On creation of Hopf bifurcations in discrete-time nonlinear systems

Bifurcation characteristics of a nonlinear system can be manipulated by small controls. In this paper, we present a control method to create Hopf bifurcations in discrete-time nonlinear systems. The critical conditions for the Hopf bifurcations are discussed. The center manifold method, normal form technique and the Iooss's Hopf bifurcation theory are employed in the derivation of the control gain. Numerical demonstration is provided. (c) 2002 American Institute of Physics.     

Theoretical analysis of infrasound radiation from an oscillating bridge

As a typical example of the sound radiation caused by the oscillation of a large sized structure, the infrasound radiation from a highway bridge is theoretically analyzed by applying a lifting surface technique. The relation between the bridge oscillation and the corresponding infrasound radiation is made clear quantitatively. By using measured results of the bridge oscillation due to the passage of a vehicle, the infrasound radiated from the bridge is estimated analytically. The results are compared with the measurements, and good agreement is seen. Moreover, it is shown that the reflection of sound at the ground causes both the radiation impedance of the bridge and the radiation pattern of the sound pressure to vary considerably according to the height of the bridge from the ground. Hence the height of the bridge is an important factor which controls sound pressure level (SPL) near the ground, on which the noise is actually perceived.     

Rapid analysis of Na,Mg, Ca,Fe, and Zn in breakfast cereals (granola type) by energy dispersive-X-ray fluorescence

Energy dispersive-X-ray fluorescence (ED-XRF) is a well spread near-line analytical technique, suitable for easy and rapid measurement of major elements and/or trace elements especially in many different food matrices. This study demonstrates the fitness for purpose of this method to ensure the correct addition of minerals during breakfast cereal production. Indeed, variations in process and in raw material compositions may lead to values out of legal tolerance, and thus quality controls need to be regularly performed to meet the release compliance criteria. Using such analytical technique close to production lines can allow controls that are more systematic as well as avoiding the shipment of numerous samples for reference method analyses often done to external laboratories. Thus, ED-XRF allows to ensure finished products compliance with product declarations. A commercial ED-XRF device was used during this study. Within 7 min of analytical time for two replicates/sample, the developed method gave accurate results for the quantification of Na, Mg, Ca, Fe, and Zn in breakfast cereals without any proportional biases between ED-XRF and reference method (inductively coupled plasma-atomic emission spectrometry) results.     

Significance of single and multi-voxel 1H magnetic resonance spectroscopy in the quantification of myocellular lipid in young non-obese Asian Indian males

To prospectively assess intramyocellular lipids (IMCL) and extramyocellular lipids (EMCL) using single voxel spectroscopy (SVS) and multi voxel magnetic resonance spectroscopy (MVS) in soleus muscle and correlate results with metabolic variables in non-obese (BMI < 23 kg/m²) Asian Indian males. Thirty one patients with diabetes (cases) and twelve normoglycaemic subjects (controls) underwent point resolved spectroscopy sequence (PRESS) of soleus muscle using SVS and MVS in a 3 T MRI scanner. Visceral adipose tissue (VAT) and subcutaneous adipose tissue (SAT) were measured from MRI images and body composition was measured from dual-energy x-ray absorptiometry (DXA). The mean IMCL from SVS and MVS were 1.6% and 2.6% in cases and 2.3% and 3.4% in controls respectively. The mean EMCL from SVS and MVS were 1.8% and 3% in cases and 1.5% and 3% respectively in controls. A significant correlation between IMCL and total fat mass (rho = 0.42, p < 0.01) and total body fat (rho = 0.46; p < 0.01) were observed in cases while using the SVS technique and no correlations were found in the MVS technique. The SVS showed significant correlations between total myocellular lipids with VAT and SAT in cases alone. Total myocellular lipids acquired using both techniques showed a significant correlation with BMI, waist circumference, total fat mass, total body fat and truncal fat in cases alone. Quantification of IMCL of soleus muscle using the SVS technique is useful in studying the relationship with metabolic markers in non-obese Asian Indians with diabetes.     

Estimation of the far-field directivity of broadband aeroengine fan noise using an in-duct axial microphone array

This paper presents a measurement technique for estimating the far-field directivity of the sound radiated from a duct using measurements of acoustic pressure made inside the duct. The technique is restricted to broadband, multi-mode sound fields whose directivity patterns are axi-symmetric, and whose modes are mutually uncorrelated. The technique uses a transfer function to relate the output from an in-duct axial beamformer to measurements of the far-field polar directivity. A transfer function for a hollow cylindrical duct with no flow is derived, and investigated in detail. Transfer functions for practical cases concerning aeroengine exhausts are also presented. The transfer function is shown to be insensitive to the mode-amplitude distribution inside the duct, and hence can be used to predict the directivity in practice where the noise source distribution is unknown. The technique is then validated using a no-flow facility, and is shown to be able to predict variations in the far-field directivity pattern and also estimate the far-field sound pressure levels to within 2 dB. It is suggested that the proposed technique will be especially useful for fan rig experiments, where direct measurement of directivity, for example by use of an anechoic chamber, is impossible.     

