Combustion synthesis approach for spectral tuning of Eu doped CaAl2O4 phosphors

Despite being a particularly good emitter, use of divalent Eu has been seriously limited. This is because severe reducing environments or special hosts are needed during synthesis of divalent Eu containing phosphors. In this work we stabilize Eu in its 2+ state (in CaAl2O4) using an open-air solution combustion reaction. The impact of fuel (F) to oxidizer (O) molar ratios (F/O = 0.5-2.0) on luminescence properties is explored. Chromaticity of Eu:CaAl2O4 depends sensitively on the F/O ratio. In general, higher F/O inhibits Eu3+ and promotes Eu2+ formation, which in turn improves the quality of the blue phosphor. EPR spectra show inhomogeneous broadening effects with the increase in F/O ratio, which suggests that disorder creation is promoted when F/O is increase. This is also confirmed by an increase in emission line width in PL spectra, when F/O is increased. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Active Dendrites Regulate Spectral Selectivity in Location-Dependent Spike Initiation Dynamics of Hippocampal Model Neurons

How does the presence of plastic active dendrites in a pyramidal neuron alter its spike initiation dynamics? To answer this question, we measured the spike-triggered average (STA) from experimentally constrained, conductance-based hippocampal neuronal models of various morphological complexities. We transformed the STA computed from these models to the spectral and the spectrotemporal domains and found that the spike initiation dynamics exhibited temporally localized selectivity to a characteristic frequency. In the presence of the hyperpolarization-activated cyclic nucleotide-gated (HCN) channels, the STA characteristic frequency strongly correlated with the subthreshold resonance frequency in the theta frequency range. Increases in HCN channel density or in input variance increased the STA characteristic frequency and its selectivity strength. In the absence of HCN channels, the STA exhibited weak delta frequency selectivity and the characteristic frequency was related to the repolarization dynamics of the action potentials and the recovery kinetics of sodium channels from inactivation. Comparison of STA obtained with inputs at various dendritic locations revealed that nonspiking and spiking dendrites increased and reduced the spectrotemporal integration window of the STA with increasing distance from the soma as direct consequences of passive filtering and dendritic spike initiation, respectively. Finally, the presence of HCN channels set the STA characteristic frequency in the theta range across the somatodendritic arbor and specific STA measurements were strongly related to equivalent transfer-impedance-related measurements. Our results identify explicit roles for plastic active dendrites in neural coding and strongly recommend a dynamically reconfigurable multi-STA model to characterize location-dependent input feature selectivity in pyramidal neurons.

Multivariate Granger causality: an estimation framework based on factorization of the spectral density matrix

Granger causality is increasingly being applied to multi-electrode neurophysiological and functional imaging data to characterize directional interactions between neurons and brain regions. For a multivariate dataset, one might be interested in different subsets of the recorded neurons or brain regions. According to the current estimation framework, for each subset, one conducts a separate autoregressive model fitting process, introducing the potential for unwanted variability and uncertainty. In this paper, we propose a multivariate framework for estimating Granger causality. It is based on spectral density matrix factorization and offers the advantage that the estimation of such a matrix needs to be done only once for the entire multivariate dataset. For any subset of recorded data, Granger causality can be calculated through factorizing the appropriate submatrix of the overall spectral density matrix.

