Carbon-based TiO2-x heterostructure nanocomposites for enhanced photocatalytic degradation of dye molecules

Application of brown titanium dioxide (TiO_2-x) and its modified composite forms in the photocatalytic decomposition of organic pollutants in the environment is a promising way to provide solutions for environmental redemption. Herein, we report the synthesis of effective and stable TiO_2-x nanoparticles with g-C₃N₄, RGO, and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (CNTs) using a simple hydrothermal method. Among all the as-synthesized samples, excellent photocatalytic degradation activity was observed for RGO-TiO_2-x nanocomposite with high rate constants of 0.075 min^?1_, 0.083 min^?1 and 0.093 min^?1 for methylene blue, rhodamine-B, and rosebengal dyes under UV–Visible light irradiation, respectively. The altered bandgap (1.8 eV) and the large surface area of RGO-TiO_2-x nanocomposite impacts on both absorption of visible light and efficiency of photogenerated charge electron (e^?)/hole (h⁺) pair separation. This resulted in enhanced photocatalytic property of carbon-based TiO_2-x nanocomposites. A systematic study on the influence of different carbon nanostructures on the photocatalytic activity of brown TiO_2-x is carried out.     

The effect of bandwidth allocation policies on delay inunidirectional bus networks

We consider the problem of allocating bandwidth fairly to each node in a shared, unidirectional bus network. We focus on the p_i persistent protocol, since these are open loop policies designed to operate well in high speed networks, which have a very large bandwidth-delay product and feedback in the upstream direction is not available in a timely manner. First, we introduce an improvement to the basic p_i persistent protocol, in which we replace random coin tosses with a deterministic counting algorithm, and thereby reduce the delays for all nodes for any given choice of {p_i}. We then describe an exact method for calculating average packet delays and queue lengths in both the p_i persistent and our new deterministic n out of m protocols, based on the regenerative approach of Georgiades et al. (1987). These delay results, together with simulation measurements, show that both of these protocols still waste some bandwidth. After presenting a lower bounding argument to show that some wasted bandwidth is inevitable in all such distributed access control schemes, assuming a passive bus without feedback in the upstream direction, we show that changing the bus to unidirectional point-to-point links between (very simple) active interfaces at each node allows us to construct distributed access schemes that require no upstream feedback and are both work conserving and fair. To illustrate how this can be done, we introduce the p_i preemptive protocol, in which each node randomly inserts its own packets into the traffic arriving from upstream. We derive a simple and effective heuristic for calculating the preemption probability for each node, and use simulation to show how well it equalizes the delays at each node     

Providing application-level QoS in 3G/4G wireless systems: a comprehensive framework based on multirate CDMA

The emerging applications for 3G and 4G wireless systems typically require highly heterogeneous and time-varying quality of service from the underlying protocol layers. The wireless links, however, provide only an unreliable communication channel that suffers from temporal outages. As a consequence, protocol mechanisms are needed that, based on the unreliable wireless links, provide the different service qualities required by the emerging applications. We identify the emerging IP-based applications for 3G and 4G wireless systems and categorize their QoS requirements. We discuss the wireless access mechanisms that show promise as the basis for supporting these applications. We then propose a set of protocol mechanisms that, based on the discussed wireless access mechanisms, provide the required QoS for the different application categories.     

A stochastic Kaczmarz algorithm for network tomography

We develop a stochastic approximation version of the classical Kaczmarz algorithm that is incremental in nature and takes as input noisy real time data. Our analysis shows that with probability one it mimics the behavior of the original scheme: starting from the same initial point, our algorithm and the corresponding deterministic Kaczmarz algorithm converge to precisely the same point. The motivation for this work comes from network tomography where network parameters are to be estimated based upon end-to-end measurements. Numerical examples via Matlab based simulations demonstrate the efficacy of the algorithm.     

Articulatory and excitation source features for speech recognition in read,extempore and conversation modes

In our previous works, we have explored articulatory and excitation source features to improve the performance of phone recognition systems (PRSs) using read speech corpora. In this work, we have extended the use of articulatory and excitation source features for developing PRSs of extempore and conversation modes of speech, in addition to the read speech. It is well known that the overall performance of speech recognition system heavily depends on accuracy of phone recognition. Therefore, the objective of this paper is to enhance the accuracy of phone recognition systems using articulatory and excitation source features in addition to conventional spectral features. The articulatory features (AFs) are derived from the spectral features using feedforward neural networks (FFNNs). We have considered five AF groups, namely: manner, place, roundness, frontness and height. Five different AF-based tandem PRSs are developed using the combination of Mel frequency cepstral coefficients (MFCCs) and AFs derived from FFNNs. Hybrid PRSs are developed by combining the evidences from AF-based tandem PRSs using weighted combination approach. The excitation source information is derived by processing the linear prediction residual of the speech signal. The vocal tract information is captured using MFCCs. The combination of vocal tract and excitation source features is used for developing PRSs. The PRSs are developed using hidden Markov models. Bengali speech database is used for developing PRSs of read, extempore and conversation modes of speech. The results are analyzed and the performance is compared across different modes of speech. From the results, it is observed that the use of either articulatory or excitation source features along-with to MFCCs will improve the performance of PRSs in all three modes of speech. The improvement in the performance using AFs is much higher compared to the improvement obtained using excitation source features.     

