Mobile-to-mobile fading channels in amplify-and-forward relay systems under line-of-sight conditions: statistical modeling and analysis

This paper deals with the modeling and analysis of narrowband mobile-to-mobile (M2M) fading channels for amplify-and-forward relay links under line-of-sight (LOS) conditions. It is assumed that a LOS component exists in the direct link between the source mobile station (SMS) and the destination mobile station (DMS), as well as in the links via the mobile relay (MR). The proposed channel model is referred to as the multiple-LOS second-order scattering (MLSS) channel model. The MLSS channel model is derived from a second-order scattering process, where the received signal is modeled in the complex baseband as the sum of a single and a double scattered component. Analytical expressions are derived for the mean value, variance, probability density function (PDF), cumulative distribution function (CDF), level-crossing rate (LCR), and average duration of fades (ADF) of the received envelope of MLSS channels. The PDF of the channel phase is also investigated. It is observed that the LOS components and the relay gain have a significant influence on the statistics of MLSS channels. It is also shown that MLSS channels include various other channel models as special cases, e.g., double Rayleigh channels, double Rice channels, single-LOS double-scattering (SLDS) channels, non-line-of-sight (NLOS) second-order scattering (NLSS) channels, and single-LOS second-order scattering (SLSS) channels. The correctness of all analytical results is confirmed by simulations using a high performance channel simulator. Our novel MLSS channel model is of significant importance for the system level performance evaluation of M2M communication systems in different M2M propagation scenarios. Furthermore, our studies pertaining to the fading behavior of MLSS channels are useful for the design and development of relay-based cooperative wireless networks.     

Role of Double Oxide Film Defects in the Formation of Gas Porosity in Commercial Purity and Sr-containing Al Alloys

The role of double oxide film(bifilm) defects in the formation of gas porosity in commercial purity and Srcontaining Al alloys was investigated by means of a reduced pressure test(RPT) technique.The liquid metal was poured from a height into a crucible to introduce oxide defects into the melt.The melt was then subjected to different "hydrogen addition" and "holding in liquid state" regimes before RPT samples were taken.The RPT samples were then characterized by determining their porosity parameters and examining the internal surfaces of the pores formed in them by scanning electron microscopy.The results indicated oxide defects as the initiation sites for the growth of gas porosity,both in commercial purity and Sr-containing Al alloys.The results also rejected reduction of the surface tension of the melt,increase in the volumetric shrinkage and reduction in interdendritic feeding as the possible causes of an increase in the porosity content of the Al castings modified with strontium.The change in the composition of the oxide layers of double oxide film defects was suggested to be responsible for this behaviour.     

Humidity Effect on Transport Properties of Titanium Dioxide Nanoparticles

Rutile TiO2 nanoparticles were synthesized using co-precipitation method with an average diameter of 30 nm TiO2 nanoparticle device was then fabricated on glass substrate.Aluminum electrodes were defined using photolithography and vacuum evaporation.A suspension of TiO2 nanoparticles was prepared in isopropanol using ultrasonic agitation.The nanoparticles were deposited between the electrodes.The device was tested by AC electrical measurements at 40%-90%relative humidity（RH）.The impedance of the TiO2nanoparticles decreases by about 80 times with the increase in RH from 40%to 90%at 100 Hz.The response time and the recovery time were 4 s and 5 s,respectively between 40%and 90%RH.At 100 Hz,the sensitivity of the aluminum electrode TiO2 nanoparticle device in the range of 40%—90%RH was17 MΩ/%RH.Complex modulus analysis also confirms the increase in DC conductivity of TiO2 nanoparticles as RH increases.     

Epoxy-based multilayers for flame resistant flexible polyurethane foam (FPUF)

Flexible polyurethane foam (FPUF), a widely used cushioning and comfort component for homeware and automobile industries if tailored for flame resistance, can exhibit enhanced market value. With the view to preparing such protective films, multilayered coating composed of montmorillonite (MMT) and triphenyl phosphate (tPP) along with polyethyleneimine (PEI), poly[(o-cresyl glycidyl ether)-co-formaldehyde] (CNER), tPP solution and MMT suspension was deposited via layer-by-layer technique so as to suppress the flammability of FPUF. A comparative study applying “cone test” revealed that multilayered coatings having PEI(CNER/NH₂-MMT/PEI)_n and PEI(CNER/NH₂₋MMT/tPP)_n architectures, where “n” signifies the number of layer pairs, exhibited remarkable decrease in “peak heat release rate” (pHRR) of 20 and 25%, respectively, as compared to uncoated FPUF. Moreover, these coatings showed a 50% reduction in “fire growth rate index” (FIGRA) when compared to uncoated FPUF. This significant decrease in FIGRA after a specific combination of epoxy-clay features that such multilayered coatings can be used to protect the underlying FPUF due to the labyrinth effect offered by MMT and accelerated char formation by tPP. Furthermore, the evolution of volatile gases upon combustion of multilayered coated foam decreased due to the inhibition of oxygen permeation owing to the protective effect of the coating. © 2020 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2020 , 137, 48890.     

