Error propagation analysis for underwater cooperative multi-hop communications

The potential gains of cooperative communication and multi-hopping in underwater acoustic communication channels is examined. In particular, performance of such systems is compared to a comparable single hop system (direct transmission) with a common transmission distance. The effects of error propagation with decode and forward at each relay are explicitly treated and it is shown that strong gains can be achieved by multi-hopping (an effective SNR gain) as well as cooperation, which contributes to a diversity gain. We observe that cooperative diversity gains are retained even when considering error propagation. The analysis is done via a Markov chain analysis for both regular linear and grid networks. Our initial analysis is for single path channels; the effects of inter-symbol interference as well as multi-user interference are examined. It is found that due to the strong decay of signal power as a function of transmission distance, multi-user interference is not as significant as inter-symbol interference. In both cases, cooperative and multi-hopping gains are observed.     

A High-Order <Emphasis Type="Italic">B</Emphasis>-Spline Collocation Method for Solving Nonlinear Singular Boundary Value Problems Arising in Engineering and Applied Science

In this paper, a high-order B-spline collocation method on a uniform mesh is presented for solving nonlinear singular two-point boundary value problems with Neumann and Robin boundary conditions:

$$\begin{aligned} (p(x)y')'= & {} p(x)f(x,y), \quad 0<x\le 1, \\ y'(0)= & {} 0,\quad ay(1)+by'(1)=c, \end{aligned}$$

where \(p(x)=x^{\alpha }g(x),\alpha \ge 0\) is a general class of non-negative function. The error analysis for the quartic B-spline interpolation is discussed. To demonstrate the applicability and efficiency of our method we consider eight numerical examples, seven of which arise in various branches of applied science and engineering: (1) equilibrium of isothermal gas sphere; (2) thermal explosion; (3) thermal distribution in the human head; (4) oxygen diffusion in a spherical cell; (5) stress distribution on shallow membrane cap; (6) reaction diffusion process in a spherical permeable catalyst; (7) heat and mass transfer in a spherical catalyst. It is shown that our method has fourth-order convergence and is more accurate than finite difference methods (Chawla et al., in BIT 28:88–97, 1988; Pandey et al. in J Comput Appl Math 224:734–742, 2009) and B-spline collocation methods (Abukhaled et al. in Int J Numer Anal Model 8:353–363, 2011; Khuri and Sayfy in Int J Comput Methods 11(1):1350052, 2014).

     

Coumarin Based Fluorescent Probe for Colorimetric Detection of Fe<Superscript>3+</Superscript> and Fluorescence Turn On-Off Response of Zn<Superscript>2+</Superscript> and Cu<Superscript>2+</Superscript>

A new coumarin based Schiff-base chemosensor-(E)-7-(((8-hydroxyquinolin-2-yl)methylene) amino)-4-methyl-2H-chromen-2-one (H ₁₁ L) was synthesized and evaluated as a colorimetric sensor for Fe³⁺ and fluorescence “turn on-off” response of Zn²⁺ and Cu²⁺ using absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. Upon treatment with Fe³⁺ and Zn²⁺, the absorption intensity as well as the fluorescence emission intensity increases drastically compared to other common alkali, alkaline earth and transition metal ions, with a distinct color change which provide naked eye detection. Formation of 1:1 metal to ligand complex has been evaluated using Benesi-Hildebrand relation, Job’s plot analyses, ¹H NMR titration as well as ESI-Mass spectral analysis. The complex solution of H ₁₁ L with Zn²⁺ ion exhibited reversibility with EDTA and regenerate free ligand for further Zn²⁺ sensing. H ₁₁ L exhibits two INHIBIT logic gates with two different chemical inputs (i) Zn²⁺ (IN1) and Cu²⁺ (IN2) and (ii) Zn²⁺ (IN1) and EDTA (IN2) and the emission as output. Again, an IMPLICATION logic gate is obtained with Cu²⁺ and EDTA as chemical inputs and emission as output mode. Both free ligand as well as metal-complexes was optimized using density functional theory to interpret spectral properties. The corresponding energy difference between HOMO-LUMO energy gap for H ₁₁ L, H₁₁L-Zn²⁺ and H₁₁L-Cu²⁺ are 2.193, 1.834 and 0.172 eV, respectively.     

