3D velocity from 3D Doppler radial velocity

We present local least squares and regularization frameworks for computing 3D velocity (3D optical flow) from 3D radial velocity measured by a Doppler radar. We demonstrate the performance of our algorithms quantitatively on synthetic radial velocity data and qualitatively on real radial velocity data, obtained from the Doppler radar at Kurnell Radar station, Botany Bay, New South Wales, Australia. Radial velocity can be used to predict the future positions of storms in sequences of Doppler radar datasets.© 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Imaging Syst Technol, 15, 189–198, 2005     

Vibration cavitation behaviour of selected Ni-Mn-Ga alloys

Vibration cavitation erosion tests were carried out on Ni-Mn-Ga alloys of three different crystal structures: (1) the cubic austenite, (2) the non-modulated tetragonal martensite (T) and (3) the five-layered martensite (5M). All Ni-Mn-Ga alloys exhibited cavitation behaviour characterized by a step-wise curve of mass loss versus test time. This behaviour is correlated to the microstructural nature of the alloys as well as the surface conditions of the pre-test samples. The type and concentration of the defects at the surfaces were critical to the cavitation resistance of the alloys. The best cavitation resistant alloy was of a cubic austenitic structure, followed with the alloy of a tetragonal T-martensite. The largest material loss was found in the alloy with a 5M martensite. All the studied Ni-Mn-Ga alloys had an excellent cavitation resistance compared to that of the reference stainless steel, and they even excelled some NiTi alloys found in literature. This may be due to the superelasticity of the cubic austenite and the twinning of the martensitic phases.     

Novel tiO2 nanocatalysts for wastewater purification: tapping energy from the sun.

Water treatment using TiO2 semiconductor as a durable heterogeneous photocatalyst has been the focus of environmentalists in recent years. Currently, we developed an inexpensive and highly efficient approach for synthesizing nitrogen-doped TiO2 with lower band-gap energy that can respond to visible light. Doping on the molecular scale led to an enhanced nitrogen concentration of up to 21.8%. Reflectance measurements showed the synthesized N-doped TiO2 nanoparticles are catalytically active with the absorbance that extends into the visible region up to 600 nm. The water purification potential of this new class of compound was evaluated by studying the photodegradation of Acid Orange 7 (AO7) and E. coli. Experiments were conducted to compare the photocatalytic activities of N-doped TiO2 nanocatalysts and commercially available Degussa P25 power under identical solar light exposure. N-doped TiO2 demonstrated superior photocatalytic activities in both chemical compound degradation and bactericidal reactions. The result of this study shows the potential of applying new generations of catalyst for wastewater purification and disinfection.     

Modeling wireless fading channels via stochastic differential equations: identification and estimation based on noisy measurements

This paper is concerned with modeling and identification of wireless channels using noisy measurements. The models employed are governed by stochastic differential equations (SDEs) in state space form, while the identification method is based on the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm and Kalman filtering. The algorithm is tested against real channel measurements. The results presented include state space models for the channels, estimates of inphase and quadrature components, and estimates of the corresponding Doppler power spectral densities (DPSDs), from sample noisy measurements. Based on the available measurements, it is concluded that state space models of order two are sufficient for wireless flat fading channel characterization.     

Investigation of Mechanical and Electrical Characteristics for Cracked Conductive Particle in Anisotropic Conductive Adhesive (ACA) Assembly

