Preparation of Silica Nanostructured Spheres by Sol Spray Drying

Silica nanostructured spheres were obtained by spray drying of silica sol prepared in situ. Their morphologies were significantly affected by the aggregation of the primary particles in the sol. They had the mode of the pore sizes which was about the same order as Laser Particle Size Analyzer (LPA) diameter. Increasing the mixing ratio of the larger particles (20 nm) to smaller ones (7 nm) decreased the Brunauer, Emmett and Teller (BET) specific surface area, as expected. Pore volume decreased with the pore size distribution broadened and the mean pore diameter was not affected by the increase, due to the decrease in aggregation of the primary particles. Either the increase in the drying temperature and use of ethanol as a cosolvent made the agglomerates hollower, the larger of which with thinner shell transformed to doughnut type agglomerates, due to the structural and hydrodynamic instabilities.     

Microcolinearity in sh2-homologous regions of the maize, rice, and sorghum genomes

Large regions of genomic colinearity have been demonstrated among grass species by recombinational mapping, but the degree of chromosomal conservation at the sub-centimorgan level has not been extensively investigated. We cloned the rice and sorghum genes homologous to the sh2 locus of maize on bacterial artificial chromosomes (BACs), and observed that a homologue of the maize a1 gene was also present on each of these BACs. In sorghum, we found a direct duplication of a1 homologues separated by about 10 kb. In maize, sh2 and a1 are approximately 140 kb apart and transcribed in the same direction, with sh2 upstream of a1. In rice and sorghum, this arrangement is fully conserved. However, the sh2 and a1 homologues are separated by about 19 kb in both rice and sorghum. We found low-copy-number and repetitive DNAs between the sh2 and a1 homologues of sorghum and rice. The sh2 and a1 homologues cross-hybridized, but the repetitive DNA and most low-copy-number sequences between these genes did not. These results indicate that maize, sorghum, and rice have conserved gene order and composition in the sh2-a1 region, but have acquired extensive qualitative and quantitative differences in the sequences between these genes.     

Extensive Development of Leak Detection Algorithm by Impulse Response Method

The oscillatory flows in pipeline systems due to excitation by valve operation are efficiently analyzed by the impulse response method. The impact of leakage is incorporated into the transfer functions of the complex head and discharge. Frequency-dependent friction is used to consider the impact of unsteady friction for laminar condition. Extensive development of the impulse response method was made by considering the sources of friction associated with the local and convective acceleration of velocity for turbulent flow. The genetic algorithm was integrated into the impulse response method to calibrate the location and the quantity of leakage. The calibration function for leakage detection can be made using the pressure-head response at the valve, or the pressure-head and flow response at the section upstream from the valve. The proposed leak detection algorithm shows the potentials for being applied to a simple pipeline system with a single leak or multiple leaks.     

Adaptive control of a binary distillation column using quadratic programming

A quadratic cost function for the optimal control of binary distillation column was minimized using quadratic programming. An input-output model was used and its parameters were recursively updated by instrumental variable method. A control experiment was conducted for the performance appreciation of the control technique. The performance of the adaptive control was found to be much improved comparing with the conventional PID control. The technique was capable to obtain fast solution and easy to apply for the multi-input-multi-output systems. And also the algorithm was stable for a long term operation which is very critical for the industrial application.     

Hypercube computing: Connected components

Several approaches to finding the connected components of a graph on a hypercube multicomputer are proposed and analyzed. The results of experiments conducted on an NCUBE hypercube are also presented. The experimental results support the analysis.This research was supported in part by the National Science Foundation under grants DCR84-20935 and MIP 86-17374.     

Adsorption properties of hydrogen on (10,0) single-walled carbon nanotube through density functional theory

The density functional theory (DFT) has been used to simultaneously investigate physi-/chemi-sorption properties of hydrogen on the (10,0) single-walled carbon nanotube (SWCNT) walls. Physisorption of H₂ outside the CNT with a vertical orientation to the tube axis above the center of a hexagon surface is the most stable state of physisorption and its binding energy is very weak, −0.792 kcal/mol. In the chemisorption of two hydrogen atoms the most stable state is above two adjacent carbon atoms of a hexagon with a C-H bond length of 1.10 Å and one C-H bond energy of −45.761 kcal/mol. Based on these results, we have also investigated the transition state and the reaction pathway from physisorption to chemisorption of hydrogen on the CNT. The energy barrier of the reaction from physisorption to chemisorption is about 78.837 kcal/mol and the reaction is not spontaneous at 0 K. Through the calculations of the Gibbs free energy change from physisorption to chemisorption with temperatures, we learned that it is not easy for the reaction to occur, which is a major obstacle for the practical use of the CNT as a hydrogen storage medium.     

