Polymer chain conformation of copolymers with different monomer size: C NMR spectroscopy and MALS study

Copolymer composition, distribution and molecular size of the comonomer influence the final properties of polymer materials. Such influence can be followed from the effect on the chain conformation in solution determined from the scaling law between radius of gyration and molecular weight.     

Characterization of the road surfaces in real time

The main factor in the propagation of traffic noise is the road surface, where the vehicles generate noise due to the contact between tire and pavement, in addition to the noise produced by the engine.     

Design of a decentralized modular architecture for flexible and extensible production systems

In the European manufacturing industry, production batches are decreasing, resulting in an increase in required changeovers. Companies are pushed to respond quickly and cost-efficient to changing markets. One way for Small and Medium sized Enterprises (SMEs) to become more agile, is to incorporate industrial robots in their production processes; larger enterprises already use this versatile piece of equipment for large batch sizes. To do so, a new perspective and approach is required, tailored to dynamic manufacturing systems in which production systems and components can be easily reconfigured, altered, swapped or replaced. A modular system architecture was developed within project SInBot upon which challenges in dynamic cooperation between robots and humans were projected. The developed system uses decentralized control and distributed intelligence, linked through an extensible, flexible, and fault-tolerant communication architecture. The rapidly growing complexity of traditional systems is compared to its decentralized counterpart to illustrate some of the many advantages of this new system architecture. A manufacturing scenario analogue is discussed and the approach to verify the performance of inner-system components, as well as the benefits of this approach. Key challenges that are encountered in implementing the cooperation into the current industrial environments are identified and projected upon the verification system.     

A reduced simulation applied to the viscoelastic fatigue of polymers

The paper extends the use of the PGD method to viscoelastic evolution problems described by a large number of internal variables and with a large spectrum of relaxation times. The internal variables evolution is described by a set of linear differential equations that involve many time scales. The feasibility and the robustness of the method are discussed in the case of a polymer in a non-equilibrium state under creep and cyclic loading. The relationships between different time scales (loading and internal variables) are also discussed.     

Improving energy efficiency using a link adaptation algorithm dedicated for 100 Gbps wireless communication

This paper presents a link adaptation algorithm dedicated for 100 Gbps wireless transmission. Interleaved Reed-Solomon codes are selected as forward error correction (FEC) algorithms. The redundancy of the codes is selected according to the channel bit error rate (BER). The uncomplicated FEC scheme allows implementing a complete data link layer processor in an FPGA (field programmable gate array). In our case, we use the Virtex7 FPGA to validate the functionality of our implementation. The proposed FPGA-processor achieves 169 Gbps throughput. Moreover, the implementation is synthesized into 40 nm CMOS technology and the described link adaptation algorithm allows reducing consumed energy per bit to values below 1 pJ/bit at BER <1e−4. With higher BER, the energy increases up to ∼13 pJ/bit.     

试论中小型PCB企业在现代化生产中应具备的六个理念

根据自己多年的工作经验,从系统的观念来阐述激烈市场竞争中PCB企业应对之道,管理心得。     

Data envelopment analysis models of investment funds

This paper develops theory missing in the sizable literature that uses data envelopment analysis to construct return-risk ratios for investment funds. It explores the production possibility set of the investment funds to identify an appropriate form of returns to scale. It discusses what risk and return measures can justifiably be combined and how to deal with negative risks, and identifies suitable sets of measures. It identifies the problems of failing to deal with diversification and develops an iterative approximation procedure to deal with it. It identifies relationships between diversification, coherent measures of risk and stochastic dominance. It shows how the iterative procedure makes a practical difference using monthly returns of 30 hedge funds over the same time period. It discusses possible shortcomings of the procedure and offers directions for future research.     

Two-stage financial risk tolerance assessment using data envelopment analysis

Typical questionnaires administered by financial advisors to assess financial risk tolerance mostly contain stereotypes of people, have seemingly unscientific scoring approaches and often treat risk as a one-dimensional concept. In this work, a mathematical tool was developed to assess relative risk tolerance using Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). At its core, it is a novel questionnaire that characterizes risk by its four distinct elements: propensity, attitude, capacity, and knowledge. Over 180 individuals were surveyed and their responses were analyzed using the Slacks-based measure type of DEA efficiency model. Results show that the multidimensionality of risk must be considered for complete assessment of risk tolerance. This approach also provides insight into the relationship between risk, its elements and other variables. Specifically, the perception of risk varies by gender as men are generally less risk averse than women. In fact, risk attitude and knowledge scores are consistently lower for women, while there is no statistical difference in their risk capacity and propensity compared to men. The tool can also serve as a “risk calculator” for an appropriate and defensible method to meet legal compliance requirements, known as the “Know Your Client” rule, that exist for Canadian financial institutions and their advisors.     

Computation and conversion of brain pH values obtained with two algorithms of phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy data analysis

The intracellular brain pH in phosphorus magnetic resonance spectroscopy is calculated using the chemical shift between the inorganic phosphate and phosphocreatine with the Henderson–Hasselbalch equations. Researchers use various mathematical formulas that have different parameters and get various results for the same input data as a consequence. Thus, the aim of this article was to determine the mathematical formulas that allow the conversion of the pH values obtained by the most popular analysis methods to each other. To determine the relationships between pH results and the applied mathematical formula, the pH values were calculated using two algorithms for the theoretical chemical shift values. The pH results were compared with each other using the appropriate t-tests. Mathematical formulas were designed to simplify the conversion of pH values obtained by two data analysis methods to each other. The pH values with were obtained this way did not differ significantly from the pH values calculated directly from the given formula. The computed mathematical formulas will make it possible to simplify pH conversions without knowing the chemical shift between inorganic phosphate and phosphocreatine but only basing on the final pH values obtained by one of the formulas.