An Adaptive Power Allocation Scheme for Performance Improvement of Cooperative SWIPT NOMA Wireless Networks

Future wireless networks demand high spectral efficiency, energy efficiency and reliability. Cooperative non-orthogonal multiple access (NOMA) with simultaneous wireless information and power transfer (SWIPT) is considered as one of the novel techniques to meet this demand. In this work, an adaptive power allocation scheme called SWIPT based adaptive power allocation (SWIPT-APA-NOMA) is proposed for a power domain NOMA network. The proposed scheme considers the receiver sensitivity of the end users while calculating the power allocation coefficients in order to prevent wastage of power allocated to user in outage and by offering priority to any one of the users to use maximum harvested power. A detailed analysis on the bit error rate (BER) performance of the proposed scheme is done and closed form expression is obtained. Simulations have been carried out with various parameters that influence the receiver sensitivity and the results show that the network achieves better outage and BER performance using the proposed scheme. It is found that the proposed scheme leads to a ten-fold decrease in transmit power for the same error performance of a fixed power allocation scheme. Further, it offers 96.06% improvement in the capacity for a cumulative noise figure and fading margin of 10 dB.     

Condition Assessment of Strain-Gauged Aero Engine Compressor Stator Vanes Using Eddy Current Testing

During development testing of prototype aero gas turbine engines in a test bed, various types of defects are expected to be detected related to the design drawbacks, material properties, manufacturing process and engine running conditions. The probability of occurrence of such cases is seen in an increasing trend when tests are performed on -initio development engine toward airworthiness qualification goals, wherein the use of nondestructive testing is warranted extensively. This paper discusses the methodology adopted to assess and decipher the condition of strain-gauged first-stage compressor stator vanes using eddy current testing. It is concluded that this method is very valuable for the investigation of components under practical scenarios arising out of development tests of aero gas turbine engines.     

Inducing multiferroic behaviour in the diamagnetic Y<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>3</Subscript> system

The synthesis and characterization of Y_2−xFe_xO₃ (where x = 0–0.3) compounds has been carried out for their importance in the field of multiferroic materials. The powder X-ray diffraction reveal that the compounds Y_1.95Fe_0.05O₃, Y_1.9Fe_0.1O₃, Y_1.85Fe_0.15O₃ and Y_1.8Fe_0.2O₃ crystallize in tetragonal structure whereas Y_1.75Fe_0.25O₃ and Y_1.7Fe_0.3O₃ compounds crystallize in orthorhombic structure. The change in crystal system with respect to the concentration of Fe may be attributed to the variation in occupancy position of Fe³⁺ into the Y³⁺ site of Y₂O₃ system. Variation in crystal structure, surface morphology and composition was studied by micro-Raman analysis, SEM and EDX analysis. The shift in intense Raman signals from 426 to 385 cm⁻¹ confirms the change in the crystal structure of the prepared compounds. Further it is also identified that the E_g mode of vibration is the dominant in the Fe substituted compounds. The substitution of Fe in the Y₂O₃ system leads to the increase in the intensity of resonance band, which indicates a large polarisability variation in the Y_2−xFe_xO₃ compounds. Diffused reflectance studies show a red shift in energy gap values while increasing the concentration of Fe. The room temperature magnetization and electron paramagnetic resonance studies reveal that the incorporation of Fe in the Y₂O₃ system leads to magnetic phase change from diamagnetic to ferromagnetic. The electric polarization studies imply that the substitution of lower ionic radii element Fe³⁺ in the Y³⁺ site leads to distortion in the lattice and show the way to spontaneous dipole moment and it was found that the Y_1.8Fe_0.2O₃ compound exhibits the possibility of multiferroic behaviour. Therefore this paper explores the possibility of inducing ferromagnetic and ferroelectric behaviour in the Fe substituted yttrium oxide system.     

