Design and performance evaluation of a banyan network basedinterconnection structure for ATM switches

This paper presents a new self-routing packet network called the plane interconnected parallel network (PIPN). In the proposed design, the traffic arriving at the network is shaped and routed through two banyan network based interconnected planes. The interconnections between the planes distribute the incoming load more homogeneously over the network. The throughput of the network under uniform and heterogeneous traffic requirements is studied analytically and by simulation. The results are compared with the results of the baseline network and another banyan network based parallel interconnection network. It is shown that, for the proposed design, a higher degree of heterogeneity results in better performance     

Application of HUMF13A01 (AAAG)n STR polymorphism to the genetic diagnosis of coagulation factor XIII deficiency

Deficiency of the A subunit of coagulation factor XIII causes a severe bleeding disorder requiring life long replacement therapy. The mutations causing A subunit deficiency appear to be very heterogeneous, and it is impractical to identify each mutation before genetic counselling or prenatal diagnosis can be attempted. In this study we have shown that a highly polymorphic short tandem repeat element, HUMF13A01 (AAAG)n that occurs in the 5' flanking sequence of the factor XIII A subunit gene, can be used to follow the segregation of deficiency causing mutations. We studied 6 families with factor XIII A subunit deficiency from 5 different ethnic groups. All parents were heterozygous for the repetitive element and therefore all the families were informative. The linked polymorphism was used to carry out the first prenatal diagnosis of factor XIII A subunit deficiency. The analysis of this polymorphism by the polymerase chain reaction is rapid, reliable, requires little DNA and is ideal for the genetic analysis of factor XIII A subunit deficiency.     

Deterministic Polymorphic Engineering of MoTe2 for Photonic and Optoelectronic Applications

Developing selective and coherent polymorphic crystals at the nanoscale offers a novel strategy for designing integrated architectures for photonic and optoelectronic applications such as metasurfaces, optical gratings, photodetectors, and image sensors. Here, a direct optical writing approach is demonstrated to deterministically create polymorphic 2D materials by locally inducing metallic 1T′-MoTe₂ on the semiconducting 2H-MoTe₂ host layer. In the polymorphic-engineered MoTe₂, 2H- and 1T′- crystalline phases exhibit strong optical contrast from near-infrared to telecom-band ranges (1–1.5 µm), due to the change in the band structure and increase in surface roughness. Sevenfold enhancement of third harmonic generation intensity is realized with conversion efficiency (susceptibility) of ≈1.7 × 10⁻⁷ (1.1 × 10⁻¹⁹ m² V⁻²) and ≈1.7 × 10⁻⁸ (0.3 × 10⁻¹⁹ m² V⁻²) for 1T′ and 2H-MoTe₂, respectively at telecom-band ultrafast pump laser. Lastly, based on polymorphic engineering on MoTe₂, a Schottky photodiode with a high photoresponsivity of 90 AW⁻¹ is demonstrated. This study proposes facile polymorphic engineered structures that will greatly benefit realizing integrated photonics and optoelectronic circuits.     

Performance of a Tied-Arch Reinforced Concrete Railway Bridge: Rating, Safety Assessment, and Bond Length Evaluation

This study presents investigations regarding visual inspection, dynamic testing, and finite-element modeling of an approximately 80-year old reinforced concrete tied-arch railway bridge that is still in service in Turkey. Investigations were conducted as part of a systematic periodic inspection along Ankara-Zonguldak railway line. The bridge is subject to heavy freight trains with increasing axle loads. Field tests such as material tests and dynamic tests were used to calibrate the finite-element model of the bridge. Detailed information regarding testing and model updating procedure is given. Based on test results, computer model was refined. The calibrated model of the bridge structure was then used for structural assessment and evaluation. Despite sufficient overall safety, local details were found to be problematic. Due to insufficient bond length in hanger-to-arch connection, a strengthening scheme using steel channel sections was proposed.     

