Foresight vehicle programme - Customer understanding processes in design

Customer feedback is normally fed into product design and engineering via quality surveys and therefore mainly comprises negative comments: complaints about things gone wrong. Whilst eradication of such problems will result in a feeling of satisfaction in existing customers, it will not instil the sense of delight required to attract conquest buyers. CUPID's aim is to conceive and evaluate ideas to stimulate product desirability through the provision of delightful features and execution. By definition, surprise and delight features cannot be foreseen, so we have to understand sensory appeal and, therefore, the "hidden" voice of the customer. Copyright © 2002 Society of Automotive Engineers, Inc.

Compact multimode polymer waveguide bends for board-level optical interconnects

Multimode polymer waveguides are promising for use in board-level optical interconnects. In recent years, various on-board optical interconnection architectures have been demonstrated making use of passive routing waveguide components. In particular, 90° bends have played important roles in complex waveguide layouts enabling interconnection between non co-linear points on a board. Due to the dimensions and index step of the waveguides typically used in on-board optical interconnects, low-loss bends are typically limited to a radius of ∼ 10 mm. This paper therefore presents the design and fabrication of compact low-loss waveguide bends with reduced radii of curvature, offering significant reductions in the required areas for on-board optical circuits. The proposed design relies on the exposure of the bend section to the air, achieving tighter light confinement along the bend and reduced bending losses. Simulation studies carried out with ray tracing tools and experimental results from polymer samples fabricated on FR4 are presented. Low bending losses are achieved from the air-exposed bends up to 4 mm of radius of curvature, while an improvement of 14 μm in the 1 dB alignment tolerances at the input of these devices (fibre to waveguide coupling) is also obtained. Finally, the air-exposed bends are employed in an optical bus structure, offering reductions in insertion loss of up to 3.8 dB. © 2013 IEEE.

Anti-counterfeiting and supply chain security

Counterfeit trade developed into a severe problem for many industries. While established security features such as holograms, micro printings or chemical markers do not seem to efficiently avert trade in illicit imitation products, RFID technology, with its potential to automate product authentications, may become a powerful tool to enhance brand and product protection. The following contribution contains an overview on the implication of product counterfeiting on affected companies, provides a starting point for a structured requirements definition for RFID-based anti-counterfeiting systems, and outlines several principal solution approaches that are discussed in greater detail in the subsequent chapters. © 2008 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Component level strategies for exploiting the lifespan of steel in products

Approximately 40% of annual demand for steel worldwide is used to replace products that have failed. With this percentage set to rise, extending the lifespan of steel in products presents a significant opportunity to reduce demand and thus decrease carbon dioxide emissions from steel production. This article presents a new, simplified framework with which to analyse product failure. When applied to the products that dominate steel use, this framework reveals that they are often replaced because a component/sub-assembly becomes degraded, inferior, unsuitable or worthless. In light of this, four products, which are representative of high steel content products in general, are analysed at the component level, determining steel mass and cost profiles over the lifespan of each product. The results show that the majority of the steel components are underexploited - still functioning when the product is discarded; in particular, the potential lifespan of the steel-rich structure is typically much greater than its actual lifespan. Twelve case studies, in which product or component life has been increased, are then presented. The resulting evidence is used to tailor life-extension strategies to each reason for product failure and to identify the economic motivations for implementing these strategies. The results suggest that a product template in which the long-lived structure accounts for a relatively high share of costs while short-lived components can be easily replaced (offering profit to the producer and enhanced utility to owners) encourages product life extension. © 2013 The Author.

Optical matching layer structures in evanescent coupling photodiodes at a wavelength of 1.55 mu m: physics, design and simulation

We have studied the optical matching layers (OMLs) and external quantum efficiency in the evanescent coupling photodiodes (ECPDs) integrating a diluted waveguide as a fibre-to-waveguide coupler, by using the semi-vectorial beam propagation method (BPM). The physical basis of OML has been identified, thereby a general designing rule of OML is developed in such a kind of photodiode. In addition, the external quantum efficiency and the polarization sensitivity versus the absorption and coupling length are analysed. With an optical matching layer, the absorption medium with a length of 30 mu m could absorb 90% of the incident light at 1.55 mu m wavelength, thus the total absorption increases more than 7 times over that of the photodiode without any optical matching layer.