Applying material optimization to fracture mechanics analysis to improve the reliability of the plastic IC package in reflow soldering process

To prevent crack propagation in a plastic small outline J-lead package with a dimpled diepad under an IR soldering process, parametric study and optimization with respect to material properties are done. The main design variables among all material properties are determined from the parametric study. Their optimized values are determined by applying a constraint optimization technique to the IC package.     

Improved Scalar Multiplication on Elliptic Curves Defined over F2mn

We propose two improved scalar multiplication methods on elliptic curves over F_qn where q = 2^m using Frobenius expansion. The scalar multiplication of elliptic curves defined over subfield F_q can be sped up by Frobenius expansion. Previous methods are restricted to the case of a small m. However, when m is small, it is hard to find curves having good cryptographic properties. Our methods are suitable for curves defined over medium‐sized fields, that is, 10 ≤ m ≤ 20. These methods are variants of the conventional multiple‐base binary (MBB) method combined with the window method. One of our methods is for a polynomial basis representation with software implementation, and the other is for a normal basis representation with hardware implementation. Our software experiment shows that it is about 10% faster than the MBB method, which also uses Frobenius expansion, and about 20% faster than the Montgomery method, which is the fastest general method in polynomial basis implementation.     

Did a local distribution company procure prudently during the California electricity crisis?

To manage cost risk, prudent procurement of electric power requires that some portion of a buyer's energy demand be met through long-term contracting. Under cost-of-service regulation or performance-based regulation, a local distribution company (LDC) should be allowed to fully recover all prudently incurred power procurement costs. However, the regulatory test of prudence is an ex post review with the threat of disallowance. This paper presents an economic analysis of procurement prudence involving a small LDC, Bear Valley Electric Service (BVES), which serves a resort area in Southern California. The key findings are: (a) high and volatile prices and rolling blackouts characterized the market environment faced by the owner of BVES, Southern California Water Company (SCWC), at its signing of a 5-year fixed price contract; (b) SCWC was a price-taker with no incentive to act imprudently; (c) the contract was obtained via a competitive bidding process; (d) the contract price was comparable to the benchmark price of contemporaneous contracts; (e) the fixed price contract was economic when compared to available alternatives; and (f) despite (a)–(e), a negotiated settlement with the state regulator and a large user resulted in substantial disallowance. The policy implication is that a regulator should approve a prudent procurement plan proposed by an LDC to remove the unreasonable risk of an ex post review. If the LDC strictly adheres to the plan, the resulting electricity purchases are per se prudent and should entitle the LDC to full cost recovery.     

The chemical and physical properties of electrochemically prepared polyaniline perchlorate (PAP)

Polyaniline perchlorate (PAP) was synthesized by electrochemical oxidation from 0.2 M aniline in acetonitrile solution containing 0.1 M tetraethylammonium perchlorate as supporting electrolyte. From polarographic and cyclic voltammetry results, the values of the half-wave potential (E_1/2), transfer coefficient (α), and number of electrons related to the electrode reaction (n) were calculated to be 825 mV, 0.894, and 1, respectively. The morphology of the PAP film was observed by using an SEM analyzer. From thermal analysis of the PAP sample, the reaction rate (R) for its thermal decomposition was obtained from the TGA result and a exothermic peak at 330°C was also observed in the DSC curve. The electrical conductivity of the PAP pellet was measured at temperatures from ?170 to 25°C. From a plot of conductivity vs. 1/T, the activation energy (E_a) was obtained to be 0.14 eV. The conduction mechanism in a pressed pellet of PAP is suggested to be electronic hopping conduction. The values of the ESR parameters were calculated from an ESR curve for PAP at room temperature.