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The purpose of this paper is to present an analytical approach to find the reduction in the required number of surface mount capacitors by the use of embedded capacitors in decoupling applications.

The analytical model used to perform decoupling is cavity model from theory of microstrip antenna and N‐port impedance matrix. The methodology involves addition of decoupling capacitors between the power and the ground plane such that the impedance between ports on the power‐ground plane becomes lower than the target impedance at that frequency. A case study is presented in which a 0.3 m×0.3 m power‐ground plane is decoupled by using various combinations of surface mount capacitors and embedded capacitors in the frequency range of 0.001‐1 GHz and at a target impedance of 0.1, 0.01, and 0.001 Ω. The total number of surface mount capacitors are compared in each case.

Use of embedded planar capacitors with a thin dielectric (about 8 mm) dampened board resonances at high frequency, as compared to a thick dielectric. Embedded capacitors are found to reduce the number of surface mount capacitors when the target impedance is low and the operating frequency is high.

The methodology discusses in this paper is applicable to a simplified power‐ground plane (which has no cut‐outs and is rectangular in shape) as compared to actual digital circuits.

This methodology can be used as a quick preliminary tool to evaluate the decrease in the number of surface mount capacitors (by the use of embedded capacitors) as compared to complex and time consuming electromagnetic solvers.

This paper seeks to present a prognostics approach using the Mahalanobis distance (MD) method to predict the reliability of multilayer ceramic capacitors (MLCCs) in temperature‐humidity‐bias (THB) conditions.

Data collected during THB testing of 96 MLCCs were analyzed using the MD method. In the THB tests, three parameters (capacitance (C), dissipation factor (DF), and insulation resistance (IR)) were monitored in situ. A Mahalanobis space (MS) was formed from the MD values of a set of non‐failed MLCCs. MD values for the remaining MLCCs were compared with an MD threshold. Data for MLCCs which exceeded the threshold were examined using the failure criteria for the individual electrical parameters to identify failures and precursors to failure.

It was found that the MD method provided an ability to detect failures of the capacitors and identify precursors to failure, although the detection rate was not perfect.

It was observed that the quality and construction of the MS, together with the choice of the MD threshold, were the critical factors determining the sensitivity of the MD method. Recommendations are offered for improved sensitivity to enable assessment of intermittent failures.

MD analysis of the multivariate MLCC data set illustrates how detection of failures can be simplified in a system for which several parameters were monitored simultaneously. This makes the MD method of great potential value in a health‐monitoring system.

This paper seeks to introduce a set of key practices that can be used to assess whether an organization has the ability to design, develop and manufacture reliable electronic products.

The ability to design, develop and manufacture reliable electronic products is defined in the paper in terms of a reliability capability maturity model, which is a measure of the practices within an organization that contribute to the reliability of the final product, and the effectiveness of these practices in meeting the reliability requirements of customers.

The paper presents a procedure for evaluating and benchmarking reliability capability. Criteria for assigning different capability maturity levels are presented. The paper also presents a case study corresponding to reliability capability benchmarking of an electronics company.

The paper provides a set of practices for evaluating and benchmarking reliability capability.

The purpose of this paper is to discuss the transforming effect of pursuing person centered ethnography using contemporary reflexive methods and a cultural traditions model on a researcher in late life. It attempts to show the usefulness of life history research as a lens through which to examine the complex ways people age. It adds to literature dealing with ethnographic studies of aging women and demonstrates personal narrative as a way to convey information. Lastly it demonstrates the value of studies pursued by researchers in old age, and illuminates aspects of ethnographic work when women interview women.

Using a journey format, the paper uses personal narrative as a way to achieve its goals. The personal account is complemented by noting other ethnographic studies that have contributed to age studies literature, and it draws attention to the value of reflexivity in good ethnographic work as proposed by anthropologists Barbara Myerhoff and John Caughey.

