A WLAN band‐notched compact four element UWB MIMO antenna

A compact four‐element multiple‐input‐multiple‐output (MIMO) antenna for ultra‐wideband (UWB) applications with WLAN band‐notched characteristics is proposed here. The proposed antenna has been designed to operate from 2 to 12 GHz while reject the frequencies between 4.9 to 6.4 GHz. The four antenna elements are placed orthogonal to attain the polarization diversity and high isolation. A thin stub connected to the ground plane is deployed as a LC notch filter to accomplish the rejected WLAN band in each antenna element. The mutual coupling between the adjacent elements is at least 17 dB while it has low indoor and outdoor envelop correlation (<0.45) and high gain with compact size of two boards, each measuring 50 × 25 mm². To validate the concept, the prototype antenna is manufactured and measured. The comparison of the simulation results showed good agreement with the measured results. The low‐profile design and compact size of the proposed MIMO antenna make it a good candidate for diversity applications desired in portable devices operating in the UWB region.     

Reservoir Inflow Prediction by Ensembling Wavelet and Bootstrap Techniques to Multiple Linear Regression Model

In this study, a new hybrid model, bootstrap multiple linear regression (BMLR) is suggested to investigate the potential of bootstrap resampling technique for daily reservoir inflow prediction. The proposed model compares with three other models: Multiple linear regression (MLR), wavelet multiple linear regression (WMLR) and wavelet bootstrap multiple linear regression (WBMLR). River stage data of monsoon season (1st July 2010 to 30 September 2010) from three gauging stations of Chenab river basin are used. In wavelet transformation, input vectors are decomposed using discrete wavelet transformation (DWT) into discrete wavelet components (DWCs). Then suitable DWCs are used to provide input to MLR model to develop WMLR model. Bootstrap technique coupled with MLR model to build up BMLR model. While WBMLR model is the conjunction of suitable DWCs and bootstrap technique to MLR model. Performance indices namely root mean square error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE), Nash-Sutcliffe coefficient of efficiency (NSC), and persistence index (CP) are used in study to evaluate the performance of model. Results showed that hybrid model BMLR produce significantly better results on performance indices than other models MLR, WMLR and WBMLR.

     

Evolution of ferroelectric and piezoelectric response by heat treatment in pseudocubic BiFeO<Subscript>3</Subscript>–BaTiO<Subscript>3</Subscript> ceramics

Heat treatment of ceramics is an important process to tailor the fine electromechanical properties. To explore the criteria for optimized heat treatment in a perovskite structure of (1–x)Bi_1.05FeO₃–xBaTiO₃ (BF–BT100x) system, the structural phase relation, ferroelectric and piezoelectric response of BF–BT36 and BF–BT40 ceramics prepared by furnace cooling (FC) and quenching process were investigated. The X-ray diffraction examination showed single pseudocubic perovskite structure for all the ceramics. The homogenous microstructure was obtained for all ceramics with relatively large grain size in the furnace cooled samples. Well saturated ferroelectric hysteresis loops and enhanced piezoelectric constant (d₃₃?=?97 pC/N) were achieved by quenching process. Dielectric curve of BF–BT36 showed large dielectric constant at its Curie temperature, however, BF–BT40 showed diffused relaxor-like dielectric anomalies. Quenched BF–BT36 samples showed typical butterfly like field induced strain curves, however negative strain decreased in BF–BT40 ceramics. From these investigated study, it is observed that BF–BT ceramics are very sensitive to the heat treatment process (furnace cooling and quenching) on the dielectric, electromechanical properties.     

1,3,5‐Triazino Peptide Derivatives: Synthesis,Characterization, and Preliminary Antileishmanial Activity

A library of short di‐, tri‐, and tetra‐peptides with an s‐triazine moiety at the N terminus and either an amide or ethyl ester C terminus was prepared in solution and on the solid phase. The two remaining positions of the s‐triazine moiety were substituted with methoxy, morpholino, or piperidino groups. All the synthesized peptide derivatives were analyzed by HPLC and fully characterized by IR spectroscopy, ¹H and ¹³C NMR spectroscopy, elemental analysis, and mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF/TOF). A preliminary study of the antileishmanial activity of the 1,3,5‐triazinyl peptide derivatives revealed that four dipeptide amide derivatives showed higher antipromastigote or antiamastigote activity than the reference standard drug miltefosine with no significance acute toxicity.     

