A novel framework for spatiotemporal monitoring and post-signal diagnosis of processes with image data

Advances in digital equipment and organizations' interest in having comprehensive and real-time information about products have increased the use of machine vision systems in organizations. In this paper, to monitor a sensory quality characteristic of a product based on images, the residual matrix of the intensity values of the nominal and captured images is divided into specific regions; then, the equality of the means of the regions is tested based on one-way ANOVA. To do so, a P-value–based control chart is applied to detect the out-of-control state as soon as possible. If an out-of-control alarm is received, Dunnett's test is used to identify region(s) with significant differences in the means of residuals (defective location[s] in the image) compared with other regions. After the locations of defective regions are identified, the change point of the process is estimated by using the maximum likelihood estimation approach. The performance of the proposed procedure is compared with some of the previous approaches in the literature. Then, the proposed procedure is implemented in a real-world case. The simulation study demonstrates the merits of the proposed procedure: It is not limited to specific geometric types of faults; it has the ability to detect multiple faults in the image; it takes less computational time; and it performs well in estimating the real time of change, as well as the location(s) and dimension(s) of the fault(s).     

Green synthesis,characterization and antimicrobial activity of carbon quantum dots-decorated ZnO nanoparticles

In this research, ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO NPs) and Carbon Quantum Dots-decorated ZnO nanoparticles (ZnO/CQDs NCs) were prepared via different procedures and precursors. Soya chunk was applied as a source of carbon for the preparation of CQDs. Crystalline structure, purity, size, and morphological properties of products were investigated via X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, energy dispersive spectroscopy (EDS), Transmission Electron Microscopy (TEM), FT-IR, and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM) respectively. Findings showed that homogeneity, size, and morphological properties of products can be intensively affected via different precursors and procedures. From the homogeneity, size, and morphological point of view, the hydrothermal route, ammonia, 5 h, and 180 °C were the optimum procedure, pH adjuster, temperature, and time respectively. Optimum product was applied for carrying out minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and Agar disk-diffusion tests against various microorganisms. Results demonstrated that prepared ZnO NPs have maximum antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus (19.53 μg/ml) and ZnO/CQDs NCs have no inhibitory effect against tested microorganisms. For ZnO NPs, the disk diffusion test proved that the highest growth inhibition zone was related to Staphylococcus aureus (15 mm). The presence of CQDs in ZnO/CQDs NCs reduces the inhibitory effect of ZnO NPs intensively.     

Ethnobotanical and phytochemical aspects of the edible herb Coriandrum sativum L.

Coriandrum sativum (coriander) is an edible herb in the family Apiaceae. The leaves, fruits, and stems of C. sativum have long been used as culinary spice due to their favorable odor. Traditional practitioners used this plant for treating different diseases like blepharitis, scabies, aphthous stomatitis, laryngitis, headache, and palpitation. In modern researches, coriander has demonstrated anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, antimigraine, neuroprotective, analgesic, diuretic, hypoglycemic, hypolipidemic, hypotensive, anticancer, and antioxidant activities. Coriander contains a wide range of bioactive phytochemicals among which phenylpropenes, terpenoids, isocoumarins, phytosterols, and fatty acids are the most important. This review provides information about the botanical and ethnobotanical aspects, chemical profile, therapeutic uses in Islamic traditional medicine (ITM), and recent pharmacological studies of coriander effects. The results have shown that coriander and its monoterpenoid compound, linalool, can be considered as potential drug candidates for treating metabolic syndrome and different inflammatory conditions especially neural and CNS diseases.     

Optimum Temporal Coverage with Rotating Directional Sensors

Wireless Personal Communications - Advances in directional sensors technology and impressive development of wireless sensor networks, created a new class of wireless sensor networks called...     

