Energy Efficiency Trade-Off Between Duty-Cycling and Wake-Up Radio Techniques in IoT Networks

Wireless Personal Communications - For robust monitoring, control and proper energy management of renewable energy sources (RES), wireless sensing networks (WSNs) are proved to be a vital solution....     

Multiplicative cases from additive cases: Extension of Kolmogorov–Feller equation to parametric Poisson white noise processes

In this paper the response of nonlinear systems driven by parametric Poissonian white noise is examined.As is well known, the response sample function or the response statistics of a system driven by external white noise processes is completely defined. Starting from the system driven by external white noise processes, when an invertible nonlinear transformation is applied, the transformed system in the new state variable is driven by a parametric type excitation. So this latter artificial system may be used as a tool to find out the proper solution to solve systems driven by parametric white noises. In fact, solving this new system, being the nonlinear transformation invertible, we must pass from the solution of the artificial system (driven by parametric noise) to that of the original one (driven by external noise, that is known). Moreover, introducing this invertible nonlinear transformation into the Itô’s rule for the original system driven by external input, one can derive the Itô’s rule for systems driven by a parametric type excitation, directly. In this latter case one can see how natural is the presence of the Wong–Zakai correction term or the presence of the hierarchy of correction terms in the case of normal and Poissonian white noise, respectively. Direct transformation on the Fokker–Planck and on the Kolmogorov–Feller equation for the case of parametric input are found.     

A new combined computational and NMR-spectroscopical strategy for the identification of additional conformational constraints of the bound ligand in an aprotic solvent

This study documents the feasibility of switching to an aprotic medium in sugar receptor research. The solvent change offers additional insights into mechanistic details of receptor--carbohydrate ligand interactions. If a receptor retained binding capacity in an aprotic medium, solvent-exchangeable protons of the ligand would not undergo transfer and could act as additional sensors, thus improving the level of reliability in conformational analysis. To probe this possibility, we first focused on hevein, the smallest lectin found in nature. The NMR-spectroscopic measurements verified complexation, albeit with progressively reduced affinity by more than 1.5 orders of magnitude, in mixtures of up to 50% dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO). Since hevein lacks the compact beta-strand arrangement of other sugar receptors, such a structural motif may confer enhanced resistance to solvent exchange. Two settings of solid-phase activity assays proved this assumption for three types of alpha- and/or beta-galactoside-binding proteins, that is, a human immunoglobulin G (IgG) subfraction, the mistletoe lectin, and a member of the galectin family of animal lectins. Computer-assisted calculations and NMR experiments also revealed no conspicuous impact of the solvent on the conformational properties of the tested ligands. To define all possible nuclear Overhauser effect (NOE) contacts in a certain conformation and to predict involvement of exchangeable protons, we established a new screening protocol applicable during a given molecular dynamics (MD) trajectory and calculated population densities of distinct contacts. Experimentally, transferred NOE (tr-NOE) experiments with IgG molecules and the disaccharide Gal'alpha1-3Galbeta1-R in DMSO as solvent disclosed that such an additional crosspeak, that is, Gal'OH2--GalOH4, was even detectable for the bound ligand under conditions in which spin diffusion effects are suppressed. Further measurements with the plant lectin and galectins confirmed line broadening of ligand signals and gave access to characteristic crosspeaks in the aprotic solvent and its mixtures with water. Our combined biochemical, computational, and NMR-spectroscopical strategy is expected to contribute notably to the precise elucidation of the geometry of ligands bound to compactly folded sugar receptors and of the role of water molecules in protein--ligand (carbohydrate) recognition, with relevance to areas beyond the glycosciences.     

Protective properties of organic phosphate-pigmented coatings on phosphated steel substrates

Investigations have been carried out on properties of coatings, differing by their pigmentation and binder, and applied on different chemical pre-treatments of the steel surface. Paints based on alkyd and alkyd-melamine binders, pigmented with zinc phosphate and modified basic zinc phosphate were applied on amorphous and crystalline phosphated steel surface and, for the comparison purpose, on degreased steel surface. The effect of the binder, the pigment and the pre-treatment of the steel surface on the protective properties of the coatings were determined by measurements of adhesion, water absorption and water permeability and by results obtained in salt spray and Prohesion tests. Coatings based on alkyd binder show a lower damage degree and good retention of adhesion in corrosion conditions, in spite of a higher water absorption and water permeability and a lower initial adhesive strength. Protective properties of coatings have been found to be highly dependent upon the substrate pre-treatment. Chemical pre-treatment of the steel substrate increases the protective properties of the system, which is particularly evident in the case of crystalline phosphating and the coating pigmented with modified basic zinc phosphate. This phenomenon can be explained by the synergism between this phosphate pigment with crystalline phosphate layer.     

Quality assessment for a visual and automatic license plate recognition

Video transmission and analysis is often utilized in applications outside of the entertainment sector, and generally speaking this class of video is used to perform specific tasks. Examples of these applications include security and public safety. The Quality of Experience (QoE) concept for video content used for entertainment differs significantly from the QoE of surveillance video used for recognition tasks. This is because, in the latter case, the subjective satisfaction of the user depends on achieving a given functionality. Recognizing the growing importance of video in delivering a range of public safety services, we focused on developing critical quality thresholds in license plate recognition tasks based on videos streamed in constrained networking conditions. Since the number of surveillance cameras is still growing it is obvious that automatic systems will be used to do the tasks. Therefore, the presented research includes also analysis of automatic recognition algorithms.     

