In this paper a novel rail-to-rail fully differential operational transconductance amplifier (OTA) working at low- supply voltages (1.5 V) with reduced consumption and showing high DC gain is presented. An adaptive biasing circuit allows to obtain low stand-by power dissipation (lower than 0.19 mW in the rail-to-rail version), while the high DC gain (over 80 dB) is ensured by a positive feedback. The circuit, designed in a standard CMOS integrated technology (AMS 0.35 mum), has a 40 V/mus slew-rate for a capacitive load of 15 pF. The calculated values of two quality factors, named FOMS/L, in the literature, show the validity of the proposed OTA.

By using an approach based on the full nonlinear Barkhausen criterion, it is possible to describe oscillator behavior under the form of a nonlinear characteristic polynomial whose coefficients are functions of the circuit components and of the oscillation amplitude. Solving the polynomial in the frequency domain leads to the steady state oscillation amplitude and frequency. In the time domain, the characteristic polynomial represents a nonlinear differential equation whose solution gives the oscillator signal transient. It is shown how symbolic manipulation capabilities of commercially available softwares can be used to automatically generate the coding of the oscillator characteristic polynomial from the SPICE description netlist. The numerical processing of such an equation in the time domain leads to unacceptable computer time because of the high quality factor of the oscillator circuits involved. Nevertheless, by using the slowly varying amplitude and phase method, it is possible to transform the initial nonlinear differential equation into a nonlinear first order differential equation system in the amplitude and phase variables. The solution of this system directly gives the designer the most relevant features of the oscillation; that is, the amplitude, phase, or frequency transients which can be accurately obtained within a short computer time by using classical numerical algorithms.

We use electronic structure calculations based upon density functional theory to search for ideal plasmonic materials among the alkali noble intermetallics. Importantly, we use density functional perturbation theory to calculate the electron-phonon interaction and from there use a first order solution to the Boltzmann equation to estimate the phenomenological damping frequency in the Drude dielectric function. We discuss the necessary electronic features of a plasmonic material and investigate the optical properties of the alkali-noble intermetallics in terms of some generic plasmonic system quality factors. We conclude that at low negative permittivities, KAu with a damping frequency of 0.0224 eV and a high optical gap to bare plasma frequency ratio, outperforms gold and to some extent silver as a plasmonic material. Unfortunately, a low plasma frequency (1.54 eV) reduces its utility in modern plasmonics applications. We also discuss, briefly, the effect of local fields on the optical properties of these materials.

Phishing websites are forged web pages that are created by malicious people to mimic web pages of real websites and it attempts to defraud people of their personal information. Detecting and identifying Phishing websites is really a complex and dynamic problem involving many factors and criteria, and because of the subjective considerations and the ambiguities involved in the detection, Fuzzy Logic model can be an effective tool in assessing and identifying phishing websites than any other traditional tool since it offers a more natural way of dealing with quality factors rather than exact values. In this paper, we present novel approach to overcome the 'fuzziness' in traditional website phishing risk assessment and propose an intelligent resilient and effective model for detecting phishing websites. The proposed model is based on FL operators which is used to characterize the website phishing factors and indicators as fuzzy variables and produces six measures and criteria's of website phishing attack dimensions with a layer structure. Our experimental results showed the significance and importance of the phishing website criteria (URL & Domain Identity) represented by layer one, and the variety influence of the phishing characteristic layers on the final phishing website rate.

A novel optical technique is proposed for the characterization of MEMS resonators. The proposed technique is based on measuring the response of the resonator (resonance frequency and quality factor) optically, which eliminates the electrical parasitic effects. The proposed technique was applied to a comb-drive resonator and the obtained results show good agreement with the standard electrical technique with 2-5% deviation in the resonance frequency and 2-10% in the quality factor.

In this paper, atomic layer deposited (ALD) alumina (Al 2 O 3 ) has been demonstrated as the structural material for a micro-resonator for the first time. An electrostatically actuated micro-bridge made of chromium (Cr) coated ALD Al 2 O 3 was used as a resonator. The resonator was formed by simple wet-and dry-etching processes. The static displacement profile of the micro-resonator under electrostatic load was measured by an optical interferometer. A model of a pinned-pinned beam with axial stress of 250 MPa was used to fit the measured data. Two techniques based on scanning electron microscope (SEM) and atomic force microscope (AFM) were developed to characterize the resonant frequencies of different modes and quality factor of the resonator. The measured resonant frequencies match well with the calculated values with residual stress of 258 MPa, providing additional insight into resonator model and ALD alumina material properties. The developed techniques can be applied to further size reduction of devices made with ALD methods.

