Continuous phase shift of sinusoidal signals using injection locked oscillators

This work presents an alternative to generate continuous phase shift of sinusoidal signals based on the use of super harmonic injection locked oscillators (ILO). The proposed circuit is a second harmonic ILO with varactor diodes as tuning elements. In the locking state, by changing the varactor bias, a phase shift instead of a frequency shift is observed at the oscillator output. By combining two of these circuits, relative phases up to 90 could be achieved. Two prototypes of the circuit have been implemented and tested, a hybrid version working in the range of 200-300 MHz and a multichip module (MCM) version covering the 900¿1000 MHz band.

Continuous phase transition in a spin-glass model without time-reversal symmetry

We investigate the phase transition in a strongly disordered short-range three-spin interaction model characterized by the absence of time-reversal symmetry in the Hamiltonian. In the mean-field limit the model is well described by the Adam-Gibbs-DiMarzio scenario for the glass transition; however, in the short-range case this picture turns out to be modified. The model presents a finite temperature continuous phase transition characterized by a divergent spin-glass susceptibility and a negative specific-heat exponent. We expect the nature of the transition in this three-spin model to be the same as the transition in the Edwards-Anderson model in a magnetic field, with the advantage that the strong crossover effects present in the latter case are absent.

MIMO waveform design using continuous phase modulation

Hybrid MIMO Phased-Array Radar (HMPAR) is an emerging technology that combines MIMO (multiple-in, multiple-out) radar technology with phased-array radar technology. The new technology is in its infancy, but much of the theoretical work for this specific project has already been completed and is explored in great depth in [1]. A brief overview of phased-array radar systems, MIMO radar systems, and the HMPAR paradigm are explored in this paper. This report is the culmination of an effort to support research in MIMO and HMPAR utilizing a concept called intrapulse beamscan. Using intrapulse beamscan, arbitrary spatial coverage can be achieved within one MIMO beam pulse. Therefore, this report focuses on designing waveforms for MIMO radar systems with arbitrary spatial coverage using that phenomenon. With intrapulse beamscan, scanning is done through phase-modulated signal design within one pulse rather than phase-shifters in the phased array over multiple pulses. In addition to using this idea, continuous phase modulation (CPM) signals are considered for their desirable peak-to-average ratio property as well as their low spectral leakage. These MIMO waveforms are designed with three goals in mind. The first goal is to achieve flexible spatial coverage while utilizing intrapulse beamscan. As with almost any radar system, we wish to have flexibility in where we send our signal energy. The second goal is to maintain a peak-to-average ratio close to 1 on the envelope of these waveforms, ensuring a signal that is close to constant modulus. It is desired to have a radar system transmit at the highest available power; not doing so would further diminish the already very small return signals. The third goal is to ensure low spectral leakage using various techniques to limit the bandwidth of the designed signals. Spectral containment is important to avoid interference with systems that utilize nearby frequencies in the electromagnetic spectrum. These three goals are realized allowing for limitations of real radar systems. In addition to flexible spatial coverage, the report examines the spectral properties of utilizing various space-filling techniques for desired spatial areas. The space-filling techniques examined include Hilbert/Peano curves and standard raster scans.

Continuous phase synchronised drives (for a rod-making machine)

Traditional high speed machinery actuators are powered and coordinated by mechanical linkages driven from a central drive, but these linkages may be replaced by independently synchronised electric drives. Problems associated with utilising such electric drives for this form of machinery were investigated. The research concentrated on a high speed rod-making machine, which required control of high inertias (0.01-0.5kgm2), at continuous high speed (2500 r/min), with low relative phase errors between two drives (0.0025 radians). Traditional minimum energy drive selection techniques for incremental motions were not applicable to continuous applications which require negligible energy dissipation. New selection techniques were developed. A brushless configuration constant enabled the comparison between seven different servo systems; the rate earth brushless drives had the best power rates which is a performance measure. Simulation was used to review control strategies, such that a microprocessor controller with a proportional velocity loop within a proportional position loop with velocity feedforward was designed. Local control schemes were investigated as means of reducing relative errors between drives: the slave of a master/slave scheme compensates for the master's errors: the matched scheme has drives with similar absolute errors so the relative error is minimised, and the feedforward scheme minimises error by adding compensation from previous knowledge. Simulation gave an approximate velocity loop bandwidth and position loop gain required to meet the specification. Theoretical limits for these parameters were defined in terms of digital sampling delays, quantisation, and system phase shifts. Performance degradation due to mechanical backlash was evaluated. Thus any drive could be checked to ensure that the performance specification could be realised. A two drive demonstrator was commissioned with 0.01kgm2 loads. By use of simulation the performance of one drive was improved by increasing the velocity loop bandwidth fourfold. With the master/slave scheme relative errors were within 0.0024 radians at a constant 2500 r/min for two 0.01 kgm^2 loads.

