Internet of Things (IoT) aims to bring connectivity and integration of power system assets, focusing on active management. To ensure the reliability standards of smart cities, IoT requires a wide range of distributed network of wireless sensor nodes. However, energizing these vast networks is highly complex. This work presents a low-power system for electric field energy harvesting, focusing on smart-city applications (Urban IoTs). In particular, we examined design aspects that maximize energy harvesting efficiency according to mains frequency. Experimental findings disclose that a harvester that works at 5 MHz can deliver up to 11 mJ, in approximately 5 minutes. Since the leakage current of diodes is higher than harvester’s current, we introduce a new management circuit, called serial switch-only rectifier (SSOR). The proposed approach is simulated and experimentally evaluated. Empirical results show that a harvester based on SSOR circuit out-performs a harvester based on a full-bridge rectifier and voltage doubler by collecting more charge, approximately 40%.

Aeroponics or Soil-less agriculture is a relatively new and recent type of practice, where plants are grown without soil while nutrient-rich water is provided via an atomized spray system to the suspended roots. Spray nozzles are easy-to-use in supplying water (and fertilizers) to (mainly) the roots and root hairs of the desired crop (or plant) for production. We characterize a spray nozzle delivering water vertically above against the gravity by measuring, experimentally, its (a) spray drift, (b) spray height, (c) maximum spray angle, (d) spray width, and (e) droplets sizes. Experiments were carried out at different inlet pressures and a majority of the above mentioned parameters were obtained by processing the images captured using digital (or high speed) camera, sometimes along a plane lighted by a high-power laser source. We also studied the spray (or jet) behaviour at different vertical heights and different horizontal planes using a unique polythene sponge method. We studied the mass flow rate, the mass of water absorbed, and droplet size dynamics (as a function of time and pressure) using this method. A mathematical model is proposed to understand such flows, whose results matched reasonably well with the experimental values. We believe that this study can be extrapolated to other nozzles (or sprays) to obtain similar characteristic parameters. A study was conducted on the characterization of “Plant-water uptake”. This study hence is critical in selecting the desired spray system for a given canopy. The research conducted here would be crucial in designing an Aeroponic system in a controlled agricultural environment.

In this paper, MPPT control in PV systems is used by the FPI method which is an intelligent method. Further, the use of a TLBC as an interface converter instead of a conventional boost converter is examined in the PV system and a new transfer function of TLBC in terms of the mode of switching is verified. The main purpose of this paper is to balance voltage capacitors of TLBC by an intelligent fuzzy method. The rules of this controller are adjusted such that, in case of any disturbance in daylight and solar radiation, it can adjust the duty cycle TLBC, where voltage capacitors become well-adapted by being combined with MPPT controller. The simulation results verify the good performance of the proposed controller. Uncertainty parameters include the surrounding temperature, solar radiation, and output electric charge. The first two cannot be controlled by humans and may suddenly change by atmospheric conditions, while the third may suddenly change by the user and can be controlled by the proposed controller under any conditions. A dramatic change in the resistance electric charge is considered in this paper, where the voltage of capacitors does not have any overshoot or fluctuation. The simulation results verify that the capacitor voltage balance in the region is acceptable.

Inefficiency in operations management cause wastage of resources and funds. This paper will define and properly describe the supply chain problem, build a representative simulation model, validate it using witness and then find a solution to the problem. The process line was optimised, and the efficiency increased to about 95%.

Emulsion muds are water based drilling fluids, which contain dispersed oil or synthetic hydrocarbon as an internal phase. Drilling muds are very multifaceted liquids mostly made of up clay suspensions and other materials used as circulatory fluids during well drilling. The ability of drilling fluids, in particular invert emulsion muds to perform their functions, such as removal and transportation of cuttings from the well, lubrication and cooling of drill bits and parts, well wall support and formation fluid containment is all dependent on the rheological properties such as their elasticity, plasticity, viscosity and how they flow and distort. The objective of this paper is to carry out an experimental study on oil based drilling fluid; invert emulsion mud, study its rheological properties, its formulation and how they affect well construction and stability. The mud mixture would also be simulated using Drill Bench.

This paper investigates the deflection and bending stress in a cantilever beam of uniform rectangular cross section with a point load using a 3D Finite Element (FE) model. The results are validated using the Bernoulli-Euler’s elastic curve theory equations. The research aims to study and analyse the static analysis of a rectangular beam considered to be isotropic. During this analysis, the displacement is assumed to be small, the material exhibits a linear stress strain relationship i.e.: obeys Hooke’s law, there is no change of magnitude, orientation or distribution of the load applied and the effect of gravity are negligible hence with of the beam is not accounted for in this analysis. The simulation is carried out in the Autodesk Inventor stress analysis environment and validated using theoretical methods after which the effects of point loads on structural integrity and mechanical properties are studied.

