Low-temperature magnetic behavior of HoRh4B4

Detailed measurements of the magnetization of HoRh₄B₄ and GdRh₄B₄ near the magnetic transition temperature are presented. In contrast to the ferromagnetic behavior of GdRh₄B₄, no spontaneous magnetization is found to develop below T _min HoRh₄B₄. This raises doubts about the nature of the magnetic order in that material as well as in DyRh₄B₄ and TbRh₄B₄. Anisotropy and time dependence of the magnetization are found in these last three compounds. The behavior of the very small remanent magnetization and of the paramagnetic susceptibility of HoRh₄B₄ is shown. These results point to a complex magnetic order, possibly helical or sinusoidal antiferromagnetism with a long wavelength.Partially supported by a grant from the Swiss National Science Foundation.Research in La Jolla supported by National Science Foundation Grant No. DMR77-08467.     

Effect of surface roughness and surface texture on scuffing

This paper discusses the results of disk tests designed to examine the effect of surface roughness and surface texture on scuffing and related behavior. AISI 9310 steel disk of varying surface roughness and surface texture, along with a MIL-L-7808G lubricant, were used. It is shown that, under otherwise comparable situations, (a) an increase in the composite surface roughness increases the coefficient of friction at scuffing, decreases the scuff failure load, and decreases the critical temperature, (b) the cross-ground disks give a lower coefficient of friction at scuffing and a higher scuff failure load than the circumferentially-ground disks, but nearly the same critical temperature, and (c) an increase in the sliding velocity or sum velocity, at a constant sliding-to-sum velocity ratio, decreases the coefficient of friction at scuffing, decreases the scuff failure load, and decreases the critical temperature.The superior performance of the cross-ground disks compared with the circumferentially-ground disks is attributed to the effect of surface texture on microelastohydrodynamic action. The variations of the oil film thickness ratio at scuffing, the coefficient of friction at scuffing, and the critical temperature with respect to surface roughness, surface texture, and operating variables have been shown to correlate well with a dimensionless parameter $\text{ξ}{}_{\mathrm{?}}$.     

Determination of EEG activity propagation: pair-wise versus multichannel estimate

Performance of different estimators describing propagation of electroencephalogram (EEG) activity, namely: Granger causality, directed transfer function (DTF), direct DTF (dDTF), short-time DTF (SDTF), bivariate coherence, and partial directed coherence are compared by means of simulations and on the examples of experimental signals. In particular, the differences between pair-wise and multichannel estimates are studied. The results show unequivocally that in most cases, the pair-wise estimates are incorrect and a complete set of signals involved in a given process has to be used to obtain the correct pattern of EEG flows. Different performance of multivariate estimators of propagation depending on their normalization is discussed. Advantages of multivariate autoregressive model are pointed out.     

Transmission- and side-detection configurations in ultrasound-modulated optical tomography of thick biological tissues

Ultrasound-modulated optical tomography of thick biological tissues was studied based on speckle-contrast detection. Speckle decorrelation was investigated with biological tissue samples of various thicknesses. Images of optically absorbing objects buried in biological tissue samples with thicknesses up to 50 mm were obtained in a transmission-detection configuration. The image contrast was more than 30%, and the spatial resolution was approximately 2 mm. In addition, a side-detection scheme along with two specific configurations were examined, and the advantages were demonstrated. Experimental results implied feasibility of applying the ultrasound-modulation technique to characterize optical properties in inhomogeneous biological tissues.     

Near-infrared spectroscopy for on-line monitoring of lube base oil processes

Near-infrared (NIR) spectroscopy has been utilized for monitoring the pour point of the lube base oil (LBO) process. Using partial least-squares (PLS) regression, necessary spectral features were successfully extracted and correlated to the reference pour-point data. In a preliminary laboratory feasibility study, it was found that PLS calibration performance was largely governed by the accuracy of the reference pour-point analysis. The same NIR spectroscopic methodology was moved to monitor the pour point continuously in an on-line manner. At this time, the NIR spectrometer was calibrated with the existing on-line pour-point analyzer, which was more accurate. In comparison with the on-line pour-point analyzer, NIR spectroscopy provided faster and more repeatable analytical data. With the help of NIR analysis, LBO process variations during product switch can be detected earlier, and necessary process-control strategy can be applied to improve the process efficiency.     

