An optical fibre pH sensor based on dye doped mesostructured silica

This paper describes the synthesis and optical pH sensing properties of a pH indicator dye activated mesostructured silica coated optical fibre. The pH-sensitive dye bromothymol blue was incorporated into the mesostructure sol precursor and thin films/coatings were used for pH-sensing applications without prior removal of the surfactant. The pH sensitivity range and operating wavelength were analysed by absorption measurements on layer dip-coated on glass slides. The pH sensing properties of coated optical fibre were tested by evanescent wave method. Experiments were carried out by using a series of solutions of known pH. No leaching was observed (except at very high pH) and an excellent reversibility was obtained between pH=2 and 5.     

Surface profile measurement of low-frequency vibrating objects using temporal analysis of fringe pattern

A simple and accurate algorithm (phase scanning method) is proposed for 3D surface contouring and dynamic response determination of a vibrating object. A sinusoidal fringe pattern is projected onto a low-frequency vibrating object by a programmable liquid crystal display projector. The fringe patterns are captured by a high-speed CCD camera with a telecentric gauging lens. Phase values are evaluated point by point using phase scanning method. From the phase values of each point on the object, the contour of the specimen at different instants of vibration can be retrieved. In this paper, a small vibrating coin is used to demonstrate the validity of the method and the experimental results are compared with test results on a stationary coin using four-step phase shifting and fast Fourier transform methods. The technique is especially useful in applications where the vibrating object has a complicated shape.     

4英寸热氧化硅衬底上磁性隧道结的微制备

就如何在4英寸热氧化硅衬底上沉积高质量的磁性隧道结纳米多层薄膜材料和如何利用光刻方法微加工制备均匀性较好的磁性隧道结方面做了初步研究，并对磁性隧 道结的磁电性质及其工作特性进行了初步测量和讨论.利用现有的光刻设备和工艺条 件在4英寸热氧化硅衬底上直接制备出的磁性隧道结，其结电阻与面积的积 矢的绝对误差在10% 以内，隧穿磁电阻的绝对误差在7% 以内，样品的磁性隧道结性质具有较好的均匀性和一致性，可以满足研制磁随机存储器存储单元演示器件的基本要求. 关键词： 磁性隧道结 隧穿磁电阻 磁随机存储器 4英寸热氧化硅衬底     

Urea method for the synthesis of hydrotalcites

Mg-Al, Zn-Al and Ni-Al hydrotalcite-like compounds with high crystallinity were synthesized by using the decomposing property of urea at high temperature. The crystallinity and the regularly of the samples were much preferable to those synthesized by other methods. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Optimal stopping problems by two or more decision makers: a survey

A review of the optimal stopping problem with more than a single decision maker (DM) is presented in this paper. We classify the existing literature according to the arrival of the offers, the utility of the DMs, the length of the sequence of offers, the nature of the game and the number of offers to be selected. We enumerate various definitions for this problem and describe some dynamic approaches. Fouad Ben Abdelaziz is on leave from the Institut Superieur de Gestion, University of Tunis, Tunisia e-mail: foued.benabdelaz@isg.run.tn.     

Optimal production control of a dynamic two-product manufacturing system with setup costs and setup times

This paper deals with the optimal control of a one-machine two-product manufacturing system with setup changes, operating in a continuous time dynamic environment. The system is deterministic. When production is switched from one product to the other, a known constant setup time and a setup cost are incurred. Each product has specified constant processing time and constant demand rate, as well as an infinite supply of raw material. The problem is formulated as a feedback control problem. The objective is to minimize the total backlog, inventory and setup costs incurred over a finite horizon. The optimal solution provides the optimal production rate and setup switching epochs as a function of the state of the system (backlog and inventory levels). For the steady state, the optimal cyclic schedule is determined. To solve the transient case, the system's state space is partitioned into mutually exclusive regions such that with each region, the optimal control policy is determined analytically.     

Fluorescent humic substances–arsenic complex in well water in areas where blackfoot disease is endemic in Taiwan

The relationship between the four components, (1) fluorescence intensity, (2) arsenic concentration, (3) pH and (4) total dissolved solids, (TDS) measured in well waters from areas in Taiwan where blackfoot disease (BFD) is endemic was studied, as well as the relationships between the four degrees of BFD and each of the above four symptomatic components, in order to evaluate the etiological factors of BFD more progressively. The following 95% confidence intervals were obtained in well water samples (n = 1189): fluorescence intensity, 26.837–32.570; arsenic concentration, 0.103–0.127 mg dm^?3; pH, 7.466–7.519; and TDS 733.063–801.647 mg dm^?3. Fluorescence intensities of the four degrees of BFD were not all the same (F = 64.54, P < 0.001), and nor were arsenic concentrations (F = 72.03, P < 0.001), pH values (F = 7.30, P < 0.001), nor TDS values (F = 10.76, P < 0.001). In addition, multiple comparisons indicate that the higher the epidemical degree, the higher the fluorescence intensities, arsenic concentrations and pH values become; however, such a relationship is not found for TDS values. Moreover, the fluorescence intensities have positive linear correlations with arsenic concentrations (r = 0.49, P < 0.001), pH (r = 0.25, P < 0.001), and TDS (r = 0.18, P < 0.001), as do the arsenic concentrations with pH (r = 0.22, P < 0.001). Of the four epidemical degree groups, pairs are not significantly different from one another in correlation coefficients between fluorescence intensity and arsenic concentration, which implies a steady relationship between fluorescent compounds and arsenic. We conclude that fluorescent compounds in well water, as possible etiological factors of BFD, are closely related to arsenic along with pH and TDS values in the areas where BFD is endemic. In addition, we infer that a complex is formed by fluorescent compounds, arsenic and other metals.     

一维介观结链中电荷孤子的控制

研究了一维介观结链中的电势分布随各岛上门电压和电子数分布的变化关系,并发现在一个岛上加一个门电压会产生一个静电势孤子.通过调节门电压可以较好地控制静电势孤子的形状及其位置,从而达到对电荷孤子的有效控制. 关键词： 电荷孤子 介观结 单电荷隧穿     

Anisotropic elastodynamics in a half space: An analytic method for polynomial data

An initial boundary value problem for the dynamic system of anisotropic elasticity in a half space is studied in the paper. A novel method of finding an exact solution of this problem for a special polynomial form of initial data and inhomogeneous term of the system is described. On the base of this method the simulation of elastic waves in different homogeneous anisotropic half spaces is implemented.