Self-Sensing Actuation With Adaptive Control in Applications With Switching Trajectory

This paper presents the application of self-sensing actuation (SSA) to facilitate the implementation of piezoelectric actuator in an intelligent mechatronic system. SSA is a technique to employ smart materials, such as piezoelectric materials, simultaneously as a sensor and an actuator; thereby increasing the level of integration of the system. The piezoelectric actuator is equipped with an exclusive adaptive controller amidst its nonlinearities and system's disturbance. The application area to be discussed is a microdispensing system, which is an example of a micromanufacturing process, combining a fluidic system and a positioning system.     

Variable Digital Filter With Group Delay Flatness Specification or Phase Constraints

In this paper, we consider the design of finite-impulse response variable digital filters (VDFs) with variable cutoff frequency or variable fractional delay. We propose the design of VDFs with minimum integral squared error and constraints on the maximum error deviation in conjunction with flatness group delay specification or phase constraints. These specifications allow the VDFs to have approximately linear phase, especially in the passband. As these specifications are required to be satisfied for all the filters generated by the VDF with controllable spectral characteristics, the linear constraints resulting from the flatness specification are relaxed to inequality constraints. To make the optimization problem tractable for the phase constrained problem, suitable approximations are employed in the paper. The design problem is formulated as an optimization problem with a quadratic cost function and infinite number of constraints. A numerical scheme with adaptive grid step size is proposed for solving the optimization problem.     

Design and Analysis of Fault Diagnosis and Fault-tolerant Control for a Class of MIMO Nonlinear State Systems

This paper presents a fault diagnosis and fault-tolerant control algorithm,which can be used for a class of multi-input multi-output(MIMO)nonlinear state system...     

Survival of SA11 rotavirus in fresh fruit juices of pineapple, papaya, and honeydew melon

Survival of rotavirus in fresh fruit juices of papaya (Caraca papaya L.), honeydew melon (Cucumis melo L.), and pineapple (Ananas comosus [L.] Merr.) was studied. Clarified juices were prepared from pulps of ripe fruits and sterilized by ultrafiltration. One milliliter of juice from each fruit was inoculated with 20 microl of 1 x 10(6) PFU of SA11 rotavirus and sampled immediately (0-h exposure) and 1 and 3 h later at 28 degrees C. Mean viral titers in juices of papaya (pH 5.1) and honeydew melon (pH 6.3) at 1 and 3 h were not significantly different from titers at 0-h exposure. Mean viral titers in juices from pineapples with ripening color indices of 3 (pH 3.6) and 6 (pH 3.7) at 1-h exposure (color index 3: 4.0 +/- 1.7 x 10(4); color index 6: 2.3 +/- 0.3 x 10(5)) and 3-h exposure (color index 3: 1.1 +/- 0.4 x 10(4); color index 6:1.3 +/- 0.6 x 10(5)) were significantly lower than titers at 0-h exposure (color index 3: 5.7 +/- 2.9 x 10(5); color index 6: 7.4 +/- 1.3 x 10(5)). Virus titers in pineapple juices of color index 3 were significantly lower than titers of the virus in juices of index 6. In cell culture medium (pH 7.4), SA11 titer remained stable over 3 h at 28 degrees C. However, at pH 3.6, the virus titer was reduced to a level not significantly different from that of the virus in pineapple juice of color index 6 (pH 3.7). In conclusion, papaya and honeydew melon juices, in contrast to pineapple juice, have the potential to transmit rotavirus. Inactivation of SA11 virus in pineapple juice can be possibly attributed to low pH and constituent(s) in the juice.     

Performance enhancement of III–V compound multijunction solar cell incorporating transparent electrode and surface treatment

To enhance the performance of tandem‐type III–V compound multijunction solar cells, the transparent indium‐tin‐oxide (ITO) film was used to replace conventional metal electrode for increasing the incident light area. For performing ohmic contact between the n‐AlInP window layer and the ITO film, a transition layer of Au/AuGeNi thin metals was used and investigated. Besides, to improve ohmic performance and to passivate the surface states, (NH₄)₂S_x surface treatment was used. The conversion efficiency of the (NH₄)₂S_x‐treated triple‐junction solar cells was increased more than 3.09%. Furthermore, an improved oblique SiO₂/SiO₂/ITO triple antireflection structure was designed to reduce the reflectivity of illuminating sunlight. The conversion efficiency of the (NH₄)₂S_x‐treated triple‐junction solar cell with improved antireflection structure could be improved more than 4.23%. Simple and effective approaches were designed to improve the performances of tandem‐type III–V triple‐junction solar cells. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Design of biorefinery systems for conversion of corn stover into biofuels using a biorefinery engineering framework

