Flavonol glycosides and flavonol glucoside gallates from Peltophorum africanum

In this study of interactions occurring within the heart, isolated superfused strips of rabbit atria, containing the sinoatrial (s.a.) node, were subjected to sinusoidal subthreshold current pulses of varied frequencies and intensities. A.C. current from an R.C. oscillator was applied through a Grass stimulation isolation unit, push-pull connection, and non-polarizing (Ag-AgCl-KCl-Tyrode Agar-Agar) electrodes. A Grass polygraph and tachometer were used to record the applied pulses and nodal firing rates; simultaneous magnetic tape recordings were obtained and used for data analysis. Suction electrode recordings and oscilloscope displays were used to determine how the cyclic impulses affected cellular activity. The s.a. nodal rhythm was modified by subthreshold A.C. current applications; when frequencies were low, firing rates of the node were modulated by the A.C. and mean rates were reduced. As frequencies were progressively increased, slow waxings and wanings in heart rate were produced. These periodic fluctuations were not readily correlated with either the A.C. frequency nor the intrinsic nodal rate, but were representative of the difference between the two. As applied current frequency neared the pacemaker's intrinsic rate, a synchronization occurred and the discharges locked in at a specific phase of the applied current alternation. This synchronization maintained during slight further increases in A.C. frequency but above a critical rate this relationship broke down and the waxing and wanings in frequency of pacemaker rate again developed. It was concluded that pacemaker action of the s.a. node is effected by integration of cellular activity through electron coupling.     

Glass formation, optical properties and local atomic arrangement of chalcogenide systems GeTe-Cu and GeTe-In

Glass-forming regions of ternary Ge-Te-Cu and Ge-Te-In chalcogenide glasses are examined by differential scanning calorimeter and by X-ray diffraction. Glass transition and crystallization temperatures are about 120 °C To 260 °C, respectively higher than those of binary Ge-Te glass [T. Katsuyama and M. Matsumura, Infrared Optical Fibres (Adam Hilger, London, 1989) p. 212]. Only a small range of compositions after quenching the melting alloy is characterized by disordered state, but this range of composition is widened when using a vapor deposition technique. These compositions have two glass transition temperatures, showing the existence of phases in the sample. Both the Kissinger equation and modified Kissinger kinetic analysis were adopted to estimate activation energy and the reaction order of the process. Ge-Te-Cu and Ge-Te-In crystallized in two stages, nucleation and crystal growth. These two processes can be distinguished by exothermal crystallization patterns. An atomic radial distribution analysis has been made on bulk Ge₁Te₄In _x and Ge₁Te₄Cu _x with x = 0.1 by X-ray diffraction techniques. The radial distribution function (RDF) is discussed in terms of the structure factor F(s). Thin films of Ge-Te-Cu and Ge-Te-In are deposited on silicate glass and silicon wafer substrates by vacuum evaporation. The optical energy E _opt are determined from transmission and reflection data of a deposited films. The value of E _opt decreased by increasing metal additive such as Cu or In and discussed as a function of the conditions of their preparation such as substrate type.     

Volume Changes of Iron Oxide Compacts under Isothermal Reduction Conditions

Compacts made from chemically grade Fe₂O₃ were fired at 1473K for 6 hrs. The fired compacts were isothermally reduced either by hydrogen or carbon monoxide at 1073–1373K. The O₂ weight‐loss resulting from the reduction process was continuously recorded as a function of time using TGA technique, whereas the volume change at different reduction conditions was measured by displacement method. Porosity measurements, microscopic examination and X‐ray diffraction analysis were used to characterize the fired and reduced products. The rate of reduction at both the initial and final stages was increased with temperature. The reduction mechanism deduced from the correlations between apparent activation energy values, structure of partially reduced compacts and application of gas‐solid reaction models revealed the reduction rate (dr/dt) at both the initial and final stages. At early stages, the reduction was controlled by a combined effect of gaseous diffusion and interfacial chemical reaction mechanism, while at the final stages the interfacial chemical reaction was the rate determining step. In H₂ reduction, maximum swelling (80%) was obtained at 1373K, which was attributed to the formation of metallic iron plates. In CO reduction, catastrophic swelling (255%) was obtained at 1198K due to the formation of metallic iron plates and whiskers.     

