Experimental study of a combined biomass and solar energy-based fully grid-independent air-conditioning system

Clean Technologies and Environmental Policy - In this paper, a small-scale triple-hybrid air-conditioning system operated by biomass and solar energy resources is experimentally investigated....     

Hybrid fuzzy logic committee neural networks for recognition of swallow acceleration signals

Biological signals are complex and often require intelligent systems for recognition of characteristic signals. In order to improve the reliability of the recognition or automated diagnostic systems, hybrid fuzzy logic committee neural networks were developed and the system was used for recognition of swallow acceleration signals from artifacts. Two sets of fuzzy logic-committee networks (FCN) each consisting of seven member networks were developed, trained and evaluated. The FCN-I was used to recognize dysphagic swallow from artifacts, and the second committee FCN-II was used to recognize normal swallow from artifacts. Several networks were trained and the best seven were recruited into each committee. Acceleration signals from the throat were bandpass filtered, and several parameters were extracted and fed to the fuzzy logic block of either FCN-I or FCN-II. The fuzzified membership values were fed to the committee of neural networks which provided the signal classification. A majority opinion of the member networks was used to arrive at the final decision. Evaluation results revealed that FCN correctly identified 16 out of 16 artifacts and 31 out of 33 dysphagic swallows. In two cases, the decision was ambiguous due to the lack of a majority opinion. FCN-II correctly identified 24 out of 24 normal swallows, and 28 out of 29 artifacts. In one case, the decision was ambiguous due to the lack of a majority opinion. The present hybrid intelligent system consisting of fuzzy logic and committee networks provides a reliable tool for recognition and classification of acceleration signals due to swallowing.     

Information-intensive wireless sensor networks: potential and challenges

Conventional wireless sensor networks rely mostly on simple scalar data (such as temperature or humidity) and specialize in single-purpose applications. Taking a fundamental departure, in this article we motivate information-rich wireless video sensor networks that emulate the compound eyes found in certain arthropods. Although constrained by scarce resources, sensor nodes can only serve extremely low-resolution video streams; the availability of vast amount of such streams due to deployment redundance can suffice for the need of information hungry applications. Unfortunately, the unique characteristics of wireless video sensor networks will introduce novel uncertainty-driven challenges in the information-intensive and yet resource-constrained environment. Correspondingly, we describe key research problems in the areas of networking, security, sensor design, and video-data analysis     

Some spectral response characteristics of ZnTe thin films

Zinc telluride thin films have been grown at room temperature and higher temperature substrates by thermal evaporation technique in a vacuum of 10^-6 torr. A main peak in the photocurrent is observed at 781 nm (1.58 eV) with two lower amplitude peaks on the lower wavelength side and one on higher wavelength side. The evaluated thermal activation energy is found to correspond well with the main spectral peak. From these studies it can be inferred that temperatures up to 453 K is still in the extrinsic conductivity region of the studied ZnTe thin films. The paper was presented at the 6th Asian Thermophysical Properties Conference (6th ATPC), held at Gauhati University, during 8–11 October 2001.     

A new public-domain simulator for power electronic circuits

A new public-domain simulator (SEQUEL) for power electronic circuits is described. The organization of the simulator is briefly discussed. The most important feature of the simulator is that the user can define new elements in a flexible manner. The differences between the new simulator and other simulators are enumerated. Some simulation examples are discussed to demonstrate the applications of the simulator. It is pointed out that the new simulator is particularly attractive for engineering institutes in developing countries where access to expensive commercial packages with similar capabilities may be difficult     

Stress intensity factors for an interfacial crack between an orthotropic half-plane bonded to a dissimilar orthotropic layer with a punch

The plane strain problem of determining Stress Intensity Factors (SIF) for a moving interfacial Griffith crack between an elastic orthotropic half-plane and a dissimilar orthotropic layer with a moving punch situated along the boundary of the layer have been considered. The problem is reduced to the solution of three simultaneous singular integral equations with Cauchy-type singularities. Expressions for SIF for the case of a general loading are obtained. Numerical results for some particular cases are also presented graphically.     

Challenges in Liquid‐Phase Exfoliation,Processing, and Assembly of Pristine Graphene

Recent developments in the exfoliation, dispersion, and processing of pristine graphene (i.e., non‐oxidized graphene) are described. General metrics are outlined that can be used to assess the quality and processability of various “graphene” products, as well as metrics that determine the potential for industrial scale‐up. The pristine graphene production process is categorized from a chemical engineering point of view with three key steps: i) pretreatment, ii) exfoliation, and iii) separation. How pristine graphene colloidal stability is distinct from the exfoliation step and is dependent upon graphene interactions with solvents and dispersants are extensively reviewed. Finally, the challenges and opportunities of using pristine graphene as nanofillers in polymer composites, as well as as building blocks for macrostructure assemblies are summarized in the context of large‐scale production.     

A synopsis on node compromise detection in wireless sensor networks using sequential analysis (Invited Review Article)

By exploiting the unattended nature of the wireless sensor networks, an attacker can physically capture and compromise sensor nodes and then launch a variety of attacks. He can additionally create many replicas of a few compromised nodes and spread these replicas over the network, thus launching further attacks with their help. In order to minimize the damage incurred by compromised and replicated nodes, it is very important to detect such malicious nodes as quickly as possible. In this review article, we synthesize our previous works on node compromise detection in sensor networks while providing the extended analysis in terms of performance comparison to the related work. More specifically, we use the methodology of the sequential analysis to detect static and mobile compromised nodes, as well as mobile replicated nodes in sensor networks. With the help of analytical and simulation results, we also demonstrate that our schemes provide robust and efficient node compromise detection capability.     

Binding of organic anions by synthetic supramolecular metallopores with internal Mg2+-aspartate complexes

We report that cation-selective transmembrane pores formed by synthetic p-octiphenyl beta barrels with internal aspartate residues can be transformed into anion-permeable metallopores with internal Mg(2+)-aspartate complexes. These metallopores are shown to be useful for fluorimetric sensing of a broad variety of organic anions of biological relevance such as phytate, heparin, thiamine phosphates, and adenosine triphosphate. The negligible flippase activity measurable for Mg(2+)-free pores indicates that transmembrane p-octiphenyl beta barrels do not disturb the lipid bilayer suprastructure, in other words, they form barrel-stave rather than toroidal pores.     

Schottky diodes based on nanocrystalline p-GaN and n-GaN in thin film form

Nanocrystalline n-GaN and p-GaN in thin film form were deposited onto fused silica substrates by high-pressure d.c. magnetron sputtering of Si (1 at%) and Be (1 at%) doped GaN targets, respectively. Schottky diode structures for both the p- and n-type nanocrystalline GaN (Au/p-GaN/Al and Al/n-GaN/Au) were fabricated out of the above films. Corresponding current-voltage and capacitance-voltage characteristics of the Schottky diodes were recorded and analyzed in the light of the existing theories.