Digital Holography for Instantaneous Spray Diagnostics on a Plane

We present a measurement technique that is capable of simultaneously determining sizes and positions of multiple transparent droplets in a plane from scattered light features. The technique is largely independent of particle intensity and mutual obscuration. Reflected and refracted light from the droplets in a pulsed laser sheet is recorded holographically to yield the smallest possible probe volume and the largest possible number density. Larger droplets are best analyzed at the image plane; in this case, the droplets appear as two spots (glare points), whose separation is proportional to the droplet diameter. Smaller droplets are easier to analyze at an out‐of‐focus plane, where their images appear as fringe patterns whose spatial frequency is related to droplet size. Photographic techniques allow only one of these planes to be chosen and are therefore not suitable for multidisperse sprays. Optical holography allows to analyze arbitrary depths, but often suffers from low sensitivity and long analysis times. With digital holography, the spray images are captured digitally by a CCD camera and reconstructed numerically; as in optical holography, the particle reconstruction plane can be freely chosen a posteriori to optimize the measurement. We discuss the issues raised by the transition from holographic film to a CCD sensor as the recording medium, and demonstrate the capabilities of the digital technique.     

The matched asymptotic expansion (MAE) technique applied to acoustic radiation from vibrating surfaces

The MAE technique has been used in the field of fluid mechanics for many years. Only recently this technique has been applied to acoustic problems, where it has been found to be an excellent and powerful tool in analyzing either scattering and diffraction or radiation from moving rigid objects (propellers). The purpose of this paper is to very briefly review the MAE technique as applied to low frequency acoustics in general, and then apply the resulting approach to a series of progressively more difficult problems which are of interest to many underwater acousticians. The analysis is first applied to two problems with single degrees of freedom for structural vibrations: (1) a sphere, both velocity and force driven, and (2) a circular piston in infinite rigid baffle. These are classical problems and the solutions as obtained by the MAE technique are then compared to the exact classical solutions. The MAE solutions are then generalized to a more difficult problem, with two degrees of freedom for the surface vibration, where two concentric pistons in an infinite rigid baffle are vibrating and coupled via the fluid. For each of the problems analyzed, the structural wavelength a is assumed to be small compared to the fluid wavelength (i.e., ka ? 1). The inner region close to the vibrating structure, in which the fluid motion is effectively incompressible in nature, is governed by the Laplace equation while the outer solution is governed by the Helmholtz equation. The inner and outer solutions are obtained independently and are then joined together by the MAE matching procedure. A composite solution is then obtained from a combination of the inner and the outer solutions. Agreements with the exact theory for the radiated pressure, surface resistance and reactance are shown to be excellent.     

A technique for the in situ phase calibration of in-duct axial microphone arrays

In aeroengine noise experiments in-duct microphone arrays are often used to make detailed measurements of the sound field transmitted along the duct. The individual microphones in the array must be calibrated with respect to magnitude, and often more critically with respect to phase. Calibration is difficult to perform in situ due to the presence of the duct. This paper presents a technique to allow in situ phase calibration of axial microphone arrays. It relies on the observation that the measured cross-spectral pressure matrix at the array has a Hermitian Töplitz form in the case where the propagating duct modes are mutually incoherent. Using this property a system of equations can be written which, when solved, allows the phase calibration factors to be obtained. The technique is verified experimentally using a no-flow laboratory rig by comparing the phase calibration factors obtained with those measured in free-field conditions. The accuracy of the phase calibration factors obtained by the technique is limited by the degree of deviation of the measured cross-spectral matrix from Töplitz behaviour. In the experimental results shown this is less than 15° at duct frequencies below ka=25. The technique is a robust and rapid method for calibrating in-duct axial microphone arrays.     

Non-coherent noise reduction in digital holography based on root mean square technique

In this paper, the root mean square (rms) technique is applied in order to reduce the non-coherent noise in phase-contrast image. The proposed technique is applied to a sample of 200 μm step height nominally. The recorded off-axis interferograms generated from two different wavelengths are processed to obtain an object wave (amplitude and phase) for each wavelength separately. The independent phase maps are subtracted and a phase map for the beat-wavelength is obtained and converted to height map. The rms values of 10 pixels profiles from the obtained height map are calculated automatically to show the three-dimensional (3D) profile. The experimental results show that the non-coherent noise is reduced by the order of 90% when the rms technique is applied and the uncertainty in measurement has been found to be of the order of 1.5 μm. The proposed technique can provide a simple and real solution for measuring 3D objects having high abrupt height difference.     

