Modeling and analysis of value added services using message sequence charts

A value added service is an extension to the basic call/session establishment functionality of a network. Different teams develop services independently or in order to handle complexity, a service is often specified individually without any consideration to existing ones. These different services may behave correctly when they run separately, but may interact in a negative manner when they are integrated. This is known as service interaction. In this paper, we tackle the problem of service interaction detection in a formal setup. We use message sequence charts (MSC) to specify the behaviors of services as well as their properties. In our specification style, high-level MSC (HMSC) is used to describe the behavior of services from the user point of view, while basic MSCs (bMSCs) are used to describe these behaviors at an abstract network level. We describe service properties from a local point of view. The behavior of a service is first validated against its properties. For the detection of potential interactions between two services, instead of merging their behaviors and then check for the interactions, we first determine interaction-prone scenarios using known filtering techniques, then we verify whether the properties of one service are satisfied by the behavior of the other service without combining their behaviors. In the case of non-satisfaction, we conclude that an interaction has been detected.     

Signaling for Multimedia Conferencing in Stand-Alone Mobile Ad Hoc Networks

Mobile ad hoc networks (MANETs) are infrastructure-less and can be set up anywhere, anytime. They can host a wide range of applications in rescue operations, military, private, and commercial settings. Multimedia conferencing is the basis of a wealth of "killer” applications that can be deployed in MANETs. Some examples are audio/video conferencing, multiplayer games, and online public debating. Signaling is the nerve center of multimedia conferences—it establishes, modifies, and tears down conferences. This paper focuses on signaling for multimedia conferences in MANETs. We review the state of the art and propose a novel architecture based on application-level clusters. Our validation employed SIP as the implementation technology and OPNET as our simulation tool. Our clusters are constructed dynamically and the nodes that act as cluster heads are elected based on their capabilities. The capabilities are published and discovered using a simple application-level protocol. The architectural principles and the clustering operations are discussed. Our SIP-based implementation is also presented along with the performance evaluation.     

Light detection and ranging measurements of wake dynamics. Part II: two‐dimensional scanning

A nacelle‐mounted lidar system pointing downstream has been used to measure wind turbine wake dynamics. The new measurement and data analysis techniques allow estimation of quasi‐instantaneous wind fields in planes perpendicular to the rotor axis. A newly developed wake tracking procedure delivers the instantaneous transversal wake position which is quantitatively compared with the prediction of the Dynamic Wake Meandering model. The results, shown for two 10‐min time series, suggest that the conjecture of the wake behaving as a passive tracer is a fair approximation; this corroborates and expands the results of one‐dimensional measurements already presented in the first part of this paper. Consequently, it is now possible to separate the deterministic and turbulent parts of the wake wind field, thus enabling capturing the wake in the meandering frame of reference. The results correspond, qualitatively and to some extent quantitatively, to the expectations from CFD simulations which are compared in the paper. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Light detection and ranging measurements of wake dynamics part I: one‐dimensional scanning

The vast majority of wind turbines are today erected in wind farms. As a consequence, wake‐generated loads are becoming more and more important. In this first of two parts, we present a new experimental technique to measure the instantaneous wake deficit directly, thus allowing for quantification of the wake meandering, as well as the instantaneous wake expansion expressed in a meandering frame of reference. The experiment was conducted primarily to test the simple hypothesis that the wake deficit is advected passively by the larger‐than‐rotor‐size eddies in the atmospheric flow, and that the wake at the same time widens gradually, primarily because of mixing caused by small‐scale atmospheric eddies. In this first paper, we focus on our new measurement technique, and test if the wake meandering follows the wind direction fluctuations, i.e. if it is advected passively in the lateral direction. The experimental results are used as a preliminary verification of a wake meandering model that essentially considers the wake as a passive tracer. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The effect of TiC transient layer on a DLC-based functionally gradient coating prepared by closed field unbalanced magnetron sputtering plating system