Interdigitated finger (comb) structures are demonstrated to be effective for exciting electrostatically the resonance of polysilicon microstructures parallel to the plane of the substrate. Linear plates suspended by a folded-cantilever truss and torsional plates suspended by spiral and serpentine springs are fabricated from a 2/~m-thick phosphorus-doped low-pressure chemical-vapordeposited (LPCVD) polysilicon film. Resonance is observed visually, with frequencies ranging from 18 kHz to 80 kHz and quality factors from 20 to 130. Simple beam theory is adequate for calculating the resonance frequencies, using a Young's modulus of 140 GPa and neglecting residual strain in the released structures.

In this paper, a new cross-coupled microstrip filter based on the grounded patch resonators is designed, fabricated and measured. Coupling characteristics of three basic coupling structures encountered in this class of filters are investigated using full-wave electromagnetic simulations, and the design curves for coupling coefficients and the external quality factor are presented. As the demonstration, a fourth order cross-coupled filter of this type is designed, fabricated and measured.

SUMMARY A batch-compatible, post-fabrication annealing technique based upon filament-like heating of microstructures is demon-strated as an effective means for trimming the reSonance fre-quencies (fa's) and increasing the quality factors (Q's) of surface-micromachined, ...

Scanning probe microscopies (SPM) and cantilever-based sensors generally use low-frequency mechanical devices of microscale dimensions or larger. Almost universally, off-chip methods are used to sense displacement in these devices, but this approach is not suitable for nanoscale devices. Nanoscale mechanical sensors offer a greatly enhanced performance that is unattainable with microscale devices. Here we describe the fabrication and operation of self-sensing nanocantilevers with fundamental mechanical resonances up to very high frequencies (VHF). These devices use integrated electronic displacement transducers based on piezoresistive thin metal films, permitting straightforward and optimal nanodevice readout. This non-optical transduction enables applications requiring previously inaccessible sensitivity and bandwidth, such as fast SPM and VHF force sensing. Detection of 127 MHz cantilever vibrations is demonstrated with a thermomechanical-noise-limited displacement sensitivity of 39 fm Hz 21/2 . Our smallest devices, with dimensions approaching the mean free path at atmospheric pressure, maintain high resonance quality factors in ambient conditions. This enables chemisorption measurements in air at room temperature, with unprecedented mass resolution less than 1 attogram (10 218 g).

In this paper, high quality factor frequency (~27MHz and ~54MHz), lateralthin-film piezoelectric-on-silicon resonators ar particle mass sensors. Using an aerosol partic sensitivities of -4.2Hz/pg and -42Hz/pg respectively which confirms the benefits of frequency resonators given the quality factor i These results are in good agreement with th simulated values. Our work suggests the TPoS easily integrated, low-loss platform for applications.

PbZr0.53Ti0.47O3 films were deposited on Si-SiO2-Ta-Pt substrates via a conventional sol-gel procedure. Electrical properties of the films were: resistivity ca. 5 × 1011 Ωcm, relative dielectric permittivity 900-1100, remnant polarization ca. 20 μC/cm2, breakdown electric field larger than 50 MV/m. The deflection amplitude of piezoelectrically excited Si cantilevers, covered with SiO2-Ta-Pt-PZT-Al, was determined with the aid of a heterodyne Mach-Zehnder

This paper presents a new low-noise high-accuracy laser range finder based on the Time-Of-Flight (TOF) method. A Q-switched Nd:YAG laser at 1064 nm as a source and a SLIK avalanche photodiode as a detector are used. The optical section of the system including ZnS/MgF 2 optical filter, designed by C ++ and Zemax software, has been successfully implemented and tested. The quality factor of the optical filter is obtained about 2.53. Using the 1.5 MW Nd:YAG laser, the lowest detectable optical power is limited to about 8.14 nW. The absolute range finding error in the range of 0.3-20 km is also measured as r = ± 50 cm. Furthermore, the sampling rate of the distance measurement can be adjusted between 1 and 20 samples per second.

