Blockchain for Collaborative Businesses

Mobile Networks and Applications - Blockchain applications have continuously improved ever since its first debut on cryptocurrency. From then on, its uses have branched out from the financial...     

Synthesis,characterization and charge transport properties of Pr–Ni Co-doped SrFe2O4 spinel for high frequency devices applications

Ferrites are materials of interest due to their broad applications in high technological devices and a lot of research has been focused to synthesize new ferrites. In this regard, an effort has been devoted to synthesize spinel Pr–Ni co-substituted strontium ferrites with a nominal formula of Sr_1-xPr_xFe_2-yNi_yO₄ (0.0 ≤ x ≤ 0.1, 0.0 ≤ y ≤ 1.0). The cubic structure of pure and Pr–Ni co-substituted strontium ferrite samples calcinated at 1073 K for 3 h has been confirmed through X-ray diffraction (XRD). Average sizes of crystallites (18–25 nm) have been estimated from XRD analysis and nanometer particle sizes of synthesized ferrites have been further verified by scanning electron microscopy (SEM). SEM results have also shown that particles are mostly agglomerated and all the samples possess porosity. It has been observed that at 298 K, the values of resistivity (ρ) increase, while that of AC conductivity, dielectric loss, and dielectric constants decrease with increasing amounts of Pr³⁺ and Ni²⁺ ions. The values of dielectric parameters initially decrease with frequency and later become constant and can be explained on the basis of dielectric polarization. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) studies show that the charge transport phenomenon in ferrite materials is mainly controlled via grain boundaries. Overall, synthesized ferrite materials own enhanced resistivity values in the range of 1.38 × 10⁹–1.94 × 10⁹ Ω cm and minimum dielectric losses, which makes them suitable candidates for high frequency devices applications.     

The design of multiple feedback topology Chebyshev low-pass active filter with average differential evolution algorithm

Neural Computing and Applications - This study presents the design of a tenth-order multiple feedback Chebyshev low-pass filter (MF-C-LPF). Component selection and gain calculation of filters are...     

Knowledge-Based Virtual Modeling and Simulation of Manufacturing Processes for Industry 4.0

Abstract

Industry 4.0 aims at providing a digital representation of a production landscape, but the challenges in building, maintaining, optimizing, and evolving digital models in inter-organizational production chains have not been identified yet in a systematic manner. In this paper, various Industry 4.0 research and technical challenges are addressed, and their present scenario is discussed. Moreover, in this article, the novel concept of developing experience-based virtual models of engineering entities, process, and the factory is presented. These models of production units, processes, and procedures are accomplished by virtual engineering object (VEO), virtual engineering process (VEP), and virtual engineering factory (VEF), using the knowledge representation technique of Decisional DNA. This blend of the virtual and physical domains permits monitoring of systems and analysis of data to foresee problems before they occur, develop new opportunities, prevent downtime, and even plan for the future by using simulations. Furthermore, the proposed virtual model concept not only has the capability of Query Processing and Data Integration for Industrial Data but also real-time visualization of data stream processing.     

Optimization of waste quail eggshells as biocomposites for polyaniline in ammonia gas detection

A simple, cost-effective, and novel chemical sensor for ammonia (NH₃) gas detection was developed from polyaniline (PANI)/quail eggshell (QES) composites. QES is a natural waste enriched in calcium carbonate. In this work, pure PANI was synthesized from chemical oxidation method and PANI/QES composites were prepared from physical mixing of QES with the synthesized PANI at different mass ratio. A series of complementary techniques including Fourier transform infrared and ultraviolet-visible spectrometers, scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive detection coupled with mapping, thermogravimetric analysis, and X-ray diffractometer were used to characterize the physicochemical and textural properties of the biocomposites. From the results, PANI/QES composite with a mass ratio of 1 exhibited the lowest NH₃ detection limit of 5.24 ppm with a linear correlation coefficient (R²) of close to unity (0.9932) between the signal and NH₃ gas concentration. As a whole, the PANI/QES biocomposites synthesized from this work exhibited excellent selectivity toward NH₃ gas even in the presence of other gas impurities, such as acetone, ethanol, and hexane. For the sensor reusability, the PANI/QES biocomposites can be reused in the application of NH₃ gas detection for at least 4 cycles.     

An optimized skin texture model using gray-level co-occurrence matrix

Neural Computing and Applications - Texture analysis is devised to address the weakness of color-based image segmentation models by considering the statistical and spatial relations among the group...     

Software assurance practices for mobile applications

Mobile software applications have to cope with a particular environment that involves small size, limited resources, high autonomy requirements, competitive business models and many other challenges. To provide development guidelines that respond to these needs, several practices have been introduced; however, it is not clear how these guidelines may contribute to solve the issues present in the mobile domain. Furthermore, the rapid evolution of the mobile ecosystem challenges many of the premises upon which the proposed practices were designed. In this paper, we present a survey of the literature on software assurance practices for mobile applications, with the objective of describing them and assessing their contribution and success. We identified, organized and reviewed a body of research that spans in three levels: software development processes, software product assurance practices, and software implementation practices. By carrying out this literature survey, we reviewed the different approaches that researchers on Software Engineering have provided to address the needs that raise in the mobile software development arena. Moreover, we review the evolution of these practices, identifying how the constant changes and modernization of the mobile execution environment has impacted the methods proposed in the literature. Finally, we introduced discussion on the application of these practices in a real productive setting, opening an area for further research that may determine if practitioners have followed the proposed assurance paradigms.