An Adaptive Transmission Mode Selection Scheme for Cellular Underlaid D2D Communication

In this paper, we propose to use Artificial Bee Colony (ABC) optimization to solve the joint mode selection, channel assignment, and power allocation (JMSCPA) problem to maximize system throughput and spectral efficiency. JMSCPA is a problem where the allocation of channel and power depends on the mode selection. Such problems require two step solution and are called bi-level optimization problems. As bi-level optimization increases the complexity and computational time, we propose a modified version of single-level ABC algorithm aided with the adaptive transmission mode selection algorithm to allocate the cellular, reuse, and dedicated modes to the DUs along with channel and power allocation based on the network traffic load scenarios. A single variable, represented by the users (CUs and DUs) is used to allocate mode selection, and channel allocation to solve the JMSCPA problem, leading to a simpler solution with faster convergence, and significant reduction in the computational complexity which scales linearly with the number of users. Further, the proposed solution avoids premature stagnation of conventional ABC into local minima by incorporating a modification in its update procedure. The efficacy of the ABC-aided approach, as compared to the results reported in the literature, is validated by extensive numerical investigations under different simulation scenarios.

     

Role of Post-translational Modifications in Alzheimer's Disease

The global burden of Alzheimer's disease (AD) is growing. Valiant efforts to develop clinical candidates for treatment have continuously met with failure. Currently available palliative treatments are temporary and there is a constant need to search for reliable disease pathways, biomarkers and drug targets for developing diagnostic and therapeutic tools to address the unmet medical needs of AD. Challenges in drug-discovery efforts raise further questions about the strategies of current conventional diagnosis; drug design; and understanding of disease pathways, biomarkers and targets. In this context, post-translational modifications (PTMs) regulate protein trafficking, function and degradation, and their in-depth study plays a significant role in the identification of novel biomarkers and drug targets. Aberrant PTMs of disease-relevant proteins could trigger pathological pathways, leading to disease progression. Advancements in proteomics enable the generation of patterns or signatures of such modifications, and thus, provide a versatile platform to develop biomarkers based on PTMs. In addition, understanding and targeting the aberrant PTMs of various proteins provide viable avenues for addressing AD drug-discovery challenges. This review highlights numerous PTMs of proteins relevant to AD and provides an overview of their adverse effects on the protein structure, function and aggregation propensity that contribute to the disease pathology. A critical discussion offers suggestions of methods to develop PTM signatures and interfere with aberrant PTMs to develop viable diagnostic and therapeutic interventions in AD.     

Cellulose nanoparticles synthesised from potato peel for the development of active packaging film for enhancement of shelf life of raw prawns (Penaeus monodon) during frozen storage

In this study, the cellulose nanoparticles (CNP) isolated from potato peel were used for reinforcement of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA)-based active packaging film. The above film was used to pack the raw prawns (Penaeus monodon) at −20 °C, and the colour change, protein content, TVB-N, TMA and microbial analysis were done at regular interval for prawns stored in CNP-PVA active packaging film. A significant difference was observed in the quality of prawns stored in potato CNP-PVA film compared with prawns packed and stored in polyethylene film. The newly designed active packaging with CNP and fennel seed oil enhanced the shelf life of prawns up to two months for both HOSO (head on shell on) prawn and PD (peeled and deveined) prawn. Hence, the study recommends the potato peel CNP-PVA film with fennel seed oil as better choice to extend the shelf life of the prawns during storage compared with polyethylene packaging.     

Sintering behaviour of fluorapatite–silicate composites produced from natural fluorapatite and quartz

In this work, the sintering behaviour of fluorapatite (FAp)–silicate composites prepared by mixing variable amounts of natural quartz (2.5 wt% to 20 wt%) and FAp was studied. The composites were pressureless sintered in air at temperatures from 1000 °C to 1350 °C. The effects of temperatures on the densification, phase formation, chemical bonding and Vickers hardness of the composites were evaluated. All the samples exhibited mixed phase, comprising FAp and francolite as the major constituents along with some minor phases of cristobalite, wollastonite, dicalcium silicate and/or whitlockite dependent on the quartz content and sintering temperature. The composite containing 2.5 wt% quartz exhibited the best sintering properties. The highest bulk density of 3 g/cm³ and a Vickers hardness of >4.2 GPa were obtained for the 2.5 wt% quartz–FAp composite when sintered at 1100 °C. The addition of quartz was found to alter the microstructure of the composites, where it exhibited a rod-like morphology when sintered at 1000 °C and a regular rounded grain structure when sintered at 1350 °C. A wetted grain surface was observed for composites containing high quartz content and was believed to be associated with a transient liquid phase sintering.     

