Interference‐aware convergecast scheduling in wireless sensor/actuator networks for active airflow control applications

Emerging wireless sensor/actuator network (WSAN) technology has the potential to enable semi‐autonomous airflow control to improve the aerodynamic performance of aircraft. In this paper, a WSAN comprising of multiple linear sensor clusters terminated by actuators is proposed for active airflow control with the objective of minimizing convergecast latency. Here, the convergecast delay is defined as the time required from the beginning of a sampling period to all all sensor's data of this sampling period is received by the actuator. The objective is achieved by minimizing the separation distance of concurrent data transmission so that the number of nodes sending data in the same time slot is maximized. The problem turns into a scheduling problem with a proper selection of interference separation. However, most existing work on the scheduling in linear networks use the minimum separation of two hops to avoid collisions. This paper examines the relationship between the hop separation, signal‐to‐noise ratio, and the latency to make a selection of interference separation. A new interference aware hybrid line scheduling (HLS) algorithm is proposed and its energy consumption is analyzed. Compared with other line scheduling policies, the analysis and simulation results show that, at moderately high node densities, the proposed HLS with carefully selected hop separation is able to reduce both the delay by up to 15% and the energy consumption somehow. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Virtual CNC system. Part II. High speed contouring application

This paper presents a trajectory planning strategy for maintaining the tool positioning accuracy in high speed cornering applications. A 3D contour error estimation algorithm is presented for determining the geometric deviation from arbitrarily shaped toolpaths. Two spline fitting strategies are developed for smoothening sharp corners. The under-corner approach reduces the toolpath length, and therefore the cornering time. This technique yields successful results when used with a high bandwidth servo controller (such as sliding mode control), capable of accurately tracking the commanded toolpath. The over-corner approach is based on stretching out the sharp corner with a smooth curve, which counteracts the ‘undercut’ caused by the large phase lag in low bandwidth servo controllers (such as P–PI control). The cornering feedrate is adjusted in the Virtual CNC platform, developed in the first part of this article, to ensure that contour error violation does not occur. The achieved cornering accuracy is verified in experiments, which are in close agreement with predictions obtained with the Virtual CNC.     

Determination of neotectonic features of the Karasu Basin (SE Turkey) and their relationship with Quaternary volcanic activity using Landsat ETM+ imagery

The junction between the East Anatolian and the Dead Sea fault zones lies close to an unstable F: Transform fault (FFF) triple junction where the African, Eurasian and Arabian plates meet in south-eastern Turkey. The Karasu Basin is an ephemeral rifted structure located close to the junction of these plate boundaries and is expressed by a range of tectono-morphological features. This study uses remote sensing to define tectonic structures and discriminate volcanic rocks linked to rifting within the basin using Landsat Enhanced Thematic Mapper Plus (ETM+) imagery. Prior to advanced image processing stages, images were corrected to eliminate atmospheric scattering effects and determine the best band combination for multi-spectral processing techniques based on statistical methods. Following pre-processing stages, edge detection filters were applied to derive tectonic structures defining the basin. The Brovey transformation, a statistical data merging method, was used to combine reflective multi-spectral bands with the Landsat ETM+?panchromatic band. This method fuses higher spatial data with data of lower spatial value. The western margin of the Karasu Basin is defined by the left-lateral Amanos Fault Zone with a contemporary motion (c. –0.4 mm a^?1) probably accommodating most of the left-lateral strike-slip motion between Arabian and African plates on the northern continuation of the Dead Sea Fault Zone. The rift zone has been the site of extensive recent volcanism concentrated within the Brunhes Chron (<0.78 Ma) and linked to fault block rotations between the intracontinental master faults. The boundaries of this activity are defined here using a regolith mapping technique.     

An investigation of chloride-substituted Schiff bases as corrosion inhibitors for steel

Polarization and impedance measurements were performed on steel in deaerated 5% HCl solution with and without Schiff base additives within the concentration range 1 × 10⁻⁴–5 × 10⁻³ mol/dm³. The Schiff base compounds used were salicylaldimine, R, N-(2-chlorophenyl)salicyaldimine, 2Cl-R, N-(3-chlorophenyl)salicyaldimine, 3Cl-R, and N-(4-chlorophenyl)salicyaldimine, 4Cl-R. It was found that when the concentration of the inhibitors were increased the inhibitor efficiencies, η, also increased with increasing surface coverage. The results indicated that the ortho-substituted (2Cl-R) compound had the highest inhibition efficiency. All the Schiff base additives studied obeyed the Langmuir isotherm.     

Rapid identification technique for virtual CNC drives

This paper presents a technique for rapid identification of machine tool drives by conducting a short G-code test. The proposed strategy uses commanded and measured axis profiles and requires minimal intervention to the servo control loop. The drive system is identified as a whole, including the feed mechanism, motor, amplifier, and the control law. The methodology is fairly general and applicable to linear or ball screw drives, controlled with commonly used controllers like P, PI, PID, P–PI Cascade or Adaptive Sliding Mode Control; with or without feedforward dynamic or friction compensation. In order to guarantee the stability of identified dynamics, bounds are imposed on the pole locations. The identified models can be used in a Virtual CNC system for predicting the contouring and tracking errors to different part programs. Simulation and experimental case studies are presented, where tracking and contour errors are successfully predicted using drive models identified with the proposed strategy.     