Electron beam crosslinked gels—Preparation,characterization and their effect on the mechanical,dynamic mechanical and rheological properties of rubbers

Electron beam (EB) crosslinked natural rubber (NR) gels were prepared by curing NR latex with EB irradiation over a range of doses from 2.5 to 20 kGy using butyl acrylate as sensitizer. The NR gels were systematically characterized by solvent swelling, dynamic light scattering, mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties. These gels were introduced in virgin NR and styrene butadiene rubber (SBR) matrices at 2, 4, 8 and 16 phr concentration. Addition of the gels improved the mechanical and dynamic mechanical properties of NR and SBR considerably. For example, 16 phr of 20 kGy EB-irradiated gel-filled NR showed a tensile strength of 3.53 MPa compared to 1.85 MPa of virgin NR. Introduction of gels in NR shifted the glass transition temperature to a higher temperature. A similar effect was observed in the case of NR gel-filled SBR systems. Morphology of the gel-filled systems was studied with atomic force microscopy. The NR gels also improved the processability of the virgin rubbers greatly. Both the shear viscosity and the die swell values of EB-irradiated gel-filled NR and SBR were lower than their virgin counterparts as investigated by capillary rheometer.     

On rheology,cure kinetics and chemorheology of gum rubbers

The paper presents an experimentally supported modeling approach, which describes the rheology, detailed cure kinetics, and chemorheology of a gum elastomer in course of sulfur accelerated vulcanization. Changes in the rheology during cure reaction are correlated with degree of cross-linking, described by vulcanization kinetics. Oil extended SBR exemplifies the approach.     

Synthesis and RNase A inhibition study of C2-symmetric bis-isochromenyl sulfones

A new class of C₂-symmetric bis-isochromene derivatives with 3,3′-linkage has been synthesized from bis-propargyl sulfones. The method involves treatment of the sulfones with triethylamine to form the isochromene derivatives presumably via the intramolecular Michael addition to the intermediate bis-allenic sulfones. Interestingly, the product expected from the Garratt-Braverman pathway was not obtained. The bis-isochromene 7d displayed RNase A inhibition activity, much stronger than the isochromene 8 and bis-isocoumarin 9.     

Stereoselective synthesis of an advanced seco ester intermediate as a precursor toward the synthesis of amphidinolides T1, T3, and T4

An efficient, convergent, and stereoselective synthesis of a very advanced intermediate toward the total synthesis of amphidinolides T1, T3, and T4 utilising Evan’s aldol and alkylation reactions, oxy-Michael, cross metathesis, stereoselective Grignard addition, and Yamaguchi esterification reactions as key steps is described.     

Contact angle hysteresis of microbead suspensions

Microbead suspensions are often used in microfluidic devices for transporting biomolecules. An experimental investigation on the wettability of microbead suspension is presented in this study. The variation in the surface tension and the equilibrium contact angle with the change in the volume fraction of the microbead is presented here. The surface tension of the microbead suspension is measured with the pendant drop technique, whereas the dynamic contact angle measurements, i.e., advancing and receding contact angles, are measured with the sessile drop technique. An equilibrium contact angle of a suspension with particular volume fraction is determined by computing an average over the measured advancing and receding contact angles. It is observed that the surface tension and the equilibrium contact angle determined from advancing and receding contact angles vary with the magnitude of the microbeads volume fraction in the suspension. A decrease in the surface tension with an increase in the volume fraction of the microbead suspension is observed. The advancement and the recession in contact line for dynamic contact angle measurements are achieved with the motorized dosing mechanism. For microbead suspensions, the advancement of the contact line is faster as compared to the recession of the contact line for the same flow rate. The presence of microbeads assists in the advancement and the recession of the contact line of the suspension. A decrease in the equilibrium contact angles with an increase in the microbead suspension volume fraction is observed. Inclusion of microbeads in the suspension increases the wetting capability for the considered combination of the microbead suspension and substrate. Finally, empirical correlations for the surface tension and the contact angle of the suspension as a function of microbead volume fraction are proposed. Such correlations can readily be used to develop mechanistic models for the capillary transport of microbead suspensions related to LOC applications.     

Water gelation of an amino acid-based amphiphile

The water immobilization by a simple amino acid-containing cationic surfactant was investigated. A variety of techniques, such as (1)H NMR spectroscopy, circular dichroism (CD), steady-state fluorescence spectroscopy, and field-emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) were applied to determine the formation and architecture of the hydrogel. The new gelator with a minimum gelation concentration (MGC) of 0.3 % w/v shows prolonged stability and a low melting temperature (39 degrees C). (1)H NMR experiments revealed that intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the amide groups and pi-pi stacking of the indole rings are the two regulating parameters for gelation. Furthermore, fluorescence studies with 8-anilino-1-naphthalenesulfonic acid (ANS) as the probe indicate the participation of hydrophobicity during gelation. The luminescence study using both ANS and pyrene, along with FESEM results, indicate a critical concentration, well below the MGC, at which fibres begin to form. These cross-link further to give thicker fibers, leading to the formation of a hydrogel (0.3 % w/v). This new hydrogelator expresses high supramolecular chirality, as evidenced by the CD spectra. In addition, the gelator molecule was found to be nontoxic up to a concentration of 4 mM (0.2 % w/v). The high supramolecular chirality, prolonged stability, low melting point, and biocompatibility of the molecule make it a focus of chemical and biological interest.