Continuous extraction of alpha-toxin from a fermented broth of Clostridium perfringens Type A in perforated rotating disc contactor using aqueous two-phase PEG-phosphate system

A 2(3-1) factorial experimental design was used to evaluate the performance of a perforated rotating disc contactor to extract alpha-toxin from the fermented broth of Clostridium perfringens Type A by aqueous two-phase system of polyethylene glycol-phosphate salts. The influence of three independent variables, specifically the dispersed phase flowrate, the continuous phase flowrate and the disc rotational speed, was investigated on the hold up, the mass transfer coefficient, the separation efficiency and the purification factor, taken as the response variables. The optimum dispersed phase flowrate was 3.0 mL/min for all these responses. Besides, maximum values of hold up (0.80), separation efficiency (0. 10) and purification factor (2.4) were obtained at this flowrate using the lowest disc rotational speed (35 rpm), while the optimum mass transfer coefficient (0. 165 h(-1)) was achieved at the highest agitation level (140 rpm). The results of this study demonstrated that the dispersed phase flowrate strongly influenced the performance of PRDC, in that both the mass transfer coefficient and hold up increased with this parameter. (c) 2007 Elsevier B. V. All rights reserved.

Utilização de uma coluna de flotação para remoção de compostos orgânicos da água de produção

Innovative technologies using surfactant materials have applicability in several industrial fields, including petroleum and gas areas. This study seeks to investigate the use of a surfactant derived from coconut oil (SCO saponified coconut oil) in the recovery process of organic compounds that are present in oily effluents from petroleum industry. For this end, experiments were accomplished in a column of small dimension objectifying to verify the influence of the surfactant SCO in the efficiency of oil removal. This way, they were prepared emulsions with amount it fastens of oil (50, 100, 200 and 400 ppm), being determined the great concentrations of surfactant for each one of them. Some rehearsals were still accomplished with produced water of the industry of the petroleum to compare the result with the one of the emulsions. According to the experiments, it was verified that an increase of the surfactant concentration does not implicate in a greater oil removal. The separation process use gaseous bubbles formed when a gas stream pass a liquid column, when low surfactant concentrations are used, it occurs the coalescence of the dispersed oil droplets and their transport to the top of the column, forming a new continuous phase. Such surfactants lead to a gas-liquid interface saturation, depending on the used surfactant concentration, affecting the flotation process and influencing in the removal capacity of the oily dispersed phase. A porous plate filter, with pore size varying from 40 to 250 mm, was placed at the base of the column to allow a hydrodynamic stable operation. During the experimental procedures, the operating volume of phase liquid was held constant and the rate of air flow varied in each experiment. The resulting experimental of the study hydrodynamic demonstrated what the capturing of the oil was influenced by diameter of the bubbles and air flow. With the increase flow of 300 about to 900 cm3.min-1, occurred an increase in the removal of oil phase of 44% about to 66% and the removal kinetic of oil was defined as a reaction of 1° order

Utilização de uma coluna de flotação para remoção de compostos orgânicos da água de produção

Innovative technologies using surfactant materials have applicability in several industrial fields, including petroleum and gas areas. This study seeks to investigate the use of a surfactant derived from coconut oil (SCO saponified coconut oil) in the recovery process of organic compounds that are present in oily effluents from petroleum industry. For this end, experiments were accomplished in a column of small dimension objectifying to verify the influence of the surfactant SCO in the efficiency of oil removal. This way, they were prepared emulsions with amount it fastens of oil (50, 100, 200 and 400 ppm), being determined the great concentrations of surfactant for each one of them. Some rehearsals were still accomplished with produced water of the industry of the petroleum to compare the result with the one of the emulsions. According to the experiments, it was verified that an increase of the surfactant concentration does not implicate in a greater oil removal. The separation process use gaseous bubbles formed when a gas stream pass a liquid column, when low surfactant concentrations are used, it occurs the coalescence of the dispersed oil droplets and their transport to the top of the column, forming a new continuous phase. Such surfactants lead to a gas-liquid interface saturation, depending on the used surfactant concentration, affecting the flotation process and influencing in the removal capacity of the oily dispersed phase. A porous plate filter, with pore size varying from 40 to 250 mm, was placed at the base of the column to allow a hydrodynamic stable operation. During the experimental procedures, the operating volume of phase liquid was held constant and the rate of air flow varied in each experiment. The resulting experimental of the study hydrodynamic demonstrated what the capturing of the oil was influenced by diameter of the bubbles and air flow. With the increase flow of 300 about to 900 cm3.min-1, occurred an increase in the removal of oil phase of 44% about to 66% and the removal kinetic of oil was defined as a reaction of 1° order.

