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This paper describes an efficient reduced‐order method for the analysis of cylindrical dielectric resonators with an inhomogeneous dielectric medium. The field equations are formulated using the Laplace‐domain finite element method and are reduced to lower‐order models using the complex frequency hopping (CFH) technique. CFH is a moment matching technique which has been used successfully in the circuit simulation area for the solution of a large set of ordinary differential equations. The proposed technique is faster than the conventional approach by one to three orders of magnitude. The results are compared with those of other numerical methods available in the literature.

In this paper a method is presented for an efficient solution of the direct problem (find the scattered field for a given thin crack and driving field) in the time domain. This is a fundamental step in any non destructive evaluation problem. Two different approaches, one in the time domain and the other based on Fourier analysis, are used and compared with reference to a configuration for which some experimental results are available. The advantages and drawbacks of the two approaches are briefly discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the functioning of very‐large‐scale integration (VLSI) interconnects and modeling of interconnects and evaluate different approaches of testing interconnects.

In the past, on‐chip interconnect wires were not considered in circuit analysis except in high precision analysis. Wiring‐up of on‐chip devices takes place through various conductors produced during fabrication process. The shrinking size of metal‐oxide semiconductor field effect transistor devices is largely responsible for growth of VLSI circuits. With deep sub‐micron (DSM) technology, the interconnect geometry is scaled down for high wiring density. The complex geometry of interconnects and high operational frequency introduce wire parasitics and inter‐wire parasitics. These parasitics causes delay, power dissipation, and crosstalk that may affect the signal integrity in VLSI system. Accurate analysis, sophisticated design, and effective test methods are the requirement to ensure the proper functionality and reliability of VLSI circuits. The testing of interconnect is becoming important and a challenge in the current technology.

The effects of interconnect on signal integrity, power dissipation, and delay emerges significantly in DSM technology. For proper performance of the circuit, testing of interconnect is important and emerging challenge in the nanotechnology era. Although some work has been done for testing of interconnect, however, it is still an open area to test the parasitics effects of VLSI/ultra‐large‐scale integration interconnects. Efforts are required to analyze and to develop test methods for crosstalk, delay and power dissipation in current technology with solutions to minimize this effect.

This paper reviews the functioning of VLSI interconnects from micrometer to nanometer technology. The development of various interconnect models from simple short circuit to latest resistance inductance capacitance transmission line model are discussed. Furthermore, various methodologies such as built‐in self test and other techniques for testing interconnect for crosstalk and delay are discussed.

The purpose of this paper is to compare competing adaptive strategies for fast frequency sweeps for driven and waveguide‐mode problems and give recommendations for practical implementations.

The paper first summarizes the theory of adaptive strategies for multi‐point (MP) sweeps and then evaluates the efficiency of such methods by means of numerical examples.

The authors' numerical tests give clear evidence for exponential convergence. In the driven case, highly resonant structures lead to pronounced pre‐asymptotic regions, followed by almost immediate convergence. Bisection and greedy point‐placement methods behave similarly. Incremental indicators are trivial to implement and perform similarly well as residual‐based methods.

While the underlying reduction methods can be extended to any kind of affine parameter‐dependence, the numerical tests of this paper are for polynomial parameter‐dependence only.

The present paper describes self‐adaptive point‐placement methods and termination criteria to make MP frequency sweeps more efficient and fully automatic.

The paper provides a self‐adaptive strategy that is efficient and easy to implement. Moreover, it demonstrates that exponential convergence rates can be reached in practice.

A Bluetooth scatternet is a network topology that is formed by inter‐connecting piconets. A piconet is a starshaped ad‐hoc networking unit that can accommodate eight Bluetooth devices, a master and up to seven slaves. By designating certain piconet nodes as bridges, or gateways, we can interconnect piconets by forcing the bridge nodes to interleave their participation in multiple piconets. Bridge nodes form an auxiliary relay connection between adjacent piconet masters and are fundamental for establishing scatternets. In this paper we present a new fault‐tolerant approach to scatternet formation that is selfhealing and operates in a multi‐hop environment. Our Bluetooth Distributed Scatternet Formation Protocol (BTDSP) establishes a flat scatternet topology, allows incremental node arrival, and automatically heals scatternet partitions by re‐incorporating disconnected nodes. By maintaining neighbor associations in soft state, existing links can also be re‐established quickly upon disconnection due to intermittent wireless connectivity. By only using slave/slave bridges, the algorithm is resilient to both node failure and wireless interference. It also prevents time‐slot waste due to master/slave bridges being away from their piconets.