Drift-diffusion models that account for the motion of both electronic and ionic charges are important tools for explaining the hysteretic behaviour. Furnishing numerical solutions to such models for realistic operating conditions is challenging owing to the extreme values of some of the parameters. We present a finite difference scheme with time step that provides second order accuracy in the mesh spacing. The method is able to use realistic parameters values whilst providing high accuracy. Also, three diagonal matrix approximation (TDMA) method is exploit due to matrix solve simplification. This method is robust and fast way to solve. Ion vacancy density, electron concentration, and hole concentration profiles are calculated in transient time-scale. In following, built-in potential is varied and profiles are illustrated. This approach paves the way to have a better insight of device physics and its related phenomena such as ionic motion, hysteresis.

A document by Daniyal Khosh Maram, written on Authorea.

In brain image processing applications the skull stripping is an essential part to explore. In numerous medical image applications the skull stripping stage act as a pre-processing step as due to this stage the accuracy of diagnosis increases in the manifold. The MR image skull stripping stage removes the non-brain tissues from the brain part such as dura, skull, and scalp. Nowadays MRI is an emerging method for brain imaging. However, the existence of the skull region in the MR brain image and the low contrast are the two main drawbacks of magnetic resonance imaging. Therefore, we have proposed a method for contrast enhancement of brain MRI using histogram equalization techniques. While morphological image processing technique is used for skull stripping from MR brain image. We have implemented our proposed methodology in MATLAB R2015a platform. Mean square error (MSE) and peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR) has been used to evaluate the results of our presented method. The experimental results illustrate that our proposed method effectively enhance the image and remove the skull from brain MRI.

Rationale, aims, and objectives: Fluid management plays a pivotal role for heart failure (HF) patients. Medical fluid intake and output recording scheme by health care professional is complicated, which is not easily conducive to carry out by HF patients for self-management at home. This study aimed to optimize the professional fluid records for the self-management of HF patients and evaluate the efficacy of this simplified recording scheme of fluid intake and output. Methods: A randomized, non-blinded and controlled trial with allocation concealment was conducted. A total of 140 HF patients were enrolled and randomly divided into professional recording group (PRG, n=70) and simplified recording group (SRG, n=70). Ultimately, 129 HF patients (PRG, n=65, and SRG, n=64) completed these experiments. Basic clinical characteristics, days of clinical stability, clinical congestion score (CCS), Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire (MLHFQ) and frequency of electrolyte disturbances in these patients were collected. Results: Compared to PRG patients, SRG patients also improved their HF symptoms (including shortness of breath and fluid retention), and did not show the prolonged hospitalization time after similar intravenous diuretic treatment. Additionally, the parameters of clinical stability, CCS, MLHFQ, electrolyte disturbances and body weight in SRG patients were not inferior to that of PRG patients (P >0.05). Conclusions: This simplified fluid intake and output recording scheme was safe, efficient and non-inferior to the professional mode, which might effectively enhance their feasibility of self-management, and improve their quality of life in HF patients.

Reconstructing ecological niche evolution can provide insight into the biogeography and diversification of evolving lineages. However, comparative phylogenetic methods can infer the history of ecological niche evolution inaccurately because (1) species’ niches are often poorly characterized; and (2) phylogenetic comparative methods rely on niche summary statistics rather than full estimates of species’ environmental tolerances. Here we propose a new framework for coding ecological niches and reconstructing their evolution that explicitly acknowledges and incorporates the uncertainty introduced by incomplete niche characterization. Then, we modify existing ancestral state inference methods to leverage full estimates of environmental tolerances. We provide a worked empirical example of our method, investigating ecological niche evolution in the New World orioles (Aves: Passeriformes: Icterus spp.). Temperature and precipitation tolerances were generally broad and conserved among orioles, with niche reduction and specialization limited to a few terminal branches. Tools for performing these reconstructions are available in a new R package called nichevol.

