Bifurcation Boundary Conditions for Switching DC-DC Converters Under Constant On-Time Control

Sampled-data analysis and harmonic balance analysis are applied to analyze switching DC-DC converters under constant on-time control. Design-oriented boundary conditions for the period-doubling bifurcation and the saddle-node bifurcation are derived. The required ramp slope to avoid the bifurcations and the assigned pole locations associated with the ramp are also derived. The derived boundary conditions are more general and accurate than those recently obtained. Those recently obtained boundary conditions become special cases under the general modeling approach presented in this paper. Different analyses give different perspectives on the system dynamics and complement each other. Under the sampled-data analysis, the boundary conditions are expressed in terms of signal slopes and the ramp slope. Under the harmonic balance analysis, the boundary conditions are expressed in terms of signal harmonics. The derived boundary conditions are useful for a designer to design a converter to avoid the occurrence of the period-doubling bifurcation and the saddle-node bifurcation.Comment: Submitted to International Journal of Circuit Theory and Applications on August 10, 2011; Manuscript ID: CTA-11-016

The influence of low-temperature surface induction on evacuation, pump-out hole sealing and thermal performance of composite edge-sealed vacuum insulated glazing

Hermeticity of vacuum edge-sealing materials are one of the paramount requirements, specifically, to the evolution of energy-efficient smart windows and solar thermal evacuated flat plate collectors. This study reports the design, construction and performance of high-vacuum glazing fabrication system and vacuum insulated glazing (VIG). Experimental and theoretical investigations for the development of vacuum edgeseal made of Sn-Pb-Zn-Sb-AlTiSiCu composite in the proportion ratio of 56:39:3:1:1 by % (CS-186) are presented. Experimental investigations of the seven constructed VIG samples, each of size 300mm·300mm·4 mm, showed that increasing the hot-plate surface temperatures improved the cavity vacuum pressure whilst expediting the pump-out hole sealing process but also increases temperature induced stresses. Successful pump-out hole sealing process of VIG attained at the hot-plate set point temperature of 50˚C and the approximate cavity pressure of 0.042 Pa was achieved. An experimentally and theoretically validated finite volume model (FVM) was utilised. The centre-of-pane and total thermal transmittance values are calculated to be 0.91 Wm-2K-1 and 1.05 Wm-2K-1, respectively for the VIG. FVM results predicted that by reducing the width of vacuum edge seal and emissivity of coatings the thermal performance of the VIG is improved

An analysis of spacecraft data time tagging errors

An indepth examination of the timing and telemetry in just one spacecraft points out the genesis of various types of timing errors and serves as a guide in the design of future timing/telemetry systems. The principal sources of timing errors are examined carefully and are described in detail. Estimates of these errors are also made and presented. It is found that the timing errors within the telemetry system are larger than the total timing errors resulting from all other sources

An exploratory study of imagining sounds and “hearing” music in autism

Individuals with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) reportedly possess preserved or superior music-processing skills compared to their typically developing counterparts. We examined auditory imagery and earworms (tunes that get “stuck” in the head) in adults with ASD and controls. Both groups completed a short earworm questionnaire together with the Bucknell Auditory Imagery Scale. Results showed poorer auditory imagery in the ASD group for all types of auditory imagery. However, the ASD group did not report fewer earworms than matched controls. These data suggest a possible basis in poor auditory imagery for poor prosody in ASD, but also highlight a separability between auditory imagery and control of musical memories. The separability is present in the ASD group but not in typically developing individuals

Building on Cram's legacy: stimulated gating in hemicarcerands.

CONSPECTUS: Donald Cram's pioneering Nobel Prize-winning work on host-guest molecules led eventually to his creation of the field of container molecules. Cram defined two types of container molecules: carcerands and hemicarcerands. Host-guest complexes of carcerands, called carceplexes, are formed during their synthesis; once a carceplex is formed, the trapped guest cannot exit without breaking covalent bonds. Cram defined a quantity called constrictive binding, arising from the mechanical force that prevents guest escape. The constrictive binding in carceplexes is high. In contrast, hemicarcerands have low constrictive binding and are able to release the incarcerated guests at elevated temperatures without breaking covalent bonds. We have designed molecules that can switch from carcerand to hemicarcerand through a change in structure that we call gating. The original discovery of gating in container molecules involved our computational studies of a Cram hemicarceplex that was observed to release a guest upon heating. We found that the side portals of this hemicarceplex have multiple thermally accessible conformations. An eight-membered ring that is part of a portal changes from a "chair" to a "boat" structure, leading to the enlargement of the side portal and the release of the guest. This type of gating is analogous to phenomena often observed with peptide loops in enzymes. We refer to this phenomenon as thermally controlled gating. We have also designed and synthesized redox and photochemically controlled gated hemicarceplexes. Gates are built onto host molecules so that the opening or closing of such gates is stimulated by reducing or oxidizing conditions, or by ultraviolet irradiation. In both cases, the appropriate stimuli can produce a carceplex (closed gates) or hemicarceplex (open gates). A hemicarceplex with closed gates behaves like a carceplex, due to its very high constrictive binding energy. When the gates are opened, constrictive binding is dramatically lowered, and guest entrance and exit become facile. This stimulated switching between open and closed states controls access of the guest to the binding site. The experimental and computational investigations of gated hemicarcerands and several potential applications of gated hemicarceplexes are described in this Account