Superior foetal electrocardiogram signal elicitation using a novel artificial intelligent Bayesian methodology

Innumerable casualties due to intrauterine hypoxia are a major worry during prenatal phase besides advanced patient monitoring with latest science and technology. Hence, the analysis of foetal electrocardiogram (fECG) signals is very vital in order to evaluate the foetal heart status for timely recognition of cardiac abnormalities. Regrettably, the latest technology in the cutting edge field of biomedical signal processing does not seem to yield the desired quality of fECG signals required by physicians, which is the major cause for the pathetic condition. The focus of this work is to extort non-invasive fECG signal with highest possible quality with a motive to support physicians in utilizing the methodology for the latest intrapartum monitoring technique called STAN (ST analysis) for forecasting intrapartum foetal hypoxia. However, the critical quandary is that the non-invasive fECG signals recorded from the maternal abdomen are affected by several interferences like power line interference, baseline drift interference, electrode motion interference, muscle movement interference and the maternal electrocardiogram (mECG) being the dominant interference. A novel hybrid methodology called BANFIS (Bayesian adaptive neuro fuzzy inference system) is proposed. The BANFIS includes a Bayesian filter and an adaptive neuro fuzzy filter for mECG elimination and non-linear artefacts removal to yield high quality fECG signal. Kalman filtering frame work has been utilized to estimate the nonlinear transformed mECG component in the abdominal electrocardiogram (aECG). The adaptive neuro fuzzy filter is employed to discover the nonlinearity of the nonlinear transformed version of mECG and to align the estimated mECG signal with the maternal component in the aECG signal for annulment. The outcomes of the investigation by the proposed BANFIS system proved valuable for STAN system for efficient prediction of foetal hypoxia.     

Correlation between structural features and mechanical properties of boron nitride fibres derived from alkylaminoborazines

The microstructure and texture of a series of four boron nitride fibres prepared from three alkylaminoborazines 2,4,6-[(CH₃)₂N]₃B₃N₃H₃ (1), 2,4-[(CH₃)₂N]₂-6-(CH₃HN)B₃N₃H₃ (2) and 2-[(CH₃)₂N]-4,6-(CH₃HN)₂B₃N₃H₃ (3) have been studied by means of transmission electronic microscopy (TEM) and polarized light microscopy (PLM) on the basis of relevant X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Raman spectroscopy data. TEM results indicate that the general structure of the fibres consists in three concentric parts with a gradual increase in the crystallites size from the outer region to the core of the fibres. The grains appear to be randomly distributed in the fibre prepared from 1 whereas a pronounced orientation of crystallites is found in the fibres derived from 2 and 3. This local feature was extended to a larger scale by the use of PLM, which showed that the orientation of crystallites with respect to the fibre axis is improved within the fibres prepared, respectively, from 1, 2 and 3. The comparison of these results evidenced a correlation between microstructural and textural properties and the mechanical performances of the studied boron nitride fibres. Thus, this work exemplified that mechanical properties of BN fibres are closely associated with both a good crystallization state, e.g. large crystallites and a preferred mean alignment of BN crystallites following their (0 0 2) planes (i.e. planes of hexagons) in a direction parallel to the fibre axis.     

Flow distribution and pressure drop in parallel-channel configurations of planar fuel cells

Parallel-channel configurations for gas-distributor plates of planar fuel cells reduce the pressure drop, but give rise to the problem of severe flow maldistribution wherein some of the channels may be starved of the reactants. This study presents an analysis of the flow distribution through parallel-channel configurations. One-dimensional models based on mass and momentum balance equations in the inlet and exhaust gas headers are developed for Z- and U-type parallel-channel configurations. The resulting coupled ordinary differential equations are solved analytically to obtain closed-form solutions for the flow distribution in the individual channels and for the pressure drop over the entire distributor plate. The models have been validated by comparing the results with those obtained from three-dimensional computational fluid dynamics (CFD) simulations. Application of the models to typical fuel-cell distributor plates shows that severe maldistribution of flow may arise in certain cases and that this can be avoided by careful choice of the dimensions of the headers and the channels.     

