End-to-end Application Performance Impact on Scheduler in CDMA-1XRTT Wireless System

User-perceived application-level performance is very important to the adoption and success of 3G wireless services and infrastructure. This paper illustrates the end-to-end application performance when connecting through a CDMA-1XRTT network and compares the performance to that of a dialup connection. The results show that the application performance in CDMA-1XRTT may depend on the application traffic behavior. While many applications perform quite well in CDMA-1XRTT, others such as Microsoft Outlook perform below expectation and may even be slower than a dialup connection. This paper proposes an enhanced application sensitive scheduling algorithm to improve the performance of such applications. The enhanced algorithm also provides additional benefits for applications with similar behavior as Outlook. These include additional channel code availability and channel switching process reduction by as much as 60%

Rapid increase of molecular complexity through C–H and C–C bond activation

The activation of carbon-hydrogen (C–H) and carbon-carbon (C–C) bonds by transition metal catalysts is an attractive strategy to streamline organic synthesis. Herein this manuscript, the two main areas of research are described. Firstly, it was found that a nickel catalyst can promote the insertion of alkynes into the C–C bond of 3-azetidinones and 3-oxetanones to enable quicker access to pyranones and pyridinones in high yields and excellent regioselectivity. Secondly, a rhodium-catalysed pyridine directed C–H bond activation enables the rearrangement of 1,6-heptadienes into bicyclo[2.2.1]heptanes in good yields. Importantly, three stereogenic centres are created with complete diastereocontrol in this atom-efficient reaction. In chapter 1, an overview of the literature on transition metal-catalysed C–C bond activation of four membered rings is described. In chapter 2, our efforts to optimise the catalytic conditions and build the scope of the nickel-catalysed reaction are reported. In chapter 3, the results of the mechanistic investigations of the nickel-catalysed reaction are reported. Finally in chapter 4, a brief overview of the transition metal-catalysed functionalisation of an alkene C–H bond with another alkene is described. Subsequently, the optimisation of the catalytic conditions and the scope of the diastereoselective carbocyclisation of 1,6-heptadienes triggered by rhodium-catalysed activation of an alkene C–H bond are reported

UNSTEADY HEAT TRANSFER IN AN ANNULAR PIPE. PART II: SWIRLING LAMINAR FLOW

The   heat  transfer   problem  in   magnetocaloric regenerators  during  magnetization  has  been  described  and investigated for convective heat transfer by means of axial flow in part I of this series.   This work will focus on enhancing the unsteady heat  transfer using swirling laminar flow generated using axial vanes.   The governing parameters for this  study are,  the  D*  ratio  (Inner  diameter/Outer  diameter)  and  the swirl number, S.   The study is conducted  using  dimensional analysis and commercial CFD codes provided by ANSYS CFX. The  hydrodynamics and the  heat transfer of the  model are compared with data from similar cases found in literature and is found to be in the vicinity of good agreement. Keywords-  Annular ducts; unsteady heat transfer;  magnetic refrigeration/cooling;   swirling   laminar    flow;    dimensional analysis

Quantitative multidimensional phenotypes improve genetic analysis of laterality traits

