Crystallographic phase induced electro-optic properties of nanorod blend nematic liquid crystal

Ultrasmall ZnS or PbS nanorods encapsulated in fluid-like soft organic surfactants show excellent miscibility in the nematic liquid crystal (LC ZLI-4792) host resulting in a novel soft matter type blend with enhanced electro-optic properties. The ultranarrow ZnS rods are of wurtzite phase and possess a chemical bipolarity and a net dipole moment. The centrosymmetric ultranarrow PbS rods possess a finite size and shape dependent inherent dipole moment despite their cubic rock-salt structure. When an electric field is applied, the blend aligns along the direction of the field producing a local unidirectional orientation of the rods and LC directors, and defining a unique axis for the system. The local ordering significantly affects the global ordering of the blend allowing a more rapid response of the electro-optic properties. The degree and switching speed of the blends depend upon the magnitude of dipole moments present in the dopant nanorods. We show how a non-mesogenic element designed with preferential crystallographic phase can be introduced within a LC for improvement of the switching properties of the LC blend. These types of unique blends are a model for fundamental conceptual advances in general understanding of interaction behaviour leading consequently to a significant technological advancement for superior device fabrication.     

Silicon nanotube field effect transistor with core-shell gate stacks for enhanced high-performance operation and area scaling benefits

We introduce the concept of a silicon nanotube field effect transistor whose unique core-shell gate stacks help achieve full volume inversion by giving a surge in minority carrier concentration in the near vicinity of the ultrathin channel and at the same time rapid roll-off at the source and drain junctions constituting velocity saturation-induced higher drive current-enhanced high performance per device with efficient real estate consumption. The core-shell gate stacks also provide superior short channel effects control than classical planar metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistor (MOSFET) and gate-all-around nanowire FET. The proposed device offers the true potential to be an ideal blend for quantum ballistic transport study of device property control by bottom-up approach and high-density integration compatibility using top-down state-of-the-art complementary metal oxide semiconductor flow.     

On the Kennedy and Bretton model for mixing and segregation in liquid fluidized beds

The foundations and applications of the Kennedy and Bretton model for mixing and segregation in liquid fluidized beds containing two sizes of equal density particles are critically examined. A direct method of solution that avoids all the difficulties and pitfalls of previous methods is presented.     

Comparative Design and Study of A 60 GHz Antenna for Body-Centric Wireless Communications

In this paper performance of three different designs of a 60 GHz high gain antenna for body-centric communication has been evaluated. The basic structure of the antenna is a slotted patch consisting of a rectangular ring radiator with passive radiators inside. The variation of the design was done by changing the shape of these passive radiators. For free space performance, two types of excitations were used—waveguide port and a coaxial probe. The coaxial probe significantly improved both the bandwidth and radiation efficiency. The center frequency of all the designs was close to 60 GHz with a bandwidth of more than 5 GHz. These designs achieved a maximum gain of 8.47 dB, 10 dB, and 9.73 dB while the radiation efficiency was around 94%. For body-centric applications, these antennas were simulated at two different distances from a human torso phantom using a coaxial probe. The torso phantom was modeled by taking three layers of the human body—skin, fat, and muscle. Millimeter waves have low penetration depth in the human body as a result antenna performance is less affected. A negligible shift of return loss curves was observed. Radiation efficiencies dropped at the closest distance to the phantom and at the furthest distance, the efficiencies increased to free space values. On the three layers human body phantom, all three different antenna designs show directive radiation patterns towards off the body. All three designs exhibited similar results in terms of center frequency and efficiency but varied slightly by either having better bandwidth or maximum gain.     

An end-to-end deep learning model for human activity recognition from highly sparse body sensor data in Internet of Medical Things environment

The Journal of Supercomputing - Recognizing human activity from highly sparse body sensor data is becoming an important problem in Internet of Medical Things (IoMT) industry. As IoMT currently uses...     