The paper points toward research institutions who study aging valuing ethnographic findings and making use of researchers in old age to engage in ethnographic studies. It points to the possibility that elders engaged in such research may strengthen their sense of self and empower them as they make a contribution to age studies.

This paper deals with the transformative power of engaging in reflexive life history research, especially as it is done by an ethnographer in late life. This freeing from customary cultural ways of thinking may be as beneficial to the researcher as life review or reminiscence. This should be explored further.

The paper points to the idea, implicit not explicit, that an elder who engages in reflexive life history research that involves doing a self-ethnography, can benefit in ways similar to having engaged in life review or reminiscence. This is original.

As more and more people decide to commit their lives to print, autobiographies constitute a significant resource to explore stories of harm, violence and crime. Published autobiography, however, presents a unique form of storytelling, unavoidably entailing the accumulation and (re)telling of a mass of stories; about oneself, others, contexts and cultures. Relatedly, paratexts – or the elements that surround the central text, such as covers, introductions and prologues – demonstrate how these texts are both individually and collectively shaped. Taking the co-constructed nature of all narratives, including self-narratives, as its starting point, this chapter seeks to demonstrate how terrorists who have authored autobiographies understand the world and their actions within it. In doing so, this chapter provides a practical demonstration of how insight derived from literary criticism can profitably be brought to bear in systematically breaking down and analysing an autobiography – that of a notable American jihadist, Omar Hammami – including its paratextual elements. In particular, I argue that considerations of genre, the inclusion of different types of events and stories collected from others all provide valuable strategies for the ‘doing’ of narrative criminology using autobiographies.

Reliability capability is a measure of the practices within an organization that contributes to the reliability of the final product and the effectiveness of these practices in meeting the reliability requirements of customers. The purpose of this paper is to propose a model for evaluating the reliability capability of electronics manufacturers.

A survey methodology and statistical methods based on multivariate correlational analysis were used to validate the model theoretically.

The result of the analysis is a list and ranking of tasks that are critical to the development of reliable electronics products.

The paper presents a generic model for evaluating both in‐house reliability practices and those of suppliers to identify areas for improvement and for evaluating improvements over time.

One of the existing and commonly used solar energy harvesting devices is the parabolic trough solar collector (PTSC). Because of their ability to operate in low and medium temperatures, parabolic trough concentrators are widely used in power generation plants and industrial process heating applications. Therefore, the investigation of how different operating conditions affect these devices’ overall efficiency has received a great deal of attention in the recent decade. This study aims to enhance the thermal performance of the PTSC and reduce the system cost.

In the novel configuration, a noncirculated nanofluid absorbs solar radiation through a glass wall. The base fluid was synthetic oil (5W30), and the nanoparticles used were copper oxide. The heat captured is immediately absorbed by the water circulating inside the copper tube immersed in the nanofluid. ANSYS FLUENT 15.0 was used for carrying out computational fluid dynamics simulations for two models of single and triple copper tubes. The experimental results obtained from a test rig constructed for this purpose were compared with the numerical outcomes of the single copper tube model.

The findings of the simulation demonstrated that performance was superior for the single copper tube model over the triple copper tube model. The numerical findings of the single copper tube model were compared with the experimental results. The numerical and experimental results differed from 3.17% to 5.6%. Investigations were carried out to study the effects of varying the volumetric flow rate of (20, 40, 60 and 80 L/h) and water inlet temperatures of (300, 315 and 330 K) on the effectiveness and performance of the newly developed model. Additionally, two nanofluid volume fractions of 0.05% and 0.075% were used for investigating their effect on the performance of the novel configuration. According to the findings, the highest thermal efficiency of 55.31% was recorded at 0.075% concentration and 80 L/h volume flow rate.

In this study, a novel direct absorption solar collector configuration using a noncirculated nanofluid was designed to enhance the thermal efficiency of PTSC. This new approach makes it possible to boost the thermal performance of the PTSC and lower the system’s cost.