Smart Backhauling for 5G Heterogeneous Network with Millimeter Wave Backhaul Links to Perform Switching Off,Interference Management and Backhaul Routing

Developments made in the fifth generation (5G) and the cellular networks have greatly influenced the lifestyle of the wireless users. Increased demand on higher data rates has also increased the network traffic. In the viewpoint of cellular networks, several Small Cells (SCs) are combined together with the help of microwave communications and millimeter wave communication models, in order to support the heterogeneous environments. In this paper, we have proposed a hybrid communication framework which can efficiently support the interference management, routings in backhaul links and the joint issue during on/off status of the mobile using 5G mmWave backhaul links. A novel cache-enabled technology is designed to develop backhaul links using heuristic search models. Along with that, an effective data access framework is also formulated using distance based cluster head selection that resolves the interference issues. Without modifying the content of the mobile users, the services are offered to the uses associated with backhaul links. Since a fast iterative model is developed, the throughput rate and the energy savings are maximized. A simulation analysis is carried out with a static number of mobile nodes which has proved the efficiency of the proposed framework.

     

On the Length and Area Regularization for Multiphase Level Set Segmentation

In this paper we introduce novel regularization techniques for level set segmentation that target specifically the problem of multiphase segmentation. When the multiphase model is used to obtain a partitioning of the image in more than two regions, a new set of issues arise with respect to the single phase case in terms of regularization strategies. For example, if smoothing or shrinking each contour individually could be a good model in the single phase case, this is not necessarily true in the multiphase scenario.     

Economical treatment of reverse osmosis reject of textile industry effluent by electrodialysis–evaporation integrated process

Membrane separation methods such as electrodialysis (ED) can reduce the volume load on evaporators by facilitating further concentration of rejects from reverse osmosis (RO) plants. ED studies were carried out on a bench-scale system using five membrane cell pairs to obtain a textile effluent concentrate containing approximately 6 times the quantity of salts present in the RO reject. The limiting current densities were determined to be in the range 2.15–3.35 amp/m² for feed flow rates varying from 18 to 108 L/h. Apart from feed rate, the influence of volume of concentrate and current on membrane performance was evaluated to optimize current utilization. An estimation of energy requirement of an integrated process constituting ED and evaporation for concentration of inorganics present in textile effluent from 4.35% to 24% was made and found to be approximately one eighth of the operating cost incurred by evaporation alone. Detailed design of a commercial ED system revealed that a membrane area of 13.1 m² was required to treat a feed rate of 1500 L/h. The payback period to recover capital investment was found to be 110 days.     

Mn/Al2O3 and Mn/ZrO2 as selective catalysts for the synthesis of bis(indolyl)methanes: The role of surface acidity and particle morphology

Mn/Al₂O₃ and Mn/ZrO₂ were prepared by precipitation method. Their catalytic activity was investigated in the synthesis of biologically important bis(indolyl)methanes via, a condensation reaction between an indole and different aldehydes. The materials exhibited excellent catalytic activity (TOF in the range 180–380 h^?1) and produced the expected product in good yield and selectivity. Isolation of product from the reaction mixture was simple and neat. The catalysts were found to be recyclable and used up to five cycles without any loss in their catalytic activity. Mn/ZrO₂ was also found to be a better catalyst than Mn/Al₂O₃ in terms of isolated yield of the product and recyclability. Mn/ZrO₂ catalyst was found to be selective for aldehydes and not for ketones. In order to investigate the relationship between the catalytic activity and physico-chemical properties, Mn/Al₂O₃ and Mn/ZrO₂ were characterized for their surface and bulk properties by PXRD, BET, TPD-NH₃ and SEM techniques. A good correlation between the catalytic activity of the materials and the concentration of the acid sites with intermediate strength was observed. Mn/ZrO₂ exhibited rod like structure. This material was found to be a general catalyst for the synthesis of a number of bis(indolyl)methane derivatives with good yield and selectivity.     

需要的是一种可重构逻辑PC

ASIC(专用集成电路)设计领域发生了戏剧性的变化。造成这种情况的原因在于:FPGA(现场可编程门阵列)技术在所含门电路数量和它在系统中应用的灵活性两个方面都有了极大提高。当把上市时间考虑在内时,曾一度被认为最适合迅速促进消费的ASIC设计证明是代价非常高的。ASIC太高的风险已