Properties of InAs grown on misoriented GaAs substrates by atmospheric pressure metal–organic vapor phase epitaxy

InAs epilayers were grown by atmospheric pressure metal–organic vapor phase epitaxy on GaAs (1 0 0) exactly oriented substrates and misoriented by 2° and 10° toward [1 1 1]A. The layers had varying thicknesses and were deposited under the same growth conditions. Atomic force microscopy analysis show that surface morphology depends on surface misorientation and presents a low root mean square. High resolution X-ray diffraction analysis and Hall effect measurements were preformed to check the substrate misorientation effect on the crystalline quality and electrical properties respectively.     

The role ofAzolla in curbing ammonia volatilization from flooded rice systems

By the year 2020, an additional 300 million tons of rice are needed annually to meet the demands of a growing population. If our natural resource base is to be preserved, intensification strategies should rely on integrated nutrient management, making full use of biological nitrogen fixation. TheAzolla-Anabaena complex is amongst the most effective systems of fixing nitrogen. In this paper we present evidence from greenhouse studies on the potential ofAzolla to curb the volatilization of NH₃ following the application of urea to a mixedAzolla-rice culture, providing a new incentive for developing ways of integratingAzolla in intensive rice cultivation systems.The results of a series of short term greenhouse experiments show that a full cover ofAzolla can significantly reduce losses of applied urea-N from 45 and 50% to 20 and 13% for the 30 and 60 kg N ha^–1 treatments, respectively. About one-quarter of the applied N was tied up in theAzolla biomass. The applied N inhibitedAzolla growth as well as the amount of N fixed. Inoculation with smaller quantities ofAzolla allowing for more vigorousAzolla multiplication was equally effective in reducing NH₃ volatilization and doubled the amount of¹⁵N tied-up byAzolla. The reduction in NH₃ volatilization is largely related to the depression byAzolla of the floodwater pH, which in its absence may reach values between 9 and 10 as a result of algal activity.Early rice growth responded positively to urea as well as the large quantities of appliedAzolla and increased the yield potential of the crop. Smaller quantities ofAzolla alone were not effective in this regard. The conservation of fertilizer N byAzolla, particularly when it fully covered the water, was reflected in a synergistic effect on rice dry matter production, amounting to 9% at the 30 kg N rate and 16% at the 60 kg N rate. In all likelihood this interaction is attributable to the higher efficiency of the applied N. The benefits ofAzolla in conserving basal urea-N even in small quantities (200-500 kg fresh material ha^–1), outweighed competition for the applied N and may be as important as its BNF. The most promising integratedAzolla/rice management systems emerging from our studies should be given further attention under field conditions.     

Choice of a pertinent color space for color texture characterization using parametric spectral analysis

This article presents a comparison of different color spaces including RGB, IHLS and L?a*b* for color texture characterization. This comparison is based on the fusion of the independent spatial structure and color feature cues. In IHLS and L*a*b*, two channel complex color images are created from the luminance and the chrominance values. For such images, two dimensional complex multichannel linear prediction models are used to perform parametric power spectrum estimation and the structure feature cues are computed from this estimated power spectrum. Quantitative comparison of auto spectra of luminance and combined chrominance channels for different color spaces is done. This comparison is based on the degree of decorrelation between luminance and chrominance information provided by different color space transformations. Three dimensional histograms are used as color feature cues. Then, to classify color textures, Kullback-Leibler divergence based symmetric distance measures are calculated for pure color, luminance structure and chrominance structure feature cues. Individual as well as combined effect of information from all feature cues on classification results is then compared for different color spaces and different color texture data sets. The proposed color texture classification method performs better than the state of the art methods in certain cases. The L*a*b* color space gives us a better characterization of the chrominance spatial structure as well as the overall spatial structure for all of the chosen data sets. Experimental results on pixel classification of color textures are also presented and discussed.     

Towards new web services based supervisory systems in complex industrial organizations: Basic principles and case study

Mobility, cooperation and the information access of the different human actors within a complex industrial organization are some of the concerns of web-based HMI design. In this paper we highlight the application of some key concepts of web services for the specification and design of a complex supervisory web-based HMI. Hence, a novel approach based on a service oriented architecture and web services allowing flexible and transparent interaction between the field devices and human operators currently being considered is now possible. An overall design framework is presented and discussed. A real representative case study illustrating this approach is described and discussed from the human-machine interaction point of view, as well as further work.     

Static Ferromagnetic Modulation Revealed by Neutron Scattering in La1?xCaxMnO3

Mn perovskites La_1–x Ca _x MnO₃ (0x0.1) have been studied by small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and elastic neutron scattering (ESANS). At low temperature, both experiments reveal a broad modulation centered at the same q _m whatever the q direction. This scattering pattern is typical of a liquid-like distribution of similar magnetic droplets, or large magnetic polarons.     

The determination of volume ratios by gas depletion through multiple expansions

We present a new technique for the determination of the volume ratio of two vacuum chambers connected through a valve. The method is based on the measurement of the pressure in a chamber filled with a gas that is repeatedly depleted by expansion in a second chamber that was previously evacuated. Our calculation shows that under the reported measurement conditions, this technique has an uncertainty comparable to that obtained from the gas accumulation technique [Elliott KWT, Clapham PB.The accurate measurement of the volume ratios of vacuum vessels. NPL Report MOM 28, January 1978]. An excellent equivalence between the results obtained with this new technique and the measurements obtained by the gas accumulation technique is demonstrated.     

Reactions of saturated hydrocarbons I. Oxidation of isoparaffins by chromic acid

Measurements of the rate of reduction of chromium(VI) oxide in acetic acid–acetic anhydride solution by 2-methyl-pentane, 3-methylpentane, 2,3-dimethylbutane and 2,4-dimethylpentane show that the initial rate depends on the number and nature of carbon atoms in the hydrocarbon. When steric or other interaction effects prevail between adjacent atoms or groups in the molecule, these effects also influence the rate. The values obtained for the oxidation rates agree with those calculated from a proposed expression (Rn_p+R'n_s+R'n_t)/(n_p+n_s+n_t) based on the formula of Chambers & Ubbelohde.     

Extraction of delta-lognormal parameters from handwriting strokes

In the context of the Kinematic Theory of Rapid Human Movement, handwriting strokes are considered to be primitives that reflect the intrinsic properties of the neuromuscular system of a writer as well as the basic control strategies that the writer uses to produce such strokes. The study of these strokes relies on the extraction of the different parameters that characterize a stroke velocity profile. In this paper, we present a new method for stroke parameter extraction. The algorithm is described and evaluated under various testing conditions.