Understanding silica-supported metal catalysts: Pd/silica as a case study

Supported metal catalysts, particularly noble metals supported on SiO₂, have attracted considerable attention due to the importance of the silica–metal interface in heterogeneous catalysis and in electronic device fabrication. Several important issues, e.g., the stability of the metal–oxide interface at working temperatures and pressures, are not well-understood. In this review, the present status of our understanding of the metal–silica interface is reviewed. Recent results of model studies in our laboratories on Pd/SiO₂/Mo(1 1 2) using LEED, AES and STM are reported. In this work, epitaxial, ultrathin, well-ordered SiO₂ films were grown on a Mo(1 1 2) substrate to circumvent complications that frequently arise from the silica–silicon interface present in silica thin films grown on silicon.     

Self-aligned offset gated poly-Si TFTs with a floating sub-gate

We have fabricated a self-aligned offset-gated poly-Si thin film transistor (TFT) by employing a novel photoresist reflow process. The gate structure of the new device is consisted of two unique patterns: A main-gate and a sub-gate. The new fabrication method extends the gate-oxide over the offset region. With the assistance of the sub-gate and reflowed photoresist a self-aligned offset region is successfully obtained due to the offset oxide acting as an implantation mask. The poly-Si TFT with symmetrical offsets is easily fabricated and the new method does not require any additional offset mask step. Compared with the misaligned offset gated poly-Si TFTs, excellent symmetric electrical characteristics are obtained     

Acidogenic fermentation of blended food‐waste in combination with primary sludge for the production of volatile fatty acids

The performance of a laboratory‐scale anaerobic acidogenic fermenter fed with a mixture of blended kitchen food‐waste and primary sludge from a sewage treatment plant was investigated for the production of volatile fatty acids (VFA). The operating variables for acidogenic fermentation were kitchen food‐waste content (10 and 25 wt %), hydraulic retention time (HRT: 1, 3 and 5 days), temperature (ambient: 18 ± 2 °C, and mesophilic: 35 ± 2 °C) and pH (varied from 5.2 to 6.7). The experimental results indicated that effluent VFA concentrations and VFA production rates were higher at ambient temperature than at mesophilic conditions. The net amount of VFA with 10 wt % food‐waste increased up to 920 mg dm^?3 with an increase of HRT, but contrasting results (a decrease of 2610 mg dm^?3) were found due to the conversion of VFA into biogas in the case of 25 wt % food‐waste, which increased significantly at HRT of 3–5 days. In terms of biogas composition (CO₂ and CH₄), the organic matter was converted into CO₂ through the oxidative pathway by facultative species at low temperature while mesophilic temperature and optimum pH (6.3–7.8) played a pivotal role in increasing rate of conversion of VFA into biogas by methanogenesis. Rates of VFA production and their conversion are dependent on the food‐waste content in the mixture. Yet, the higher concentration of food‐waste (25% compared with 10%) did not produce VFA proportionally due to the increased rate of conversion of VFA into gaseous products. The maximum VFA production rate (0.318 g VFA_produced g^?1 VS_fed day^?1) was achieved in the 10 wt % food‐waste at ambient temperature and at a 5‐day HRT. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry     

Synthesis of minerals using alternative energy sources

A technology for the synthesis of synthetic minerals (using the example of spinels) using a low-temperature plasma flame is developed. The diagnostic properties of spinels are identified.     

Total transfer capability computation for multi-area power systems

This paper presents a method for multi-area power system total transfer capability (TTC) computation. This computation takes into account the limits on the line flows, bus voltage magnitude, generator reactive power, voltage stability, as well as the loss of line contingencies. The multi-area TTC problem is solved by using a network decomposition approach based on REI-type network equivalents. Each area uses REI equivalents of external areas to compute its TTC via the continuation power flow (CPF). The choice and updating procedure for the continuation parameter employed by the CPF is implemented in a distributed but coordinated manner. The proposed method leads to potential gains in the computational efficiency with limited data exchanges between areas. The developed procedure is successfully applied to the three-area IEEE 118-bus test system. Numerical comparisons between the integrated and the proposed multi-area solutions are presented for validation.     

Patterns of knowledge production: The case of information and telecommunication sector in Korea

In recent years, the topic of knowledge production has been widely investigated in the advanced countries. However, the process by which knowledge is produced in the developing countries has not been fully explored or characterized. In Korea, the science and engineering fields strongly reflect systems of knowledge production in the universities and demonstrate the dynamics of systems of innovation for knowledge production. Through using a case study including data for knowledge production, in the field of information and telecommunication, the following general trends were observed. Firstly, there has been a trend towards increasing the capabilities for knowledge production, via domestic and foreign collaboration. Secondly, there has been an increasing trend towards the diversification of knowledge sources such as university-industry, and university-public research institutes. Finally, the establishment of a nation's knowledge base is influenced by governmental research and development policies. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

STATIONARY AND NON-STATIONARY STATE SPACE MODELS

Abstract. The concepts of time invariance, stationarity, non-stationarity and immemorial time are considered for state space models (SSMs). Necessary and sufficient conditions for stationarity are given and connected with standard conditions. Expressions are given for the unconditional mean and covariance matrix of the state of a time-immemorial SSM. Application of the results is made to a variety of theoretical and empirical models and the initialization of the Kalman filter in the non-stationary case and for the ARIMA ( p, d, q ) model.     

Application of artificial neural networks to the analysis of two‐dimensional fluorescence spectra in recombinant E coli fermentation processes

A two‐dimensional (2D) spectrofluorometer was used to monitor various fermentation processes with recombinant E coli for the production of 5‐aminolevulinic acid (ALA). The whole fluorescence spectral data obtained during a process were analyzed using artificial neural networks, ie self‐organizing map (SOM) and feedforward backpropagation neural network (BPNN). The SOM‐based classification of the whole spectral data has made it possible to qualitatively associate some process parameters with the normalized weights and variances, and to select some useful combinations of excitation and emission wavelengths. Based on the classified fluorescence spectra a supervised BPNN algorithm was used to predict some of the process parameters. It was also shown that the BPNN models could elucidate some sections of the process's performance, eg forecasting the process's performance. Copyright © 2005 Society of Chemical Industry