In an anisotropic conductive adhesive (ACA) assembly, the electrical conduction is usually achieved with the conductive particles between the bumps of integrated circuit (IC) and corresponding conductive tracks on the glass substrate. Fully understanding of the mechanical and electrical characteristics of ACA particles can help to optimize the assembly process and improve the reliability of ACA interconnection. Most conductive particles used in the ACA assembly are with cracks in the metal coating of the particles after the ACA bonding. This paper introduced the fracture analysis by applying the cohesive elements in the numerical model of the nickel-coated polymer particle and further simulating the cracks initiation and propagation in the nickel coating during the ACA bonding. The simulation results showed that the stress distribution on the nickel-coated particle with cracks was significantly different from that on the nickel-coated particle without crack, indicating that the stress analysis by taking the crack into consideration is very important for the reliability assessment of the ACA interconnection. The stress analysis of cohesive elements indicated that the cracks initiated at the central area of the nickel coating and propagated to the polar area. Furthermore, by the introduction of a new parameter of the virtual resistance, a mathematical model was established to describe the electrical characteristics of the nickel-coated particle with cracks. The particle resistance of the nickel-coated particle with cracks was found to be much higher than that of the particle without crack in the optimized bonding pressure range, indicating that it is necessary to take the crack into consideration for the particle conduction analysis as well. Therefore, the fracture analysis on the conductive particle by taking the crack into consideration could accurately evaluate the reliability of ACA interconnection and avoid serious reliability issues.     

Protein Extraction from Heat-stabilized Defatted Rice Bran: II. The Role of Amylase, Celluclast, and Viscozyme

ABSTRACT: The effectiveness of 3 carbohydrases for protein extraction from heat-stabilized defatted rice bran (HDRB) was evaluated. Amylase, viscozyme and celluclast extracted a maximum of 45.4, 12.1, and 28.5% protein, respectively. Further study showed that extracted protein ranged from 9.5 to 58.4% under conditions of water to bran ratio (5:1 to 20:1), α-amylase (0 to 110000 units/10 g rice bran), temperature (35 to 55 °C), and time (1 to 8 h). The maximum protein extracted was 58.4% with a water to bran ratio of 17:1, 87637 units amylase, and 50.9 °C. These results suggest that impure food-grade amylase containing protease is more effective than celluclast and viscozyme in protein extraction from HDRB.     

Identifiability of nonlinear systems with application to HIV/AIDS models

In this note, we investigate different concepts of nonlinear identifiability in the generic sense. We work in the linear algebraic framework. Necessary and sufficient conditions are found for geometrical identifiability, algebraic identifiability and identifiability with known initial conditions. Relationships between different concepts are characterized. Constructive procedures are worked out for both generic geometrical and algebraic identifiability of nonlinear systems. As an application of the theory developed, we study the identifiability properties of a four dimensional model of HIV/AIDS. The questions answered in this study include the minimal number of measurement of the variables for a complete determination of all parameters and the best period of time to make such measurements. This information will be useful in formulating guidelines for clinical practice.     

DSSS数字接收机的AFC算法及其实现

介绍了一种零中频直接序列扩频(DSSS)数字接收机的自动频率控制(AFC)算法及其仿真和实现.该算法从残留载波跟踪解调环的鉴相信号中提取频偏信息,对下变频本振进行AFC,并且可根据对频偏的估计切换环路特性,使环路既有较大的捕获带宽,又具有较好的跟踪和滤波性能.该算法适用于无导频的直扩BPSK信号接收机,其特点是算法复杂度低,特别易于FPGA实现.     

Grain refinement of Al-7Si alloys and the efficiency assessment by recognition of cooling curves

Under sand cup solidification condition, the influence of Ti, B concentration, and holding time on the grain size of a high-purity Al-7Si alloy has been systematically studied. It is found that the grain size decreases rapidly at lower Ti or B additions, and is almost constant at the higher concentrations. For Al-3B refined Al-7Si alloys, the grain size increases at the initial period of holding time, and then rapidly becomes independent of holding time; while for Al-7Si alloys refined with Al-5Ti-1B, the grain size increases with holding time throughout. To evaluate the refinement efficiency, a new method named “intelligent evaluating of melt quality by pattern recognition of thermal analysis cooling curves” has also been introduced in this article. The results show that comparing the cooling curve of the evaluated melt with those in a database to find the most similar one to it can precisely assess the grain refinement efficiency of the measured Al-7Si alloy. In addition, the influence of Ti, B addition levels, and pouring temperatures on some characteristic parameters of cooling curve has also been discussed.