Performance Analysis of MIMO Based CDMA Code Acquisition Over Rayleigh Fading Channels

This paper proposes a new MIMO based CDMA code acquisition scheme. The pilot codes consist of a number of short Gold code sequences which are transmitted in parallel using a group of transmit antennas. Reception diversity is performed by multiple receive antennas at the receiver. Three different acquisition detection techniques are proposed and compared. Corresponding threshold optimizations are investigated as well. Detection and false alarm probabilities are derived in closed form based on the outputs of non-coherent matched filters. The acquisition performance is evaluated in terms of mean acquisition time (MAT) in Rayleigh fading environment. It is shown that the proposed MIMO acquisition scheme exhibits a much better MAT performance than the conventional single-antenna acquisition scheme. The results reveal that multiple receive antennas can be utilized to significantly reduce the MAT at the expense of receiver complexity increase. On the other hand, increasing the number of transmit antennas makes the MAT performance more robust in the presence of strong interference.     

A Uniform Balancing Energy Routing Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

In wireless sensor network, the power supply is, generally, a non-renewable battery. Consequently, energy effectiveness is a crucial factor. To maximize the battery life and therefore, the duration of network service, a robust wireless communication protocol providing a best energy efficiency is required. In this paper, we present a uniform balancing energy routing protocol. In this later the transmission path is chosen for maximizing the whole network lifetime. Every transmission round, only the nodes which have their remaining energies greater than a threshold can participate as routers for other nodes in addition to sensing the environment. This choice allows the distribution of energy load among any sensor nodes; thus extends network lifetime. The experimental results shows that the proposed protocol outperforms some protocols given in the literature.     

Semisynthetic Latrunculin Derivatives as Inhibitors of Metastatic Breast Cancer: Biological Evaluations,Preliminary Structure–Activity Relationship and Molecular Modeling Studies

The microfilament cytoskeleton protein actin plays an important role in cell biology and affects cytokinesis, morphogenesis, and cell migration. These functions usually fail and become abnormal in cancer cells. The marine‐derived macrolides latrunculins A and B, from the Red Sea sponge Negombata magnifica, are known to reversibly bind actin monomers, forming 1:1 stoichiometric complexes with G‐actin, disrupting its polymerization. To identify novel therapeutic agents for effective treatment of metastatic breast cancer, several semisynthetic derivatives of latrunculin A with diverse steric, electrostatic, and hydrogen bond donor and acceptor properties were rationally prepared. Analogues were designed to modulate the binding affinity toward G‐actin. Examples of these reactions are esterification, acetylation, and N‐alkylation. Semisynthetic latrunculins were then tested for their ability to inhibit pyrene‐conjugated actin polymerization, and subsequently assayed for their antiproliferative and anti‐invasive properties against MCF7 and MDA‐MB‐231 cells using MTT and invasion assays, respectively.     

UNICORE 6 — Recent and Future Advancements

UNICORE is a European Grid Technology with more than 10 years of history. Originating from the Supercomputing domain, the latest version UNICORE 6 has turned into a general-purpose Grid technology that follows established standards and offers a rich set of features to its users. The paper starts with an architectural insight into UNICORE 6, highlighting the workflow features, standards and the different clients. Next, the current state of advancement is presented by describing recent developments. The paper closes with an outlook on future planned developments.     

Preparation of a New Oligomeric Surfactant: N,N,N′,N″,N″-Pentamethyl Diethyleneamine—N,N″-Di-[Tetradecylammonium Bromide] and the Study of its Thermodynamic Properties

A new oligomeric surfactant: N,N,N′,N″,N″- pentamethyl diethyleneamine—N,N″-di-[tetradecylammonium bromide] referred to as 14-2-N(CH₃)-2-14 was synthesized, purified and characterized by Elemental Analysis, ¹H and ¹³C NMR and Electrospray. The micellar properties of this compound were determined by electrical conductivity and surface tension methods. Optical microscopy was also employed to study the behavior of anhydrous surfactant and the binary water/surfactant system as a function of temperature. The critical micellar concentration (cmc), degree of counterion binding and thermodynamic parameters of micellization (standard molar Gibbs energy, enthalpy and entropy of micellization) were determined by electrical conductivity measurements in the temperature range [24–54 °C]. Surface tension measurements also provide information about the dependence of the surface tension at the cmc (γ_cmc), pC₂₀ (negative logarithm of the surfactant’s molar concentration C₂₀, required to reduce the surface tension by 20 mN/m, the surface excess (Γ_max) at air/solution interface, the minimum area per surfactant molecule at the air/solution interface (Amin), surface pressure at the cmc (П_cmc), critical packing parameter(CPP) and the standard free energies of micellization ( \Updelta G_m⁰\Updelta G_{m}^{0}) and of adsorption ( \Updelta G_\textads⁰ \Updelta G_{\text{ads}}^{0} ).     

Coplanar Waveguide Fed Printed Antenna with Compact Size for Broadband Wireless Applications

A novel and simple coplanar waveguide fed compact antenna is introduced in this paper. The antenna structure combines the advantages of CPW with those of the broadband antenna and simplifies the structure of the antenna by reducing the number of metallization level to construct uni-planar antenna. Prototype of the proposed antenna have been constructed and studied experimentally. The measured results agrees well with the simulated prediction and shows a broad bandwidth of 6 GHz ranging from 3.5 GHz to 9.5 GHz with VSWR ≤2 (return loss ≤−10 dB), which is equivalent to 92.3% impedance bandwidth centered at 6.5 GHz. The proposed antenna shows stable radiation characteristics, gain and axial ratio of less than 1 dB over the whole operating bandwidth. Furthermore, an extensive parametric study was performed to realize the relationship between the resonance frequencies of the broadband antennas and different parameters which is helpful for advancement of the antenna design.     

