Towards local electromechanical probing of cellular and biomolecular systems in a liquid environment

Electromechanical coupling is ubiquitous in biological systems, with examples ranging from simple piezoelectricity in calcified and connective tissues to voltage-gated ion channels, energy storage in mitochondria, and electromechanical activity in cardiac myocytes and outer hair cell stereocilia. Piezoresponse force microscopy (PFM) originally emerged as a technique to study electromechanical phenomena in ferroelectric materials, and in recent years has been employed to study a broad range of non-ferroelectric polar materials, including piezoelectric biomaterials. At the same time, the technique has been extended from ambient to liquid imaging on model ferroelectric systems. Here, we present results on local electromechanical probing of several model cellular and biomolecular systems, including insulin and lysozyme amyloid fibrils, breast adenocarcinoma cells, and bacteriorhodopsin in a liquid environment. The specific features of PFM operation in liquid are delineated and bottlenecks on the route towards nanometre-resolution electromechanical imaging of biological systems are identified.     

Order adaptive local polynomial FT based interference rejection in spread spectrum communication systems

Methods for jammer rejection in the spread spectrum communications, based on the time-frequency representations, have been proposed in order to improve the desired signal receiving performances. In this paper nonstationary jammers were considered and the local polynomial Fourier transform (LPFT) was used to represent the received corrupted signal. Time-varying filtering was implemented in optimal LPFT domain, having in mind that the LPFT is linear with respect to the signal. An order adaptive algorithm of the LPFT calculation is presented. Performance of the proposed nonparametric method is tested in the presence of linear and sinusoidal FM interferences in the noisy signal, without any a priori assumption about the jammer form. The proposed method may be successfully extended to the case of multiple jammers. Obtained results in terms of the bit error rate (BER) values show the achieved improvements. Procedure for an efficient optimization of the first-order LPFT is presented.     

Statistical modelling of building transmission in a cellular urban environment

Channel sounding measurements have been reported which show that transmission through buildings can be important for microcellular coverage planning. A theoretical-statistical model for propagation through a building, or row of buildings, is proposed in the paper. Expressions for the mean and covariance of the channel transfer function are obtained and compared with measurements. The model exhibits good prediction accuracy for residential homes, while similar trends with the measurements for office blocks were obtained also     

A distributed scheduling method for computer integrated manufacturing: the use of local area networks in cellular systems

This paper describes a distributed scheduling approach that takes into account characteristics of the communication network in the computer-integrated manufacturing environment. The approach is based on a network-wide bidding scheme wherein the scheduling decision is made by collecting the price of each manufacturing cell for taking on the job; different dynamic scheduling heuristics can be incorporated in this scheme and executed in a distributed fashion. This paper also describes the formalism and model for the distributed scheme that can be embedded in a communication protocol. A simulation study has been conducted to evaluate and compare the performance of different strategies or heuristics employed in the scheduling method.     

Measurements of short-term flow processes in refrigerating systems

Short-term processes were investigated experimentally in both an automotive air-conditioning system and a stationary refrigerating system. For this purpose, a hot-film anemometer, a pressure transducer and a temperature sensor were used to determine the mass velocity of the gas phase, the mass velocity of the liquid phase and the superheat in the suction line. The measurements have lead to the conclusion that, for the processes investigated, the use of superheat does not offer a safe means to control or regulate the filling of the evaporator with refrigerant.     

Stochastic modelling of the first-citation distribution

A simple stochastic model, based upon mixtures of non-homogeneous Poisson processes, is proposed to describe the citation process in the presence of ageing/obsolescence. Particular emphasis is placed upon investigation of the first-citation distribution where it is shown that in the presence of ageing there will inevitably be never cited items. Conditions are given which show how the model is capable of modelling the various shapes of first citation distributions reported in the literature. In particular, the essential link between the first citation distribution and the obsolescence distribution is established. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Service-based manufacturing systems: modelling and control

In service-based manufacturing systems, functionalities are independently developed as services and a central engine orchestrates their integration. As industrial processes tend to be very large, and performance and productivity are expected to be maximised, there is a constant interest in providing (in-advance) quality guarantees for services interactions, which contrasts with the usual non-automated workflow design. This paper provides an alternative to enhance service orchestration capabilities using supervisory control techniques. Initially, each component (atomic and composite activities) belonging to an orchestration language is modelled as a state-machine. Then, activity models are properly combined and composed, reproducing orchestrated workflows. Finally, supervisory control is used to calculate an optimal version of the orchestrator. Practical implications of handling large state-spaces are discussed and examples are provided.     

