Some topological dynamics properties of discrete-time control systems

This paper is concerned with the study of certain stabilityproperties of discrete-time systems by means of topologicalmethods. It turns out that suitably defined sets guarantee thestability of the reachable sets in the vicinity of compact sets.Furthermore, special properties about affine control systemsare given.     

Nanoporous metal organic framework materials for hydrogen storage

Hydrogen is expected to play an important role in future transportation as a promising alternative clean energy source to carbon-based fuels.One of the key challenges to commercialize hydrogen energy is to develop appropriate onboard hydrogen storage systems,capable of charging and discharging large quantities of hydrogen with fast enough kinetics to meet commercial requirements.Metal organic framework (MOF) is a new type of inorganic and organic hybrid nanoporous particulate materials.Its diverse networks can enhance hydrogen storage through tuning the structure and property of MOFs.The MOF materials so far developed adsorb hydrogen through weak disperston interactions,which allow significant quantity of hydrogen to be stored at cryogenic temperatures with fast kinetics.Novel MOFs are being developed to strengthen the interactions between hydrogen and MOFs in order to store hydrogen under ambient conditions.This review surveys the development of such candidate materials,their performance and future research needs.     

EVALUATION OF VIBRATION AND SHOCK ATTENUATION PERFORMANCE OF A SUSPENSION SEAT WITH A SEMI-ACTIVE MAGNETORHEOLOGICAL FLUID DAMPER

The potential benefits of a semi-active magnetorheological (MR) damper in reducing the incidence and severity of end-stop impacts of a low natural frequency suspension seat are investigated. The MR damper considered is a commercially developed product, referred to as “Motion Master semi-active damping system” and manufactured by Lord Corporation. The end-stop impact and vibration attenuation performance of a seat equipped with such a damper are evaluated and compared with those of the same seat incorporating a conventional damper. The evaluation is performed on a servo-hydraulic vibration exciter by subjecting the seat-damper combinations to a transient excitation with dominant frequency close to that of the seat and continuous random excitation class EM1 applicable to earth-moving machinery, and a more severe excitation realized by amplifying the EM1 excitation by 150%. Tests are performed for medium and firm settings of the MR damper and for seat height positions corresponding to mid-ride and ±2·54 and ±5·08 cm relative to mid-ride. The results indicate that significantly higher levels of transient excitation are necessary to induce end-stop impacts for the seat equipped with the MR damper, particularly when set for firm damping, the difference with the conventional damper being more pronounced for seat positions closer to the end-stops. Under the EM1 excitation, the results indicate that under conditions which would otherwise favour the occurrence of end-stop impacts for a seat equipped with a conventional damper, the use of the MR damper can result in considerably less severe impacts and correspondingly lower vibration exposure levels, particularly when positioned closer to its compression or rebound limit stop.     

Comparison of all-optical co- and counter-propagating high-speed signal processing in SOA-based Mach–Zehnder interferometers

The all-optical signal processing performance of a Mach–Zehnder interferometer (MZI) is investigated. Calculated switching windows are used to investigate and understand the physical mechanisms limiting the high speed performance. Especially, the co- and counter-propagating operation of the MZI is discussed and important differences in the performance for the two schemes are addressed. The non-regenerative all-optical clear and drop functionality is investigated for a 2, 4 and 8 × 40 Gbit/s signal, showing good performance in the co-propagating case. Regenerative simultaneous clear and drop functionality in a single MZI is demonstrated experimentally and compared to the large signal model predictions.     

Practical considerations in T1 mapping of prostate for dynamic contrast enhancement pharmacokinetic analyses

There are many challenges in developing robust imaging biomarkers that can be reliably applied in a clinical trial setting. In the case of dynamic contrast-enhanced (DCE) MRI, one such challenge is to obtain accurate precontrast T₁ maps for subsequent use in two-compartment pharmacokinetic models commonly used to fit the MR enhancement time courses. In the prostate, a convenient and common approach for this task has been to use the same 3D spoiled gradient-echo sequence used to collect the DCE data, but with variable flip angles (VFAs) to collect data suitable for T₁ mapping prior to contrast injection. However, inhomogeneous radiofrequency conditions within the prostate have been found to adversely affect the accuracy of this technique. Herein we demonstrate the sensitivity of DCE pharmacokinetic parameters to precontrast T₁ values and examine methods to improve the accuracy of T₁ mapping with flip angle-corrected VFA SPGR methods, comparing T₁ maps from such methods with “gold standard” reference T₁ maps generated with saturation recovery experiments performed with fast spin-echo (FSE) sequences.     

Three-photon absorption spectroscopy: the L(1Φ3) and m(3II1) states of HCl and DCl

Analysis of (3+1) REMPI room temperature spectra by use of three-photon absorption modelling allowed, for the first time, identification and characterization of Ω = 3, Φ states (L(¹Φ₃)) in HCl and DCl and of the m(³II₁) state in DCl. Simulation analyses and determination of isotope shifts allowed evaluation of vibrational and rotational spectroscopic parameters for both states and both molecules. The mechanism of three-photon absorption in the m(³II₁) ← X(¹Σ⁺) transition is discussed.