Wide-band polarization-insensitive high-output-power semiconductor optical amplifier based on thin tensile-strained bulk InGaAs

A polarization-insensitive semiconductor optical amplifier (SOA) with a very thin active tensile-strained InGaAs bulk has been fabricated. The polarization sensitivity of the amplifier gain is less than 1 dB over both the entire range of driving current and the 3 dB optical bandwidth of more than 80 nm. For optical signals of 1550 nm wavelength, the SOA exhibits a high saturation output power +7.6 dBm together with a low noise figure of 7.5 dB, fibre-to-fibre gain of 11.5 dB, and low polarization sensitivity of 0.5 dB. Additionally, at the gain peak 1520 nm, the fibre-to-fibre gain is measured to be 14.1 dB.

Low power-consumption and high response frequency thermo-optic variable optical Attenuators based on silicon-on-insulator materials

A novel silicon-on-insulator thermo-optic variable optical attenuator with isolated grooves based on a multimode interference coupler principle is fabricated by the inductive coupled plasma etching technology. The maximum fibre-to-fibre insertion loss is lower than 2.2 dB, the dynamic attenuation range is from 0 to 30 dB in the wavelength range 1500-1600 nm, and the maximum power consumption is only 140 mW. The response frequency of the fabricated variable optical attenuator is about 30 kHz. Compared to the variable optical attenuator without isolated grooves, the maximum power consumption decreases more than 220 mW, and the response frequency rises are more than 20 kHz.

一种基于端对端平台可信性互认证的可信迁移框架及协议

中国计算机学会

MANET中TCP Vegas拥塞控制的端到端改进方法

TCP Vegas通过往返时间的最小值baseRTT来进行拥塞控制,因此获取准确baseRTT的值至关重要.在MANET中,不断变化的网络拓扑会导致baseRTT的测量出现严重偏差,从而降低了吞吐量,而TCP Vegas在拥塞避免阶段发生路由变化但没有引起丢包或失序现象时,已有的端到端启发式方案很难进行识别.采用回落探测方法识别路由变化,进而调节往返时间的最小值以改善TCP Vegas拥塞控制算法在MANET中的性能.

辽北农田土壤农药残留特征及其对农产品安全影响

农药对产地环境，特别是对土壤的广泛污染严重威胁农产品安全和人类健康。因此，本文采用建立的除草剂和有机氯农药（OCPs）残留分析方法，开展了辽北地区土壤农药残留特征、阿特拉津和乙草胺田间消解动力学、土壤农药残留对农产品安全影响等方面研究。主要研究结果如下： 1. 分别建立了土壤、大米、蔬菜、玉米中3种除草剂和8种OCPs多残留分析方法。方法检出限介于0.04~1.30 ng•g-1之间；11种农药在0.01 (0.02)~1.0 (2.0) mg•L-1范围内线性良好，相关系数介于0.9963-0.9998之间；平均回收率介于71%-117%之间、相对标准偏差小于14.4%。 2. 阿特拉津和乙草胺在辽北农田土壤普遍残留；丁草胺、六氯苯、狄氏剂和艾氏剂在部分土壤有残留；乙草胺和丁草胺相对其它农药残留较高；阿特拉津、六氯苯、狄氏剂和艾氏剂残留量与相关报道和标准相比较低。除艾氏剂外，检出农药残留量经Box-Cox变换后，均服从正态分布。阿特拉津、乙草胺、丁草胺、六氯苯在不同土壤利用类型之间存在显著差异（P<0.05）。 3. 玉米地土壤中阿特拉津和乙草胺消解动态符合一级反应动力学模式，阿特拉津消解半衰期在12.2~59.8d之间，乙草胺在18.5~54.6d之间。喷施地阿特拉津和乙草胺消解速率约为对照地的2~5倍，且喷施量越大，消解越快。 4. 11种农药在辽北蔬菜、大米、玉米中残留较低，仅阿特拉津、六氯苯、乙草胺和丁草胺在部分农产品中有残留，其在土壤中残留通过蔬菜、大米和玉米给消费者带来的总膳食风险较低。大田试验进一步说明在试验区域喷施4倍最大推荐剂量阿特拉津或乙草胺也不会对玉米安全产生影响。

