Implementation of an efficient extreme learning machine for node localization in unmanned aerial vehicle assisted wireless sensor networks

Accurate node localization in wireless sensor networks (WSNs) is an essential for many networking protocols like clustering, routing, and network map building. The classical localization techniques such as multilateration and optimization‐based least square localization (OLSL) techniques estimate position of unknown node (UN) from the distance measured between all anchor nodes (ANs) and UNs. On the other hand, node localization using fixed terrestrial ANs suffers from poor localization accuracy because the ground to ground (GG) channel link is not reliable. By contrast, the mobile anchor deployed in unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) provides high localization accuracy through reliable air to ground (AG) channel link. Still, the nonlinear distortion introduced in the wireless channel makes the distance measurement noisy. This noisy distance measurement also limits localization accuracy of classical localization techniques. Hence, the highly nonlinear artificial neural network (ANN) models such as multilayer perceptron (MLP) models can be applied effectively for node localization in UAV‐assisted WSNs. However, the MLP suffers from slow training speed, which limits its usage in real‐time applications. So, the extreme learning machine (ELM) is found to be a better alternative because it works on empirical error minimization theory, and its learning process requires only a single iteration. The detailed simulation analysis supports the proposed ELM localization scheme in terms of both localization accuracy and computational complexity.     

Molecular Epidemiological Study of Pyrazinamide-Resistance in Clinical Isolates of Mycobacterium tuberculosis from South India

Pyrazinamide (PZA) has been in use for almost 50 years as a first-line drug for short-course chemotherapy against Mycobacterium tuberculosis. In this study, PCR mediated automated DNA sequencing is used to check the prevalence of PZA resistance among treatment failure cases of pulmonary tuberculosis. Out of 50 clinical isolates examined, 39 had mutations in the pncA gene that encodes Pyrazinamidase, an enzyme required to activate PZA. Of these, 31 (79.5%) were localized to three regions of pncA. We found two isolates with hitherto unreported mutation at amino acid 26 (Ala→Gly) of pncA.     

Synthesis and characterization of some new polyurethaneoximes

Two new polyurethaneoximes containing double and triple bonds in the main chain were prepared. An in situ preparation of 2-butene-1,4-diisocyanate and 2-butyne-1,4-diisocyanate and their polycondensation with dimethylglyoxime yielded polymers of low molecular weight. The UV, IR, NMR, DSC and TGA analyses of these polymers are reported. The possible mechanism of thermal degradation of one of the polymers is discussed.     

Mathematical modeling of thermoelectric generator driven by solar parabolic dish collector

This paper presents mathematical modeling of thermoelectric power generator driven by solar parabolic dish collector. The system is modeled by set of mathamatical equations from the first law of thermonadynamics for the subcompoents of solar parabolic dish collector and thermoelectric power generator. The model is solved analytically for the a set of operating and design parameters. Modeling results can be useful for further development of the system to study it economic viability.     

Influence of nitrogen addition on the microstructure and mechanical properties of duplex stainless steel weld metals

Duplex stainless steels find extensive applications in off‐shore, paper/pulp, refineries and petrochemical industries owing to their excellent combination of properties. Because of the thermal cycle experienced during the manufacturing/processing operations like welding, the weldment developed in this material is generally inferior in properties (mechanical and corrosion) when compared to the base material. The problem is more severe when the welding is done in the autogenous condition. The current work correlates the microstructure and property of UNS 31803 duplex stainless steel (material no. 1.4462) welded by autogenous GTA process with and without nitrogen in the shielding gas. It has been found that the nitrogen addition to the weld metal through the shielding gas mixture not only helps in achieving the proper phase balance but also improves the impact toughness of the resultant weld metal.     

