High power and low cross‐polarization microstrip patch array antenna at S‐band

This article reports the design and development of high power, low cross‐polarization, and high efficiency circularly polarized microstrip patch array antenna at S‐band, proposed for Indian Regional Navigation Satellite System payload. A novel feeding mechanism for truncated corner square patch based on square coaxial line for broadband impedance matching is discussed. Sequential rotation scheme for axial ratio improvement in an array is implemented. High power handling margins in critical regions of square coaxial line for multipaction breakdown is brought out. Measured 19 dB return loss bandwidth of array antenna is 15.6%. Axial ratio of 0.78 dB over global coverage is achieved in the desired frequency band of operation. © 2011 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Int J RF and Microwave CAE, 2012.     

A hard diffusion boride coating for ferrous materials

A pack cementation method is described for forming a hard dense boride coating on ferrous materials. The coating produced on different steels was characterized by metallography, X-ray diffraction and electron microprobe analysis. The coating on all the steels studied consisted predominantly of iron borides, though small amounts of chromium could also be incorporated in the coating by varying the pack chemistry. The adherence of the coating was observed to depend on its thickness and the particular base material; greater thicknesses and greater amounts of alloying elements in the base material resulted in a generally greater tendency for the coating to spall. The coating exhibited good resistance to corrosion in slightly acidic water as long as it remained free of any microcracks; it also showed a much better resistance against erosion by flowing pressurized water than either tungsten carbide or Stellite did.     

Low-cost checkpointing and failure recovery in mobile computingsystems

A mobile computing system consists of mobile and stationary nodes, connected to each other by a communication network. The presence of mobile nodes in the system places constraints on the permissible energy consumption and available communication bandwidth. To minimize the lost computation during recovery from node failures, periodic collection of a consistent snapshot of the system (checkpoint) is required. Locating mobile nodes contributes to the checkpointing and recovery costs. Synchronous snapshot collection algorithms, designed for static networks, either force every node in the system to take a new local snapshot, or block the underlying computation during snapshot collection. Hence, they are not suitable for mobile computing systems. If nodes take their local checkpoints independently in an uncoordinated manner, each node may have to store multiple local checkpoints in stable storage. This is not suitable for mobile nodes as they have small memory. This paper presents a synchronous snapshot collection algorithm for mobile systems that neither forces every node to take a local snapshot, nor blocks the underlying computation during snapshot collection. If a node initiates snapshot collection, local snapshots of only those nodes that have directly or transitively affected the initiator since their last snapshots need to be taken. We prove that the global snapshot collection terminates within a finite time of its invocation and the collected global snapshot is consistent. We also propose a minimal rollback/recovery algorithm in which the computation at a node is rolled back only if it depends on operations that have been undone due to the failure of node(s). Both the algorithms have low communication and storage overheads and meet the low energy consumption and low bandwidth constraints of mobile computing systems     

Cleavage of poly(A)-binding protein by enterovirus proteases concurrent with inhibition of translation in vitro

Many enteroviruses, members of the family Picornaviridae, cause a rapid and drastic inhibition of host cell protein synthesis during infection, a process referred to as host cell shutoff. Poliovirus, one of the best-studied enteroviruses, causes marked inhibition of host cell translation while preferentially allowing translation of its own genomic mRNA. An abundance of experimental evidence has accumulated to indicate that cleavage of an essential translation initiation factor, eIF4G, during infection is responsible at least in part for this shutoff. However, evidence from inhibitors of viral replication suggests that an additional event is necessary for the complete translational shutoff observed during productive infection. This report examines the effect of poliovirus infection on a recently characterized 3' end translational stimulatory protein, poly(A)-binding protein (PABP). PABP is involved in stimulating translation initiation in lower eukaryotes by its interaction with the poly(A) tail on mRNAs and has been proposed to facilitate 5'-end-3'-end interactions in the context of the closed-loop translational model. Here, we show that PABP is specifically degraded during poliovirus infection and that it is cleaved in vitro by both poliovirus 2A and 3C proteases and coxsackievirus B3 2A protease. Further, PABP cleavage by 2A protease is accompanied by concurrent loss of translational activity in an in vitro-translation assay. Similar loss of translational activity also occurs simultaneously with partial 3C protease-mediated cleavage of PABP in translation assays. Further, PABP is not degraded during infections in the presence of guanidine-HCl, which blocks the complete development of host translation shutoff. These results provide preliminary evidence that cleavage of PABP may contribute to inhibition of host translation in infected HeLa cells, and they are consistent with the hypothesis that PABP plays a role in facilitating translation initiation in higher eukaryotes.     

