Hannoversche Informationstechnologien (Germany)

Results of modern research show a relationship between emotional stress and the occurrence of autoimmune diseases as a comorbidity. The authors use EMDR therapy (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) to treat trauma disorders. They wondered whether and to what extent this treatment also affects autoimmune processes. Parallel to the trauma-focused psychotherapy with EMDR, the thyroid hormone substitution dose was documented in patients with active Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroiditis requiring substitution. Hashimoto's autoimmune thyroiditis had already been diagnosed by a specialist and drug treatment had been initiated before starting outpatient psychotherapy. So far in five cases a decrease in autoimmune activity and a stability of the results in the follow-up between six months and one year could be observed. It is now necessary to examine whether these results can be confirmed in a larger number of patients and a diversity of therapists and whether these observations can be transferred to other somatic comorbidities.

Dear Editor, I read with interest your article titled, Compression fracture in postpartum osteoporosis.[1] I am a lactation consultant and I experienced a similar medical situation. I would like your readers to know that weaning is not necessarily indicated in the case of postpartum osteoporosis. Weaning was advised, but I was adamant to find a way to avoid it. Many medications suitable for treatment of osteoporosis can be taken while nursing. I wonder if nursing may actually facilitates increased calcium absorption and building of bone. There could be hormonal reasons that this is true. In my case I gained the most bone while continuing to nurse. This is my brief case history. In 2000, at age 40, and five months after having my 5th child, I experienced compression fractures of T12, L1 and L3 when moving a piece of furniture. I was subsequently diagnosed with severe osteoporosis. I was seen and treated by several physicians including emergency room, my family practice physician, two endocrinologists and a naturopath. I was limited with pain medications due to my history of vomiting from any narcotics. Initially Toradol was helpful for pain and then I was able to use a transcutaneous electrical nerve stimulation (TENS) unity with alternating Tylenol and 800 mg Ibuprofen. The pain persisted for several months, but subsided greatly with taking an oral contraceptive containing estrogen, but this reduced milk supply. My condition was treated with a variety of therapies both traditional medicine and some alternative. I had improvement in milk supply and remained with milder tolerable pain by switching to natural hormone therapy. I continued to breastfeed my daughter for almost 5 years during which time I gained about 5.5% per year in bone density for a total of over 20% increase in spinal bone mass in the first 5 years. I was able to also use Miacalcin nasal, Cal/Mag 2001 supplements, Vitamin D some other natural supplements including something for pituitary function and thyroid, as well as weight bearing exercise. Later I added use of magnet therapy and strontium. I did a trial of Forteo after about 5 years for about 6 months that I discontinued due to nausea. After menopause I switched to synthetic hormone replacement therapy which is important to prevent back pain for me on ongoing for now.

Hintergrund Bluthochdruck ist ein wesentlicher, haufiger und therapierbarer Risikofaktor fur kardiovaskulare Erkrankungen. Eine fruhzeitige Erkennung betroffener Personen ist wesentlich.

Dielectric layers within III-nitride transistor technology can act either as passivation layers or as gate-dielectric layers. In this paper, we reflect on both issues and present novel approaches of dielectric schemes. In both cases, the elimination of surface traps or, more generally, of surface states is a key issue in obtaining improved device performance. As gate dielectrics, we introduced and investigated thermally and photoelectrochemically generated AlxGa2−xO3, SiO2, the combination of AlxGa2−xO3 and SiO2 (tandem-dielectric stack), and e-beam-deposited Al2O3. These dielectric layers serve simultaneously as a passivation layer. In addition, we introduced plasma-enhanced chemical-vapor deposition (PECVD)-deposited SiNx for passivation. The results highlight the importance of passivation and the introduction of gate dielectrics and emphasize the relationship between surface states and improved direct-current (DC) performance. Backed by additional measurements, we proposed a different gateleakage mechanism for heterostructure field-effect transistor (HFET) and metal-oxide semiconductor heterostructure field-effect transistor (MOSHFET) devices.

A comprehensive tool has been implemented for the comparison of different test preparation techniques and target faults. It comprises of the realistic fault characterisation program LIFT that can extract sets of various faults from a given analogue or mixed-signal circuit layout and the automatic analogue fault simulation program AnaFAULT which can handle arbitrary catastrophic and parametric faults. For a fabricated integrated VCO circuit the capabilities of the tool are demonstrated and simulation results are presented.< <ETX xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">&gt;</ETX>

In this work, we investigate the electrical performance of critical signal paths in IBM S/390 MCM packages. We present lumped RLC-models suitable for standard circuit simulators operating in the time domain, e.g. SPICE. The models are developed from finite element simulations of typical signal path segments. By comparing S-parameters from simulations of the models to two-port network analyzer measurements, we validate the models in a frequency range up to 3 GHz.

A video coding subsystem for monolithic integration in a 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS technology has been developed. It consists of a programmable video signal processor core, up to 8 Mbit frame memory as embedded DRAM and video interfaces. The functionality of all major components has been verified by implementation on test chips in 0.5 /spl mu/m CMOS technology. A system realization in 0.25 /spl mu/m CMOS technology is planned. Investigations show that a die size of less than 89 mm/sup 2/ for a single chip implementation can be achieved.

The architecture of a MIMD-based multiprocessor system for video coding applications is presented. It consists of a number of identical bus-connected processors, each specifically adapted to video coding algorithms and equipped with an embedded DRAM for storage of image data. Each of the images to be processed is statically segmented into rectangular fields, which are distributed among the processors. The processors perform the complete set of coding or decoding tasks on the assigned portion of the image. Because each processor is equipped with sufficient memory for image storage and processing power, no additional external hardware is required. The architecture of each processor and embedded DRAM is designed for large area integration. This allows the implementation of a complex video coding system on a single chip.

In this paper, an efficient method to achieve defect-tolerance with embedded single-port word-oriented RAM is presented. The defect tolerance of the RAM is based on a hierarchical redundancy technique employing a self-test and self-reconfiguration logic and is applicable to any standard RAM device. The presented approach is based on a two-level redundancy. Therefore, the memory is split in b smaller RAM blocks of equal size plus one redundant block. Each of those b+1 blocks is equipped with four spare rows and contains a simple self-test logic to detect and mask defects on the lower redundancy level by replacing defective rows. In the last phase of the procedure, b reconfigured (or defect-free) blocks form the RAM on the higher level. This redundancy technique leads to a significant increase in yield with a comparatively low area overhead. Furthermore, only a very moderate delay in the signal path is added so that there is nearly no decrease in the memory's performance. A 1 MBit DRAM-organized as 32 k/spl middot/32 Bit-with an interleave access mode for high performance data rates was designed.