Attenuation of ultrasonic waves in V, Nb and Ta at low temperatures

Variation of ultrasonic attenuation and velocities with temperature have been evaluated in the temperature range 5-50 K due to electron-phonon interaction mechanism in transition metals vanadium, niobium and tantalum for longitudinal and shear waves. For this evaluation, we have also computed the second order elastic constants using Morse potential. Behaviour of acoustical phonons in these bcc metals is different from other normal metals, intermetallics, semimetallics and alloys. Some characteristic features of these materials connected to ultrasonic parameters are discussed.     

Impact of Inspected Buffers on Production Parameters of Construction Processes

This paper examines the production implications of quality control inspections conducted on the buffer between processes in a construction project by modeling the linkage between these processes. Inspection of partially completed work at the end of one activity but before the beginning of work by the next activity is fairly common. Work that is deemed to be of sufficient quality is then made available for the next activity. Work that is deemed insufficient requires rework, typically by the trade appropriate to the activity that fed into the buffer, to bring the work into compliance. This has implications for workload management for that trade, of course, as well as for the reliability of work flow to the successor or downstream processes. While such situations are common in all construction sectors, an example from the residential construction sector was examined via a simulation model augmented by field data collected from residential construction projects. The impacts of the work flow into the predecessor process, the inspection pass rate, and resource availability were examined. The inspection pass rate was found to dramatically affect the reliability of work flow, unless resources are unlimited. Furthermore, the inspection pass rate was found to be functionally related to the production parameters of the process.     

Boson Inverse Operators and a New Family of Two-photon Annihilation Operators

Abstract

We introduce the inverse of the Hermitian operator (ââ ^?) and express the Boson inverse operators â ^?1 and â ^??1 in terms of the operators â, â ^? and (ââ ^?)^?1. We show that these Boson inverse operators may be realized by Susskind-Glogower phase operators. In this way, we find a new two-photon annihilation operator and denote it as â ²(ââ ^?)^?1. We show that the eigenstates of this operator have interesting non-classical properties. We find that the eigenstates of the operators (ââ ^?)^?1 â ², â(ââ ^?)^?1 â and â ²(ââ ^?)^?1 have many similar properties and thus they constitute a family of two-photon annihilation operators.     

Convective heat transfer enhancement techniques of heat exchanger tubes: a review

Heat exchangers are widely used in almost all industrial activities. Turbulent promoters used in heat exchanger tubes are an effective way of enhancing the performance. This paper summarises various investigations using twisted tapes, wire coil ribs, baffles, and swirl flow generators. The main objective of this paper is to review various studies, in which different obstacle roughness elements are used to enhance the rate of heat transfer in the heat exchanger tubes. It has been found that a lot of experimental and analytical studies reported in the literature. On the basis of correlations developed by various investigators an attempt has been made to compare the thermal hydraulic performance of obstacles in heat exchanger tubes. In this work, a comparative study is also carried out to select the best obstacle roughness shapes for higher heat transfer rate and low pressure drop losses.     

Determination of bacterial activity by use of an evanescent-wave fiber-optic sensor

A novel technique based on fiber-optic evanescent-wave spectroscopy is proposed for the detection of bacterial activity in human saliva. The sensor determines th e specific concentration of Streptococcus mutans in saliva, which is a major causative factor in dental caries. In this design, one prepares the fiber-optic bacterial sensor by replacing a portion of the cladding region of a multimode fiber with a dye-encapsulated xerogel, using the solgel technique. The exponential decay of the evanescent wave at the core-cladding interface of a multimode fiber is utilized for the determination of bacterial activity in saliva. The acidogenic profile of Streptococcus mutans is estimated by use of evanescent-waveabsorption spectra at various levels of bacterial activity.     

Distributed Mining of Maximal Frequent Itemsets on a Data Grid System

In this paper, we propose a new algorithm, named Grid-based Distributed Max-Miner (GridDMM), for mining maximal frequent itemsets from databases on a Data Grid. A frequent itemset is maximal if none of its supersets is frequent. GridDMM is specifically suitable for use in Grid environments due to low communication and synchronization overhead. GridDMM consists of a local mining phase and a global mining phase. During the local mining phase, each node mines the local database to discover the local maximal frequent itemsets, then they form a set of maximal candidate itemsets for the top-down search in the subsequent global mining phase. A new prefix-tree data structure is developed to facilitate the storage and counting of the global candidate itemsets of different sizes. We built a Data Grid system on a cluster of workstations using the open-source Globus Toolkit, and evaluated the GridDMM algorithm in terms of performance, scalability, and the overhead of communication and synchronization. GridDMM demonstrates better performance than other sequential and parallel algorithms, and its performance is scalable in terms of the database size and the number of nodes. This research was supported in part by LexisNexis, NCR and AFRL/Wright Brothers Institute (WBI).     

Score normalization in multimodal biometric systems

Multimodal biometric systems consolidate the evidence presented by multiple biometric sources and typically provide better recognition performance compared to systems based on a single biometric modality. Although information fusion in a multimodal system can be performed at various levels, integration at the matching score level is the most common approach due to the ease in accessing and combining the scores generated by different matchers. Since the matching scores output by the various modalities are heterogeneous, score normalization is needed to transform these scores into a common domain, prior to combining them. In this paper, we have studied the performance of different normalization techniques and fusion rules in the context of a multimodal biometric system based on the face, fingerprint and hand-geometry traits of a user. Experiments conducted on a database of 100 users indicate that the application of min–max, z-score, and tanh normalization schemes followed by a simple sum of scores fusion method results in better recognition performance compared to other methods. However, experiments also reveal that the min–max and z-score normalization techniques are sensitive to outliers in the data, highlighting the need for a robust and efficient normalization procedure like the tanh normalization. It was also observed that multimodal systems utilizing user-specific weights perform better compared to systems that assign the same set of weights to the multiple biometric traits of all users.     

Microscopic Theory of Organic Superconductors

A microscopic theory of organic superconductors based on the concept of partial electron dielectrization is developed from first principles. Self-consistent equations for the superconducting order parameter () and insulating order parameter (D) are derived using a Green's function technique and equation of motion method. The theory is applied to explain the experimental results in the two-dimensional organic superconductor k-(BEDT-TTF)₂ Cu(NCS)₂. The present model explains coexistence of spin density wave (SDW) state and superconductivity state in the system. The behavior of superconducting order parameter (), insulating order parameter (D), specific heat, density of state, free energy, and critical field is also studied for the system k-(BEDT-TTF)₂ Cu(NCS)₂.