H2 sensing characteristics of highly textured Pd-doped SnO2 thin films

The effects of the crystallographic orientation on the H₂ gas sensing properties were investigated in highly oriented polycrystalline Pd-doped SnO₂ films, which were obtained using rf magnetron sputtering of a Pd (0.5 wt%)-SnO₂ target on various substrates (a-, m-, r-, and c-cut sapphire and quartz). All the films had a similar thickness (110 nm), root-mean-square (rms) roughness (1.3 nm), surface area, and chemical status (O, Sn, and Pd). However, the orientation of the films was strongly affected by the orientation of the substrates. The (1 0 1), (0 0 2), and (1 0 1) oriented films were grown on (a-cut), (m-cut), and (r-cut) Al₂O₃ substrates, respectively, and rather randomly oriented films were deposited on (0 0 0 1) (c-cut) Al₂O₃ and quartz substrates. In addition, the oriented Pd-doped SnO₂ films were highly textured and had in-plane orientation relationships with the substrates similar to the epitaxial films. The (1 0 1) Pd-doped SnO₂ films on and Al₂O₃ showed a considerably higher H₂ sensitivity, and their gas response decreased with increasing sensing temperature (400–550 °C). The films deposited on and (0 0 0 1) Al₂O₃ showed the maximum sensitivity at 500 °C. The comparison of the H₂ gas response between undoped and Pd-doped SnO₂ films revealed that the Pd-doping shifted the optimum sensing temperature to a lower value instead of improving the gas sensitivity.     

Structural properties of oracle classes

Denote by the class of oracles relative to which (collapsing oracles), and by the class of oracles relative to which (separating oracles). We present structural results on and . Using a diagonalization argument, we show that neither nor is closed under disjoint union, also known as join. We show that this implies that neither nor is closed under union, intersection, or symmetric difference. Consequently , the first level of the extended low hierarchy, is not closed under join.     

Combining OWL ontologies using -Connections

The standardization of the Web Ontology Language (OWL) leaves (at least) two crucial issues for Web-based ontologies unsatisfactorily resolved, namely how to represent and reason with multiple distinct, but linked ontologies, and how to enable effective knowledge reuse and sharing on the Semantic Web.In this paper, we present a solution for these fundamental problems based on -Connections. We aim to use -Connections to provide modelers with suitable means for developing Web ontologies in a modular way and to provide an alternative to the owl:imports construct.With such motivation, we present in this paper a syntactic and semantic extension of the Web Ontology language that covers -Connections of OWL-DL ontologies. We show how to use such an extension as an alternative to the owl:imports construct in many modeling situations. We investigate different combinations of the logics , and for which it is possible to design and implement reasoning algorithms, well-suited for optimization.Finally, we provide support for -Connections in both an ontology editor, SWOOP, and an OWL reasoner, Pellet.     

Polyomino coloring and complex numbers

Usually polyominoes are represented as subsets of the lattice . In this paper we study a representation of polyominoes by Gaussian integers. Polyomino is represented by the set

Then we consider functions of type from the set of all polyominoes to an abelian group G, given by , where v is prime in (N(v) is the norm of v). Using the arithmetic of the ring we find necessary and sufficient conditions for such a function to be a coloring map.     

Rewrite-Based Decision Procedures

The rewrite-based approach to satisfiability modulo theories consists of using generic theorem-proving strategies for first-order logic with equality. If one can prove that an inference system generates finitely many clauses from the presentation of a theory and a finite set of ground unit clauses, then any fair strategy based on that system can be used as a -satisfiability procedure. In this paper, we introduce a set of sufficient conditions to generalize the entire framework of rewrite-based -satisfiability procedures to rewrite-based -decision procedures. These conditions, collectively termed subterm-inactivity, will allow us to obtain rewrite-based -decision procedures for several theories, namely those of equality with uninterpreted functions, arrays with or without extensionality and two of its extensions, finite sets with extensionality and recursive data structures.     

Reconstruction of a word from a multiset of its factors

Let be the multiset containing all factors of w of length k including repetitions. One of the main results is that if for all , then w=v. The bound is optimal; however we will also show that if for all , then w and v are structurally similar.     

On global continuity of Coons mappings in patching CAD surfaces

We tessellate a closed surface bounding a solid into four-sided patches . Each patch is the image of the unit square by which is the composition of a 2D Coons mapping and a bivariate function coming from a trimmed surface. Here, we concentrate on the analysis of the global continuity of the mappings over the whole surface. While using Coons functions to generate the mappings , arc length parametrization ensures that the images of the functions match pointwise at surface joints independently of the blending functions. We will describe a reparametrization technique based on cubic Bézier whose goal is to keep the shape of the initial curves while achieving arc length parametrization. The required accuracy of length computation is shown in L^∞-norm in order not to deteriorate the accuracy of the cubic spline approximation. Practical results from simulated and real CAD data which come from IGES files are reported.     

