Study on the electrical conductivity and morphology of porous polypyrrole layers prepared electrochemically in the presence of pyridinium chlorochromate

The electrical conductivity and morphology of thick (up to 3 mm) porous polypyrrole (PPy) layers produced electrochemically from pyrrole in acetonitrile (ACN) solutions have been studied. The electrical conductivity of pressed porous layers ranges from 1 to 10 Scm^–1, which is about one order of magnitude less than that in films which were prepared under similar conditions but without PnClCr. Analysis of the temperature dependence of conductivity has confirmed the major role of hopping in relation to tunnelling in charge transport inside the PPy layers even at lower temperatures. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) showed a globular structure, which is different from the usual cauliflower-like structure of PPy films prepared without any oxidizing agent. Globular particles of about 1–3 m diameter have been found under a thin smooth crust on the electrode side of the sample. Globular particles form linked chain-like or larger round formations poorly filling the space. Closely packed fibrils of about 20 nm diameter and over 100 nm in length were found inside the aggregates.     

Field cross correlator for analysis of ultrafast signals

The cross-correlation function between two light fields is recorded with the help of a new device. The proposed correlator exhibits ultrashort time resolution. The optical path difference between the two interfering beams does not have to be known with interferometric precision. The experimental dynamic range proved to be as large as 10(5). The device features imaging capabilities that could be applied to the analysis of two-dimensional images with ultrashort time resolution.     

Structure,stoichiometry and phase purity of strontium-doped lanthanum manganite powders

Strontium-doped lanthanum manganite La_{1, x} Sr _x MnO₃ (LSM) is characterized by hexagonal-rhombohedral distorted perovskite-type structure, deriving from the ideal cubic symmetry through rotation of the [MnO₆] octahedra around the ternary axis. The extent of distortion and unit cell volume depend on Sr content. The linear variation of the unit cell volume, observed in the compositional range 0.1 x 0.5, can be effectively used for determining the stoichiometry of LSM. A procedure for the quantitative analysis of segregated impurities (La₂O₃ and Mn₃O₄) based on X-ray powder diffraction analysis, has also been developed.     

The <Emphasis Type="Italic">L</Emphasis><Superscript>2</Superscript>-Optimality of the IIPG Method for Odd Degrees of Polynomial Approximation in 1D

The paper deals with a numerical analysis of the incomplete interior penalty Galerkin (IIPG) method applied to one dimensional Poisson problem. Based on a particular choice of the interior penalty parameter σ (order of O(h ⁻¹)), we derive the optimal error estimate in the L ²-norm for odd degrees of polynomial approximation for locally quasi-uniform meshes. Moreover, we show that only the mentioned choice of the penalty parameter leads to optimal orders of convergence. Finally, presented numerical experiments verify the theoretical results.     

Joint stiffness identification of six-revolute industrial serial robots

Although robots tend to be as competitive as CNC machines for some operations, they are not yet widely used for machining operations. This may be due to the lack of certain technical information that is required for satisfactory machining operation. For instance, it is very difficult to get information about the stiffness of industrial robots from robot manufacturers. As a consequence, this paper introduces a robust and fast procedure that can be used to identify the joint stiffness values of any six-revolute serial robot. This procedure aims to evaluate joint stiffness values considering both translational and rotational displacements of the robot end-effector for a given applied wrench (force and torque). In this paper, the links of the robot are assumed to be much stiffer than its actuated joints. The robustness of the identification method and the sensitivity of the results to measurement errors and the number of experimental tests are also analyzed. Finally, the actual Cartesian stiffness matrix of the robot is obtained from the joint stiffness values and can be used for motion planning and to optimize machining operations.     

A new R package for Bayesian estimation of multivariate normal mixtures allowing for selection of the number of components and interval-censored data

An R package mixAK is introduced which implements routines for a semiparametric density estimation through normal mixtures using the Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) methodology. Besides producing the MCMC output, the package computes posterior summary statistics for important characteristics of the fitted distribution or computes and visualizes the posterior predictive density. For the estimated models, penalized expected deviance (PED) and deviance information criterion (DIC) is directly computed which allows for a selection of mixture components. Additionally, multivariate right-, left- and interval-censored observations are allowed. For univariate problems, the reversible jump MCMC algorithm has been implemented and can be used for a joint estimation of the mixture parameters and the number of mixture components. The core MCMC routines have been implemented in C++ and linked to R to ensure a reasonable computational speed. We briefly review the implemented algorithms and illustrate the use of the package on three real examples of different complexity.     

Defining syntax-directed translations by tree bimorphisms

We introduce a class of tree bimorphisms that define exactly the translations performed by syntax-directed translation schemata. We also show that these “quasi-alphabetic” tree bimorphisms preserve recognizability, and that their class is closed under composition and inverses.     

Estimating the altitude of aerosol plumes over the ocean from reflectance ratio measurements in the O2 A-band

A methodology is proposed to infer the altitude of aerosol plumes over the ocean from reflectance ratio measurements in the O₂ absorption A-band (759 to 770 nm). The reflectance ratio is defined as the ratio of the reflectance in a first spectral band, strongly attenuated by O₂ absorption, and the reflectance in a second spectral band, minimally attenuated. For a given surface reflectance, simple relations are established between the reflectance ratio and the altitude of an aerosol layer, as a function of atmospheric conditions and the geometry of observation. The expected accuracy for various aerosol loadings and models is first quantified using an accurate, high spectral resolution, radiative transfer model that fully accounts for interactions between scattering and absorption. The method is developed for POLDER and MERIS, satellite sensors with adequate spectral characteristics. The simulations show that the method is only accurate over dark surfaces when aerosol optical thickness at 765 nm is relatively large (> 0.3). In this case, the expected accuracy is on the order of ± 0.5 km or ± 0.2 km for POLDER or MERIS respectively. More accurate estimates are obtained with MERIS, since in this case the spectral reflectance ratio is more sensitive to aerosol altitude. However, a precise spectral calibration is needed for MERIS. The methodology is applied to MERIS and POLDER imagery acquired over marine surfaces. The estimated aerosol altitude is compared with in situ lidar profiles of backscattering coefficient measured during the AOPEX-2004 experiment for MERIS, or obtained with the space-borne lidar CALIOP for POLDER. The retrieved altitudes agree with lidar measurements in a manner consistent with theory. These comparisons demonstrate the potential of the differential absorption methodology for obtaining information on aerosol altitude over dark surfaces.