The use of a whispering gallery mode (WGM) resonator with an ultrahigh quality factor Q is promising in highly sensitive, label-free, lab-on-a-chip sensor applications. We investigated a novel method of using the differential frequency of TE and TM modes to reduce the thermal noise baseline, which commonly limits the sensitivity of WGM sensors. We studied the temperature dependence of WGM based sensors and experimentally demonstrated the reduction of temperature fluctuation and thus a significant improvement in the practical sensor detection limit.

This paper overviews theoretical and practical design issues related to inductive power transfer systems and verifies the developed theory using a practical electric vehicle battery charger. The design focuses on the necessary approaches to ensure power transfer over the complete operating range of the system. As such, a new approach to the design of the primary resonant circuit is proposed, whereby deviations from design expectations due to phase or frequency shift are minimized. Of particular interest are systems that are neither loosely nor tightly coupled. The developed solution depends on the selected primary and secondary resonant topologies, the magnetic coupling coefficient, and the secondary quality factor.

The dielectric properties of fresh apples of three cultivars were measured at 24°C over 10 weeks in storage at 4°C to determine whether these properties might be used to determine quality factors such as soluble solids content (SSC), firmness, moisture content and pH. The dielectric constants and dielectric loss factors at 51 frequencies from 10 to 1800 MHz were determined for external surface and interior tissue measurements along with moisture content, firmness, and SSC and pH of juice expelled from the internal tissues. Dielectric properties of the three apple cultivars are presented graphically for all frequencies, and correlations between the dielectric properties and measured quality factors are discussed. Although a high correlation was observed in a linear relationship between the dielectric constant divided by SSC and the dielectric loss factor divided by SSC in the complex plane, the SSC was not predicted well from that relationship, and no high correlations were found between the dielectric properties and SSC, moisture content, firmness, or pH. The dielectric constant and loss factor remained essentially constant during the 10-week storage period. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

ABSTRACT Classical views on testing and their associated testing models are not dealing with the question of fault repairing but only focus on fault detection. Diagnosis consists of determining the nature of a detected fault, of locating it and hopefully repairing it. Correlatively, the only standardized quality factors implied in the detection/repair aspects of software engineering are testability and maintainability: those quality factors are misleading since they do not pinpoint this question of the location/repairing effort, that can be identified under the concept of diagnosability. This paper is thus concerned with diagnosability, its definition and the axiomatization of its expected behavior. The paper aims at:•introducing and analysing diagnosability as a significant and complementary dimension of software testability,•producing a high-level definition and axiomatization of a diagnosability measurement generic enough to be adapted to various software paradigms: this property-based approach serves as a measurement “specification”, independent on the application context and thus reusable,•detailing a diagnosability measure dedicated to data-flow software and especially test strategies impact on diagnosis and testing effort (from measure implementation to case study),•illustrating the reuse of the high-level axiomatization to the specific question of measuring the impact of assertions (or contracts for a designed by contract OO system) on diagnosis effort and preciseness.Throughout the paper, the concepts are illustrated on a case study provided by an industrial partner. At last, the reusability of the axiomatization is illustrated by proposing a measure of the impact of assertions (or contracts in a design by contract approach) on global software diagnosability. Main lessons concern both the diagnosability significance as a quality factor and the interest of an axiomatization-based methodology for building trustable software measurement.

In the present paper we discuss antenna miniaturization using magneto-dielectric substrates. Recent results found in the literature reveal that advantages over conventional dielectric substrates can only be achieved if natural magnetic inclusions are embedded into the substrate. This observation is revised and the physical background is clarified. We present a detailed discussion concerning magnetic materials available in the microwave regime and containing natural magnetic constituents. The effects of magnetic dispersion and loss are studied: constraints on the microwave permeability are used to estimate the effect of magnetic substrates on the achievable impedance bandwidth. Microwave composites filled with thin ferromagnetic films are considered as a prospective antenna substrate. We calculate the impedance bandwidth for a λ/2-patch antenna loaded with the proposed substrate, and challenge the results against those obtained with conventional dielectric substrates. It is shown that the radiation quality factor is strongly minimized with the proposed substrate even in the presence of realistic losses. Estimates for the radiation efficiency are given as a function of the magnetic loss factor.

