Spatial regularities in the effect of locking of photon echo signals and associative optical memory

The efficiency of suppression of the generation of a photon echo response depending on the mutual spatial orientation of gradients of external nonumform electric fields acting on a resonant medium is studied. The possibility of creating an associative memory where the mutual orientation of the gradients of external electric fields is an associative key is discussed.     

Buckling of sandwich wide columns

The paper deals with the theoretical prediction of buckling loads for sandwich columns with metallic and laminated facings and foam or honeycomb core. The loading is a uniform axial compression, applied statically (very slowly) and suddenly with constant magnitude and infinite duration (step loading). The effect of length and boundary conditions is assessed and results are presented for the following cases: for a cantilever column, a simply supported column and a clamped column, for several lengths. Several fiber materials are used in the laminated facings. Two types of core were examined: alloy-foam or hexagonal glass/phenolic honeycomb. The facings are Boron/Epoxy, Graphite/Epoxy and Kevlar/Epoxy laminates with 0° orientation with respect to the column axis and a metallic one made out of aluminum. These various materials are employed to provide comparative data that can be used in design. Results, for the static case are generated by computer codes as well as by the use of closed form theoretical solutions. For the dynamic case, results are generated by the DYNA3D code.     

Local search algorithms for the min-max loop layout problem

In the min-max loop layout problem, machines are to be arranged around a loop of conveyor belt. The ordering of the machines dictates the number of circuits of the conveyor belt required to manufacture each of several products. The goal is to find an ordering of the machines that minimises the maximum number of circuits required for the manufacture of any of the products. Since the problem is strongly NP-hard, the study of heuristic methods is of interest. This paper proposes iterated descent and tabu search algorithms, and a randomised insertion algorithm. Results of extensive computational tests show that all of our algorithms outperform a previously known algorithm that applies a greedy heuristic to the solution of a linear programming relaxation. The best quality solutions are obtained with iterated descent. This adds further evidence to the belief that iterated descent can produce high quality solutions to a variety of combinatorial optimisation problems. Moreover, unlike some other local search algorithms, iterated descent does not require much tuning in order to be competitive.     

Combining PSMs with hard OR methods: the philosophical and practical challenges

Combinations of problem structuring methods with hard OR methodologies are seldom described in the literature. This paper will reflect on the barriers to such combinations that can be seen at the philosophical level—paradigm incommensurability—and cognitive level—type of personality and difficulty of switching paradigm. This paper examines the combination of Soft Systems Methodology and Discrete Event Simulation within an Intermediate Care case study. The paper will argue, by way of the practical application, that these problems are not insurmountable and that the result can be seen as interplay of the soft and hard paradigms. The idea of yin and yang is proposed as a metaphor for this process.     

A new microtensile tester for the study of MEMS materials with the aid of atomic force microscopy

An apparatus has been designed and implemented to measure the elastic tensile properties (Young's modulus and tensile strength) of surface micromachined polysilicon specimens. The tensile specimens are “dog-bone” shaped ending in a large “paddle” for convenient electrostatic or, in the improved apparatus, ultraviolet (UV) light curable adhesive gripping deposited with electrostatically controlled manipulation. The typical test section of the specimens is 400 μm long with 2 μm×50 μm cross section. The new device supports a nanomechanics method developed in our laboratory to acquire surface topologies of deforming specimens by means of Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) to determine (fields of) strains via Digital Image Correlation (DIC). With this tool, high strength or non-linearly behaving materials can be tested under different environmental conditions by measuring the strains directly on the surface of the film with nanometer resolution.     

Adaptive classification method and measurement of intermittent random process characteristics

Results are presented of an analytic construction and investigation of adaptive data classification algorithms for intermittent turbulence. A decision making rule is presented, relationships are derived to estimate the classification accuracy. A three-level procedure is described for processing the intermittency, including the calculation algorithms for the initial point, self-teaching, and optimal classification. It is shown that the method proposed permits realization of total automation of intermittency data processing.Translated from Teoreticheskaya i Prikladnaya Mekhanika, No. 18, pp. 119–123, 1987.     

Reaction of furan compounds with hydrogen peroxide in the presence of vanadium catalysts

The reactions of furan and a number of its derivatives (furfural, furan-2-carboxylic acid, 2-furfuryl alcohol, and others), in systems containing H₂O₂ and vanadium compounds, proceed through a mechanism of radical hydoxylation of the furan ring with the formation of 5-hydroxy-2(5H)-furanone and maleic acid. The total yield and ratio of the synthesized compounds depend on the reaction conditions.Translated from Khimiya Geterotsiklicheskikh Soedinenii, No. 11, pp. 1462–1467, November, 1991.