Mid-IR real-time monitoring of the carbocationic polymerization of isobutylene and styrene

The in-situ monitoring of the living carbocationic polymerization of isobutylene (IB) and styrene (St) with a fiber optic Attenuated Total Reflection (ATR) probe in the mid-IR "fingerprint" range is reported here for the first time. Monomer consumption was followed by the disappearance of the C=C stretching for both IB and St, and the C−H bending of the CH₃-group in IB. The formation of polyisobutylene (PIB) was also monitored by tracing the asymmetrical doublet characteristic of C−H bending of the t-butyl groups of the PIB. Conversion measurements by conventional off-line gravimetry correlated well with the new technique. Received: 27 August 1997/Revised version: 2 November 1997/Accepted: 20 November 1997     

Russian doll type cryogenic traps: improved design and isotope separation effects

An improved cryogenic trap for removing micromole quantities of condensables from gas mixtures is described. It is based on the so-called Russian doll design, with which extraordinary trapping efficiencies at flow rates of up to 10 L/min are obtained. The active element consists of one or more nested glass fiber thimbles. Despite the large fiber area, quantitative retrieval of condensed CO(2) is obtained. The new design is demountable and incorporates a heat exchange section; trapping efficiency depends little on the level of coolant, as has been tested for CO(2). When fractionation is induced by incomplete trapping, a small isotopic enrichment in (13)C occurs. It also has been discovered that when He is used as carrier gas, a gas chromatographic effect for CO occurs in Russian doll traps, accompanied by a large isotope separation, in which the elution sequence corresponds to the vapor pressure ratios of the isotopomers.     

Stability under vacuum of silicon trap detectors and their use as transfer instruments in cryogenic radiometry

The stability of the responsivity of trap detectors under vacuum has been studied by means of a special chamber designed for the test of photodetectors at low pressure. The first experiments at a wavelength of 647 nm show that the responsivity variations are smaller than the uncertainties of the measurements, approximately 3 parts in 10(5), when the detector operates successively in air, under vacuum, and then again in air. Calculations based on experiments with single windowless photodiodes indicate that the change in trap responsivity that is due to vacuum effects should be smaller than 1 part in 10(5), at least in the visible part of the wavelength range. This stability makes trap detectors suitable for cryogenic radiometry when one uses transfer detectors under vacuum.     

An observer-based approach for the projection onto a 2d-curve under movement

Standard path control laws of autonomous vehicles use the shortest distance between the vehicle’s position and the path as a control error. In order to determine this distance, the projection point onto the path needs to be determined continuously. This requires fast algorithms that feature high numerical reliability in the field of vehicle application.This paper presents two different observer-based approaches for the projection problem. The identity observer reconstructs all states of interest for path control. The second one, a reduced observer, only possesses the curve parameter as a state and calculates the other values by algebraic formulas. Both algorithms consider the continuous movement of the vehicle, the run of the curve, and work without any approximation of the curve. Furthermore, they are applicable for arbitrary parameterized smooth curves, guarantee the required numerical stability, have short calculating time, and show good statistical properties. The performance is shown in several simulations as well as under real conditions.     

Mixed-Signal Approximate Computation: A Neural Predictor Case Study

As transistors shrink and processors trend toward low power, maintaining precise digital behavior grows more expensive. Replacing digital units with analog equivalents sometimes allows similar computation to be performed at higher speed using less power. As a case study in mixed-signal approximate computation, the authors describe an enhanced neural prediction algorithm and its efficient analog implementation.     

Coding of watershed and river hierarchy to support GIS-based hydrological analyses at different scales

A procedure is presented to automatically assign a modified Pfafstetter code to a stream network and its associated watersheds. The first step is to build a topological network according to the object-oriented Arc Hydro framework definition in ArcGIS. These network relations are then mapped into a code that fully represents the stream hierarchy of a basin in a single attribute. Its use does not depend on ArcGIS object orientation and facilitates simple hierarchical aggregation and querying using only the attribute tables of shapefile versions of the stream network and watershed datasets. The code was implemented for the whole of Austria to support the flexible presentation and user-defined aggregation of water balance results in the digital version of the Hydrological Atlas of Austria.     

On the analysis of stochastic divide and conquer algorithms

This paper develops general tools for the analysis of stochastic divide and conquer algorithms. We concentrate on the average performance and the distribution of the running time of the algorithm. As a special example we analyse the average performance and the running time distribution of the (2k + 1)-median version of Quicksort. Online publication October 13, 2000.