A Leakage-Based Precoding Scheme for Downlink Multi-User MIMO Channels

In multiuser MIMO downlink communications, it is necessary to design precoding schemes that are able to suppress co-channel interference. This paper proposes designing precoders by maximizing the so-called signal-to-leakage-and-noise ratio (SLNR) for all users simultaneously. The presentation considers communications with both single- and multi-stream cases, as well as MIMO systems that employ Alamouti coding. The effect of channel estimation errors on system performance is also studied. Compared with zero-forcing solutions, the proposed method does not impose a condition on the relation between the number of transmit and receive antennas, and it also avoids noise enhancement. Simulations illustrate the performance of the scheme     

Design of Unskewed Interior Permanent Magnet Traction Motor with Asymmetric Flux Barriers and Shifted Magnets for Electric Vehicles

Abstract

Interior permanent magnet synchronous motors (IPMSMs) are commonly used in electric and hybrid electric vehicles. Nissan Leaf electric vehicle (EV) uses skewed-rotor IPMSM as a traction motor. This motor is considered as a benchmark in this work. Although, skewing improves the torque quality of the motor by reducing the torque ripple, it reduces the average torque and increases the motor manufacturing complexity and cost. This article proposes improvements to the benchmark motor torque quality without skewing. The proposed motor uses the same stator winding and rotor magnet topologies of the benchmark motor with the same geometric constraints and magnet volume. Modifications are applied to the placement of the magnets in the rotor and the shape of the flux barriers to achieve the performance requirements. The design procedure of the proposed unskewed design is illustrated. Moreover, the electromagnetic performance of the proposed design is investigated. The design shows competitive performance in terms of the average torque, torque ripple, cogging torque, and efficiency compared to the benchmark motor. The mechanical integrity of the design is also verified. The proposed design is found to be a suitable alternative to the benchmark traction motor with a reduced rotor weight and without skewing.     

Distributed Bayesian diagnosis for modular assembly systems—A case study

The growing interest in modular and distributed approaches for the design and control of intelligent manufacturing systems gives rise to new challenges. One of the major challenges that have not yet been well addressed is monitoring and diagnosis in distributed manufacturing systems. In this paper we propose the use of a multi-agent Bayesian framework known as Multiply Sectioned Bayesian Networks (MSBNs) as the basis for multi-agent distributed diagnosis in modular assembly systems. We use a close-to-industry case study to demonstrate how MSBNs can be used to build component-based Bayesian sub-models, how to verify the resultant models, and how to compile the multi-agent models into runtime structures to allow consistent multi-agent belief update and inference.     

A framework for state-space estimation with uncertain models

Develops a framework for state-space estimation when the parameters of the underlying linear model are subject to uncertainties. Compared with existing robust filters, the proposed filters perform regularization rather than deregularization. It is shown that, under certain stabilizability and detectability conditions, the steady-state filters are stable and that, for quadratically-stable models, the filters guarantee a bounded error variance. Moreover, the resulting filter structures are similar to various (time- and measurement-update, prediction, and information) forms of the Kalman filter, albeit ones that operate on corrected parameters rather than on the given nominal parameters. Simulation results and comparisons with ℋ_∞ guaranteed-cost, and set-valued state estimation filters are provided     

Transient phenomenon of step switching for current or voltage in PEMFC

The transient phenomenon of fuel cell with 5 cm² active area is investigated in this study by current density step increase and switching voltage under different conditions. It is found that there is an undershoot when the current density step increase is at the loading of 60% RH anode cathode, 3 stoic., 70 °C, 15 psi for automobile applications. The voltage is almost zero under 0.2 step increase to 1.0 A/cm² due to the H⁺ transport in membrane or H₂/O₂ in catalyst layer is almost used up. The undershoot phenomenon is more serious under gases stoichiometries of 3.0/3.0 when H₂ is fully humidified due to low gas concentration or flooding on the electrode. This phenomenon would induce the degradation of fuel cell components.     

Fabrication and modification of polyvinylchloride based heterogeneous cation exchange membranes by simultaneously using Fe-Ni oxide nanoparticles and Ag nanolayer: Physico-chemical and antibacterial characteristics

Polyvinylchloride-blend-styrene butadiene rubber based nanocomposite cation exchange membranes were prepared by solution casting technique. Iron-oxide nanoparticles and Ag-nanolayer were simultaneously utilized as filler and surface modifier in membrane fabrication. The effects of Ag-nanolayer film thickness on membrane physicochemical and antibacterial characteristics of nanocomposite PVC-blend-SBR/Iron-oxide nanoparticles were studied. SEM images showed membrane roughness decreasing by Ag nanolayer thickness increasing. Membrane charge density and selectivity declined by Ag nanolayer coating up to 5 nm in membranes and then showed increasing trend by more nanolayer thickness. Ionic flux also showed increasing trend. Membranes showed good ability in E-Coli removal. 20 nm Ag-nanolayer coated membrane showed better performance compared to others.