Interactive preference elicitation incorporating a priori and a posteriori methods

Annals of Operations Research - In a typical decision-making process, preference elicitation methods require a priori knowledge about the desired outcomes. It is expected that the decision maker...     

Contactless read-out of printed memory

Contactless read-out of inkjet printed programmable memory is demonstrated. The memory is arranged as a conducting comb pattern consisting of parallel lines adjacent to a common electrode. The information content of the memory is stored in memory bits, which modulate the electrical surface-area of the lines. The data is read-out capacitively by sweeping the tip of a printed circuit board over the memory. The memory bits were printed using silver nanoparticle ink and switched from an initial, high-resistance state to a low-resistance state using rapid electrical sintering, and furthermore, from the low-resistance state to an open-circuit state via fuse-like action. This read-out approach offers potential for low-cost memory applications as well as e.g. resistance-change sensors.     

Global higher integrability for parabolic quasiminimizers in nonsmooth domains

We study the global higher integrability of the gradient of a parabolic quasiminimizer with quadratic growth conditions. We show that if the lateral boundary satisfies a capacity density condition and if boundary and initial values are smooth enough, then quasiminimizers globally belong to a higher Sobolev space than assumed a priori. We derive estimates near the lateral and the initial boundaries.     

From Limit Cycles to Strange Attractors

We define a quantitative notion of shear for limit cycles of flows. We prove that strange attractors and SRB measures emerge when systems exhibiting limit cycles with sufficient shear are subjected to periodic pulsatile drives. The strange attractors possess a number of precisely-defined dynamical properties that together imply chaos that is both sustained in time and physically observable.     

Optimization studies of single-transverse-mode 980 nm ridge-waveguide lasers

The paper presents a simple and efficient Mode-Solver-based method for determining the ridge profile that ensures stable single-transverse-mode operation in ridge waveguide lasers. A quantitative figure of merit, easily derived from the Mode Solver analysis of the structure, indicates the likelihood of single transverse modal behavior over the whole bias range. The transverse mode analysis performed with the in-house developed software has been compared with the results of the commercial simulation package LASTIP and with experiments. The simulation and experimental results have been used to derive processing guidelines for achieving a stable single-transverse-mode operation in ridge waveguide lasers.     

60 GHz amplifier employing slow-wave transmission lines in 65-nm CMOS

A three-stage V-band amplifier implemented in 65-nm baseline CMOS technology is presented in this paper. Slow-wave coplanar waveguides are used for matching and interconnects to study the benefits of using this line type in amplifier design. Measured power gain, noise figure and 1 dB output compression point at 60 GHz are 13 dB, 6.3 dB and +4 dBm, respectively. The amplifier has 19.6 GHz of 3 dB bandwidth, thus covering entirely the unlicensed band around 60 GHz. The performance is achieved with a 1.2 V supply and 45 mA DC current consumption.     

Integrating Adaptive Video Streaming Service with Multi-access Network Management

In the future, mobile Internet access is expected to be over heterogeneous technologies and with support for dynamic adaptation in order to adjust efficiently to the varying network availability and conditions. To remove the burden of multi-access network management from users and operators, cognitive network management mechanisms may be used for obtaining the required automation over several networking functions like access selection and routing. In this paper, we introduce a novel control and signaling architecture employing cognitive mechanisms in optimizing video stream delivery over multi-access networks. We also present a prototype implementation of the proposed system encompassing open source components and supporting Scalable Video Coding (SVC). The initial results obtained from an experimental evaluation show how our solution may be used for optimizing video stream delivery in multi-access networks according to a user or operator defined policy.     

Mesoporous silica particles grafted with poly(ethyleneoxide‐block‐N‐vinylcaprolactam)

Mesoporous silica particles were grafted with thermoresponsive poly(ethyleneoxide‐b‐N‐vinylcaprolactam), PEO‐b‐PVCL. N‐vinylcaprolactam was first polymerized on particle surfaces using surface initiated atom transfer radical polymerization (SI‐ATRP) and then, the poly(ethyleneoxide) blocks were attached to the PVCL chain ends with click chemistry. The sizes, thermoresponsiviness, and colloidal stability of SiO₂‐PVCL and SiO₂‐PVCL‐b‐PEO particles and their aqueous dispersions were studied by scanning electron microscopy, turbidimetry, dynamic light scattering, zeta sizer, and microcalorimetry. The phase separation temperature of the PEO‐b‐PVCL grafted particles did not considerably differ from that of the SiO₂‐PVCL particles. The zeta potential of the grafted particles was close to zero at room temperature but decreased strongly upon heating. The decrease is related to the collapse of the PVCL blocks and correspondingly, the exposure of the silica surface toward the aqueous phase. The colloidal stability of the particles could be enhanced by adding PEO blocks to the chain ends of the PVCL grafts. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2013 , 51, 5012–5020     

Synthesis of mono- and dihydroxy-substituted 2-aminocyclooctanecarboxylic acid enantiomers

(1R,2S,6R)-2-Amino-6-hydroxycyclooctanecarboxylic acid (?)-10 was synthesized from (1R,2S)-2-aminocyclooct-5-enecarboxylic acid (+)-2 via an iodolactone intermediate, while (1R,2S,3R,4S)-2-amino-5,6-dihydroxycyclooctanecarboxylic acid (?)-12 was prepared by using the OsO₄-catalyzed oxidation of Boc-protected amino ester (?)-5. The stereochemistry and relative configurations of the synthesized compounds were determined by 1D and 2D NMR spectroscopy (based on 2D NOE cross-peaks and ³J(H,H) coupling constants) and X-ray crystallography.