Fabrication of chitosan microparticles loaded in chitosan and poly(vinyl alcohol) scaffolds for tissue engineering application

In recent decades, the use of microparticle-mediated drug delivery is widely applied in the field of biomedical application. Here, we report the new dressing material with ciprofloxacin-loaded chitosan microparticle (CMP) impregnated in chitosan (CH) and poly(vinyl alcohol) (PVA) scaffold for effective delivery of drug in a sustained manner to the wound site. Moreover, the peculiar physiochemical and structural properties of the CH–CMP scaffold has proved better tensile strength and excellent swelling to achieve 82% of drug release. In vitro biocompatibility was done for both scaffold using NIH 3T3 fibroblasts and human keratinocytes (HaCaT) cell lines. In vitro fluorescent activity showed distinct biocompatibility with good cell adhesion and proliferation. However, the CH–CMP scaffold showed best result to act as promising biomaterial in effective drug delivery in tissue engineering.     

A programmable optical network testbed in support of C-RAN: a reliability study

With both mobile network services and related data traffic volume on the rise, reliability of the radio access network is of the essence. A number of radio functional splits are defined by 3GPP to offer increased flexibility of implementation and feasibility of new mobile network services. For example, it is possible to implement certain radio functions in the Cloud, an architectural solution referred to as C-RAN. C-RAN solutions require highly reliable backhaul and fronthaul network designs. This paper describes PROnet, a programmable optical software-defined network testbed, which has been upgraded to offer backhaul and fronthaul transport capabilities in support of C-RAN functionalities with increased reliability. The testbed is upgraded with a specially designed 1 + 1 protection mechanism at the Ethernet layer in order to meet the stringent network round-trip requirements imposed by one of the C-RAN functional split options on the fronthaul.

     

Multilayer rheology: A comparison of experimental data with modeling of multilayer shear flow

The rheological behavior of multilayer polyjeric structures has been investigated Measurements of the bulk viscoelastic properties via small-amplitude oscilatory rheometry indicated that the shear viscosity is independent of both the numbe of layers (83 vs. 165) and the composition (30/70, 50/50, and 70/30 PC/PMMA by weight) within the limits of the data obtained. It is also apparent tha tthe shear viscosity is influenced strongly by the skin layer material. In additon, a model has been developed tha tcan be used to proedict the shear viscosity and shear stress ofa multilayer structure experiencing shear flow. The model predicts tha thte shear viscosity of a multilayer structure should be independent of the number of layers and strongly dependent on the material in the skin layer. These predictions are in agreement with experimental data.     

A new approach to evaluate generation capacity bids

Decision making on capacity addition has become highly complex as the power industry worldwide is undergoing regulatory changes. This paper argues the use of mathematical models to aid the decision makers to select generation capacity bids. A three-stage optimization scheme is developed to accurately estimate the benefits from a specific project. A multiobjective framework to capture both quantitative as well as qualitative information (through expert judgement) has been employed. The model can be used to estimate the marginal benefit from a project and calculate a composite index to rank them in order of their desirability. A case study for modified IEEE 30-bus test system illustrates the methodological issues     

Photovoltaic effect in single-layer organic solar cell devices fabricated with two new imidazolin-5-one molecules

Organic solar cells were fabricated with two new imidazolin-5-one molecules as active layers. The use of imidazolin-5-ones, derivatives of a biomolecule chromophore, for photovoltaic applications is particularly attractive due to its biodegradable nature and tunable properties. Single-layer devices with two analogues of imidazolin-5-ones were prepared and characterized. Devices fabricated with one of the molecules as the active layer showed a maximum J_sc of 0.52 μA cm⁻² and V_oc of 0.68 V at an incident power of 20.32 mW cm⁻², while the other set of devices showed a maximum J_sc of 0.63 μA cm⁻² and V_oc of 0.57 V at the same incident power.     

A unified framework and algorithm for channel assignment in wireless networks

Channel assignment problems in the time, frequency and code domains have thus far been studied separately. Exploiting the similarity of constraints that characterize assignments within and across these domains, we introduce the first unified framework for the study of assignment problems. Our framework identifies eleven atomic constraints underlying most current and potential assignment problems, and characterizes a problem as a combination of these constraints. Based on this framework, we present a unified algorithm for efficient (T/F/C)DMA channel assignments to network nodes or to inter-nodal links in a (multihop) wireless network. The algorithm is parametrized to allow for tradeoff-selectable use as three different variants called RAND, MNF, and PMNF. We provide comprehensive theoretical analysis characterizing the worst-case performance of our algorithm for several classes of problems. In particular, we show that the assignments produced by the PMNF variant are proportional to the thickness of the network. For most typical multihop networks, the thickness can be bounded by a small constant, and hence this represents a significant theoretical result. We also experimentally study the relative performance of the variants for one node and one link assignment problem. We observe that the PMNF variant performs the best, and that a large percentage of unidirectional links is detrimental to the performance in general.     

Overload management in real-time control applications using (m,k)-firm guarantee

Tasks in a real-time control application are usually periodic and they have deadline constraints by which each instance of a task is expected to complete its computation, even in the adverse circumstances caused by component failures. Techniques to recover from processor failures often involve a reconfiguration in which all tasks are assigned to fault-free processors. This reconfiguration may result in processor overload where it is no longer possible to meet the deadlines of all tasks. In this paper, we discuss an overload management technique which discards selected task instances in such a way that the performance of the control loops in the system remain satisfactory even after a failure. The technique is based on the rationale that real-time control applications can tolerate occasional misses of the control law updates, especially if the control law is modified to account for these missed updates. The paper devises a scheduling policy which deterministically guarantees when and where the misses will occur. The paper also proposes a methodology for modifying the control law to minimize the deterioration in the control system behavior as a result of these missed control law updates     

Properties of 19.2% efficiency ZnO/CdS/CuInGaSe2 thin‐film solar cells

We report the growth and characterization of record‐efficiency ZnO/CdS/CuInGaSe₂ thin‐film solar cells. Conversion efficiencies exceeding 19% have been achieved for the first time, and this result indicates that the 20% goal is within reach. Details of the experimental procedures are provided, and material and device characterization data are presented. Published in 2003 by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Exploring Transfer Learning Approaches for Head Pose Classification from Multi-view Surveillance Images

Head pose classification from surveillance images acquired with distant, large field-of-view cameras is difficult as faces are captured at low-resolution and have a blurred appearance. Domain adaptation approaches are useful for transferring knowledge from the training (source) to the test (target) data when they have different attributes, minimizing target data labeling efforts in the process. This paper examines the use of transfer learning for efficient multi-view head pose classification with minimal target training data under three challenging situations: (i) where the range of head poses in the source and target images is different, (ii) where source images capture a stationary person while target images capture a moving person whose facial appearance varies under motion due to changing perspective, scale and (iii) a combination of (i) and (ii). On the whole, the presented methods represent novel transfer learning solutions employed in the context of multi-view head pose classification. We demonstrate that the proposed solutions considerably outperform the state-of-the-art through extensive experimental validation. Finally, the DPOSE dataset compiled for benchmarking head pose classification performance with moving persons, and to aid behavioral understanding applications is presented in this work.     

Choosing a Client/Server Architecture

The architectural design of a client/server system affects the initial development cost, day-to-day transactional performance, ongoing maintenance costs, and long-term flexibility and scalability of the application. The choice between a two- and three-tier architecture should be based on the scope and complexity of a project, the time available for completion, and the expected enhancement or obsolescence of the system. A three-tier architecture requires more planning and support than a two-tier architecture, but it offers advantages in openness, flexibility, scalability, and integration.