Spectral response of a droplet in pulsating external flow field

A droplet introduced in an external convective flow field exhibits significant multimodal shape oscillations depending upon the intensity of the aerodynamic forcing. In this paper, a theoretical model describing the temporal evolution of normal modes of the droplet shape is developed. The fluid is assumed to be weakly viscous and Newtonian. The convective flow velocity, which is assumed to be incompressible and inviscid, is incorporated in the model through the normal stress condition at the droplet surface and the equation of motion governing the dynamics of each mode is derived. The coupling between the external flow and the droplet is approximated to be a one-way process, i.e., the external flow perturbations effect the droplet shape oscillations and the droplet oscillation itself does not influence the external flow characteristics. The shape oscillations of the droplet with different fluid properties under different unsteady flow fields were simulated. For a pulsatile external flow, the frequency spectra of the normal modes of the droplet revealed a dominant response at the resonant frequency, in addition to the driving frequency and the corresponding harmonics. At driving frequencies sufficiently different from the resonant frequency of the prolate-oblate oscillation mode of the droplet, the oscillations are stable. But at resonance the oscillation amplitude grows in time leading to breakup depending upon the fluid viscosity. A line vortex advecting past the droplet, simulated as an isotropic jump in the far field velocity, leads to the resonant excitation of the droplet shape modes if and only if the time taken by the vortex to cross the droplet is less than the resonant period of the P-2 mode of the droplet. A train of two vortices interacting with the droplet is also analysed. It shows clearly that the time instant of introduction of the second vortex with respect to the droplet shape oscillation cycle is crucial in determining the amplitude of oscillation. (C) 2014 AIP Publishing LLC.

A Low-Cost System for Measurement and Spectral Analysis of Motor Acoustic Noise

Workplace noise has become one of the major issues in industry not only because of workers’ health but also due to safety. Electric motors, particularly, inverter fed induction motors emit objectionably high levels of noise. This has led to the emergence of a research area, concerned with measurement and mitigation of the acoustic noise. This paper presents a lowcost option for measurement and spectral analysis of acoustic noise emitted by electric motors. The system consists of an electret microphone, amplifier and filter. It makes use of the windows sound card and associated software for data acquisition and analysis. The measurement system is calibrated using a professional sound level meter. Acoustic noise measurements are made on an induction motor drive using the proposed system as per relevant international standards. These measurements are seen to match closely with those of a professional meter.

Spectral finite element based on an efficient layerwise theory for wave propagation analysis of composite and sandwich beams

In this paper, we present a spectral finite element model (SFEM) using an efficient and accurate layerwise (zigzag) theory, which is applicable for wave propagation analysis of highly inhomogeneous laminated composite and sandwich beams. The theory assumes a layerwise linear variation superimposed with a global third-order variation across the thickness for the axial displacement. The conditions of zero transverse shear stress at the top and bottom and its continuity at the layer interfaces are subsequently enforced to make the number of primary unknowns independent of the number of layers, thereby making the theory as efficient as the first-order shear deformation theory (FSDT). The spectral element developed is validated by comparing the present results with those available in the literature. A comparison of the natural frequencies of simply supported composite and sandwich beams obtained by the present spectral element with the exact two-dimensional elasticity and FSDT solutions reveals that the FSDT yields highly inaccurate results for the inhomogeneous sandwich beams and thick composite beams, whereas the present element based on the zigzag theory agrees very well with the exact elasticity solution for both thick and thin, composite and sandwich beams. A significant deviation in the dispersion relations obtained using the accurate zigzag theory and the FSDT is also observed for composite beams at high frequencies. It is shown that the pure shear rotation mode remains always evanescent, contrary to what has been reported earlier. The SFEM is subsequently used to study wavenumber dispersion, free vibration and wave propagation time history in soft-core sandwich beams with composite faces for the first time in the literature. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Wave propagation analysis in laminated composite plates with transverse cracks using the wavelet spectral finite element method

This paper presents a newly developed wavelet spectral finite element (WFSE) model to analyze wave propagation in anisotropic composite laminate with a transverse surface crack penetrating part-through the thickness. The WSFE formulation of the composite laminate, which is based on the first-order shear deformation theory, produces accurate and computationally efficient results for high frequency wave motion. Transverse crack is modeled in wavenumber-frequency domain by introducing bending flexibility of the plate along crack edge. Results for tone burst and impulse excitations show excellent agreement with conventional finite element analysis in Abaqus (R). Problems with multiple cracks are modeled by assembling a number of spectral elements with cracks in frequency-wavenumber domain. Results show partial reflection of the excited wave due to crack at time instances consistent with crack locations. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Variations in the pulsation and spectral characteristics of OAO 1657-415

