MAXIMUM LIKELIHOOD SOURCE SEPARATION FOR FINITE IMPULSE RESPONSE MULTIPLE INPUT—MULTIPLE OUTPUT CHANNELS IN THE PRESENCE OF ADDITIVE NOISE

Blind identification-blind equalization for finite Impulse Response(FIR)Multiple Input-Multiple Output(MIMO)channels can be reformulated as the problem of blind sources separation.It has been shown that blind identification via decorrelating sub-channels method could recover the input sources.The Blind Identification via Decorrelating Sub-channels(BIDS)algorithm first constructs a set of decorrelators,which decorrelate the output signals of subchannels,and then estimates the channel matrix using the transfer functions of the decorrelators and finally recovers the input signal using the estimated channel matrix.In this paper,a new qpproximation of the input source for FIR-MIMO channels based on the maximum likelihood source separation method is proposed.The proposed method outperforms BIDS in the presence of additive white Garssian noise.     

Influence of Annealing Conditions on Nanocrystalline and Ultra-Soft Magnetic Properties of Fe75.5Cu1Nb1Si13.5B9 Alloy

The magnetic and structural properties of FINEMET alloy with a composition of Fe75.5Cu1Nb1Si13.5B9 were investigated after primary and secondary crystallization of amorphous ribbon sample.The crystallization behavior and the nanocrystal formation of the samples were performed by differential thermal analysis(DTA) which in turn was supported by X-ray diffraction(XRD) study.Temperature dependence of initial permeability of amorphous and devitrified toroid shaped samples has been measured.Enhancement of Curie temperature of the amorphous alloy has been observed due to the irreversible structural relaxation.With the appearance of nanocrystalline phase the Curie temperature of the residual amorphous phase gradually decrease with the increase of annealing temperature.Their temperature dependence reflects the characteristic annealing temperature evolution of the basic magnetic parameters in these nanocrystalline systems.Saturation magnetization,Ms,increases with annealing temperature Ta for the samples and finally decreases during annealing at a temperature much higher than peak crystallization temperature.     

A Comprehensive Review of Milk Fouling on Heated Surfaces

Heat exchanger performance degrades rapidly during operation due to formation of deposits on heat transfer surfaces which ultimately reduces service life of the equipment. Due to scaling, product deteriorates which causes lack of proper heating. Chemistry of milk scaling is qualitatively understood and the mathematical models for fouling at low temperatures have been produced but the behavior of systems at ultra high temperature processing has to be studied further to understand in depth. In diversified field, the effect of whey protein fouling along with pressure drop in heat exchangers were conducted by many researchers. Adding additives, treatment of heat exchanger surfaces and changing of heat exchanger configurations are notable areas of investigation in milk fouling. The present review highlighted information about previous work on fouling, influencing parameters of fouling and its mitigation approach and ends up with recommendations for retardation of milk fouling and necessary measures to perform the task.     

Selective Electroanalytical Method for the Determination of Roxarsone in Poultry Feed and Litter

An extremely sensitive and selective voltammetric method was developed for the determination of roxarsone (ROX) at a newly modified carbon paste microelectrode in Britton–Robinson buffer (BRB) at pH 2.0. The electrode is based on a disposable plastic pipette tip filled with carbon paste based on a mixture of graphite powder and Amberlite XAD-4 (5:1, w/w). The experimental parameters, such as pH, type of the buffer, mode of voltammetry, accumulation potential, accumulation time, and stirring rate were optimized. The reduction peak current dependences were linear for the concentration of ROX from 2.0 to 100 μM. The method showed reproducible results with RSD (n?=?11) of <2.0 %. The limit of detection (LOD) and limit of quantification (LOQ) were 0.53 and 1.76 μM, respectively. ROX showed that there was no apparent surface passivation indicating the suitability of the modified electrode for ROX detection. The developed method was successfully applied for the determination of ROX in poultry feed and poultry litter collected from various localities of Hyderabad.     

Group communication models

This paper presents an abstract model of an ODP-based group communication platform. The focus of this paper is on the computational and engineering models of a group communication environment. The group interaction requirements of advanced cooperative applications structured as an object-group are identified, and the distributed object models for group support are presented. The paper develops the notion of a policy-driven group support machine which can be used as a prototype model for integration in object-based platforms such as CORBA, DCE and TINA-DPE.     