Ultrastructural double labelling using colloidal gold

Immunogold double labelling is an under-utilized technique that is effective in indicating the presence, distribution and relative abundance of antigens in cellular systems. Current processing, embedding and immunolabelling techniques allow double labelling to be carried out at room temperatures, using routine electron microscope laboratory equipment. This review compares the available methodologies and presents some applications of light and ultrastructural immunogold labelling. The subjects of controls, antibody selection and quantitation are also discussed.     

Automatic detection of hippocampal atrophy on magnetic resonance images.

An automatic method for identifying hippocampal atrophy on magnetic resonance (MR) images obtained from patients with clinical evidence of temporal lobe epilepsy (TLE) is described. The method is based on the analysis of image intensity differences between patients and controls within a volume of interest (VOI) centred on the hippocampus. The core of the method is a fully automatic signal intensity-based inter-subject image registration technique. In particular, a global affine registration to a reference image is performed, followed by a local affine registration within the VOI. A mask produced by manual segmentation of the mean hippocampus for 30 control subjects enabled investigations to be restricted to a specified region of the VOI approximately corresponding to the hippocampus. Normal variations of hippocampal signal intensity were computed from images obtained for the 30 control subjects. The manual method of hippocampal volumetry, currently an important component of the pre-surgical evaluation of patients with clinical evidence of medically intractable TLE, is used to determine the lower 1st percentile limits of normal hippocampal volume. Hippocampi with volumes below this limit are defined as atrophic. We investigated whether the automatic method can correctly distinguish between 15 patients with significant hippocampal atrophy according to absolute volumes and a further 14 controls. ROC curves enabled evaluation of sensitivity and specificity in respect of an intensity threshold. 100% specificity is required when determining suitability of patients for neurosurgery, resulting in levels of 50% and 70% sensitivity in detecting atrophy in the right and left hippocampus, respectively. We propose that the method can be developed as an automatic screening procedure.     

A simple white beam neutron diffraction technique

White beam neutron diffraction by time-of-flight (TOF) technique has been studied over a number of years as it is believed to be the most convenient method to investigate solids in a fixed geometry. This technique needs a pulsed neutron source and a suitable multichannel, analysing system. The entire system is in general, mechanically quite intricate and expensive. We have investigated an alternative technique to achieve the end result of a constant geometry around the diffracting sample. This involves the use of a single crystal as an analyser to study diffraction pattern from the sample bathed in a white beam and diffracting at any fixed scattering angle. In this paper we report the results of our investigations and have compared this technique with other diffraction techniques. Taking Si, KCl and KNO₃ as typical specimens we have illus. trated the results of our technique and we find that the results are comparable to those obtained by conventional neutron diffraction and TOF diffraction. The technique is simple in mechanical design and data acquisition. It can be easily adapted for high pressure diffraction which is being attempted.     

Automatic sensitivity control in diagnostic ultrasonics

Difficulties associated with swept-gain (ie, time-varied gain) as a means of controlling sensitivity in ultrasonic scanning are considered. Automatic sensitivity control as a possible technique for determining sensitivity is discussed. A simple automatic sensitivity control in the form of automatic gain control (AGC) was constructed and applied in scanning complex tissue structures. It is concluded that automatic sensitivity control allows acceptable ultrasonic images to be produced and involves the operator in little manipulation of controls.     

A CCD-based polarization interferometric technique for testing waveplates

A CCD-based polarization interferometric technique is developed to test waveplates. A Babinet compensator is used to produce interference fringes for polarized input and the retardance introduced by the waveplate when inserted in the optical beam is calculated from the fringe shifts using the phase matching technique. A theoretical model is fitted with the observed fringe shifts to get an accuracy of 0.5° in the retardance calculation. The experimental set-up and the measurement of retardance for zero-order and high-order quarter waveplates are discussed. The retardance calculation for a zero-order waveplate is found to be more accurate than the high-order waveplate. This technique can also be used to measure an arbitrary amount of retardance produced by any birefringent waveplate and also to determine its optic axis direction.     

