Measurement of stressful postures during daily activities: An observational study with older people.

This study measured the postures of older people during cooking and laundry. A sample of men and women aged 75+ years (n=27) was recruited and observed in a home-like environment. Postures were recorded with a measurement system in an objective and detailed manner. The participants were videotaped to be able to see where 'critical' postures occurred, as defined by a trunk inclination of ≥60°. Analysis of data was facilitated by specially developed software. Critical postures accounted for 3% of cooking and 10% of laundry, occurring primarily during retrieving from and putting in lower cabinets, the refrigerator, laundry basket or washing machine as well as disposing into the waste bin. These tasks involve a great variation in postural changes and pose a particular risk to older people. The results suggest that the use of stressful postures may decrease efficiency and increase fatigue, eventually leading to difficulties with daily activities. The specific tasks identified during which critical postures occurred should be targeted by designers in order to improve the activities. A few examples are given of how better design can reduce or eliminate some of the postural constraints.

21 Port self wavelength switching of 40 Gb/s spectral-amplitude-encoded DPSK signals

Ultrafast self-switching of spectral-amplitude-encoded 40 Gb/s DPSK signals is demonstrated for the first time. Switching between 21 ports with 15nm maximum bin separation is achieved using a single correlator based on HNLF and an AWG. © 2009 IEEE.

Magnetic shielding properties of high- Tc superconducting hollow cylinders: Model combining experimental data for axial and transverse magnetic field configurations

Magnetic shielding efficiency was measured on high- Tc superconducting hollow cylinders subjected to either an axial or a transverse magnetic field in a large range of field sweep rates, dBapp/dt. The behaviour of the superconductor was modelled in order to reproduce the main features of the field penetration curves by using a minimum number of free parameters suitable for both magnetic field orientations. The field penetration measurements were carried out on Pb-doped Bi-2223 tubes at 77K by applying linearly increasing magnetic fields with a constant sweep rate ranging between 10νTs-1 and 10mTs-1 for both directions of the applied magnetic field. The experimental curves of the internal field versus the applied field, Bin(Bapp), show that, at a given sweep rate, the magnetic field for which the penetration occurs, Blim, is lower for the transverse configuration than for the axial configuration. A power law dependence with large exponent, n′, is found between Blim and dBapp/dt. The values of n′ are nearly the same for both configurations. We show that the main features of the curves B in(Bapp) can be reproduced using a simple 2D model, based on the method of Brandt, involving a E(J) power law with an n-exponent and a field-dependent critical current density, Jc(B), (following the Kim model: Jc = Jc0(1+B/B1)-1). In particular, a linear relationship between the measured n′-exponents and the n-exponent of the E(J) power law is suggested by taking into account the field dependence of the critical current density. Differences between the axial and the transverse shielding properties can be simply attributed to demagnetizing fields. © 2009 IOP Publishing Ltd.

200V superjunction lateral IGBT fabricated on partial SOI

A 200V lateral insulated gate bipolar transistor (LIGBT) was successfully developed using lateral superjunction (SJ) in 0.18μm partial silicon on insulator (SOI) HV process. The results presented are based on extensive experimental measurements and numerical simulations. For an n-type lateral SJ LIGBT, the p layer in the SJ drift region helps in achieving uniform electric field distribution. Furthermore, the p-pillar contributes to the on-state current. Furthermore, the p-pillar contributes to sweep out holes during the turn-off process, thus leading to faster removal of plasma. To realize this device, one additional mask layer is required in the X-FAB 0.18μm partial SOI HV process. © 2013 IEEE.

Analysis on the off-state design and characterization of LIGBTs in partial SOI technology

Classical high voltage devices fabricated on SOI substrates suffer from a backside coupling effect which could result in premature breakdown. This phenomenon becomes more prominent if the structure is an IGBT which features a p-type injector. To suppress the premature breakdown due to crowding of electro-potential lines within a confined SOI/buried oxide structure, the partial SOI (PSOI) technique is being introduced. This paper analyzes the off-state behavior of an n-type Superjunction (SJ) LIGBT fabricated on PSOI substrate. During the initial development stage the SJ LIGBT was found to have very high leakage. This was attributed to the back and side coupling effects. This paper discusses these effects and shows how this problem could be successfully addressed with minimal modifications of device layout. The off-state performance of the SJ LIGBT at different temperatures is assessed and a comparison to an equivalent LDMOSFET is given. © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.