D.c. conduction studies on thermally evaporated neodymium oxide thin films

Aluminium-neodymium oxide-aluminium thin film capacitors have been prepared by thermal evaporation and the d.c. conduction properties of these films have been studied. The thicknesses of the films have been determined by a multiple beam interferometer. The current-voltage power-law dependence showed that the conduction in these films is space-charge limited. The linear dependence of the current density on the square root of the applied field confirmed the exponential trap distribution. The trap density has been found to be of the order of 10²⁶ m^–3. It has also been observed that the Schottky type of conduction is predominant in the high-field region and the height of the Schottky barrier has been determined. It is seen that the conduction mechanism is an activated process with the activation energy decreasing with increasing field.     

High surface area submicrometer-sized β-SiC particles grown by shape memory synthesis method

A high surface area and non-microporous submicrometer-sized β-SiC material was successfully obtained according to the Shape Memory Synthesis (SMS) method. The attack by SiO vapors of a nanodiamond preform with sp³-bound carbon, at 1200–1300 °C under dynamic vacuum, formed β-SiC nanoparticles by carboreduction of the SiO vapors. These β-SiC nanoparticles had a mean size distribution centered at 10 nm and a specific surface area of 140 m²/g. The high carbon to carbide conversion obtained and the location of the remaining unreacted carbon in the core of the β-SiC nanoparticles allowed a direct use of the material as a catalyst support without any stabilizing post-synthesis oxidative treatment. The material showed dispersive properties and a good resistance towards oxidation, due to the presence of a thick and partially oxidized protecting amorphous coating, preventing from the extensive oxidation of SiC into silica.     

Structural and electrical properties of brush plated ZnTe films

Zinc telluride thin films were deposited by the brush plating technique at a potential of −0.90 V (SCE) on conducting glass and titanium substrates at different temperatures in the range 30–90 °C. The films were polycrystalline in nature with peaks corresponding to the cubic phase. Direct band gap of 2.30 eV was observed. XPS studiers indicated the formation of ZnTe. Depth profiling studies indicated a uniform distribution of Zn and Te throughout the entire thickness. EDAX measurements were made on the films and it was found that there was a slight excess of Te. The carrier concentration was found to vary from 10¹⁴–10¹⁵ cm⁻³ with increase of substrate temperature. The mobility was found to vary from 5 to 60 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹.     

A plausible congestion management scheme for the internal electricity market of the European Union

This paper proposes a scheme for the management of network congestion in the Internal Electricity Market (IEM) of the European Union. This scheme tries to combine the rigor in the treatment of the energy and transmission capacity transactions with the flexibility and pragmatism that are necessary to make the scheme compatible with the current diversity of regulatory approaches and market structures in the Member States participating in the IEM. First, a reference scheme is presented with a complete formulation that jointly deals with the energy and capacity markets. Because of the implementation difficulties of this conceptually ideal approach, a more pragmatic scheme is proposed instead. The core of this scheme is an explicit auction mechanism that must be run prior to any short-term (daily, typically) energy markets. In this auction, where only transmission capacity is traded, both bilateral contracts and energy bids to Power Exchanges can participate in order to acquire the capacity that is necessary to carry out their transactions. Some technical issues related to the practical implementation of the proposed approach are also examined; these include market liquidity, the financial or physical nature of the long-term contracts, the potential problems of “slicing” transmission capacity and the allocation of congestion rents. Market power issues are ignored.     

Dyes from the leaves of deciduous plants with a high tannin content for wool

The aqueous leaf extracts of five different deciduous plants, namely, silver oak, flame of the forest, tanner’s senna, wattle and serviceberry, were used on their own and in combination with aluminium sulphate, stannous chloride and ferrous sulphate to dye wool by a simultaneous mordanting technique. The washing and light fastness properties of the developed shades were moderate to good. Based on the CIE 2000 spectral colour coordinate values (K/S, ΔL, Δa, Δb and ΔE), the developed shades were classified into four groups: yellow/brown, yellow, orange and dark grey. The use of aluminium sulphate gave medium shades (K/S = 8.24), while the stannous chloride and ferrous sulphate mordants provided deep shades (K/S = 30.5). Statistical analyses have shown that only the type of mordant and not the dye source significantly influenced the development of colour on wool. Hence, it was theoretically possible to use five selected leaves as a single mixture to produce four different colours on wool.