Effects of aging on polyimide: A study of bulk and interface chemistry

We are investigating the bulk and interfacial chemistry of polyimide (PI) exposed to heat and relative humidity (RH) stress (85°C/85% RH) over long periods to understand the long-term reliability aspects of PI for microelectronic applications. The PI surface chemistry and the PI–Si interface chemistry was followed with electron spectroscopy for chemical analysis (ESCA). For exposure times greater than 550 h, the PI surface exhibits significant changes in emission structure and atomic concentration. The PI–Si interface indicates little change in the PI chemistry when compared to control samples. The water-contact angle at the PI surface shows no statistically significant change as a function of exposure time. Bulk and surface chemistry were followed with Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) in a grazing incidence reflection configuration. There were measurable differences in FTIR spectra between aged and control samples only for the case of very thin PI layers. These results suggest that for exposure times of less than 1100 h, chemical changes in PI occur primarily at the PI–air interface for samples 1 μm thick and greater. These changes represent a possible rearrangement of the imide structure and may be a form of deimidization of the polymer, but the final state is not polyamic acid. The PI surface chemistry changes observed with ESCA are reversible upon reheating to the cure temperature.     

OpenCOPI: middleware integration for Ubiquitous Computing

In this paper, we present OpenCOPI (Open COntext Platform Integration), a Service-Oriented Architecture-based middleware platform that supports the integration of services provided by distinct sources, ranging from services offered by simple systems to more complex services provided by context-provision middleware. OpenCOPI offers selection and composition mechanisms to, respectively, select and compose services provided by different sources, considering applications of both Quality of Service and Quality of Context requirements. It also offers an adaptation mechanism that enables to adapt the application execution due to service failures, service quality fluctuation and user mobility. OpenCOPI allows the definition of applications in a higher abstraction level by the specification of a semantic workflow that contains abstract activities. This paper illustrates the use of OpenCOPI in an application from the Gas & Oil Industry and it also shows the evaluation of the main mechanisms of OpenCOPI: the service selection, composition, adaptation and workflow execution.     

Purification of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole by solvent extraction

−Purification of 2-mercaptobenzothiazole (91.9% purity) by solvent extraction was studied. The extraction of impurities present in crude 2-MBT (e.g. benzothiazole, sulfides and sulfur containing compounds) was carried out at temperatures between 70-180°C using various solvents and their mixtures of different polarity. The highest purity of 2-MBT, above 99% was obtained using nitrobenzene, toluene and ethanol, even at a concentration of 2-MBT above 50 wt%. Increasing temperature and decreasing concentration of the raw material have a positive influence on the purification process. A comparable efficiency of purification was observed also with mixed solvents, (toluene with ethanol, acetone and aniline) possessing the same polarities. A correlation between the polarity indexes (PI) of mixed solvents and experimentally obtained purity of 2-MBT was found. The highest purity of 2-MBT provides extraction of the raw material with mixed solvents having PI 3.8-4.4.     

Developing a model to assess the success of e-learning systems: evidence from a manufacturing company in transitional economy

This paper examines the success of an e-learning system in a company from the perspective of employees by using a multimethod approach. For this purpose Moodle learning management system was used. The success of e-learning as an information system was evaluated using four constructs of the updated DeLone and McLean IS success model—system quality, use, user satisfaction and net benefits, and adding one more construct—user performance. In this research a combination of observation and survey as two different research methods was used, which allowed the new measure to be incorporated into the model. Empirical assessment was carried out by exploratory factor analysis, confirmatory factor analysis and structural equation modeling. The research model was found to be valid and reliable. The results provide an expanded understanding of the constructs that measure the success of an e-learning system, helping to more deeply understand the key success dimensions and their interrelationships. The implications of our work were discussed. The DeLone and McLean IS success model applied equally well. However, the use of observation as a method of data collection revealed the weaknesses of the original model.     