Planning for a Large Dam Project: The Case of Traveston Crossing Dam

The approval for a large dam project proposal these days predominantly involves satisfying broadly the criteria of economic development, social equity, and environmental sustainability. It is justified that the criterion of economic development seeks full project cost recovery as well as significant contribution to economic growth of a region. Cost–benefit analysis is normally used as the yardstick for economic development but it has limitations and a better method is warranted. Social equity considerations should embody the need to address the concerns of all sections in communities to be impacted by a project and involve them in the decision-making process. The lapse of this aspect in project planning of the past has led, at least as being partly responsible, to disastrous consequences. Environmental sustainability should seek to ensure that the vital components of the environment are preserved such that the future generation can use the natural resources to their benefit at least as much as the current generation. Environmental sustainability is arguably the most contentious criteria among these. The vagueness in the concept of environmental sustainability and the tendency of the society to err on the safe side have caused many large dam project proposals not reach their fruition. An attempt is made in this paper to define environmental sustainability in a more meaningful way from an analytic viewpoint. The case of Traveston Crossing Dam project in southeast Queensland, Australia is presented as an illustrative example and to evaluate the performance and relevance of the three broad criteria in a real-world application. The case study is also an example of the fact that environmental awareness can lead to enormous level of socio-political forces which can create many hurdles to cross by a democratic government.     

Spatial heterogeneity of personal exposure to airborne metals in French urban areas

The spatial distribution of urban population exposures to ambient air particles was investigated as part of the Genotox'ER study conducted in four metropolitan areas (Grenoble, Paris, Rouen and Strasbourg) in France. In each city, 60 to 90 non-smoking adult and children volunteers were selected. Subjects lived in three different urban sectors: one highly exposed to traffic emissions, one influenced by local industrial sources, and a background urban environment. The Harvard Chempass multi-pollutant personal sampler was used to sample PM10 and PM2.5 particles during 48 h during two different seasons ('hot' and 'cold'). The elemental composition of the filters was analysed by Particle-Induced X-ray Emission (PIXE). Sixteen elements were found to be over the method detection limits: Al, Si, P, S, Cl, K, Ca, Ti, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn and Pb. The relative concentrations of elements of crustal origin (Si, Al, Ca) were higher in the coarse fraction of PM10 filters, while elements associated with combustion processes (traffic emissions or industrial combustion) presented higher relative concentrations in the PM2.5 fraction (S, Ni, V, Pb). Spatial heterogeneity of elemental exposures by urban sector is substantial for some metals of health concern, with 20% to 90% greater exposure values, on average, in the traffic proximity or industrial sectors, compared to the background sector, for Fe, Zn, Cu, V and Cr. This spatial heterogeneity should not be overlooked in epidemiological or risk assessment studies.     

A comparison of SWAT, HSPF and SHETRAN/GOPC for modelling phosphorus export from three catchments in Ireland

Recent extensive water quality surveys in Ireland revealed that diffuse phosphorus (P) pollution originating from agricultural land and transported by runoff and subsurface flows is the primary cause of the deterioration of surface water quality. P transport from land to water can be described by mathematical models that vary in modelling approach, complexity and scale (plot, field and catchment). Here, three mathematical models (soil water and analysis tools (SWAT), hydrological simulation program-FORTRAN (HSPF) and système hydrologique Européen TRANsport (SHETRAN)/grid oriented phosphorus component (GOPC)) of diffuse P pollution have been tested in three Irish catchments to explore their suitability in Irish conditions for future use in implementing the European Water Framework Directive. After calibrating the models, their daily flows and total phosphorus (TP) exports are compared and assessed. The HSPF model was the best at simulating the mean daily discharge while SWAT gave the best calibration results for daily TP loads. Annual TP exports for the three models and for two empirical models were compared with measured data. No single model is consistently better in estimating the annual TP export for all three catchments.     

Sourcing faecal pollution: a combination of library-dependent and library-independent methods to identify human faecal pollution in non-sewered catchments

Library-dependent (LD) (biochemical fingerprinting of Escherichia coli and enterococci) and library-independent (LI) (PCR detection of human-specific biomarkers) methods were used to detect human faecal pollution in three non-sewered catchments. In all, 550 E. coli isolates and 700 enterococci isolates were biochemically fingerprinted from 18 water samples and compared with metabolic fingerprint libraries of 4508 E. coli and 4833 enterococci isolates. E. coli fingerprints identified human unique biochemical phenotypes (BPTs) in nine out of 18 water samples; similarly, enterococci fingerprints identified human faecal pollution in 10 water samples. Seven samples were tested by PCR for the detection of biomarkers. Human-specific HF134 Bacteroides and enterococci surface protein (esp) biomarkers were detected in five samples. Four samples were also positive for HF183 Bacteroides biomarker. The combination of biomarkers detected human faecal pollution in six out of seven water samples. Of the seven samples analysed for both the indicators/markers, at least one indicator/marker was detected in every sample. Four of the seven PCR-positive samples were also positive for one of the human-specific E. coli or enterococci BPTs. The results indicated human faecal pollution in the studied sub-catchments after storm events. LD and LI methods used in this study complimented each other and provided additional information regarding the polluting sources when one method failed to detect human faecal pollution. Therefore, it is recommended that a combination of methods should be used to identify the source(s) of faecal pollution where possible.