Improved error performance for generalised spatial modulation with enhanced spectral efficiency

The existing analytical average bit error rate (ABER) expression of conventional generalised spatial modulation (CGSM) does not agree well with the Monte Carlo simulation results in the low signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) region. Hence, the first contribution of this paper is to derive a new and easy way to evaluate analytical ABER expression that improves the validation of the simulation results at low SNRs. Secondly, a novel system termed CGSM with enhanced spectral efficiency (CGSM‐ESE) is presented. This system is realised by applying a rotation angle to one of the two active transmit antennas. As a result, the overall spectral efficiency is increased by 1 bit/s/Hz when compared with the equivalent CGSM system. In order to validate the simulation results of CGSM‐ESE, the third contribution is to derive an analytical ABER expression. Finally, to improve the ABER performance of CGSM‐ESE, three link adaptation algorithms are developed. By assuming full knowledge of the channel at the receiver, the proposed algorithms select a subset of channel gain vector (CGV) pairs based on the Euclidean distance between all CGV pairs, CGV splitting, CGV amplitudes, or a combination of these.     

An e-government framework for assessing readiness for public sector e-procurement in a lower-middle income country

ABSTRACT

Governments globally are leveraging information and communication technology (ICT) growth towards improving the quality of public procurement services for socio-economic development. However, the extent of its application differs across nations. Notwithstanding the extant theoretical and empirical literature on IT for development, knowledge on how to assess readiness for adopting a full e-procurement system in the public sector of lower and lower-middle income countries (LMICs) begs for understanding. With the narrative of Ghana, we address this gap by drawing on the institutional and economic theory and the United Nations E-Government Development Index towards a holistic framework beyond the dyad of linear website functionalities and internet focus of prior e-government adoption models. Elite interviews gathered from multiple cases from Ghana’s public sector reveals the key readiness determinants for a full public sector e-procurement system. This study has significant implications for shaping the process-oriented management of government e-procurement projects towards socio-economic development in LMICs amid their complex institutional and socio-technical environments.     

Application of LSPIV to measure supercritical flow in steep channels with low relative submergence

Measuring flow discharge has always been one of the most important concerns of water experts. To measure discharge in streams using velocity-area method it is necessary to quantify average velocity of the flow. It is not feasible to measure velocity by contact approaches like current meters under certain conditions such as in flood periods or for very shallow flows. Flow surface image velocimetry methods as non-intrusive solutions have recently been widely utilized to measure discharge in open channels. One of these methods is a variety of PIV method named LSPIV which has been very popular due to the elimination of laser application. In this study, LSPIV was used to measure 2D velocity field over the surface of steep supercritical flow. The obtained surface velocity data were used to calculate Velocity Index (VI) which is multiplied by surface velocity to convert it to mean velocity and subsequently flow discharge. Also, a few relations were proposed to calculate the VI according to the slope and relative submergence. Since, Velocity Index has been so far mostly studied for subcritical conditions, results of this study may be applied for measuring supercritical flows. Eventually, the proposed method was verified to be used for discharge measurement and was proven quite precise in this regard.     

Measurement of solubility and diffusion coefficients of ethylene in solid and molten low-density polyethylene with different melt indices

The diffusion behavior of ethylene in polyethylene is of great importance for the polymerization and degassing of polyethylene (PE) industry. Based on the gravimetric sorption and desorption measurement approach, an intelligent gravimetric analyzer is applied to obtain the solubility and diffusion coefficients of ethylene in solid low-density PE (LDPE) with different melt indices at 30°C to 70°C, 0 to 4 atm and in molten LDPE at 160°C to 230°C, 0 to 4 atm, respectively. Results indicate that both the solubility and diffusion coefficients of ethylene in solid LDPE are smaller than those in molten LDPE, while the dissolution enthalpy and diffusion activation energy of ethylene in solid LDPE are higher. In addition, one- and two-dimensional diffusion models are built and the effects of particle size, polymer properties, and operation conditions are systematically investigated on the diffusion behaviors of ethylene in solid and molten LDPE.     

Can Tolerant Diatom Taxa be Used for Effective Assessments of Human Pressure?