First-principles study of ground-state properties and phase stability of vanadium nitrides

Using a series of density functional electronic structure total energy calculations, we have systematically studied the ground-state properties and phase stability of vanadium nitrides. Comparison of enthalpy of formation shows that V ₂N is equally stable (polymorphic) in , and Fe₂C phases within a few meV. Formation enthalpy of the various phases considered for perfect stoichiometric V N_1.0 shows that it has enhanced stability in hexagonal WC and NiAs structures in relation to NaCl-type δ-phase. The TiAs phase of VN has nearly same energy as NaCl structure. Comparison of energetics of -type , for x=0 and 0.3333 and of , for x=0, 0.0625, 0.125 and 0.25 shows that vacancies on the nitrogen sublattice lowers the formation enthalpy in relation to respective stoichiometric phases which is in agreement with experiments, as bulk vanadium nitrides are known to be generally non-stoichiometric. The calculated dilute heat of solution for the interstitial nitrogen is found to be in good agreement with experimental values and shows that nitrogen prefers to occupy the octahedral sites in bcc vanadium. The α^′-FeN and martensite structures, considered for the metastable phases of vanadium nitrides, have higher formation enthalpy in relation to equilibrium phases. Analysis of electronic density of states of V ₂N shows that the low energy , and Fe₂C phases are characterized by broad V 3d-N 2p and V 3d bonding bands. Density of states of VN shows that in the low energy WC and NiAs phases some of the antibonding states are made empty, leading to a minimum near the Fermi level. For and , density of states shows that vacancies on the nitrogen sublattice introduce additional filled states in the 3d band below Fermi level enabling enhanced bonding. Comparison between bulk moduli and atomic volumes for the various phases of vanadium nitrides shows that higher bulk moduli are dominated by increased V–N bonds combined with low atomic volumes.     

Full-rank representation of generalized inverse AT,S and its application

In this paper, we introduce a full-rank representation of the generalized inverse of a given complex matrix A, which is based on an arbitrary full-rank decomposition of G, where G is a matrix such that R(G)=T and N(G)=S. Using this representation, we introduce the minor of the generalized inverse ; as a special case of the minor, a determinantal representation of the generalized inverse is obtained. As an application, we use an example to demonstrate that this representation is correct.     

Chaos synchronization for a class of discrete dynamical systems on the N-dimensional torus

In this paper, a class of dynamical systems on (the N-dimensional torus) is investigated. It is proved that any dynamical system in this class is chaotic in the sense of Devaney, and that the sequences produced are equidistributed for almost every initial data. The above results are then extended to switched affine transformations of . Next, a chaos-synchronization mechanism is introduced and used for masking information in a communication setup.     

Comparison between a measurement error model and a linear model without measurement error

The regression of a response variable on an explanatory variable from observations on , where is a measurement of , is a special case of errors-in-variables model or measurement error model (MEM). In this work we attempt to answer the following question: given the data under a MEM, is it possible to not consider the measurement error on the covariable in order to use a simpler model? To the best of our knowledge, this problem has not been treated in the Bayesian literature. To answer that question, we compute Bayes factors, the deviance information criterion and the posterior mean of the logarithmic discrepancy. We apply these Bayesian model comparison criteria to two real data sets obtaining interesting results. We conclude that, in order to simplify the MEM, model comparison criteria can be useful to compare structural MEM and a random effect model, but we would also need other statistic tools and take into account the final goal of the model.     

Index calculus for abelian varieties of small dimension and the elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem

We propose an index calculus algorithm for the discrete logarithm problem on general abelian varieties of small dimension. The main difference with the previous approaches is that we do not make use of any embedding into the Jacobian of a well-suited curve. We apply this algorithm to the Weil restriction of elliptic curves and hyperelliptic curves over small degree extension fields. In particular, our attack can solve an elliptic curve discrete logarithm problem defined over in heuristic asymptotic running time ; and an elliptic problem over or a genus 2 problem over in heuristic asymptotic running time .     

The global existence of nonlinear observers with linear error dynamics: A topological point of view

In this paper we show that under suitable assumptions, there exists a global homeomorphism Ψ(=Φ^-1) of which maps a nonlinear system onto a linear system with output injection . Thus, an observer for state x can be directly constructed as , which is a generalized version of Luenberger observer. An important feature of the obtained result is that there is no need to find the corresponding change of coordinates Ψ explicitly, which is different from current various existing approaches.     