Automated battery test system

Battery testing is required for a wide range of applications. This includes quality assurance, design verification and performance assessment purposes for battery manufacturers, validation purposes for battery users, and battery behavioural research purposes for engineers developing behavioural prediction algorithms. Regardless of the application, determining the behavioural characteristics of batteries is a non-trivial problem. The electrochemical processes of a battery are complex, involving many parameters that are non-linearly interrelated. Therefore it is important that a test system designed for investigating battery behaviour provides accurate and reliable control and data acquisition. Manual testing is a labour intensive and time-consuming process. Automated testing can alleviate the labour requirements, with the added advantages of limiting human error (through limited human involvement), maintaining consistency between tests and providing flexibility in test conduction time and test routine.

This paper presents the architecture of an automated battery test system. The paper begins by providing details on battery testing procedures. A typical test cycle, where the battery passes through all operating phases of charge, float charge and discharge, is described. The battery testing technique of accelerated thermal ageing, a special case of cyclic testing, is also described. This allows the identification of the parameters that are to be acquired and controlled and hence provides the specification for the battery test system.

A specific battery test system solution is presented, which was designed for conducting valve regulated lead acid battery behavioural research. The system employs commercial off the shelf (COTS) components. Versatility is a key attribute of the system. This versatility extends from the ability to accommodate various battery configurations (different number of blocks per string and number of strings) and battery types (single cells through to mono-blocks) to the ability to vary the way the test is conducted and the criteria for data acquisition.     

Novel signals for optimized timing synchronization in direct‐sequence spread‐spectrum communication systems

The paper presents design techniques for novel signaling waveforms to optimize timing synchronization in direct‐sequence spread‐spectrum communication systems. Both coarse code timing acquisition and fine delay‐locked loop tracking systems are considered, and their performance metrics are analyzed in terms of initial acquisition detection probability and residual tracking jitter, showing a strong dependency on signal waveform spectral characteristics. Bit error performance under imperfect synchronization is also assessed. A design methodology is formulated with a low complexity parametric optimization approach based on prolate spheroidal waveform expansions for the generation of signals that minimize the probability of acquisition miss and tracking error jitter subject to additional constraints on signal energy and phase transitions. Novel optimized waveforms are synthesized with different levels of effective root mean square bandwidth occupancy and compared with conventional pulses to illustrate their advantages. Performance trade‐offs are demonstrated between the acquisition and tracking systems, whereby signals with low effective bandwidth are found to have better acquisition capability at the expense of poorer tracking jitter, while the converse holds for signals with higher effective bandwidth. It is found that an effective root mean square bandwidth occupancy in the range of 40% to 50% of the chip rate can achieve a good compromise between the requirements of the 2 code timing synchronization phases. Numerical results are presented to quantify the relative merits of representative waveforms with respect to the different performance measures in terms of acquisition capability, tracking jitter, and bit error probability.     

Tuning the interlaminar shear strength and thermo-mechanical properties of glass fiber composites by incorporation of (3-mercaptopropyl) trimethoxysilane-functionalized carbon black

The incorporation of functionalized nanoscale fillers into traditional glass fiber/unsaturated polyester (GF/UPE) composites provides a more robust mechanical attributes. The current study demonstrates the potential of 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane (MPTS)-functionalized carbon black (f-CB) for enhancing the thermo-mechanical properties of GF composites. The composites infused with 1, 3 and 5 wt% of pristine and MPTS-functionalized CB were fabricated by hand lay-up and hot press processing. Tensile testing, interlaminar shear strength (ILSS) testing and dynamic mechanical analysis were used to evaluate the performance of nanocomposites. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy validated the MPTS functionalization of CB. Pristine CB-loaded nanocomposites exhibited marginal improvement in ultimate tensile strength (UTS), ILSS and thermo-mechanical properties. However, with the addition of f-CB, the improvement in all the studied properties was more substantial. The inclusion of 5 wt% f-CB increased the elastic modulus and UTS by 16 and 22%, respectively, whereas the ILSS was enhanced by 36%, in comparison to the neat GF composite. The scanning electron microscope analysis of fractured ILSS samples revealed better fiber-matrix adhesion and compatibility in f-CB-loaded nanocomposites. At the same filler weight percentage, the storage modulus at 25 °C was ~ 19% higher than that of neat composite. The f-CB inclusion resulted in increment of T _g by ~ 13 °C over the T _g of neat GF/UPE composite (~ 109 °C). These improvements were due to the chemical connection of f-CB to the UPE matrix and GF surface. With such improvements in thermal and mechanical properties, these nanocomposites can replace the conventional GF composites with prominent improvements in performance.     