Application of matrix perturbation theory in robust control of large-scale systems

The aim of this paper is to develop new results for robust centralized and decentralized control of large-scale systems using matrix perturbation theory. A new robustness measure is proposed which is more appropriate for large-scale systems than the existing measures. The use of this new index allows for an evaluation of system eigenvalue sensitivity to perturbations without calculating the eigenvectors and the condition number of the modal matrix. In addition, a novel robust decentralized controller design method is proposed to assign the closed-loop eigenvalues of the large-scale system in a desired region. This method is based on eigenstructure assignment of isolated subsystems. The assignment of overall closed-loop poles in the desired region is guaranteed provided that certain sufficient conditions for the isolated subsystems are satisfied. Simulation results are given to show the efficiency of the new methods.     

SPHeRe

The abundance of semantically related information has resulted in semantic heterogeneity. Ontology matching is among the utilized techniques implemented for semantic heterogeneity resolution; however, ontology matching being a computationally intensive problem can be a time-consuming process. Medium to large-scale ontologies can take from hours up to days of computation time depending upon the utilization of computational resources and complexity of matching algorithms. This delay in producing results, makes ontology matching unsuitable for semantic web-based interactive and semireal-time systems. This paper presents SPHeRe, a performance-based initiative that improves ontology matching performance by exploiting parallelism over multicore cloud platform. Parallelism has been overlooked by ontology matching systems. SPHeRe avails this opportunity and provides a solution by: (i) creating and caching serialized subsets of candidate ontologies with single-step parallel loading; (ii) lightweight matcher-based and redundancy-free subsets result in smaller memory footprints and faster load time; and (iii) implementing data parallelism based distribution over subsets of candidate ontologies by exploiting the multicore distributed hardware of cloud platform for parallel ontology matching and execution. Performance evaluation of SPHeRe on a trinode (12-core) private cloud infrastructure has shown up to 3 times faster ontology load time with up to 8 times smaller memory footprint than Web Ontology Language (OWL) frameworks Jena and OWLAPI. Furthermore, by utilizing the computation resources most efficiently, SPHeRe provides the best scalability in contrast with other ontology matching systems, i.e., GOMMA, LogMap, AROMA, and AgrMaker. On a private cloud instance with 8 cores, SPHeRe outperforms the most performance efficient ontology matching system GOMMA by 40 % in scalability and 4 times in performance.     

Polymer-coated CoFe<Subscript>2</Subscript>O<Subscript>4</Subscript> nanoassemblies as biocompatible magnetic nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery

In this work, we report the preparation of cobalt ferrite nanoparticles (CFNPs) coated with hydrophilic polymers guar gum, gum arabic and poly (methacrylic acid) as magnetic nanocarriers and study their conjugation with doxorubicin for the drug release under applied magnetic field. The effect of polymer coating on structural properties is studied using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and powder X-ray diffractometry (XRD). The XRD analysis revealed that the polymer coating on the as-synthesized CFNPs has no influence on their crystallite size and it remains between 18 nm and 19 nm. The characteristic morphology, topography and the evidences of polymer coating over the CFNPs are investigated using scanning electron microscopy, atomic force microscopy and thermogravimetric analysis, respectively. Vibrating sample magnetometry revealed the ferromagnetic nature of uncoated CFNPs with a significant saturation magnetization ～77.2 emu g^?1. The dynamic light scattering measurements are also performed to determine the size of uncoated and coated CFNPs. UV–Visible spectroscopy demonstrated a profound loading (70–75%) of doxorubicin onto the magnetic nanocarriers and the efficient release of drug in the presence of external applied magnetic field. In vitro cytotoxic studies confirmed the cytocompatibility mode of coated CFNPs against Chinese Hamster Ovary and Huh-7 cell line, while 0.2 mg mL^?1 dose of drug-loaded magnetic nanocarriers inhibited the cell viability of Huh-7 up to 60%. These results strongly encourage the utilization of biocompatible magnetic nanocarriers in targeted drug delivery territory.     

LMI optimization approach to robust decentralized controller design

A new approach for design of robust decentralized controllers for continuous linear time‐invariant systems is proposed using linear matrix inequalities (LMIs). The proposed method is based on closed‐loop diagonal dominance. Sufficient conditions for closed‐loop stability and closed‐loop block‐diagonal dominance are obtained. Satisfying the obtained conditions is formulated as an optimization problem with a system of LMI constraints. By adding an extra LMI constraint to the system of LMI constraints in the optimization problem, the robust control is addressed as well. Accordingly, the decentralized robust control problem for a multivariable system is reduced to an optimization problem for a system of LMI constraints to be feasible. An example is given to show the effectiveness of the proposed method. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Decentralized robust PI controller design for an industrial boiler

This paper presents a new scheme to design decentralized robust PI controllers for uncertain LTI multivariable systems. Sufficient conditions for closed-loop stability and closed-loop diagonal dominance (almost decoupling) of a multivariable system are obtained. Satisfying these conditions and robust performance of the overall system are modeled as local robust performance problems. Then, by appropriately selecting the time constants of the closed-loop isolated subsystems in the IMC (Internal Model Control) strategy, the defined local robust performance problems are solved. To design a decentralized robust PI controller for a real industrial utility boiler, a control oriented nonlinear model for the boiler is identified. The nonlinearity of the system is modeled as uncertainty for a nominal LTI multivariable system. Using the new proposed method, a decentralized PI controller for the uncertain LTI model is designed. The designed controller is applied to the real system. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed methodology.