The Effect of Liposomal Curcumin as an Anti-Inflammatory Strategy on Lipopolysaccharide e from Porphyromonas gingivalis Treated Endothelial Committed Neural Crest Derived Stem Cells: Morphological and Molecular Mechanisms

Curcumin, a yellow polyphenol extracted from the turmeric root is used as a diet supplement. It exhibits anti-inflammatory, antioxidant, and antitumor properties by modulating different intracellular mechanisms. Due to their low solubility in water, the curcumin molecules must be encapsulated into liposomes to improve the bioavailability and biomedical potential. For the periodontal tissue and systemic health, it is essential to regulate the local inflammatory response. In this study, the possible beneficial effect of liposomes loaded with curcumin (CurLIP) in neural crest-derived human periodontal ligament stem cells (hPDLSCs) and in endothelial-differentiated hPDLSCs (e-hPDLSCs) induced with an inflammatory stimulus (lipopolysaccharide obtained from Porphyromonas gingivalis, LPS-G) was evaluated. The CurLIP formulation exhibited a significant anti-inflammatory effect by the downregulation of Toll-like receptor-4 (TLR4)/Myeloid differentiation primary response 88 (MyD88)/nuclear factor kappa light chain enhancer of activated B cells (NFkB)/NLR Family Pyrin Domain Containing 3 (NLRP3)/Caspase-1/Interleukin (IL)-1β inflammation cascade and reactive oxygen species (ROS) formation. Moreover, the exposure to LPS-G caused significant alterations in the expression of epigenetic modifiers, such as DNA Methyltransferase 1 (DNMT1) and P300, while the CurLIP treatment showed physiological expression. Overall, our in vitro study provides novel mechanistic insights into the intracellular pathway exert by CurLIP in the regulation of inflammation and epigenetic modifications.     

纺织材料测色仪器间的一致性

颜色定量评定的关键因素是对反射率的精确测量。随着纺织业电子色彩交流的不断发展，了解仪器之间颜色测量值的变异性是很重要的。为此，AATCC颜色测量测试方法委员会倡导了一项关于多个实验室对23对平纹染色织物的L^＊、a^＊、b^＊及色差值进行测定的研究，并对实验室间色度值的统计变率作了评价。结果发现L^＊、a^＊、b^＊的偏离值比△J^＊、△a^＊、△b^＊的大，这些统计数据将有助于改进AATCCTM173中的精度及误差要求。     

Corrosive characteristics of bioethanol and gasoline blends for metals

Corrosive characteristics of lignocellulosic bioethanol on metals, such as mild steel, copper, and aluminum were studied by static immersion test at room temperature. Effect of metals on degradation of fuel properties, such as pHe, total acid number, acidity, density, viscosity, calorific value, flash point, and color changes were evaluated. Moreover, the transformation of water content and oxidation products in the fuel were investigated. Effect of fuel blends on corrosion rate, chemical structure of metals, and morphology of corrosion product were also examined. Results showed that the corrosion of metals in E50 (50% bioethanol and 50% gasoline) is high compared with E25 and E0. Moreover, degradation of fuel properties and compositional changes in E25 and E50 were high compared with E0. The corrosion rate of aluminum in E50 (0.216 mpy) was lower than copper (0.441 mpy) and mild steel (0.487 mpy). Moreover, the corrosion rate of aluminum in E25 (0.096 mpy) was also lower than copper (0.285 mpy) and mild steel (0.297 mpy). It was discovered that corrosion of materials and degradation of fuel properties were 2.4 times high in higher ethanol blends (above E25) compared with lower ethanol blends (up to E25). Copyright © 2016 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Influence of thyroxine on different ion-dependent ATPase activities in fat body of tasar silkworm, Antheraea mylitta D