Face verification across age progression.

Human faces undergo considerable amounts of varialions with aging. While face recognition systems have been proven to be sensitive to factors such as illumination and pose, their sensitivity to facial aging effects is yet to be studied. How does age progression affect the similarity between a pair of face images of an individual? What is the confidence associated with establishing the identity between a pair of age separated face images? In this paper, we develop a Bayesian age difference classifier that classifies face images of individuals based on age differences and performs face verification across age progression. Further, we study the similarity of faces across age progression. Since age separated face images invariably differ in illumination and pose, we propose preprocessing methods for minimizing such variations. Experimental results using a database comprising of pairs of face images that were retrieved from the passports of 465 individuals are presented. The verification system for faces separated by as many as nine years, attains an equal error rate of 8.5%.     

Joint scheduling and power control supporting multicasting in wireless ad hoc networks

This paper addresses the problem of power control in a multihop wireless network supporting multicast traffic. We face the problem of forwarding packet traffic to multicast group members while meeting constraints on the signal-to-interference-plus-noise ratio (SINR) at the intended receivers. First, we present a distributed algorithm which, given the set of multicast senders and their corresponding receivers, provides an optimal solution when it exists, which minimizes the total transmit power. When no optimal solution can be found for the given set of multicast senders and receivers, we introduce a distributed, joint scheduling and power control algorithm which eliminates the weak connections and tries to maximize the number of successful multicast transmissions. The algorithm allows the other senders to solve the power control problem and minimize the total transmit power. We show that our distributed algorithm converges to the optimal solution when it exists, and performs close to centralized, heuristic algorithms that have been proposed to address the joint scheduling and power control problem.     

Nodal sensitivities as error estimates in computational mechanics

Summary This paper proposes the use of special sensitivities, called nodal sensitivities, as error indicators and estimators for numerical analysis in mechanics. Nodal sensitivities are defined as rates of change of response quantities with respect to nodal positions. Direct analytical differentiation is used to obtain the sensitivities, and the infinitesimal perturbations of the nodes are forced to lie along the elements. The idea proposed here can be used in conjunction with general purpose computational methods such as the Finite Element Method (FEM), the Boundary Element Method (BEM) or the Finite Difference Method (FDM); however, the BEM is the method of choice in this paper. The performance of the error indicators is evaluated through two numerical examples in linear elasticity.     

A comparison between the enhanced mass transfer in boundary and pressure driven oscillatory flow

Mass transport in pulsating flow devices using either moving boundaries or oscillating imposed pressure drops are compared with each other by means of a calculation using a simple model. We conclude that there is no difference between the two configurations as long as one is interested only in the power required to move the fluid for the convective mass transport achieved. However, the boundary driven configuration is more efficient if the power is divided by the total mass transport where both the diffusive and convective parts are taken into account, the boundary driven configuration is more efficient. The amplitude of the piston stroke in the pressure driven configuration and the amplitude in the boundary driven case are assumed to be the same, and the inertia of the moving devices themselves are ignored in this calculation.     

LDPC-based space-time coded OFDM systems over correlated fadingchannels: Performance analysis and receiver design

We consider a space-time coded (STC) orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) system with multiple transmitter and receiver antennas over correlated frequency- and time-selective fading channels. It is shown that the product of the time-selectivity order and the frequency-selectivity order is a key parameter to characterize the outage capacity of the correlated fading channel. It is also observed that STCs with large effective lengths and ideal built-in interleavers are more effective in exploiting the natural diversity in multiple-antenna correlated fading channels. We then propose a low-density parity-check (LDPC)-code-based STC-OFDM system. Compared with the conventional space-time trellis code (STTC), the LDPC-based STC can significantly improve the system performance by exploiting both the spatial diversity and the selective-fading diversity in wireless channels. Compared with the previously proposed turbo-code-based STC scheme, LDPC-based STC exhibits lower receiver complexity and more flexible scalability. We also consider receiver design for LDPC-based STC-OFDM systems in unknown fast fading channels and propose a novel turbo receiver employing a maximum a posteriori expectation-maximization (MAP-EM) demodulator and a soft LDPC decoder, which can significantly reduce the error floor in fast fading channels with a modest computational complexity. With such a turbo receiver, the proposed LDPC-based STC-OFDM system is a promising solution to highly efficient data transmission over selective-fading mobile wireless channels