QoS guarantee towards reliability and timeliness in industrial wireless sensor networks

Multimedia Tools and Applications - Wireless Sensor Networks is a promising technology for industrial monitoring and process control. In industry the sensory measures should be delivered to control...     

Synthesis of fly ash particle reinforced A356 Al composites and their characterization

A356 Al–fly ash particle composites were fabricated using stir-cast technique and hot extrusion. Composites containing 6 and 12 vol.% fly ash particles were processed. Narrow size range (53–106 μm) and wide size range (0.5–400 μm) fly ash particles were used. Hardness, tensile strength, compressive strength and damping characteristics of the unreinforced alloy and composites have been measured. Bulk hardness, matrix microhardness, 0.2% proof stress of A356 Al–fly ash composites are higher compared to that of the unreinforced alloy. Additions of fly ash lead to increase in hardness, elastic modulus and 0.2% proof stress. Composites reinforced with narrow size range fly ash particle exhibit superior mechanical properties compared to composites with wide size range particles. A356 Al–fly ash MMCs were found to exhibit improved damping capacity when compared to unreinforced alloy at ambient temperature.     

Hierarchical assembly of carbon nanotubes-liquid crystal nanocomposite

Fabrication of liquid crystalline (LC) nanomaterials in an aligned pattern along the multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNT) has been reported here. The nanocomposite was prepared by sonicating esterified CNTs and the ferroelectric liquid crystal (FLC) in chloroform. The nanohybrid shish kebab (NHSK) like pattern was observed in SEM analysis. The nanocomposite materials were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), polarizing optical microscopy and electron microscopy. The DC and AC electrical properties of the composite materials were investigated. The DC conductivity of the nanocomposite increased by 2 order from the FLC materials and AC relaxation has been observed, in the nanocomposite, which was totally absent in the FLC materials.     

IL-2, but not IL-4 and other cytokines, induces phosphorylation of a 98-kDa protein associated with SHP-2, phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase, and Grb2

Binding of IL-2 to its receptor activates several biochemical pathways, including JAK-STAT, Ras-mitogen-activated protein kinase, and phosphatidylinositol 3'-kinase (PI 3'-kinase) pathways. Recently, it has been shown that the SH2-containing phosphatase, SHP-2, becomes phosphorylated in response to IL-2 stimulation, associates with PI3'-kinase and Grb2, and can exert a positive regulatory role in IL-2 signaling. We now report the identification of a prominent 98-kDa protein (p98) found to be phosphorylated in response to IL-2 stimulation and coprecipitated with SHP-2, the p85 subunit of PI 3'-kinase and Grb2. Interestingly, whereas IL-4 is known to activate PI 3'-kinase, we did not observe any p98 phosphorylation in response to IL-4 stimulation. p98 can form a multipartite complex with all these proteins as immunodepleting with anti-p85 antiserum substantially reduced the amount of p98 immunoprecipitated by SHP-2 and Grb2; the converse was also true. Furthermore, phosphorylation of p98 did not occur in cells lacking JAK3, suggesting that it may be a JAK substrate. Finally, deglycosylation of p98 did not alter its migration, suggesting p98 is not a member of the recently described SHP substrate/signal-regulatory proteins family of transmembrane glycoproteins. Thus p98 is a prominent IL-2-dependent substrate that associates with multiple proteins involved in IL-2 signaling and may play an important role in coupling the different signal transduction pathways activated by IL-2.     

Ring, torus and hypercube architectures/algorithms for parallel computing

This paper provides a survey of both architectural and algorithmic aspects of solving problems using parallel processors with ring, torus and hypercube interconnection.     

Metal hydride material requirements for automotive hydrogen storage systems

The United States Department of Energy (DOE) has published a progression of technical targets to be satisfied by on-board rechargeable hydrogen storage systems in light-duty vehicles. By combining simplified storage system and vehicle models with interpolated data from metal hydride databases, we obtain material-level requirements for metal hydrides that can be assembled into systems that satisfy the DOE targets for 2017. We assume minimal balance-of-plant components for systems with and without a hydrogen combustion loop for supplemental heating. Tank weight and volume are driven by the stringent requirements for refueling time. The resulting requirements suggest that, at least for this specific application, no current on-board rechargeable metal hydride satisfies these requirements.