A Statistical Model for Indoor Multipath Propagation

The results of indoor multipath propagation measurements using 10 ns, 1.5 GHz, radarlike pulses are presented for a medium-size office building. The observed channel was very slowly time varying, with the delay spread extending over a range up to about 200 ns and rms values of up to about 50 ns. The attenuation varied over a 60 dB dynamic range. A simple statistical multipath model of the indoor radio channel is also presented, which fits our measurements well, and more importantly, appears to be extendable to other buildings. With this model, the received signal rays arrive in clusters. The rays have independent uniform phases, and independent Rayleigh amplitudes with variances that decay exponentially with cluster and ray delays. The clusters, and the rays within the cluster, form Poisson arrival processes with different, but fixed, rates. The clusters are formed by the building superstructure, while the individual rays are formed by objects in the vicinities of the transmitter and the receiver.     

Effects of drying conditions, admixtures and specimen size on shrinkage strains

The paper presents the results of an experimental investigation on the effects of drying conditions, specimen size and presence of plasticizing admixture on the development of shrinkage strains. The measurements are taken in a harsh (50 °C and 5% R.H.) and a moderate environment (28 °C and 50% R.H.). The results include strain development at various levels of cross sections of concrete prisms. The drying conditions are found to be the dominant parameter affecting the shrinkage strain development particularly in specimens of smaller sizes. The effect of plasticizing admixture on shrinkage strains is negligible.     

Mother''s milk protein profile, a possible biomarker for human exposure to persistent insecticides

In earlier studies we found that E. coli is sensitive to anticalmodulin drugs such as W7. Mutants that are resistant to this drug were isolated, including wseA1. In an attempt to clone the wseA gene, we isolated a clone that restored sensitivity to the drug in the mutant. We found that this clone in fact suppresses W7 resistance through expression of djlA, which encodes a novel DnaJ-like protein. It was found previously that overproduction of DjlA could induce capsule synthesis via activation of the two-component regulatory pathway RcsC/B. In addition to suppression of wseA1, djlA overexpression increases the sensitivity of cells to EDTA and novobiocin, but not to other drugs tested. Although overexpression of a form of the protein carrying a mutation in, or lacking, the J-region of DjlA also led to increased sensitivity, indicating that the chaperone activity of this protein was not strictly required. the full-length, wild-type protein had a more pronounced effect. In contrast, a point mutation which affects the function of the transmembrane domain but not the localisation or stability of DjlA abolished the effects of DjlA overproduction.     

The diffusion of hydrogen and inert gas in sputtered a-SiC:H alloys: Microstructure study

The microstructure of DC sputtered amorphous silicon carbon (a-SiC:H) is studied by effusion measurements of hydrogen and of implanted inert gases helium, neon, argon and secondary ion mass spectrometry. The results suggest that the motion of inert gas atoms is controlled by the diffusion, greatly depending on a broadening of network openings. Already at carbon concentrations of 25 at%, isolated voids disappeared presumably because interconnected voids are formed. A void formation is mainly attributed to an increase in hydrogen incorporation in the samples.     

SMOS REFLEX 2003: L-band emissivity characterization of vineyards

The goal of the Soil Moisture and Ocean Salinity mission over land is to infer surface soil moisture from multiangular L-band radiometric measurements. As the canopy affects the microwave emission of land, it is necessary to characterize different vegetation layers. This paper presents the Reference Pixel L-Band Experiment (REFLEX), carried out in June-July 2003 at the Vale/spl grave/ncia Anchor Station, Spain, to study the effects of grapevines on the soil emission and on the soil moisture retrieval. A wide range of soil moisture (SM), from saturated to completely dry soil, was measured with the Universitat Polite/spl grave/cnica de Catalunya's L-band Automatic Radiometer (LAURA). Concurrently with the radiometric measurements, the gravimetric soil moisture, temperature, and roughness were measured, and the vines were fully characterized. The opacity and albedo of the vineyard have been estimated and found to be independent on the polarization. The /spl tau/--/spl omega/ model has been used to retrieve the SM and the vegetation parameters, obtaining a good accuracy for incidence angles up to 55/spl deg/. Algorithms with a three-parameter optimization (SM, albedo albedo, and opacity) exhibit a better performance than those with one-parameter optimization (SM).     

