A low power consumption CMOS differential-ring VCO for a wireless sensor

This paper describes a new three-stage voltage controlled ring oscillator (VCO) based on 0.35???m standard CMOS technology. The VCO was designed for a transmitter operating in the 863?C870?MHz European band for wireless sensor applications. The transmitter is designed for binary frequency-shift keying (BFSK) modulation, communicating a maximum data rate of 20?kb/s. In addition to the VCO, the transmitter combines a BFSK modulator, an up conversion mixer, a power amplifier and an 863?C870?MHz band pass filter. The modulator uses the frequency hopping spread spectrum and it is intended for short range wireless applications, such as wireless sensor networks. The oscillation frequency of the VCO is controlled by a voltage V_CTRL. Simulation results of the fully differential VCO with positive feedback show that the estimated power consumption, at desired oscillation frequency and under a supply voltage of 3.3?V, is only 7.48?mW. The proposed VCO exhibits a phase noise lower than ?126?dBc/Hz at 10?MHz offset frequency.     

Pectin Extraction from Lemon By-Product with Acidified Date Juice: Effect of Extraction Conditions on Chemical Composition of Pectins

Mixtures of date and lemon pectins were extracted from lemon by-product with acidified date juice under different conditions of temperature, pH and time. Individual pectins from date and lemon, respectively, were also extracted using the same experimental conditions, then analysed and compared to pectin mixtures. It was found that the use of extreme conditions resulted in higher galacturonic acid content, lower degree of methylation, lower neutral sugar content, lower molecular weight and darker colour pectins. Examination of the individual neutral sugars showed that the main ones were galactose (1.6–5.4%), arabinose (1.6–4.2%) and rhamnose (0.5–0.8%). The Gal A/Rha molar ratios varied from ∼53 to ∼149. Moreover, mixture of pectin extracted at the optimal extraction conditions (84.34 °C, pH 2.8 during 3 h 34 min) had interesting properties, with a high galacturonic acid content (63.4%), low degree of methylation (∼35%) and a mass molecular weight of about 243 kg/mol.     

Optimum second threshold for the CFAR binary integrator in Pearson-distributed clutter

In this paper, we propose to analyze the binary integration of the cell-averaging constant false-alarm rate (CA-CFAR) and order statistics constant false-alarm rate (OS-CFAR) detectors in the presence of non-Gaussian spiky clutter modeled as a Pearson distribution. We derive new closed form expressions for false alarm and detection probabilities for the CA-CFAR detector in the presence of Pearson-distributed clutter backgrounds. We first show that the use of binary integration improves the detection probabilities of the detectors considered. Secondly, the maximum of detection probability occurs for an optimum choice when the second threshold is set to be equal to M = (3/4) L. For this optimum M-out-of-L rule, the comparison analysis of the CA-CFAR and OS-CFAR binary integrators showed that the latter has better performance in homogeneous Pearson- distributed clutter.     

Characterisation of the glycerophospholipid fraction in flaxseed oil using liquid chromatography–mass spectrometry

A high-performance liquid chromatographic method coupled with mass spectrometry was used to characterise the natural phospholipid (PL) classes and molecular species in flaxseed oils. The PL fraction included phosphatidylethanolamine (PE) (27–40%), phosphatidylinositol (PI) (29–32%), phosphatidylcholine (PC) (7–18%), lysophosphatidylcholine (LPC) (8–21%), phosphatidylglycerol (PG) (1–4%) and phosphatidic acid (PA) (1–9%). The distribution of fatty acids was found to differ between phospholipids. Stearic acid was mainly present in the form of PC and LPC. Palmitic acid was present in the most abundant molecular species in PI, PG and PA whereas linoleic acid formed the most abundant molecular species in PE.     

Enabling technologies for the ‘always best connected’ concept

‘Always Best Connected’ (ABC) is considered one of the main requirements for next generation networks. The ABC concept allows a person to have access to applications using the devices and network technologies that best suits his or her needs or profile at any time. Clearly, this requires the combination of a set of existing and new technologies, at all levels of the protocol stack, into one integrated system. In this paper, a considerable set of the technologies, that are expected to play a key role towards the ABC vision, are presented. Starting from a reference architecture, the paper describes the required enhancements at certain levels of a traditional protocol stack, as well as technologies for mobility and end‐to‐end Quality of Service (QoS) support. The paper concludes with a case study that reveals the advantages of the ABC concept. This article replaces a previously published version (Wireless Communications and Mobile Computing; 5 (2): 175‐191. [DOI: 10.1002/wcm.207]). Retraction notice DOI: 10.1002/wcm.426 . Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Assessment of the bioactive lipid profiles of oil extracted from Tunisian table olive cultivars (Barouni,Besbassi, and Marsaline cvs.)

Bioactive compounds are components extracted from biological matrices that may offer physiological health benefits and have nutritive value. The present study characterized bioactive lipid components such as fatty acids, phytosterols, policosanol, and triterpenes from table olives. The table olives were processed according to the green Spanish-style method. The obtained results indicate that phytosterol fraction constitutes the major portion of the total unsaponifiable matter. The analysis of phytosterols showed the presence of 11 compounds, β-sitosterol the predominant one. The policosanol composition indicated that hexacosanol, tetracosanol, octacosanol, and docosanol were the main compounds, accounting for over 85% of total policosanols. Pentacyclic triterpenes (cycloartenol and 24-methylene cycloartenol) were found at a higher level (over 85%) compared to tetracyclic triterpenes (β-amyrin, δ-amyrin). These findings reveal that processed table olives contain an interesting amount of various bioactive compounds compared to marine and other floral biological matrices. Thus, processed table olives represent an interesting natural functional food that presents high stability and bioavailability of their natural bioactive ingredients. Practical Applications: Nowadays, with health food gaining popularity among consumers, the demand for natural bioactive compounds and functional food is expanding considerably all over the world. This study focuses on analyzing bioactive lipid components from processed table olives. Fruits were processed according to the green Spanish-style method. The salt content of the brine was adjusted to the minimum sodium chloride value required by the Codex Alimentarius Comission, which is 5%, taking into consideration people suffering from hypertension. This concentration is considered the minimum amount of salt necessary to exhibit antibacterial activities. Considering the results obtained, processed table olives present one of the most valuable potential resources for bioactive lipid compounds and have a considerable ability to preserve the stability of their lipid components. Thus, the food industry in Mediterranean countries can promote processed table olives as conventional functional food with no need for any enrichment or fortification.     

CADS-ML/DL: efficient cloud-based multi-attack detection system

International Journal of Information Security - With the increasing adoption of cloud computing, securing cloud-based systems and applications has become a critical concern for almost every...