In this study, we used two common ant species (Lasius niger and L. neoniger) to assay how they translate variation in the diet (both in composition and frequency) into growth. We measured colony development for over 8 months and measured several phenotypic traits of the worker caste, and examined whether forager preference corresponded with diet quality. Individuals (workers) and colonies (superorganisms) increased in size with increasing amounts of protein in the diet, and as a function of how much food was available. Optimal colony growth was a balance between survival and growth, and each of these were maximized with different nutrient regimes. Interestingly, forager preference was not totally aligned with the diet that maximized colony growth. Our results highlight that: 1) organism and superorganism size are controlled by the same nutrients, and this may reflect a common molecular basis for size across life’s organizational levels, 2) there are nutrient trade-offs that are associated with life-history trade-offs, likely leading to selection for a balanced diet, and 3) the connection between the preference of foragers for different nutrients and how nutrient combinations affect colony success and demographics are complex and only beginning to be understood.

Understanding spatiotemporal population trends and their drivers is a key aim in population ecology. We further need to be able to predict how the dynamics and sizes of populations are affected in the long term by changing landscapes and climate. However, predictions of future population trends are sensitive to a range of modelling assumptions. Deadwood-dependent fungi are an excellent system for testing the performance of different predictive models of sessile species as these species have different rarity and spatial population dynamics, the populations are structured at different spatial scales and they utilize distinct substrates. We tested how the projected large scale occupancies of species with differing landscape-scale occupancies are affected over the coming century by different modelling assumptions. We compared projections based on occupancy models against colonization-extinction models, conducting the modelling at alternative spatial scales, and using fine or coarse resolution deadwood data. We also tested effects of key explanatory variables on species occurrence and colonization-extinction dynamics. The hierarchical Bayesian models applied were fitted to an extensive repeated survey of deadwood and fungi at 174 patches. We projected higher occurrence probabilities and more positive trends using the occupancy models compared to the colonisation-extinction models, with greater difference for the species with lower occupancy, colonization rate and colonization:extinction ratio than for the species with higher estimates of these statistics. The magnitude of future increase in occupancy depended strongly on the spatial modelling scale and resource resolution. We encourage using colonisation-extinction models over occupancy models, modelling the process at the finest resource-unit resolution that is utilizable by the species, and conducting projections for the same spatial scale and resource resolution at which the model fitting is conducted. Further, the models applied should include key variables driving the metapopulation dynamics, such as the availability of suitable resource units, habitat quality and spatial connectivity.

Scale and tempo of brain expansion in the course of human evolution implies that this process was driven by a positive feedback. The ‘cultural drive’ hypothesis suggests a possible mechanism for the runaway brain-culture coevolution wherein high-fidelity social learning results in accumulation of cultural traditions which, in turn, promote selection for still more efficient social learning. Here we explore this evolutionary mechanism by means of computer modeling. Simulations confirm its plausibility in a social species in a socio-ecological situation that makes the sporadic invention of new beneficial and cognitively demanding behaviours possible. The chances for the runaway brain-culture coevolution increase when some of the culturally transmitted behaviours are individually beneficial while the others are group-beneficial. In this case, ‘cultural drive’ is possible under varying levels of between-group competition and migration. Modeling implies that brain expansion can receive additional boost if the evolving mechanisms of social learning are costly in terms of brain expansion (e.g., rely on complex neuronal curcuits) and tolerant to the complexity of information transferred, that is, make it possible to transfer complex skills and concepts easily. Human language presumably fits this description. Modeling also confirms that the runaway brain-culture coevolution can be accelerated by additional positive feedback loops via population growth and lifespan extension, and that between-group competition and cultural group selection can facilitate the propagation of group-beneficial behaviours and remove maladaptive cultural traditions from the population’s culture, which individual selection is unable to do.

In this paper Spontaneous Process Algorithm (SPA) is proposed to solve optimal reactive power problem. Formulation of the projected algorithm is done by imitating the process done during nuclear fission and fusion. Every item of a nucleus attribute symbolizes each solution variable. Sequence of operators directs the nucleus and in order to avoid the local optimum it will imitate the dissimilar condition of reaction. In the exploration space nucleus symbolizes the variables and potential solution. Levy flight has been intermingled in the procedure to enhance the diversification and intensification in the search. Spontaneous Process Algorithm (SPA) has been tested in standard IEEE 14, 30, 57,118,300 bus test systems and simulation results show the projected algorithm reduced the real power loss comprehensively and there is increase in percentage of reduction of real power loss.