Labour Turnover and Labour Productivity in a Retail Organization * We study the impact of labour turnover on labour productivity using a panel dataset of 347 shops belonging to a large UK clothing retailer over1995-1999. For the within-shop linkholding constant the shop's permanent characteristics-we observe an inverted U-shape effect of labour turnover on productivity. The productivity-maximizing rates of FTE-adjusted quits and hires are each about 20% per year, improving productivity by 2.5% compared to the zero turnover level. We explain the difference between this optimal level of labour turnover and its observed average (quits and hires each around 10%) through the costs of hiring estimated at about £600 per hire. By contrast, between shops, there is a positive link between average rates of turnover and average productivity, suggesting that an unobservable management quality factor generates both high turnover and productivity, which we discuss.

Premium Q and Supreme Q are the grades of high quality commercially available cultured quartz from Sawyer Applied Research Products, OH and Toyo Communication Equipment Company, Kawasaki, Japan. These grades of materials are generally used as resonators in high precision frequency control applications. These crystals are essentially identical in terms of their quality factor Q, except for the type of charge compensators at Al 3+ sites. While Premium Q quartz has Li + as charge compensators at Al 3+ sites, in the Supreme Q material the aluminium is compensated with Na + . Our thermoluminescence (TL) investigations suggest that both the types of crystals, in addition to Al and its charge compensators also have Ge and Ti as impurities present in these materials. The TL peak of Ti-related center seems larger in intensity than that of Ge associated centers. However, the relative strengths of these peaks are not directly related with their concentrations. Complimentary investigations on radiation effects using cathodoluminescence and ESR spectroscopy have also been done. Results are discussed in terms of fundamental defect structures in quartz.

In a thin and large area PZT-ceramics piezoresonator (PR) with relatively low resonance impedance, caused by high-frequency resonance and high PR capacitance, the effect of electrode resistivity and parasitic resistive and inductive elements in the measurement fixture results in significant distortion of the measured thickness-mode (longitudinal TL, shear TS) resonance response-resonance frequency shifts and characteristics deformation. This distortion may not allow the precise measurement of the PR characteristic frequencies, quality factor, and electromechanical coupling coefficient so essential to a complete PR and material characterization. A theoretical description of the "energy-trap" phenomena in a thickness-vibrating PR with resistive electrodes is presented. To interpret electrical measurements, the electromechanical model, including for completeness both the PR with resistive electrodes (as a system with distributed parameters) and the measurement fixture, is dev...

High power density piezoelectrics are required to miniaturize devices such as ultrasonic motors, transformers, and sound projectors. The power density is limited by the heat generation in piezoelectrics, therefore, clarification of the loss mechanisms is necessary. This paper provides a methodology to determine the electromechanical losses, i.e., dielectric, elastic and piezoelectric loss factors in piezoelectrics by means of a detailed analysis of the admittance/impedance spectra. This method was applied to determine the piezoelectric losses for lead zirconate titanate ceramics and lead magnesium niobate-lead titanate single crystals. The analytical solution provides a new method for obtaining the piezoelectric loss factor, which is usually neglected in practice by transducer designers. Finite element simulation demonstrated the importance of piezoelectric losses to yield a more accurate fitting to the experimental data. A phenomenological model based on two phase-shifts and the Devonshire theory of a polarizable-deformable insulator is developed to interpret the experimentally observed magnitudes of the mechanical quality factor at resonance and anti-resonance. #

The objective of this research was to examine how various factors in Icelandic cod fishing can influence the quality of the raw material, using traceability systems to link these factors, and how transfer that knowledge and techniques to the Brazilian seafood industry. Data were collected in 2007 and analysed, to find a functional relationship between various quality factors. The analysis, showed, that there is a correlation between the number of parasites in the fillets and location of the fishing ground. It also showed that fishing ground and volume in haul can influence gaping, and that fillet yield differs between fishing grounds. These conclusions could only be drawn because of the ability to trace the fish from catch and all the way through processing. Recommendations drawn from this research to the Brazilian Competent Authority are to revise the countries fisheries legislation in order to enable the implementation of a traceability system that could be used as a tool to improve the quality of the raw material.

