Influence of oxides on the stability of zinc foam

The influence of oxides on the stabilisation of zinc foam made by foaming-compacted powder mixtures has been investigated by varying the oxide content in the zinc powder used by oxidation and reduction. Optical, scanning electron and transmission electron microscopy as well as energy dispersive X-ray mapping were used to determine the oxide distribution, morphology and structure in the foams. The study revealed that with increase in the oxide content of the foam, the maximum expansion and expansion rate increased. Small amount of nano-sized oxide particles and their cluster, which are randomly distributed, were observed within the bulk of foam. But the major fraction of oxides is observed on the surface of pores in the form of clusters. These clusters are distributed uniformly all over the surface. Effect of these oxides on the stability of foam is discussed. The formation of satellite pores, which is characteristic signature of zinc foams, and their stability, is investigated.     

Is time really important for research into contracting out public services in cities? Evidence for urban water management in Southern Spain

Local governments are responsible for the supply of important public services in cities. On many occasions the management of those services is externalized. There is extensive literature analyzing the explanations for the governance option taken by local governments, aiming to ascertain the reasons why the management of certain services is externalized. Recent research has highlighted the fact that time has not been contemplated by research dealing with explanatory factors in the decision to contract out municipal services. This is a key issue in order to identify the real reason behind policymakers’ decisions about the management of the services in cities. This paper tests the importance of taking into account time in the research into contracting out. This is undertaken by means of two methodological tests in the design of variables from a dataset containing 744 municipalities in Southern Spain. Using this empirical analysis as a basis, it is concluded that considering time contributes towards enhancing the specification of the model and that omitting this aspect could lead to misunderstanding the motivation behind such decisions.     

Stability boundary analysis of the dynamic voltage restorer in weak systems with dynamic loads

In this contribution, a stability analysis for a dynamic voltage restorer (DVR) connected to a weak ac system containing a dynamic load is presented using continuation techniques and bifurcation theory. The system dynamics are explored through the continuation of periodic solutions of the associated dynamic equations. The switching process in the DVR converter is taken into account to trace the stability regions through a suitable mathematical representation of the DVR converter. The stability regions in the Thevenin equivalent plane are computed. In addition, the stability regions in the control gains space, as well as the contour lines for different Floquet multipliers, are computed. Besides, the DVR converter model employed in this contribution avoids the necessity of developing very complicated iterative map approaches as in the conventional bifurcation analysis of converters. The continuation method and the DVR model can take into account dynamics and nonlinear loads and any network topology since the analysis is carried out directly from the state space equations. The bifurcation approach is shown to be both computationally efficient and robust, since it eliminates the need for numerically critical and long‐lasting transient simulations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

A novel image segmentation model with an edge weighting function

A variational model for image segmentation consists of a data term and a regularization term. Usually, the data term is chosen as squared $\text{ L }_{2}$ norm, and the regularization term is determined by the prior assumption. In this paper, we present a novel model in the framework of MAP (maximum a posteriori). A new iteratively reweighted $\text{ L }_{2}$ norm is used in the data term, which shares the advantages of $\text{ L }_{2}$ and mixed $\text{ L }_{21}$ norm. An edge weighting function is addressed in the regularization term, which enforces the ability to reduce the outlier effects and preserve edges. An improved region-based graph cuts algorithm is proposed to solve this model efficiently. Numerical experiments show our method can get better segmentation results, especially in terms of removing outliers and preserving edges.     

如何有效利用HFC上行信道

在HFC(Hybrid Fiber Coax)宽带网络中,传统的上下行非对称带宽分配方法并不能有效地支持快速双向多媒体业务.首先对上行传送时延进行了分析,然后提出并讨论了一种通过分割DS(数据时隙)、增加捎带请求以减少冲突的方法,使上行信道得到更为有效的利用.     