Preparation and characterization of ciprofloxacin‐loaded alginate/chitosan sponge as a wound dressing material

The aim of this study is preparation and characterization of alginate/chitosan sponges including a model antibiotic (i.e., ciprofloxacin) to use in wound and/or burn treatment. Sponges were prepared firstly by the gelation of sodium alginate followed by lyophilization, crosslinking with calcium chloride, and finally coating with chitosan. Sponges were characterized with respect to morphology, water uptake, in vitro drug release behavior, and antimicrobial activity. Investigated and evaluated parameters in all of these studies were selected as the concentration of calcium chloride, alginate viscosity, drug content, and molecular weight of chitosan. Drug release and water uptake were found to be greatly influenced by these parameters. Water uptake and drug release rate were decreased by increasing the crosslinking density, chitosan molecular weight, and alginate viscosity. In the antimicrobial tests, it was obtained that the antimicrobial activity is directly proportional with the release rates and water uptake. Morphological studies showed a highly porous structure with interconnected pores. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 1602–1609, 2006     

Stabilized electrospinning of heat stimuli/in situ crosslinkable nanofibers and their self‐same nanocomposites

We present a strategy for stabilizing the morphological integrity of electrospun polymeric nanofibers by heat stimuli in situ crosslinking. Amorphous polymer nanofibers, such as polystyrene (PS) and its co‐polymers tend to lose their fiber morphology during processing at temperatures above their glass transition temperature (T_g) typically bound to happen in nanocomposite/structural composite applications. As an answer to this problem, incorporation of the crosslinking agents, phthalic anhydride (PA) and tributylamine (TBA), into the electrospinning polymer solution functionalized by glycidylmethacrylate (GMA) copolymerization, namely P(St‐co‐GMA), is demonstrated. Despite the presence of the crosslinker molecules, the electrospinning polymer solution is stable and its viscosity remains unaffected below 60 °C. Crosslinking reaction stands‐by and can be thermally stimulated during post‐processing of the electrospun P(St‐co‐GMA)/PA‐TBA fiber mat at intermediate temperatures (below the T_g). This strategy enables the preservation of the nanofiber morphology during subsequent high temperature processing. The crosslinking event leads to an increase in T_g of the base polymer by 30 °C depending on degree of crosslinking. Crosslinked nanofibers are able to maintain their nanofibrous morphology above the T_g and upon exposure to organic solvents. In situ crosslinking in epoxy matrix is also reported as an example of high temperature demanding application/processing. Finally, a self‐same fibrous nanocomposite is demonstrated by dual electrospinning of P(St‐co‐GMA) and stabilized P(St‐co‐GMA)/PA‐TBA, forming an intermingled nanofibrous mat, followed by a heating cycle. The product is a composite of crosslinked P(St‐co‐GMA)/PA‐TBA fibers fused by P(St‐co‐GMA) matrix. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 44090.     

Photoluminescence characterization and heat treatment effect on luminescence behavior of BaTa2O6:Dy3+ phosphor

Undoped and Dy³⁺‐doped barium tantalate phosphors were synthesized by the solid‐state reaction method at 1425°C. Also, 10 mol% Dy³⁺‐doped BaTa₂O₆ was sintered between 1150 and 1425°C in order to determine temperature effect on structural and luminescence properties. Afterwards, they were characterized by XRD, SEM‐EDS and photoluminescence (PL) analyses. PL spectra exhibited the excitation peaks between 300 and 440 nm. Two typical emissions were observed at 486.2 nm (blue) and 577.7 nm (yellow) due to the ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_15/2 and ⁴F_9/2→⁶H_13/2 transitions, respectively. Emission intensities increased with increasing doping concentration of Dy³⁺ up to 10 mol% and then decreased due to the concentration quenching effect. Moreover, depending on the increase in heat treatment temperature, the intensity of emission reached maximum at 1425°C. The calculated CIE chromaticity coordinates of phosphors located in the white light region.     

Seismic vulnerability, behavior and design of tunnel form building structures

Multi-story reinforced concrete tunnel form buildings are one of the common structural types in regions prone to high seismic risk due to the buildings inherent earthquake resistance and ease of construction. Despite their good performance during earthquakes in 1999 in Turkey, and abundance of such structures scattered worldwide, current seismic codes and design provisions provide insufficient guidelines for their seismic design. As a compensatory measure, a series of modal and nonlinear static analyses are conducted by emphasizing the characteristic dynamic behavior of tunnel form buildings including impacts of wall-to-wall and wall-to-slab interaction and effects of torsion and wall-openings on the load transfer mechanism and seismic performance. A new formula for explicit determination of their fundamental period is developed in addition to a recommended response reduction factor and reinforcement detailing around shear-wall openings.     

An investigation on plasma progesterone levels during pregnancy and at parturition in the Ivesi sheep

We have investigated the toxicity of dose-escalation of BCNU, etoposide and melphalan ('BEM') chemotherapy with autologous stem cell transplantation in patients with haematological malignancies. Seventy-two patients with haematological malignancies were treated with BCNU (600 mg/m2, 450 mg/m2 or 300 mg/m2), etoposide 2 g/m2 and melphalan 140 mg/m2 followed by autologous bone marrow transplantation (ABMT), n = 51, or autologous peripheral blood progenitor cell transplantation (APBPCT), n = 21. Liver and pulmonary function was monitored pretransplant and at regular intervals post-transplant. Mucositis was graded daily during in-patient stay. There was a significantly higher incidence of symptomatic pulmonary toxicity in the patients who received BCNU at 600 mg/m2 than in the other two groups, and there was a significant increase in the incidence of asymptomatic decrease in carbon monoxide (KCO) in the patients who received BCNU 450 mg/m2. There was no significant difference between the three groups in the incidence and severity of mucositis or in the incidence of transiently abnormal liver function. We conclude that etoposide at 2 g/m2 can be used without unacceptable mucositis. BCNU at 600 mg/m2 is associated with an unacceptably high incidence of lung toxicity, but at 450 mg/m2 there is minimal symptomatic lung toxicity.