Estimation of an Initial Condition of Sigma–Delta Modulators via Projection Onto Convex Sets

In this paper, an initial condition of strictly causal rational interpolative sigma-delta modulators (SDMs) is estimated based on quantizer output bit streams and an input signal. A set of initial conditions generating bounded trajectories is characterized. It is found that a set of initial conditions generating bounded trajectories but not necessarily corresponding to quantizer output bit streams is convex. Also, it is found that a set of initial conditions corresponding to quantizer output bit streams but not necessarily generating bounded trajectories is convex too. Moreover, it is found that an initial condition both corresponding to quantizer output bit streams and generating bounded trajectories is uniquely defined if the loop filter is unstable (Here, an unstable loop filter refers to that with at least one of its poles being strictly outside the unit circle). To estimate that unique initial condition, a projection onto convex set approach is employed. Numerical computer simulations show that the employed method can estimate the initial condition effectively     

Synthesis and characterization of a novel proton‐exchange membrane for fuel cells operating at high temperatures and low humidities

The synthesis of a p‐toluidine/formaldehyde (PTF) resin was performed, and the effects of the molar ratio of the individual monomers and the polymerization conditions on the structure of the PTF resin were studied. Fourier transform infrared and ¹³C‐NMR spectra were used to characterize the PTF. Wide‐angle X‐ray diffraction patterns revealed the crystalline structures of various PTFs. Polarized optical microscopy revealed that the molar ratio of the monomers had a strong effect on the crystalline morphologies. A longer polymerization time turned out a polymer with a higher intrinsic viscosity and molecular weight, which led to differences in the proton conductivity. All of the PTFs showed a higher proton conductivity than a commercial Nafion membrane at 90–100°C and 0% relative humidity. The proton conductivity of the PTF series could be improved by sulfonation with sulfuric acid and could be maintained after blending with polyurethane. Pure methanol could be used as a fuel source because of the insolubility and nonwetting properties of PTF in methanol to increase the output current density for a PTF membrane electrode assembly. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 2008     

A clustering approach for identifying and quantifying irregularities in interconnection networks

Support for arbitrary topologies has become more popular for system-area networks but very little has been done in trying to characterize their behavior and performance. Traditional parameters like diameter and bisection width are not sufficient for characterizing the irregularities that abound in such networks and fail to give much insight into throughput performance. A clustering approach for partitioning a network into clusters of richly-connected regions is proposed as a means of defining two performance-correlated characterization metrics: intercluster bandwidth index and intercluster link-cost index. The two characterization metrics are shown to have a strong correlation to saturation throughput when link and load distribution of a network is imbalanced. Simulation results also show that the clustering algorithm can be applied to a variety of network configurations and traffic scenarios, particularly irregular ones. With the proposed characterization metrics that correlate more strongly with performance, it is possible to classify networks into categories having similar performance.     

WARD: a transmission control protocol-friendly stateless active queue management scheme

In this article, the problem of providing a fair bandwidth allocation to the flows sharing a congested link in a router is investigated. Queue management, bandwidth share and congestion control are very important to both the robustness and fairness of the Internet. The buffer at the outgoing link is a simple FIFO, shared by packets belonging to the flows. A new transmission control protocol (TCP)-friendly router-based active queue management scheme, termed WARD, is proposed to approximate the fair queueing policy. WARD is a simple packet-dropping algorithm with a random mechanism which discriminates against flows that submit more packets per second than is allowed as their fair share. By doing this, it not only protects TCP connections from user datagram protocol flows, but also solves the problem of competing bandwidth among different TCP versions, such as TCP Vegas and TCP Reno. In addition, WARD works quite well for TCP flow isolation even with different round trip times. In other words, WARD improves the unfair bandwidth allocation properties. Furthermore, as it is stateless and easy to implement, WARD controls unresponsive or misbehaving flows with only a minimum overhead.     

Measurements of coupling and reflection characteristics of butt-joints in passive waveguide integrated laser diodes

Amplified spontaneous emission (ASE) spectra of passive waveguide integrated lasers have been studied to estimate the coupling efficiency and the reflectivity at the butt-joints between active and passive waveguides. A new method has been proposed for the analysis of ASE to extract the coupling efficiency and reflectivity at the butt-joints. This method was applied experimentally to estimate the coupling and reflection of the passive waveguide integrated lasers with different amounts of vertical misalignments of active and passive waveguides.     