In this paper, a high Q tunable 2nd order band-pass filter, working in the RF frequency range and designed in a II. ACTIVE INDUCTOR standard AMS 0.35pm CMOS technology, is proposed. The shows the topology of a CMOS active inductor [1-9] filter is based on three different stages that perform the input in its N-type and P-type versions. As well known, defining the and output impedance matching, the bandpass function and Ml input impedance relative to Vg and Igi as H(s) Vg Ig] and prevent instabilities; therefore, it is suitable for integrated * * * * -°*°f ront-end RF applications. Simulation results have shown a

A micron-sized liquid droplet acts as a very high-quality factor optical cavity. The cavity modes are referred to as morphology-dependent resonances (MDRs), which are sensitive to the droplet size, shape, and inclusions. The MDRs greatly lower the input intensity needed to generate detectable amounts of linear and nonlinear optical radiation and exhibit sharp peaks in the spectra of elastic scattering,

This study investigates website quality factors, their relative importance in selecting the most preferred website, and the relationship between website preference and financial performance. DeLone and McLean's IS success model extended through applying an analytic hierarchy process is used. A field study with 156 online customers and 34 managers/designers of e-business companies was performed. The study identified different relative importance of each website quality factor and priority of alternative websites across e-business domains and between stakeholders. This study also found that the website with the highest quality produced the highest business performance. The findings of this study provide decision makers of e-business companies with useful insights to enhance their website quality. D

The attenuation of seismic wave energy in NW Himalayas has been estimated using local earthquakes. Most of the analyzed events are from the vicinity of the Main Boundary Thrust (MBT) and the Main Central Thrust (MCT), which are well-defined tectonic discontinuities in the Himalayas.

This work present a new approach to design and fabrication of AlGaN/GaN based SAW-HEMT structures to be applied for chemical gas sensors operating in harsh environment. A direct on-chip integrated compatibility in the process technology of surface acoustic wave (SAW) structure and high electron mobility transistor (HEMT) was demonstrated. It enabled to integrate two different principles of gas sensing based on both SAW and HEMT. The functionality of two types of SAW structures and HEMT device was investigated. The measured amplitude characteristics of SAW structures revealed excitation at the centre peak frequency about 1.35 GHz and 1.7 GHz, respectively with a both good quality factor and stop-band rejection ratio. The detection electronic based on SAW oscillator was subsequently designed and simulated. It proved the expected function and properties.

The Lg wave quality factor (QLg) in Britain has been modelled using data from the UK Seismic Network, operated by the British Geological Survey. The data set consists of 631 vertical, mostly short-period recordings of Lg waves from 64 earthquakes (2.7-4.7 ML) and 93 stations. We have inverted for both regional average QLg and tomographic images of QLg, and simultaneously a source term for each event and a site term for each station for 22 frequencies in the band 0.9-10.0 Hz. The regional average model is 266f0.53 between 1.0 and 10.0 Hz and indicates that attenuation in Britain is slightly higher than in France, and significantly higher than in eastern North America and Scandinavia. Tomographic inversions at each frequency indicate that QLg varies spatially. Broadly speaking, southeastern England, the Lake District and parts of the East Irish Sea Basin, and a small region between the Highland Boundary Fault and the Southern Uplands Fault are characterized by higher than average attenuation. Southwestern England, eastern central England and northwestern Scotland are regions of relatively low attenuation. To some extent, these regions correlate with what is known about the tectonics and structure of the crust in the UK.

Quality inspection of food and agricultural produce are difficult and labor intensive. Simultaneously, with increased expectations for food products of high quality and safety standards, the need for accurate, fast and objective quality determination of these characteristics in food products continues to grow. However, these operations generally in India are manual which is costly as well as unreliable because human decision in identifying quality factors such as appearance, flavor, nutrient, texture, etc., is inconsistent, subjective and slow. Machine vision provides one alternative for an automated, non-destructive and cost-effective technique to accomplish these requirements. This inspection approach based on image analysis and processing has found a variety of different applications in the food industry. Considerable research has highlighted its potential for the inspection and grading of fruits and vegetables, grain quality and characteristic examination and quality evaluation of other food products like bakery products, pizza, cheese, and noodles etc. The objective of this paper is to provide in depth introduction of machine vision system, its components and recent work reported on food and agricultural produce.

The design, fabrication and experimental results of lateral-comb-drive actuators for large displacements at low driving voltages is presented. A comparison of several suspension designs is given, and the lateral large deflection behaviour of clamped-clamped beams and a folded flexure design is modelled. An expression for the axial spring constant of folded flexure designs including bending effects from lateral displacements, which reduce the axial stiffness, is also derived. The maximum deflection that can be obtained by comb-drive actuators is bounded by electromechanical side instability. Expressions for the side-instability voltage and the resulting displacement at side instability are given. The electromechanical behaviour around the resonance frequency is described by an equivalent electric circuit. Devices are fabricated by polysilicon surface micromachining techniques using a one-mask fabrication process. Static and dynamic properties are determined experimentally and are compared with theory. Static properties are determined by displacement-to-voltage, capacitance-to-voltage and pull-in voltage measurements. Using a one-port approach, dynamic properties are extracted from measured admittance plots. Typical actuator characteristics are deflections of about 30 µm at driving voltages around 20 V, a resonance frequency around 1.6 kHz and a quality factor of approximately 3.

