A Silicon on Nothing LDMOS with Two Air Pillars in Gate Insulator for Power Applications

Silicon - This paper proposes a new silicon on nothing lateral double-diffused metal-oxide-semiconductor with two air gaps in the gate insulator (SON-APG LDMOS). Utilizing air for the buried layer...     

Correction to: Double Vision Model Using Space-Time Function Control within Silicon Microring System

Silicon - The original version of this article unfortunately contained a mistake in the “Acknowledgments” section.     

Physical layer impairment-aware shared path protection in wavelength-routed optical networks

The Journal of Supercomputing - In this paper, physical layer impairment (PLI)-aware shared path protection (SPP) scheme for single-link failures in transparent optical WDM mesh networks is...     

AMBO: All Members-Based Optimizer for Solving Optimization Problems

There are many optimization problems in different branches of science that should be solved using an appropriate methodology. Population-based optimization algorithms are one of the most efficient approaches to solve this type of problems. In this paper, a new optimization algorithm called All Members-Based Optimizer (AMBO) is introduced to solve various optimization problems. The main idea in designing the proposed AMBO algorithm is to use more information from the population members of the algorithm instead of just a few specific members (such as best member and worst member) to update the population matrix. Therefore, in AMBO, any member of the population can play a role in updating the population matrix. The theory of AMBO is described and then mathematically modeled for implementation on optimization problems. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated on a set of twenty-three standard objective functions, which belong to three different categories: unimodal, high-dimensional multimodal, and fixed-dimensional multimodal functions. In order to analyze and compare the optimization results for the mentioned objective functions obtained by AMBO, eight other well-known algorithms have been also implemented. The optimization results demonstrate the ability of AMBO to solve various optimization problems. Also, comparison and analysis of the results show that AMBO is superior and more competitive than the other mentioned algorithms in providing suitable solution.     

The release rate and antimicrobial activity of calcium-alginate films containing self-microemulsifying Thymus vulgaris essential oil against Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus

The aim of this study was to fabricate antimicrobial calcium-alginate-based films containing the self-microemulsifying thyme essential oil (TEO) formulations using Tween 80 as the surfactant, and acetic (AA) or propionic (PA) acids as the cosurfactants. A Ca-alginate film containing nano-emulsified TEO as well as a neat Ca-alginate film were considered as the controls. The scanning electron microscopy micrographs showed a highly porous texture for SME films, which resulted in an increase in water vapor permeability and water absorption capacity of these films. The SME films released the TEO completely within 155 min and inhibited the growth of S. aureus and E. coli in in vitro antimicrobial tests. The population of S. aureus and E. coli reduced significantly in ground beef covered with SME films. The results of this study showed that self-microemulsifying TEO films could effectively increase the shelf life of ground beef by controlling its microbial population.     

A straightforward one-pot synthesis of Pd–Ag supported on activated carbon as a robust catalyst toward ethanol electrooxidation

Direct Ethanol Fuel Cells (DEFCs) have fascinated remarkable attention on account of their high current density and being environmentally friendly. Developing efficient and durable catalysts with a simple and fast method is a great challenge in the practical applications of DEFCs. To this end, the bimetallic Pd–Ag with adjustable Pd:Ag ratios were synthesized via a simple and one-pot strategy on activated carbon as a support in this study. The Pd–Ag/C catalysts with different molar ratios were synthesized by simultaneous reduction of Pd and Ag ions in the presence of the ethanolic sodium hydroxide as a green reducing agent for the first time. Several different methods, including FE-SEM, HR-TEM, XRD, XPS EDX, ICP-OES, and BET were used to confirm the structure and morphology of the catalysts. The performance of catalysts was also examined in ethanol oxidation. Obtained results of electrochemical experiments revealed that the Pd₃–Ag₁/C catalyst had superior catalytic activity (2911.98 mAmg^?1_Pd), durability, and long-stability compared to the other catalysts. The excellent catalytic characteristic can be attributed to the synergistic effect between Pd and Ag. We presume that our simple method have the chance to be utilized as a proper method for the synthesis of fuel cell catalysts.     

Assessment of contaminant diffusivities in building materials from porosimetry tests

Recent studies have shown that surface and gaseous contaminant interactions may play an important role in indoor air quality. Modeling is an important tool to improve our knowledge about the phenomena involved and define appropriate ventilation strategies. However, data for sorption isotherms and diffusion in building materials remain woefully lacking. This paper deals with the latter point. It aims at investigating a methodology based on an analysis of the material porosity first and then the application of Carniglia's mathematical model to determine the effective diffusivity of gaseous species in building materials. This methodology, whose main principles are presented in the first part of the paper, was applied to seven commonly found materials. Mercury intrusion porosimetry (MIP) tests, and the calculations using Carniglia's model, reveal typical total porosities and tortuosity factors for these materials. The analysis of pore size distributions (PSDs) also draws one's attention to the possible differences in the pore structures that may exist between two samples of the same type of material and the differences in the effective diffusivities of contaminants that may result from them. The computed effective diffusivities were subsequently compared to data from experiments carried out in the frame of the EC project MATHIS. An agreement was obtained, thus validating Carniglia's methodology - a methodology that offers many practical advantages compared to diffusion-cell methods.     

Supertough (Polyamide 6)/(acrylonitrile butadiene rubber) nano alloy through in situ polymerization of caprolactam in the presence of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber nanophase

In this work, polymerization of caprolactam (CL) was carried out in the presence of acrylonitrile butadiene rubber (NBR) during the reactive melt‐mixing process. During shear mixing, NBR particles swelled and dissolved in the molten CL, which led to separation and distribution of rubber particles to nanoscale in the dissolution stage. Then, in an internal mixer, supertough Polyamide 6 was prepared via melt polymerization of CL/NBR mixture, sodium caprolactam as a catalyst, and hexamethylene diisocyanate as an activator. The effects of various concentrations of catalyst and activator on the initiation time of the reaction were determined. Physical and mechanical properties of different formulations prepared via reactive melt blending were determined by tensile and impact measurements, differential scanning calorimetry, Fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy, X‐ray scattering techniques, transmission electron microscopy, and dynamic mechanical thermal analysis. Experimental results showed that a recipe with 3% nitrile rubber in a CL/NBR mixture enhances the physical and mechanical properties the best, compared with other formulations. This condition led to the formation of NBR nanospheres during melt polymerization of Polyamide 6 as well. J. VINYL ADDIT. TECHNOL., 21:116–121, 2015. © 2014 Society of Plastics Engineers