A Symbolic Pole/Zero Extraction Methodology Based on Analysis of Circuit Time-Constants

This paper introduces a methodology for symbolic pole/zero extraction based on the formulation of the time-constant matrix of the circuits. This methodology incorporates approximation techniques specifically devoted to achieve an optimum trade-off between accuracy and complexity of the symbolic root expressions. The capability to efficiently handle even large circuits will be demonstrated through several practical circuits.     

Expectations about counseling in Yucatán, Mexico: Toward a "Mexican psychology."

Conducted a study of client expectations of psychological services in Yucatán, Mexico, under the sponsorship of a grant from the Organization of American States. The Expectations about Counseling–Brief form (EAC-B) questionnaire was translated and administered to 488 subjects across age, sex, and experience with psychological services. Subsequent analyses supported the reliability and robustness of the Spanish EAC-B, with factor structure similar to the EAC-B in English. Some relation was found among age, sex, prior counseling experience, and expectations about counseling. Implications of these data for future research and comparison with U.S. subjects are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Synthesis of sliding-mode controllers for nonlinear systems via extended linearization

In this article, a general synthesis method is proposed for the design of discontinuous feedback strategies leading to asymptotically stabilizing sliding regimes. The method is applicable to the class of nonlinear dynamical systems possessing constant equilibrium points. A family of nonlinear stabilizing sliding manifolds, parametrized by generic desired equilibrium point, is specified on the basis of the extended linearization approach. Some examples including simulations are presented for illustrative purposes. Editor: S. Zak     

Antimutagenic activity of phenolic compounds, oligosaccharides and quinolizidinic alkaloids from Lupinus campestris seeds.

There are some foods that contain mutagenic or carcinogenic agents, some of which occur naturally and others that may be formed during preparation or cooking. Several foods such as legumes, also contain natural antimutagens and/or anticarcinogens. Lupine is one such legume that contains high amounts of protein (40%) and oils (14%). About 90 species of lupine have been reported throughout Mexico. However, the use of this crop as a source of food has been limited by the presence of antinutritional agents such as phenolic compounds (PC), carbohydrates (CH) and quinolizidinic alkaloids (Qas). It has also been suggested that consuming these compounds can affect human health and may even reduce the risk of disease. The objective of this work was to determine the effect of PC, CH and Qas, isolated and quantified from Lupinus campestris on the mutagenicity of 1-nitropyrene (1-NP) as a model mutagen and we used the Salmonella typhimurium tester strain YG1024 by the Kado microsuspension method. The results indicate that L. campestris seeds have 11 mg (+)catechin equivalent g(-1) seed coat; 120.3 mg g(-1) seeds and 2.13 mg g(-1) seeds of PC, CH and Qas, respectively. 1-NP mutagenicity was inhibited by 86% for PC, 76% for CH and 75% for Qas at concentrations of 200, 512 and 13.6 microg/tube, respectively.     

Dissipation in Mesoscopic Superconductors with Ac Magnetic Fields

The response of mesoscopic superconductors to an ac magnetic field is investigated both experimentally and with numerical simulations. We study small square samples with dimensions of the order of the penetration depth. We obtain the ac susceptibitity χ=χ′+iχ″ at microwave frequencies as a function of the dc magnetic field H _dc. We find that the dissipation, given by x″, has a non monotonous behavior in mesoscopic samples. In the numerical simulations we obtain that the dissipation increases before the penetration of vortices and then it decreases abruptly after vortices have entered, the sample. This is verified experimentally, where we find that χ″ has strong oscillations as a function of H _dc in small squares of Pb.     

Fast internal dynamics in polyelectrolyte gels measured by dynamic light scattering

Summary Dynamic light scattering was used to investigate the dynamics of sodium poly(styrene sulfonate) and fully neutralized poly(acrylic acid) gels as a function of the degree of swelling and weight ratio of cross-linking agent. It was shown that the collective diffusion coefficient increases with increasing degree of swelling and that the diffusion coefficient shows stronger concentration dependence than predicted by scaling arguments. For gel samples measured at the swelling equilibrium, the diffusion coefficient increases with increasing gel concentration for both gel systems.     

Potential use of phenolic antioxidants on peanut to control growth and aflatoxin B1 accumulation by Aspergillus flavus and Aspergillus parasiticus

Food‐grade antioxidants: butylated hydroxyanisole (BHA), propyl paraben (PP) and butylated hydroxytoluene (BHT) (10 and 20 mmol g^?1) and all the mixtures of these chemicals were tested for inhibitory activity on the growth of and aflatoxin B₁ (AFB₁) accumulation by Aspergillus parasiticus and A. flavus on irradiated (7 kGy) peanut grains. Also, the influence of these treatments was evaluated in different water conditions (0.982, 0.955, 0.937a_w) at 11 and 35 days of incubation at 28 °C. Water activity (a_w) affected the fungal growth, no fungal development was observed at the highest stress water condition (0.937a_w). Butylated hydroxyanisole at 10 mmol g^?1 level and all the mixtures with PP and/or BHT were significantly effective (P = 0.05) in increasing lag phase and reducing growth rate and colony forming units per gram of peanut of both Aspergillus section Flavi strains and AFB₁ accumulation. The application of BHA at concentrations of 20 mmol g^?1 alone or with PP and/or BHT totally inhibited fungal growth at 11 and 35 days of incubation. The results suggest that the addition of these chemical mixtures on peanut grains at low levels has potential to impact synergically on the control of Aspergillus section Flavi. Copyright © 2007 Society of Chemical Industry