Pathological Gait Detection Based on Multiple Regression Models Using Unobtrusive Sensing Technology

Journal of Signal Processing Systems - Analysis of human gait to detect walking abnormality has recently gained growing interest. It carries profound impact in medical diagnosis and rehabilitation...     

Preparation of asymmetric polysulfone/polyimide blended membranes for CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> separation

Asymmetric Flat sheet polysulfone-polyimide (PSF-PI) blended polymeric membranes (with PI content from 5–20%) have been fabricated following phase inversion technique. The membranes have been thoroughly characterized by the measurement of porosity, mechanical properties and also by SEM, FTIR and DSC analyses. With the increase in the PI content, the mechanical properties of the membranes, like Young’s modulus, tensile strength and elongation at break, increased. SEM investigations revealed that the surfaces of fabricated blended membranes possessed adequate homogeneity and their cross-sections showed non-porous top and diminutive porous substructure. From DSC analyses it has been observed that different compositions of the blended membranes exhibited single glass transition temperatures, implying proper compatibility of the polymers. The permeance of CO₂ and CH₄ through the membrane increased with the increase in PI content and it gradually decreased with the increase in the feed pressure in the range of 2–10 bar. Under the present investigation, the membrane with 20% PI content exhibited the maximum selectivity for the separation of CO₂/CH₄ gas mixes.     

Base-selective adsorption of nucleosides to pore-engineered nanocarbon, carbon nanocage

Selective molecular recognition is an important subject in supramolecular science as well as in practical applications such as sensing, drug delivery, and biomedical processes. In this research we have investigated adsorption behavior of nucleosides (adenosine, guanosine, and thymidine) onto various porous supports. When compared with mesoporous silica, porous carbons exhibit superior adsorptive performance. We serendipitously observed a pronounced selectivity between purine-base and pyrimidine-base nucleosides by carbon naonocage. These findings are useful for design of materials for applications in adsorption-based separations and as column stationary phases for separation of costly and important biomolecules.     

Fast Assessment of Available Transfer Capability Using Synchrophasor Measurements

In an electricity market, power transmission networks allow power flow that is required to meet different bilateral and pool contracts between customers and suppliers. To ensure power system security, transactions are permitted to the point that the system design and operating conditions are not violated. This article presents a new method for determining the available transfer capability of the transmission system with respect to a particular transaction or flow gate using synchrophasor measurements. The method also utilizes a DC power flow based sensitivity concept. The proposed method is simple, fast, and well suited for real-time applications. The effectiveness of the proposed method is tested on the New England 39-bus test system, IEEE 24-bus reliability test system, and 246-bus Northern Region Power Grid Indian systems.     

Functional sites and evolutionary connections of acylhomoserine lactone synthases

Acylhomoserine lactone (AHL) synthases act as chemical communicationsignals or pheromones in Gram-negative bacteria and regulatediverse physiological events in a cell density-dependent manner.The recent crystal structure determination of EsaI, a key enzymein this pathway, shows that the AHL synthase superfamily membersadopt the fold of the N-acetyltransferase superfamily. We suggest,by the identification of intermediate sequences, that the twosuperfamilies are evolutionarily related. Evolutionary traceanalyses of aligned sequences and docking studies have beenused to discuss functionally important residues of EsaI homologues.     

Averaging theory and low-dimensional models for chemical reactors and reacting flows

A novel approach based on the Liapunov-Schmidt technique of bifurcation theory is presented for the spatial averaging of a class of convection-diffusion-reaction models. It is used to derive low-dimensional averaged models for different types of homogeneous and catalytic reactors, as well as coupled homogeneous-heterogeneous systems. For the homogeneous isothermal case, the averaged models consist of a pair of balance equations for each species A_j in terms of the mixing-cup (C_j,m) and spatially averaged (〈C_j〉) concentrations. The first (global) equation traces the evolution of C_j,m with residence time while the second (local) equation, which is independent of the reactor type, gives the local concentration gradient as a difference between C_j,m and 〈C_j〉 in terms of the local variables (such as species diffusivities, shear and reaction rates). For the wall-catalyzed reaction case, the averaged models are described by a pair of equations for each species in terms of C_j,m and the surface concentration C_j,s and are similar to the classical two-phase models of catalytic reactors. For the coupled homogeneous-heterogeneous case, the averaged models consist of three balance equations for each species in terms of C_j,m, 〈C_j〉 and C_j,s, and contain four mass transfer or exchange coefficients. The accuracy, convergence and the region of validity of the averaged models are examined for some special cases. Finally, the usefulness of the averaged models in predicting the reactor behavior is illustrated with an example for each of the three cases, homogeneous, heterogeneous and coupled homogeneous-heterogeneous case.