Research into the design processes at industrial operating companies and engineering contractors revealed that no explicit, well-defined set of quality criteria is available to judge the final design. A well-defined set of quality factors might reduce the number of iteration loops in the design process and might also support the designer in achieving a better final design. A number of industrial case studies and a meeting with an expert-panel provided useful insights into a possible set of quality criteria, and revealed explicit as well as implicit, ill-defined quality criteria. The criteria as stated in the 'Basis of Design' were seen as the most important quality criteria in industrial practice, however many other implicit and ill-defined criteria were also found to play an important role.

Skin coloration patterns in fish are of great physiological, behavioural and ecological importance, can be considered as an index of animal welfare in aquaculture and as an important quality factor for the retail value, especially of red skinned fish. In the present study we developed an appropriate method for comparisons of the skin chromaticity parameters in wild (Pagrus pagrus, Pagrus caeruleostictus, and Dentex gibbosus) and farmed red skin Sparidae and investigated the effect of storage time on skin colour of farmed Pagrus pagrus. The three-dimensional characteristics of colour appearance (lightness -L ⁎ , hue -H°a b and chroma -C ab ⁎ ) were calculated. A new index, named Entire Colour Index (ECI ), was developed to express hue and chroma which as combined variables, cannot be considered separately. In all species there was a remarkable dorsoventral gradient in mean L ⁎ and H°a b , with the ventral area being statistically significant brighter than the dorsal one. ECI value was species specific but did not show any statistically significant dorsoventral gradient, with the exception of P. pagrus. Skin melanin and carotenoids content presented differences between the Pagrus and the Dentex species that may explain the differences in the observed chromaticity pattern. Storage time affected lightness and hue only in the dorsal skin area. However, the effect of storage on ice was better reflected in mean ECI value which showed a marked decrease from Day 3 to Day 7 in both the dorsal (Day 0: 8.96 ± 0.40; Day 7: 2.86 ± 0.29) and ventral (Day 0: 8.97 ± 0.18; Day 7: 4.10 ± 0.29) skin area. Our results provide data for a non-subjective determination of skin colour pattern and show that ECI offers a good index of the actual colour in a meaningful and objective way.

To fabricate lateral-field excitation (LFE)-mode solid mounted resonator (SMR)-type film bulk acoustic resonators (FBARs), piezoelectric ZnO layers were deposited in an RF magnetron sputtering system. Control of the crystallinity, microstructure and electric properties of the piezoelectric layers was essential for fabricating high-quality LFE-mode SMR-type FBARs. In the appropriate deposition condition for FBAR devices, ZnO thin films with highly c-axis-preferred orientation (XRD rocking curve, ss2.178), high resistivity of 10 V cm and surface roughness of 10.6 A were deposited. Optimal substrate rotation was especially 6i mportant for improvement of the c-axis-preferred orientation of ZnO films. Plasma properties such as the electron temperature, plasma density and saturated ion current were also analyzed for optimal ZnO deposition conditions using a Langmuir doubleprobe system. The resonator, for which the active piezoelectric area was 200=200 mm , consisted of 1.25-mm-thick ZnO film 2 and a 110-nm Au electrode. Its series and parallel resonance frequencies appeared at 1.68 and 1.71 GHz, respectively, and the quality factor was 201.4"7.4. ᮊ

Local parks and walkable neighborhoods are commonly cited as elements of the urban environment that promote physical activity and reduce obesity risk. When those vulnerable to obesity-related diseases live in neighborhoods without these qualities, it works against environmental justice goals that aim for a fair distribution of amenities. We use geographic information systems (GIS) to evaluate the relationship between the distribution of populations vulnerable to obesity and proximity to parks and walkable street networks in ...

