Quasi-dynamic Load Balanced Clustering Protocol for Energy Efficient Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - Miscellaneous issues related to wireless sensor networks (WSN) like clustering of sensor nodes, load balancing amongst the cluster heads, energy efficient...     

A Novel FrWT Based Arrhythmia Detection in ECG Signal Using YWARA and PCA

Wireless Personal Communications - In general, Electrocardiogram (ECG) signal gets corrupted by variety of noise at the time of its acquisition. Unfortunately, these noise tend to mask the crucial...     

Trans fatty acids in margarines and shortenings marketed in Austria

Margarines and shortenings available in Austria were repeatedly sampled in 1991/1992 and the content oftrans fatty acids (TFA) determined by using capillary GLC. Wide variations of the TFA contents with respect to intra- and inter-brand differences were observed. Diet margarines contained up to 1% TFA, while TFA concentrations in tub or stick margarines were much higher (15.7±5.8% and 21.3±5.3%, respectively). A sub-set of samples was also purchased in 1995 and a general reduction of the TFA content was noticed. Taking into account different market shares of certain margarine types, a weighted average of 15.7% TFA and 6.5% TFA was calculated for the 1991/1992 and the 1995 samples. Based on availability data the amount of TFA supplied with margarines was estimated to be 3.7 g per person per day, while a more accurate method of measuring dietary intakes, i.e. diet history and food frequency data, approximates the amount of TFA supplied with margarines to be 1.5 g per person per day for the 1991/1992 samples and 0.6 g for the 1995 samples.     

A novel expression for the achievable MSE performance obtained by blind adaptive equalizers

In this paper, I propose for the noisy, real, and two independent quadrature carrier case, an approximated closed-form expression for the achievable minimum mean square error (MSE) performance obtained by blind equalizers where the error that is fed into the adaptive mechanism which updates the equalizer’s taps can be expressed as a polynomial function of the equalized output of order three like in Godard’s algorithm. The proposed closed-form expression for the achievable MSE is based on the step-size parameter, on the equalizer’s tap length, on the channel power, on the signal to noise ratio (SNR), on the nature of the chosen equalizer, and on the input signal statistics. Since the channel power is measurable or can be calculated if the channel coefficients are given, there is no need anymore to carry out any simulation with various step-size parameters, different values for the signal to noise ratio (SNR) and equalizer’s tap length for a given equalization method, and input signal statistics in order to find the MSE performance in the convergence state.     

What are the analytical conditions for which a blind equalizer will loose the convergence state?

In this paper, I propose for the noiseless, real and two independent quadrature carrier case some approximated conditions on the step-size parameter, on the equalizer’s tap length and on the channel power, related to the nature of the chosen equalizer and input signal statistics, for which a blind equalizer will not converge anymore. These conditions are valid for type of blind equalizers where the error that is fed into the adaptive mechanism that updates the equalizer’s taps can be expressed as a polynomial function of the equalized output of order three like in Godard’s algorithm. Since the channel power is measurable or can be calculated if the channel coefficients are given, there is no need anymore to carry out any simulation with various step-size parameters and equalizer’s tap length for a given equalization method and input signal statistics in order to find the maximum step-size parameter for which the equalizer still converges.     

Maillard reactions of dextrins and starch

When dextrins or starch are heated with propyl-amine in neutral aqueous solution at 100–130° C a brown colouration is observed. From the reaction mixture 3-hydroxy-2-methyl-1-propyl-4(1H)-pyridone11, 1,4-dihy-dro-2-methyl-1-propyl-4-propylimino-3-pyridinol12 and 5-hydroxymethyl-1-propyl-pyrrol-2-aldehyde13 can be extracted with organic solvents and separated by HPLC. Enzymatic hydrolysis effects the release of 1(3-hydroxy-1-propyl-2-pyrrolyl)-1-ethanone10 from a glycosidically bound precursor.

