Synthesis and characterization of tungsten disulphide films grown by pulsed-laser deposition

The synthesis and characterization of tungsten disulphide (WS₂) films grown on 440C stainless steel substrates using the 248 nm line from a KrF excimer laser are reported. Film properties could be adjusted by controlling substrate temperature and by laser or thermal anneals. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, glancing angle XRD, Raman spectroscopy and high-resolution scanning electron microscopy were used to evaluate film chemistry, crystallinity and morphology. Films grown at room temperature were amorphous, near stoichiometric, and had a multiplicity of chemical states. Local order and bonding were improved most dramatically through post-deposition laser anneals. Crystallite size could be increased by raising the substrate temperature during deposition and, to a lesser degree, by post-deposition thermal anneals. Local disorder was observed within the larger crystallites compared to those that were laser annealed. Crystallinity was induced in amorphous films by mechanical rubbing at room temperature under conditions where frictional heating was negligible. The degree of control over film properties provided by PLD demonstrates its value for growing/designing tribological coatings.     

Characterization of the flow behaviour of sausage emulsions with a simple tube viscometer

A specially designed tube viscometer was used to measure apparent viscosity during flow of Bologna type sausage emulsions moving through a pipe. Emulsions varied in fat content (from 21.8 to 44.3%) and in moisture/protein ratio (from 3.7 to 5.6), and the effects of added sodium chloride, sodium diphosphate, starch and blood plasma were investigated in a 36% fat, 3.7 moisture/protein emulsion.
The shear stresses determined as a function of shear rate were fitted by a power law. Yield stress of the emulsions was negligible relative to the applied stress. However, inspection of the flow profiles indicated that considerable slip of the sausage emulsion occurred at the pipe wall. Both emulsion flow and slip contribute to overall flow behaviour, so a kind of effective viscosity is determined. Intrinsic rheological properties and wall slip will both be affected by the composition of the sausage emulsion.     

Method of selecting the regularisation parameter for microwaveimaging

The Tikhonov regularisation technique is widely used in the solution of inverse scattering problems. One of the difficulties in applying this technique is the proper selection of the associated regularisation parameter. Based on a stochastic model of the reconstruction process, a simple method is presented for selecting this parameter for an efficient implementation of various microwave imaging methods     

EFFECT OF MODIFIED ATMOSPHERE PACKAGING ON COLOR STABILITY AND ON MICROBIOLOGY OF TURKEY BREAST MEAT

The effects of several modified atmospheres (100% O₂, 100% N₂, 100% CO₂+ O₂ scavenger, and 25% CO₂ 9% N₂ 66% O₂) and vacuum on the color stability of turkey were studied. Microbiological examinations were performed at days 0, 7, 14 and 21. pH and pigment content measurements were performed at days l and 2, respectively. Color coordinates were determined at intervals of 2, 5, 7, 11, 14 and 21 days storage in the CIELAB system (1976). Meat kept under vacuum and 100% CO₂+ O₂ scavenger treatment showed the highest a* values color stability (p < 0.05) and the lowest rate of myoglobin oxidation (p < 0.05). The level of microbiological contamination of turkey breast meat stored with 100% CO₂+ O₂ scavenger was the lowest. Conditioning breast turkey meat with 100% CO₂+ O₂ scavenger or under vacuum would improve the color stability during storage.     

Controlling for stimulus dominance in dichotic listening tests: A modification of !l.

Dichotic listening procedures have been used to assess cerebral lateralization in normal Ss. One particularly useful technique is the use of stimuli that fuse into a single percept. Although this procedure has many advantages over other dichotic listening methods, it is particularly susceptible to stimulus dominance, which acts as noise in a S's response data, thus reducing the power of any statistical test of the ear advantage. It is proposed that the solution to this problem is a log-linear analysis of the response data to yield a λ-type index (λ*) that is a measure of ear dominance independent of stimulus dominance. Details of the analysis are provided, as well as a sample analysis of data collected from 104 right-handed and 30 left-handed Ss. Comparisons are drawn between the log-linear analysis and other methods that have been proposed to control for stimulus dominance in this single-response dichotic fusion procedure. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Extremely wide-range speed measurement using a double-bufferedmethod

An electric motor double-buffered speed measurement method for PC/AT computer application is based on 14.31818 MHz reference clock. The extremely wide frequency range of 4·10⁹ (1.67 mHz to 7 MHz) is independent of sampling time, which can be chosen from 100 μs to 4.6 ms. Appropriate software provides real-time graphics presentation of measured speed versus time and storage for further analysis. The enclosed test diagrams cover DC motor speed reversal and an induction motor acceleration     

Hardware implementation of an artificial neural network using fieldprogrammable gate arrays (FPGA's)

In this paper, the authors present a hardware implementation of a fully digital multilayer perceptron artificial neural network using Xilinx Field Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs). Each node is implemented with two XC3042 FPGAs and a 1 K×8 EPROM. Training is done offline on a PC. The authors have tested successfully the performance of the network     

Contact control concepts in manipulation robotics-an overview

This paper presents the state of the art in the control of robotic manipulators in constrained motion tasks. Contact control concepts are classified using different criteria, and their main characteristics are analyzed. For each of the presented contact control concepts, the essential characteristics are stated. The paper covers some early ideas and their later improvements, as well as trends in this field. The advantages and drawbacks of the various control schemes are outlined, and they are compared from the standpoint of their implementation issues. In the paper, all characteristic results in the stability analysis of robotic manipulators in the constrained motion tasks are briefly reported. A new approach to the correct solution of contact tasks control is mentioned as well