The assembly of the world’s most biodiverse region, the Neotropics, was traditionally considered the result of long-term environmental stability. Studies gathered during the last decades suggest that environmental “instability” instead, specially the dramatic modifications caused by the uplift of the Andes, was responsible of the Neotropical diversity. Yet a comprehensive understanding has been hindered by a lack of large-scale comparative data across wide phylogenetic and ecological contexts. Here, we evaluate the timing and drivers of Neotropical diversification in a large sample of Neotropical clades: 150 phylogenies (12,524 species) of seed plants and major tetrapods (amphibians, mammals, squamates, and birds). We unveil five trends: (1) biodiversity levels before the Quaternary were comparable (or higher) to those of the present,; (2) half of the clades diversified at constant rates; (3) past environmental variations correlate with diversification changes in 37% of the lineages, but with contrasting responses: (4) birds and mammals diversified extensively during warm periods and global cooling resulted in synchronized slowdowns of diversification; plant diversification generally increased during cooling; and (5) the rise of the Andes mostly impacted amphibians and squamates. Our study suggests that environmental instability over macroevolutionary scales may in fact act as a driving force of Neotropical diversification.

Intermittent rivers are prevalent in many countries across Europe and in Mediterranean countries outside Europe, but little is known about the temporal evolution of intermittency characteristics and their relationships with climate variability. In this study, a trend analysis is performed on the annual and seasonal number of zero-flow days, the maximum duration of dry spells and the mean date of the zero-flow events, on a database of 452 rivers in European and in Mediterranean countries outside Europe, with varying degrees of intermittence. In addition, the relationships between flow intermittence and climate are investigated using the Standardized Precipitation Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI) and six climate indices describing large scale atmospheric circulation. Results indicated a strong spatial variability of the seasonal patterns of intermittence and the annual and seasonal number of zero-flow days, which highlights the controls exerted by local catchment properties. Most of the detected trends indicate an increasing number of zero-flow days which also tend to occur earlier in the year, in particular in Southern Europe. The SPEI is found to be strongly related to the annual and seasonal zero-flow day occurrence in more than half of the stations for different accumulation times between 12 and 24 months. Conversely, there is a weak dependence of river intermittence with large-scale circulation indices. Overall, these results suggest increased water stress in intermittent rivers that may affect their biota and biochemistry and also reduce available water resources.

Introduction. Vascular stress at the level of the uterus-placental unit, with chronic placental ischemia, results in intrauterine growth restriction. Expectation management can be used, when the situation allows, in cases of compensated intrauterine growth restriction. Aim: The aim of our study was to evaluate the neonatal prognosis of preterm births with and without growth restriction and term births with growth restriction in order to improve decisional accuracy regarding the termination of pregnancy. Results: The frequency of term birth infants with low birth weight for gestational age was approximately 2%. The male gender, predominated only in the group of premature infants with normal weight for the gestational age. The highest frequency of neonatal complications studied occurred in the group of preterm neonates SGA (small for gestational age) with statistical significance obtained for cardio-vascular arrest acute respiratory failure, ulcer-necrotic enterocolitis, respiratory distress, cerebral edema, intraventricular hemorrhage, cerebral hemorrhage, pulmonary hemorrhage, neonatal infection, hypoglycemia, retinopathy, anemia, hemorrhagic disease, disseminated intravascular coagulation, disease of hyaline membranes, neonatal sepsis, need for intensive neonatal therapy and death. Conclusion: Immediate neonatal adaptation of SGA preterm neonates is more deficient than for preterm neonates with appropriate weight for gestational age; the adaptation of preterm neonates, in turn, is more deficient than term newborns with intrauterine growth restriction. The term newborns with intrauterine growth restriction have a neonatal adaptation comparable to that of the term newborns with weight corresponding to the gestational age.

Acrylic fibers are synthetic fibers made from a polymer (polyacrylonitrile) with an average molecular weight of ~100,000, about 1900 monomer units. For a fiber to be called “acrylic” in the US, the polymer must contain at least 85% acrylonitrile monomer. Typical comonomers are vinyl acetate or methyl acrylate. DuPont created the first acrylic fibers in 1941 and trademarked them under the name Orlon.[1] It was first developed in the mid-1940s but was not produced in large quantities until the 1950s. Strong and warm, acrylic fiber is often used for sweaters and tracksuits and as linings for boots and gloves, as well asin furnishing fabrics and carpets. It is manufactured as a filament, then cut into short staplelengths similar to wool hairs, and spun into yarn. Modacrylic is a modified acrylic fiber that contains at least 35% and at most 85%acrylonitrile monomer. The comonomers vinyl chloride, vinylidene chloride or vinyl bromide used in modacrylic give the fiber flame retardant properties. End-uses of modacrylic include faux fur, wigs, hair extensions and protective clothing.

