be accepted by seniors.ObjectiveBased on the technology acceptance model, this study aimed to examine the acceptance among older adults before a first use of a virtual reality headset (VRH) used in an intervention program designed to prevent falls.MethodsA sample of 271 French older adults (mean age 73.69 years, SD 6.37 years) voluntarily and anonymously filled out a questionnaire containing the focal constructs (perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, perceived ease of use, intention to use, fall-related self-efficacy, and self-avoidance goals) adapted to the VRH, which was designed to prevent falls.ResultsThe results of the structural equation modeling analysis showed that intention to use the VRH was positively predicted by perceived usefulness, perceived enjoyment, and perceived ease of use. Perceived usefulness of the VRH was also negatively predicted by fall-related self-efficacy (ie, the perceived level of confidence of an individual when performing daily activities without falling) and positively predicted by self-avoidance goals (ie, participating in a physical activity to avoid physical regression).ConclusionsA better understanding of the initial acceptance among older adults of this VRH is the first step to involving older adults in intervention programs designed to prevent falls using this kind of device.

The Association Between High Body Mass Index and Technology Use Among Female Elementary School Students.

BackgroundOverweight and obesity among children are progressively turning into global issues. Numerous factors have been linked to the proliferation of pediatric obesity. However, there are still questions as to whether the corresponding proliferation in the use of technology could be linked to the increase in body mass index (BMI) among children. The aim of this study is to investigate the association between high BMI in female elementary school-age children and time spent using electronic devices.MethodsThis is a cross-sectional study that was conducted across three female elementary schools located in Jeddah between 2017 and 2018. All schools which are affiliated with the Ministry of National Guard in Jeddah were included. Demographic data, school performance, sleep routine, physical activity, parents' beliefs, and family demographic data were collected from the legal custodian of the children. The research group visited schools to obtain children's BMI measurements.ResultsThe number of participants who responded to the survey was 681. The results showed that the increase in BMI was non-significantly linked with the period spent using electronic devices, the use of electronic devices before sleep, nor the kind of device used. However, there was a significant association between high BMI and one type of electronic device: the television. There was a significant association between high BMI and the denial by parents that their children were obese. Furthermore, 50% of children were obese while 92.9% of overweight children's parents did not believe that there was a problem with the weight of their children.ConclusionThere is no significant association between screen time spent on electronic devices and high BMI among female elementary school-age children. However, lack of physical activity, fast food consumption, and genetic predispositions are still major contributing factors for childhood obesity and overweight. Nearly all parents of children who are overweight did not perceive their children as being overweight, which brings to the fore the subject of lack of awareness about childhood obesity among parents.

SEAMERS: A Semi-partitioned Energy-Aware scheduler for heterogeneous MulticorE Real-time Systems

Abstract Over the years, the nature of processing platforms is witnessing a significant shift in most of the battery supported real-time systems, which now support a combination of specialized multicores to meet the demands of modern applications. Devising energy-efficient schedulers has become a critical issue for such kinds of devices. Hence, this research presents a low-overhead heuristic strategy named SEAMERS, for DVFS based energy-aware scheduling for a set of real-time periodic tasks on a heterogeneous multicore platform. The presented strategy operates in four phases, namely Deadline Partitioning, Core Clustering, Task Allocation and Energy-Aware Scheduling. Our experimental analysis shows that the presented strategy improves upon the state-of-the-art in terms of energy savings (16% to 47% on average) and enables significant improvement in resource utilization.

Integrated Multi-Functional Optical Filter Based on a Self-Coupled Microring Resonator Assisted MZI Structure

In general, to fit various application scenarios, different types of optical filters are needed and designed individually, which leads to high cost and long development times. Here we proposed a reconfigurable multi-functional optical filter based on self-coupled microring assisted MZI structure, which can be reconfigured into five different kinds of devices, including the optical switch, asymmetric MZI filter, ring assisted MZI filter, double injection microring resonator and self-coupled micro-ring assisted MZI filter. An analytical model was established based on the transfer matrix method to investigate the function reconfigurations, which were then verified experimentally by simply controlling the six thermo-optical phase shifters in the structure. Furthermore, our proposed reconfigurable multi-functional optical filter provides performances that are comparable to the individual devices or even better, which has the potential to be applied in the integrated optical signal processing and microwave photonics systems.

Theoretical studies of dual optical and acoustic unidirectional filtering based on two-dimensional phoxonic crystals with rectangle defects

ABSTRACT Dual optical and acoustic unidirectional transmission in two-dimensional phoxonic crystal rectangular defect connected by two mutually perpendicular waveguides is theoretically achieved. The unidirectional filtering for both optical and acoustic waves is designed by altering the phoxonic crystal waveguides and cavity to obtain the modes’ match and mismatch via the finite element method. This kind of devices has the abilities of mode convertor, wavelength filtering and unidirectional propagation for both the optical and acoustic wave, and maybe potentially applied in simultaneously manipulating light and sound.

