An experimental investigation of electrically thick rectangular microstrip antennas

The electromagnetic properties of electrically thick rectangular microstrip antennas were investigated experimentally. Antennas were fabricated with different patch sizes and with electrical thicknesses ranging from 0.03 to 0.23 wavelengths in the dielectric substrate. The resonant frequencies were measured and compared to existing formulas. The bandwidth was calculated as a function of electrical thickness and the antenna radiation patterns were measured.     

Practical stopping criteria for validating safety-critical software by estimating impartial reliability

In this research, we investigate stopping rules for software testing and propose two stopping rules from the aspect of software reliability testing based on the impartial reliability model. The impartial reliability difference (IRD-MP) rule considers the difference between the impartial transition-probability reliabilities estimated for both software developer and consumers at their predetermined prior information levels. The empirical–impartial reliability difference (EIRD-MP) rule suggests stopping a software test when the computed empirical transition reliability is tending to its estimated impartial transition reliability. To insure the high-standard requirement for safety-critical software, both rules take the maximum probability (MP) of untested paths into account.     

Numerical flow visualization of first cycle and cyclic motion of a rigid fling-clapping wing

A flow visualization of the two-dimensional rigid fling-clap motions of the flat-plate wing is performed to get the knowledge of fling-clapping mechanism that might be employed by insects during flight. In this numerical visualization, the time-dependent Navier-Stokes equations are solved for two types of wing motion; ‘fling followed by clap and pause motion’ and ‘cyclic fling-clapping motion’. The result is observed regarding the main flow features such as the sequential development of the two families of separation vortex pairs and their movement. For the ‘fling followed by clap and pause motion’, a strong separation vortex pair of counterrotation develops in the opening between the wings in the fling phase and they then move out from the opening in the following clap phase. For ‘the cyclic fling-clapping motion’, the separation vortex pair developed in the outside space in the clap phase move into the opening in the following fling phase. The separation vortex pair in the opening developed in the fling phase of the cyclic motion is observed to be stronger than those of the ‘fling followed by clap and pause motion’. Regarding the strong fling separation vortex and the weak clap separation vortex above it in the opening, the flow pattern of the fling phase of the cyclic fling and clap motion is different to that of the fling phase of the first cycle. The flow pattern of the third cycle of the cyclic fling-clapping motion is observed to be almost same as that of the second cycle. Therefore, a periodicity of the flow pattern is established after the second cycle.     

Magnetic,structural and electrical properties of ordered and disordered Co50Fe50 films

Co₅₀Fe₅₀ films with thickness varying from 100 to 500 Å were deposited on a glass substrate by sputtering process, respectively. Two kinds of CoFe films were studied: one was the as-deposited film, and the other the annealed film. The annealing procedure was to keep the films at 400 °C for 5 h in a vacuum of 5×10⁻⁶ mbar. From the X-ray study, we find that the as-deposited film prefers the CoFe(1 1 0) orientation. Moreover, the body-centered cubic (bcc) CoFe(1 1 0) line is split into two peaks: one corresponding to the ordered body-centered tetragonal (bct) phase, and the other, the disordered bcc phase. After annealing, the peak intensity of the ordered bct phase becomes much stronger, while that of the disordered bcc phase disappears. The annealing has also caused the ordered CoFe(2 0 0) line to appear. When the amount of the ordered bct phase in Co₅₀Fe₅₀ is increased, the saturation magnetization (M_s) and coercivity (H_c) become larger, but the electrical resistivity (ρ) decreases. From the temperature coefficient of resistance (TCR) measurement, we learn that the bct grains in the CoFe film start to grow at temperature 82 °C.     

Anionic polymerization of star-shaped nylon 6 with a trifunctional initiator

The anionic polymerization of ?-caprolactam (CLM) has been shown to proceed at high reaction rate when catalyzed by metallic lactamates and initiated by acyllactams. The role of initiator and catalyst concentration on the process of ?-caprolactam anionic polymerization has been explored, with the aim of selecting the most suitable experimental conditions for reaction injection molding (RIM). The overall polymerization rates and physical properties for reaction injection molding of star-shaped nylon 6 homopolymer have been studied by the quasi-adiabatic process. In order to model the actual rapid molding conditions, time vs. temperature reaction profiles were measured, and the relative rates of polymerization subsequently determined from these data.     

Noninterfering optical method of HBT circuit evaluation

The authors report a novel noninterfering and simple approach for evaluation of circuits implemented with AlGaAs/GaAs heterojunction bipolar transistors (HBTs). This method makes use of radiative recombination in the base region of current-carrying HBTs. The infrared radiation emitted is 'visible' to the closed-circuit TV (CCTV) cameras. Therefore, one can view the operation of the HBT circuit under test at normal biases with a TV monitor. This method can be used to determine logic states of gates, as well as collector current of individual HBTs within integrated circuits.<>     

Eigen filter to detect volitional EMG signals in autogenic EMG-controlled FES

Presented is an eigen filter to remove autogenic electrical stimulation artefacts and M-waves while preserving the volitional electromyographic signal. The optimality of the eigen filter is shown, along with simulated and measured data to indicate its superior performance over conventional prediction error filters.     

Coplanar stripline resonators modeling and applications to filters

This paper presents coplanar stripline (CPS) resonators and their practical implementations to filters. Five types of CPS resonator are built using open and short-ended strips. Lumped-element equivalent circuits are presented for each resonator. Their performances are investigated and compared in terms of Q factor or bandwidth. Two types of bandpass filter are developed with the resonators. The bandpass filters have low-passband insertion losses and wide-stopband suppression bandwidths. Lumped-element equivalent circuits are presented for the bandpass filters. A wide-band CPS-to-microstrip transition is developed for the measurements. The back-to-back transition has an insertion loss of less than 3 dB and a return loss of better than 10 dB for the frequency range from 1.3 to 13.3 GHz (1:10.2)     

Allocating unfunded liability in pension valuation under uncertainty

This paper studied the cost allocation for the unfunded liability in a defined benefit pension scheme incorporating the stochastic phenomenon of its returns. In the recent literature represented by Cairns and Parker [Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 21 (1997) 43], Haberman [Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 11 (1992) 179; Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 13 (1993) 45; Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 14 (1994) 219; Insurance: Mathematics and Economics 14 (1997) 127], Owadally and Haberman [North American Actuarial Journal 3 (1999) 105], the fund level is modeled based on the plan dynamics and the returns are generated through several stochastic processes to reflect the current realistic economic perspective to see how the contribution changed as the cost allocation period increased. In this study, we generalize the previous constant value assumption in cost amortization by modeling the returns and valuation rates simultaneously. Taylor series expansion is employed to approximate the unconditional and conditional moments of the plan contribution and fund level. Hence the stability of the plan contribution and the fund size under different allocation periods could be estimated, which provide valuable information adding to the previous works.