Modeling of microstrip antennas using neural networks techniques: A review

Artificial neural networks modeling have recently acquired enormous importance in microwave community especially in analyzing and synthesizing of microstrip antennas (MSAs) due to their generalization and adaptability features. A trained neural model estimates response very fast, which is nearly equal to its measured and/or simulated counterpart. Thus, it completely bypasses the repetitive use of conventional models as these models need rediscretization for every minor changes in the geometry, which itself is a time‐consuming exercise. The purpose of this article is to review this emerging area comprehensively for both analyzing and synthesizing of the MSAs. During reviewing process, some untouched cases are also observed, which are essentially required to be resolved for antenna designers. Unique and efficient neural networks‐based solutions are suggested for these cases. The proposed neural approaches are validated by fabricating and characterizing of the prototypes too. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE 25:747–757, 2015.     

Quantitative and reliable in vitro method combining scanning electron microscopy and image analysis for the screening of osteotropic modulators

The increased generation and up-regulated activity of bone resorbing cells (osteoclasts) play a part in the impairment of bone remodeling in many bone diseases. Numerous drugs (bisphosphonates, calcitonin, selective estrogen receptor modulators) have been proposed to inhibit this increased osteoclastic activity. In this report, we describe a pit resorption assay quantified by scanning electron microscopy coupled with image analysis. Total rabbit bone cells with large numbers of osteoclasts were cultured on dentin slices. The whole surface of the dentin slice was scanned and both the number of resorption pits and the total resorbed surface area were measured. Resorption pits appeared at 48 h and increased gradually up to 96 h. Despite the observation of a strong correlation between the total resorption area and the number of pits, we suggest that area measurement is the most relevant marker for osteoclastic activity. Osteotropic factors stimulating or inhibiting osteoclastic activity were used to test the variations in resorption activity as measured with our method. This reproducible and sensitive quantitative method is a valuable tool for screening for osteoclastic inhibitors and, more generally, for investigating bone modulators.     

Multi-scale modelling of silicon nanocrystal synthesis by Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition

A multi-scale model has been developed in order to represent the nucleation and growth phenomena taking place during silicon nanocrystal (NC) synthesis on SiO₂ substrates by Low Pressure Chemical Vapor Deposition from pure silane SiH₄. Intrinsic sticking coefficients and H₂ desorption kinetic parameters were established by ab initio modelling for the first three stages of silicon chemisorption on SiO₂ sites, i.e. silanol Si―OH bonds and siloxane Si―O―Si bridges. This ab initio study has revealed that silane cannot directly chemisorb on SiO₂ sites, the first silicon chemisorption proceeds from homogeneously born unsaturated species like silylene SiH₂. These kinetic data were implemented into the Computational Fluid Dynamics Fluent code at the industrial reactor scale, by activating its system of surface site control in transient conditions. NC area densities and radii deduced from Fluent calculations were validated by comparison with experimental data. Information about the deposition mechanisms was then obtained. In particular, hydrogen desorption has been identified as the main limiting step of NC nucleation and growth, and the NC growth rate highly increases with run duration due to the autocatalytic nature of deposition.     

Modeling of electromagnetic band gap structures: A review

This article represents a comprehensive review of the research carried out on analytical and numerical methods modeling of electromagnetic band‐gap (EBG) structures used in around last two decades. Because of the unique characteristics of the surface wave reduction as well as perfect magnetic conductor (PMC) like behavior, the EBG structures have created their separate existence in antenna engineering society. These structures are being widely used in designing of several microwave planar circuits including printed antennas, printed microwave filters, etc. The purpose of this article is to present an inclusive review of analytical methods as well as numerical methods in the context of modeling of EBG‐structures. Such a review process is rarely carried out in the open literature to the best of authors' knowledge. The review exercise might be helpful to the researchers working on modeling of EBG‐structures as well as of EBG‐structured printed antennas, microwave planar filters, etc.     

Fracture characterisation of short bamboo fibre reinforced polyester composites

In the study, fracture behaviour of short bamboo fibre reinforced polyester composites is investigated. The matrix is reinforced with fibres ranging from 10 to 50, 30 to 50 and 30 to 60 vol.% at increments of 10 vol.% for bamboo fibres at 4, 7 and 10 mm lengths respectively. The results reveal that at 4 mm of fibre length, the increment in fibre content deteriorates the fracture toughness. As for 7 and 10 mm fibre lengths, positive effect of fibre reinforcement is observed. The optimum fibre content is found to be at 40 vol.% for 7 mm fibre and 50 vol.% for 10 mm fibre. The highest fracture toughness is achieved at 10 mm/50 vol.% fibre reinforced composite, with 340% of improvement compared to neat polyester. Fractured surfaces investigated through the Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) describing different failure mechanisms are also reported.     