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Maillard Reaktionen von Dextrinen und Stärke

Zusammenfassung Erhitzt man Dextrine oder Stärke mit Propylamin in neutraler wäßriger Lösung auf 100–130 °C, so beobachtet man eine braune Färbung. Aus der Reaktionsmischung lassen sich 3-Hydroxy-2-methyl-1-propyl-4(1H)-pyridon11, 1,4-Dihydro-2-methyl-1-pro-pyl-4-propylimino-3-pyridinol12 und 5-Hydroxymethyl-1-propyl-pyrrol-2-aldehyd13 mit organischen Lösungsmitteln extrahieren und durch HPLC trennen. Nach enzymatischer Hydrolyse der wasserlöslichen Fraktion ist 1(3-Hydroxy-1-propyl-2-pyrrolyl)-1-ethanon10 isolierbar.

     

Electrically Tunable Nanoporous Carbon Hybrid Actuators

A novel nanoporous carbon/electrolyte hybrid material is reported for use in actuation. The nanoporous carbon matrix provides a 3D network that combines mechanical strength, light weight, and low cost with an extremely high surface area. In contrast to lower dimensional nanomaterials, the nanoporous carbon matrix can be prepared in the form of macroscopic monolithic samples that can be loaded in compression. The hybrid material is formed by infiltrating the free internal pore volume of the carbon with an electrolyte. Actuation is prompted by polarizing the internal interfaces via an applied electric bias. It is found that the strain amplitude is proportional to the Brunauer‐Emmett‐Teller (BET) mass specific surface area, with reversible volume strain amplitudes up to the exceptionally high value of 6.6%. The mass‐specific strain energy density compares favorably to reported values for piezoceramics and for nanoporous metal actuators.     

Evaluation of IP over WDM Network Architectures

The commonly used IP-backbone network architecture of today is IP/ATM/SDH/WDM. This architecture has many redundant functionalities and is not optimized to transport IP traffic. New approaches for simplified network architectures try to eliminate redundant functionalities and to decrease the protocol overhead and thereby transport IP as efficiently as possible over WDM-based optical networks. EURESCOM project P918 Integration of IP-over-optical networks: networking and management investigated scenarios for optimized IP transport in WDM-based backbone networks. In this paper, three architectures, namely Gigabit Ethernet, Packet over Sonet/SDH and Dynamic Packet Transport are investigated and evaluated as an alternative to the IP/ATM/SDH/WDM architecture.     

Detection of skin cancer by classification of Raman spectra

Skin lesion classification based on in vitro Raman spectroscopy is approached using a nonlinear neural network classifier. The classification framework is probabilistic and highly automated. The framework includes a feature extraction for Raman spectra and a fully adaptive and robust feedforward neural network classifier. Moreover, classification rules learned by the neural network may be extracted and evaluated for reproducibility, making it possible to explain the class assignment. The classification performance for the present data set, involving 222 cases and five lesion types, was 80.5%+/-5.3% correct classification of malignant melanoma, which is similar to that of trained dermatologists based on visual inspection. The skin cancer basal cell carcinoma has a classification rate of 95.8%+/-2.7%, which is excellent. The overall classification rate of skin lesions is 94.8%+/-3.0%. Spectral regions, which are important for network classification, are demonstrated to reproduce. Small distinctive bands in the spectrum, corresponding to specific lipids and proteins, are shown to hold the discriminating information which the network uses to diagnose skin lesions.     

Speed Control of DC Motor with MRPID Controller in the Presence of Noise

Speed control of a DC motor has always been a challenge because of its variable torque. But it becomes more challenging when noise enters the system at its input. Therefore, there is a need of more advanced controllers. In this paper, a multi-resolution proportional integral derivative (MRPID) controller has been proposed to be utilized to control the speed of a DC motor. It works well even in the presence of noise as compared to the conventional PID controller. Also, performance of a PID controller deteriorates when nonlinearity or uncertainty arises in the system. This degraded performance can be improved by utilizing the multi-resolution property of wavelets, which decomposes the error signal into various frequency components. Further, wavelet coefficients of these decompositions are used to generate the control signal for controlling speed of a DC motor. In this paper, performances of a MRPID, a fractional order PID (FOPID) and a conventional PID controllers are compared in the presence of noise for speed control of a DC motor. The results obtained using a MRPID controller are observed to be better in terms of improved transient characteristics and disturbance rejection for a DC motor as compared to those obtained with PID and FOPID controllers.