固定化红酵母细胞合成L-苯丙氨酸研究

In this paper, bioconversion of trans-cinnamic acid(t-Ca)to L-phenylalanine (L-phe) has been investigated by using immobilized yeast cells with induced L-phe Ammonia-lyase(PAL, EC.4.3.1.5) as biocatalysts. The contents are the following. (1) Thirty strains of yeasts, including two genera (Rhodotorula, Sporobolomyces), six species (R. glutinis R. minuta,R.rubra,R.sineses,R.roseus and S.salmonicolor)were screened for their ability to converse the substrates, t-Ca and ammonia, to the product, L-phe, by using yeast cells as biocatalyst, and primary evaluation for PAL activity of the selected strains was investigated. From the results of the screening experiments, it was found that 22 strains were able to produce L-phe from t-Ca with the range of conversion yield from 2% to 67%. Studies on PAL formation time course during cultivation show that the maximum PAL activity of several different strains ranges from 2.3 to 14.4×10-3U/mg cell dry weight. The biomass of tested strains at their maximum enzyme activity is also greatly varied. (2)One of the selected strains, R. rubra as 2.166, was used for immobilized cells as biocatalysts to produce L-phe. The optimum conversion conditions and effective stablization agents were investigated. The results shown that polyacrylamide gel was chosen as a suitable matrix for immobilization of the yeast cells, and it can retain 88% of the PAL activity in the reverse direction at the following reactive conditions: [t-Ca]: 34mM. [NH4OH]: 6.OM.PH10.00, temperature: 30℃. (3) The effects of various kinds of effectors on the production of L-phe were also examined. Membrane permeabilizing agents can stimulate L-phe synthesis, but make the stability of PAL decline greatly. Polyalchoholic agents and glutamic acid were very effective for the stabilization of PAL. At the presence of glutamic acid (5%), the half life of L-phe productivity with the immobilized cells was extended to 192 hours, which was much higher than most of that having been reproted, while the half life of resting cells was only about 15 hours. (4) Use of initial velocity studies on the kinetics of enzyme-catalized reaction indicated that the apparent Km value was 13.0mM for the immobilized cells, and 4.8mM for the resting cells. Thermostability of the immobilized cells was better than the resting cells. Fluid bed bioreactor is more effective than batch bioreator in prolonging the thermostability of the biocatalysts. (5) CGA- 688 resin column chromatographic procedure was employed in the isolation and purification of L-phe, t-Ca and other substances from the reactire mixture. (6) Preparative-scale production of L-phe on a level of gram amount by immobilized cells from the culture broth of R. rubra AS2.166 allowed for the conversion yield with 30%. The characteristic physico-chemical criteria (including melting point, optical activity, elements analysis, IR, NMR) are the same with the standard L-phe. 本文报告了利用诱导的苯丙氨酸解氨酶 (PAL.EC.4.3.1.5)催化反式肉桂酸(t-Ca)氨加 成制备L-苯丙氨酸(L-phe)的研究，主要内容为：(1) 我们搜集了三十株酵母菌株，利用全细胞转化t-Ca生成L-phe的能力进行了直 接筛选，并对其PAL活性水平进行了初步评估研究。研究结果表明，其中22株酵母具有转化t-Ca生产L-phe的能力，它们包括 Rhodotorula glutinis,R.rubra, R.sineses 和Sporobolomyces roseus 的菌株，转化率在2-67%。细胞生长和PAL形成过程的研究 表明，不同菌株PAL最大活力在2.3-14.4×10-3U/mg 细胞干重，达到最大PAL活性时各株酵母的生长情况也极不一致。(2) 利用筛 选出的一株深红酵母R.rubra AS2.166 作为供试菌株，研究了细胞固定化条件下生物转化的最适条件及PAL在固定化条件下的稳定 性。结果表明以聚丙烯酰胺凝胶包埋法较为理想，能使细胞合成L-phe活力保持88%，最适t-Ca浓度为34mM，最适NH4OH浓度为6M,最 适PH10.0，最适温度45℃。(3) 多种效应物对L-phe 合成的影响研究表明：表面活性剂能刺激L-phe的合成，但使PAL稳定性下降。 多羟基化合物及Glu对PAL的稳定十分有效在有Glu存在下，能使固定化细胞合成L-phe的半寿期达192小时左右，高于大部分现已报 导的固定化结果。(4) 用初速度法研究了深红酵母AS2.166中PAL的酶促反应特征，测得固定化细胞对t-Ca的表观米氏常数Km为 13.0mM，全细胞为4.8mM，细胞固定后热稳定性提高。(5) 建立了适合低浓度分离纯化产物与底物的聚苯乙烯大孔树脂柱层析技术 ，能使L-phe与t-Ca及产物混合物中其它成分有效分开。(6) 利用固定化的R.rubra AS2.166细胞所做的制备实验能够使L-phe的产 率达到30%左右，其主要的理化指标(包括熔点、比旋光度、元素分析、IR、NMR等)与标准L-phe一致。

