Maintaining Privacy on a Line

Consider a situation where people have to choose among a sequence of n linearly ordered positions to perform some task requiring a certain amount of privacy. Which position should one choose so as to maximize one’s privacy, i.e., minimize the chances that one of your neighboring positions becomes occupied by a later arrival? In this paper, we attempt to answer this question under a variety of models for the behavior of the later arrivals. Our results suggest that for the most part one should probably choose one of the extreme positions (with some interesting exceptions). We also suggest a number of variations on the problem that lead to many open problems.     

Modellbasierte Regelung der Partikelgrößenverteilung in der kontinuierlichen Wirbelschicht‐Sprühgranulation

Recycling of milled product particles in continuous fluidised bed spray granulation can lead to sustained oscillations in the particle size distribution. In this contribution, a model‐predictive feedback control scheme is presented that allows for stabilisation of unstable steady‐states. The feedback law is designed based on a population balance model, which describes the temporal evolution of the particle size distribution due to the particulate processes, and is compared with traditional design methods (PI, LQR).     

Climate change: the views of forestry students in a Greek university

The trend to global warming is one of the most important problems of our time. This paper reports the findings of self‐management questionnaires, in regard to views held on the issue of climate change by the students of the Department of Forestry and Management of the Environment and Natural Resources of the Democritus University of Thrace.     

Energy‐efficient management using a traffic‐oriented routing scheme for cognitive radio networks

This paper elaborates on a traffic manipulation routing scheme that associates the moments of the traffic, targeting the maximization of the energy conservation, as well as the effective resource management of the network nodes. The energy conservation is achieved through the data flow coordination, in association with the data traffic volume and the resource exchange, between the nodes that exploit radio spectrum access in cognitive radio networking architectures. The routing scheme that is proposed in this paper interrelates the backward difference of traffic moments for each node based on a series model, together with the sleep‐time period, towards reflecting this measurement to the minimization of the nodes activity durations to achieve energy conservation. The effective operation of the routing scheme is achieved by exploiting a signalling mechanism that was adopted for the proper communication of the nodes over the available radio spectrum parts, such as the television white spaces. Simulation tests were conducted towards examining the validity of the proposed routing scheme via multiple performance evaluation experiments. Simulation results have shown the offered reliability and the efficiency of the proposed traffic‐aware scheme, in reference to the efficient energy consumption of the networking nodes and the minimization of the delays. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Tailoring Wetting Properties at Extremes States to Obtain Antifogging Functionality

Fog formation decreases light transmission of optically clear materials. A promising approach to address this problem is to control the wetting properties of the material at extremes states, which requires imparting micro and nano morphology features on the surface. However, such features may affect the optical properties of the surface. In this work, superhydrophobic and superhydrophilic surfaces, with different morphology characteristics ranging from nanoscale to hierarchical micro-nanoscale are fabricated and evaluated in order to investigate which wetting extreme and surface morphology is more suitable to preserve the light-transmitting properties and exhibit antifogging functionalities. The performance of the aforementioned surfaces is compared for the first time in two different testing modes: under intense fog flow and no surface cooling, and under no-flow and surface cooling, which enhances dew condensation on the surfaces. It is demonstrated that superhydrophilic surfaces with nanoscale morphology maintain their optical transmittance under fog flow for more than 20 min. This duration is one of the longest reported in the literature revealing the long-term antifogging functionality of the proposed surfaces. Finally, by tailoring the morphology and the surface wetting properties, an optically switching surface (initially “milky” which becomes “clear”) when exposed to humidity is demonstrated.     

Efficient architectures for modulo 2n − 2 arithmetic units

Moduli of the 2ⁿ and 2ⁿ ± 1 forms are usually employed in designs that adopt the residue number system. However, in several cases such as in finite impulse response filters and communication components, a modulo value equal to 2ⁿ ? 2 can be used. So far, modulo 2ⁿ ? 2 arithmetic units have been based either on look-up tables or on generic modulo arithmetic units. In this work, by taking advantage of the properties of modulo 2ⁿ ? 2 arithmetic, we propose efficient modulo 2ⁿ ? 2 multi-operand adder, multiplier as well as squarer architectures. The proposed circuits are based on the corresponding ones for modulo 2^n?1 ? 1 arithmetic and some simple logic. Experimental results validate that the proposed circuits achieve significant area and delay savings compared to those previously presented.     

Comparison of DFE and MLSE Receiver Performance on HF Channels

Data communication at rates near or above 2 kbits/s on 3 kHz-baadwidth HF radio channels is subject to impairment from severe linear dispersion, rapid channel time variation, and severe fading. In this investigation, recorded 2.4 kbit/s QPSK signals received from HF channels were processed to extract a time-varying estimate of the channel impulse response. From the estimated channel impulse responses, performance-related parameters were computed for ideal matched filter reception, maximum-likelihood sequence-estimation (MLSE), and decision feedback equalization (DFE). The results indicated that the simpler DFE receiver suffered only a small theoretical performance degradation relative to the more complex MLSE receiver. Other HF channel impulse response statistics were also obtained to shed light on equalization and filter adaptation techniques.     

Biomimetic Omnidirectional Antireflective Glass via Direct Ultrafast Laser Nanostructuring

Here, a single‐step, biomimetic approach for the realization of omnidirectional transparent antireflective glass is reported. In particular, it is shown that circularly polarized ultrashort laser pulses produce self‐organized nanopillar structures on fused silica (SiO₂). The laser‐induced nanostructures are selectively textured on the glass surface in order to mimic the spatial randomness, pillar‐like morphology, as well as the remarkable antireflection properties found on the wings of the glasswing butterfly, Greta oto, and various Cicada species. The artificial structures exhibit impressive antireflective properties, both in the visible and infrared frequency ranges, which are remarkably stable over time. Accordingly, the laser‐processed glass surfaces show reflectivity smaller than 1% for various angles of incidence in the visible spectrum for s–p linearly polarized configurations. However, in the near‐infrared spectrum, the laser‐textured glass shows higher transmittance compared to the pristine. It is envisaged that the current results will revolutionize the technology of antireflective transparent surfaces and impact numerous applications from glass displays to optoelectronic devices.     

Electrochemical oxidation of stabilized landfill leachate on DSA electrodes

The electrochemical oxidation of stabilized landfill leachate with 2960 mg L(-1) chemical oxygen demand (COD) over a Ti/IrO(2)-RuO(2) anode was investigated in the presence of HClO(4) as the supporting electrolyte. Emphasis was given on the effect of electrolysis time (up to 240 min) and temperature (30, 60 and 80°C), current density (8, 16 and 32 mA cm(-2)), initial effluent's pH (0.25, 3, 5 and 6), HClO(4) concentration (0.25 and 1M) and the addition of NaCl (20 and 100mM) or Na(2)SO(4) (20mM) as source of extra electrogenerated oxidants on performance; the latter was evaluated regarding COD, total carbon (TC), total phenols (TPh) and color removal. Moreover, the anode was studied by scanning electron microscopy and cyclic voltammetry. The main parameters affecting the process were the effluent's pH and the addition of salts. Treatment for 240 min at 32 mA cm(-2) current density, 80°C and the pH adjusted from its inherent value of 0.25 (i.e. after the addition of HClO(4)) to 3 yielded 90% COD, 65% TC and complete color and TPh removal at an electricity consumption of 35 kWh kg(-1) COD removed. Comparable performance (i.e. 75% COD reduction) could be achieved without pH adjustment but with the addition of 100mM NaCl consuming 20 kWh kg(-1) COD removed.