A high-current and high-temperature 6H-SiC thyristor

A 6H-SiC thyristor has been fabricated and characterized. A forward breakover voltage close to 100 V and a pulse switched current density of 5200 A/cm² have been demonstrated. The thyristor is shown to operate under pulse gate triggering for turn-on and turn-off, with a rise time of 43 ns and a fall time of less than 100 ns. The forward breakover voltage is found to decrease by only 4% when the operating temperature is increased from room temperature to 300°C. It is found that anode ohmic contact resistance dominates the device forward drop at high current densities     

β-hydroxyacyl-coa-dehydrogenase (HADH) activity of unfrozen and frozen—thawed frog (Rana esculenta) legs

The β-hydroxyacyl-CoA-dehydrogenase (HADH) activity of unfrozen and thawed frog legs was investigated. The enzyme was extracted by either immersing frog legs in phosphate buffer 0.1 M, pH 6.0 at 25°C for 15 min or pressing them between trichinoscopy glasses. The enzyme activity was assayed using acetoacetyl-CoA as substrate and measured spectrophotometrically at 340 nm. It was possible by both extraction methods to distinguish between thawed and unfrozen samples although when the juice was obtained by pressing the HADH activity of the dilution was ～ 1.5 times higher than that obtained by immersion. The HADH activity was significantly higher (P≤0·001) in frozen-thawed frogs than in unfrozen legs because during freezing there is a release of HADH. No significative differences were found in the HADH activity in samples frozen in the temperature range -10 to -196°C. HADH activity was not affected by the storage time in crushed ice up to 6 days.     

An extension of the Secant Method for the homogenization of the nonlinear behavior of composite materials

We discuss the consequences of a different application of the principle the Modified Secant Method is [C. R. Acad. Sci. Paris Sér. IIb 320 (1995) 563] based on. In fact, we directly compute the second-order averages of the local fields available from the linear elastic homogenization procedure exploited in order to evaluate the effective elastic moduli. This method, which can be seen either as a simplification of the Modified Secant Method or as an extension of the Secant Method [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 26 (1979) 325], may be useful for any composite whose overall elastic constants need to be estimated by modeling the microstructure through Morphologically Representative Patterns [J. Mech. Phys. Solids 44 (1996) 307], which is for instance the case of syntactic foams [Int. J. Solids and Structures 38/40-41 (2001) 7235]. In order to show the accuracy of the proposed method, we apply it to several examples and compare its results with those obtainable by means of other analytical methods available in the literature, with numerical results of Finite Element simulations, and with experimental results. Closed-form solutions are derived for the effective yield stress of porous metals and incompressible composites reinforced with rigid spheres.     

A unified method for optimal arbitrary pole placement

We consider the classic problem of pole placement by state feedback. We offer an eigenstructure assignment algorithm to obtain a novel parametric form for the pole-placing feedback matrix that can deliver any set of desired closed-loop eigenvalues, with any desired multiplicities. This parametric formula is then exploited to introduce an unconstrained nonlinear optimisation algorithm to obtain a feedback matrix that delivers the desired pole placement with optimal robustness and minimum gain. Lastly we compare the performance of our method against several others from the recent literature.     

Cable-direct-driven-robot (CDDR) with a 3-link passive serial support

Cable-direct-driven-robots (CDDRs) provided with a passive serial support represent an interesting and rising evolution of planar cable robots. The paper is devoted to present and analyze a novel CDDR robot. The robot consists in a fully actuated CDDR supported against loading normal to the motion plane with a 3-link passive planar serial manipulator. This hybrid structure combines positive features of both parallel and serial architectures, and prevents out-of-plane movements without the necessity for the robot to be supported on the motion plane. The adoption of a 3-link serial manipulator ensures a greater workspace area compared with similar structures that adopt a smaller number of links, and improves specific characteristics of their dynamics. Nevertheless undesired oscillations may occur since the serial manipulator is underconstrained. For this reason damping elements are inserted in the structure. Simulation examples are presented to demonstrate the novel CDDR concept and its dynamics. In addition, a strategy to select proper values of damping coefficients is presented.     

A molecular level mechanism ofn-butane oxidation to maleic anhydride over vanadyl pyrophosphate

A molecular level mechanism is proposed for the highly selective 14-e^– oxidative transformation ofn-butane to maleic anhydride on the surface of vanadyl pyrophosphate. The mechanism suggests that the dimeric active sites assume at any given time, one of four possible interconvertible states which differ from each other in the number of available oxygen atoms and the formal oxidation states of the individual vanadium atoms. The relative ratios of active sites in each of the four possible states are dictated by the reaction conditions, the redox properties of the reacting gases and the structure of the vanadyl pyrophosphate active surface. A crucial feature of the mechanism is a pseudo-ozonide surface species formed by the interaction of a chemisorbed dioxygen molecule and an adjacent metal-oxo group. This unusual species is responsible for the initial activation of then-butane, which occurs when the chemisorbed dioxygen abstracts an H-atom from the alkane and the adjacent metal-oxo group reacts with the incipient alkyl radical to form an alkoxy group. The proposed mechanism is entirely consistent with literature reports describing the behaviour of (VO)₂P₂O₇ in flow, pulse and TAP reactors.     

Mocking Ads through Mobile Web Services

The need for creativity is ubiquitous, and mobile devices connected to Web services can help us. Linguistic creativity is widely used in advertisements to surprise us, to get our attention, and to stick concepts in our memory. However, creativity can also be used as a defense. When we walk in the street, we are overwhelmed by messages that try to get our attention with any persuasive device at hand. As messages get ever more aggressive, often our basic cognitive defenses—trying not to perceive those messages—are not sufficient. One advanced defensive technique is based on transforming the perceived message into something different (for instance, making use of irony or hyperbole) from what was originally meant in the message. In this article, we describe an implemented application for smartphones, which creatively modifies the linguistic expression in a virtual copy of a poster encountered on the street. The mobile system is inspired by the subvertising practice of countercultural art.     

Nonlinear output regulation for invertible nonlinear MIMO systems

In this paper, we address the problem of output regulation for a broad class of multi‐input multi‐output (MIMO) nonlinear systems. Specifically, we consider input–affine systems, which are invertible and input–output linearizable. This class includes, as a trivial special case, the class of MIMO systems which possess a well‐defined vector relative degree. It is shown that if a system in this class is strongly minimum phase, in a sense specified in the paper, the problem of output regulation can be solved via partial‐state feedback or via (dynamic) output feedback. The result substantially broadens the class of nonlinear MIMO systems for which the problem in question is known to be possible. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.