A Novel Genetic Algorithm for Adaptive Resource Allocation in MIMO-OFDM Systems with Proportional Rate Constraint

This paper considers base station allocation of subcarriers and power to each user to maximize the sum of user data rates, subject to constraints on total power, bit error rate, and proportionality among user data rates in Multiple Input Multiple Output Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple access (MIMO-OFDMA) system. Previous allocation methods have been iterative nonlinear methods suitable for offline optimization. The subcarrier allocation is tackled using a novel algorithm which combines the aspects of both deterministic and Genetic Algorithms (GA). This modified GA gave very encouraging results as can be seen from the simulation results shown. The simulation results show a marked improvement in the performance of the algorithm as the number of users increase. The capacity attained from the subcarrier allocation scheme generated by our algorithm is found to be comparable to that attained by previous algorithms.     

Evaluation of currently employed food preservation conditions to tackle biofilm forming food pathogens

Controlling biofilm forming, pathogenic bacteria is an emerging challenge in the food industry, and the present study aims to test the efficacy of existing food preservation methods against these bacteria. We isolated 10 different biofilm forming pathogenic bacteria viz. Klebsiella quasipneumoniae, Bacillus cereus, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens, Bacillus anthracis, and Myroides odoratimimus from spoiled milk, biscuits, and cakes. K. quasipneumonia and B. amyloliquifaciens formed strong biofilm (OD₅₅₀ > 0.85), whereas B. cereus, B. anthracis, and M. odoratimimus made moderate biofilm (OD₅₅₀₅ > 0.6) in 72 hr. The isolates, B. amyloliquifaciencs, B. anthracis, and M. odoratimimus were found positive for protease activity. The isolates showed significant tolerance to preservation conditions: pH (4–10), salt (up to 5%), temperature (up to 50°C) and sodium benzoate (up to 0.1%). The isolates also exhibited high antibiotic resistance, maximum by M. odoratimimus (MIC ≤ 256 µg/ml) against chloramphenicol which can have serious implications especially in tackling food borne illness caused by the biofilm forming food pathogens.

Practical applications

The present study discloses the presence of biofilm forming pathogenic bacterial strains in common food stuff and their tolerance of preservation conditions and resistance to antibiotics. The occurrence of pathogens tolerant to common preservation conditions and their resistance to antibiotic should be addressed very cautiously. The significant findings of this study warrant the need for more stringent preservation methods to control food pathogens, especially the biofilm forming type. Moreover, findings of the present study will help to design novel preservation techniques such as incorporating antibiofilm coatings in food processing units and packaging materials, which will ensure food safety and public health.     

Dynamics of sustainable grazing fauna and effect on performance of gas biofilter

The inherent operational problems of biofilters such as a pressure drop increase and nutrient limitations were managed in a toluene-removing gas biofilter with a sustainable grazing fauna consisting of micrometazoa and ciliate protozoa. Dynamic populations of predatory nematodes (Caenorhabditis sp.), rotifers (Philodina sp.), tardigrades (Echiniscus sp.) and fly larvae represented the micrometazoa community in the filter bed. Colpoda inflata, Euplotes harpa and Acineria sp. constituted the grazing ciliate community. The spatiotemporal distribution and abundance of the grazing fauna depends on physicochemical conditions and interspecies interactions in the biofilter. Of the micro metazoa, Caenorhabditis and Philodina tolerated wide concentration ranges for toluene (0.75-2.63 g m(-3)) and CO(2) (0.92-6.08 g m(-3)) and maintained stable populations of 3.4-4.7 x 10(3) and 5.8-7.65 x 10(4) g medium(-1), respectively. The grazing fauna supported a stable toluene-degrading bacterial community composed of four Pseudomonas spp. Under a maximum toluene load of 120.72 g m(-3) h(-1), at steady-state conditions 80% toluene removal was achieved in the biofilter. Of the grazing organisms, owing to their reproductive cycle and feeding behaviour, fly larvae were not suited for application in the biofilter. Meanwhile, organisms such as nematodes, rotifers and ciliates capable of tolerating a wide pollutant concentration range and maintaining a sustainable population are ideal candidates for application in biofilter technology.     

Kinetics of the base-catalyzed reactions of cyclo-octameric and catenapolymeric sulfur with dithiol

The base-catalyzed sulfur-1,2-ethanedithiol reactions appear to follow pseudo first-order kinetics as determined by TGA. The activation energy has been determined to be 26.1 kcal/mol with either cyclo-octameric or catenapolymeric sulfur.     

On scheduling garbage collector in dynamic real-time systems with statistical timing assurances

We consider garbage collection (GC) in dynamic real-time systems. We consider the time-based GC approach of running the collector as a separate, concurrent thread, and focus on real-time scheduling to obtain assurances on mutator timing behavior, while ensuring that memory is never exhausted. We present a scheduling algorithm called GCUA. The algorithm considers mutator activities that are subject to time/utility function time constraints, variable execution time demands, the unimodal arbitrary arrival model that allows a strong adversary, and resource overloads. We establish several properties of GCUA including probabilistically-satisfied utility lower bounds for each mutator activity, a lower bound on the system-wide total accrued utility, bounded sensitivity for the assurances to variations in mutator execution time demand estimates, and no memory exhaustion at all times. Our simulation experiments validate our analytical results and confirm the algorithm’s effectiveness and superiority.     

Experimental study on the simultaneous adsorption of carbon dioxide and moisture from nitrogen in linde 5 a molecular sieves

Experimental data for the simultaneous adsorption of CO₂ and moisture with variations of some process variables, such as inlet adsorbate concentration, particle Reynolds number, and bed diameter to bed length ratio, have been generated to see their effects on the efficiency of adsorption of CO₂ and moisture. Presence of moisture strongly affects the CO₂ adsorption behaviour leading to roll up of CO₂ concentration breakthrough curves, whereas the presence of CO₂ has an insignificant effect on the moisture adsorption behaviour.     

Particle dynamics simulations of a piston-based particle damper

A piston-based particle damper geometry is proposed and investigated using experiments and particle dynamics simulations. In particle damping, energy is dissipated through the inelastic collisions and friction between granular particles. Due to their temperature-independent performance, particle dampers are promising alternatives for use in extreme temperature conditions. Using the appropriate inter-particle force models, the simulations agree well with the experimental results. Using simulations, many parameters are investigated in this work for their effects on the damping performance, including material properties, particle size, device geometry, and excitation level. These results provide new understanding of particle damping and may help in the design of next generation particle dampers.     

Analytical solution for electrolyte concentration distribution in lithium-ion batteries

In this article, the method of separation of variables (SOV), as illustrated by Subramanian and White (J Power Sources 96:385, 2001), is applied to determine the concentration variations at any point within a three region simplified lithium-ion cell sandwich, undergoing constant current discharge. The primary objective is to obtain an analytical solution that accounts for transient diffusion inside the cell sandwich. The present work involves the application of the SOV method to each region (cathode, separator, and anode) of the lithium-ion cell. This approach can be used as the basis for developing analytical solutions for battery models of greater complexity. This is illustrated here for a case in which non-linear diffusion is considered, but will be extended to full-order nonlinear pseudo-2D models in later work. The analytical expressions are derived in terms of the relevant system parameters. The system considered for this study has LiCoO₂–LiC₆ battery chemistry.