Compact half‐mode SIW cavity filters designed by exploiting resonant mode control

This article presents a novel band‐pass filter topology, based on the half‐mode substrate integrated waveguide (HMSIW), which allows for the simple design and easy manufacturing of filters with different bandwidth and number of poles. The design strategy, based on the modification of HMSIW cavity modes, is discussed in the case of two‐pole and four‐pole filters, and two prototypes are implemented and experimentally verified. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 26:72–79, 2016.     

Fast flooding over Manhattan

We consider a Mobile Ad-hoc NETwork (MANET) formed by $n$ agents that move at speed $\text{ v}$ according to the Manhattan Random-Waypoint model over a square region of side length $L$ . This model has stationary properties that strongly depart from the well-studied Random-Walk model and that are typical in scenarios of vehicular traffic in urban zones. For instance, the resulting stationary (agent) spatial probability distribution is far to be uniform: the average density over the “central zone” is asymptotically higher than that over the “Suburb”. Agents exchange data if and only if they are at (Euclidean) distance at most $R$ within each other. We study the flooding time of this MANET: the number of time steps required to broadcast a message from one source agent to all agents of the network in the stationary phase. We prove the first asymptotical upper bound on the flooding time. This bound holds with high probability, it is a decreasing function of $R$ and $\text{ v}$ , and it is tight for a wide and relevant range of the network parameters (i.e. $L, R$ and $\text{ v}$ ). A consequence of our result is that flooding over the sparse and highly-disconnected Suburb can be as fast as flooding over the dense and connected central zone. This property holds even when $R$ is exponentially below the connectivity threshold of the MANET and the speed $\text{ v}$ is very low.     

Surface damage of extreme-ultraviolet gratings exposed to high-energy 20-fs laser pulses

The damage fluences of gratings for diffraction of ultraviolet radiation, which are used in high-order harmonic generation experiments, have been measured with respect to the fundamental laser beam radiation. We have tested gold and platinum coatings of 40- and 50-nm thickness, respectively, deposited onto fused-silica substrates, after irradiation of high-energy, spatially filtered, 20-fs laser pulses at 780 nm. The damage appears at a fluence of ~0.3 J cm(-2) for gold and at a fluence of ~0.4 J cm(-2) for platinum. Scanning electron microscopy of the irradiated regions revealed different damaging mechanisms for the two coatings.     

Reliability allocation methods: A systematic literature review

The choice of a reliability allocation method is not always easy or straightforward, since it depends on several factors. Some factors are directly related to the characteristics of the analyzed system, such as the level of complexity or the reliability configuration; on the other hand, additional aspects constitute boundary conditions, such as budget or experimentation time. In this scenario, the purpose of the present research is to present a systematic literature review on reliability allocation, proposing a guideline to choose the optimal allocation method in respect to the desired application, available resources, and required accuracy. The proposed review analyzes allocation methods in literature, determining main features and area of application. Motivated by a lack of a comprehensive methods summarization present in literature, our research goal is to assist practitioners in choosing a well-suited method and to provide an overview, to support academics in conducting new research in this area. The results of the performed analysis are synthetized according to several criteria. The results are summarized and categorized in different clusters for each individuated application field. The proposed summarization design allows an easy and rapid consultation.     

Towards the development of a novel bioinspired functional material: Synthesis and characterization of hybrid TiO2/DHICA-melanin nanoparticles

