Highway accident number estimation in Turkey with Jaya algorithm

Neural Computing and Applications - In the transportation sector in Turkey, approximately 90% of cargo and passenger transportation is carried out on highways. In recent years, increasing...     

IoHT-based deep learning controlled robot vehicle for paralyzed patients of smart cities

The Journal of Supercomputing - Paralysis caused by physical trauma is a common disease today, with approximately 30% of paralysis caused by this trauma. The disease in question both physically...     

Tailored magnetic nanoparticles for direct and sensitive detection of biomolecules in biological samples

We developed nanoparticles with tailored magnetic properties for direct and sensitive detection of biomolecules in biological samples in a single step. Thermally blocked nanoparticles obtained by thermal hydrolysis, functionalized with specific ligands, are mixed with sample solutions, and the variation of the magnetic relaxation due to surface binding is used to detect the presence of biomolecules. The binding significantly increases the hydrodynamic volume of nanoparticles, thus changing their Brownian relaxation frequency which is measured by a specifically developed AC susceptometer. The system was tested for the presence of Brucella antibodies, a dangerous pathogen causing brucellosis with severe effects both on humans and animals, in serum samples from infected cows and the surface of the nanoparticles was functionalized with lipopolysaccharides (LPS) from Brucella abortus. The hydrodynamic volume of LPS-functionalized particles increased by 25-35% as a result of the binding of the antibodies, measured by changes in the susceptibility in an alternating magnetic field. The method has shown high sensitivity, with detection limit of 0.05 microg x mL(-1) of antibody in the biological samples without any pretreatment. This magnetic-based assay is very sensitive, cost-efficient, and versatile, giving a direct indication whether the animal is infected or not, making it suitable for point-of-care applications. The functionalization of tailored magnetic nanoparticles can be modified to suit numerous homogeneous assays for a wide range of applications.     

Structural,optical and electrical properties of Ce0.8Sm0.2-xErxO2-δ (x = 0–0.2) Co-doped ceria electrolytes

This study examined the effects of samarium and erbium co-doping on the structural, optical, and electrical properties of ceria (CeO₂). Ceramic (Ce_0.8Sm_0.2-xEr_xO_2-δ; x?=?0, 0.05, 0.10, 0.15, 0.20) electrolytes were synthesized via sol-gel assisted citric acid–nitrate combustion and calcined at 850?°C for 5?h. The calcined electrolytes possessed a cubic fluorite crystal structure without impure phases. The direct band gap of the calcined electrolytes increased as the erbium content increased and the lowest band gap was obtained for Ce_0.8Sm_0.2O_2-δ (SDC) electrolyte. The calcined electrolyte powders were subsequently pressed into cylindrical pellets by uniaxial die pressing, and the pellets were sintered at 1400?°C for 5?h. The sintered densities of the pellets were measured with Archimedes’ method. The relative density of Ce_0.8Sm_0.1Er_0.1O_2-δ co-doped ceria electrolyte was higher than those of singly doped ones, and these findings were further confirmed through field emission scanning electron microscopy. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy indicated that the conductivity of erbium-doped ceria increased as the samarium content increased. The maximum total ionic conductivity was observed in Ce_0.8Sm_0.1Er_0.1O_2-δ co-doped electrolyte. However, the singly doped SDC electrolyte exhibited the highest ionic conductivity of 13.12 mS/cm and the lowest activation energy of 0.580?eV at 600?°C among all other Ce_0.8Sm_0.2-xEr_xO_2-δ co-doped ceria electrolytes.     

Influence of oxygen ion enrichment on optical,mechanical, and electrical properties of LSCF perovskite nanocomposite

La_0.6Sr_0.4Co_0.2Fe_0.8O_3-δ (LSCF) is a mixed ionic electronic conductor with excellent surface catalytic activity for oxygen reduction. This work demonstrated that introduction of pure oxygen ion conductor to LSCF particles can significantly influence in-plane electronic conduction at the surface of LSCF-samarium-doped ceria (SDC) composite. The composite functional layer was prepared by mixing 50?wt% SDC particles with LSCF particles obtained from glycine–nitrate process. Homogeneous LSCF-SDC composite layer deposited by screen printing on an SDC substrate has been studied with and without LSCF current-collecting layer (CCL). The microstructural, optical, Raman, mechanical and electrical properties, and interfacial polarization resistance (R_p) of the prepared powders were evaluated. Results revealed that addition of oxygen ion conductor SDC exerted negligible effect on the phase structure and specific surface area but significantly influenced the band gap, oxygen vacancies, and electrical conductivity of LSCF. SDC addition significantly increased area specific resistance (ASR) of LSCF from 0.138?Ω?cm² to 0.481?Ω?cm² at 800?°C, thereby blocking the conduction path among LSCF particles. R_p value of LSCF-SDC composite can be improved by more than six times by enlarging the in-plane electronic conduction with thin CCL. Electrochemical measurement revealed that LSCF CCL reduced the R_p value, resulting in the lowest ASR of 0.087?Ω?cm² at 800?°C for the LSCF–SDC composite.     

Time-interleaved SAR ADC design with background calibration

In this article, a low power time-interleaved SAR (TI-SAR) ADC is presented. Background calibration is used to improve the linearity of the ADC. Offset, gain, and capacitor mismatches between interleaved channels are calibrated by postprocessing the ADC output. Besides, a novel trimming-based calibration algorithm is used to calibrate the timing mismatches between channels. The proposed calibration algorithm is more power-efficient compared with most of its counterparts. The ADC consists of 18 parallel channels, a reference channel with two dummy channels, and a channel for timing calibration. The timing calibration channel is clocked only when the reference channel samples. The dummy channels are utilized to equalize the input load over time as they sample one after another to fill the gap where the reference channel does not sample. There is no need for any other dummy channels for timing calibration channel since it has low kickback noise over input driver. Each parallel channel operates at 111 ms/s while the reference channel runs at 105 ms/s. The aggregate sampling speed of the converter is 2 GS/s, and 52-dB SNDR is accomplished near Nyquist frequencies.     

A New Energy-Aware Cluster Head Selection Algorithm for Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - Wireless Sensor Networks (WSN) always need energy due to the areas they are used. The use of sensors is quite wide, and in some of the places, it is very...     

Fabrication of Nanoporous Alumina Ultrafiltration Membrane with Tunable Pore Size Using Block Copolymer Templates

Control over nanopore size and 3D structure is necessary to advance membrane performance in ubiquitous separation devices. Here, inorganic nanoporous membranes are fabricated by combining the assembly of cylinder‐forming poly(styrene‐block‐methyl methacrylate) (PS‐b‐PMMA) block copolymer and sequential infiltration synthesis (SIS). A key advance relates to the use of PMMA majority block copolymer films and the optimization of thermal annealing temperature and substrate chemistry to achieve through‐film vertical PS cylinders. The resulting morphology allows for direct fabrication of nanoporous AlO_x by selective growth of Al₂O₃ in the PMMA matrix during the SIS process, followed by polymer removal using oxygen plasma. Control over the pore diameter is achieved by varying the number of Al₂O₃ growth cycles, leading to pore size reduction from 21 to 16 nm. 3D characterization, using scanning transmission electron microscopy tomography, reveals that the AlO_x channels are continuous through the film and have a gradual increase in pore size with depth. Finally, the ultrafiltration performance of the fabricated AlO_x membrane for protein separation as a function of protein size and charge is demonstrated.