Classification,characterization, and the production processes of biopolymers used in the textiles industry

This article is focused on biopolymers as intelligent environmentally friendly polymers, the production processes, and coatings of biotextiles used in different industries for next generation environmental applications. Furthermore, classification and composition of biodegradable polymers, the theoretical techniques, and factorial experimental designs for the optimization of processes with intelligent biotextiles used as an alternative to commercial chemical-based textiles at reasonable cost with a zero to low environmental footprint are discussed. This article will also provide how these novel modeling methodologies will assist polymer designers in making the best decision. The present work also discusses how the fully biodegradable polymers support the textiles industry by decreasing the processing energy, material, and manufacturing costs. Finally, current development as well as potential future applications and trends of biodegradable polymers in modern biodegradable textiles industry will be presented.     

Clean treatment of rejected brine by zero liquid discharge thermal desalination in Persian Gulf countries

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - In this study, four zero liquid discharge thermal desalination processes were technoeconomically investigated to select the most efficient and economic...     

Speed control of automotive diesel engines

This paper deals with Diesel engine control. More precisely, a model-based approach is considered to stabilise engine speed around a defined value. The model taken into account is nonlinear and contains explicitly the expression of fuel conversion efficiency. In general in the literature, this experimentally obtained quantity is modelled with either a polynomial or an exponential form (see for instance Younes, R. (1993). Elaboration d’un modèle de connaissance du moteur diesel avec turbocompresseur à géométrie variable en vue de l’optimisation de ses émissions. Ecole Centrale de Lyon; Omran, R., Younes, R., Champoussin, J., & Outbib, R. (2011). New indicated mean effective pressure (IMEP) model for predicting crankshaft movement. Energy Conversion and Management, 52, 3376–3382). This paper focuses on engine speed feedback stabilisation when fuel conversion efficiency is modelled with an exponential form, which is more suitable for automative applications. Simulation results are proposed to highlight the closed-loop control performances.     

Action of grignard reagents and amines on some N-(Arylmethyleneamino)phthalimides

N-(Arylmethyleneamino)phthalimides ( 2a–c ) carrying an o-substituent in the aryl group were prepared by the reaction of N-aminophthalimide with o-substituted benzaldehydes. The reaction of these compounds with Grignard reagents proceeded either by normal addition to one of the carbonyl groups to give 3a–c or by addition and cleavage to give 4-arylphthalaz-1-ones 5a–c . The steric effect exhibited by either the Grignard reagent or the N-arylmethylene compound was studied. The reaction of N-furfurylideneaminophthalimide ( 2d ) with Grignard reagents was also investigated. N-(Arylmethyleneamino)phthalimides reacted with primary amines to give N,N′-dialkylphthalamides ( 7a and b ) while the reaction with secondary amines gave ( 8a and b ).     

Parallel multiple access interference cancellation in optical DS-CDMA systems

This paper investigates the Parallel Interference Cancellation technique in Direct Sequence Optical Code Division Multiple Access (ds-ocdma) system. In the proposed system, the estimated interference is removed from the received signal. We have developped a new approach to obtain the analytical expression of error probability in chip synchronous case, for Optical Orthogonal Codes (ooc). We have shown that under specific conditions between codes parameters and users’ number, the interference can be completely neutralized. Simulation results have validated the theoretical analysis. It is shown that the proposed receiver is effective in reducing significantly the effects of Multiple Access Interference (mai) compared to other interference cancellation systems.     

On the Achievable Rates of Multiband Ultra-Wideband Systems

In this work we study the achievable rates of memoryless signaling strategies adapted to ultra-wideband (UWB) multipath fading channels. We focus on strategies that do not have explicit knowledge of the instentaneous channel realization, but may have knowledge of the channel statistics. We evaluate the average mutual information of the general binary flash-signaling rates as a function of channel statistics and derive random coding bounds for m-ary PPM using different noncoherent receivers as well as an imperfect coherent receiver. Then we extend the results to multiband m-PPM signaling and show that for data rates on the order of 400 Mbits/s, at 4 m distance between the transmitter and the receiver, can be achieved using simple noncoherent receivers.     

