Age of Information of Parallel Server Systems with Energy Harvesting

Motivated by current communication networks in which users can choose different transmission channels to operate and also by the recent growth of renewable energy sources, we study the average Age of Information of a status update system that is formed by two parallel homogeneous servers and such that there is an energy source that feeds the system following a random process. An update, after getting service, is delivered to the monitor if there is energy in a battery. However, if the battery is empty, the status update is lost. We allow preemption of updates in service and we assume Poisson generation times of status updates and exponential service times. We show that the average Age of Information can be characterized by solving a system with eight linear equations. Then, we show that, when the arrival rate to both servers is large, the average Age of Information is one divided by the sum of the service rates of the servers. We also perform a numerical analysis to compare the performance of our model with that of a single server with energy harvesting and to study in detail the aforementioned convergence result.     

Non-linear coupling in the dark sector as a running vacuum model

In this work we study a phenomenological non-gravitational interaction between dark matter and dark energy. The scenario studied in this work extends the usual interaction model proportional to the derivative of the dark component density adding to the coupling a non-linear term of the form \(Q = \rho '/3(\alpha + \beta \rho _{Dark})\) This dark sector interaction model could be interpreted as a particular case of a running vacuum model of the type \(\Lambda (H) = n_0 + n_1 H^2 + n_2 H^4\) in which the vacuum decays into dark matter. For a flat FRW Universe filled with dark energy, dark matter and decoupled baryonic matter and radiation we calculate the energy density evolution equations of the dark sector and solve them. The different sign combinations of the two parameters of the model show clear qualitative different cosmological scenarios, from basic cosmological insights we discard some of them. The linear scalar perturbation equations of the dark matter were calculated. Using the CAMB code we calculate the CMB and matter power spectra for some values of the parameters \(\alpha \) and \(\beta \) and compare it with \(\Lambda \)CDM. The model modify mainly the lower multipoles of the CMB power spectrum remaining almost the same the high ones. The matter power spectrum for low wave numbers is not modified by the interaction but after the maximum it is clearly different. Using observational data from Planck, and various galaxy surveys we obtain the constraints of the parameters, the best fit values obtained are the combinations \(\alpha = (3.7 \pm 7 )\times 10^{-4} \), \(-\,(1.5\times 10^{-5}\, \mathrm{eV}^{-1})^{4} \ll \beta < (0.07\,\mathrm{eV}^{-1})^4\).     

Physicochemical characteristics of protein-NP bioconjugates: the role of particle curvature and solution conditions on human serum albumin conformation and fibrillogenesis inhibition

Gold nanoparticles (Au NPs) from 5 to 100 nm in size synthesized with HAuCl(4) and sodium citrate were complexed with the plasma protein human serum albumin (HSA). Size, surface charge, and surface plasmon bands of the Au NPs are largely modified by the formation of a protein corona via electrostatic interactions and hydrogen bonding as revealed by thermodynamic data. Negative values of the entropy of binding suggested a restriction in the biomolecule mobility upon adsorption. The structure of the adsorbed protein molecules is slightly affected by the interaction with the metal surface, but this effect is enhanced as the NP curvature decreases. Also, it is observed that the protein molecules adsorbed onto the NP surface are more resistant to complete thermal denaturation than free protein ones as deduced from the increases in the melting temperature of the adsorbed protein. Differences in the conformations of the adsorbed protein molecules onto small (<40 nm) and large NPs were observed on the basis of ζ-potential data and FTIR spectroscopy, also suggesting a better resistance of adsorbed protein molecules to thermal denaturing conditions. We think this enhanced protein stability is responsible for a reduced formation of HSA amyloid-like fibrils in the presence of small Au NPs under HSA fibrillation conditions.     

Optical properties of single wall carbon nanotubes dispersed in biopolymers

In this paper we report the optical studies of single wall carbon nanotubes dispersed in biomaterials. We have obtained very stable suspensions of SWNTs, which allowed us to get good photoluminescence signal from the individually dispersed nanotubes. These new hybrid systems may find some applications in bionanocomposites with photoluminescence properties and in biosensors. Furthermore, the dispersion of carbon nanotubes in these biocompatible materials is important for evaluating the toxicity of either isolated or lightly bundled single wall carbon nanotubes.     