A two‐step control approach for docking of autonomous underwater vehicles

This paper presents a novel integrated guidance and control strategy for docking of autonomous underwater vehicles. The approach to the base, and hence the control design, is divided in two steps: (i) in the first, at higher speed, the vehicle dynamics is assumed to be underactuated, and an appropriate control law is derived to steer the vehicle towards the final docking path, achieving convergence to zero of the appropriate error variables for almost all initial conditions; (ii) in the second stage, at low speed, the vehicle is assumed to be fully actuated, and a robust control law is designed that achieves convergence to zero of the appropriate error variables for all initial conditions, in the presence of parametric model uncertainty. Simulations are presented illustrating the performance of the proposed controllers, including model uncertainty and sensor noise. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Generative face alignment through 2.5D active appearance models

This work addresses the matching of a 3D deformable face model to 2D images through a 2.5D Active Appearance Models (AAM). We propose a 2.5D AAM that combines a 3D metric Point Distribution Model (PDM) and a 2D appearance model whose control points are defined by a full perspective projection of the PDM. The advantage is that, assuming a calibrated camera, 3D metric shapes can be retrieved from single view images. Two model fitting algorithms and their computational efficient approximations are proposed: the Simultaneous Forwards Additive (SFA) and the Normalization Forwards Additive (NFA), both based on the Lucas–Kanade framework. The SFA algorithm searches for shape and appearance parameters simultaneously whereas the NFA projects out the appearance from the error image and searches only for the shape parameters. SFA is therefore more accurate. Robust solutions for the SFA and NFA are also proposed in order to take into account the self-occlusion or partial occlusion of the face. Several performance evaluations for the SFA, NFA and theirs efficient approximations were performed. The experiments include evaluating the frequency of converge, the fitting performance in unseen data and the tracking performance in the FGNET Talking Face sequence. All results show that the 2.5D AAM can outperform both the 2D + 3D combined models and the 2D standard methods. The robust extensions to occlusion were tested on a synthetic sequence showing that the model can deal efficiently with large head rotation.     

Flow profile measurement in microchannel using the optical feedback interferometry sensing technique

The need to accurately measure flow profiles in microfluidic channels is well recognised. In this work, we present a new optical feedback interferometry (OFI) flow sensor that accurately measures local velocity in fluids and enables reconstruction of a velocity profile inside a microchannel. OFI is a self-aligned interferometric technique that uses the laser as both the transmitter and the receiver thus offering high sensitivity, fast response, and a simple and compact optical design. The system described here is based on a commercial semiconductor laser and has been designed to achieve a micrometer-range spatial resolution. The sensor performance was validated by reconstructing the velocity profile inside a circular cross-section flow-channel with 320  $\upmu $ m internal diameter, with a relative error smaller than 1.8 %. The local flow velocity is directly measured, thus avoiding the need for model based profile calculation and uncertainties inherent to this approach. The system was validated by successfully extracting the flow profiles in both Newtonian and shear-thinning liquids.     

Metal Alloys for Fusion‐Based Additive Manufacturing

Metal additive manufacturing (AM) is an innovative manufacturing technique, which builds parts incrementally layer by layer. Thus, metal AM has inherent advantages in part complexity, time, and waste saving. However, due to its complex thermal cycle and rapid solidification during processing, the alloys well suit and commercially used for metal AM today are limited. Therefore, it is important to understand the alloying strategy and current progress with materials performance to consider alloy development for metal AM. This review presents the current range of alloys available for metal AM, including titanium, steel, nickel, aluminum, less common alloys (including Mg alloys, metal matrix composites alloys, and low melting point alloys), and compositionally complex alloys (including bulk metallic glasses and high entropy alloys) with a focus on the relationship between compositions, processing, microstructures, and properties of each alloy system. In addition, some promising alloy systems for metal AM are highlighted. Approaches for designing and optimizing new materials for metal AM have been summarized.

     

Resonance-valence-bond superconductivity in CuO2 planes

We find the exact ground state of a system of 4 × 4 unit cells described by an effective model for cuprate superconductors. The model has the form of the t - J one, but includes a three-site term t like that derived from the Hubbard model in the large U limit, but of opposite sign for realistic or large O-O hopping. For t > t_c (where t_c/t 0.1 for realistic J and doping) the system undergoes a transition to a phase in which the ground state has a significant overlap with a very simple superconducting resonance-valence-bond (RVB) wave function. In the RVB phase there is a large increase of the d-wave superconducting susceptibility. We calculate the boundary of the RVB phase.