The Grey-Rankin bound for nonbinary codes

The Grey-Rankin bound for nonbinary codes is obtained. Examples of codes meeting this bound are given. Original Russian Text Ş L.A. Bassalygo, S.M. Dodunekov, V.A. Zinoviev, T. Helleseth, 2006, published in Problemy Peredachi Informatsii, 2006, Vol. 42, No. 3, pp. 37–44. Supported in part by the Russian Foundation for Basic Research, project no. 06-01-00226.     

A Ray-Tracing Analysis of ICRH in Tokamaks

Power deposition profiles generated by Ion Cyclotron Resonance Heating （ICRH） in non-circular tokamaks are studied using a ray-tracing technique. The simulation results for the Experimental Advanced Superconductor Tokamak （EAST） D-shaped plasma are presented. It is indicated that the spatial distributions of plasma parameters （plasma density, species temperature, minority ion concentration, etc.） have an significant influence on the power deposition profiles. The findings may be highly useful to the planned plasma heating and experiments in EAST.     

Testing multi-characteristic product capability indices

Recently, studies associated with testing the quality and performance of each process for a product with multi-characteristics are proposed more often. However, most studies are limited to discussing one single type of quality characteristic. Practically, a multi-characteristic product is potentially composed of three types: smaller-the-better, larger-the-better, and nominal-the-best. In this paper, we propose an integrated product capability index which considers these three different types of quality characteristics. According to the theory of testing hypothesis, we develop a testing procedure for the product capability index to judge whether the process capabilities of total quality characteristics meet the customers’ demands. In addition, the relationship between the product capability index and the yield of the entire product will be introduced. Finally, an example is provided as a practical application.     

Supercritical fluid extraction of daphne (Laurus nobilis L.) seed oil

Laurus nobilis L., commonly known as daphne tree, is an evergreen that belongs to the Lauraceae family. Daphne trees produce grape-sized shiny purplish berries having three parts: flesh, skin, and an inner kernel (single seed). This study examines supercritical CO₂ (SC-CO₂) extraction of oil from daphne seeds. The oil yield of ground seeds varied from 14 to 28% depending on the method and particle size used for oil recovery. Yields were similar for both petroleum ether and SC-CO₂ extraction. The extraction yield decreased significantly with increasing particle size. The amount of extract collected increased exponentially with increasing SC-CO₂ pressure. The highest extraction yield was obtained at the highest temperature studied, 75°C. More than 45% of the oil was lauric acid. SC-CO₂ is a viable technique to obtain high-purity L. nobilis L. seed oil, which is a potential ingredient for the cosmetic industry.     

Arthur Norberg, the Charles Babbage Institute, and the History of Computing

This issue of the IEEE annals of the history of computing originated with a desire to mark the retirement of Charles Babbage Institute founding director Arthur Norberg. In so doing, a number of Norberg's peers were invited to help celebrate and honor the CBI director's career while also appraising the history of computing field that Norberg helped create.     

The role of iron and its compounds in processes of enrichment of sulfide ores of non-ferrous and noble metals

On the basis of the analysis of the literature data and the data of our investigations, the role of iron and products of its oxidation in sulfide pulps is shown. The technological factors are noted, such as the pH value of the medium, concentration of modifiers, mineral composition, and points and the order of batching flotation reagents; which affect the redox processes with the participation of iron and the characteristics of separation of sulfide minerals during flotation.     

In-Situ and Real-Time Investigation of Columnar-to-Equiaxed Transition in Metallic Alloy

In this article, we present a review of observations during Al-3.5 wt pct Ni alloy solidi.cation experiments performed at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility (ESRF) in Grenoble. These experiments provide direct access to dynamical phenomena during columnar growth (initial transient and breakdown of a planar solid-liquid interface), and for the first time to the transition from columnar-to-equiaxed microstructure (nucleation ahead of a columnar front and blocking of a columnar front by an equiaxed microstructure) and fully equiaxed growth (propagation of an effective front). Based on these experimental observations, critical parameters such as columnar growth velocity variation during the transition or equiaxed-grain diameter are measured and discussed. This article is based on a presentation made in the symposium entitled “Solidi.cation Modeling and Microstructure Formation: In Honor of Prof. John Hunt,” which occurred March 13–15, 2006, during the TMS Spring Meeting in San Antonio, Texas, under the auspices of the TMS Materials Processing and Manufacturing Division, Solidification Committee.     

Multidimensional stability domain of special polynomial families

Consideration was given to the characteristic polynomials with special affine uncertainty. For this family, the stability domain in the parameter space was shown to be a union of polyhedra. For continuous-time and discrete-time systems, a simple method was proposed to single out the stability domain and determine the stability radius for different norms of uncertainty. Efficiency of this method was corroborated by examples.     

Flows in rectangular microchannels driven by capillary force and gravity

Capillary phenomena was studied and discussed by the scholars about 200 years ago, but the progress was slow due to the limited equipment and manufacture precision of the microchannel. In recent years, because of the rapid development of MEMS and micromachining, many applications of the capillary flow is widely developing in some modern processes, such as underfilling of flip chip, flow in microfluidic chip or biochip, and a variety of other fields.