The effect of soil particle size on soil radon concentration

It has been suggested in the literature that the radon concentration in the soil gas is related to the particle size distribution of the soil. This paper examines this relation. Radon concentration was measured in the soil on the Carboniferous limestone south of Buxton in Derbyshire, England, using the can technique. At each site, a sample of soil was taken at the bottom of the hole in which the dosimeter was placed to determine the particle size distribution.

The correlations between the raw values of radon concentration, soil particle size fractions and elevation were weak. Nevertheless, the kriged maps of radon, silt, clay and elevation showed some spatial relation to one another. The kriged estimates showed stronger correlations among these properties, especially between radon and elevation.     

The $$\phi ^{6}$$-model expansion method for solving the nonlinear conformable time-fractional Schrödinger equation with fourth-order dispersion and parabolic law nonlinearity

The \(\phi ^{6}\)-model expansion method combined with the conformable time-fractional derivative is applied in this paper for finding many new exact solutions including Jacobi elliptic function solutions, solitary wave solutions, trigonometric function solutions and other solutions to the nonlinear conformable time-fractional Schrödinger equation with fourth-order dispersion and parabolic law nonlinearity. This method presents a wider applicability for handling the nonlinear partial differential equations. Comparing our results with the well-known results are given.     

On the numerical solutions for the fractional diffusion equation

Fractional differential equations have recently been applied in various area of engineering, science, finance, applied mathematics, bio-engineering and others. However, many researchers remain unaware of this field. In this paper, an efficient numerical method for solving the fractional diffusion equation (FDE) is considered. The fractional derivative is described in the Caputo sense. The method is based upon Chebyshev approximations. The properties of Chebyshev polynomials are utilized to reduce FDE to a system of ordinary differential equations, which solved by the finite difference method. Numerical simulation of FDE is presented and the results are compared with the exact solution and other methods.     

Analysis of physical layer performance of hybrid optical-wireless access network

The hybrid optical-wireless access network (HOWAN) is a favorable architecture for next generation access network. It is an optimal combination of an optical backhaul and a wireless front-end for an efficient access network. In this paper, the HOWAN architecture is designed based on a wavelengths division multiplexing/time division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM/TDM PON) at the optical backhaul and a wireless fidelity (WiFi) technology at the wireless front-end. The HOWAN is proposed that can provide blanket coverage of broadband and flexible connection for end-users. Most of the existing works, based on performance evaluation are concerned on network layer aspects. This paper reports physical layer performance in terms of the bit error rate (BER), eye diagram, and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the communication system. It accommodates 8 wavelength channels with 32 optical network unit/wireless access points (ONU/APs). It is demonstrated that downstream and upstream of 2 Gb/s can be achieved by optical backhaul for each wavelength channel along optical fiber length of 20 km and a data rate of 54 Mb/s per ONU/AP along a 50 m outdoor wireless link.     

Fiber-wireless (FiWi) access network: Performance evaluation and scalability analysis of the physical layer

The fiber-wireless (FiWi) access network is a prestigious architecture for next generation (NG) access network. NG access networks are proposed to provide high data rate, broadband multiple services, scalable bandwidth, and flexible communication for manifold wireless end-users (WEUs). In this paper, the FiWi access network is designed based on a wavelengths division multiplexing/time division multiplexing passive optical network (WDM/TDM PON) at the optical backhaul with data rate of 2.5 Gb/s and wireless fidelity-worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiFi–WiMAX) technologies at the wireless front-end along a 50 m–5 km wireless links with data rate of 54–30 Mb/s, respectively. The performance of the optical backhaul and the wireless front-end, in the proposed FiWi access network, has been evaluated in terms of bit error rate (BER), error vector magnitude (EVM), and signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) of the physical (PHY) layer. The scalability of the optical backhaul based on maximum split ratio of 1/32 for each wavelength channel and a fiber length of 24 km from the central office (CO) to the access point (AP) is analyzed with bit error rate (BER) of 10⁻⁹.     

CO(III)–NI(II) double substituted bismuth vanadate: synthesis,phase stabilization,and structural and electrical characterization

Samples of Co–Ni double substituted bismuth vanadate, BICO_0.20?x NI _x VOX (Bi₄Co_0.20???x ^(III)Ni _x ^(II)V_1.8O_{10.8???(x/2)???δ} ;0?≤?x?≤?0.20) were synthesized by standard solid state reactions. The influence of Ni substitution for Co on phase stabilization and oxide-ion performance have been investigated using X-ray powder diffraction, differential thermal analysis, and AC impedance spectroscopy. The high conducting γ′-phase was effectively stabilized at room temperature for compositions with x?≥?0.13 whose thermal stability increases with Ni content. The complex plane plots of impedance were typically represented at temperatures below 380 °C, suggesting a major contribution of polycrystalline grains to the overall electrical conductivity. The dielectric permittivity measurements revealed the fact that suppression of the ferroelectric transition is compositionally dependent. Interestingly, the maximum ionic conductivity at lower temperatures (～2.56?×?10^?4 S cm^?1 at 300 °C) was observed for the composition with x?=?0.13. However, a good agreement was generally found between the values of electrical conductivity and corresponding activation energies of conduction.