Investigation of electrochemical behavior of Mn–Co doped oxide electrodes for electrochemical capacitors

The electrochemical properties of nanocrystalline Co-doped Mn oxide electrodes were investigated to determine the relationship between physicochemical feature evolution and the corresponding electrochemical behavior of synthesized electrodes. Co-doped Mn oxide electrodes with a rod-like morphology and antifluorite-type structure were synthesized by anodic electrodeposition on Au coated Si substrates from a dilute solution of 0.01 M Mn acetate (Mn(CH₃COO)₂) and 0.001 M Co sulphate (CoSO₄).Electrochemical characterization of synthesized electrodes, with and without a conducting polymer (PEDOT) coating, was performed with electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) and cyclic voltammetry (CV) at different scan rates. In addition, structural characterization of as-deposited and cycled electrodes was conducted using SEM, TEM and XPS.Capacitance values for all deposits increased with increasing scan rate to 100 mV s⁻¹, and then decreased after 100 mV s⁻¹. The Mn–Co oxide/PEDOT electrodes showed improved specific capacity and electrochemical cyclability relative to uncoated Mn–Co oxides. Mn–Co oxide/PEDOT electrodes with rod-like structures had high capacitances (up to 310 F g⁻¹) at a scan rate of 100 mV s⁻¹ and maintained their capacitance after 500 cycles in 0.5 M Na₂SO₄ (91% retention). Capacitance reduction for the deposits was mainly due to the loss of Mn ions by dissolution in the electrolyte solution.     

Transient current off-chip sensor circuit for digital IC productiontesting

An off-chip monitor is presented that measures the transient supply current of CMOS ICs and provides the charge delivered to the circuit. The monitor is designed to be placed on the automatic test equipment board fixture and automate transient current supply testing. Experimental results demonstrate up to 1 GHz bandwidth operation     

Impact of Thermal Gradients on Clock Skew and Testing

It is a well-known phenomenon that test-mode switching activity and power consumption can exceed that of mission mode. Thus, testing can induce localized heating and temperature gradients with deleterious results. The authors quantify this problem and propose a novel design scheme to circumvent it.     

Frame‐type load bearing system for long‐span cantilevers

Cantilevers experience high risks of vulnerability against progressive collapse and vertical ground motion effects. In addition, despite common engineering practice that regards cantilevers dominated by vertical loads, it is shown that while subjected to lateral forces, they might undergo large deflections due to the formation of plastic hinges in the supporting structural subassemblage; even if cantilevers satisfy deflection limits proposed by design codes. To overcome such vulnerabilities, successive cantilever beams can be coupled in the height of the structure using vertical elements to develop a framed cantilever system. Frame behavior in cantilevers is formulized using spring models and by employing optimization procedures, economic efficiency is compared to the conventional method. The optimization results for 6 2‐D steel moment frames showed that employing framed cantilever system has the potential to reduce required material weight up to 40%. Furthermore, nonlinear pushdown and incremental dynamic analyses were conducted to extract capacity and fragility curves. The results reveal the superior performance of framed cantilevers in both lateral and vertical loads while offering better resistance against the progressive collapse.     

DFT for delay fault testing of high-performance digital circuits

Timing-only parametric defects are a major source of failures and test escapes in modern ICs. A DFT technique using compound domino logic gates with footer transistors uncovers these hard-to-detect defects with minimal performance and power overheads.     

Monitoring and Evaluation Scheme using the Multiple-Criteria-Decision-Making Technique: Application to Irrigation Projects

The application of monitoring and evaluation (M&E) systems to assess agricultural projects has received some attention in recent years. These systems provide valuable information for managers and decision makers by analyzing the implementation process, the progress of trends, and the long-term and short-term effectiveness of these projects. An algorithm is developed to monitor and evaluate drip and pressure irrigation projects in Iran. Different indicators are identified and the framework of an integrated evaluation system is demonstrated using an analytical hierarchy process for multiple-criteria-decision making. There is much subjective information that is quantified and normalized in order to remove any bias in evaluators’ assessment of qualitative measures or sensitivity to linguistic expressions. The application of this system to rank projects in different regions (zones) in Iran is also presented in this paper. The results have shown the significant value of such systems in providing information and input for different decision-making levels.     

Face authentication in encrypted domain based on correlation filters

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Privacy and security are main concerns in face authentication by cloud or semi-honest server. To deal with this problem, a face authentication method based on...     

Four Novel p.N385K,p.V36A,c.1033–1034insT and c.1417–1418delCT Mutations in the Sphingomyelin Phosphodiesterase 1 (SMPD1) Gene in Patients with Types A and B Niemann-Pick Disease (NPD)

Background: Types A and B Niemann-Pick disease (NPD) are autosomal-recessive lysosomal storage disorders caused by the deficient activity of acid sphingomyelinase due to mutations in the sphingomyelin phosphodiesterase 1 (SMPD1) gene. Methods: In order to determine the prevalence and distribution of SMPD1 gene mutations, the genomic DNA of 15 unrelated Iranian patients with types A and B NPD was examined using PCR, DNA sequencing and bioinformatics analysis. Results: Of 8 patients with the p.G508R mutation, 5 patients were homozygous, while the other 3 were heterozygous. One patient was heterozygous for both the p.N385K and p.G508R mutations. Another patient was heterozygous for both the p.A487V and p.G508R mutations. Two patients (one homozygous and one heterozygous) showed the p.V36A mutation. One patient was homozygous for the c.1033–1034insT mutation. One patient was homozygous for the c.573delT mutation, and 1 patient was homozygous for the c.1417–1418delCT mutation. Additionally, bioinformatics analysis indicated that two new p.V36A and p.N385K mutations decreased the acid sphingomyelinase (ASM) protein stability, which might be evidence to suggest the pathogenicity of these mutations. Conclusion: with detection of these new mutations, the genotypic spectrum of types A and B NPD is extended, facilitating the definition of disease-related mutations. However, more research is essential to confirm the pathogenic effect of these mutations.     

DC compensated adaptive modulation in MIMO systems

A DC offset compensated variable rate variable power (VRVP) adaptive modulation (AM) MIMO system with perfect channel state information is introduced. By this approach, BER degradation of AM MIMO due to DC offset is removed considerably. This technique provides a good trade-off between BER and average spectral efficiency (ASE) and increases the robustness of the system relative to DC offset.