Effective sensing radius (ESR) and performance analysis of static and mobile sensor networks

In wireless sensor networks (WSNs), deterministic sensing model has been widely studied and explored for its coverage analysis. Boolean sensing model falls under the deterministic category, which considers a fixed sensing radius, although it is not a realistic assumption. In the literature other probabilistic sensing models like Elfes sensing model and shadow fading sensing model are also considered. However, the linking between the Boolean sensing model and probabilistic sensing models has not yet been analyzed. Nowadays, mobile sensor networks (MSNs) are becoming a hot research topic for their diverse area of applications. It comes with many mathematical and analytical complexities for coverage performance analysis due to continuous topological changes. In this paper, we derive the expression of effective sensing radius (ESR) for probabilistic sensing models to make the link between these sensing models. We also extend our study to MSNs for studying performance analysis such as network coverage fraction and intruder detection time by utilizing ESR of probabilistic sensing models. Our proposed ESR is suitable for analyzing and planning of WSNs.     

Double gene targeting multiplex PCR-RFLP detects Crocodylus porosus in chicken meatball and traditional medicine

Crocodiles have been hunted and consumed for centuries for skins, nutrients, and medicines. These indomitable trends have overpowered restrictions from wildlife and conservation agencies, continuing the illegal trades of crocodiles across the world. This paper described the development of a very stable, fast, and secured polymerase chain reaction-restriction fragment length polymorphism (PCR-RFLP) assay for the confirmed detection of Crocodylus porosus under any matrices and decomposing treatments. Two very short-sites (77 and 127-bp) of atp6 and cytb genes of C. porosus were controlled digested with AciI enzyme; producing distinctive RFLP patterns (83, 54, 44 & 23 bp). The enzyme digested assay was stable following extreme boiling, autoclaving, and microwaving treatments that break down DNA. The sensitivity was tested and validated in model meatballs and it was suitable for detecting 0.01% crocodile meatball matrices. The optimized RFLP assay was used to screen 3 commercial meatballs and 21 traditional medicines (TM). While no crocodile DNA was found in commercial chicken meatballs, 4/21 TM products were found correctly labelled to contain C. porosus DNA. The novel assay demonstrated sufficient merit to be used by regulatory agencies for any forensic and/or archaeological identification of C. porosus even under the state of decomposition.     

Overlapping design and construction activities and an optimization approach to minimize rework

Construction industry often faces challenge to complete project in minimum possible time. Overlapping design and construction activities with early information from the precedent activities shortens project completion with the expense of rework in downstream design and construction activities. However, the expected amount of rework must be properly quantified to decide on the overlapping strategy. This study presents an integrated framework to overlap design and construction activities using the concepts of upstream evaluation and downstream sensitivity characteristics and develops a simulation model in order to ascertain project performance in terms of total project duration and expected amount of rework. The results indicate that reduction in project duration and expected rework amount vary based on the accuracy of upstream early information and sensitivity of downstream activities. Moreover, unplanned overlapping may not necessarily reduce project duration but may result in excessive design and construction rework which can be very costly. This study also describes a decision-making framework to optimize project schedule with minimal rework. The search for an optimal overlapping strategy is carried out using an Overlapping Strategy Matrix (OSM) with the genetic algorithm (GA) to eliminate unnecessary rework. The proposed optimization method minimizes the expected amount of rework while maintaining the project completion contract date and provides an effective means to decide on the overlapping strategy.     

Numerical modelling of yielding shear panel device for passive energy dissipation

Yielding shear panel device (YSPD) is a relatively new passive energy dissipation device, which is designed to exploit the shear deformation capacity of metallic plates to absorb earthquake energy. YSPD is inexpensive and its simplicity in manufacturing and installation are the key to its possible commercialisation. The current research investigates the development of finite element (FE) models for YSPD using a general purpose FE software ANSYS; the modelling procedure is based on the test results obtained from the pilot testing scheme carried out at the University of Queensland and City University of Hong Kong. The developed FE models include both material and geometric nonlinearities. Nonlinear spring elements have been used to model the appropriate support conditions observed in the experiments. Results obtained from the FE analysis are compared against the test results for both monotonic and cyclic loadings. A theoretical approach is also proposed herein to predict the initial stiffness of the load–deformation response of YSPD and the predictions obtained using the proposed analytic model are also compared against those available both from the experiments and the developed FE models. Additional results generated using the verified FE models will be used to develop design rules for YSPD.