Hypoglycaemic and Hypolipidaemic Effects of Withania somnifera Root and Leaf Extracts on Alloxan-Induced Diabetic Rats

Withania somnifera is an important medicinal plant, which is used in traditional medicine to cure many diseases. Flavonoids were determined in the extracts of W. somnifera root (WSREt) and leaf (WSLEt). The amounts of total flavonoids found in WSREt and WSLEt were 530 and 520 mg/100 g dry weight (DW), respectively. Hypoglycaemic and hypolipidaemic effects of WSREt and WSLEt were also investigated in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. WSREt and WSLEt and the standard drug glibenclamide were orally administered daily to diabetic rats for eight weeks. After the treatment period, urine sugar, blood glucose, haemoglobin (Hb), glycosylated haemoglobin (HbA1C), liver glycogen, serum and tissues lipids, serum and tissues proteins, liver glucose-6-phosphatase (G6P) and serum enzymes like aspartate transaminase (AST), alanine transaminase (ALT), acid phosphatase (ACP) and alkaline phosphatase (ALP) levels were determined. The levels of urine sugar, blood glucose, HbA1C, G6P, AST, ALT, ACP, ALP, serum lipids except high density lipoprotein-bound cholesterol (HDL-c) and tissues like liver, kidney and heart lipids were significantly (p < 0.05) increased, however Hb, total protein, albumin, albumin:globulin (A:G) ratio, tissues protein and glycogen were significantly (p < 0.05) decreased in alloxan-induced diabetic rats. Treatment of the diabetic rats with WSREt, WSLEt and glibenclamide restored the changes of the above parameters to their normal level after eight weeks of treatment, indicating that WSREt and WSLEt possess hypoglycaemic and hypolipidaemic activities in alloxan-induced diabetes mellitus (DM) rats.     

Performance analysis of double-pass oscillating bed solar dryer for drying of non-parboiled paddy grains

Drying of agricultural produce like paddy grains is necessary for reducing moisture content in them to the required level towards diminishing the deterioration and enhancing the storage time. Conventionally, open-space sun drying is widely used to reduce the moisture content of the most of the agricultural produce.. Now-a-day, so many solar dryers are used for drying agricultural produce. In the present work, a double-pass oscillating bed with a double-pass flat plate collector has been used for drying of non-parboiled paddy grains. The bed oscillated at a frequency of 2.75 Hz. The oscillating bed solar dryer can dry 45 kg of non-parboiled paddy grains in just a single day to the required level of moisture content, and the average moisture present in the dried grains was 13.55%. The average dryer thermal efficiency and pick-up efficiency in non-parboiled paddy were 28.79% and 52.17%, respectively.     

Highly basic CaO nanoparticles in mesoporous carbon materials and their excellent catalytic activity

Highly basic CaO nanoparticles immobilized mesoporous carbon materials (CaO-CMK-3) with different pore diameters have been successfully prepared by using wet-impregnation method. The prepared materials were subjected to extensive characterization studies using sophisticated techniques such as XRD, nitrogen adsorption, HRSEM-EDX, HRTEM and temperature programmed desorption of CO2 (TPD of CO2). The physico-chemical characterization results revealed that these materials possess highly dispersed CaO nanoparticles, excellent nanopores with well-ordered structure, high specific surface area, large specific pore volume, pore diameter and very high basicity. We have also demonstrated that the basicity of the CaO-CMK-3 samples can be controlled by simply varying the amount of CaO loading and pore diameter of the carbon support. The basic catalytic performance of the samples was investigated in the base-catalyzed transesterification of ethylacetoacetate by aryl, aliphatic and cyclic primary alcohols. CMK-3 catalyst with higher CaO loading and larger pore diameter was found to be highly active with higher conversion within a very short reaction time. The activity of 30% CaO-CMK3-150 catalyst for transesterification of ethylacetoacetate using different alcohols increases in the following order: octanol > butanol > cyclohexanol > benzyl alcohol > furfuryl alcohol.     

Contention resolution with EIED backoff for bandwidth request in IEEE 802.16 networks

In this letter, we suggest contention resolution with exponential increase and exponential decrease (EIED) backoff for bandwidth request in worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX) networks. In EIED, setting of backoff factor to overcome collision due to contention is very challenging and hence we suggest a method to compute backoff factor with average contention window. Further, to reduce access delay, we estimate the response time based on probability of failure and average contention window. Simulations validate the proposed EIED backoff in terms of contention efficiency, capacity and access delay. The contention efficiency and capacity is improved by 47.50% (for q value of 0.25) and 28.57% (for 25 numbers of transmission opportunity), respectively, when bandwidth request is made with the proposed EIED backoff mechanism.