Matrices of 3-iet preserving morphisms

We study matrices of morphisms preserving the family of words coding 3-interval exchange transformations. It is well known that matrices of morphisms preserving Sturmian words (i.e. words coding 2-interval exchange transformations with the maximal possible factor complexity) form the monoid , where .We prove that in the case of exchange of three intervals, the matrices preserving words coding these transformations and having the maximal possible subword complexity belong to the monoid , where .     

Response time of nanostructured relative humidity sensors

Capacitive relative humidity (RH) sensors were fabricated by coating countersunk interdigitated electrode substrates with nanostructured TiO₂ films produced using glancing angle deposition. Areal capacitance increased from 1 nF cm⁻² to 800 nF cm⁻² as relative humidity was increased from 2% RH and 95% RH. For films deposited at 81° and with a thickness below 4 m, response time was (162±4) ms m⁻¹. Response times increased from 64 ms to 1440 ms as film thickness increased from 280 nm to 8.5 m. The linear dependence of response time with film thickness indicates that device response time is dominated by surface adsorption. Response time decreased with increasing deposition angle, with a slope of (−15.2±1.6) ms degree⁻¹ for the adsorption data, and (−17.3±2.5) ms degree⁻¹ for the desorption data. The optimum operating range of the sensors depends on deposition angle, and can be tuned to different ranges to match application needs.     

The bondage number in complete t-partite digraphs

The bondage number of a digraph D is the minimum number of arcs whose removal results in a new digraph with larger domination number. In this paper, we determine the bondage number in complete t-partite digraph .     

Minimality considerations for graph energy over a class of graphs

Let G be a graph on n vertices, and let CHP(G;λ) be the characteristic polynomial of its adjacency matrix A(G). All n roots of CHP(G;λ), denoted by , are called to be its eigenvalues. The energy E(G) of a graph G, is the sum of absolute values of all eigenvalues, namely, . Let be the set of n-vertex unicyclic graphs, the graphs with n vertices and n edges. A fully loaded unicyclic graph is a unicyclic graph taken from with the property that there exists no vertex with degree less than 3 in its unique cycle. Let be the set of fully loaded unicyclic graphs. In this article, the graphs in with minimal and second-minimal energies are uniquely determined, respectively.     

An iterative algorithm for solving a pair of matrix equations over generalized centro-symmetric matrices

A matrix is said to be a symmetric orthogonal matrix if . A matrix is said to be generalized centro-symmetric (generalized central anti-symmetric) with respect to P, if A=PAP (A=−PAP). The generalized centro-symmetric matrices have wide applications in information theory, linear estimate theory and numerical analysis. In this paper, we propose a new iterative algorithm to compute a generalized centro-symmetric solution of the linear matrix equations . We show, when the matrix equations are consistent over generalized centro-symmetric matrix Y, for any initial generalized centro-symmetric matrix Y₁, the sequence {Y_k} generated by the introduced algorithm converges to a generalized centro-symmetric solution of matrix equations . The least Frobenius norm generalized centro-symmetric solution can be derived when a special initial generalized centro-symmetric matrix is chosen. Furthermore, the optimal approximation generalized centro-symmetric solution to a given generalized centro-symmetric matrix can be derived. Several numerical examples are given to show the efficiency of the presented method.     

Martingale families and dimension in P

We introduce a new measure notion on small complexity classes (called F-measure), based on martingale families, that gets rid of some drawbacks of previous measure notions: it can be used to define dimension because martingale families can make money on all strings, and it yields random sequences with an equal frequency of 0’s and 1’s. On larger complexity classes ( and above), F-measure is equivalent to Lutz resource-bounded measure. As applications to F-measure, we answer a question raised in [E. Allender, M. Strauss, Measure on small complexity classes, with application for BPP, in: Proc. of the 35th Ann. IEEE Symp. on Found. of Comp. Sci., 1994, pp. 807–818] by improving their result to: for almost every language A decidable in subexponential time, . We show that almost all languages in  do not have small non-uniform complexity. We compare F-measure to previous notions and prove that martingale families are strictly stronger than Γ-measure [E. Allender, M. Strauss, Measure on small complexity classes, with application for BPP, in: Proc. of the 35th Ann. IEEE Symp. on Found. of Comp. Sci., 1994, pp. 807–818], we also discuss the limitations of martingale families concerning finite unions. We observe that all classes closed under polynomial many-one reductions have measure zero in  iff they have measure zero in . We use martingale families to introduce a natural generalization of Lutz resource-bounded dimension [J.H. Lutz, Dimension in complexity classes, in: Proceedings of the 15th Annual IEEE Conference on Computational Complexity, 2000, pp. 158–169] on , which meets the intuition behind Lutz’s notion. We show that -dimension lies between finite-state dimension and dimension on . We prove an analogue of a Theorem of Eggleston in , i.e. the class of languages whose characteristic sequence contains 1’s with frequency α, has dimension the Shannon entropy of α in .