Generation of trajectory sensitivities: minimal-order realization

The problem of obtaining a minimal-order realization of a trajectory sensitivity model is investigated for a linear multi-input multi-output system. The dimension of the minimal realization is a function of some structural parameters of the system model and can be computed in a closed form. Several examples are given to illustrate the results.     

Removal of Ce(IV) and Nd(III) from Acidic Solution Using Polyacrylonitrile-Encapsulated Lithium Titanium Vanadate as an Efficient Adsorbent

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials - In the present study, polyacrylonitrile was grafted onto lithium titanium vanadate (LTV) to form a lithium titanium...     

Improving security of the Internet of Things via RF fingerprinting based device identification system

Neural Computing and Applications - Security is one of the primary concerns when designing wireless networks. Along detecting user identity, it is also important to detect the devices at the...     

Evaluation of multiloop chemical dosage control strategies for total phosphorus removal of enhanced biological nutrient removal process

We developed several control algorithms and compare their control performances for controlling the total phosphorous (TP) concentration in wastewater treatment plant, which has strong influent disturbances and the disturbance effects should be removed while maintaining better effluent quality. An anaerobic - anoxic - oxic (AAO) process, which is a well-known advanced nutrient removal process, was selected as a case study, which is modeled with activated sludge model no. 2. Six control strategies for TP control with a polymer addition were implemented in AAO process and evaluated by the plant’s performance, where the costs of the dosed chemical were compared among the six controllers. The experimental work showed that the advanced control techniques with feedback, feedforward and feedratio controllers were able to control the TP concentration in the effluent, which must be less than 1.50 g P/m³ which is the legal limitation, while reducing the necessary chemical cost. The results showed that the best TP removal performance in the effluent TP removal could be achieved by advanced feedback controller with the tuned control parameters, which showed the best effluent quality and control performance index as well as the cheapest cost of chemical dosage among the six TP control strategies.     

Barley for Brewing: Characteristic Changes during Malting,Brewing and Applications of its By‐Products

ABSTRACT: Barley is the basic raw material for brewing. Its chemical composition, brewing, and technological indices are highly determinative for the beer quality and the economical efficiency of the brewing process. Barley is rich in protein, carbohydrates, dietary fibers, minerals, and vitamins. The presence of nonstarch polysaccharides as mixed linkage (1‐3),(1‐4)‐β‐d ‐glucans and arabinoxylans together with the enzymes are responsible for barley modification. Malting is a complex process that involves many enzymes; important ones are α‐amylase, β‐amylase, α‐glucosidase, and limit dextrinase. During the process of malting and brewing, the by‐products left after separation of the wort are rich in protein, fibers, arabinoxylans, and β‐glucan. This review summarizes and integrates barley grain with respect to nutritional, functional, and compositional changes that take place during malting and brewing. It also explores in‐depth the several by‐products obtained after brewing and their potential for various food applications. Barley brewing by‐products offer an opportunity for cereal‐based baked and extruded products with acceptable sensory and nutritional characteristics.     

Characterisation of sol–gel method synthesised MgZnFe2 O4 nanoparticles and its cytotoxic effects on breast cancer cell line,MDA MB‐231 in vitro

In this study, nanocrystalline magnesium zinc ferrite nanoparticles were successfully prepared by a simple sol–gel method using copper nitrate and ferric nitrate as raw materials. The calcined samples were characterised by differential thermal analysis/thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and X‐ray diffraction. Transmission electron microscopy revealed that the average particle size of the calcined sample was in a range of 17–41 nm with an average of 29 nm and has spherical size. A cytotoxicity test was performed on human breast cancer cells (MDA MB‐231) and (MCF‐7) at various concentrations starting from (0 µg/ml) to (800 µg/ml). The sample possessed a mild toxic effect toward MDA MB‐231 and MCF‐7 after being examined with MTT (3‐[4, 5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl]‐2, 5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay for up to 72 h of incubation. Higher reduction of cells viability was observed as the concentration of sample was increased in MDA MB‐231 cell line than in MCF‐7. Therefore, further cytotoxicity tests were performed on MDA MB‐231 cell line.Inspec keywords: sol‐gel processing, nanoparticles, nanofabrication, magnesium compounds, zinc compounds, toxicology, biological organs, cancer, cellular biophysics, nanomedicine, calcination, differential thermal analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectra, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, particle size, organic compoundsOther keywords: sol‐gel method, cytotoxic effects, breast cancer cell line, MDA MB‐231 in vitro, nanocrystalline magnesium zinc ferrite nanoparticles, copper nitrate, ferric nitrate, raw materials, calcined samples, differential thermal analysis, thermogravimetric analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, average particle size, cytotoxicity testing, human breast cancer cells, mild toxic effect, 3‐[4,5‐dimethylthiazol‐2‐yl]‐2,5 diphenyltetrazolium bromide) assay, cell viability, MCF‐7, MDA MB‐231 cell line, size 17 nm to 41 nm     

