Portable low profile antenna at X-band

An antenna which has been conceived as a portable system for satellite communications based on the recommendations ITU-R S.580-6 and ITU-R S.465-5 for small antennas, i.e., with a diameter lower than 50 wavelengths, is introduced. It is a planar and a compact structure with a size of 40×40×2 cm. The antenna is formed by an array of 256 printed elements covering a large bandwidth (14.7%) at X-Band with a VSWR of 1.4:1. The specification includes transmission (Tx) and reception (Rx) bands simultaneously. The printed antenna has a radiation pattern with a 3dB beamwidth of 5°, over a 31dBi gain, and a dual and an interchangeable circular polarization

Increasing the reactant conversion through induced oscillations in a continuous stirred tank reactor by using PI control

We report a strategy to increase the reactant conversion in a continuous stirred tank reactor (CSTR) to produce propylene glycol through induced oscillations generated by two controllers PI1 and PI2 that manipulate the reactor outlet flow and the coolant flow rate respectively. It is shown that an adequate parameter choice for the PI controllers allows one to derive sustained oscillations in the concentrations and reactor temperature, which in turn allows increasing the propylene glycol production. For a suitable choice of the PI1 and PI2 controller parameters, we use a complete reactor model that provides with physically feasible parameters. The issues of external disturbance rejection, self-oscillations and stability have also been discussed. The analytical calculations are verified by means of full numerical simulations

Steady-state, self-oscillating and chaotic behavior of a PID controlled nonlinear servomechanism by using Bogdanov-Takens and Andronov-Poincaré-Hopf bifurcations

This paper analyzes a controlled servomechanism with feedback and a cubic nonlinearity by means of the Bogdanov-Takens and Andronov-Poincaré-Hopf bifurcations, from which steady-state, self-oscillating and chaotic behaviors will be investigated using the center manifold theorem. The system controller is formed by a Proportional plus Integral plus Derivative action (PID) that allows to stabilize and drive to a prescribed set point a body connected to the shaft of a DC motor. The Bogdanov-Takens bifurcation is analyzed through the second Lyapunov stability method and the harmonic-balance method, whereas the first Lyapunov value is used for the Andronov-Poincaré-Hopf bifurcation. On the basis of the results deduced from the bifurcation analysis, we show a procedure to select the parameters of the PID controller so that an arbitrary steady-state position of the servomechanism can be reached even in presence of noise. We also show how chaotic behavior can be obtained by applying a harmonical external torque to the device in self-oscillating regime. The advantage of achieving chaotic behavior is that it can be used so that the system reaches a set point inside a strange attractor with a small control effort. The analytical calculations have been verified through detailed numerical simulations

Do recruiters prefer applicants with similar skills? Evidence from a randomized natural experiment

In this paper we examine the potential existence of a similar-to-me effect in terms of skills between recruiters and applicants. Using evidence from entry exams to the Spanish Judiciary, where applicants are randomly assigned across evaluation committees, we find that committee members tend to be more demanding at those stages where they are more knowledgeable. As a result, applicants who excel in the same dimensions as recruiters are more likely to be hire

Why do I like people like me?

In many dimensions the ability to assess knowledge depends critically on the observer's own knowledge of that dimension. Building on this feature, this paper offers both theoretical and empirical evidence showing that, in those tasks where multidisciplinary knowledge is required, evaluations exhibit a similar-to-me effect: candidates who excel in the same dimensions as the evaluator tend to be ranked relatively higher. It is also shown that, if races or genders differ in their distribution of ability, group discrimination will arise unless evaluators (i) are well informed about the extent of intergroup differences and (ii) they may condition their assessments on candidates' group belonging

Motivic Milnor fiber of a quasi-ordinary hypersurface

Let f : (Cd+1, 0) -> (C, 0) be a germ of complex analytic function such that its zero level defines an irreducible germ of quasi-ordinary hypersurface (S, 0) subset of (Cd+1, 0). We describe the motivic Igusa zeta function, the motivic Milnor fibre and the Hodge-Steenbrink spectrum of f at 0 in terms of topological invariants of (S, 0) subset of (Cd+1, 0)

ROAM: a Rich Object Appearance Model with Application to Rotoscoping

Rotoscoping, the detailed delineation of scene elements through a video shot, is a painstaking task of tremendous importance in professional post-production pipelines. While pixel-wise segmentation techniques can help for this task, professional rotoscoping tools rely on parametric curves that offer the artists a much better interactive control on the definition, editing and manipulation of the segments of interest. Sticking to this prevalent rotoscoping paradigm, we propose a novel framework to capture and track the visual aspect of an arbitrary object in a scene, given a first closed outline of this object. This model combines a collection of local foreground/background appearance models spread along the outline, a global appearance model of the enclosed object and a set of distinctive foreground landmarks. The structure of this rich appearance model allows simple initialization, efficient iterative optimization with exact minimization at each step, and on-line adaptation in videos. We demonstrate qualitatively and quantitatively the merit of this framework through comparisons with tools based on either dynamic segmentation with a closed curve or pixel-wise binary labelling

Steady-state self-oscillations and chaotic behavior of a controlled electromechanical device by using the first Lyapunov value and the Melnikov theory

In this paper regular and chaotic oscillations in a controlled electromechanical transducer are investigated. The nonlinear control laws are defined by an electric tension excitation and an external force applied to the mobile piece of the transducer. The paper shows that an Andronov–Poincaré–Hopf bifurcation appears as long as adequate parameters are chosen for the nonlinear control laws. The stability of the weak focuses associated to such bifurcation is examined according to the sign of the first Lyapunov value, showing that chaotic behavior can arise when the first Lyapunov value is varied harmonically. The appearance of a homoclinic orbit is investigated assuming an approximated model for the device. On the basis of the parametric equations of the homoclinic orbit and the presence of harmonic disturbances on the platform, it is demonstrated that chaotic oscillations can also appear, and they have been examined by means of the Melnikov theory. Chaotic behavior is corroborated by means of the sensitive dependence, Lyapunov exponents and power spectral density, and it is applied to drive the transducer mobile piece to a predefined set point assuming that noise due to the measurement process can appear in the control signals. The steady-state error associated to such random noise is eliminated by adding a PI linear controller to the control force. Numerical simulations are used to corroborate the analytical results.This work was supported by the “Generalitat Valenciana” (Spain) under Project GV/2012/099 and by “Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovación” (Spain) under Project FIS2011-29803-C02-01