OBJECTIVES: To identify characteristics associated with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) colonization and infection, and to evaluate the efficacy of systemic and topical antimicrobials in the eradication of MRSA carriage among hospitalized patients. DESIGN: A case-control study was done to identify associations. Odds ratios were estimated by unconditional multiple logistic regression. Cohort study was done to evaluate MRSA decolonization efficacy by an oral regimen. Patients infected or colonized with MRSA received a 5-day course of oral (160 mg/800 mg) trimethoprim-sulfametroxazole twice daily and 600 mg of rifampin once daily as decolonization treatment. The proportion of MRSA-free patients after decolonization treatment was determined. Persistence of clearing was estimated by the Kaplan-Meier method. SETTING: Ramón y Cajal Hospital, a 1,249-bed, tertiary-care teaching hospital in Madrid, Spain. PATIENTS: One hundred ninety-two patients with hospital-acquired MRSA infection/colonization and 195 MRSA-free random controls. RESULTS: Six factors were associated independently with MRSA infection/colonization: age (every 10 years of age, odds ratio [OR] = 1.3); ward (surgical, OR = 1; medical, OR = 3.1; intensive care unit, OR = 60); previous hospitalization (OR = 6.9); coma (OR = 25.3); invasive procedures (each, OR = 1.7); 3 or more weeks of hospitalization (OR = 3.8). We failed to show antibiotic therapy to be an independent risk factor for MRSA hospital infection/colonization. Overall, MRSA eradication was 64.2% by day 2 to 9 after completion of treatment. Kaplan-Meier product limit survival analysis showed that the probability of remaining MRSA-free was 65.3% (SE = 0.09) at 32 days after completion of treatment. CONCLUSIONS: The results offer a rationale for reduction of MRSA infection/colonization in the hospital by interventions aimed at early identification of patients at higher risk, at prompt discharge of patients, and at preventing dissemination while performing invasive procedures. They also provide estimates of antibiotic treatment efficacy to reduce the reservoir of MRSA in the hospital.     

Container Based Nomadic Vehicular Cloud Using Cell Transmission Model

Nomadic Vehicular Cloud (NVC) is envisaged in this work. The predominant aspects of NVC is, it moves along with the vehicle that initiates it and functions only with the resources of moving vehicles on the heavy traffic road without relying on any of the static infrastructure and NVC decides the initiation time of container migration using cell transmission model (CTM). Containers are used in the place of Virtual Machines (VM), as containers’ features are very apt to NVC’s dynamic environment. The specifications of 5G NR V2X PC5 interface are applied to NVC, for the feature of not relying on the network coverage. Nowadays, the peak traffic on the road and the bottlenecks due to it are inevitable, which are seen here as the benefits for VC in terms of resource availability and residual in-network time. The speed range of high-end vehicles poses the issue of dis-connectivity among VC participants, that results the container migration failure. As the entire VC participants are on the move, to maintain proximity of the containers hosted by them, estimating their movements plays a vital role. To infer the vehicle movements on the road stretch and initiate the container migration prior enough to avoid the migration failure due to vehicles dynamicity, this paper proposes to apply the CTM to the container based and 5G NR V2X enabled NVC. The simulation results show that there is a significant increase in the success rate of vehicular cloud in terms of successful container migrations.     

Recent Applications of Carbon-Nitrogen Lyases in Asymmetric Synthesis of Noncanonical Amino Acids and Heterocyclic Compounds

Carbon-nitrogen (C−N) lyases are enzymes that normally catalyze the cleavage of C−N bonds. Reversing this reaction towards carbon-nitrogen bond formation can be a powerful approach to prepare valuable compounds that could find applications in everyday life. This review focuses on recent (last five years) applications of native and engineered C−N lyases, either as stand-alone biocatalysts or as part of multienzymatic and chemoenzymatic cascades, in enantioselective synthesis of noncanonical amino acids and dinitrogen-fused heterocycles, which are useful tools for neurobiological research and important synthetic precursors to pharmaceuticals and food additives.     

Multifiller nanocomposites containing gadolinium oxide and bismuth nanoparticles with enhanced X-ray attenuation property

We report here the development of multifiller nanocomposite containing gadolinium oxide and bismuth nanofillers with enhanced X-ray attenuation property. The mass attenuation coefficient of the nanocomposite is found to be 5.26 (X-ray attenuation: 95%) and 2.22 cm²/g (X-ray attenuation: 71%), respectively, under dental and lung X-ray scan conditions. Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy confirms the interfacial interaction between Gd₂O₃ nanofillers and the polymer matrix through hydrogen bonding. Atomic force microscopy images of the nanocomposite show a smooth and uniform topography with an average surface roughness of ~19 nm. Thermogravimetric analysis confirms the thermal stability of the nanocomposite upto 384°C. The enhanced X-ray attenuation property of the nanocomposite is attributed to the good interfacial bonding, dual k-edge effect of nanofillers and their uniform distribution within the polymeric matrix. Therefore, this nanocomposite is a promising material for diagnostic X-ray shielding, especially as, thyroid collar, gonad shield, aprons, gloves, and so on.