Transformations of sulphur compounds in high-sulphur coals during reduction in the potassium/liquid ammonia system

The two types of high-sulphur coals Mequinenza and Illinois No. 6, in the initial form and subjected to potassium/liquid ammonia reduction, were analysed by atmospheric pressure-temperature programmed reduction (AP-TPR) method. It has been shown that preliminary demineralisation was beneficial for AP-TPR measurements because of the removal of calcium compounds. The reduction of sulphides and disulphides in the potassium/liquid ammonia system was found to lead to formation of aromatic and aliphatic thiols. The presence of the latter is better manifested in the AP-TPR kinetograms when the measurements are performed in the presence of a special reducing mixture. It has been shown that the coal reduction in the potassium/liquid ammonia system apart from transformations of non-thiophene sulphur groups also leads to breaking up of the C-S bonds in some thiophene systems.     

Control of Robot Manipulators in Terms of Quasi-Velocities

In this paper we present new control algorithms for robots with dynamics described in terms of quasi-velocities (Kozłowski, Identification of articulated body inertias and decoupled control of robots in terms of quasi-coordinates. In: Proc. of the 1996 IEEE International Conference on Robotics and Automation, pp. 317–322. IEEE, Piscataway, 1996a; Zeitschrift für Angewandte Mathematik und Mechanik 76(S3):479–480, 1996c; Robot control algorithms in terms of quasi-coordinates. In: Proc. of the 34 Conference on Decision and Control, pp. 3020–3025, Kobe, 11–13 December 1996, 1996d). The equations of motion are written using spatial quantities such as spatial velocities, accelerations, forces, and articulated body inertia matrices (Kozłowski, Standard and diagonalized Lagrangian dynamics: a comparison. In: Proc. of the 1995 IEEE Int. Conf. on Robotics and Automation, pp. 2823–2828. IEEE, Piscataway, 1995b; Rodriguez and Kreutz, Recursive Mass Matrix Factorization and Inversion, An Operator Approach to Open- and Closed-Chain Multibody Dynamics, pp. 88–11. JPL, Dartmouth, 1998). The forward dynamics algorithms incorporate new control laws in terms of normalized quasi-velocities. Two cases are considered: end point trajectory tracking and trajectory tracking algorithm, in general. It is shown that by properly choosing the Lyapunov function candidate a dynamic system with appropriate feedback can be made asymptotically stable and follows the desired trajectory in the task space. All of the control laws have a new architecture in the sense that they are derived, in the so-called quasi-velocity and quasi-force space, and at any instant of time generalized positions and forces can be recovered from order recursions, where denotes the number of degrees of freedom of the manipulator. This paper also contains the proposition of a sliding mode control, originally introduced by Slotine and Li (Int J Rob Res 6(3):49–59, 1987), which has been extended to the sliding mode control in the quasi-velocity and quasi-force space. Experimental results illustrate behavior of the new control schemes and show the potential of the approach in the quasi-velocity and quasi-force space. Authors are with Chair of Control and Systems Engineering.     

Picosecond thermal pulses in thin gold films

In this paper it has been shown that, with the advent of lasers with a very short pulse duration, the effect of thermal wave propagation becomes important. To consider this effect, hyperbolic heat conduction in thin gold films was studied. It was shown that for heat fluxes of the order 10⁸ W·cm^–2, a thermal wave is generated in thin gold films. The consideration of the hyperbolicity of heat transfer enables one to describe the temperature profile with one value of fluence.     

Autoimmunity, immunodeficiency and mucosal infections: chronic intestinal inflammation as a sensitive indicator of immunoregulatory defects in response to normal luminal microflora

Despite the fact that target antigens and the genetic basis of several autoimmune diseases are now better understood, the initial events leading to a loss of tolerance towards self-components remain unknown. One of the most attractive explanations for autoimmune phenomena involves various infections as possible natural events capable of initiating the process in genetically predisposed individuals. The most accepted explanation of how infection causes autoimmunity is based on the concept of "molecular mimicry" (similarity between the epitopes of an autoantigen and the epitopes in the environmental antigen). Infectious stimuli may also participate in the development of autoimmunity by inducing an increased expression of stress proteins (hsp), chaperones and transplantation antigens, which leads to abnormal processing and presentation of self antigens. Superantigens are considered to be one of the most effective bacterial components to induce inflammatory reactions and to take part in the development and course of autoimmune mechanisms. It has long been known that defects in the host defense mechanism render the individual susceptible to infections caused by certain microorganisms. Impaired exclusion of microbial antigens can lead to chronic immunological activation which can affect the tolerance to self components. Defects in certain components of the immune system are associated with a higher risk of a development of autoimmune disease. The use of animal models for the studies of human diseases with immunological pathogenesis has provided new insights into the influence of immunoregulatory factors and the lymphocyte subsets involved in the development of disease. One of the most striking conclusion arising from work with genetically engineered immunodeficient mouse models is the existence of a high level of redundancy of the components of the immune system. However, when genes encoding molecules involved in T cell immunoregulatory functions are deleted, spontaneous chronic inflammation of the gut mucosa (similar to human inflammatory bowel disease) develops. Surprisingly, when such immunocompromised animals were placed into germfree environment, intestinal inflammation did not develop. Impairment of the mucosal immune response to the normal bacterial flora has been proposed to play a crucial role in the pathogenesis of chronic intestinal inflammation. The use of immunodeficient models colonized with defined microflora for the analysis of immune reactivity will shed light on the mode of action of different immunologically important molecules responsible for the delicate balance between luminal commensals, nonspecific and specific components of the mucosal immune system.