Effects of reactive and nonreactive POSS types on the mechanical,thermal, and morphological properties of plasticized poly(lactic acid)

The aim of this study is to investigate the effects of the reactive and nonreactive polyhedral oligomeric silsesquioxane (POSSs) types and their composition on the mechanical, thermal, and morphological properties of poly(ethylene glycol) plasticized poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites prepared with melt compounding. The results showed that the incorporation of POSS decreased the melt viscosity of the compounds regardless of POSS type. The lowest viscosity was obtained with epoxy‐POSS, which is the only one that is liquid at processing temperature in comparison to the others. It was revealed from the mechanical tests that the toughness‐related properties such as impact strength and elongation at break improved by the addition of POSS without remarkable deterioration in stiffness. The chemical structure of the POSS influenced the level of dispersion and hence the mechanical performance of the composites. Octaisobutyl‐POSS, being the nonreactive and nonpolar one, had the best dispersion among the other reactive and polar POSS types. The glass transition temperature of the matrix decreased in the presence of POSS types. In addition, the POSS particles also had an impact on the crystallization of PLA. The thermal stability of the composites improved in the presence of POSS particles with respect to the POSS content and the POSS type. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 54:264–275, 2014. © 2013 Society of Plastics Engineers     

Determination of mechanical properties of polymeric microspheres used in controlled drug delivery systems by nanoindentation

In this study, we synthesized poly (vinyl acetate-co-divinyl benzene) microspheres with various monomer/cross-linker contents for oral/topical sustained drug release applications and determined the micromechanical properties by nanoindentation. Compression elastic moduli of materials were calculated by using the limited depth of indentation according to Hertz elastic deformation model and presented as the histogram of multiple data. In terms of drug release practices, poly (VAc-co-DVB) microspheres with a high DVB content, especially in topical applications, are expected to carry drugs under mechanical stresses of less than 1.0 GPa.     

Single-frame super resolution of remote-sensing images by convolutional neural networks

Super resolution (SR) refers to generation of a high-resolution (HR) image from a decimated, blurred, low-resolution (LR) image set, which can be either a single-frame or multi-frame that contains a collection of images acquired from slightly different views of the same observation area. In this study, two convolutional neural network (CNN)-based deep learning techniques are adapted in single-frame SR to increase the resolution of remote sensing (RS) images by a factor of 2, 3, and 4. In order to both preserve the colour information and speed up the algorithm, first an intensity hue saturation (IHS) transform is utilized and the SR techniques are only applied to the intensity channel of the images. Colour information is then restored with an inverse IHS transformation. We demonstrate the results of the proposed method on RS images acquired from Satellites Pour l’Observation de la Terre (SPOT) or Earth-observing satellites and Pleiades satellites with different spatial resolution. First synthetic LR images are created by downsampling, then structural similarity (SSIM) Index, peak signal-to-noise ratio (PSNR), Spectral Angle Mapper (SAM) and Erreur Relative Globale Adimensionnelle de Synthese (ERGAS) values are calculated for a quantitative evaluation of the methods. Finally, the method, with better performance results, is tested within a real scenario, that is, with original LR images as the input. The obtained HR images demonstrated visible qualitative enhancements.     

Evaluation of the shifting of the line of sight and higher order aberrations of eyes with keratoconus after corneal cross-linking

Aim

To evaluate changes in the coordinates of the line of sight (LoS) and higher order aberrations (HOAs) of eyes with keratoconus, following corneal cross-linking (CXL).

Three-dimensional non-isothermal model development of high temperature PEM Fuel Cells

A three-dimensional non-isothermal mathematical model is developed in a triple mixed serpentine flow multichannel domain for a high temperature PEM Fuel Cell having a phosphoric acid doped PBI membrane as electrolyte and an active area of 25 cm² within Comsol Multiphysics. The inlet temperatures of cathode and anode reactants are taken as 438 K. Model predicts pressure, and temperature distribution along the channels and membrane current density distribution over the membrane electrodes. The model results are obtained at two different operation voltages, 0.45 V and 0.60 V. Resulting average current densities are respectively 0.313 A cm^?2 and 0.224 A cm^?2. The non-isothermal model results are compared to isothermal model results from a previous study and various other single channel non-isothermal model results available in the literature. The pressure drop at cathode compartment is predicted to be 6500 Pa, whereas it is found to be 6400 Pa for the isothermal model. The temperature difference within the system is found to be 0.18 K for the operation voltage of 0.6 V, whereas this value increases to 0.31 K for the operation voltage of 0.45 V. The temperature difference isocontours are illustrated for the whole cell. Considering changes in temperature, one can employ isothermal operation assumption for this system as an approximation and simplification for the governing equations, since the variation in the temperature within the cell is less than 1 K. It should be emphasized that multichannel model predictions are more realistic compared to single channel models. The model developed here can be extended to larger electrode active area and different multichannel configurations.