THz Radio Communication: Link Budget Analysis toward 6G

How well do upper millimeter-wave and terahertz frequency bands enable wireless communications? In this work, we approximate the current and estimate the future communication potential with emphasis on antenna and radio frequency hardware technologies, and radio propagation challenges. This is done by performing link budget evaluations with justified estimates of link budget calculus terms, such as the achievable or required noise figure, transmit power, and antenna gain. Estimates are based on current enabling technologies and needs to advance those. From the RF viewpoint, the bottlenecks are in generating sufficiently high transmit power and low noise with the support of very high antenna gains. As an example, we discuss opportunities around 300 GHz frequency. Challenges to support 100 Gb/s bit rate at 30 GHz bandwidth on 10 m link distance is analyzed for different kinds of devices.

Interface Tuning between Two Connecting Bulk Heterojunctions in Small Molecule Bilayer Ternary Solar Cells.

Bilayer ternary solar cells are a kind of novel organic photovoltaic device with a triple-component active layer but are different from the ternary bulk heterojunction (BHJ) blend. Two binary BHJs with a common acceptor (or donor) are deposited sequentially in this kind of device. Here, we study the fabrication and optimization of bilayer ternary solar cells using metal phthalocyanine donors and fullerene acceptor. The device power conversion efficiency (PCE) shows a significant dependence on the interface between the two binary BHJs. The interface formed by stacking two BHJs directly demonstrates severe restrictions on the device efficiency. We find that the photovoltaic performance of bilayer ternary cells can be improved by inserting a C60 molecular monolayer between the two binary BHJs. The effect of the C60 interfacial layer on charge transport is analyzed based on their transport characteristics under negative bias. A relationship between the C60 interfacial layer and recombination under illumination is discussed. This work reveals a particular influence due to the interface facing three materials in organic solar cells.

Optimization Design and Application of Niobium‐Based Materials in Electrochemical Energy Storage

In various energy storage devices, the development and research of electrode materials has always been a key factor. Nb‐based materials are one choice of energy storage materials because of the good ion‐diffusion channels and high theoretical capacity. More importantly, their advantages, such as safe potential range, high structural stability, and highly reversible redox reaction with small strain, are conducive to efficient, safe, and stable energy storage development. Based on aforementioned superiority, much of the research is to further optimize performance of Nb‐based materials by unique nano‐morphology design, lattice regulation, and functional additives composition, showing good electrochemical performance in many kinds of devices. This review mainly introduces the classification of Nb‐based materials used for energy storage, their application in different battery systems, and common optimization methods. Accordingly, the deficiencies and prospects of Nb‐based materials are also discussed in detail.

A Unified Electrothermal Behavior Modeling Method for Both SiC MOSFET and GaN HEMT

This article has presented a unified electrothermal behavior modeling method for both silicon carbide (SiC) metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor ( <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">mosfet</small> ) and gallium nitride (GaN) high electron mobility transistor (HEMT). The electrothemal behavior of these two kind of devices in both the first and the third quadrant is accurately modeled with serval compact equations. A modeling data and optimization algorithm-based parameter extraction method have been proposed to replace the previous time consuming and labor intensive one. The proposed parameter fitting algorithm is a genetic algorithm and Levenberg–Marquardt combined optimization algorithm possessing the advantages of global optimization and fast convergence speed, and modeling data can come from both datasheets and measurement. The correctness and accuracy of the proposed modeling method has been verified by simulation and experiment result. Meanwhile, it has been proved that the proposed modeling method is applicable to several commercially available SiC <sc xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">mosfet</small> s and GaN HEMTs.

(Plenary) The Revival of Compound Semiconductors and How They Will Change the World in a 5G/6G Era

The world is more than ever relying on connectivity in our daily life as well as our professional life. With 5G being rolled out, the industry is looking already at the next generation of mobile communication to bring even higher speeds and more connections than previous generations. But with 5G we are at an inflection point where it is not only about higher data rates and more connections, but about connecting different kind of devices and the new ways humans and machines interact with each other. The higher frequencies, low latency and reliability requirements will put a lot of strain on the technologies to enable this. While CMOS is the preferred vehicle, to fulfill these demands compound semiconductors like GaN and InP might be the better options for particular functions of the radio architecture. This paper will address the progress toward upscaling these materials to a Si platform and to make them CMOS and 3D compatible to enable the final heterogeneous systems that will be needed for 5G and beyond.