A new method for manufacturing nanostructured electrodes on glass substrates

The present paper describes a new method for manufacturing a nanostructured porous layer of TiO₂ on a conducting glass substrate for use in a dye-sensitized photoelectrochemical cell. The method involves deposition of a layer of semiconductor particles onto a conducting substrate and compression of the particle layer to form a mechanically stable, electrically conducting, and porous nanostructured film at room temperature. Photoelectrochemical characteristics and morphology of the resulting nanostructured films are presented. The potential use of the new manufacturing method in the future applications of nanostructured systems is discussed.     

Crystallographic electron microscopy

We present a family of techniques for the transmission electron microscope that generate surface zone-axis patterns. These patterns display the variation of the diffracted-beam intensity as a function of the angle of the incident electrons. The conditions of the experiments are those of reflection high-energy electron diffraction at near grazing incidence. The techniques are: surface convergent-beam diffraction, a surface analogue of the Tanaka method and a modified double-rocking scheme. Experimental results are presented for diffraction from surfaces of MgO and MoS₂. We anticipate that surface zone-axis patterns (surface ZAPs) will become established as an important tool for surface characterization, especially when used in conjunction with high-resolution surface imaging and surface energy loss spectroscopy; surface ZAPs may be expected to play, in surface analysis, a role analogous to that played by convergent-beam diffraction in normal transmission electron microscopy.     

Putting it all together – Formal verification of the VAMP

In the verified architecture microprocessor (VAMP) project we have designed, functionally verified, and synthesized a processor with full DLX instruction set, delayed branch, Tomasulo scheduler, maskable nested precise interrupts, pipelined fully IEEE compatible dual precision floating point unit with variable latency, and separate instruction and data caches. The verification has been carried out in the theorem proving system PVS. The processor has been implemented on a Xilinx FPGA. A shorter version of this article with the title “Instantiating uninterpreted functional units and memory system: functional verification of the VAMP” appeared in [8]. The work reported here was done while all the authors were with Saarland University.     

Existence of discrete-time LQG-controllers

Existence results for the LQG-controller are investigated. An infimal Riccati equation based controller may potentially give closed loop eigenvalues on the unit circle. Assuming left and right invertibility it is shown that there exists an optimal controller if and only if the Riccati equation based controller stabilizes the closed loop system after removal of all its unobservable and uncontrollable modes. Furthermore this reduced controller is the optimal controller, and its transfer function is unique. This existence condition is a considerable simplification of the more general geometric condition recently derived by Trentelman and Stoorvogel.     

Renal sodium excretion after oral or intravenous sodium loading in sodium-deprived normotensive and spontaneously hypertensive rats

Spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and normotensive Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats that had been on a low sodium diet for 3 days were given 1.5 mmol sodium chloride kg-1 body weight either orally or intravenously. The rats receiving an oral sodium load showed a greater natriuresis than those receiving the same saline load intravenously. No increase of renal sodium excretion was observed when the rats received a hypertonic mannitol solution orally. The cumulative sodium excretion during the 8 h following oral loading was two to three times larger in SHR than in WKY, whereas no difference between strains could be demonstrated after giving saline intravenously. Furthermore, after switching from normal to low sodium diet the rate of decrease of renal sodium excretion was greater in SHR than in WKY rats. It is proposed that there exists a gastrointestinal sensory mechanism for sodium controlling the renal sodium excretion. Furthermore, it is suggested that the function of this mechanism differs between SHR and WKY.     

Probabilistic heuristic estimates

Though they constitute the major knowledge source in problem-solving systems, no unified theory of heuristics has emerged. Pearl [15] defines heuristics as criteria, methods, or principles for deciding which among several alternative courses of action promises to be the most effective in order to achieve some goal. The absence of a more precise definition has impeded our efforts to understand, utilize, and discover heuristics. Another consequence is that problem-solving techniques which rely on heuristic knowledge cannot be relied upon to act rationally — in the sense of the normative theory of rationality.To provide a sound basis for BPS, the Bayesian Problem-Solver, we have developed a simple formal theory of heuristics, which is general enough to subsume traditional heuristic functions as well as other forms of problem-solving knowledge, and to straddle disparate problem domains. Probabilistic heuristic estimates represent a probabilistic association of sensations with prior experience — specifically, a mapping from observations directly to subjective probabilities which enables the use of theoretically principled mechanisms for coherent inference and decision making during problem-solving. This paper discusses some of the implications of this theory, and describes its successful application in BPS.This research was made possible by support from Heuristicrats, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, and the Rand Corporation.     

Vibration in car repair work

The main objective of the study was to find efficient hand tools which caused only minor vibration loading. Vibration measurements were carried out under standardised working conditions. The time during which car body repairers in seven companies were exposed to vibration was determined. Chisel hammers, impact wrenches, sanders and saws were the types of tools which generated the highest vibration accelerations. The average daily exposure at the different garages ranged from 22 to 70 min. The risk of vibration injury is currently rated as high. The difference between the highest and lowest levels of vibration was considerable in most tool categories. Therefore the choice of tool has a major impact on the magnitude of vibration exposure. The importance of choosing the right tools and working methods is discussed and a counselling service on vibration is proposed.