Excellent destabilization effect and ideal desorption temperature in the hydride Mg2FeH6 substituted with yttrium; a first principles study

We investigated some properties of the hydride Mg₂FeH₆ substituted with yttrium by a first principles calculation. Some experimental results showed that 4d transition metal, yttrium serves as a good catalyst for magnesium based hydrogen storage alloys, but there are a few theoretical studies about magnesium based hydrides substituted with it. Mg₂FeH₆ is regarded as a cheaper material than pure MgH₂, while it is crystalized into Fm3m structure (space group 225). Although it has high hydrogen storage capacity, many investigations have not been devoted to it due to its extremely high thermodynamic stability. The yttrium substituted Mg₂FeH₆ exhibits very low energy of formation, and its desorption temperature, 75 °C is very suitable for practical hydrogen storage applications. Our results showed that Mg₂FeH₆ is destabilized effectively by yttrium substitution and introducing vacancy defects has additive effect to the improvement of dehydrogenation performance.     

Semi‐Markovian modelling and performance analysis of variable rate traffic in ATM networks

Semi‐Markovian processes (SMP) serve as a versatile means to model various traffic types generated by sources or superposed from links in ATM networks. An efficient discrete time analysis method is proposed for SMP/G/1 queueing systems to evaluate ATM switches with non‐renewal input. Some basic results are derived for the autocorrelation function of semi‐Markovian processes and for the effect of state space reduction on autocorrelation, which show how to represent correlated traffic with given characteristic by an adequate SMP model of limited size. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Positive interpolation with rational quadratic splines

A necessary and sufficient criterion is presented under which the property of positivity carry over from the data set to rational quadratic spline interpolants. The criterion can always be satisfied if the occuring parameters are properly chosen.     

Decision support for AIDS control programmes in Eastern Africa

The Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) constitutes the worst hazard to health care systems in Eastern Africa. Misallocation of scarce resources of AIDS Control Programmes will unavoidably lead to additional infections and casualties. The following paper discusses a system dynamics model which allows to assess the impact of different interventions on a pattern population in Eastern Africa. It becomes obvious that short- and long-term consequences of these programmes differ significantly. The optimal allocation of resources, therefore, is highly complex and calls for decision support systems to sustain AIDS control programmes.