Tile-Based Two-Dimensional Phase Unwrapping for Digital Holography Using a Modular Framework

A variety of physical and biomedical imaging techniques, such as digital holography, interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR), or magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) enable measurement of the phase of a physical quantity additionally to its amplitude. However, the phase can commonly only be measured modulo 2π, as a so called wrapped phase map. Phase unwrapping is the process of obtaining the underlying physical phase map from the wrapped phase. Tile-based phase unwrapping algorithms operate by first tessellating the phase map, then unwrapping individual tiles, and finally merging them to a continuous phase map. They can be implemented computationally efficiently and are robust to noise. However, they are prone to failure in the presence of phase residues or erroneous unwraps of single tiles. We tried to overcome these shortcomings by creating novel tile unwrapping and merging algorithms as well as creating a framework that allows to combine them in modular fashion. To increase the robustness of the tile unwrapping step, we implemented a model-based algorithm that makes efficient use of linear algebra to unwrap individual tiles. Furthermore, we adapted an established pixel-based unwrapping algorithm to create a quality guided tile merger. These original algorithms as well as previously existing ones were implemented in a modular phase unwrapping C++ framework. By examining different combinations of unwrapping and merging algorithms we compared our method to existing approaches. We could show that the appropriate choice of unwrapping and merging algorithms can significantly improve the unwrapped result in the presence of phase residues and noise. Beyond that, our modular framework allows for efficient design and test of new tile-based phase unwrapping algorithms. The software developed in this study is freely available.

Dispersion of fillers in viscoelastic polymer matrices using Eulerian-Lagrangian approaches

Understanding the behavior of c omplex composite materials using mixing procedures is fundamental in several industrial processes. For instance, polymer composites are usually manufactured using dispersion of fillers in polymer melt matrices. The success of the filler dispersion depends both on the complex flow patterns generated and on the polymer melt rheological behavior. Consequently, the availability of a numerical tool that allow to model both fluid and particle would be very useful to increase the process insight. Nowadays there ar e computational tools that allow modeling the behavior of filled systems, taking into account both the behavior of the fluid (Computational Rheology) and the particles (Discrete Element Method). One example is the DPMFoam solver of the OpenFOAM ® framework where the averaged volume fraction momentum and mass conservation equations are used to describe the fluid (continuous phase) rheology, and the Newton’s second law of motion is used to compute the particles (discrete phase) movement. In this work the refer red solver is extended to take into account the elasticity of the polymer melts for the continuous phase. The solver capabilities will be illustrated by studying the effect of the fluid rheology on the filler dispersion, taking into account different fluid types (generalized Newtonian or viscoelastic) and particles volume fraction and size. The results obtained are used to evaluate the relevance of considering the fluid complex rheology for the prediction of the composites morphology

Experimental and computational study on the synthesis and characterization of self-assembling meso/macroporous materials in highly concentrated emulsions

Report for the scientific sojourn carried out at Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center-Harvard Medical School, Estats Units, from 2010 to 2011. The project aims to study the aggregation behavior of amphiphilic molecules in the continuous phase of highly concentrated emulsions, which can be used as templates for the synthesis of meso/macroporous materials. At this stage of the project, we have investigated the self-assembly of diblock and triblock surfactants under the effect of a confined geometry being surrounded by the droplets of the dispersed phase. These droplets limit the growth of the aggregates, deeply modify their orientation and hence alter their spatial arrangement as compared to the self-assembly taking place far enough from any boundary surface, that is in the bulk. By performing Monte Carlo simulations, we have showed that the interface between the dispersed and continuous phases as well as its shape has a significant impact on the structural order of the resulting aggregates and hence on the potential applications of highly concentrated emulsions as reaction media, drug delivery systems, or templates for meso/macroporous materials. Due to the combined effect of symmetry breaking and morphological frustration, very intriguing structures, such as square columnar liquid crystals, twisted X-shaped aggregates, and helical phases of cylindrical aggregates, never observed in the bulk for the same model surfactant, have been found. The presence of other more conventional structures, such as micelles and cubic and hexagonal liquid crystals, formed at low and high amphiphilic concentrations, respectively, further enhance the interest on this already rich aggregation behavior.