This paper builds upon a new era of research seeking to understand variability in how desirable outcomes result from engaging rap music as a health enhancing artifact. More specifically, the study explores the music mediated pathways to individual and community well-being. The study emphasizes female music engagement. Quantitative methods are used to examine listening habits and preferences associated with empowering rap music engagement among a female sample of 202 university students using an a priori established path analysis model. Results echo prior research that suggests the functional value of music in helping to define the self independently and articulate one’s social identity within the context of community (Dixon, Zhang, & Conrad, 2009; Hill, 2009; Travis & Bowman, 2012). Specifically, results suggest that among females in this sample, (a) their appropriation of rap music can be empowering, (b) specific factors play a significant role in determining the difference between females that feel more or less empowered from their interactions with rap music, and (c) female listeners were more likely to appropriate rap music for personal and community growth if it was their favorite music type, if they listened often, and if they tended to listen alone more often than with friends. These research findings offer promising routes for more in depth qualitative analysis to help uncover the nuances of preferred engagement strategies and to help define the subjective lived experiences that lead to feeling empowered by music to act toward positive change for oneself and others. Practical results indicate the possibility for gender-specific education, therapeutic or empowerment-based programs that utilize rap music as a rubric.

At present the energy generation and distribution landscape is changing rapidly. The energy grid is becoming increasingly smart, relying on an information network for the purposes of monitoring and optimization. However, because of the particularly stringent regulatory and technical constraints posed by smart grids, it is not possible to use ordinary communication protocols. The purpose of this paper is to revisit such constraints, reviewing the various options available today to realize smart‐metering networks.

After describing the regulatory, technological and stakeholders' constraints, the authors provide a taxonomy of network technologies, discussing their suitability and weaknesses in the context of smart‐metering systems. The authors also give a snapshot of the current standardization panorama, identifying key differences among various geographical regions.

It is found that the field of smart‐metering networks still consists of a fragmented set of standards and solutions, leaving open a number of issues relating to the design and deployment of suitable systems.

This paper addresses the need to better understand state‐of‐the‐art and open issues in the fast‐evolving area of smart energy grids, with particular attention to the challenges faced by communication engineers.

This paper aims to explore the impact of the origin of hops on the sensory and hedonic evaluation of highly involved craft beer consumers.

Data was collected through a between-subject tasting experiment, where the origin of hop was manipulated (imported vs locally grown). The craft beer samples used in the experiment were produced using hops of similar age but grown in two distinct places: USA (imported hop) and in the city of Ribeirão Preto, Brazil, where the experiment was conducted (locally grown hop). The sensory and hedonic evaluations of highly involved craft beer consumers (n = 100) were collected after tasting the samples.

The origin of hop proved to be significant in affecting participants’ sensory and hedonic evaluations. It was observed that women were more sensitive than men to the origin information: when information was given, differences were found only on men’s scores of dryness/astringency; while in women, significant differences were found not only in dryness/astringency, but also in bitterness and refreshing, which are important attributes in the sensory profile of craft beer. It was also confirmed the effect of localness in hop cultivation, once men’ and women’s scores on liking were higher for the sample brewed with locally grown hop.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first work using craft beer brewed with hops cultivated in Brazil and a sample of Brazilian craft beer consumers, therefore, providing a significant contribution to the field of consumer behavior. Furthermore, it adds to the discussion on sex-/gender-related differences regarding sensory expectation and perception of foods.

Engineers across many disciplines are becoming interested in wireless communication, however the plethora of standards, frequencies and technologies can lead to considerable confusion. This article presents some decision criteria to assist the reader selecting the most suitable technology. Further, it highlights other issues to prepare for integrating RF.

The purpose of this paper is to study thickness dependent variation in microwave properties of the Mg_xMn_(0.9−x)Al_0.1Zn_0.8Fe_1.2O₄ (x=0.8, 0.9) thick films and enhancement of power efficiency of Ag thick film EMC patch antenna.

X‐band microwave properties of the Mg_xMn_(0.9−x)Al_0.1Zn_0.8Fe_1.2O₄ (x=0.8, 0.9) thick films were measured by superstrate technique using Ag thick film EMC patch antenna as the resonant element. The complex permittivity and permeability of these thick films were also measured by this technique. The microwave response of the EMC patch, complex permeability and permittivity of Mg_0.8Mn_0.1Al_0.1Zn_0.8Fe_1.2O₄ and Mg_0.9Al_0.1Zn_0.8Fe_1.2O₄ thick films and their thickness dependency were investigated.

The XRD patterns reveal the cubic spinel crystal system was obtained for both compositions. The crystallite size obtained was 134.68 nm for Mg_0.8Mn_0.1Al_0.1Zn_0.8Fe_1.2O₄ and 155.99 nm for Mg_0.9Al_0.1Zn_0.8Fe_1.2O₄ The superstrate technique has been used successfully to evaluate the complex permittivity and permeability of the ferrite thick films in the X band. The EMC patch also show thickness and composition dependent frequency agility and enhancement of power efficiency.

The complex permeability of Mg_xMn_(0.9−x)Al_0.1Zn_0.8Fe_1.2O₄ (x=0.8, 0.9) thick films measured by superstrate technique is reported in this paper. The superstrate of Mg_xMn_(0.9−x)Al_0.1Zn_0.8Fe_1.2O₄ (x=0.8, 0.9) thick films makes the Ag thick film EMC patch antenna frequency agile and power amplification is obtained.