A NOVEL TECHNIQUE FOR INVERSE IDENTIFICATION OF DISTRIBUTED STIFFNESS FACTOR IN STRUCTURES

A computational inverse technique for identifying stiffness distribution in structures is proposed in this paper using structural dynamics response in the frequency domain. In the present technique, element stiffness factors of the finite element model of a structure are taken to be the parameters, and explicitly expressed in a linear form in the system equation for forward analysis of the harmonic response of the structure. This offers great convenience in applying Newton's method to search for the parameters of stiffness factor inversely, as the Jacobian matrix can be obtained simply by solving sets of linear algebraic equation derived from the system equation. Examples of identifying stiffness factor distribution which is often related to damage in the elements of the structure are presented to demonstrate the present technique. The advantages of the present technique for inverse parameter identification problem are (1) the number of the parameters can be very large; (2) the identification process is very fast and (3) the accuracy is very high. The efficiency of the proposed technique is compared with genetic algorithms.     

单发太赫兹时域光谱技术

太赫兹时域光谱技术(THz-TDS)广泛应用于材料、生物医学、化学、药学、安检等诸多领域。传统扫描式THz-TDS技术需要通过改变探测光延时逐点扫描并重构时域信号,仅适合于具有较高重复频率且稳定的太赫兹辐射源情形下的样品探测。在低重复频率或涨落较大的太赫兹辐射源情形下和不可逆过程中样品的探测,扫描式THz-TDS不再适用,需要使用单发THz-TDS技术,单发THz-TDS技术原则上仅需要一个激光脉冲就可以获取一个完整的太赫兹时域脉冲波形。介绍几种主要的单发THz-TDS探测技术,这些技术都利用了电光晶体的泡克尔斯效应,通过测量探测光的某个物理量的变化来提取太赫兹信号。根据探测方法不同可分为光谱编码、空间编码和互相关等技术。在光谱编码技术中,探测光不同频率成分在时间上发生分离,不同时间成分分别被太赫兹脉冲不同时刻电场调制,通过测量探测光各个频率被太赫兹脉冲调制前后的光谱的变化提取太赫兹脉冲波形。该方法光路简单,测量结果直观,有较高的信噪比,但其时间分辨率较低,且被测太赫兹信号容易产生失真。为提高被测信号的时间分辨率,有人提出了空间编码技术,即不同位置探测光分别被太赫兹脉冲不同时刻电场调制,通过测量探测光各个位置太赫兹脉冲调制前后的光强变化提取太赫兹脉冲波形。根据不同空间展开方法可分为一维空间编码技术和二维空间编码技术。空间编码技术中虽然有较高的时间分辨率,但由于探测光在空间展开能量分散使得其信噪比相对较低。此外,还有一种较高时间分辨率的技术即互相关技术,可分为共线互相关和非共线互相关技术。在非共线互相关技术中,被太赫兹脉冲调制的激光啁啾脉冲与短脉冲互相关作用产生二次谐波,通过太赫兹脉冲调制前后二次谐波空间分布变化来提取太赫兹信号;在共线互相关技术中被太赫兹脉冲调制的啁啾脉冲与短脉冲共线入射到光谱仪,通过干涉条纹提取太赫兹信号,该技术提高了时间分辨率和信噪比,但光路布置复杂,不能进行实时监测。回顾了这几种单发THz-TDS探测技术的发展历程,综述探测技术的原理、实验方案和测量结果,并讨论了这些探测技术的优势和不足。     

Broadband dielectric dispersion in ferroelectric P(VDF-TrFE) copolymer films

Ferroelectric polyvinylidenefluoride-trifluoroethylene copolymer films with different thicknesses are prepared by a solvent-cast technique, by spin coating, and by a horizontal Langmuir–Blodgett technique respectively. The frequency dependent dielectric permittivity of these films is investigated with varying sample thickness and varying temperature in the ferroelectric as well as in the paraelectric phase. A dielectric relaxation according to a Vogel–Tamman–Fulcher law of the relaxation times is found in all samples. However, the relaxation times extracted from the dielectric permittivity in the frequency range are not consistent with the relaxation times determined from the temperature range. An explanation for this behavior is given by a temperature dependent distribution of relaxation times. Additionally, in thin samples a second relaxation with a weak anomalous temperature dependence, i.e. an increasing relaxation time with increasing temperature, is observed at high frequencies. Detailed investigations show that this behavior can be attributed to an electrode effect.     

Method of predicting Leq created by urban traffic

The time-averaged overall mean-square sound pressure created by statistically stationary traffic travelling a finite, straight road segment is determined explicitly. This result is extended to a system of roads by using digital simulation. Theoretical predictions for a typical urban conurbation show encouraging agreement with measured values. Therefore the technique appears to offer a practical means of evaluating community plans before the introduction of road systems and changes in trunk routes and traffic controls, etc., are realized.