Probing waveforms and adaptive receivers for active sonar

Active sonar systems involve the transmission and reception of one or more probing sequences, which provide a basis for extraction of target information in a region of interest. The probing sequences at the transmitter and signal processing at the receiver play crucial roles in the overall system performance. In this paper, CAN (cyclic algorithm-new) is employed to synthesize probing sequences with good aperiodic autocorrelation properties. The performance of the CAN sequences will be compared with those of pseudo random noise and random phase sequences. Two adaptive receiver designs, namely the iterative adaptive approach (IAA) and the sparse learning via iterative minimization (SLIM) method, will also be considered. IAA and SLIM will be compared with the conventional matched filter method. The performances of the algorithms will be illustrated via numerical examples, which show that CAN, IAA, and SLIM can contribute to the overall performance improvement of the active sonar systems.     

Annealing study of two-dimensional patterned Ge nanostructures via nanosphere lithography

Experimental studies on patterning hexagonal Ge nanostructures have been conducted on Si substrates through deposition of Ge with colloidal particles as a mask. The deposited Ge thin film possesses, according to the X-ray diffraction measurements, in plane texture, being epitaxial and aligned with the (111) Si substrate. The size distribution of the patterned Ge nanostructures is narrow, as indicated by the atomic force microscopy and scanning electron microscopy measurements. We have obtained Ge nanostructures with lateral dimension of 490 nm (height 12 nm), 200 nm (height 6 nm) and 82 nm (height 6 nm) by using different sizes of polystyrene spheres. We have performed in depth studies of the Ge nanostructures’ behavior due to thermal and rapid thermal post-annealing processes. FT micro-Raman spectroscopy shows that there is no Si intermixing during the annealing process. In order to quantify the changes in the height and lateral dimension, we have performed atomic force microscopy and white light interferometry analysis. The changes in shape and the decrease in the area of a cross-section of Ge nanostructure will be discussed in respect to similar results shown in the literature for Ge thin films during the annealing process.     

A simple method for the preparation of colloidal polymer-supported silver nanoparticles

Polysulfone?silver composite nanoparticles have been prepared by combining polymer nanoprecipitation and redox synthesis of silver, in the presence of a glucose-modified cyclosiloxane as stabilizing agent. Based on previous kinetic investigations and on model reactions, we concluded that the reducing agent in this case is the tetrahydrofuran (THF) used as solvent for polysulfone. Dynamic light scattering measurements on the obtained polymer-silver composite particles indicated particle average diameter of 176 nm with a polydispersity index of 0.25. The UV–vis spectrum exhibited the silver plasmon resonance. By different microscopic methods (atomic force microscopy—AFM, high resolution transmission electron microscopy—HRTEM, and scanning electron microscopy—SEM), larger polymer particles coated with silver nanoprticles were observed. The Energy Dispersive X-Ray analysis—EDX; confirmed the presence of Ag on the surface of the particles, while the selected area electron diffraction showed single crystalline silver nanospheres with face-centered cubic structure.     

Scalar conservation laws with fractional stochastic forcing: Existence,uniqueness and invariant measure

We study a fractional stochastic perturbation of a first-order hyperbolic equation of nonlinear type. The existence and uniqueness of the solution are investigated via a Lax–Ole?nik formula. To construct the invariant measure we use two main ingredients. The first one is the notion of a generalized characteristic in the sense of Dafermos. The second one is the fact that the oscillations of the fractional Brownian motion are arbitrarily small for an infinite number of intervals of arbitrary length.     

Collision and escape orbits in a generalized Hénon–Heiles model

The motion of a material point of unit mass in a field determined by a generalized Hénon–Heiles potential $U=A{q}_1^2+B{q}_2^2+C{q}_1^2{q}_2+D{q}_2^3$, with $(q_1,q_2)=$ standard Cartesian coordinates and $(A,B,C,D)\in {(0,\infty )}^2\times R^2$, is addressed for two limit situations: collision and escape. Using McGehee-type transformations, the corresponding collision and infinity boundary manifolds pasted on the phase space are determined. These are fictitious manifolds, but, due to the continuity with respect to initial data, their flow determines the near by orbit behaviour.The dynamics on the collision and infinity manifolds is fully described. The topology of the flow on the collision manifold is independent of the parameters. In the full phase space, while spiraling collision orbits are present, most of the orbits avoid collision. The topology of the flow on the infinity manifold changes as the ratio between $C$ and $D$ varies. More precisely, there are two symmetric pitchfork bifurcations along the line $2C?3D=0$, due to the reshaping of the potential along the bifurcation line. Besides rectilinear and spiraling orbits, the near-escape dynamics includes oscillatory orbits, for which angular momentum alternates sign.     

Chiral Brønsted acids in enantioselective carbonyl activations--activation modes and applications

Chiral phosphoric acids and derivatives have attracted considerable attention as a powerful tool in asymmetric catalysis. Various enantioselective reactions have been developed by using these efficient Br?nsted acid organocatalysts. Although initially the activation was restricted to reactive Br?nsted basic substrates, recent reports are demonstrating the versatility of phosphoric acid catalysts in the activation of carbonyl compounds in a stereochemically controlled fashion. This tutorial review gives an overview of enantioselective Br?nsted acid catalyzed transformations with the main focus on carbonyl activation. Different activation modes, key features of the catalysts and the applied substrates are presented and discussed with the goal to elucidate the origin of stereoselectivity in these Br?nsted acid catalyzed transformations.     

In vivo three-dimensional photoacoustic tomography of a whole mouse head

An in vivo photoacoustic imaging system was designed and implemented to image the entire small animal head. A special scanning gantry was designed to enable in vivo imaging in coronal cross sections with high contrast and good spatial resolution for the first time to our knowledge. By use of a 2.25 MHz ultrasonic transducer with a 6 mm diameter active element, an in-plane radial resolution of approximately 312 microm was achieved. Deeply seated arterial and venous vessels in the head measuring up to 1.7 cm in diameter were simultaneously imaged in vivo with 804 nm wavelength laser excitation of photoacoustic waves.     

Functional Law for the Anticipating Ornstein-Uhlenbeck Process

We prove a functional law of simple logarithm for the Ornstein-Uhlenbeck process with anticipating initial data.      

New PP/PLA/cellulose composites: effect of cellulose functionalization on accelerated weathering behavior (accelerated weathering behavior of new PP/PLA/cellulose composites)

Polylactic acid (PLA) was used as partial replacement for conventional thermoplastic matrix, new composites comprising cellulose, polypropylene (PP), and PLA being realized. In order to obtain a compatible interface between cellulosic pulp and polymeric matrix, two chemical modifications of cellulose with stearoyl chloride and toluene di‐isocyanate (TDI) were performed, structural changes being evidenced by X‐ray photoelectron spectroscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The composite materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, dynamic scanning calorimetry, impact, tensile and melt rheological tests, surface tension, and dynamic vapor sorption. Because promising results for impact strength and Young modulus were recorded when replacing 15% of PP with PLA in blends of PP with the same cellulosic pulp load, the aim of our study was to assess the behavior to accelerate weathering of composites comprising PP, cellulosic pulp, and PLA. Although the slight decrease in the mechanical properties was recorded after accelerated weathering, the use of functionalized cellulose successfully prevented the deterioration of surface materials, especially for composite comprising stearoyl chloride treated cellulose pulp. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.