A Novel Self-Organizing Approach to Automatic Traffic Light Management System for Road Traffic Network

Wireless Personal Communications - Traffic network is basically a “network of networks” consisting of mainly two types of networks: road network and a travel network. Due to drastic...     

Adaptive significance of female physical attractiveness: Role of waist-to-hip ratio.

Evidence is presented showing that body fat distribution as measured by waist-to-hip ratio (WHR) is correlated with youthfulness, reproductive endocrinologic status, and long-term health risk in women. Three studies show that men judge women with low WHR as attractive. Study 1 documents that minor changes in WHRs of Miss America winners and Playboy playmates have occurred over the past 30–60 yrs. Study 2 shows that college-age men find female figures with low WHR more attractive, healthier, and of greater reproductive value than figures with a higher WHR. In Study 3, 25- to 85-yr-old men were found to prefer female figures with lower WHR and assign them higher ratings of attractiveness and reproductive potential. It is suggested that WHR represents an important bodily feature associated with physical attractiveness as well as with health and reproductive potential. A hypothesis is proposed to explain how WHR influences female attractiveness and its role in mate selection. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Dielectric behaviour of glasses and glass ceramics in the system BaO-PbO-TiO2-B2O3-SiO2

Glasses with varying molar ratios of PbO/BaO in the system BaO-PbO-TiO₂-B₂O₃-SiO₂ were prepared keeping (BaO + PbO)/TiO₂ ratio equal to one. The glasses were ceramized by two-stage heat treatment. X-ray diffraction indicates that PbTiO₃ crystallizes in lead-rich glasses while BaTiO₃ precipitates in barium-rich compositions. Solid solution (Ba, Pb)TiO₃ does not seem to crystallize over the entire range of compositions. Simultaneous presence of PbO and BaO in the initial glass composition reduces the yield of ferroelectric phase. Dielectric properties have been interpreted in terms of microstructural features.     

Dielectric properties of the system Ca1−xYxTi1−xCoxO3(0.00 ⩽ x ⩽ 0.15)

The dielectric behaviour of the compositions withx0.15 in the system Ca_1–x Y _x Ti_1–x Co _x O₃ sintered and cooled in air has been studied. Space-charge polarization which arises due to the presence of chemical inhomogeneities at the micro-level contributes significantly to their dielectric constant. The composition with x=0.05 exhibits temperature and frequency-independent dielectric constant and very small dielectric loss.     

Potentiometric urea biosensor based on BSA embedded surface modified polypyrrole film

A potentiometric biosensor based on bovine serum albumin (BSA) embedded surface modified polypyrrole has been developed for the quantitative estimation of urea in aqueous solution. The enzyme, urease (Urs), was covalently linked to free amino groups present over the BSA embedded modified surface of the conducting polypyrrole film electrochemically deposited onto an indium–tin-oxide (ITO) coated glass plate. The biosensor has been characterized by UV–visible, infrared spectroscopy and SEM. Potentiometric and spectrophotometric response of the enzyme electrode (Urs/BSA-PPy/ITO) were measured as a function of urea concentration in Tris–HCl buffer (pH 7.0). It has been found that the electrode responds to low urea concentration with wider range of detection. The electrode showed a linear response range of 6.6 × 10⁻⁶ to 7.5 × 10⁻⁴ M urea. The response time is about 70–90 s reaching to a 95% steady-state potential value and 75% of the enzyme activity is retained for about 2 months. These results indicate an efficient covalent linkage of enzyme to free amino groups of the BSA molecules over the surface of polypyrrole film, which leads to high enzyme loading, an increased lifetime stability of the electrode and an improved wide range of detection of low urea concentration in aqueous solution.     

VMI versus information sharing: an analysis under static uncertainty strategy with fill rate constraints

A vendor-managed inventory (VMI) relationship between a downstream retailer and an upstream vendor consists of two distinct components: (i) information sharing (IS) and (ii) a shift in decision-making responsibility. This study compares these two components of VMI in a two-stage serial supply chain based on the ‘static uncertainty’ strategy under dynamic and random demand with fill rate constraints. Numerical experiments are conducted using analytical models to identify the conditions where the incremental value of VMI over IS is significant. The results provide guidelines relevant to academia and supply chain practitioners in taking VMI adoption decision above and beyond IS according to their specific business environment.     

Real-time worst-case temperature analysis with temperature-dependent parameters

With the evolution of today’s semiconductor technology, chip temperature increases rapidly mainly due to the growth in power density. Therefore, for modern embedded real-time systems it is crucial to estimate maximal temperatures early in the design in order to avoid burnout and to guarantee that the system can meet its real-time constraints. This paper provides answers to a fundamental question: What is the worst-case peak temperature of a real-time embedded system under all feasible scenarios of task arrivals? A novel thermal-aware analytic framework is proposed that combines a general event/resource model based on network and real-time calculus with system thermal equations. This analysis framework has the capability to handle a broad range of uncertainties in terms of task execution times, task invocation periods, jitter in task arrivals, and resource availability. The considered model takes both dynamic and leakage power as well as thermal dependent conductivity into consideration. Thorough simulation experiments validate the theoretical results.     

A Reliable Method for Recycling (RE)‐Ba‐Cu‐O (RE: Sm,Gd, Y) Bulk Superconductors

Single grain (RE)‐Ba‐Cu‐O (RE: Sm, Gd, Y) high‐temperature superconductors are able to generate high magnetic fields. However, the relatively high cost of the raw materials and the low yield of the manufacturing process have impeded the development of practical applications of these materials to date. This article describes a simple, reliable, and economical method of recycling failed bulk (RE)‐Ba‐Cu‐O (RE: Sm, Gd, Y) samples. Sixty‐four failed bulk samples, with diameters up to 31 mm, were recycled with a yield of 90%. The key innovation in this recycling process involves reintroducing the liquid phase into the melt process, which is normally lost during the primary peritectic processing of these materials. This enables the direct re‐growth of failed samples from solid form without the need for re‐grinding into powder. We also demonstrate that the superconducting performance and microstructure of the recycled samples is similar to that of the primary grown samples.