Recently, Diamond like carbon (DLC)-based functionally gradient coatings have been used in a variety of engineering applications as useful films with appropriate tribological properties verified in many tests. However, due to their inherent residual stresses, they have a tendency to peel off, thereby limiting their applications (involving high contact stresses) and deposition thickness. Their brittleness and low adhesion may stem from either a faulty layer design or the wrong choice of material and deposition method. Therefore, using both a suitable interleaving material and an appropriate deposition technology will create an inclusive vision to accommodate better film properties. In this study, Ti-a:C and Ti-TiC-a:C films on AISI M2 steel substrates were deposited by Closed Field Unbalanced Magnetron Sputtering (CFUBMS) method using pulsed-dc biasing, and the mechanical, the structural, and the tribological properties for both films were investigated. It was seen that the incorporation of a TiC buffer layer between the Ti interlayer and the a:C matrix played a positive role in terms of hardness, wear rate, and adhesion properties.     

Platinum-free counter electrodes of plasma-modified hybrid nanomaterials for dye-sensitised solar cells

Molybdenum disulphide (MoS₂) nanotube and tungsten oxide (W₁₈O₄₉) nanowire were coated with poly(3-hexylthiophene) (P3HT) and poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene) (PEDOT) by a radio frequency (RF: 13.56?MHz)-rotating plasma-modification method as alternative counter electrodes for dye-sensitised solar cells (DSSCs). Surface analysis showed the homogenous plasma nanocoating of inorganic nanostructures by P3HT and PEDOT. It was demonstrated that the plasma-modified hybrid platinum-free counter electrodes increased the efficiencies of the DSSCs. The DSSCs based on hybrid nanostructure materials showed a short circuit current density of 9.49, 7.95, 2.59 and 2.57?mAcm^?2 for MoS₂/P3HT, MoS₂/PEDOT, W₁₈O₄₉/PEDOT and W₁₈O₄₉/P3HT samples, respectively. The plasma nanocoating with the nanostructured materials approach for obtaining hybrid counter electrodes in the photovoltaic action shows an alternative route towards cost-effective, green energy conversion.     

Hybrid method combining superpixel,supervised learning,and random walk for glioma segmentation

Currently, the analysis of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) brain images of pathological patients is performed manually, both for the recognition of brain structures or lesions and for their characterization. Physicians sometimes encounter difficulties in interpreting these images for a reliable diagnosis of the patient's condition. This is due to the difficulty of detecting the nature of the lesions, particularly glioma. Glioma is one of the most common tumors, and one of the most difficult to detect because of its shape, irregularities, and ambiguous limits. The segmentation of these tumors is one of the most crucial steps for their classification and surgical planning. This article presents a new, accurate, and automatic approach for the precise segmentation of early gliomas (benign tumors), combining the random walk (RW) algorithm and the simple linear iterative clustering algorithm. The study was carried out in four steps. The first step consisted of decomposing the image into superpixels to obtain an initial outline of the tumor. The superpixels were generated using the SLIC algorithm. In the second step, for each superpixel, a set of statistical and multifractal characteristics were calculated (gray‐level co‐occurrence matrix, multifractal detrending moving average). In the third step, the superpixels were classified using a supervised random forest (RF) type classier into healthy or tumorous brain tissue. In the final step, the contour of the detected tumor was enhanced using the customized RW algorithm. The proposed method was evaluated using the Brain Tumor Image Segmentation Challenge 2013 database. The results obtained are competitive compared to other existing methods.     

Preparation and characterization of polyaniline/Turkish Huntite‐hydromagnesite composites

The aim of this study was to improve thermal stability of polyaniline (PANI) by adding Turkish Huntite. PANI was synthesized and PANI/Turkish Huntite composites were prepared by adding various proportions of huntite to aniline. The chemical structures of the samples were investigated by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. Thermal properties of the composites were determined by thermogravimetric analysis and differential scanning calorimetry. The surface morphologies of the samples were investigated by a scanning electron microscopy. The obtained results proved that the composite system is more thermally stable than the pure PANI. POLYM. COMPOS., 35:456–460, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers