The Minimum Average Code for Finite Memoryless Monotone Sources

The problem of selecting a code for finite monotone sources with N symbols is considered. The selection criterion is based on minimizing the average redundancy (called Minave criterion) instead of its maximum (i.e., Minimax criterion). The average probability distribution P^Nmacr, whose associated Huffman code has the minimum average redundancy, is derived. The entropy of the average distribution (i.e., H(P^Nmacr)) and the average entropy of the monotone distributions (i.e., H(P^Nmacr)) are studied. It is shown that both logN-H(P^Nmacr) and logN-H(P^Nmacr) are asymptotically equal to a constant (sime0.61). Therefore, there is only a negligible penalty (at most 1.61 bits/symbol) in using a simple fixed-length code with respect to the optimal code. An efficient near-optimal encoding technique is also proposed. The consequences of the two approaches, i.e., Minave and Minimax, are compared in terms of their associated distributions and associated codes. In order to evaluate the average performance of the Minimax code, we prove that the informational divergence of the average distribution and Minimax distribution asymptotically grows as -2.275+loglogN     

Cation exchange membranes by radiation‐induced graft copolymerization of styrene onto PFA copolymer films. III. Thermal stability of the membranes

Thermal stability of cation exchange, PFA‐g‐polystyrene sulfonic acid membranes prepared by radiation‐induced graft copolymerization of styrene onto PFA films followed by sulfonation was studied by thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA) and oven heat treatment. The tested samples included original and grafted PFA films as reference materials. All the membranes showed multistep decomposition patterns due to dehydration, desulfonation, dearomatization, and decomposition of the PFA matrix. Investigations of the individual decomposition behaviors showed that the weight loss strongly depends upon the degree of grafting. However, the decomposition temperatures were found to be independent of the degree of grafting. The loss in some selected membrane properties such as ion exchange capacity and water uptake was found to be function of the degree of grafting, temperature, and the time of heat treatment. © 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 77: 1877–1885, 2000     

Comparison of uncertainty quantification process using statistical and data mining algorithms

Uncertainty quantification has always been an important topic in model reduction and simulation of complex systems. In this aspect, global sensitivity anal     

Nutritional characteristics,biochemical composition and antioxidant activities of Moroccan Oat varieties

Oat has been recognized as a healthy food for a long time. In this study, physicochemical analysis including, moisture, pH, ash, fibres, proteins, starch, carbohydrates, some minerals, sugars, fatty acids, sterols, total phenolic, and flavonoid contents of four Moroccan Oat varieties (Amlal, Tissir, Zahri and Ghali) were investigated. Additionally, starch morphology has been described according to scanning electron microscopy, and viscosity as measured on a rotary rheometer, increased with stabilization time. Furthermore, Oat extracts were analyzed with regard to their antioxidant activities using DPPH radicals’ cation, Trolox equivalent antioxidant capacity and ferric reducing/antioxidant power. Results from this investigation demonstrated that Moroccan Oat varieties constitute an interesting supplement of natural antioxidants, especially phenolic compounds. Moreover, potassium was the main mineral in Oat seeds (1628.17–2541.52 mg/Kg); also, the oleic, linoleic, and palmitic acids were the dominant fatty acids. While the major sterols were, β-sitosterol, Δ-5-avenasterol and campesterol. Finally, sugar analysis by HPLC-RI indicate that sucrose content was higher than glucose and fructose respectively, and that Ghali and Amlal varieties exhibit an important total sugars levels. Those results highlight the possible contributions of Oat seeds to nutritional therapy.     

Two safety coefficients for a typical 13 × 13 annular fuel assembly

Recently, annular fuel rods are proposed for both PWRs and BWRs to achieve more average power density and therefore many neutronic as well as thermal-hydraulics calculations have been made to find more performance in the future reactors. Also, some safety margins are studied for the proposed uranium-nitride (and/or other fissile materials) annular pins. Our aim herein is to study two important safety coefficient of the annular fuel core. These are “prompt reactivity” and “power coefficients”, where all investigations are made using MCNP-5 code. Also, a thermal resistance model for annular fuel heat transferring were given and then we have calculated its (a case) thermal resistance numerically.     

Classification of Honey According to Geographical and Botanical Origins and Detection of Its Adulteration Using Voltammetric Electronic Tongue

Main possible honey fraud is the addition of various sugar syrups. But, there are also other types of fraud, such as deception on the geographical and/or botanical origin product. Providing a product of the hive with full authenticity is therefore crucial for the preservation of beekeeping. In this pursuit, voltammetric electronic tongue (VE-tongue) was employed to classify honey samples from different geographical and botanical origins. Furthermore, VE-tongue was used to detect adulterants such as glucose syrup (GS) and saccharose syrup (SS) in honey. The data obtained were analyzed by three-pattern recognition techniques: principal component analysis (PCA), support vector machines (SVMs), and hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA). These methods enabled the classification of 18 honeys of different geographical origins and 7 honeys of different botanical origins. Excellent results were obtained also in the detection of adulterated honey. Therefore, this simple method based on VE-tongue could be useful in the honey packaging and commercialization industry.     

A study on large amplitude vibration of multilayered graphene sheets

In the present article, large amplitude vibration analysis of multilayered graphene sheets is presented and the effect of small length scale is investigated. Using the Hamilton’s principle, the coupled nonlinear partial differential equations of motion are obtained based on the von Karman geometrical model and Eringen theory of nonlocal continuum. The solutions of free nonlinear vibration, based on the harmonic balance method, are found for graphene sheets with three different boundary conditions. For numerical results single, double and triple layered graphene sheets with both armchair and zigzag geometries are considered. The results obtained herein are compared with those available in the literature for linear vibration of multilayered graphene sheets and an excellent agreement is seen. Also, the effects of number of layers, geometric properties and small scale parameter on nonlinear behavior of graphene sheet are discussed in details.     

Growth temperature impact on MOVPE-grown BInGaAs/GaAs QWs designed for optoelectronic applications

Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Electronics - In this work, quaternary BInGaAs single quantum wells have been grown on GaAs substrate by metal–organic vapor-phase epitaxy. The...