A novel ceramic matrix composite based on YNbO4–TiO2 for microwave applications

This work presents the dielectric properties of YNbO₄ (YNO)–TiO₂ composites in the microwave range. X-ray diffraction analysis demonstrates that the addition of TiO₂ to YNO results in the formation of a Y(Nb_0.5Ti_0.5)₂O₆ phase. In the microwave range, the values of permittivity and dielectric loss did not present major changes with the increment of TiO₂. Moreover, the addition of TiO₂ results in an improvement in the thermal stability of YNO, with YNO63 demonstrating a resonant frequency of ?8.96 ppm.°C^?1. We utilised numerical simulations to evaluate the behaviour of these materials as dielectric resonator antennae and it is found that they exhibit a reflection coefficient below ?10 dB at the resonant frequency, with a realised gain of 4.94 – 5.76 dBi, a bandwidth of 665–1050 MHz and a radiation efficiency above 84%. Our results indicate that YNO–TiO₂ composites are interesting candidates for microwave operating devices.     

Increasing the photocatalytic and fungicide activities of Ag3PO4 microcrystals under visible-light irradiation

The present study reports for the first time the performance of silver phosphate (Ag₃PO₄) microcrystals as photocatalyst (degradation of Rodamine B-RhB) and antifungal agent (against Candida albicans–C. albicans) under visible-light irradiation (455 nm). Ag₃PO₄ microcrystals were synthesized by a simple co-precipitation (CP) method at room temperature. The structural and electronic properties of the as-synthetized Ag₃PO₄ have been investigated before and after 4 cycles of RhB degradation under visible light using X-ray diffraction (XRD), micro-Raman spectroscopy, UV–Vis spectrophotometer and field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) images. The antifungal activity was analyzed in planktonic cells and 48h-biofilm of C. albicans by colony forming units (CFU) counting, confocal laser and FE-SE microscopies. Statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS software. Morphological and structural modifications of Ag₃PO₄ were observed upon recycling. After 4 recycles, the material maintained its photodegradation property; an eightfold increase in the efficiency of Ag₃PO₄ was observed in planktonic cells and a two fold increase in biofilm when irradiated under visible light. Thus, higher antifungal effectiveness against C. albicans was obtained when associated with visible-light irradiation.     

Defocusing image to pattern contact holes using attenuated phase shift masks

The patterning of contact holes by selecting out-of-focus image plane (defocus) using attenuated phase shift masks (APSM) has been studied. Defocus is found to enhance the image modulation at low partial coherence for contact holes with negative local average of mask function. Semi-dense holes up to 130 nm in 8% APSM have been printed by 0.5 μm defocus at a partial coherence of 0.31 using KrF scanner with highest numerical aperture of 0.68. However, these holes were closed with in-focus imaging. Defocus is also found to be beneficial for patterning the pitches that have extensive side lobes with in-focus imaging.     

Characterization of the Residence Time Distribution in Spray Dryers

In this work it is presented a study on the residence time distribution (RTD) of particles in a co-current pilot-plant spray dryer operated with a rotary atomization system. A nuclear technique is applied to investigate the RTD responses of spray dryers. The methodology is based on the injection of a radioisotope tracer in the feed stream followed by the monitoring of its concentration at the outlet stream. The experiments were performed during the drying of aqueous suspensions of gadolinium oxide. The RTD responses obtained experimentally presented good reproducibility, indicating that the technique applied is well suited to investigating fluid-dynamics of spray dryers. In addition to the experimental investigation, a mathematical model was used to describe the RTD experimental curves.     

Adaptive motion control using neural network approximations

In this paper, we present a new adaptive technique for tracking control of mechanical systems in the presence of friction and periodic disturbances. Radial Basis Functions (RBFs) are used to compensate for the effects of nonlinearly occurring parameters in the friction and periodic disturbance model. Theoretical analysis, such as stability and transient performance, is provided. Furthermore, the performance of the adaptive RBF controller and its non-adaptive counterpart are compared.     

Topology preservation of template-based 6-subiteration reduction operations

Generally, a reduction operation (e.g., thinning and shrinking) on 3D binary images can be represented as a set of reduction templates where every object voxel of the image satisfying any template is turned to a background voxel. Generally, it is rather difficult, error-prone and time-consuming for verifying the topological soundness of a 3D parallel reduction operation. This paper proposes sufficient conditions of time complexity O(n) for verifying the topological soundness of 3D parallel 6-subiteration reduction operations of n templates where such a kind of 3D reduction operations is performed alternatively from the six orthogonal directions to turn object voxels to background voxels. By such sufficient conditions, the topology soundness of a 3D 6-subiteration parallel reduction operation can be verified by checking each and every of its templates.     

Control of discrete time nonlinear systems with a time-varying structure

In this paper, we present a control methodology for a class of discrete time nonlinear systems that depend on a possibly exogenous scheduling variable. This class of systems consists of an interpolation of nonlinear dynamic equations in strict feedback form, and it may represent systems with a time-varying nonlinear structure. Moreover, this class of systems is able to represent some cases of gain scheduling control, Takagi-Sugeno fuzzy systems, as well as input-output realizations of nonlinear systems which are approximated via localized linearizations. We present two control theorems, one using what we call a “global” approach (akin to traditional backstepping), and a “local” approach, our main result, where backstepping is again used but the control law is an interpolation of local control terms. An aircraft wing rock regulation problem with varying angle of attack is used to illustrate and compare the two approaches.     

Stability robustness of networked control systems with respect to packet loss

This paper is concerned with stability analysis of discrete-time networked control systems over a communication channel subject to packet loss whose behavior is modeled by an i.i.d Bernoulli process with a packet dropping probability bounded by a constant. A necessary and sufficient condition for stability is obtained. A packet dropping margin is introduced as a measure of stability robustness of a system against packet dropping, and a formula for it is derived. A design method is proposed for achieving a large margin subject to a constraint that the system has a set of prescribed nominal closed-loop poles.