Effect of long-term stress and temperature exposure on the fracture toughness of Ti-62222 alloy

Fracture toughness tests were conducted on a Ti-62222 (titanium alloy) sheet being considered for use in high temperature aircraft applications in the as received condition and after exposing the pre-cracked specimens to a sustained stress intensity, K, level between 55 and 60.5 MPa for 200 h at 350°C. It was concluded that the fracture toughness does not degrade as a result of exposure to high temperature and the K levels in this material. The tensile strength in the exposed condition also remained the same as in the as received condition.     

One protein, two enzymes

Two enzymes, designated, E-2 and E-2', catalyze different oxidation reactions of an aci-reductone intermediate in the methionine salvage pathway. E-2 and E-2', overproduced in Escherichia coli from the same gene, have the same protein component. E-2 and E-2' are separable on an anion exchange column or a hydrophobic column. Their distinct catalytic and chromatographic properties result from binding different metals. The apo-enzyme, obtained after metal is removed from either enzyme, is catalytically inactive. Addition of Ni2+ or Co2+ to the apo-protein yields E-2 activity. E-2' activity is obtained when Fe2+ is added. Production in intact E. coli of E-2 and E-2' depends on the availability of the corresponding metals. These observations suggest that the metal component dictates reaction specificity.     

An Efficient and Scalable Quasi-Aggregate Signature Scheme Based on LFSR Sequences

Aggregate signatures can be a crucial building block for providing scalable authentication of a large number of users in several applications like building efficient certificate chains, authenticating distributed content management systems, and securing path vector routing protocols. Aggregate signatures aim to prevent resources (signature and storage elements, and computation) from growing linearly in the number of signers participating in a network protocol. In this paper, we present an efficient and scalable quasi-aggregate signature scheme, {rm CLFSR}- {rm QA}, based on third-order linear feedback shift register (cubic LFSR) sequences that can be instantiated using both XTR and GH public key cryptosystems. In the proposed {rm CLFSR}-{rm QA} construction, signers sign messages sequentially; however, the verfier need not know the order in which messages were signed. The proposed scheme offers constant length signatures, fast signing, aggregation, and verification operations at each node, and requires the least storage elements (public keys needed to verify the signature), compared to any other aggregate signature scheme. To the best of our knowledge, {rm CLFSR}- {rm QA} is the first aggregate signature scheme to be constructed using LFSR sequences. We believe that the {rm CLFSR}- {rm QA} signature scheme can be catalytic in improving the processing latency as well as reducing space requirements in building secure, large-scale distributed network protocols. We perform extensive theoretical analysis including correctness and security of {rm CLFSR}- {rm QA} and also present a performance (computation and communication costs, storage overhead) comparison of the proposed scheme with well-known traditional constructions.     

Exploring Variability and Performance in a Sub-200-mV Processor

In this study, we explore the design of a subthreshold processor for use in ultra-low-energy sensor systems. We describe an 8-bit subthreshold processor that has been designed with energy efficiency as the primary constraint. The processor, which is functional below V_dd=200 mV, consumes only 3.5 pJ/inst at V_dd=350 mV and, under a reverse body bias, draws only 11 nW at V_dd=160 mV. Process and temperature variations in subthreshold circuits can cause dramatic fluctuations in performance and energy consumption and can lead to robustness problems. We investigate the use of body biasing to adapt to process and temperature variations. Test-chip measurements show that body biasing is particularly effective in subthreshold circuits and can eliminate performance variations with minimal energy penalties. Reduced performance is also problematic at low voltages, so we investigate global and local techniques for improving performance while maintaining energy efficiency.