Laser-machined piezoelectric cantilevers for mechanical energy harvesting

In this study, we report results on a piezoelectric- material-based mechanical energy-harvesting device that was fabricated by combining laser machining with microelectronics packaging technology. It was found that the laser-machining process did not have significant effect on the electrical properties of piezoelectric material. The fabricated device was tested in the low-frequency regime of 50 to 1000 Hz at constant force of 8 g (where g = 9.8 m/s(2)). The device was found to generate continuous power of 1.13 microW at 870 Hz across a 288.5 kOmega load with a power density of 301.3 microW/cm(3).     

Near- and Far-Field Characterization of Planar mm-Wave Antenna Arrays with Waveguide-to-Microstrip Transition

We present the design and characterization of planar mm-wave patch antenna arrays with waveguide-to-microstrip transition using both near- and far-field methods. The arrays were designed for metrological assessment of error sources in antenna measurement. One antenna was designed for the automotive radar frequency range at 77 GHz, while another was designed for the frequency of 94 GHz, which is used, e.g., for imaging radar applications. In addition to the antennas, a simple transition from rectangular waveguide WR-10 to planar microstrip line on Rogers 3003? substrate has been designed based on probe coupling. For determination of the far-field radiation pattern of the antennas, we compare results from two different measurement methods to simulations. Both a far-field antenna measurement system and a planar near-field scanner with near-to-far-field transformation were used to determine the antenna diagrams. The fabricated antennas achieve a good matching and a good agreement between measured and simulated antenna diagrams. The results also show that the far-field scanner achieves more accurate measurement results with regard to simulations than the near-field scanner. The far-field antenna scanning system is built for metrological assessment and antenna calibration. The antennas are the first which were designed to be tested with the measurement system.     

Fexofenadine/cyclodextrin inclusion complexation: phase solubility, thermodynamic, physicochemical, and computational analysis

Interactions of fexofenadine (Fexo) with cyclodextrins (CDs: alpha- beta-, gamma-, and HP-beta-CD) were investigated by several techniques including phase solubility, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), X-ray powder diffractometry (XRPD), (1)H-nuclear magnetic resonance ((1)H-NMR) and molecular mechanical modeling (MM(+)). The effects of CD type, pH, ionic strength, and temperature on complex stability were also explored. Fexo/CD complex formation follows the decreasing order: beta-CD > HP-beta-CD > gamma-CD > alpha-CD (i.e., at pH 7.0 and 30 degrees C, K(11) = 1139, 406, 130, and 104 M(-1), respectively). The linear correlation of the free energy of Fexo/beta-CD complex formation (DeltaG(11)) with the free energy of inherent Fexo solubility (DeltaG(So)), obtained from the variation of K(11) with inherent Fexo solubility (S(o)) at different pHs and ionic strengths, was used to measure the contribution of the hydrophobic character of Fexo to escape from water by including into the hydrophobic CD cavity. The hydrophobic effect (desolvation) contributes about 76% of the total driving force towards inclusion complex formation, while specific interactions contribute -7.7 kJ/mol. Moreover, Zwitterionic Fexo/beta-CD complex formation appears to be driven both by favorable enthalpy (DeltaH degrees = -23.2 kJ/mol) and entropy (DeltaS degrees = 15.2 J/molxK) changes at pH 7.0. (1)H-NMR and MM(+) studies indicate multimodal inclusion of the piperidine, carboxypropylphenyl, and phenyl moieties into the beta-CD cavity. MM(+) computations indicate that the dominant driving force for complexation is Van der Waals force with very little electrostatic contribution. (1)H-NMR, DSC, and XRPD studies indicate the formation of inclusion complex in aqueous solution and the solid state.