Proportional hazards modelling of repairable systems

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate some situations under which the proportional hazards model (PHM) and its extensions can be used for identification of the most important covariates influencing a repairable system. First of all an overview of the application of the PHM in engineering is presented. Then the concepts of the PHM and its extensions, such as stratified PHM, PHM in the case of non-homogeneous Poisson processes and PHM in the case of jumps in the hazard rate or different intensity function at failures of a large number of copies of a repairable system, are presented. Selection of a suitable extension of the PHM for given data on the basis of residual plots is also discussed. Finally applications of the PHM and its extensions are illustrated with a suitable example. Only the semi-parametric method has been considered. The assumptions made in the PHM for the analysis of repairable systems have been explained graphically as far as possible. Perfect, minimal or imperfect repairs carried out on repairable systems can be taken into consideration for the reliability analysis using the PHM.     

Discrete modelling of electrical transfer in multi-contact systems

In this work we propose to study the electrical transfer in metallic granular materials under mechanical loading. A new model of electrical conductance and the associated numerical treatment in the Discrete Element Method (DEM) framework are presented. The approach differs from the Holm’s model by considering several electrical potentials inside a particle. The electrical properties of the different paths in granular medium depend on the contact reaction through the Hertz’s theory. A DEM modelling allows to study the electromechanical behaviour of granular materials. Numerical simulations are carried out in 1D and 2D and are compared to experimental results in the case of a metal–metal contact. The results show a good agreement with experimental ones.     

Mathematical modelling of the evolution of protein distribution within single PLGA microspheres: prediction of local concentration profiles and release kinetics

Protein release from poly(D,L-lactide-co-glycolide) (PLGA) microspheres in an aqueous environment is governed by the diffusion of the protein through an autocatalytically degrading polymeric matrix. Many attempts have been made to model the release rate of proteins from biodegrading matrices, but the transport parameters involved in the process are not fully established at the microscale level. The aim of this work was to develop a new mathematical model taking into account the temporal evolution of the radial protein distribution during release, and to provide physical insight into the relation between local transport features and microsphere degradation. The model was validated by comparing its predictions with the experimentally determined protein concentration profiles in PLGA microspheres loaded with tetramethylrhodamine-labelled bovine serum albumin (BSA-Rhod) as a model protein. Morphological studies were carried out by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), while release kinetics and time-dependent BSA-Rhod concentration profiles within the microspheres were studied by a confocal laser scanning microscopy (CLSM)-assisted technique. The model, based on a modification of Fick's second law of diffusion, could closely fit the experimental protein radial distribution profiles in the microspheres as a function of time. It is also a useful tool to ab initio design protein release devices using degrading matrices.     

Channel estimation and interference cancellation in CP?CDMA systems

A novel iterative channel estimation approach is proposed for cyclic prefix-code division multiple access systems. Code-multiplexed pilots are used for channel estimation while maintaining bandwidth efficiency. The proposed method achieves a significant improvement when compared to the conventional correlation approach by reconstructing data signals for channel estimation. Simulation results demonstrate good estimation capability with an allocation of only 10% of the whole power to the pilot channel. In addition, an integrated channel estimator and parallel interference cancellation (PIC) detector are proposed. Data signals are reconstructed for channel estimation while the interference contributed by different data channels as well as the pilot channel are regenerated and subtracted from the received signal at the final stage. The channel estimation error reduces at each iteration and the PIC at the last stage enables further bit error rate performance improvement to be achieved for the system. The performance of the proposed scheme is studied through simulations and results verify its effectiveness     

Destructive and constructive interference in the coherently driven three-level systems

Destructive and constructive interference in the Autler–Townes three-level systems is studied in the dressed state basis. The dependence of the interference on the spontaneous emission and dephasing reservoirs is analyzed. The strong field correlates or anti-correlates the random phase caused by the reservoirs. The correlation reduces and the anti-correlation enhances the absorption. Each of the interference pathways is formed by two processes, stimulated absorption and spontaneous emission. The interference effect can be neglected if the Rabi frequency of the strong field is larger than the decay rates.     