A novel method for designing multiband bandpass filters has been proposed in this paper. Coupling structures with both Chebyshev and quasi-elliptic frequency responses are presented to achieve dual-and triple-band characteristics without a significant increase in circuit size. The design concept is to add some extra coupled resonator sections in a single-circuit filter to increase the degrees of freedom in extracting coupling coefficients of a multiband filter and, therefore, the filter is capable of realizing the specifications of coupling coefficients at all passbands. To verify the presented concept, four experimental examples of filters with a dual-band Chebyshev, triple-band Chebyshev, dual-band quasi-elliptic, and triple-band quasi-elliptic response have been designed and fabricated with microstrip technology. The measured results are in good agreement with the full-wave simulation results.

This paper deals with the electrical and wideband frequency characterizations of metal-insulator-metal (MIM) capacitors integrating the medium-κ material ZrO 2 . First, the in situ material electrical properties are characterized in a frequency range from dc up to 5 GHz by using a microstrip waveguide method. The loss tangent and the permittivity are extracted with frequencies up to 5 GHz. We then investigate the evolution with frequency of the electrical parameters, such as capacitance density, quality factor, temperature coefficient of capacitance, voltage coefficient of capacitance, and cut-off frequency for MIM capacitors which incorporate ZrO 2 dielectric layers with thickness from 10 to 45 nm.

A software quality model acts as a framework for the evaluation of attributes of an application that contribute to the software quality. In this paper, a quality model is presented for evaluation of B2B applications. First, the most well-known quality models are studied, and reasons for using ISO 9126 quality model as the basis are discussed. This model, then, is customized in accordance with special characteristics of B2B applications. The customization is done by extracting the quality factors from web applications and B2B e-commerce applications, weighting these factors from the viewpoints of both developers and end users, and adding them to the model. Finally, as a case study, ISACO portal is evaluated by the proposed model.

A simple and fast technique for measuring resonator quality factors is presented, in which only the magnitudes of the s-parameters are used. For the first time, the equations are presented for all of the basic topologies, including one-port reflection, two-port transmission, and two-port absorption resonators, and for all three quality factors, including the unloaded, loaded and external Q. The method is flexible and suitable to a large number of resonators because the required bandwidth may be measured at almost any level, not only at the classical half-power points. These levels are clearly identified as fractions of the absorbed power at resonance. The technique is then demonstrated by analysing a two-port microstrip ring transmission resonator.

The design and analysis of infinite impulse response (IIR) peak and notch filter has been performed, which is employed various communication systems to eliminate unwanted narrow band interference. In communication system, radio frequency band for FM lies between 88MHZ - 108MHZ. A method for design of digital peak and notch filter of center frequency 90MHZ has been presented. Two parametric values like pass band ripple & stop band attenuation have been calculated by using mathematical modelling. Various transposed second order system (SOS) algorithm such as direct form I and II elliptic design method have been applied. By tuning quality (Q)-factor, peak filter (order 4) and notch filter (order 2) for range of Q between 2 -18 and 2 –100000 respectively have been generated with the help of different RF & AF oscillator. Filter approximation and order of the notch and peak filter determines overall performance in terms of multiplier, adder, no. of states, multi per input sample (MPIS) and add per input Sample (APIS) narrow band interference. From the realization perspective, the filter consumes more power and becomes more complex with increase in filter order. It is easy to implement in communication at transmitter or receiver point and has good communication system response. The observed settling time & fixed bandwidth gain confirms the performance of designed filter.

As much of the work of service employees is supported by IT, the quality of the service often depends on how the technology is used. Most employees only use a fraction of the functionality available on their desk-top. This may also depend on their personality. We performed research on the relationship of personality and technology acceptance.

Wireless power transmission is the transmission of electrical energy without using any conductor or wire. It is useful to transfer electrical energy to those places where it is hard to transmit energy using conventional wires. In this paper, we designed and implemented a wireless power transfer system using the basics of magnetic resonant coupling. Numerical data are presented for power transfer efficiency of both receivers. Graphs are given to show the comparison of power and efficiency with distance of both receivers.

Water quality indices provide a simple and understandable tool for managers on the quality and possible uses for irrigation water, however an individual quality factor alone is not enough to evaluate the irrigation water quality because it could be restrictive and sometime it could give an unfavorable qualification. The aim of this paper was propose a quality profile of irrigation water using the preexisting water quality indices to be applied to arid and semiarid regions. As a case studied, the water of the Del Molle River (Nogolí, San Luis, Argentina) was researched. Samples were collected during the period