The UK Medical Research Council and Wellcome (Grant ref: 217065/Z/19/Z) and the University of Bristol provide core support for ALSPAC. This publication is the work of the authors and SP and JS will serve as guarantors for the analysis of the ALSPAC data presented in this paper. GWAS data were generated by Sample Logistics and Genotyping Facilities at Wellcome Sanger Institute and LabCorp (Laboratory Corporation of America) using support from 23andMe. Support to the genetic analysis was provided by the St Andrews Bioinformatics Unit funded by the Wellcome Trust [grant 105621/Z/14/Z]. The Hong Kong sample was funded through a Collaborative Research Fund from the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Research Grants Council (CUHK8/CRF/13G, and C4054-17WF). JS is funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation, 418445085) and supported by the Wellcome Trust [Institutional Strategic Support fund, Grant number 204821/Z/16/Z]. SP is funded by the Royal Society (UF150663).Handedness is the most commonly investigated lateralised phenotype and is usually measured as a binary left/right category. Its links with psychiatric and neurodevelopmental disorders prompted studies aimed at understanding the underlying genetics, while other measures and side preferences have been less studied. We investigated the heritability of hand, as well as foot, and eye preference by assessing parental effects (n ≤ 5028 family trios) and SNP-based heritability (SNP-h2, n ≤ 5931 children) in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC). An independent twin cohort from Hong Kong (n = 358) was used to replicate results from structural equation modelling (SEM). Parental left-side preference increased the chance of an individual to be left-sided for the same trait, with stronger maternal than paternal effects for footedness. By regressing out the effects of sex, age, and ancestry, we transformed laterality categories into quantitative measures. The SNP-h2 for quantitative handedness and footedness was 0.21 and 0.23, respectively, which is higher than the SNP-h2 reported in larger genetic studies using binary handedness measures. The heritability of the quantitative measure of handedness increased (0.45) compared to a binary measure for writing hand (0.27) in the Hong Kong twins. Genomic and behavioural SEM identified a shared genetic factor contributing to handedness, footedness, and eyedness, but no independent effects on individual phenotypes. Our analysis demonstrates how quantitative multidimensional laterality phenotypes are better suited to capture the underlying genetics than binary traits.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Spot Focusing Coma Correction by Linearly Polarized Dual-Transmitarray Antenna in the Terahertz Region

Focus scanning is critically important in many terahertz (THz) imaging and sensing applications. A traditional single focusing transmitarray can achieve a good focus when the source is on-axis but moving the source off-axis produces a significant aberration. This paper presents a novel approach to reducing coma in off-axis scanning in the THz region. Here, a dual transmitarray solution is proposed, in which a transmitarray with an optimized phase profile is placed behind a regular phase profile transmitarray. A linearly polarized, dual-transmitarray antenna was fabricated for validation, and the focusing performances were experimentally characterized. The measured results are in good agreement with the theoretical ones. The generated spot of the dual-transmitarray antenna remains focused on an angle up to 50deg, with a -3 dB spot size of less than 4 mm at 290 GHz. The measured near-field sidelobes are all below -10 dB within the whole scanning range.Comment: 9 pages, 14 figure

On the Regioselectivity of the Nickel-Catalyzed Insertion of Alkynes into the Carbon-Carbon Bond of Oxetan-3-one

The study of the regioselectivity of insertion of unsymmetrical alkynes into the carbon–carbon bond of oxetan-3-one in the presence of a nickel catalyst has revealed a strong directing effect of a 2-thienyl substituent. This effect is larger than those of 2-vinylbenzene, trimethylsilyl, aryl, or 3-thienyl groups.</jats:p

Flame Extinguishing Intelligent System

An ideal fire protection would be a system that is able to locate precisely where the fire is and focus water on that area only. This system should be able to tell whether the fire still exists or not and respond accordingly. Much less water will be wasted and water damage from this system will be minimized, compared to the current fire sprinkler system. In our project, our goal is to create a system that will respond to fire and that will be able to extinguish it. FlexiSys is a prototype flame extinguishing intelligent system which will detect flames in an area and proceed to extinguish the flames. Our product will ultimately be mounted on the ceiling, similarly to a passive fire sprinkler. Furthermore, we will try to minimize the power and space requirement, such that our product can replace current passive sprinkler systems with ease

Age composition and survival of public housing stock in Hong Kong

Emerging notably in more developed regions, building stock ageing which is characterised by shrinking new completions and falling “mortality” has been posing challenges to various stakeholders in built environment. To find way out of this transition, we need to know how long buildings will last these days and the factors leading to their “mortality”. By using data from 1950s till to date, a comprehensive investigation is conducted to analyse the age composition and life expectancy of public housing stock in Hong Kong. What comes after are survival analysis and empirical analysis of those demolished to identify the key factors leading to demolition. Presented in this paper are the preliminary findings as well as the research agenda on the theme to model age composition and survival of both private and public building stocks in Hong Kong and other similar cities in Asia Pacific Rim such as Adelaide and Singapore, together with research activities to formulate policies for sustainable urban management