Adaptive solutions to the mutual exclusion problem

Summary Algorithms for mutual exclusion that adapt to the current degree of contention are developed. Afilter and a leader election algorithm form the basic building blocks. The algorithms achieve system response times that are independent of the total number of processes and governed instead by the current degree of contention. The final algorithm achieves a constant amortized system response time. Manhoi Choy was born in 1967 in Hong Kong. He received his B.Sc. in Electrical and Electronic Engineerings from the University of Hong Kong in 1989, and his M.Sc. in Computer Science from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1991. Currently, he is working on his Ph.D. in Computer Science at the University of California at Santa Barbara. His research interests are in the areas of parallel and distributed systems, and distributed algorithms. Ambuj K. Singh is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Computer Science at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He received a Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at Austin in 1989, an M.S. in Computer Science from Iowa State University in 1984, and a B.Tech. from the Indian Institute of Technology at Kharagpur in 1982. His research interests are in the areas of adaptive resource allocation, concurrent program development, and distributed shared memory.A preliminary version of the paper appeared in the 12th Annual ACM Symposium on Principles of Distributed ComputingWork supported in part by NSF grants CCR-9008628 and CCR-9223094     

Optimization of Vane-Parameters for Gain-Frequency Response of Vane-Loaded Gyro-TWT

This paper discusses an analytical method to study the effects of the vane-parameters on the gain-frequency response of an azimuthally periodic vane-loaded cylindrical waveguide interaction structure for the gyro-traveling wave tube (gyro-TWT) amplifier in the small-orbit TE₀₁ waveguide mode configuration. The vane-loaded gyro-TWT enables the higher gain than that of the smooth-wall device. An optimum choice of the vane dimensions causes a change in the frequency corresponding to the peak-gain.     

The Einstein relation in nanostructured materials: simplified theory and suggestion for experimental determination

An attempt is made to study the Einstein relation for the diffusivity–mobility ratio (DMR) in quantum wells (QWs) and quantum well wires (QWWs) of tetragonal compounds on the basis of a newly formulated electron energy spectrum taking into account the combined influences of the anisotropies in effective electron mass, the spin–orbit splitting, and the presence of crystal field splitting, respectively. The results for quantum-confined III–V compounds form a special case of our generalized analysis. The DMR has also been studied for QWs and QWWs of II–VI and IV–VI materials. Taking QWs and QWWs of CdGeAs₂, InAs, CdS and PbSe as examples, it was found that the DMR increases with increasing carrier statistics and decreasing film thickness respectively in various oscillatory manners emphasizing the influence of dimensional quantizations and the energy band constants in different cases. An experimental method of determining the DMR in nanostructures with arbitrary dispersion laws has also been suggested and the present simplified analysis is in agreement with the suggested relationship. The well-known results for nanostructures with parabolic energy bands have also been obtained as special cases from this generalized analysis under certain limiting conditions.     

Au and Au-Ag bimetallic nanoparticles synthesized by using 12-3-12 cationic Gemini surfactant as template

A seed-growth method has been applied to synthesize gold (Au) and Au-silver (Ag) bimetallic nanoparticles (NP) by using 12-3-12, a cationic Gemini surfactant, as a capping agent as well as micellar template. A systematic increase in the [12-3-12] from pre- to post-micellar region (up to 5 times the critical micelle concentration, cmc) produces Au NP from spherical to large plate like structures. Keeping [12-3-12] constant (equal to 1 / 2 cmc) and increasing ascorbic acid (AA) concentration lead to the formation of core shell type Au-Ag bimetallic NP. At maximum AA concentration (i.e. [AA] = 5.6 mM), fused bimetallic Au-Ag NP are obtained. The anisotropic growth of such materials is a key factor for various applications in nanotechnology.     

The electrochemical behaviour of nitrogen-containing austenitic stainless steel in methanolic solution

The corrosion behaviour of nitrogen-containing austenitic stainless steel in methanol containing different concentrations of H₂SO₄, HCl, LiCl and H₂SO₄ + HCl has been investigated using a potentiostatic polarization method. The cathodic reaction in the H₂SO₄, HCl and H₂SO₄ + HCl solutions was proton reduction whereas in the neutral LiCl solution, oxygen reduction was the predominant cathodic reaction. Active, passive and transpassive behaviours were observed only for higher concentrations of H₂SO₄ (0.01–2.0 M) due to the inherent water content. A cathodic loop, characterized by measured negative current in the anodic region, was also observed in solutions, in which the concentration of H₂SO₄ was 1.0 M or higher. The relative stability of the passive films decreased as the H₂SO₄ concentration increased, and thus the steel suffered from mild pitting corrosion. In the chloride environment, the rate of corrosion increased as the Cl⁻ ion concentration increased. The presence of acid along with Cl⁻ ions enhanced corrosion, and the corrosion rate increased significantly. The steel suffered from mild intergranular corrosion in acidic chloride solutions of methanol. In the H₂SO₄ + HCl solutions, passive films were only formed when the H₂SO₄ to HCl concentration ratio was greater than ∼10:1.     

Copper(II) removal from aqueous solutions by fly ash

The removal of Cu(II) by adsorption on fly ash has been found to be concentration, pH and temperature dependent. The kinetics of adsorption indicates the process to be diffusion controlled. The Langmuir constants have been calculated at different temperatures, and the adsorption has been found to be endothermic (ΔH = 15.652 kcal mol^?1). The maximum removal is observed at pH 8.0, and variation in adsorption with pH has been explained on the basis of surface ionisation and complexation.     

On certain classes of exact solutions of Einstein equations for rotating fields in conventional and nonconventional form

Using the symmetry reduction approach we have herein examined, under continuous groups of transformations, the invariance of Einstein exterior equations for stationary axisymmetric and rotating case, in conventional and nonconventional forms, that is a coupled system of nonlinear partial differential equations of second order. More specifically, the said technique yields the invariant transformation that reduces the given system of partial differential equations to a system of nonlinear ordinary differential equations (nlodes) which, in the case of conventional form, is reduced to a single nlode of second order. The first integral of the resulting nlode has been obtained via invariant-variational principle and Noether’s theorem and involves an integration constant. Depending upon the choice of the arbitrary constant two different forms of the exact solutions are indicated. The generalized forms of Weyl and Schwarzschild solutions for the case of no spin have also been deduced as particular cases. Investigation of nonconventional form of Einstein exterior equations has not only led to the recovery of solutions obtained through conventional form but it also yields physically important asymptotically flat solutions. In a particular case, a single third order nlode has been derived which evidently opens up the possibility of finding many further interesting solutions of the exterior field equations.     

Irradiation of large area Mylar membrane and characterization of nuclear track filter

Ion irradiation of Si⁸⁺ ion beam of 100 MeV was scattered by a gold foil on a Mylar membrane of 25 Μm thickness in the form of film roll (width, 12.5 cm and length, 400 cm) at the Nuclear Science Centre, New Delhi. The characterization of etched nuclear tracks was carried out by gas permeation measurements. The samples cut from the film roll of required size for permeability measurements were etched in a controlled manner in a constant temperature bath of 6N NaOH solution. The opening of the conical etched tracks was characterized by hydrogen gas permeation.