Because lately the low bioindicative value of tolerant species from different taxonomic groups is often questioned, in this study, we hypothesized that tolerant diatoms may be used for effective temporal assessments of human pressure. We tested this on the lowland Bzura River in central Poland, on 156 diatom samples (DSs) from two study periods of 1972 with extremely severe point‐source water pollution and of 2002–2004, where the complex wastewater management in the river catchment improved water quality considerably. Out of the total 295 diatom species recorded in the samples, only 133 tolerant ones were included in the study. Patterns in their abundance were recognized with a Kohonen artificial neural network (self‐organizing map, SOM), whereas the species significantly associated with each SOM cluster of diatom samples were identified with the indicator value (IndVal) index and the Monte Carlo test. If the hypothesis tested was not supported, the assignation of DSs to the SOM clusters would be random. However, the separation of DSs from 1972 and 2002–2004 was almost perfect because the number of exceptions was as low as 4.5%. In addition, the relatively high number (64 out of 133) of tolerant species significantly associated with any SOM cluster (and respective environmental conditions at sites from which samples assigned to it come) supports the hypothesis tested. This means that almost half of the studied species are not evenly distributed in particular clusters as might be expected for highly tolerant species. The study proves that the abundances of many diatom species, currently classified as tolerant, carry quite precise information on the differences in the quality of the environment, and indicates those tolerant diatom species whose bioindicative potential may be highest. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Electrochemical growth and characterization of iron doped cadmium sulfide thin films

Cadmium Sulfide and Ferrous doped Cadmium Sulfide thin films have been prepared on different substrates using an electrodeposition technique. Linear sweep voltammetric analysis has been carried out to determine deposition potential of the prepared films. X-ray diffraction analysis showed that the prepared films possess polycrystalline nature with hexagonal structure. Surface morphology and film composition have been analyzed using Scanning electron microscopy and Energy dispersive analysis by X-rays. Optical absorption analysis showed that the prepared films are found to exhibit Band gap value in the range between 2.3, 2.8 eV for Cadmium Sulfide and Ferrous doped Cadmium Sulfide.     

40 years FORM: Some new aspects?

40 years ago Hasofer and Lind wrote their seminal paper [13] about FORM where they described an algorithm for finding the beta point. This algorithm, later in 1978 generalized by Rackwitz and Fiessler in [23] to include nonnormal random variables, is known as Hasofer-Lind–Rackwitz-Fiessler (HL–RF) algorithm and till now it is an important tool for reliability calculations. Here its relation with standard numerical optimization is explained. Further a simple method for computing the SORM factor is given and the connection of FORM/SORM with dimension reduction concepts is outlined.     

Marginal cost and congestion in the Italian electricity market: An indirect estimation approach

In this paper we construct an indirect measure of the supply marginal cost function for the main generators from the observed bid data in the Italian electricity market in the period 2004–2007. We compute the residual demand function for each generator, taking explicitly into account the issue of transmission line congestion. This procedure allows recovering correct zonal Lerner index and the implied measure of the marginal cost function. We find evidence of a stable U-shaped marginal cost function for three main Italian generators, but a flat function for ENEL, the former national monopolist. The policy relevance of our approach lies in the possibility to offer some empirical knowledge of the marginal cost function of each generator to the regulator to design appropriate policy measures geared to the promotion of competitive market conditions. We propose a new market surveillance mechanism, which is based on the principle of sanctioning excessive deviations from the estimated measure of the marginal cost function presented in this work.     

Modeling the effect of deep traps on the capacitance–voltage characteristics of p-type Si-doped GaAs Schottky diodes grown on high index GaAs substrates

Numerical simulation, using SILVACO-TCAD, is carried out to explain experimentally observed effects of different types of deep levels on the capacitance–voltage characteristics of p-type Si-doped GaAs Schottky diodes grown on high index GaAs substrates. Two diodes were grown on (311)A and (211)A oriented GaAs substrates using Molecular Beam Epitaxy (MBE). Although, deep levels were observed in both structures, the measured capacitance–voltage characteristics show a negative differential capacitance (NDC) for the (311)A diodes, while the (211)A devices display a usual behaviour. The NDC is related to the nature and spatial distribution of the deep levels, which are characterized by the Deep Level Transient Spectroscopy (DLTS) technique. In the (311)A structure only majority deep levels (hole traps) were observed while both majority and minority deep levels were present in the (211)A diodes. The simulation, which calculates the capacitance–voltage characteristics in the absence and presence of different types of deep levels, agrees well with the experimentally observed behaviour.     

Study on metamerism degree evaluation based on wavelength sensitive cone weighting algorithm

Metamerism phenomenon can be used in illuminant detection to ensure the accuracy of light source. A method based on Long‐, Middle‐, Short‐ wavelength cones(LMS) weighting algorithm to evaluate metamerism degree is proposed. The chromatic relationship between the degree of metamerism mismatch and the light source is studied. Herein, the consistency between the metameric indices (MIs) and CIE1976 L*a*b* color difference ranking is analyzed by SRCC, KRCC, PLCC and RMSE. A statistically sampling method to obtain practical LMS cone fundamentals to evaluate metamerism degree is employed. The analysis results obtained show that the method based on LMS weighting algorithm has good evaluation ability and stability in simulation experiments and statistically sampling experiments, which are in line with visual characteristics of human. Proposed method meets the requirements of selecting metameric pairs used in light source detection. The analysis results have certain guiding significance.