一种用于从水中分离挥发性有机化合物的疏水性渗透汽化中空纤维复合膜

研制出一种名为VOC-SEP200新型中空纤维疏水性复合膜，并考察了这种复合膜从水中分离BTEX(苯、甲苯、乙苯和二甲苯)的性能．这4种芳香碳氢化合物是工业有机废水中的一组有代表性的污染物，本研究的最终目的是想从现实的工业废水中回收这些化合物．采用料液在纤维中孔流动的方式，系统考察了进料液流速、操作压力、温度和进料液浓度对膜分离效率及膜性能的影响．结果显示，随着进料液流速的提高，BTEX的通量随之增大．这是由于随着进料液流速的提高，浓度极化的影响会减少，同时BTEX和水的分离因子会有显著增大．结果还显示，膜的性能随膜横向的驱动力降低而提高，其最佳的渗透压范围是10．7～13．3kPa(即80～100mmHg)，此时BTEX通量达到最大平稳值，同时水的通量最小．提高渗透压可减少操作费用，同时可增强分离效果，和预期的情况一样，BTEX和水的渗透通量都随着温度和进料浓度的提高而增大，但再进一步提高浓度和温度，则对水通量不产生影响．水通量在初始阶段的增加可以归因于膜的溶胀，水通量不再随温度和浓度的进一步升高而增加，可以归因于水分子的聚集与膜的溶胀达到了平衡，     

InCloud: a cloud-based middleware for vehicular infotainment systems

Smart vehicles form pervasive environment to enhance user experience through multimedia enabled infotainment systems. In order to realize effective infotainment system for vehicles, we need to have context-aware applications that use latest (live) information for enhanced user experience. Such latest information is abundantly available on the Internet due to explosive growth of Web 3.0, which can be accessed through wireless communication infrastructures such as VANETs and LTE. In this paper we propose a cloud-based middleware framework, InCloud, for vehicular infotainment application development. The proposed framework follows service oriented architecture in which data filtering and fusion functionalities are delegated to the cloud. Data filtering and fusion reduce the data flow over wireless link. Furthermore, because most of the processing is done on the cloud, the client becomes lightweight and loosely coupled with Internet resources and underlying platforms in vehicles. We also propose a class-based fusion method for combining information from multiple resources on the Internet. The efficacy of the proposed framework is validated by developing three infotainment applications for vehicles: context-aware music, news, and an enhanced Direction (eDirection) application.

     

Walking Works Wonders: a tailored workplace intervention evaluated over 24 months

This article presents longitudinal data from 1120 participants across 10 worksites enrolled in Walking Works Wonders, a tailored intervention designed to increase physical activity and reduce sedentary behaviour. The intervention was evaluated over 2 years, using a quasi-experimental design comprising 3 conditions: tailored information; standard information and control. This study explored the impact of the intervention on objective measures (BMI, %Fat, waist circumference, blood pressure and heart rate) and self-reported measures of physical activity, sedentary behaviour, physical and psychological health. Interventions tailored to employees’ stage of change significantly reduced BMI and waist circumference compared to standard and control conditions. Employees who received either a standard or tailored intervention demonstrated significantly higher work ability, organizational commitment, job motivation, job satisfaction and a reduction in intention to quit the organization. The results suggest that adopting a tailored approach to interventions is particularly effective in terms of improving health in the workplace.

Practitioner Summary: This study describes Walking Works Wonders, a tailored intervention, which aims to encourage physical activity in the workplace. The study evaluated Walking Works Wonders over a 2 year period and demonstrated that interventions are more effective in improving health outcomes where the information is tailored to employees’ stage of change.     

The Proliferation of Pre-Pubertal Porcine Spermatogonia in Stirred Suspension Bioreactors Is Partially Mediated by the Wnt/β-Catenin Pathway

Male survivors of childhood cancer are at risk of suffering from infertility in adulthood because of gonadotoxic chemotherapies. For adult men, sperm collection and preservation are routine procedures prior to treatment; however, this is not an option for pre-pubertal children. From young boys, a small biopsy may be taken before chemotherapy, and spermatogonia may be propagated in vitro for future transplantation to restore fertility. A robust system that allows for scalable expansion of spermatogonia within a controlled environment is therefore required. Stirred suspension culture has been applied to different types of stem cells but has so far not been explored for spermatogonia. Here, we report that pre-pubertal porcine spermatogonia proliferate more in bioreactor suspension culture, compared with static culture. Interestingly, oxygen tension provides an avenue to modulate spermatogonia status, with culture under 10% oxygen retaining a more undifferentiated state and reducing proliferation in comparison with the conventional approach of culturing under ambient oxygen levels. Spermatogonia grown in bioreactors upregulate the Wnt/ β-catenin pathway, which, along with enhanced gas and nutrient exchange observed in bioreactor culture, may synergistically account for higher spermatogonia proliferation. Therefore, stirred suspension bioreactors provide novel platforms to culture spermatogonia in a scalable manner and with minimal handling.