On Downlink Beamforming Methods: Capacity and Error Probability Performance

In space-division multiple access (SDMA), different beamforming or space-domain precoding techniques can be applied. We investigate two different space-domain precoding methods, the maximum capacity (MC) and the minimum mean square error (MMSE) precoders, for the downlink channel. It is shown that the MMSE precoding, which is practically implementable, can provide a reasonable performance in terms of the capacity and error probability, while the MC precoding is not practical (although it is optimum in terms of the capacity). Space-domain precoding methods are also applied to code-division multiple access (CDMA) systems.This work was supported by the HY-SDR Research Center at Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea, under the ITRC Program of MIC, Korea.Jinho Choi was born in Seoul, Korea. He recieved the B.E. degree (magna cum laude) in electronics engineering from Sogang University in 1989 and the M.S.E. and Ph.D. degree in electrical engineering from the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology in 1991 and 1994, respectively. Currently he is a Senior Lecturer in the School of Electrical Engineering and Telecommunications,University of New South Wales, Australia. Dr. Choi received the 1999 Best Paper Award of Signal Processing from EURASIP.Seungwon Choi received the B.S. degree from Hanyang University, Seoul, Korea, in 1980 and the M.S. degree from Seoul National University, Seoul, in 1982, both the electronic engineering. He received the M.S. degree in computer engineering in 1985 and the Ph.D degree in electrical engineering in 1988 from Syracuse University, Syracuse, NY.From 1982 to 1984, he was with LG Electronics Co. Ltd., Seoul, where he helped developed the 8-mm camcorder system. From 1988 to 1989, he was with the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Syracuse University, as an Assistant Professor. In 1989, he joined the Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute, daejeon, Korea, where he developed the adaptive algorithm for real-time application in secure telephone systems. From 1990 to 1992, he was with yhe Communication Research Laboratory, Tokyo, Japan, as a science and Technology Agency Fellow, developing adaptive antenna array system and adaptive equalizing filters for applications in land-mobile communications. He joined Hanyang University, Seoul, in 1992 as an Assistant Professor. He is a Professor in the School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Hanyang University. His research interests include digital communications and adaptive signal processing with a recent focus on the real-time implementation of smart antenna system for 3G mobile communication system.     

The influence of lithium fluoride on in vitro biocompatibility and bioactivity of calcium aluminate–PMMA composite cement

The objective of this study is to assess the influence of lithium fluoride on in vitro biocompatibility and bioactivity of calcium aluminate (CA)-polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) composite cement exhibiting quick setting time ( < 15 min), low exothermic temperature (< 47 degrees C), and high compressive strength (> 100 MPa). The biocompatibility was measured by examining cytotoxicity tests such as the agar diffusion test with L929 cell line and the hemolysis test with fresh rabbit blood. To estimate the bioactivity of CA-PMMA composite cement, we determined hydroxyapatite (HAp) formation on the surface of composite cement in the simulated body (SBF) solution by using thin-film XRD, XPS, SEM, EPMA and ICP-AES. The results of biocompatibility tests indicated that all experimental compositions of this study had no cytotoxicity and no hemolysis so that there was no cytotoxicity with regard to non-reacted monomers (MMA and TEGDMA) and lithium fluoride. The results of bioactivity tests revealed that CA-PMMA composite cement without lithium fluoride did not form HAp on its surface after 60 days of soaking in the SBF. On the other hand, LiAl2(OH)7 . 2H2O and HAp were formed on the surface of CA-PMMA composite cement including 1.0% by weight of lithium fluoride after 7 and 15 days of soaking in the SBF, respectively. The 5 microm of LiAl2(OH)7 . 2H2O and HAp mixed layers were formed on the surface of specimen after 60 days of soaking in the SBF.     

MobileNurse: hand-held information system for point of nursing care

Healthcare information travels with patients and clinicians and therefore the need for information to be ubiquitously available is key to reliable patient care and reliable medical systems. We have implemented MobileNurse, a prototype point-of-care system using PDA. MobileNurse has four modules each of which performs: (1) patient information management; (2) medical order check; (3) nursing recording; and (4) nursing care plan. MobileNurse provides easy input interface and various outputs for nursing records. The system consists of PDAs and a mobile support system (MSS) which supports clinical data exchange between PDAs and hospital information system. Two synchronization modules have been developed to keep the patient data consistent between PDAs and MSS. Clinical trials were performed with six volunteered nurses. They tried MobileNurse for 1-day caring-simulated patients. According to the survey after the trials, most of volunteers agreed that MobileNurse is more helpful and convenient than other non-mobile care systems to check medical orders and retrieve the results of recent clinical tests at the bedside. Through the involvement, we found out that ease-to-use interface is the most critical successful factor for mobile patient care systems.     