Communication in networks with hierarchical branching

We present a simple model of communication in networks with hierarchical branching. We analyze the behavior of the model from the viewpoint of critical systems under different situations. For certain values of the parameters, a continuous phase transition between a sparse and a congested regime is observed and accurately described by an order parameter and the power spectra. At the critical point the behavior of the model is totally independent of the number of hierarchical levels. Also scaling properties are observed when the size of the system varies. The presence of noise in the communication is shown to break the transition. The analytical results are a useful guide to forecasting the main features of real networks.

Brittle to ductile transition in a fiber bundle with strong heterogeneity

We analyze the failure process of a two-component system with widely different fracture strength in the framework of a fiber bundle model with localized load sharing. A fraction 0≤α≤1 of the bundle is strong and it is represented by unbreakable fibers, while fibers of the weak component have randomly distributed failure strength. Computer simulations revealed that there exists a critical composition αc which separates two qualitatively different behaviors: Below the critical point, the failure of the bundle is brittle, characterized by an abrupt damage growth within the breakable part of the system. Above αc, however, the macroscopic response becomes ductile, providing stability during the entire breaking process. The transition occurs at an astonishingly low fraction of strong fibers which can have importance for applications. We show that in the ductile phase, the size distribution of breaking bursts has a power law functional form with an exponent μ=2 followed by an exponential cutoff. In the brittle phase, the power law also prevails but with a higher exponent μ=92. The transition between the two phases shows analogies to continuous phase transitions. Analyzing the microstructure of the damage, it was found that at the beginning of the fracture process cracks nucleate randomly, while later on growth and coalescence of cracks dominate, which give rise to power law distributed crack sizes.

The Gaussian assumption in second-order estimation problems in digital communications

This paper deals with the goodness of the Gaussian assumption when designing second-order blind estimationmethods in the context of digital communications. The low- andhigh-signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) asymptotic performance of the maximum likelihood estimator—derived assuming Gaussiantransmitted symbols—is compared with the performance of the optimal second-order estimator, which exploits the actualdistribution of the discrete constellation. The asymptotic study concludes that the Gaussian assumption leads to the optimalsecond-order solution if the SNR is very low or if the symbols belong to a multilevel constellation such as quadrature-amplitudemodulation (QAM) or amplitude-phase-shift keying (APSK). On the other hand, the Gaussian assumption can yield importantlosses at high SNR if the transmitted symbols are drawn from a constant modulus constellation such as phase-shift keying (PSK)or continuous-phase modulations (CPM). These conclusions are illustrated for the problem of direction-of-arrival (DOA) estimation of multiple digitally-modulated signals.

Macroporous Scaffolds for Bone Engineering. Studies on Cell Culture and Ectopic Bone Formation

Bone engineering is a rapidly developing area of reconstructive medicine where bone inducing factors and/or cells are combined with a scaffold material to regenerate the structure and function of the original tissue. The aim of this study was to compare the suitability of different macroporous scaffold types for bone engineering applications. The two scaffold categories studied were a) the mechanically strong and stable titanium fiber meshes and b) the elastic and biodegradable porous polymers. Furthermore, bioactive modifications were applied to these basic scaffold types, and their effect on the osteogenic responses was evaluated in cell culture and ectopic bone formation studies. The osteogenic phenotype of cultured cell-scaffold constructs was heightened with a sol-gel derived titania coating, but not with a mixed titania-silica coating. The latter coating also resulted in delayed ectopic bone formation in bone marrow stromal cell seeded scaffolds. However, the better bone contact in early implantation times and more even bone tissue distribution at later times indicated enhanced osteoconductivity of both the coated scaffold types. Overall, the most promising bone engineering results were obtained with titania coated fiber meshes. Elastic and biodegradable poly(ε-caprolactone/D,L-lactide) based scaffolds were also developed in this study. The degradation rates of the scaffolds in vitro were governed by the hydrophilicity of the polymer matrix, and the porous architecture was controlled by the amount and type of porogen used. A continuous phase macroporosity was obtained using a novel CaCl2 • 6H2O porogen. Dynamic culture conditions increased cell invasion, but decreased cell numbers and osteogenicity, within the scaffolds. Osteogenic differentiation in static cultures and ectopic bone formation in cell seeded scaffolds were enhanced in composites, with 30 wt-% of bioactive glass filler.

Síntese de copolímeros em bloco com propriedades líquido cristalinas

The principal techniques for the synthesis of liquid crystalline block copolymers are reviewed. The syntheses are done by living/controlled free radical chain polymerization. The copolymers display an amorphous continuous phase and a discontinuous liquid crystalline phase (LC). The presence of oxypropylenic segments disturbs the range of mesophase transitions at lower temperatures. This behavior is not observed when styrenic segments are employed and suggests that the liquid crystalline behavior can be modified in block copolymers to show mesophases at higher and lower temperatures according to the flexibility of the chain segment that is present.