Large area liquid crystal monodomain field-effect transistors

Butyl, hexyl, and decyl derivatives of the liquid-crystalline organic semiconductor 5,5' '-bis(5-alkyl-2-thienylethynyl)-2,2':5',2' '-terthiophene were synthesized and studied with respect to their structural, optical, and electrical properties. By means of an optimized thermal annealing scheme the hexyl and decyl compounds could be processed into self-assembled monodomain films of up to 150 mm in diameter. These were investigated with X-ray diffractometry, which revealed a clearly single-crystalline monoclinic morphology with lamellae parallel to the substrate. Within the lamellae the molecules were found to arrange with a tilt of about 50 degrees with the rubbing direction of the polyimide alignment layer. The resulting, close side-to-side packing was confirmed by measurements of the UV/vis absorption, which showed a dichroic ratio of 19 and indicated H-aggregation. AFM analyses revealed self-affinity in the surface roughness of the monodomain. The compounds showed bipolar charge transport in TOF measurements, with hole mobilities reaching up to 0.02 cm(2)/Vs and maximum electron mobilities around 0.002 cm(2)/Vs. The hexyl derivative was processed into large-area monodomain top-gate field-effect transistors, which were stable for months and showed anisotropic hole mobilities of up to 0.02 cm(2)/Vs. Compared to multidomain bottom-gate transistors the monodomain formation allowed for a mobility increase by 1 order of magnitude.     

On the number of conjugacy classes of zeros of characters

Letm be a fixed non-negative integer. In this work we try to answer the following question: What can be said about a (finite) groupG if all of its irreducible (complex) characters vanish on at mostm conjugacy classes? The classical result of Burnside about zeros of characters says thatG is abelian ifm=0, so it is reasonable to expect that the structure ofG will somehow reflect the fact that the irreducible characters vanish on a bounded number of classes. The same question can also be posed under the weaker hypothesis thatsome irreducible character ofG hasm classes of zeros. For nilpotent groups we shall prove that the order is bounded by a function ofm in the first case but only the derived length can be bounded in general under the weaker condition. For solvable groups the situation is not so well understood although we shall prove that the Fitting height can be bounded by a double logarithmic function ofm, improving a recent result by G. Qian.     

Frontal Polymerization of Deep Eutectic Solvents Composed of Acrylic and Methacrylic Acids

Frontal polymerization of deep eutectic solvents (DESs) made with acrylic or methacrylic acid as the monomer and hydrogen bond donor was studied. Fronts with acrylic acid and choline chloride propagated more uniformly than with pure acrylic acid, so an exploration into how the DES affected frontal polymerization was performed. The hydrogen bond acceptor of the DES was replaced by several analogs to determine the effect on the DES front behavior. The analogs used were talc, DMSO, lauric acid, and stearic acid, which acted as a heat sink, inert diluent, hydrogen bonding diluent, and inert phase change material, respectively. None of the methacrylic acid‐analog systems were able to sustain a front. While the acrylic acid‐analog systems did sustain a front (with the exception of stearic acid), none of the fronts replicated the acrylic acid DES behavior. The acrylic acid–talc sample behaved more violently—like pure acrylic acid polymerization—than the acrylic acid DES, and the DMSO and lauric acid samples produced slower fronts than that of the acrylic acid DES. We propose that the reactivity of the acrylic acid and methacrylic acid is enhanced in the DES. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Polym. Sci., Part A: Polym. Chem. 2017 , 55, 4046–4050     

Thermal,chemical, biological and mechanical properties of chitosan films with powder of eggshell membrane for biomedical applications

Journal of Thermal Analysis and Calorimetry - The objective of this work was to develop chitosan films incorporated with the eggshell membrane powder (MCO) by the solvent evaporation method with...     

A theorical point of view of reality,perception, and language

It is possible to view the relations between mathematics and natural language from different aspects. This relation between mathematics and language is not based on just one aspect. In this article, the authors address the role of the Subject facing Reality through language. Perception is defined and a mathematical theory of the perceptual field is proposed. The distinction between purely expressive language and purely informative language is considered false, because the subject is expressed in the communication of a message, and conversely, in purely expressive language, as in an exclamation, there is some information. To study the relation between language and reality, the function of ostensibility is defined and propositions are divided into ostensives and estimatives. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 20: 27–37, 2014