We present broad-band pulsation and spectral characteristics of the accreting X-ray pulsar OAO 1657-415 with a 2.2 d long Suzaku observation carried out covering its orbital phase range similar to 0.12-0.34, with respect to the mid-eclipse. During the last third of the observation, the X-ray count rate in both the X-ray Imaging Spectrometer (XIS) and the HXD-PIN instruments increased by a factor of more than 10. During this observation, the hardness ratio also changed by a factor of more than 5, uncorrelated with the intensity variations. In two segments of the observation, lasting for similar to 30-50 ks, the hardness ratio is very high. In these segments, the spectrum shows a large absorption column density and correspondingly large equivalent widths of the iron fluorescence lines. We found no conclusive evidence for the presence of a cyclotron line in the broad-band X-ray spectrum with Suzaku. The pulse profile, especially in the XIS energy band, shows evolution with time but not so with energy. We discuss the nature of the intensity variations, and variations of the absorption column density and emission lines during the duration of the observation as would be expected due to a clumpy stellar wind of the supergiant companion star. These results indicate that OAO 1657-415 has characteristics intermediate to the normal supergiant systems and the systems that show fast X-ray transient phenomena.

A spectral multiscale method for wave propagation analysis: Atomistic-continuum coupled simulation

In this paper, we present a new multiscale method which is capable of coupling atomistic and continuum domains for high frequency wave propagation analysis. The problem of non-physical wave reflection, which occurs due to the change in system description across the interface between two scales, can be satisfactorily overcome by the proposed method. We propose an efficient spectral domain decomposition of the total fine scale displacement along with a potent macroscale equation in the Laplace domain to eliminate the spurious interfacial reflection. We use Laplace transform based spectral finite element method to model the macroscale, which provides the optimum approximations for required dynamic responses of the outer atoms of the simulated microscale region very accurately. This new method shows excellent agreement between the proposed multiscale model and the full molecular dynamics (MD) results. Numerical experiments of wave propagation in a 1D harmonic lattice, a 1D lattice with Lennard-Jones potential, a 2D square Bravais lattice, and a 2D triangular lattice with microcrack demonstrate the accuracy and the robustness of the method. In addition, under certain conditions, this method can simulate complex dynamics of crystalline solids involving different spatial and/or temporal scales with sufficient accuracy and efficiency. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Asynchronous Gossip for Averaging and Spectral Ranking

We consider two variants of the classical gossip algorithm. The first variant is a version of asynchronous stochastic approximation. We highlight a fundamental difficulty associated with the classical asynchronous gossip scheme, viz., that it may not converge to a desired average, and suggest an alternative scheme based on reinforcement learning that has guaranteed convergence to the desired average. We then discuss a potential application to a wireless network setting with simultaneous link activation constraints. The second variant is a gossip algorithm for distributed computation of the Perron-Frobenius eigenvector of a nonnegative matrix. While the first variant draws upon a reinforcement learning algorithm for an average cost controlled Markov decision problem, the second variant draws upon a reinforcement learning algorithm for risk-sensitive control. We then discuss potential applications of the second variant to ranking schemes, reputation networks, and principal component analysis.

A charge self-consistent LDA plus DMFT study of the spectral properties of hexagonal NiS

The electronic structure and spectral properties of hexagonal NiS have been studied in the high temperature paramagnetic phase and low temperature anti-ferromagnetic phase. The calculations have been performed using charge self-consistent density-functional theory in local density approximation combined with dynamical mean-field theory (LDA+DMFT). The photoemission spectra (PES) and optical properties have been computed and compared with the experimental data. Our results show that the dynamical correlation effects are important to understand the spectral and optical properties of NiS. These effects have been analyzed in detail by means of the computed real and imaginary part of the self-energy.

