A Flexi-PEGDA Upconversion Implant for Wireless Brain Photodynamic Therapy

Near-infrared (NIR) activatable upconversion nanoparticles (UCNPs) enable wireless-based phototherapies by converting deep-tissue-penetrating NIR to visible light. UCNPs are therefore ideal as wireless transducers for photodynamic therapy (PDT) of deep-sited tumors. However, the retention of unsequestered UCNPs in tissue with minimal options for removal limits their clinical translation. To address this shortcoming, biocompatible UCNPs implants are developed to deliver upconversion photonic properties in a flexible, optical guide design. To enhance its translatability, the UCNPs implant is constructed with an FDA-approved poly(ethylene glycol) diacrylate (PEGDA) core clad with fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP). The emission spectrum of the UCNPs implant can be tuned to overlap with the absorption spectra of the clinically relevant photosensitizer, 5-aminolevulinic acid (5-ALA). The UCNPs implant can wirelessly transmit upconverted visible light till 8 cm in length and in a bendable manner even when implanted underneath the skin or scalp. With this system, it is demonstrated that NIR-based chronic PDT is achievable in an untethered and noninvasive manner in a mouse xenograft glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) model. It is postulated that such encapsulated UCNPs implants represent a translational shift for wireless deep-tissue phototherapy by enabling sequestration of UCNPs without compromising wireless deep-tissue light delivery.     

Design of energy-efficient precoders in MIMO cognitive two-way relay network

This paper addresses the energy efficiency (EE) maximization problem for a multi-input multi-output cognitive two-way relay network. The secondary system, comprises of a two-way amplify-and-forward (AF) relay and two transceivers, co-exists with the licensed primary user (PU). The secondary transceivers communicate through the two-way AF relay. We jointly design the precoders for the secondary transceivers and the AF relay with the aim to maximize the EE while satisfying the transmit power constraints at the secondary transceivers and the relay, quality-of-service constraints at the secondary transceivers, and interference constraints at the PU. The resulting maximization problem is a non-convex fractional programming problem with three unknown precoder matrices. This problem is first simplified and converted into a vector valued problem using singular value decomposition. Further, the tools of iterative optimization scheme and the fractional programming theory are employed to solve the simplified problem. The computational complexity and convergence behaviour of the proposed solution are analysed. Numerical results are presented to illustrate the effectiveness of the proposed design in terms of the achievable EE and the probability of feasibility.

     

Smart Animal Detection and Counting Framework for Monitoring Livestock in an Autonomous Unmanned Ground Vehicle Using Restricted Supervised Learning and Image Fusion

Neural Processing Letters - Automated livestock monitoring is a promising solution for vast and isolated farmlands or cattle stations. The advancement in sensor technology and the rise of unmanned...     

Landscape, race and memory: biographical mapping of the routes of British Asian landscape values

In this paper the migration routes of British Asian women living in London are examined. It is shown that British Asians connect with a myriad of landscapes abroad, including East Africa, India and Pakistan. These connections to past landscapes are mapped and considered here as valued environments of British Asian women in Britain. Through the mapping of their biographies, it is apparent that memories of other landscapes are embedded in environmental practices in Britain, therefore contributing to making the landscape in Britain inclusive and meaningful in the context of the South Asian migration. The maps of migration show the heterogeneity of landscapes experienced by the British Asian women. Memories of other lands manifest themselves in the UK. The effect of these memories on the South Asian home itself in the process of shaping diasporic geographies of belonging and being within the UK is illustrated.     

A simple procedure for selection and sizing of indirect passive solar heating systems

Equivalent sol-air temperatures have been defined for four indirect gain passive solar heating concepts, namely, mass wall, water wall, Trombe wall and solarium. Steady state thermal efficiencies have also been defined as a measure of the ability of each system to deliver heat into the living space.

Design curves have been developed which relate the average instantaneous solar radiation incident on the passive element to thermal efficiency for different values of ambient temperature. These curves are useful in selection of an appropriate passive heating concept for a particular location.

It is inferred that a solarium is most effective at very low levels of incident radiation and low ambient temperature. Water walls and Trombe walls are most efficient at higher levels of incident radiation.

A simple procedure has been developed for a first approximation of sizing the selected system using these design curves and a minimum of meteorological information, namely, monthly average of daily global solar radiation, monthly average maximum and minimum ambient temperatures.     

PVA/Gd2O3@Zno Nanocomposite Films as New Uv-Blockers: Structure and Optical Revelations

Journal of Inorganic and Organometallic Polymers and Materials - Herein we have synthesised Gadolinium oxide doped Zinc oxide (Gd2O3@ZnO) by solution combustion method and incorporated it as a...     

rGO Sheets/ZnFe2O4 Nanocomposities as an Efficient Electro Catalyst Material for I3−/I− Reaction for High Performance DSSCs

In this paper, Reduced Graphene Oxide (rGO)/ZnFe₂O₄ (rZnF) nanocomposite is synthesized by a simple hydrothermal method and employed as a counter electrode (CE) material for tri-iodide redox reactions in Dye sensitized solar cells (DSSC) to replace the traditional high cost platinum (Pt) CE. X-ray diffraction analysis and High resolution Transmission electron microscopy, clearly indicated the formation of rZnF nanocomposite and also amorphous rGO sheets were smoothly distributed on the surface of ZnFe₂O₄ (ZnF) nanostructure. The rZnF-50 CE shows excellent electro catalytic activity toward I₃^? reduction, which has simultaneously been confirmed by cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy and Tafel polarization measurements. A DSSC developed by rZnF-50 CE (η?=?8.71%) obtained quite higher than the Pt (η?=?8.53%) based CE under the same condition. The superior performances of rZnF-50 CE due to addition of graphene in to Spinel (ZnF) nanostructure results in creation of highly active electrochemical sites, fast electron transport linkage between CE and electrolyte. Thus it’s a promising low cost CE material for DSSCs.

     

Design and performance analysis of a CNFET-based TCAM cell with dual-chirality selection

The carbon nanotube field-effect transistor (CNFET) is emerging as one of the most promising alternatives to complementary metal–oxide–semiconductor (CMOS) transistors due to its one-dimensional (1-D) band structure, low off-current capability, near-ballistic transport operation, high stability, and low power consumption. This paper presents the design of a CNFET-based ternary content-addressable memory (TCAM) cell and rigorously analyzes its performance in terms of power–delay product (PDP) and static noise margin (SNM). The effect of variations of the chiral vector on the performance of the TCAM cell is also comprehensively investigated. While selecting the chirality, SNM, PDP, and search time are considered as figures of merit. In this TCAM cell design, we apply the same chirality for all CNFETs of the same type. Extensive HSPICE simulations have been performed for computation of performance parameters using the Stanford University CNFET model. Comparison of CNFET- and CMOS-based TCAM cells has been carried out at the 16-nm technology node. The results show that the CNFET-based TCAM cell exhibits significant improvements of PDP, i.e., by 38 % during write operation and 98 % during search operation, and 53 % in SNM, compared with its CMOS counterpart. It is also observed that the best chirality for the TCAM cell design is (22, 19, 0) or (10, 19, 0) from the point of view of SNM and PDP, respectively.