New approach to enhance adhesions between carbon nanotube emitters and substrate by the combination of electrophoresis and successive electroplating

Complementary electroplating combined with electrophoresis enhanced the field emission characteristics of emitters by improving the adhesions between CNT emitters and substrate. The emitting current of the CNT emitters prepared by our combined method increased nine times higher than that of CNT emitters prepared by electrophoresis only, since electroplating improved the adhesion of CNT emitters. During the life-time measurement for 10 h, the emitting current of CNT emitters fabricated by electrophoresis only was drastically decreased to 13% of the initial current, while that prepared by the combination of electrophoresis and successive electroplating decreased to 64% of the initial current. We suggest that our method is a promising approach for the efficient fabrication of reliable CNT emitters.     

Development of a Profit-Based Air Cargo Loading Information System

In today's competitive logistics business environment, airfreight forwarders need to optimize every aspect of their logistics operations. However, forwarders still heavily rely on human brain and working experiences for calculating complex cargo packing and scheduling problems. Although recent research studies related to cargo packing and scheduling problems have resulted in the development of a number of advanced techniques of cargo planning, it can be seen that most of the research work is focused on the optimization of space in order to achieve the maximum possible amount of cargo to be packed in the minimum of space. After numerous site evaluation and end-user feedbacks, it is found that space optimization does not necessarily cause profit optimization, which is the ultimate aim of logistics providers. A study of contemporary research publications indicates that there are inadequate research studies related to profit-based optimization in cargo packing areas. This paper presents a profit-based air cargo loading information system (ACLIS) that embeds an innovative technology known as heuristics iterative reasoning technology (HIRT) that supports loading plan generation, focusing on maximization of the profit margin. In general, the proposed system is meant to maximize the profit in the airfreight forwarding business. It adopts an objective function governed by a list of constraints together with rule-based reasoning to provide expert advice to support the generation of appropriate loading plans     

Plasticity of feature-based selection in triple-conjunction search.

Two experiments examined the disruption of feature-based selection in triple-conjunction search at multiple target transfers. In Experiment 1, after 10 training sessions, a new target possessing previous distractor features was introduced. This produced disruption in RT and fixation number, but no disruption in feature-based selection. Specifically, there was a tendency to fixate objects sharing the target's contrast polarity and shape and this did not change even upon transfer to the new target. In Experiment 2, 30 training sessions were provided with three target transfers. At the first transfer, the results replicated Experiment 1. Subsequent transfers did not produce disruption on any measure. These findings are discussed in terms of strength theory, Guided Search, rule-based approaches to perceptual learning, and the area activation model. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Cross-Border Migration of Hong Kong Residents Under the 'One Country, Two Systems' Policy

Hong Kong is known as a migrant city because its population was sourced from mainland China, and because there has always been outflows of people to overseas countries, especially from the mid-1980s to mid-1990s. Emigration to mainland China has become a significant recent trend. This article discusses this phenomenon in the theoretical contexts of migration and trans-border residential development. It contends that the trend will intensify more quickly than other cross-border movements because the two systems are separated by a political border within one country, and because there are common cultural ties and rapid economic integration.     

Variability in the interpretation of thorax radiography in a primary care medical community and its reference radiologists

OBJECTIVE: To know the variability in the interpretation (normal/pathological) of posteroanterior view chest radiograph and the associated factors between a medical primary care community and a Gold Standard (GS) from 3 reference radiologists. DESIGN: Crossover study. SETTING: Primary care. Teaching health centers of Elche. METHODS: Interobserver percentage agreement (IPA) and Kappa statistic (K) were used to analyse the interobserver agreement (IA) between the GS and every of the participants in interpretation of 100 radiographs. Intraobserver variability was assessed with a second review. Using uni and multivariant analysis some possibly associated factors were studied. RESULTS: Overall IPA and K were 71.3% (CI 95%: 69.2-73.3) and 0.41 (CI 95%: 0.36-0.46) respectively. Time employed in radiographs reading and time passed after medicine studies finished were independently and significantly associated to higher and lower interobserver agreement results respectively, whereas recent professional experience, permanent job and age were not associated. Professional training is the variable that most explain the inter and intraobserver variability. CONCLUSIONS: Overall IA is acceptable. The IA showed by the participants trained under the MIR system is good but the IA achieved by the rest of participants is not acceptable. It is necessary a training which increase the clinical competence, as it does MIR training.