Mining predecessor–successor rules from DAG data

Data mining extracts implicit, previously unknown, and potentially useful information from databases. Many approaches have been proposed to extract information, and one of the most important ones is finding association rules. Although a large amount of research has been devoted to this subject, none of it finds association rules from directed acyclic graph (DAG) data. Without such a mining method, the hidden knowledge, if any, cannot be discovered from the databases storing DAG data such as family genealogy profiles, product structures, XML documents, task precedence relations, and course structures. In this article, we define a new kind of association rule in DAG databases called the predecessor–successor rule, where a node x is a predecessor of another node y if we can find a path in DAG where x appears before y. The predecessor–successor rules enable us to observe how the characteristics of the predecessors influence the successors. An approach containing four stages is proposed to discover the predecessor–successor rules. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J Int Syst 21: 621–637, 2006.     

Stress analysis of spontaneous Sn whisker growth

Spontaneous Sn whisker growth is a surface relief phenomenon of creep, driven by a compressive stress gradient. No externally applied stress is required for the growth, and the compressive stress is generated within, from the chemical reaction between Sn and Cu to form the intermetallic compound Cu₆Sn₅ at room temperature. To obtain the compressive stress gradient, a break of the protective oxide on the Sn surface is required because the free surface of the break is stress-free. Thus, spontaneous Sn whisker growth is unique that stress relaxation accompanies stress generation. One of the whisker challenging issues in understanding and in finding effective methods to prevent spontaneous Sn whisker growth is to develop accelerated tests of whisker growth. Use of electromigration on short Sn stripes can facilitate this. The stress distribution around the vicinity and the root of a whisker can be obtained by using the micro-beam X-ray diffraction utilizing synchrotron radiation. A discussion of how to prevent spontaneous Sn whisker growth by blocking both stress generation and stress relaxation is given.     

Robust State Feedback Control Through Actuators With Generalized Sector Nonlinearities And Saturation

In control systems, actuators often have nonlinear characteristics that can not be neglected. For linear systems driven by actuators satisfying the generalized sector condition, a robust state feedback controller synthesis method is proposed to achieve the ultimate boundedness control. The method is based on the linear matrix inequality approach and is easy to apply. As an important special case of the generalized sector condition, the saturation characteristic of actuators is discussed separately, and non‐conservative results are obtained.     

Microwave plasma synthesis of TiN and ZrN nanopowders

This work demonstrates that TiN and ZrN nanopowders can be prepared by microwave plasma synthesis method. The effects of flow rate of plasma forming gas, flow rate of carrier gas and feeding rate of precursor raw material to the average particle size were studied. The TiN and ZrN nanopowders were characterized by means of transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).     

Effects and properties of poly(arylene ether benzonitrile)s of various molecular weights blended with sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone)

Poly(arylene ether benzonitrile) (PAEBN) was synthesized with 2,6‐dichlorobenzonitrile and biphenol. PAEBNs with various molecular weights (MWs), 1,640,000 and 185,000 g/mol, were synthesized by control of the stoichiometry of the monomers and were blended with sulfonated poly(ether ether ketone) (SPEEK). The effects of MW on the water uptake, swelling, methanol permeability, and proton conductivity of the SPEEK/PAEBN blend membranes were investigated. The molecular mobility of the SPEEK/PAEBN blends was also examined in this study. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Characterization of poly(vinyl pyrrolidone‐co‐isobutylstyryl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane) nanocomposites

Poly(vinyl pyrrolidone‐co‐isobutyl styryl polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane)s (PVP–POSS) were synthesized by one‐step polymerization and characterized using FTIR, high‐resolution ¹H‐NMR, solid‐state ¹³C‐NMR, ²⁹Si‐NMR, GPC, and DSC. The POSS content can be controlled by varying the POSS feed ratio. The T_g of the PVP–POSS hybrid is influenced by three main factors: (1) a diluent role of the POSS in reducing the self‐association of the PVP; (2) a strong interaction between the POSS siloxane and the PVP carbonyl, and (3) physical aggregation of nanosized POSS. At a relatively low POSS content, the role as diluent dominates, resulting in a decrease in T_g. At a relatively high POSS content, the last two factors dominate and result in T_g increase of the PVP–POSS hybrid. © 2003 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 2208–2215, 2004     

Preparation and properties of heterocyclically conjugated poly(3‐hexylthiophene)–clay nanocomposite materials

A series of heterocyclically conjugated polymer–clay nanocomposite (PCN) materials that consisted of organic poly(3‐hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and inorganic montmorillonite (MMT) clay platelets were prepared by in situ oxidative polymerization with FeCl₃ as an oxidant. The as‐synthesized PCN materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, wide‐angle powder X‐ray diffraction (WAXRD), and transmission electron microscopy (TEM). The effects of the material composition on the anticorrosion, gas barrier, thermal stability, flammability, mechanical strength, and electrical conductivity properties of the P3HT and PCN materials were studied by electrochemical corrosion measurements, gas‐permeability analysis (GPA), thermogrametric analysis (TGA), limiting oxygen index (LOI) measurements, dynamic mechanical analysis (DMA), and a four‐point probe technique, respectively. The molecular weights of extracted and bulk P3HT were determined by gel permeation chromatography (GPC) with THF as an eluant. © 2004 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 91: 3438–3446, 2004     

Improving SEM Inspection Performance in Semiconductor Manufacturing Industry

Scanning electron microscope (SEM) station is one of the major quality control tasks in wafer manufacturing process. During the process of examining defects on a screen for a certain period of time, SEM inspectors frequently complain about visual fatigue problems. The purpose of the study was to evaluate the effect of wafer‐coating condition (noncoating treatment and gold‐coating treatment) and liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor size (14‐inch and 19‐inch monitor) from the aspects of objective visual fatigue measures (NPA and CFF), subjective eye fatigue rating, and inspection performance. Twelve SEM inspectors participated in this experiment. The results indicated that the treatment of gold‐coating wafer showed significant difference on reducing objective visual fatigue in NPA and CFF change. Using a 19‐inch LCD monitor also demonstrated the effect on reducing eye fatigue as well as improving inspection performance. The improvement of using a gold‐coating treatment wafer and a 19‐inch LCD monitor to reduce SEM inspectors' visual fatigue and to increase inspection performance is thus recommended. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.     

Sliding‐Mode Velocity Control of a Two‐Wheeled Self‐Balancing Vehicle

Underactuated vehicles are those in which the number of control inputs is less than the degrees of freedom to be controlled. Using actuated wheels, velocity control of the two‐wheeled self‐balancing vehicle drives the vehicle at a desired speed and balances the body of the vehicle. First, we investigate the effects of friction on the wheel and derive the hybrid model of rolling and slipping. Second, we propose a nonlinear sliding mode velocity control scheme for the pure rolling model of the two‐wheeled vehicle. We present the design of the corresponding sliding surfaces and internal dynamics of the two‐wheeled vehicle. Our stability analysis reveals that the proposed sliding mode method can guarantee the asymptotic stability of the error dynamics for velocity control of the underactuated vehicle. Compared to linear optimal control, our numerical simulations demonstrate that the proposed sliding mode schemes can effectively control the velocity under the circumstances of parametric variations, emergency braking, and rapid acceleration in slippery road conditions. The proposed velocity control and the simulation improve our understanding on designing velocity control of the two‐wheeled self‐balancing vehicle.