Unlocking the potential and value of lignocellulosic residues is an important step in making biorefineries economically and environmentally promising. This calls for a holistic and systematic approach in designing sustainable industrial systems. In this work, biorefinery systems via biochemical route (acetone–butanol–ethanol or ABE system) and thermochemical route (gasification and mixed alcohols or GMA system) for converting corn stover into biofuels have been designed using a Sustainable Engineering Framework. The framework involves eight main steps: (1) design problem definition, (2) data collection, (3) process synthesis and simulation, (4) process integration, (5) resource recovery from residues, (6) utility system design, (7) economic and environmental modelling and (8) economic value and environmental impact margin analysis for decision making. Consideration of resource recovery from biorefinery waste streams has proven to be the key in making biorefineries self-sustaining and with low environmental impacts. Simultaneous economic and environmental feasibility assessment at the early stage of process design is highly envisaged. The cost of biofuel production in the ABE system has been found to be 49.2 US$/GJ and 69.9 US$/GJ in the GMA system. The greenhouse gas emissions are 46.2 g CO₂-eq/GJ for ABE and 19.0 g CO₂-eq/GJ for GMA, lower than gasoline (85 g CO₂-eq/GJ). The GMA system is not economically compelling though with high environmental benefit, while the ABE system has shown to be both economically and environmentally feasible.     

Arterial remodeling after balloon angioplasty of the coronary artery: an intravascular ultrasound study. PICTURE Investigators. PostTreatment IntraCoronary Transluminal Ultrasound Result Evaluation

OBJECTIVE: Before balloon dilation, failure of compensatory enlargement and even arterial shrinkage are frequently observed at the lesion site in response to plaque accumulation. Balloon angioplasty may be regarded as artificial remodeling to enlarge the artery. The prevalence of the different types of arterial wall remodeling after applied stretch by balloon angioplasty is unknown. METHODS AND RESULTS: In 181 patients an intravascular ultrasound study was performed after coronary balloon angioplasty (n = 200 lesions). The vessel area was measured at a proximal and distal reference site and at the lesion site. Subsequently, the relative vessel area [(Vessel area lesion site)/Vessel area reference site) x 100] was calculated. Lesions were classified in three groups on the basis of their relative vessel areas: > or =105%, <105% but >95%, and < or =95%. A relative vessel area > or =105%, indicating enlargement compared with the reference site, was observed in 84 (44%) lesions. A relative vessel area <105% but >95% was observed in 43 (22%) lesions. A relative vessel area < or =95%, indicating "shrinkage" compared with the reference site, was observed in 66 (34%) lesions. CONCLUSIONS: After balloon angioplasty, the vessel area was found to be smaller compared with the reference site in 34% of the lesions. This small vessel area at the lesion site compared with a reference site may be a reflection of insufficient stretch by balloon angioplasty.     

The semantics of the combination of atomized statements and parallel choice

In this paper we define a uniform language that is an extension of the language underlying the process algebraPA. One of the main extensions of this language overPA is given by so-called atomizing brackets. If we place these brackets around a statement then we treat this statement as an atomic action. Put differently, these brackets remove all interleaving points. We present a transition system for the language and derive its operational semantics. We show that there are several options for defining a transition system such that the resulting operational semantics is a conservative extension of the semantics forPA. We define a semantic domain and a denotational model for the language. Next we define a closure operator on the semantic domain and show how to use this closure operator to derive a fully abstract denotational semantics. Then the algebraic theory of the language is considered. We define a collection of axioms and a term rewrite system based on these axioms. Using this term rewrite system we are able to identify normal forms for the language. It is shown that these axioms capture the denotational equality. It follows that if two terms are provably equal then they have the same operational semantics. Finally, we show how to extend the axiomatization in order to axiomatize its operational equivalence.     

Improved Stability Criteria for Discrete-time Delay Systems via Novel Summation Inequalities

This paper is concerned with the stability analysis of linear discrete time-delay systems. New discrete inequalities for single summation and double summation are presented to estimate summation terms in the forward difference of Lyapunov-Krasovskii functional (LKF), which are more general than some commonly used summation inequalities. Through the construction of an augmented LKF, improved delay-dependent stability criteria for discrete time-delay systems are established. Based on this, a time-delayed controller is derived for linear discrete time-delay systems. Finally, the advantages of the proposed criteria are revealed from the solutions of the numerical examples.     

Persuasive Electronic Word-of-Mouth Messages in Social Media

Despite the influence of electronic word-of-mouth (eWOM) messages in decision-making processes, few studies have tested the determinants of persuasive eWOM messages among social media users. Although most of the researches focused on western and eastern cultural convergence or divergence of online communications, little attention has been paid on the validity and applicability of cultural orientations in countries with perceived inherent similar values. This study examines how Chinese and Malaysian users process eWOM messages and decide on continuing their overseas study. The significance of the study is to identify critical factors that influence Chinese and Malaysian users’ attitudes and behavior when processing persuasive eWOM messages. Results revealed that Facebook is the most used social networking site (SNS) for Malaysian users, while QQ Qzone for Chinese counterparts. This study found that argument quality, source credibility, source attractiveness, source perception, and source style exerted varying influences on Chinese and Malaysian users’ attitudes and intentions to continue their study abroad.