Finite difference time-domain analysis of planar microwave circuits

Contents The application of finite difference time domain analysis techniques to planar microwave integrated circuit design is discussed. It is shown that using this technique, three-dimensional discontinuity problems in planar microstrip and coplanar circuits can be analyzed in a full-wave approach.

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Finite-Differenzen-Analyse von planaren Mikrowellen-schaltungen im Zeitbereich

Übersicht Es wird die Anwendung der Finiten-Differenzen-Analyse elektromagnetischer Felder im Zeitbereich auf den Entwurf integrierter Mikrowellenschaltungen diskutiert. Es wird gezeigt, daß durch Anwendung dieser Technik eine Lösung der Beschreibungsprobleme für dreidimensionale Schaltkreis-Diskontinuitäten in planarer Mikrostreifenleitungstechnik und in koplanarer Leitungstechnik unter Berücksichtigung der vollen Welleneigenschaften gefunden werden kann. Verschiedene Beispiele von Analysen planarer Mikrowellenbauelemente werden diskutiert und die Ergebnisse mit Messungen verglichen.

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Dedicated to Prof. Dr.-Ing. Herbert Döring on the occasion of his 80th birthday     

Einflüsse von Triazolapplikationen auf Kornertrag und -qualität von Winterraps

Effects of Growth Substance Applications (Triazole) on Yield Formation and Grain Quality of Winter Rape Field trials have been conducted for two years (1986/87 and 1987/88) with cv. Lirabon (low erucic acid and low glucosinolate content). At several growth stages uptil beginning of flowering and at different rates the triazole RSW 0411 (Bayer) was applied. The problem was to investigate growth regulator effects on agronomically important traits, the utilization of yield potential and on seed quality. Applications during stem elongation reduced plant height phoma lingam infestation and lodging. Branching and numbers of pods/plant increased, partly on costs of pod filling. In 1986/87 grain yields/ha indicated (not significant) increases without any effects on grain quality. In 1987/88 grain yield/ha decreased significantly combined with increasing protein- and glucosinolate contents.     

Computing turning points of curves implicitly defined by nonlinear equations depending on a parameter

Let the space curveL be defined implicitly by the (n, n+1) nonlinear systemH(u)=0. A new direct Newton-like method for computing turning points ofL is described that requires per step only the evaluation of one Jacobian and 5 function values ofH. Moreover, a linear system of dimensionn+1 with 4 different right hand sides has to be solved per step. Under suitable conditions the method is shown to converge locally withQ-order two if a certain discretization stepsize is appropriately chosen. Two numerical examples confirm the theoretical results.     

On real factorizations of symmetric circulant sparse matrices

For the matricesA mentioned in the headline we determine the limit points up to which there is possible a real factorization of the formA=QQ ^T . HereQ=(q _ij ) is a circulant matrix, where from the elementsq _ij andq _ji withi≠j always one element is vanishing.     

Influence of the heterogeneity of grape phenolic maturity on wine composition and quality

Nowadays, consumers demand red wines with deep colour, soft tannins and fruit scents, but these wines can only be obtained from grapes with complete phenolic maturity. Diverse methods have been proposed for measuring phenolic maturity. However, all these methods only provide the average value and do not consider any possible heterogeneity. Throughout ripening, grapes were separated according to their density, which revealed the existence of a large heterogeneity. Grapes at harvest were also separated by density in three groups. The higher the density of the grapes the higher ethanol content, pH, colour intensity, total phenolic index and anthocyanin and proanthocyanidin concentrations, and the lower the titratable acidity and bitterness of the wines. When the grapes were denser the wines were also better balanced in flavour and mouthfeel sensation. These results suggest that grape heterogeneity may influence the final wine composition and quality and therefore it should be considered at harvest.     

Acute View Transport biofuels: Can they help limiting climate change without an upward impact on food prices?

Comprehensive life cycle assessments show that current transport biofuels often do worse than conventional fossil transport fuels as to the emission of greenhouse gases. Biofuels from microalgae grown with present technology and lignocellulosic biofuels from current arable land or land that is to be deforested are unlikely to do better regarding the emission of greenhouse gases than fossil transport fuels. When crops characterized by relatively low fossil fuel inputs and relatively high biomass yields are grown on abandoned agricultural and marginal soils which currently sequester little carbon, cropping for transport biofuels may help in limiting climate change without an impact on food prices. For such cropping one probably has to go beyond the market mechanism. Worldwide, there is some scope for the use of harvest residues in biofuel production. However, European arable soils show on average large losses of soil carbon and this rather favors increased addition of such residues to soils. Received: November 17, 2008; accepted: December 3, 2008     

Comparison between discrete and continuous analysis of facial expressions,elicited by bitter-tasting beverages in overweight and healthy-weight individuals

The aim of the present study was to compare the information provided by a discrete and continuous data analysis of two emotions (disgust and joy), elicited by bitter-tasting beverages (coffee, yerba mate infusion and grapefruit juice) in two groups with different body mass index (BMI): overweight group (25 < BMI < 30), and healthy-weight control group (18.5 < BMI ≤ 25). Participants (n = 66; 34 females, 32 males) evaluated a total of three consecutive sips of the same beverage (taking one sip every 20 s and registering a continuous video for 60 s). The Wilcoxon test (continuous analysis) showed some changes generated as the drinks were being consumed. The biggest difference was the expression of disgust for coffee in the high BMI group, at the first sip (0–10 s). It represented 27% compared to 2% in normal BMI. The continuous analysis allowed to observe the periods where the differences were greater (0–10 and 40–50 s).     

Influence of partial dealcoholization by reverse osmosis on red wine composition and sensory characteristics

Two red wines with a very high ethanol content were partially dealcoholized by reverse osmosis, so that the influence of this technique on wine color, chemical composition and sensory quality could be studied. No statistically significant differences were found in pH, color intensity, total phenolic index, proanthocyanidin concentration and their mean degree of polymerization between control wines and partially dealcoholized wines (?1 and ?2 vol. %). Some slight but significant differences were found in titratable acidity, anthocyanins, CIELab coordinates and polysaccharides. However, these differences were really quite small and only significant in a few cases. Moreover, a trained panel of tasters had severe difficulty in distinguishing between control and partially dealcoholized wines in triangular tests, and results were statistically significant only in some of the comparisons. It is concluded that this technique can be very useful for the partial dealcoholization of red wines because they hardly alter their composition and sensory characteristics.     

Food protozoa safety assessment and risk in school restaurants in Armenia,Colombia

This work assessed the risk of protozoa in 10 school restaurants in Armenia (Quindío, Colombia) by analyzing the presence of Cryptosporidium spp, Giardia duodenalis, Blastocystis, and Cyclospora cayetanensis DNA in the food, water, and living and inert surfaces of school restaurants and in stools of children who ate at these restaurants. Of the 213 food, water, and surface samples, 6.6% were positive using PCR to test DNA for Blastocystis; 3.8% for Cryptosporidium spp; 0.9% for G. duodenalis; and 0% for C. cayetanensis. In 187 stool samples analyzed via microscopy from children who attended the restaurants, 40 (21.4%) were positive for Blastocystis and 21 (11.2%) were positive for Giardia spp. Via PCR, 20 (10.7%) were positive for Cryptosporidium and 0 (0%) for C. cayetanensis. A higher positivity in children's stools for Blastocystis spp was correlated with lower compliance in property conditions and for higher positivity of Giardia spp in children's stool was related to lower knowledge by food manipulators. Inspection scores can identify restaurants with higher risk for protozoa infection.