Analysis of network function sharing in Content Delivery Network-as-a-service slicing scenarios

Video content consumption is currently dominating the mix of traffic observed in Internet service provider (ISP) networks. The distribution of that content is usually performed by means of content delivery network (CDN) caches storing and delivering multimedia. The advent of virtualization is calling attention to the CDN providers as a use case for virtualizing the cache function. In parallel, there is a trend for sharing network infrastructures as a way of reducing deployment costs by ISPs. Then, an interesting scenario emerges when considering the possibility of sharing virtualized cache functions among ISPs which are sharing a common physical infrastructure, mostly considering that those ISPs offer similar video content catalogs to end users. Furthermore, when deciding to share the caches among ISPs, it is interesting to understand the impacts due to limiting the storage capacity at the edge sites. This paper investigates through simulations the potential efficiencies that can be achieved when sharing a virtual cache function if compared with the classical approach of independent virtual caches operated per ISP, as well as the implications of limiting the storage capacity of the caches at the edge.     

H2S-Activated Ion-Interference Therapy: A Novel Tumor Targeted Therapy Based on Copper-Overload-Mediated Cuproptosis and Pyroptosis

Copper overload is a novel way to achieve copper-ion-interference therapy by disrupting copper homeostasis and treating diseases through multiple cell death pathways. However, it is difficult to reach copper overload since excess intracellular copper ions will be pumped out. Herein, copper overload is achieved by both raising cellular uptake and reducing the efflux of copper ions using hydrogen sulfide (H₂S)-responsive copper hydroxyphosphate nanoparticles (Cu₂(PO₄)(OH) NPs). After immersion in an H₂S-enriched colon cancer microenvironment, Cu₂(PO₄)(OH) NPs can transform into copper sulfide NPs with reduced size for higher cell entering, resulting in improved Fenton activity as well as copper ion dissociation. Reactive oxygen species generated by the Fenton reaction not only activate inflammasomes and Caspase-1 proteins, cause the cleavage of gasdermin D to induce pyroptosis, but also affect mitochondrial function and down-regulate copper exporter ATP7A to further reduce the copper excretion. The combination of higher endocytosis and lower exportation leads to maximized copper overload. Together with the efficient copper ions release, mitochondrial tricarboxylic acid cycle can be disrupted and iron-sulfur cluster proteins are downregulated, ultimately triggering cuproptosis. As both pyroptosis and cuproptosis are efficient ways to induce cell death, this study provides a novel way to realize effective tumor-targeted therapy based on H₂S-activated copper overload with simple Cu₂(PO₄)(OH) NPs.     

Joint optimization of power allocation and relay location for regenerative relaying with multi‐antenna reception at destination

We consider joint power allocation (PA) and relay positioning in a dual‐hop regenerative relay system with multiple antennas equipped at the destination. With a fixed relay location, an adaptive PA strategy at the source and relay under a sum power constraint that minimizes the system outage probability is presented. With a fixed PA strategy, the optimal relay location is derived. We then propose to jointly optimize PA and relay location. It is shown that employing more destination antennas and/or choosing an appropriate relay location can significantly save the power needed at the relay. Numerical results are presented to demonstrate the performance of the proposed PA and relay positioning algorithms. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Au丝键合改为Cu丝键合技术

现阶段Au丝作为内引线一直占着键合的主导地位,由于Cu丝具有优良的电性能和价格优势,随着键合技术的发展,以Cu丝代替Au丝作为键合用内引线已经成为必然,封装行业许多厂家正热衷于将原有的Au丝键合设备进行改造,但还存在这样那样的问题。以Au丝键合改为Cu丝键合的技术研究为出发点,首先介绍了键合技术的发展,然后通过工艺调整和设备改造,使得Cu丝作为内引线能够代替Au丝在该设备上使用,同时达到了节约生产成本,节约资金的目的。对改造过程中的气体流量、压力、功率、焊接时间等参数问题进行了详细地阐述,同时对芯片、键合劈刀等也做了相应调整,使得改造后的检测结果完全满足产品要求。大力推进以Cu丝替代Au丝键合技术,可节约生产成本,提高键合强度,增强导电率、导热率等,具有重要的经济技术效益,必将迎来封装业的又一次大变革。     

集成电源噪声抑制的时钟源简化FPGA系统的电源设计

本文对高性能应用的FPGA设计中的电源噪声情况进行了说明,并由此指出FPGA设计对时钟源的特殊要求,进而对目前通用的小数分频式晶体振荡器(XO)结构以Silicon Labs DSPLL XO/VCXO结构进行了分析和对比.