Solvent-specific photolytic behavior of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin

The photolysis of octachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin (OCDD) was investigated in various organic solvents under lambda > 300 nm irradiation. The rates of OCDD photolysis were highly solvent-specific. OCDD was photodegraded rapidly in toluene, n-hexane, CCl4, and 1-octanol, whereas it underwent negligible photodegradation in acetonitrile, acetone, and methanol. Both OCDD photolysis and fluorescence emission did not take place in very polar solvents because polar solvent molecules efficiently quenched the excited OCDD (OCDD*). The addition of acetonitrile to an OCDD solution in toluene rapidly quenched both the fluorescence emission and the photolysis rate, which can be described by Stern-Volmer analysis. The efficient photolysis in nonpolar (or less polar) solvents seems to be mediated through a charge-transfer path where the solvent and OCDD* act as an electron donor and acceptor, respectively. However, OCDD photolysis in CCl4 seems to represent the opposite case in which the solvent is an electron acceptor and OCDD* is an electron donor. Hammett sigma constants that approximately represent the electron-donating power in structurally related aromatic solvents show a good correlation with the photolysis rates. We propose that the solvent specificity in OCDD photolysis is mainly ascribed to the difference in the electron donating (or accepting) tendency among various solvents. When triethylamine that easily donates an electron to form a charge-transfer exciplex with OCDD* was added, a marked enhancement in the photolysis rate was observed.     

Immunosensor for detection of Yersinia enterocolitica based on imaging ellipsometry

An immunosensor for the detection of pathogens was developed using imaging ellipsometry (IE) as a detection method. Yersinia enterocolitica was selected as the target pathogen in this study. A gold surface deposited with a self-assembled layer of 11-mercaptoundecanoic acid (11-MUA) was used as a substrate. For the fabrication of the immunosensor, protein G spots were made on the substrate using an inkjet-type microarrayer, and monoclonal antibody (Mab) was adsorbed onto the protein G spots. Deposition of each layer onto the substrate was confirmed by the measurement of surface plasmon resonance. The ellipsometric image of the protein G spot and the Mab-adsorbed protein G spot were acquired using an off-null ellipsometry type of imaging ellipsometry system. By measuring the ellipsometric angles of the protein layers, the surface concentration of each protein layer was calculated. The change in the mean optical intensity of the protein spot to the various concentrations of Y.enterocolitica was estimated. The immunosensor using imaging ellipsometry could successfully detect Y. enterocolitica in concentrations varying from 10(3) to 10(7) cfu/mL. The proposed immunosensor system has the advantage of allowing label-free detection, high sensitivity, and operational simplicity.     

Spongiform immobilization architecture of ionotropy polymer hydrogel coentrapping alcohol oxidase and horseradish peroxidase with octadecylsilica for optical biosensing alcohol in organic solvent

An organic-phase optical alcohol biosensor consisting of alcohol oxidase and horseradish peroxidase coimmobilized in a spongiform hydrogel matrix of hydroxethyl carboxymethyl cellulose, an adduct of 3-methoxy-4-ethoxy benzaldehyde, 4-tert-butylpyridinium acetohydrazone, silica gel particles, and octadecylsilica particles in conjunction with an optical oxygen transducer has been successfully fabricated. The novel enzyme entrapment structure was mainly characterized with desirable solvent permeability, high efficiency of mass transfer for reactants, and good accessibility and stability of the immobilized enzymes. The biosensor could work in water-miscible solvent such as a solvent mixture of acetonitrile and phosphate aqueous buffer, as well as hydrophobic organic solvent such as n-hexane. The biosensor had the highest sensitivity to methanol in both solvent systems. Under the stop-flow mode, the biosensor had the analytical working ranges from 80 microM to 90 mM methanol in n-hexane and 0.10 to 90 mM methanol in acetonitrile/buffer. When the biosensor functioned in n-hexane, it could take benzaldehyde as an alcohol substrate and was free from any pH disturbance. In the presence of coimmobilized horseradish peroxidase, the operational life of the biosensor was 60 assays and the shelf life was longer than two weeks. The biosensor has been satisfactorily applied to the determination of methanol in commercial gasoline-methanol blend samples.     

Effects of gas phase and additive properties on Marangoni instability for absorption process in a horizontal fluid layer

The objectives of this study are to investigate theoretically the effect of additive on the onset of Marangoni convection and to find the meaningful relationships between the important parameters. The propagation theory in which the penetration depth is chosen as the length scale and the scaling analysis are adapted in the present study. It is found that the combined absorbate Marangoni number MB is linearly related to the modified Biot number Bi^* and there is a critical Biot number Bi to cause the most unstable state of liquid layer. It is concluded that it is not always advantageous to increase the mass transfer coefficient in the gas phase in order to enhance the absorption rate. It is interesting that the additive Marangoni number Ma_A and the relative surface diffusivity of additive R_A which represent the additive properties act as the stabilizer and the destabilizer respectively for the onset of Marangoni convection.     

The effects of zinc and copper salts on Cyprinus carpio and Ctenopharyngodon idellus

The effects of zinc and copper salts on the survival of the two species of freshwater fish, common carp, Cyprinus carpio, and grass carp, Ctenopharyngodon idellus, were investigated. It was discovered that the levels of tolerance to the concentration of the metals were species-specific. Cyprinus carpio was found to be more susceptible to copper, whereas Ctenopharyngodon idellus was more susceptible to zinc. In general, copper was more toxic than zinc, as revealed by the survival times. The body and the gills of dead fish seemed to be covered by a veil-like film which looked like coagulated mucus and which was formed by the heavy-metal ions reacting with some constituents of the mucus and which was formed by the heavy-metal ions reacting with some constituents of the mucus secreted by the gill. The histopathological assessment of the gill and liver of Cyprinus carpio was also carried out. Particles were observed around the gills of the dead fish treated with zinc and copper salts, although no other major changes were found in the gill. Several histopathological changes were observed in the livers, including the presence of particles. The symptoms of the liver suggested that the internal injury was also an important feature of the intoxicants.