Trace Analysis of Zn(II), Be(II), and Bi(III) by Enzyme-Catalyzed Chemiluminescence

A novel technique for the trace analysis of metal ions Zn(II), Be(II), and Bi(III) in bulk solutions is discussed. This technique involves the generation of a chemiluminescence signal from alkaline phosphatase catalyzed hydrolysis of a phosphate derivative of 1,2-dioxetane. Zn(II) can be determined by two methods, reactivation of the alkaline phosphatase apoenzyme and inhibition of the native enzyme. Be(II) and Bi(III) can be determined quantitatively by inhibition of the native enzyme. Subppb to ppm level detection of Zn(II), Be(II), and Bi(III) has been achieved. Initial studies with mixed metals are also reported. The technique described is rapid and sensitive and can be readily applied to the microassay of heavy metal ions.     

Power Control for Link Quality Protection in Cellular DS-CDMA Networks with Integrated (Packet and Circuit) Services

The problem of admission control in a DS-CDMA network carrying a heterogeneous mix of traffic is addressed. In an interference limited system such as DS-CDMA, admission of a new user impacts the performance of all other users, as well as the system capacity. The admission process is concerned with two factors: (1) maintaining the QoS of active users, (2) allocating bandwidth to new users. We propose a simple power control algorithm and prove that it is optimal in the sense of maintaining active link quality while maximizing free capacity for new admissions. The algorithm scales the powers of active links appropriately to achieve link protection and improved tolerance of the link to new interference from bursty sources. This algorithm can be used to overlay bursty packet data services without compromising QoS of active circuits.     

A molecular dynamics simulation study of the influence of free surfaces on the morphology of self-associating polymers

Molecular dynamics simulations of thin films and bulk melts of model self-associating polymers have been performed in order to gain understanding of the influence of free surfaces on the morphology of these polymers. The self-associating polymers were represented by a simple bead-necklace model with attractive groups (stickers) at the chain ends (end-functionalized polymer) and in the chain interior (interior-functionalized polymer). The functionalized groups were found to form clusters in the melt whose size is representative of that found experimentally in many ionomer melts. While the size distribution and shape of the clusters in the thin films were found to be relatively unperturbed compared to their corresponding bulk melts, the morphology of the self-associating melts was found to be significantly perturbed by the free surfaces. Specifically, a strong depletion of stickers near the interface and the emergence of clearly defined layers of stickers parallel to the surface was observed. Increased bridging of clusters by the functionalized polymers was also observed near the free surface. We conclude that these effects can be associated with a high free energy for stickers in the low-density interfacial regime: stickers prefer to be in the higher-density interior of the film where relatively unperturbed sticker clusters can form.     

Epidermal growth factor receptors in human corpora lutea during the menstrual cycle and pregnancy

We have demonstrated the presence of epidermal growth factor (EGF) and its receptors in human non-gestational corpora lutea. To determine further the characteristics of EGF receptor binding, we examined 30 human corpora lutea throughout the luteal phase and during pregnancy. Scatchard plots of EGF binding in 29 of the 30 corpora lutea were curvilinear, suggesting negative co-operativity. The mean +/- SE of the association constant Ka was (0.9 +/- 0.2) x 10(9) l/mol, the dissociation constant Kd was (2.2 +/- 0.3) x 10(-9) mol/l and the number of binding sites (Rt) was (15.8 +/- 2.1) x 10(-19) mol/micrograms protein for non-gestational corpora lutea. The Kd increased significantly in late pregnancies compared to early pregnancies (P = < 0.005), while Rt was significantly higher in term pregnancies than in either early pregnancy (P < 0.01) or the menstrual cycle (P < 0.001). Corpora lutea atretica (n = 2) and ovarian stroma (n = 6) did not show any EGF binding activity. Our findings demonstrate the presence of specific EGF receptors in human corpora lutea of both the menstrual cycle and pregnancy. The changes in EGF binding parameters in early pregnancy suggest that there may be a relationship between the role of EGF and ovarian steroidogenesis.     

Cellular multicode CDMA capacity for integrated (voice and data)services

This paper analyzes the capacity of a multicode direct sequence-code division multiple access (DS-CDMA) cellular architecture supporting integrated (voice and data) traffic. The capacity estimate (on the uplink) is the number of voice users and data users, at different data rates, that the system can support with quality-of-service (QoS) guarantees (frame error rates (FER), outage probability). This estimate is based on an interference analysis that considers both perfect and imperfect power control, different user distributions in the cell, and the coverage trade-off resulting from hand-set power limitations. Localized interference from high speed data (HSD) users, combined with the effects of power control, adversely impacts voice capacity. The analysis investigates the effect of two important factors on capacity: (1) received power levels for the different classes of users and (2) data user activity. The results obtained are useful in designing power allocation and burst-level admission control strategies to optimize the capacity     

Intrusion detection techniques in network environment: a systematic review

Wireless Networks - The entire world relates to some network capabilities in some way or the other. The data transmission on the network is getting more straightforward and quicker. An intrusion...     

Molecular dynamics simulations of HMX crystal polymorphs using a flexible molecule force field

Molecular dynamics simulations using a recently developed quantum chemistry-based atomistic force field [J. Phys. Chem. B, 103 (1999) 3570 ] were performed in order to obtain unit cell parameters, coefficients of thermal expansion, and heats of sublimation for the three pure crystal polymorphs of octahydro-1,3,5,7-tetranitro-1,3,5,7-tetrazocine (HMX). The predictions for β-, α-, and δ-HMX showed good agreement with the available experimental data. For the case of β-HMX, anisotropic sound speeds were calculated from the molecular dynamics simulation-predicted elastic coefficients and compared with recent Impulsive Stimulated Light Scattering (ISLS) sound speed measurements. The level of agreement is encouraging. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

A satellite‐augmented cellular network concept

Some next‐generation personal communication systems propose the use of satellite systems for extending geographical coverage of cellular service. We pursue the idea of using satellite capacity to offload congestion within the area serviced by the terrestrial network. An integrated satellite‐cellular network configuration is considered. The performance of this system is evaluated by means of an analytical model for a one‐dimensional (highway) cellular system overlaid with satellite footprints and by means of simulation for a planar cellular network with satellite spot beam support. Under certain re‐use assumptions, an improvement is found in the blocking performance of the integrated system over the Erlang‐B blocking of a purely cellular circuit switched systems. This is achieved by efficient partitioning (static) of the total bandwidth into space and terrestrial segments. Major factors that influence performance, such as different reuse considerations on the satellite and cellular systems, cell size to footprint size ratios, admission control and call management policies, and changes in traffic patterns, are also investigated. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.