A large number of recent literature data focus on modification/modulation of surface chemistry of inorganic materials in order to improve their functional properties. Melanins, a wide class of natural pigments, are recently emerging as a powerful organic component for developing bioinspired active material for a large number of applications from organoelectronics to bioactive compounds.Here we report the use of the approach referred as “chimie douce”, involving in situ formation of the hybrids through reactions of precursors under mild conditions, to prepare novel hybrid functional architectures based on eumelanin like 5,6 dihydroxyindole-2-carboxylic acid (DHICA) polymer and TiO₂. Two synthesis procedures were carried out to get DHICA-melanin coated TiO₂ nanoparticles as well as mixed DHICA/TiO₂ hybrid nanostructures. Such systems were characterized through EPR, FT-IR and fluorescence spectroscopy, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and TEM microscopy in order to assess the effect of synthesis path as well as of DHICA content on structural, morphological and optical properties of TiO₂ nanostructures. In particular, EPR, FT-IR spectra and TGA analysis confirmed the presence of DHICA-melanin in these samples. TEM measurements indicated the formation of the nanoparticles having relatively narrow size distribution with average particle size of about 10 nm. DHICA-melanin does act as a morphological agent affecting morphology of hybrid nanostructures. XRD analysis proved that TiO₂ hybrid nanoparticles kept anatase structures for DHICA-melanin contents within the range of investigated compositions, i.e. up to 50% wt/wt.     

Optical gain in Er-Yb doped waveguides fabricated by femtosecondlaser pulses

Er-Yb doped waveguides at 1.5 μm fabricated by femtosecond laser pulses are reported. Demonstrated is a Gaussian mode-profile, low propagation loss and internal gain in a 25 mm-long waveguide used as the active element in a standard waveguide-amplifier setup     

Implosive therapy treatment of emotionally disturbed retardates.

Investigated the effectiveness of implosive therapy with institutionalized emotionally disturbed retardates (mean CA, 21 yrs; mean IQ, 70.3). 24 Ss, matched according to age, sex, race, and IQ, were randomly assigned to 1 treatment and 2 control groups. The treatment group received 10 sessions of implosive therapy. The control groups consisted of a no-treatment control and a group that received 10 sessions of pseudotreatment-oriented discussions. All Ss were maintained on psychiatric medication and participated in the regular hospital activities. The Ss were assessed behaviorally, subjectively, and clinically prior to, at the midpoint, at completion of the experimental conditions, and at a 6-wk follow-up. Following treatment, Ss in the implosive therapy group showed significantly more improvement across all indices than those who received the pseudotherapy-oriented and no-treatment control conditions. Although the implosive therapy group continued to show the most pronounced gains at follow-up, their superiority over the control groups was considerably less than when observed immediately after treatment. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

承载情感的空间

设计一个室内空间需要你带着感情去做,因为这个空间将会承载你的情感,愤怒、激情和忧郁,我们设计的这个意大利电影导演的PiazzaNavona住宅就是基于这一理念之上。在他的空间里,私人世界和公共生活交汇融合在一起。在设计的过程中,我们花了大量的时间和业主讨论电影、艺术、烹饪     

Heat Treatment Effect on Lignin and Carbohydrates in Corsican Pine Earlywood and Latewood Studied by PY–GC–MS Technique

Lignin-derived degradation products from non-treated (NT) and heat-treated (T) Corsican pine (Pinus nigra subsp. laricio) obtained by pyrolysis–gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (Py–GC–MS) were investigated, whereby the earlywood (EW) and latewood (LW) parts of the annual ring were considered separately. The data evaluation was done by principal component analysis (PCA) and the Kruskal–Wallis test. There are no differences in the pyrolysis products composition between EW and LW, but NT and T samples were discernible by PCA applied to Py–GC–MS data. Less phenols with longer chains (4-vinylguaiacol, and trans-isoeugenol) than those with shorter chains (guaiacol, 4-methylguaiacol) and an increase of anhydrosugar (AHS) were found among the pyrolysis products after heat treatment. These signs for autocondensation and side chain cleavages in the lignin during heat treatment were more evident in the EW than in the LW and for the crystallization of cellulose. A slight decrease of the carbohydrate/lignin ratio (C/L) after heat treatment indicates a greater degradation of carbohydrates compared to lignin. The relation of pyrolysis products of lignin and mechanical properties of wood was evaluated by regression analysis. An inverse correlation between short-chain phenols and MOE and a direct correlation between long-chain phenols and compression strength was found in case of NT wood, while a weak positive correlation could be observed between short-chain phenols and the density in T wood.