An efficient dynamic traffic light scheduling algorithm considering emergency vehicles for intelligent transportation systems

Traffic lights have been installed throughout road networks to control competing traffic flows at road intersections. These traffic lights are primarily intended to enhance vehicle safety while crossing road intersections, by scheduling conflicting traffic flows. However, traffic lights decrease vehicles’ efficiency over road networks. This reduction occurs because vehicles must wait for the green phase of the traffic light to pass through the intersection. The reduction in traffic efficiency becomes more severe in the presence of emergency vehicles. Emergency vehicles always take priority over all other vehicles when proceeding through any signalized road intersection, even during the red phase of the traffic light. Inexperienced or careless drivers may cause an accident if they take inappropriate action during these scenarios. In this paper, we aim to design a dynamic and efficient traffic light scheduling algorithm that adjusts the best green phase time of each traffic flow, based on the real-time traffic distribution around the signalized road intersection. This proposed algorithm has also considered the presence of emergency vehicles, allowing them to pass through the signalized intersection as soon as possible. The phases of each traffic light are set to allow any emergency vehicle approaching the signalized intersection to pass smoothly. Furthermore, scenarios in which multiple emergency vehicles approach the signalized intersection have been investigated to select the most efficient and suitable schedule. Finally, an extensive set of experiments have been utilized to evaluate the performance of the proposed algorithm.     

Ultrasound spatiotemporal despeckling via Kronecker wavelet-Fisz thresholding

We propose a novel framework for despeckling ultrasound image sequences while respecting the structural details. More precisely, we use thresholding in an adapted wavelet domain that jointly takes into account for the non-Gaussian statistics of the noise and the differences in spatial and temporal regularities. The spatiotemporal wavelet is obtained via the Kronecker product of two sparsifying wavelet bases acting, respectively, on the spatial and temporal domains. Besides enabling a structured sparse representation of the time–space plan, it also makes it possible to perform a variance stabilization routine on the spatial domain through a Fisz transformation. The proposed method enjoys adaptability, easy tuning and theoretical guaranties. We propose the corresponding algorithm together with results that demonstrate the benefits of the proposed spatiotemporal approach over the successive spatial treatment. Finally, we describe a data-driven extension of the proposed method that is based on temporal pre-filtering.     

An exponential SRGM with a bound on the number of failures

An exponential software reliability growth model (SRGM) incorporating a situation where more than one failure can be attributed to one fault/error has been proposed. Different model parameters have been estimated and an optimal release policy which minimizes the software cost, subject to achieving a given level of reliability, has been discussed. Finally, a numerical example illustrating the applicability of the model and a few practical situations where this model can be applied are also given.     

Adaptations for Wear Resistance and Damage Resilience: Micromechanics of Spider Cuticular “Tools”

In the absence of minerals as stiffening agents, insects and spiders often use metal‐ion cross‐linking of protein matrices in their fully organic load‐bearing “tools.” In this comparative study, the hierarchical fiber architecture, elemental distribution, and the micromechanical properties of the manganese‐ and calcium‐rich cuticle of the claws of the spider Cupiennius salei, and the Zn‐rich cuticle of the cheliceral fangs of the same animal are analyzed. By correlating experimental results to finite element analysis, functional microstructural and compositional adaptations are inferred leading to remarkable damage resilience and abrasion tolerance, respectively. The results further reveal that the incorporation of both zinc and manganese/calcium correlates well with increased biomaterial's stiffness and hardness. However, the abrasion‐resistance of the claw material cross‐linked by incorporation of Mn/Ca‐ions surpasses that of many other non‐mineralized biological counterparts and is comparable to that of the fang with more than triple Zn content. These biomaterial‐adaptation paradigms for enhanced wear‐resistance may serve as novel design principles for advanced, high‐performance, functional surfaces, and graded materials.