Effect of Shear Flow on the Formation of Ring-Shaped ABA Amphiphilic Triblock Copolymer Micelles

We have investigated the effect of Shear flow on the formation of rill.-shaped ABA triblock copolymer (P4VP(43)-b-PS260-b-P4VP(43)) micelles. The results reveal that Shear flow Plays an important role in the formation of the rings Both ring size and its, distribution are found to be dependent sensitively on the stirring rate. Sizable rings are more likely to be formed at moderate stirring rate, Interestingly, the ring formation mechanism is also dependent oil the Shear flow. Copolymers are likely to form rings via end-to-end cylinder connection at low stirring rates, whereas they tend to form rings via the pathway of the rod-sphere-vesicle-ring it high stirring rates.

Facile synthesis of highly uniform octahedral LuVO4 microcrystals by a facile chemical conversion method

Uniform octahedral LuVO4 microcrystals have been successfully prepared through a designed two-step hydrothermal method. One-dimensional lutetium precursor was first prepared through a simple hydrothermal route. Subsequently, a well-shaped octahedral LuVO4 sample was synthesized at the expense of the wirelike precursors during the hydrothermal process. The whole process in this method was carried out in aqueous conditions without the use of any organic solvents, surfactant, or catalyst. The conversion process from nanowire precursor to octahedral product has been investigated in detail. The LuVO4 : Ln(3+) (Ln Eu, Dy, Sm, and Er) phosphors show strong light emissions with different colors coming from different activator ions under ultraviolet light excitation or low-voltage electron beam excitation. Furthermore, this general and facile method may be of much significance in the synthesis of many other lanthanide compounds with polyhedral morphology.

Study of controllable aggregation morphology of ABA amphiphilic triblock copolymer in dilute solution by changing the solvent property

We have studied, both experimentally and theoretically, the aggregation morphology of the ABA amphiphilic triblock copolymer in dilute solution by changing the solvent property. Experimental results showed that the micellar morphology changed from spheres to rods and then to vesicles by changing the common solvent from N-N-dimethylformamide (DMF) to dioxane and then to tetrahydrofuran (THF). These controllable aggregates were also obtained by Monte Carlo simulation. The simulative results showed that the solvent property is a key factor that determines the copolymer aggregation morphology. The morphology changed from spheres to rods and then to vesicles by increasing the solvent solubility, corresponding to the change of stretched of the copolymer chains in the micellar cores. This result is in good agreement with the experimental one. Moreover, the simulative results revealed that the end-to-end distant of the ABA triblock copolymer in the vesicle was larger than that in the spheres and rods, indicating that the copolymer chains were more stretched in vesicles than in the spheres and rods. Furthermore, we gave the distribution of the fraction of the chain number with the end-to-end distance. The results indicated that the amount of folded chains is almost the same as that of stretched chains in the vesicle. Although most chains were folded, stretched chains could be found in the rod and sphere micelles.

A Monte Carlo simulation of morphology and structure for thin films of symmetric triblock copolymer after quenching and annealing

Self-assembly thin films of symmetric triblock copolymer after annealing and quenching were examined by an effective Monte Carlo simulation method. The defects in the ordered lamellae of the thin films after quenching, which were dependent on the initialization of copolymer melts, are removed in the thin films after annealing. The mean-square gyration radius and end-to-end distance of copolymer chains in the thin films after annealing are smaller than those in the thin films after quenching because of the complete relaxation of polymer during annealing. We also find that the density of A block in the region near to the surface is higher than that in the interior of the thin films. As a result, it is different from the thin films of symmetric A(n)B(n) diblock copolymer, in which surface ordering forms before the interior, that ordering phenomena occurs first in the interior region in the thin films of symmetric A(n)B(m)A(n). triblocl copolymer.