Relative expression and regulation by short-term fasting of lysophosphatidic acid receptors and autotaxin in white and brown adipose tissue depots

Lysophosphatidic acid (lysoPtdOH) levels have previously been reported to decrease in rodents with short-term fasting. We investigated whether a 16 h fast would change expression of autotaxin, the predominant phospholipase D responsible for adipose-derived lysoPtdOH synthesis, or any of the lysophosphatidic acid receptors (1–6) in four white adipose tissue (WAT) depots and interscapular brown adipose tissue (BAT) in male C57Bl/6J mice fed ad libitum, or fasted for 16 h. Aside from small inductions of Lpar1 in epididymal WAT and Lpar2 in epididymal and inguinal WAT, no significant changes were observed in expression of the Lpar family members, or autotaxin in perirenal, retroperitoneal, epididymal, or inguinal WAT or BAT with fasting. Comparison of the relative expression of Lpar1-6 in various depots showed that Lpar6 was the predominant Lpar in both WAT and BAT, and suggests that further work on the adipose-specific role of Lpar6 is warranted.     

Dielectric properties of SBR vulcanizates loaded with HAF carbon black and BaTiO3 ceramics

The influence of HAF carbon black and BaTiO₃ ceramic powder contents in SBR vulcanizates on the dielectric constant (ε′) at different frequencies and at fixed temperature of 303 K is studied well in this article. The temperature dependence of the ac conductivity (σ_ac) was also studied. ε′ appreciably decreases as frequency increased for both filled and unfilled SBR vulcanizates. At each frequency, ε′ gradually decreased with BaTiO₃ loading, but its change at any fixed frequency with BaTiO₃ filler loading is not uniform. For HAF group ε′ (at loading ≥ 40 phr), drops rapidly with frequency. Meanwhile, it increased appreciably beyond a certain HAF filler loading (≈ 20 phr). Experimental values of the dielectric constant of both BaTiO₃ and HAF contents were compared with those calculated by using Tsangaris, Clausius and Bruggman models. Tsangaris model with simple modifications was applied and a fairly good agreement was obtained. The HAF particles or aggregates was found to take the shape of oblate ellipsoids with the minor axes parallel to the applied frequency as detected from the decreasing behavior of the depolarizing factor (Y) with HAF contents. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 103: 2227–2234, 2007     

Coating of stainless steel and titanium bipolar plates for anticorrosion in PEMFC: A review

Anticorrosion coating for stainless steel (SS) and titanium bipolar plates were evaluated to improve the corrosion resistance and electrical conductivity in PEMFC. The PEMFC offers clean and environmentally friendly usage in electrical power systems. The bipolar plates contribute 60%–80% of the total components of PEMFC stack with electrical conductivity >100 S cm^?1. Therefore, high conductivity and corrosion resistance are observed for long-term operations in PEMFC. Recent works has developed the cost-effective and feasible alternative materials to replace graphite bipolar plates. Metallic materials, such as SS and titanium, possess good electrical conductivity but poor corrosion resistance. Coating of SS and titanium bipolar plates can improve the corrosion resistance of metallic bipolar plates. Excellent performance of bipolar plates was recorded by using NbC coating for stainless steel materials. The ICR value using plasma surface alloying method was 8.47 mΩ cm² with a low current density (I_corr) between 0.051 and 0.058 μA cm^?2. The criteria for both current densities (<1 μA cm^?2) and electrical conductivity (<10 mΩ cm²) met the DOE's 2020 technical targets. In addition, conventional air brush method can be used for fabricating multilayer coatings onto substrates because it is self-cleaning, low cost and offers high volume and large area production. Vapor deposition method, a highly advanced coating technology using PVD, suitable for coating bipolar plates because it is environmentally friendly and can be used in high temperatures, producing materials with good impact strength and excellent abrasion resistance. PEMFC cost is still too high for large scale commercialization, which is the cost of raw material and processing to allow fabrication of thinner plates contributes substantially to the total PEMFC cost. Some future works on fuel cell anticorrosion research with reasonable coating method is suggested to reduce the cost in order to facilitate the move toward commercialization especially for SS and titanium bipolar plates.     

On the stability issues of switched singular time‐delay systems with slow switching based on average dwell‐time

The issue of exponential stability analysis of continuous‐time switched singular systems consisting of a family of stable and unstable subsystems with time‐varying delay is investigated in this paper. It is very difficult to analyze the stability of such systems because of the existence of time‐delay and unstable subsystems. In this regard, on the basis of the free‐weighting matrix approach, by constructing the new Lyapunov‐like Krasovskii functional, and using the average dwell‐time approach, delay‐dependent sufficient conditions are derived and formulated in terms of LMIs to check the exponential stability of such systems. This paper also highlights the relationship between the average dwell‐time of the switched singular time‐delay system, its stability, exponential convergence rate of differential states, and algebraic states. Finally, a numerical example is given to confirm the analytical results and illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed strategy. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.