In this paper, experimental results are reported to quantify the effect of hydrophobic coating LT-8 on frictional drag of water flow in pipes of 450 mm length. Five pipes of 1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 mm inner diameter were tested. The results from 1, 2 and 3 mm diameter pipes demonstrated an average frictional drag reduction of 9%, 11.5% and 3%, respectively, while the results from 4mm and 5mm pipes showed an increase in frictional drag of 12% and 10%, respectively. The 2mm and 4mm pipes were also tested with a half application of hydrophobic coating. The half coated 2mm pipe showed decrease in drag while 4mm pipe showed increase in drag. The results indicate a relationship between drag reduction/ increase withnthe percentage of coated surface. The main conclusions are, the flow changed from laminar state to the liquid-air wetting surface condition (Cassie-Baxter wetting state) at the pipe surface and then destabilized by the turbulent boundary layer and entered the liquid wetting surface (Wenzel wetting state) will be appeared. This transition lead to a reduction in friction drag for laminar flow condition and increase in drag for turbulent flow condition.

The mechanisms of Cp*Rh(OAc)2-catalyzed coupling reaction of N-methoxybenzamide with alkyl-terminated enyne have been investigated by density functional theory (DFT) calculations. With the addition of NaOAc and changing solvent, the product transforms from lactam P1 in reaction A to iminolactone P2 in reaction B, due to the formed stable OAc- coordinated intermediate. The electronic effect and steric effect account for the observed regioselectivity in reaction B collectively.

We develop a novel approach to trophic metacommunities and use it to study the effect of habitat loss on food webs. Our method assigns a spatially realistic Levins-type metapopulation model to each species, then couples them by making species extinction rates depend on the likelihood of the presence of species’ prey items via a Bayesian network representation of the food web. The method yields general insights into metacommunity ecology, revealing that metacommunity processes alone can restrict the maximum number of trophic levels to a handful at most over fragmented landscapes, independent of energetic or other constraints. It also allows one to repurpose known results of classical metapopulation theory for metacommunities, such as ranking the habitat patches of the landscape with respect to their importance to the persistence of the metacommunity as a whole. Using these tools, we explore how progressive habitat loss affects species extinction rates. The outcome depends on the order of habitat removal: focusing on removing patches which are least crucial to persistence first (best-case scenario) means the metacommunities can often tolerate the removal of more than 90% of their patches. Whereas removing the most crucial patches first (worst-case scenario) leads to the collapse of metacommunities very quickly. Surprisingly, removing patches at random is nearly indistinguishable in its effects from the worst-case scenario. In all cases, species’ vulnerability to habitat loss is greater at higher trophic levels, stressing the risk of network downsizing for food webs under progressive habitat loss.

The transformation mechanism and kinetics of 2-chloro-1,1,2-trifluoroethyl-difluoromethyl-ether (CTDE, CHF2OCF2CHFCl) triggered by OH radicals were researched by DFT methods and canonical variational transition state theory. The computational rate constant including small-curvature tunneling correction was in commendable agreement with the experimental data. Two hydrogen abstraction channels to form the alkyl radicals of C·F2OCF2CHFCl and CHF2OCF2C·FCl were observed, and the formation of CHF2OCF2C·FCl was more favorable than C·F2OCF2CHFCl in kinetics and thermodynamics. Subsequent evolution of CHF2OCF2C·FCl in the presence of NO and O2 indicated that the organic nitrate (CHF2OCF2CONO2FCl) was the stable product. The dechlorinate of alkoxy radical (CHF2OCF2C(O·)FCl) was the most favorable degradation channel and the estimated ozone depletion potential for CTDE relative to CFC-11 was 0.0204, which could lead to a consequence of ozone depletion. Computed atmospheric lifetime for CTDE was 3.69 years by considering the combined contributions from OH radicals and Cl atoms. The total radiative forcing and global warming potential of CTDE were respectively 0.547 W m-2 ppbv and 628.58 (100 years) at 298 K, suggesting that the contribution of CTDE to the greenhouse effect is moderate.

The ground state energy of hydrogen and helium atom confined by a hard prolate spheroidal cavity is calculated in the presence of plasma environment. The effect of compression as well as the presence of plasma environment on the energy of hydrogen and helium in ground state is studied in details. The plasma effect is taken care of by employing effective screening of the Coulomb potential. The Schrodinger equation is solved using the variational Monte Carlo method with an accurate trial wave function depending on many variational parameters. The results were extended also to include He-like isoelectronic ions up to Z = 10. Our results are compared with the most recent accurate values. The obtained results are in good agreement with the most recent results.