A state‐of‐art review on performance improvement of dielectric resonator antennas

This article outlines a compressive review on investigation carried out targeting to gain, circular polarization (CP), and mutual coupling reduction in dielectric resonator antenna (DRA). The DRA has already been created a separate position in antenna engineering domain because of its adept characteristics, such as wide bandwidth, high efficiency, low‐loss, and mainly 3D‐design flexibility which is rarely available in conventional antennas. In this context, the research on gain, circular polarization, and mutual coupling are quite interesting and being carried out from the last two decades. The ultimate aim of this article is to (i) give an overview of different techniques adopted in context to gain, CP, and mutual coupling reduction; (ii) give a compressive review of notable research carried out targeting to these three characteristics; and (iii) find out the research gap concentration for furtherance of the same.     

Vessel wall characterization using quantitative MRI: what’s in a number?

The past decade has witnessed the rapid development of new MRI technology for vessel wall imaging. Today, with advances in MRI hardware and pulse sequences, quantitative MRI of the vessel wall represents a real alternative to conventional qualitative imaging, which is hindered by significant intra- and inter-observer variability. Quantitative MRI can measure several important morphological and functional characteristics of the vessel wall. This review provides a detailed introduction to novel quantitative MRI methods for measuring vessel wall dimensions, plaque composition and permeability, endothelial shear stress and wall stiffness. Together, these methods show the versatility of non-invasive quantitative MRI for probing vascular disease at several stages. These quantitative MRI biomarkers can play an important role in the context of both treatment response monitoring and risk prediction. Given the rapid developments in scan acceleration techniques and novel image reconstruction, we foresee the possibility of integrating the acquisition of multiple quantitative vessel wall parameters within a single scan session.     

Can-GLWS: Canadian Great Lakes Weather Service for the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) modelling

The rapid rise in availability of large geospatial datasets for the development of hydrological models such as Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) has led to a dramatic increase in both the demand and availability of web services and tools that assist watershed modellers in incorporating data and knowledge into their modelling frameworks. Within the Canadian Great Lakes region, there is a huge potential for the application of SWAT in integrated water resources management. However, a potential barrier is the preparation of SWAT weather inputs that require time-intensive preprocessing of large data sets. Because such preprocessing is reproducible, the redundancy associated with it can be removed by introducing a web service that enables easy and open dissemination of climate data (including climate change and historical data) in SWAT-ready format. This short communication introduces such a web service called the Canadian Great Lakes Weather Data Service for SWAT (Can-GLWS). It hosts observed (historical) and projected (future) daily precipitation, daily maximum/minimum temperature, as well as weather generator database at regular grids (300 arc seconds or ~10 km) for use in SWAT simulations of the region. The novel Can-GLWS web service offers flexibility in selecting the region of interest by allowing them to be uploaded as a shapefile or to draw a rectangle or a polygon. We believe that such data as a service platform will help many practitioners to explore several issues pertaining to the sustainability of the freshwater resources of Canadian Great Lakes using the SWAT model.     

Mass production and size control of lipid-polymer hybrid nanoparticles through controlled microvortices

Lipid-polymer hybrid (LPH) nanoparticles can deliver a wide range of therapeutic compounds in a controlled manner. LPH nanoparticle syntheses using microfluidics improve the mixing process but are restricted by a low throughput. In this study, we present a pattern-tunable microvortex platform that allows mass production and size control of LPH nanoparticles with superior reproducibility and homogeneity. We demonstrate that by varying flow rates (i.e., Reynolds number (30-150)) we can control the nanoparticle size (30-170 nm) with high productivity (～3 g/hour) and low polydispersity (～0.1). Our approach may contribute to efficient development and optimization of a wide range of multicomponent nanoparticles for medical imaging and drug delivery.     

Micro PEM fuel cell current collector design and optimization with CFD 3D modeling

A computational fluid dynamics 3D modeling of a planar miniature proton exchange membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) is presented to optimize the current collector shape and dimensions in order to obtain the best electrochemical performances. Three geometries of current collector have been investigated and compared: serpentine, parallel and square openings. We showed that the current collector geometries giving the greatest performance (highest current and power density) appear to be the serpentine and parallel openings permitting a better distribution of the reactant to the catalyst layers. Influences of the ribs and openings current collectors dimensions of the serpentine design are analyzed. We found that the best electrochemical performances of the cell are reached for the tradeoff between ohmic loss and overvoltages. The important role of activation potential and ohmic potential to find this tradeoff is also introduced for the first time and demonstrated. Finally, we calculated that the power density supplied by the PEMFC stack can be increased by 55% by replacing the 1 μm thick continuous current collector (80 mW/cm²) by an optimized serpentine current collector design (124 mW/cm²), while keeping the same current collector thickness.