Substrate temperature-controlled precursor reaction mechanism of PEALD-deposited MoOx thin films

Journal of Materials Science - Molybdenum oxide (MoOx) films had been grown by using plasma-enhanced atomic layer deposition (PEALD) with Mo(CO)6 precursor and O2 plasma reactant in a substrate...     

Differential Game for Distributed Power Control in Device-to-Device Communications Underlaying Cellular Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - In the formulating of power control for wireless networks, the radio channel is commonly formulated using static models of optimization or game theory. In these...     

Effect of Supports and Promoters on the Performance of Ni-Based Catalysts in Ethanol Steam Reforming

Ethanol steam reforming (ESR) is one of the potential processes to convert ethanol into valuable products. Hydrogen produced from ESR is considered as green energy for the future and can be an excellent alternative to fossil fuels with the aim of mitigating the greenhouse gas effect. The ESR process has been well studied, using transition metals as catalysts coupled with both acidic and basic oxides as supports. Among various reported transition metals, Ni is an inexpensive material with activity comparable to that of noble metals, showing promising ethanol conversion and hydrogen yields. Additionally, different promoters and supports were utilized to enhance the hydrogen yield and the catalyst stability. This review summarizes and discusses the influences of the supports and promoters of Ni-based catalysts on the ESR process.     

Broad-band MMICs based on modified loss-compensation method using 0.35-/spl mu/m SiGe BiCMOS technology

Using the concept of loss compensation, novel broad-band monolithic microwave integrated circuits (MMICs), including an amplifier and an analog multiplier/mixer, with LC ladder matching networks in a commercial 0.35-mum SiGe BiCMOS technology are demonstrated for the first time. An HBT two-stage cascade single-stage distributed amplifier (2-CSSDA) using the modified loss-compensation technique is presented. It demonstrates a small-signal gain of better than 15 dB from dc to 28 GHz (gain-bandwidth product=157 GHz) with a low power consumption of 48 mW and a miniature chip size of 0.63 mm² including testing pads. The gain-bandwidth product of the modified loss-compensated CSSDA is improved approximately 68% compared with the conventional attenuation-compensation technique. The wide-band amplifier achieves a high gain-bandwidth product with the lowest power consumption and smallest chip size. The broad-band mixer designed using a Gilbert cell with the modified loss-compensation technique achieves a measured power conversion gain of 19 dB with a 3-dB bandwidth from 0.1 to 23 GHz, which is the highest gain-bandwidth product of operation among previously reported MMIC mixers. As an analog multiplier, the measured sensitivity is better than 3000 V/W from 0.1 to 25 GHz, and the measured low-frequency noise floor and corner frequency can be estimated to be 20 nV/sqrt(Hz) and 1.2 kHz, respectively. The mixer performance represents state-of-the-art result of the MMIC broad-band mixers using commercial silicon-based technologies     

On Deciding Readiness and Failure Equivalences for Processes

In this paper, we study the complexity of deciding readiness and failure equivalences for finite state processes and recursively defined processes specified by normed context-free grammars (CFGs) in Greibach normal form (GNF). The results are as follows: (1) Readiness and failure equivalences for processes specified by normed GNF CFGs are both undecidable. For this class of processes, the regularity problem with respect to failure or readiness equivalence is also undecidable. Moreover, all these undecidability results hold even for locally unary processes. In the unary case, these problems become decidable. In fact, they are Π^p₂-complete, We also show that with respect to bisimulation equivalence, the regularity for processes specified by normed GNF CFGs is NL-complete. (2) Readiness and failure equivalences for finite state processes are PSPACE-complete. This holds even for locally unary finite state processes. These two equivalences are co-NP-complete for unary finite state processes. Further, for acyclic finite state processes, readiness and failure equivalences are co-NP-complete and they are NL-complete in the unary case. (3) For finite tree processes, we show that finite trace, readiness, and failure equivalences are all L-complete. Further, the results remain true for the unary case. Our results provide a complete characterization of the computational complexity of deciding readiness and failure equivalences for several important classes of processes.     

Still No Evidence for Perfect Timesharing With Two Ideomotor-Compatible Tasks: A Reply to Greenwald (2003).

For 30 years, A. G. Greenwald and H. G. Shulman's (1973) psychological refractory period (PRP) study has been cited as evidence for perfect timesharing with ideomotor (IM)-compatible tasks. Recently, M.-C. Lien, R. W. Proctor, and P. A. Allen (2002) failed to replicate these results and concluded that IM compatibility is neither necessary nor sufficient to eliminate the PRP effect. A. G. Greenwald (2003) attributed Lien et al.'s nonreplication to the use of (a) a non-IM-compatible task, (b) varied trial spacing, and/or (c) inappropriate instructions. The authors of the present article argue that the first 2 factors are not critical and that instructions merely affect the criterion for speed versus accuracy. In each of Greenwald's experiments, dual-task costs were evident on response time or error rates. Furthermore, the small dual-task costs in his study are consistent with a bottleneck model. Thus, Greenwald (2003) does not provide evidence that IM-compatible tasks enable perfect timesharing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Effects of free convection and mass transfer on the flow past an impulsively moving infinite vertical circular cylinder

The effects of free convection and mass transfer are taken into account for the Stokes' problem of the flow near an impulsively moving infinite vertical circular cylinder. Expressions of the velocity, temperature, concentration and skin friction of the fluid in closed form are obtained by the Laplace transform technique. The results based on various values of the parameters Gr (Grashof number), Gm (modified Grashof number), Sc (Schmidt number) and Pr (Prandtl number) are given in graphical form. It will be seen that there is a rise in the velocity due to the presence of a foreign mass. But higher Sc yields the lower velocity and skin friction. As the radius of the circular cylinder approaches to infinite, the results presented in this paper agree with those of V.M. Soundalgekar's and C.K. Chen's etc. for the flow past an impulsively moving infinite vertical plate.