Metal-Insulator Transition and Cu K-Edge XANES Studies for Pr1.85Ce0.15CuO4+δ High-Tc Superconductors

Metal-insulator transition near oxygen content parameter –0.018 was observed for electron-doped Pr_1.85Ce_0.15CuO₄₊ (–0.0030.03) cuprates. Cu K-edge X-ray absorption near-edge structure (XANES) studies with nearly identical threshold edge energy E₀ of 8980.8 eV indicate a Cu formal valence smaller than 2 for all samples, which is consistent with the estimated Cu valence of 1.84 for 20.5 K superconductor Pr_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_3.997 and 1.91 for Pr_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4.03 insulator. The XANES spectrum reflects the Cu 3d ⁿ character where low energy peak A ₁ reflects the 3d ¹⁰ configuration of Cu(I) oxidation state and A ₂ peak reflects the 3d¹⁰ ( for a oxygen ligand hole) configuration for Cu(II) oxidation state. The variation of energy separation E(A ₂–A ₁) is consistent with the observed metal-insulator transition, increases sharply from 2.42 eV for Pr_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4.018 insulator to 2.74 eV for 15 K underdoped superconductor Pr_1.85Ce_0.15CuO_4.015.     

CSL-200B系列微机线路保护装置改造方案的研究

针对CSL-200B系列微机线路保护的设计缺陷，从保护的基本原理、二次回路、操作灵活性、安全性和可靠性等方面进行了分析，找出了CSL-200B系列微机线路保护装置的缺陷，提出并实施了改进措施，实际检验结果表明了改造方案的有效性。     

Soil surface illumination at micro-relief scale and soil BRDF data collected by a hyperspectral camera

The results of the paper draw attention to the fact that the hyperspectral image of soil surface at micro-relief scale may display variation in the soil spectral shape due to illumination conditions of the surface. The image of an extremely rough cultivated soil surface, very deeply ploughed, was obtained by a hyperspectral camera, in the range of 0.4–1.0 μm with 0.67–0.74 nm spectral resolution. It was found that the soil reflectance spectra of the studied surface, illuminated by the direct sunbeams, are clearly convex with distinct absorption features. Furthermore, the soil normalized reflectance spectra were used to distinguish the subtlety of the analysed shaded soil spectra shape. They show that depressions caused by the absorption features of O₂ and H₂O, contained in the atmosphere above directly illuminated soil fragments, transform into peaks, if the same soil is deeply shaded.     

Approximating the average daily surface albedo with respect to soil roughness and latitude

The present study explores the diurnal variations in blue-sky albedo (α) of soils under clear sky conditions with respect to surface roughness. Three roughness levels of ploughed and unploughed soil surfaces, developed from the same loessial material, were examined. The relation between α of the surfaces and the solar zenith angle, determined during the experiment, enabled us to predict the diurnal α variation of the surfaces throughout the year at a given latitude, between 75° S and 75° N. The optimal time (T _O) for measuring the soil albedo by an instantaneous observation was considered as the best represented time for the daily averaged value within an error lower than ±2%. It was found that the T _O, falling at different times depending on the soil surface roughness, limits the possibilities of data achievement by remote-sensing satellites along one of their sun-synchronous orbits.     

Low crosstalk 4 × 4 TiLiNbO3optical switch with permanently attached polarization maintaining fiber array

Several low crosstalk 4 × 4 crossbar optical switch arrays have been fabricated for use atlambda = 1.3 mum. Each array consists of 16 independently functioning directional coupler switches. We describe the typical device performance characteristics. The average insertion loss is 5.2 dB. Crosstalk levels routinely measured < -35 dB. The voltage required to operate the device is ≈ 13 V. The inputs to one of the device arrays were permanently attached to four laser transmitters using lensed polarization maintaining fiber at the laser end and an array of polarization maintaining fibers at the device end.