On generalized communicating P systems with minimal interaction rules

Generalized communicating P systems are purely communicating tissue-like membrane systems with communication rules which allow the movement of only pairs of objects. In this paper, we study the power of these systems in the case of eight restricted variants of communication rules. We show that seven of these restrictions lead to computational completeness, while using the remaining one the systems are able to compute only finite singletons of non-negative integers. The obtained results complete the investigations of the computational power of generalized communicating P systems and provide further examples for simple architectures with simple functioning rules which are as powerful as Turing machines.     

Fast variation method for elastic strip calculation

A new, fast, variation method (FVM) for determining an elastic strip response to stresses arbitrarily distributed on the flat side of the strip is proposed. The remaining surface of the strip may have an arbitrary form, and it is free of stresses. The FVM, as well as the wellknown finite element method, starts with the variational principle. However, it does not use the meshing of the strip. A comparison of FVM results with the exact analytical solution in the special case of shear stresses and a rectangular strip demonstrates an excellent agreement     

Application of natural receptors in sensors and assays

Biosensors are analytical devices that use a biological or biologically derived material immobilized at a physicochemical transducer to measure one or more analytes. Although there are a large number of reviews on biosensors in general, there has been little systematic information presented on the application of natural receptors in sensor technology. This perspective discusses broadly the fundamental properties of natural receptors, which make them an attractive option for use as biorecognition elements in sensor technology. It analyses the current situation by reference to typical examples, such as the application of nicotinic acetylcholine receptor and G protein-linked receptors in affinity sensors and analyses the problems that need to be resolved prior to any commercialization of such devices.     

Atmospheric optical turbulence over land in middle east coastal environments: prediction modeling and measurements

Beam intensity scintillations, characterized by a refractive-index structure parameter and caused by variations of macrometeorological features of the coastal atmosphere such as air temperature, wind speed and direction, and relative humidity, are examined theoretically and experimentally. In our theoretical analysis we present two well-known models considered separately for over-water and over-land atmospheric optical communication or imaging channels. By means of comparison with our experiments carried out in midland coastal environments in southern and northern Israel, we show the limitations of the models to predict the refractive-index structure Cn2 parameter for both daytime and nighttime turbulent atmospheres in different coastal zone meteorological conditions. We also present an extension of an existing model with two different practical applications that, as is shown experimentally, can be a good predictor of Cn2 for optical atmospheric paths over midland coastal zones.     

Wide-aperture,line-focused ultrasonic material characterization system based on lateral scanning

We present a new wide-aperture, line-focused ultrasonic material characterization system. The foci of the transmitting and receiving transducers are located in the specimen-immersion liquid interface; and the output voltage V(x, t) of the system is recorded as a function of the lateral position of the receiving transducer. The two-dimensional spectrum of V(x, t) can be expressed as a product of the transfer function of the system and the reflectance function of the interface. In comparison with a system based on scanning in the z direction, the angular resolution of the proposed technique increases with decreasing angle of incidence. There are no geometrical restrictions on the length of the recorded spatial data and the angle of incidence in the case of lateral scanning. The temperature coefficient of the measurement error is low because of the constancy of the propagation distance of ultrasound in the immersion fluid during data acquisition.     

Earthquake science research with a microsatellite

Reliable, repeatable earthquake forecast is a subject surrounded by controversy and scepticism. What is clear is that reliable forecast would be a critical tool for effective earthquake disaster management. It is proposed that satellites and ground-based facilities may detect earthquake precursors in the ionosphere a few hours or days before the main shock. A low-cost 100 kg class satellite carrying a topside sounder is proposed, to make systematic measurements over seismically active zones. The mission aims to confirm or refute the hypothesis of ionospheric earthquake precursors, define the reliability and reproducibility, and enable further scientific understanding of their mechanisms.