A Mobile Cloud-Based eHealth Scheme

Mobile cloud computing is an emerging field that is gaining popularity across borders at a rapid pace. Similarly, the field of health informatics is also considered as an extremely important field. This work observes the collaboration between these two fields to solve the traditional problem of extracting Electrocardiogram signals from trace reports and then performing analysis. The developed system has two front ends, the first dedicated for the user to perform the photographing of the trace report. Once the photographing is complete, mobile computing is used to extract the signal. Once the signal is extracted, it is uploaded into the server and further analysis is performed on the signal in the cloud. Once this is done, the second interface, intended for the use of the physician, can download and view the trace from the cloud. The data is securely held using a password-based authentication method. The system presented here is one of the first attempts at delivering the total solution, and after further upgrades, it will be possible to deploy the system in a commercial setting.     

Novel EDM deep hole drilling strategy using tubular electrode with orifice

Fabrication of deep holes (depth to diameter ratio >10) using electrical discharge drilling (EDD) has gained momentum in the areas of aerospace, automotive and biomedical industries. However, formation of recirculation zones in flushing channel causes accumulation of debris particles at higher depths of drilling. This leads to secondary discharges within the flushing channel resulting in excessive tool wear, dimensional inaccuracy and hole tapering. The present paper proposes a novel tool geometry having orifices at the bottom end of tool electrode with an aim to improve debris evacuation. The effectiveness of proposed method is established through CFD simulations and experiments.     

Design and analysis of novel micro displacement amplification mechanism actuated by chevron shaped thermal actuators

This paper presents design and analysis of microelectromechanical system (MEMS) based displacement amplification mechanism actuated using thermal actuators with enhanced performance. The proposed model consists of chevron shaped thermal actuators, an amplification mechanism capable of amplifying displacement 20 times and an electrostatic comb drives for sensing displacements. When voltage is applied to thermal chevrons, displacement is produced which is then amplified 20 times. Steady state static thermal electrical analysis is performed under variable resistivity and voltage bias of 2 V. In-plane reaction forces of magnitude 194.2 and 150.91 µN along X and Y-axis, respectively, thus producing displacement of 0.11 and 2.22 µm along X and Y-axis, respectively. Time domain simulations of device are carried with constant electrical resistivity, variable voltage and convective boundary conditions. Modal analysis of the mechanism is carried out to predict the natural frequencies and associated mode shapes of mechanism during free vibrations. The desired mode is at frequency of 286.160 kHz. Dynamic simulations including direct integration-transient, transient modal and steady state modal analysis are performed on the device for time span of 0.0006 s, under application of 25 g and frequency range of 200–300 kHz. Simulation results prove the viability of the mechanism as an amplification device with enhanced voltage–stroke ratio.

     

Software piracy among computing students: a Bruneian scenario

Software piracy committed by university students in the western world has been published widely in various computer literature. Little is reported however about why and what proportion of students, particularly computing students, in a South East Asian Country like Brunei Darussalam, use pirated software. A survey was thus conducted among the computing students of all the higher educational institutions in Brunei Darussalam. A normative model was also developed that brought together eight factors related to student demography, nature of educational institutions and copyright laws. This model was empirically tested using 91 responses received from the survey. Several interesting findings emerged. Firstly, nearly two-thirds of the students admitted to having used pirated software. Secondly, entertainment was the prominent reason for using pirated software. Thirdly, gender, computer experience and ownership of a personal computer, were found to affect students' use of pirated software. Fourthly, even those students who supported the introduction of copyright laws committed software piracy. The implications of these findings are discussed, and are compared with some related studies. Finally, limitations of the study are mentioned, and areas of further research are identified.     

Scattering of electromagnetic plane wave from a perfect electric conducting strip located in topological insulator medium

In this article, scattering from a perfectly electric conducting strip located in an infinitely extended topological insulator (IT) medium is investigated using the Kobayashi potential method. For solving mixed boundary value problem, KP method is a fast and semi-analytical technique. In this method, edge conditions and boundary conditions are incorporated simultaneously. The scattered field is calculated from the strip geometry embedded in IT medium. The far zone scattered field is investigated with respect to different parameters of the geometry, i.e. topological parameter of the IT medium, size of the strip etc. It has been observed that the scattered field can be enhanced by increasing topological parameter of the IT medium. On the other hand, size of strip, permittivity of IT medium may also be used to enhance the main lobe of the scattering width/scattered field.     

Design of carbon/glass/epoxy‐based radar absorbing composites: Microwaves attenuation properties

Due to high specific strength, fatigue resistance, and stiffness, reinforced plastic composites have great deal of relevance in aerospace applications such as electromagnetic interference shielding, radar absorption, etc. These radar absorption structures offer good mechanical properties, absorption characteristics, and less interference with external profile making them viable for aerospace structure design. Present venture trades the investigation concerning the attenuation of electrical component (electromagnetic waves) through the inclusion of different carbon‐based absorbers in glass/epoxy. Short carbon fibers like carbon black and multi‐walled carbon nanotubes were utilized as the lossy components. The samples were manufactured via vacuum assisted resin infusion technique which gave uniform thickness and minimum void content. Particles were mixed in resin and infused in the glass preform. The effects of changing the absorber materials, number of layers of glass fiber mat and glass fiber itself were analyzed. Sandwiched absorbing structures with aramid honeycomb were also fabricated. The samples were tested via free space measurement technique. Two charts of results were obtained i.e. one with dielectric parameters and other with the reflection loss. Short carbon fibers showed the best fallouts in this study. Moreover, thickness with 16 layers of glass fiber was also evidenced as optimum for the structure. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:2508–2514, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Modelling and motion control of a mechatronic system using BGM with intelligent controllers

In this research paper, a mechatronics system such as a pan tilt platform (PTP) has been considered for motion control under intelligent controllers. A proportional-derivative (PD) controller is considered for comparison of results obtained from fuzzy and hybrid controllers. The trajectory following performance of the mechatronics system is found against these controllers. The results of simulations show that hybrid fuzzy controller reduce the tracking error effectively in lesser settling time. The intelligent controllers require knowledge base of error and derivative of error to compensate the PTP dynamics. The intelligent controllers have similar trends as the PD controllers and compensated both electrical and mechanical dynamics. The PD controller requires position measurement. The intelligent controllers have knowledge base consisting of position and velocity data. Thus intelligent controllers have position measurement along with knowledge base for position control system. The best results were achieved with hybrid fuzzy controllers. They meet the desired specifications.