The Tetrablock as a Spectral Set

The tetrablock, roughly speaking, is the set of all linear fractional maps that map the open unit disc to itself. A formal definition of this inhomogeneous domain is given below. This paper considers triples of commuting bounded operators (A,B,P) that have the tetrablock as a spectral set. Such a triple is named a tetrablock contraction. The motivation comes from the success of model theory in another inhomogeneous domain, namely, the symmetrized bidisc F. A pair of commuting bounded operators (S,P) with Gamma as a spectral set is called a Gamma-contraction, and always has a dilation. The two domains are related intricately as the Lemma 3.2 below shows. Given a triple (A, B, P) as above, we associate with it a pair (F-1, F-2), called its fundamental operators. We show that (A,B,P) dilates if the fundamental operators F-1 and F-2 satisfy certain commutativity conditions. Moreover, the dilation space is no bigger than the minimal isometric dilation space of the contraction P. Whether these commutativity conditions are necessary, too, is not known. what we have shown is that if there is a tetrablock isometric dilation on the minimal isometric dilation space of P. then those commutativity conditions necessarily get imposed on the fundamental operators. En route, we decipher the structure of a tetrablock unitary (this is the candidate as the dilation triple) and a tertrablock isometry (the restriction of a tetrablock unitary to a joint invariant sub-space). We derive new results about r-contractions and apply them to tetrablock contractions. The methods applied are motivated by 11]. Although the calculations are lengthy and more complicated, they beautifully reveal that the dilation depends on the mutual relationship of the two fundamental operators, so that certain conditions need to be satisfied. The question of whether all tetrablock contractions dilate or not is unresolved.

Wave propagation analysis in adhesively bonded composite joints using the wavelet spectral finite element method

A wavelet spectral finite element (WSFE) model is developed for studying transient dynamics and wave propagation in adhesively bonded composite joints. The adherands are formulated as shear deformable beams using the first order shear deformation theory (FSDT) to obtain accurate results for high frequency wave propagation. Equations of motion governing wave motion in the bonded beams are derived using Hamilton's principle. The adhesive layer is modeled as a line of continuously distributed tension/compression and shear springs. Daubechies compactly supported wavelet scaling functions are used to transform the governing partial differential equations from time domain to frequency domain. The dynamic stiffness matrix is derived under the spectral finite element framework relating the nodal forces and displacements in the transformed frequency domain. Time domain results for wave propagation in a lap joint are validated with conventional finite element simulations using Abaqus. Frequency domain spectrum and dispersion relation results are presented and discussed. The developed WSFE model yields efficient and accurate analysis of wave propagation in adhesively-bonded composite joints. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Estimates of site response based on spectral ratio between horizontal and vertical components of ambient vibrations in the source zone of 2001 Bhuj earthquake

We investigated the site response characteristics of Kachchh rift basin over the meizoseismal area of the 2001, Mw 7.6, Bhuj (NW India) earthquake using the spectral ratio of the horizontal and vertical components of ambient vibrations. Using the available knowledge on the regional geology of Kachchh and well documented ground responses from the earthquake, we evaluated the H/V curves pattern across sediment filled valleys and uplifted areas generally characterized by weathered sandstones. Although our HIV curves showed a largely fuzzy nature, we found that the hierarchical clustering method was useful for comparing large numbers of response curves and identifying the areas with similar responses. Broad and plateau shaped peaks of a cluster of curves within the valley region suggests the possibility of basin effects within valley. Fundamental resonance frequencies (f(0)) are found in the narrow range of 0.1-2.3 Hz and their spatial distribution demarcated the uplifted regions from the valleys. In contrary, low HIV peak amplitudes (A(0) = 2-4) were observed on the uplifted areas and varying values (2-9) were found within valleys. Compared to the amplification factors, the liquefaction indices (kg) were able to effectively indicate the areas which experienced severe liquefaction. The amplification ranges obtained in the current study were found to be comparable to those obtained from earthquake data for a limited number of seismic stations located on uplifted areas; however the values on the valley region may not reflect their true amplification potential due to basin effects. Our study highlights the practical usefulness as well as limitations of the HIV method to study complex geological settings as Kachchh. (C) 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.