Spectral properties of photocurrent fluctuations in avalanchephotodiodes

The authors provide a stochastic model that describes the time dynamics of double-carrier multiplication in an avalanche photodiode (APD) and obtain the autocorrelation function and the spectral characteristics of the photoelectric current. The photoelectric pulse generated by an APD as a result of a single injected photoelectron is regarded as a nonstationary random function of time (the impulse response function). A discrete stochastic model for the electron-hole motion and multiplication is defined on a spatiotemporal lattice and used to derive recursive equations for the mean, the variance, and the autocorrelation of the impulse response as functions of time. Correlation properties of the impulse response are studied for a conventional and a multilayer (superlattice) APD. The power spectral density of the photocurrent is evaluated     

Preliminary investigation of near-field nondestructive testing of carbon-loaded composites using loaded open-ended waveguides

Composite materials are being utilized in a multitude of industrial and commercial applications. This is due to their desirable features such as light weight, durability and strength. This presents quite a challenge to the field of nondestructive testing and evaluation (NDT&E). Due to the material complexity associated with these materials, many techniques have been shown to be ineffective when inspecting these materials. The ability of microwaves to penetrate deeply inside such dielectric materials and composites makes microwave NDT techniques very attractive for interrogating such materials. Microwaves are also sensitive to the presence of dissimilar layers in these materials which allows for accurate thickness variation measurement in the range of a few micrometers at frequencies as low as 10 GHz. Near-field microwave inspection techniques were successfully used for detecting and locating defects and voids of different sizes and shapes in composites. For optimal detection, the standoff distance between the sensor and the composite and frequency of operation were used as optimization parameters to improve the detection capability. Carbon-loaded composites present a challenge to microwave NDT because of the lossy nature of carbon, especially at high microwave frequencies. Lower frequencies penetrate more (deeper) in carbon-loaded composites, however, the size of the waveguide sensor increases drastically at lower frequencies and consequently the resolution degrades rapidly as well. To overcome this dilemma, open-ended rectangular waveguides loaded with a dielectric material will be used to inspect carbon-loaded composites. The loading of the waveguide reduces the frequency of operation and keeps the small size of the waveguide (i.e. increases the penetration depth and maintains the resolution). Carbon-loaded composites with disbonds will be inspected and the ability of utilizing loaded rectangular waveguides for carbon-loaded composites inspection will be assessed.     

Technetium-99m-MIBI myocardial SPECT: supine versus right lateral imaging and comparison with coronary arteriography

Myocardial perfusion SPECT using the prone position improves inferior wall counts and decreases motion problems as compared with the usual supine position. Nonetheless, it is not suitable for women. In addition, it is associated with artifactual anteroseptal defects and hot spots. METHODS: The right lateral (RL) position was evaluated instead of the prone position in 72 patients (26 women). RL imaging was performed immediately after the supine imaging during a routine 2-day 99mTc-sestamibi exercise protocol. The SPECT images were scored semiquantitatively by three physicians. Moreover, regional myocardial counts, as well as extent and severity of defects, were assessed by quantitative polar map analysis. RESULTS: All patients tolerated the RL position well and there was no significant patient movement in either position. Higher inferior myocardial counts per pixel were observed in the RL than in supine images. Inferior wall defects (especially mild ones) were more common in the supine than the RL images, whereas defects in other regions were not different. Quantitative analysis confirmed these findings. Analysis of 34 patients with recent coronary arteriography revealed an overall coronary artery disease (CAD) supine- and RL-imaging specificity of 50% and 75%, respectively, and the sensitivities of both were 93%. Right CAD sensitivity, specificity and normalcy rates for the supine position were 100%, 44% and 55%, whereas those of the RL position were 94%, 75% and 90%, respectively. CONCLUSION: The RL position improves CAD diagnostic accuracy, particularly right CAD, without significant artifacts in other myocardial regions. Unlike the prone position, the RL position is well tolerated by both women and men.     

Design of stand-alone brackish water desalination wind energy system for Jordan

More than 100 underground water wells drilled in Jordan are known to have brackish water with total desolved solids (TDS) over 1500 ppm but not greater than 4000 ppm. The world standard for potable water limits the TDS count to 500 ppm in addition to being free from live microorganisms or dangerous mineral and organic substances. A reverse osmosis desalination scheme powered by a stand-alone wind energy converter (WEC) is proposed to produce fresh water from wells located in potentially high-wind sites. A conceptual design of such system is developed and the design parameters are identified, in addition, a preliminary economic analysis is made. It is found that brackish water pumping and desalinating using WECs costs 0.67 to 1.16 JD/m³ (JD = Jordanian Dinar, 1US$ = 0.68 JD), which is less than using conventional diesel engines especially in remote areas. In addition, the wind-reverse osmosis system becomes more economically feasible for higher annual production rates or in good wind regimes.     

Fundamental limitations in EDFA-based subcarrier-multiplexed AM-VSBCATV systems

The authors present and discuss fundamental limitations for erbium-doped fiber amplifier (EDFA)-based subcarrier-multiplexed AM-VSB CATV distribution systems. The impairments they consider are shot noise, amplifier spontaneous emission noise, and laser clipping-induced nonlinear distortion. Treating the amplifier input signal power and pump power as resources, they obtain limits on the number of receivers to which one can deliver, say, 60 (or 80) channels at a carrier-to-noise ratio (CNR) of 55 dB (or 48 dB). A simple approach that can be used to recalculate the results presented here for different system and amplifier fiber parameters is presented