Measurements of ultrafine particle concentrations and size distribution in an iron foundry

The number and surface area concentration of ultrafine particles in an iron foundry is of interest as freshly generated ultrafine particles are produced by metal melting, pouring and molding processes. This study measured the number and surface area concentrations of ultrafine particles and their size distributions in an iron foundry using a scanning mobility particle sizer (SMPS). The 10-100 nm ultrafine particle number concentrations (NC(0.01-0.1)) and surface area concentrations (SC(0.01-0.1)) measured at the iron foundry were 2.07 x 10(4) to 2.82 x 10(5)particles cm(-3) and 67.56 to 2.13 x 10(3)microm(2)cm(-3), respectively. The concentrations changed dramatically depending on on-site manufacturing conditions. The NC(0.01-0.1) levels in the iron foundry were approximately 4.5 times higher on average compared with those in the outdoor ambient environment. These measurement results indicate that the presence of extra particles in the workplace air is within the ultrafine range. Additionally, the analytical results suggest that the number mode diameter can be used to estimate the SC(0.01-0.1) levels using the NC(0.01-0.1) levels. Moreover, the ultrafine particle number mode diameter was found to be about 46.1 nm in the iron foundry.     

Recent development of cellular manufacturing systems

Cellular manufacturing system has been proved a vital approach for batch and job shop production systems. Group technology has been an essential tool for developing a cellular manufacturing system. The paper aims to discuss various cell formation techniques and highlights the significant research work done in past over the years and attempts to points out the gap in research.     

Stratification of granular matter in a rotating drum: cellular automaton modelling

We propose a generalisation of the cellular automaton model introduced recently by Lai, Jia and Chan [Phys. Rev. Lett. 79, 4994 (1997)] for simulating friction induced segregation in a rotating drum. Our model implements the spherical geometry of the drum explicitly. Therefore it can be used to investigate geometrical properties of the segregation phenomenon in contrast to the original version of the model. Our model reproduces the spontaneous stratification observed recently in experiments for more than half filled drums, as well as the transition to non-stratified segregation for higher rotation speeds. It predicts that stratification can also occur, if the drum is less than half filled.     

Parameter of local cyclic strain distribution

The local cyclic strain distribution near the crack tip was investigated by the Computer Aided Fine Grid Method. This method makes it possible to measure continuously every in-plane component of local cyclic strain distribution. It was found that the magnitude of the local cyclic strain distribution near the crack tip was varied by the applied cyclic load level and the material, but the shape of the local cyclic strain distribution near the crack tip was experimentally scarcely altered.

The local cyclic strain field near the crack tip could be written as the following equation. Δε_eq(r, θ) = ΔA · f(θ) · r⁻¹ A single parameter ΔA, which characterizes the local cyclic strain field near the crack tip, was newly proposed by authors.     

OFDM系统在时变信道下的迭代干扰抵消算法

为克服正交频分复用(OFDM)系统中因时变多径衰落信道破坏子载波的正交性引起载波间干扰(ICI),从而导致系统性能下降的问题,提出了一种基于最小均方误差(MMSE)估计和迭代算法相结合的迭代干扰抵消算法.为了消除一般MMSE均衡方法将载波间干扰当作加性高斯白噪声(AWGN)所带来的误差,该算法先使用MMSE方法对传输信号进行初值估计,再通过迭代干扰抵消和MMSE均衡相结合,来消除由时变信道所带来的载波间干扰.多次仿真表明,在时变多径衰落信道中使用本算法能够有效地消除载波间干扰,使系统性能得到很好的改善.     

Coherent lower previsions in systems modelling: products and aggregation rules

We discuss why coherent lower previsions provide a good uncertainty model for solving generic uncertainty problems involving possibly conflicting expert information. We study various ways of combining expert assessments on different domains, such as natural extension, independent natural extension and the type-I product, as well as on common domains, such as conjunction and disjunction. We provide each of these with a clear interpretation, and we study how they are related. Observing that in combining expert assessments no information is available about the order in which they should be combined, we suggest that the final result should be independent of the order of combination. The rules of combination we study here satisfy this requirement.