New Reaction Engineering Concepts for Selective Oxidation Reactions

In order to enhance product yields in selective oxidation reactions, numerous reaction engineering concepts are being studied worldwide. Periodic operation has been investigated for decades, yet its application is limited to a few examples, such as the butane oxidation after DuPont or reverse-flow reactors for VOC removal. The use of microchannel reactors is a younger field, but it has already yielded promising results for process optimization. Catalytic wall reactors have proved to be a helpful tool for kinetic studies. On the laboratory scale, membrane reactors have displayed favorable behavior in selective oxidation. The Na vapor-catalyzed dehydrogenation of methanol to formaldehyde is a final example of an unusual new concept for selective oxidation.     

Modeling the Kinetics of Growth and the Properties of Nitrided Layers on Steels

Metal Science and Heat Treatment -     

Blind OFDM symbol synchronization in ISI channels

We present a new algorithm for blind symbol synchronization in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems. The new algorithm declares symbol synchronization when a certain autocorrelation matrix, constructed from the received signal, achieves minimum rank. Unlike previously proposed blind algorithms, the new rank method guarantees correct symbol synchronization, even in the presence of intersymbol interference. Also, it does not assume that the OFDM time samples are i.i.d. In particular, the rank method works even with OFDM systems that employ pulse shaping. The increased complexity of the algorithm would be acceptable for systems, such as fixed-receiver broadcast systems, that require guaranteed synchronization under all conditions.     

A compact LTCC-based Ku-band transmitter module

Presents design, implementation, and measurement of a three-dimensional (3-D)-deployed RF front-end system-on-package (SOP) in a standard multi-layer low temperature co-fired ceramic (LTCC) technology. A compact 14 GHz GaAs MESFET-based transmitter module integrated with an embedded bandpass filter was built on LTCC 951AT tapes. The up-converter MMIC integrated with a voltage controlled oscillator (VCO) exhibits a measured up-conversion gain of 15 dB and an IIP3 of 15 dBm, while the power amplifier (PA) MMIC shows a measured gain of 31 dB and a 1-dB compression output power of 26 dBm at 14 GHz. Both MMICs were integrated on a compact LTCC module where an embedded front-end band pass filter (BPF) with a measured insertion loss of 3 dB at 14.25 GHz was integrated. The transmitter module is compact in size (400 /spl times/ 310 /spl times/ 35.2 mil/sup 3/), however it demonstrated an overall up-conversion gain of 41 dB, and available data rate of 32 Mbps with adjacent channel power ratio (ACPR) of 42 dB. These results suggest the feasibility of building highly SOP integrated RF front ends for microwave and millimeter wave applications.     

IEEE Richard Harold Kaufmann Award Call for Nominations

This letter further discusses the difference between different definitions of voltage unbalance. Contrary to an earlier letter (see P. Pillay et al., ibid., vol.5, p.50-1, 2001), it is concluded that different definitions may give significantly different results. The two IEEE definitions that were not discussed in the earlier letter give different results and both deviate significantly from the true value (ratio of negative, and positive-sequence voltage) when a zero-sequence component is present.     

Discussion influence of yield surface curvature on flow localization in dilatant plasticity

The results of finite element calculations for a hollow sphere micromodel are used to examine the underlying assumptions and the specific yield functions in the dilatant plasticity theories of Gurson (1977) and Mear and Hutchinson     

Effect of moderate to very low fat defined formula diets on serum lipids in healthy subjects

Serum total cholesterol, high density lipoprotein (HDL) cholesterol, and triglyceride levels were studied in healthy male and female subjects consuming for one-week periods a diet of conventional food (CF) providing 42% of energy as fat, principally butter fat, and then in random order nutritionally complete, defined formula diets of moderate (32%) to very low (1%) fat content. Compared to CF, the formula with 32% of energy as corn oil lowered serum cholesterol by 25% and the ratio of total to HDL-cholesterol by 13%. Low (9%) and very low (1–3%) fat formulas reduced HDL-cholesterol by as much as 40%, raised the total: HDL-cholesterol ratio by about 20% and raised serum triglyceride levels by as much as 100%. When low and very low fat formulas were ingested for three weeks, these effects persisted although maximal responses occurred during the first week. These results demonstrated that a moderate fat formula diet with a high P/S ratio had a more favorable effect on serum lipid levels than various low fat formulas. Low fat conventional food diets should be studied in long-term controlled metabolic experiments before such diets are recommended to the general population for coronary heart disease or cancer prevention.