Novel flower-like (Bi(Bi2S3)9I3)2/3 nanostructure as efficient photocatalyst for photocatalytic desulfurization of benzothiophene under visible light irradiation

Here, we report the preparation of hierarchical flower-like (Bi(Bi₂S₃)₉I₃)_2/3 nanostructures that acts as a strong photocatalyst in the desulfurization of benzothiophene. We optimized the reaction time, type of capping agent and reflux temperature to tune the shape of porous flower-like (Bi(Bi₂S₃)₉I₃)_2/3 nanostructures to achieve the highest desulfurization performance. We investigated the characteristic shape, size, purity, and optical response of the flower-shape nanostructures using XRD, EDS, FESEM, UV–Vis-DRS analysis. The flower-like (Bi(Bi₂S₃)₉I₃)_2/3 nanostructures showed a significant photocatalytic property in desulfurization of benzothiophene as a model fuel. The hierarchical flower-like (Bi(Bi₂S₃)₉I₃)_2/3 photocatalyst with an energy gap of 1.15 eV, exhibits a 92% photocatalytic desulfurization performance after 2 h of visible light irradiation. The (Bi(Bi₂S₃)₉I₃)_2/3 nanostructures show a high photocatalytic reproducibility after 4 rounds of exposure. We proposed a photo-oxidation mechanism based on the active species scavenging, which revealed the role of photo-produced h⁺ and O₂^? species as essential in the photocatalytic desulfurization process. These findings provide a new prospect and design strategy for the development of efficient photocatalysts in desulfurization process.     

RETRACTED ARTICLE: Improved AODV Based on TOPSIS and Fuzzy Algorithms in Vehicular Ad-hoc Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - The ad-hoc on-demand distance vector (AODV) routing protocol is one of the most widely used routing protocols in VANETs. The AODV finds the shortest path that is...     

The Keck Array: A Multi Camera CMB Polarimeter at the South Pole

The Keck array is a new multi-camera Cosmic Microwave Background (CMB) polarimeter. Each camera contains 256 polarization pairs of antenna-coupled transition edge sensor (TES) bolometers. We recently deployed three of five cameras at the geographic South Pole, and plan to deploy the final two cameras in early 2012. This new telescope is an ideal instrument to search for the primordial B-mode polarization signal imprinted in the CMB by inflationary gravitational waves. We will discuss the design of the detectors and receivers, the status of current observations, and report on progress toward upgrading the instrument with the full compliment of polarized receivers.     

A New Multivariate Process Capability Index Under Both Unilateral and Bilateral Quality Characteristics

Process capability indices (PCIs) are used in statistical process control to evaluate the capability of the processes in satisfying the customer's needs. In the past two decades varieties of PCI are introduced by researchers to analyze the process capability with univariate or multivariate quality characteristics. To the best of our knowledge, most famous multivariate capability indices are proposed when the quality characteristics have both upper and lower specification limits. These indices are incapable to assess the multivariate processes capability with unilateral specification. In this article, we propose a new multivariate PCI to analyze the processes with one or more unilateral specification limits. This new index also accounts for all problems in the best PCIs of the literature. The performance of the proposed index is evaluated by real cases under different situations. The results show that the proposed index performs satisfactorily in all cases considered. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Piezoelectric Nylon-11 Fibers for Electronic Textiles,Energy Harvesting and Sensing

Electronic textiles and functional fabrics are among the key constituents envisioned for wearable electronics applications. For e-textiles, the challenge is to process materials of desired electronic properties such as piezoelectricity into fibers to be integrated as wefts or wraps in the fabrics. Nylons, first introduced in the 1940s for stockings, are among the most widely used synthetic fibers in textiles. However, realization of nylon-based e-textiles has remained elusive due to the difficulty of achieving the piezoelectric phase in the nylon fibers. Here, piezoelectric nylon-11 fibers are demonstrated and it is shown that the resulting fibers are viable for applications in energy harvesting from low frequency mechanical vibrations and in motion sensors. A simulation study is presented that elucidates on the sensitivity of the nylon-11 fibers toward external mechanical stimuli. Moreover, a strategy is proposed and validated to significantly boost the electrical performance of the fibers. Since a large fraction of the textile industry is based on nylon fibers, the demonstration of piezoelectric nylon fibers will be a major step toward realization of electronic textiles for applications in apparels, health monitoring, sportswear, and portable energy generation.