Load Balanced Clustering Based on Imperialist Competitive Algorithm in Wireless Sensor Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - Energy consumption is one of the most serious issues in designing Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs) for maximizing its lifetime and stability. Clustering is...     

Ionic interdiffusion as interaction mechanism between Al and Si3N4

Al-Si₃N₄ couples were heat-treated at 850-1150°C for 250 hours. The thickness of the interacted area was measured by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and scanning/transmission electron microscopy (TEM/STEM). The interaction rate increases exponentially with inverse temperature, with an activation energy of 194.23 kJ/mol and diffusion pre-coefficient of 5 × 10⁻⁹ m²/s, indicating that the interaction is diffusion-dependent. As the results showed, the interfacial area is comprised of Al alloy channels, Si precipitates, and AlN grains. Al-Si transfer through the solid solution (Si_3-xAl_xN_4-y) at the interface of Al alloy and β-Si₃N₄ grains controls the kinetic of the interaction. When concentration of Al in solid solution exceeds a certain amount, it undergoes a topotactic phase transformation to form Al_1-xSi_xN_1+y (viz., AlN). Next, the Al_1-xSi_xN_1+y grains detach from the β-Si₃N₄ grains and subsequently new Al-Si₃N₄ interfaces are established. These interfaces repeat the interaction process, continuing until all the reactant is depleted. Thus, the interaction kinetics consist of a sequence of associated parabolic stages, precluding the observation of parabolic kinetics.     

An evolutionary non-linear ranking algorithm for ranking scientific collaborations

The social capital theory motivates some researchers to apply link-based ranking algorithms (e.g. PageRank) to compute the fitness level of a scholar for collaborating with other scholars on a set of skills. These algorithms are executed on the collaboration network of scholars and assign a score to each scholar based on the scores of his/her neighbors by solving a linear system in an iterative way. In this paper, we propose a new ranking algorithm by focusing on link-aggregation function and transition matrix. The evolution strategy technique is applied to find the best aggregation function and transition matrix for computing the score of a scholar in the collaboration network which is modeled by a hypergraph. Experiments conducted on two datasets gathered from ScivalExpert and VIVO show that the new non-linear ranking algorithm acts better than the other iterative ranking approaches for ranking scientific collaborations.     

An enhanced weighted greedy analysis pursuit algorithm with application to EEG signal reconstruction

In the past decade, compressed sensing (CS) has provided an efficient framework for signal compression and recovery as the intermediate steps in signal processing. The well-known greedy analysis algorithm, called Greedy Analysis Pursuit (GAP) has the capability of recovering the signals from a restricted number of measurements. In this article, we propose an extension to the GAP to solve the weighted optimization problem satisfying an inequality constraint based on the Lorentzian cost function to modify the EEG signal reconstruction in the presence of heavy-tailed impulsive noise. Numerical results illustrate the effectiveness of our proposed algorithm, called enhanced weighted GAP (ewGAP) to reinforce the efficiency of the signal reconstruction and provide an appropriate candidate for compressed sensing of the EEG signals. The suggested algorithm achieves promising reconstruction performance and robustness that outperforms other analysis-based approaches such as GAP, Analysis Subspace Pursuit (ASP), and Analysis Compressive Sampling Matching Pursuit (ACoSaMP).     

Integration of a cogeneration unit into a kraft pulping process

The integration of cogeneration with other measures that impact the power production capacity in a Canadian Kraft pulping mill is studied. Those measures are removal of pressure reduction valves, adjustment of the steam pressure level, biomass boiler capacity, and reduction in process energy demand. CADSIM Plus software is used to simulate the cogeneration plant. The dynamic behavior of the process during start-up and its effect on electricity generation are also considered. It is shown that by replacing the PRVs with turbines, 14.4 MW of power can be generated. Moreover, by implementing cogeneration units and process measures to recover 23% of internal energy, 44.5 MW of electricity can be generated in addition to shutting down the existing bunker oil boiler. Therefore, implementation of cogeneration in the pulp and paper industry is technically possible and it offers significant economic advantages. A cost analysis of the complete project gives a simple payback time of less than a year.     

Processing and performance properties of amino silicone-based softener on various textile substrates

Polymer Bulletin - According to recent researches, the emulsion stability, characteristics and the particle size distribution have great importance in their ability to impart desired surface...     

