Comparisons of various pulse shapes for DS-UWB signals over the UWB channel

In this paper, we first investigate the power spectral densities (PSD) of bipolar modulated Direct Sequence Ultra Wide Band (DS-UWB) signals using various pulse shapes under the FCC UWB emission mask. Considered pulse shapes are the first five derivatives of the Gauss pulse (p₁, p₂, p₃, p₄ and p₅), the first four orthogonal modified Hermite waveforms, and Daubechies wavelets (db-q). It is observed in the PSD results that p₄ and p₅ Gauss pulses, the Daubechies (db-q) for q>4 comply with the FCC UWB rule by selecting proper values for the pulse duration. Then, we derive the pulse shape dependent probability of error expression for bipolar DS-UWB signals over the standard UWB channel. The five pulse shapes (p₄, p₅, db-5, db-6 and db-7) complying with the FCC emission mask are numerically compared by using the derived probability of error expression over the CM1 model of the Standard UWB channel. Results reveal that the Daubechies have better performance than those of the two Gauss pulses.     

Condensed heterocyclic compounds: synthesis and antiinflammatory activity of novel thiazolo[3,2-alpha] pyrimidines

In this study, thirty six new 2-benzylidene-7-methyl-3-oxo-5- phenyl-2,3-dihydro-5H-thiazolo[3,2-alpha]pyrimidine-6-carboxylic acid methyl esters were synthesized and characterized by spectral, crystallographic, and elemental analysis. The antiinflammatory activity of the compounds was tested by the carrageenan hind paw edema test. It was found that compound 6a having a 2-meth-oxyphenyl group at position 5 and a benzylidene group at position 2 was the most potent compound in this series. All the compounds that were tested for ulcer activity gave positive results.     

Phase transitions of κ‐carrageenan gels in various types of salts

Sol–gel and gel–sol phase transitions of κ‐carrageenan in various types of salts were studied using photon transmission technique. Here, LiCl, NaCl, KCl, MgCl₂, CaCl₂, and SrCl₂ were chosen as the proper salts for the κ‐carrageenan–water system. Photon transmission intensity, I_tr was monitored against temperature to determine the sol–gel and gel–sol temperatures (T_sg and T_gs) and activation energies (ΔE_sg and ΔE_gs). It was observed that T_gs temperatures were notably higher than T_sg due to the hysteresis on the phase transition loops. It was observed that stronger carrageenan gels are formed in the presence of KCl compared to the others. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 102: 3008–3016, 2006     

Bit error rate performance of Haar wavelet based scale‐code division multiple access (HW/S‐CDMA) over the asynchronous AWGN channel

In this paper, we study a recently proposed multirate system, called wavelet based scale‐code division multiple access (W/S‐CDMA). W/S‐CDMA depends on the code, time and scale orthogonality introduced by pseudo‐noise (PN) sequences, and wavelets. In this system, the channel is partitioned into different scales, and each scale into time slots. In addition, the PN sequences are used in each scale to identify multiple users. In W/S‐CDMA, each user is assigned a specific scale and PN sequence, and transmits its successive information symbols with its PN sequence and the wavelets in that scale. More symbols are transmitted in finer scales. We analyse the bit error rate performance of Haar wavelet based S‐CDMA (HW/S‐CDMA) over an asynchronous additive white Gaussian noise (AWGN) channel by using a conventional detector for deterministic PN sequences. The performance of the system is compared to that of an equivalent multirate CDMA (MR‐CDMA) system for Gold and Kasami PN sequences. Results show that HW/S‐CDMA outperforms MR‐CDMA. In addition, because of its suitable format HW/S‐CDMA is also capable of employing the optimal PN sequence families with limited number of sequences such as Kasami, Bent, etc. repeatedly in different scales. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Visible absorption spectra of some novel heteroarylazo disperse dyes derived from 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone

Synthesis of eight novel heteroarylazonaphthoquinone dyes has been carried out by diazotisation of a range of heterocyclic amines in nitrosyl sulphuric acid and coupling these on to 2-hydroxy-1,4-naphthoquinone. The dyes have been characterised by elemental analysis and spectroscopic methods. The effect on the visible absorption spectrum of the substituents present, and external influences such as solvents, pH and temperature, has been investigated in detail.     

SINR analysis of FFH/OFDM over frequency selective Rayleigh fading channel

Fast frequency hopping/orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (FFH/OFDM) has been previously proposed to achieve frequency diversity over frequency selective channels. However, the performances of the FFH/OFDM scheme have been usually calculated using simulations over empirical channel models in earlier works. The main aim of this paper is to theoretically expose the diversity of the FFH/OFDM signal over statistical models, specifically Rayleigh distributed, for frequency selective fading channels. In order to achieve this aim, we first derive the decision variables and the signal‐to‐interference noise ratios of the FFH/OFDM signal at the output of minimum mean square error and zero forcing receivers. For various levels of quadrature amplitude modulation used in FFH/OFDM, the performances are calculated and validated via simulations. The results show that FFH/OFDM in case of zero forcing equalization does not provide any diversity gain even over a frequency selective channel. However, in case of minimum mean square error equalization, it brings significant diversity gain at high signal‐to‐noise ratio (SNR) values with the rise of number of sub‐carriers. Moreover, the FFH/OFDM with four quadrature amplitude modulation scheme provides better performance than that of the conventional OFDM even at low SNR values, as well as a significant diversity gain at high SNR values. Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

International Summer Engineering Program on fuel cells for undergraduate engineering students

In this paper the experiences and lessons learned from an International Summer Engineering Program (ISEP 2009) Centred around a fuel cell course are presented. ISEP was run at Middle East Technical University (METU) in Turkey with participation from The University of Texas-Austin (Texas) and The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State). The program contained 21 METU, 7 Texas and 2 Penn State students from a range of engineering majors. The fuel cell class was designed to strengthen fuel cell, core engineering, and global competency skills through a series of increasingly complex computer projects and global competency assignments. Results from an extensive evaluation completed by the students at the end of the summer are presented. Relative to most other international engineering programs or a typical engineering class, the biggest value-added educational component of the program is seen as the intensive formal and informal interaction achieved between the METU and US students.     

Users,Economics, Technology: Unavoidable Interdynamics

This paper briefly presents some conclusions of a brainstorming session on the way technology is evolving in ICT. Technology advances have overcome society ability to answer, both in economic and in human aspects. The current design paradigms, of agnostic technology development, need to be reconsidered, and the user needs to be repositioned at the center of future developments.     

Photon transmission technique for studying film formation from polystyrene latexes prepared by dispersion polymerization using various steric stabilizers

A photon-transmission method was used to monitor the evolution of transparency during film formation from various polystyrene (PS) particles which were produced using different steric stabilizers, that is, poly(acrylic acid) (PAA), poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA), and polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP). The latex films were prepared from PS particles at room temperature and annealed at elevated temperatures in various time intervals above the glass transition (T_g). To simulate the latex film-formation process, a Monte Carlo technique was performed for photon transmission through a rectangular lattice. The number of transmitted (N_tr) photons were calculated as a function of particle–particle interfaces that disappeared. The increase in the transmitted photon intensity (I_tr) was attributed to the increase in the number of interfaces that disappeared. The Prager–Tirrell (PT) model was employed to interpret the increase in crossing density at the junction surface. The backbone activation energy (ΔE) was measured and found to be around 120 kcal mol⁻¹ for a diffusing polymer chain across the junction surface for all PS latex films. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 68: 1257–1267, 1998