An Electrochemical Nanosensor for Simultaneous Voltammetric Determination of Ascorbic Acid and Sudan I in Food Samples

In this work, we describe application of a high-sensitive electrochemical sensor for determination of ascorbic acid (AA) in the presence of high concentration of Sudan I in food samples. In the first step, we study synthesis and characterization of NiO/NPs with X-ray diffraction (XRD) method. In the second step, application of NiO/NPs describe in the preparation of carbon-paste electrode modified with (9,10-dihydro-9,10-ethanoanthracene-11,12-dicarboximido)-4-ethylbenzene-1,2-diol (DEDED) as a high-sensitive and selective voltammetric sensor for determination of AA and Sudan I. The electrocatalytic oxidation of AA at the modified electrode was investigated by cyclic voltammetry, chronoamperometry and square wave voltammetry (SWV). For the mixture containing AA and Sudan I, the peaks potential was well separated from each other. Their square wave voltammetrics peaks current increased linearly with their concentration at the ranges of 0.01–600 and 0.5–1,000 μM, with the detection limits of 0.006 and 0.2 μM, respectively. Finally, the proposed method was also examined as a selective, simple, and precise electrochemical sensor for the determination of AA and Sudan I in real samples such as fruit juices, fresh vegetable juice, chilli sauce and tomato sauce.     

Externalization of Mitochondrial PDCE2 on Irradiated Endothelium as a Target for Radiation-Guided Drug Delivery and Precision Thrombosis of Pathological Vasculature

Endothelial cells are highly sensitive to ionizing radiation, and exposure leads to multiple adaptive changes. Remarkably, part of this response is the translocation of normally intracellular proteins to the cell surface. It is unclear whether this ectopic expression has a protective or deleterious function, but, regardless, these surface-exposed proteins may provide unique discriminatory targets for radiation-guided drug delivery to vascular malformations or tumor vasculature. We investigated the ability of an antibody–thrombin conjugate targeting mitochondrial PDCE2 (E2 subunit of pyruvate dehydrogenase) to induce precision thrombosis on irradiated endothelial cells in a parallel-plate flow system. Click-chemistry was used to create antibody–thrombin conjugates targeting PDCE2 as the vascular targeting agent (VTA). VTAs were injected into the parallel-plate flow system with whole human blood circulating over irradiated cells. The efficacy and specificity of fibrin-thrombus formation was assessed relative to non-irradiated controls. The PDCE2-targeting VTA dose-dependently increased thrombus formation: minimal thrombosis was induced in response to 5 Gy radiation; doses of 15 and 25 Gy induced significant thrombosis with equivalent efficacy. Negligible VTA binding or thrombosis was demonstrated in the absence of radiation or with non-targeted thrombin. PDCE2 represents a unique discriminatory target for radiation-guided drug delivery and precision thrombosis in pathological vasculature.     

A QoS-aware congestion control mechanism for wireless multimedia sensor networks

Wireless Networks - The amount of data produced by multimedia sensor nodes (such as video/audio sensors), is considerably huge comparing with the data of scalar sensor nodes. The great numbers of...     

Modifying montmorillonite clay via silane grafting and interfacial polycondensation for melt compounding of nylon‐66 nanocomposite

A trifunctional organo alkoxysilane (3‐aminopropyl)triethoxysilane (γ‐APS) has been used as reagent for the chemical modification of montmorillonite clay. Silane grafting was taken place in dry and hydrolyzing conditions. Silane grafted and pristine clay took part in interfacial polycondensation process to deposit a layer of nylon‐66 onto the clay lamellae and therefore, enhance their affinity with nylon‐66 matrix. Evidence of presence of grafted silane molecules and deposition of nylon‐66 on clay particles were provided by Fourier transform‐infrared, thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), and X‐ray diffraction (XRD). Such modified clays and pristine clays were melt compounded with nylon‐66. The structures of the resulting nylon composites were characterized using XRD and transmission electron microscopy and the results showed presence of both intercalation and exfoliation. TGA thermograms of nanocomposites indicated improved thermal stability upon the incorporation of silane grafted montmorillonite. Furthermore, differential scanning calorimetry scans showed that silane modified clays promoted crystallization in nanocomposites. Increase of storage modulus and depression of tan δ peak in nanocomposites in dynamical mechanical thermal analysis were observed. The rheological properties of nylon‐66 and nanocomposites were also evaluated and differences in values of complex viscosity of samples were noticed. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2012