Distributed Beamforming with Wirelessly Powered Relay Nodes

This paper studies a system where a set of $N$ relay nodes harvest energy from the signal received from a source to later utilize it when forwarding the source's data to a destination node via distributed beamforming. To this end, we derive (approximate) analytical expressions for the mean SNR at destination node when relays employ: i) time-switching based energy harvesting policy, ii) power-splitting based energy harvesting policy. The obtained results facilitate the study of the interplay between the energy harvesting parameters and the synchronization error, and their combined impact on mean SNR. Simulation results indicate that i) the derived approximate expressions are very accurate even for small $N$ (e.g., $N=15$), ii) time-switching policy by the relays outperforms power-splitting policy by at least $3$ dB.Comment: 4 pages, 3 figures, accepted for presentation at IEEE VTC 2017 Spring conferenc

Channel Impulse Response-based Distributed Physical Layer Authentication

In this preliminary work, we study the problem of {\it distributed} authentication in wireless networks. Specifically, we consider a system where multiple Bob (sensor) nodes listen to a channel and report their {\it correlated} measurements to a Fusion Center (FC) which makes the ultimate authentication decision. For the feature-based authentication at the FC, channel impulse response has been utilized as the device fingerprint. Additionally, the {\it correlated} measurements by the Bob nodes allow us to invoke Compressed sensing to significantly reduce the reporting overhead to the FC. Numerical results show that: i) the detection performance of the FC is superior to that of a single Bob-node, ii) compressed sensing leads to at least $20\%$ overhead reduction on the reporting channel at the expense of a small ($<1$ dB) SNR margin to achieve the same detection performance.Comment: 6 pages, 5 figures, accepted for presentation at IEEE VTC 2017 Sprin

Estimation of volatile organic compounds in farmed and wild rohu, Labeo rohita

Volatile organic compounds in farmed and wild rohu, Labeo rohita, were extracted by Likens-Nickerson concurrent distillation apparatus. The farmed raised rohu of two weight categories designated as FW1 (1001-1200g) and FW2 (501-700g) were procured from the Fish Seed Hatchery, Faisalabad. Concurrently, wild rohu of two weight categories designated as WW1 (1001-1200g) and WW2 (501-700g) were captured with gillnet from the Trimu Head. Quantitative and qualitative estimation was made by gas chromatography. In farmed and wild L. rohita of the weight group FW1 and WW1, 14 and 6 volatile compounds were extracted, respectively. In weight group FW1, six compounds were identified as 3-methyl-1-butanol, 3-hexene-1-ol, heptanal, 3-octanol, decanal and 2-undecanone. In weight group WW1, out of six compounds three were identified as heptanal, 1-octen-3-ol, 2-nonanone. In weight categories FW2 and WW2, 14 and 13 volatile compounds were detected, respectively. In weight category FW2, out of 14 compounds, 3-hexene-1-ol, heptanal, 3-octanol, 2-undecanone and decanal were identified. In weight category WW2, out of 13 compounds, 7 were identified as 3-methyl-1-butanol, 2-heptanone, heptanal, 3-octanol, 2-nonanone, decanal and 2-undecanone. The analysis of variance for retention time and concentration of volatile compounds showed no significant difference (p>0.05). The correlation coefficient between retention time and concentration was significant (p< 0.05)

Factors Influencing on Stock Market in Pakistan

The stock market is an economic institution that promotes the growth and development of the economy of a nation. This paper investigated the impact of inflation on stock market performance .The aim of this research to find out factors which have great impact on stock market performance of any country. This study discusses the main variable like interest rate and inflation rate and their effect on stock market performance. This study investigated that interest and inflation rate has significant negative relation with stock market performance, while in regression analysis it has been observed that the value of R2 = 0.62 means model is fit and can predict outcome. This study provides valuable knowledge to the government, economist and shareholders to jug the position of stock market for investment purpose. Keywords: Stock Market Performance, Inflation Rate, Interest Rat

Efectos inducidos por el hábitat sobre mutaciones y perfil de ácidos grasos en carpas mrigala que habitan en el fondo del río Chenab

Fish from the river Chenab were analyzed for DNA damage by the Comet and Micronucleus assays. The fatty acid profile was determined by gas chromatography using a Flame Ionization Detector. Atomic absorption spectrophotometry showed significant (p < 0.05) levels of contamination due to Cd, Hg, Cu, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cr, Sn and phenols in the fish habitat. The Comet assay revealed significant (p < 0.05) DNA damage in Cirrhinus mrigala of 37.29±2.51%, 34.96±2.53% and 38.80±2.42% in the comet tail, in the tail moment of 23.48±3.90, 19.78±4.26 and 14.30±1.82, in the olive moment of 16.22±2.04, 13.83±1.96 10.99±0.90, respectively, from three experimental sites. The micronucleus assay showed a high frequency of single micronucleus induction of 44.80±3.73, double induction of 06.20±0.97 and nuclear abnormalities of 09.60±1.72, as calculated in a thousand cells. C8:0, C12:0, C20:0, C16:1(n-7), C16:1(n-9), C20:1(n-9), C18:2(n-6), C18:4(n-3), C20:5(n-3), C22:4(n-6) fatty acids were found missing in the fish with a higher intensity of DNA damage but were found in optimal amounts both in farmed and wild fish from non polluted habitats. A highly significant (p < 0.01) correlation was also found in saturated, unsaturated fatty acids and DNA damage and habitat. The present study revealed that the habitat of even lower intensity pollutions not only induce DNA damage but also confiscate essential fatty acids of the omega series and reduce the amount of unsaturated fatty acids for which fish is preferred over other animals.Los daños en el ADN de los peces del río Chenab se analizaron mediante la técnica del “ensayo del cometa” y el ensayo de micronúcleos. El perfil de ácidos grasos se determinó mediante cromatografía de gases con detector de ionización de llama. La espectrofotometría de absorción atómica mostró diferencias significativas (p < 0.05) de los niveles de contaminación por Cd, Hg, Cu, Mn, Zn, Pb, Cr, Sn y fenoles en el hábitat de los peces. El ensayo del cometa mostró daños significativos (p < 0,05) en el ADN de las carpas mrigala de tres sitios experimentales: 37,29±2,51%, 34,96±2,53 y 38,80±2,42% del ADN en la cola del cometa, momento de la cola con 23,48±3,90, 19,78±4,26 y 14,30±1,82% y cola media con 16,22±2,04, 13,83±1,96 10,99±0,90. Los ensayos de micronúcleos mostraron una alta frecuencia de inducción de micronúcleos como única 44,80±3,73, 06,20±0,97 y doble anomalías nucleares 09,60±1,72 calculados en miles de células. C8:0, C12:0, C20:0, C16:1(n-7), C16:1 (n-9), C20:1(n-9), C18:2(n-6), C18:4(n-3), C20:5(n-3) y C22:4(n-6) se mostraron como ácidos grasos que faltan en el pescado que tiene una mayor intensidad de daño en el ADN, aunque se encuentran en cantidades óptimas, tanto en los peces de piscifactoría como en los salvajes donde no hay hábitats contaminados. Se encontró una correlación altamente significativa (p < 0,01) también en ácidos saturados, ácidos grasos insaturados, daño del ADN y hábitat. El presente estudio reveló que la intensidad de la contaminación del hábitat aún en la más baja no sólo induce daño en el ADN, sino también en la composición de los ácidos grasos de la serie omega y de los ácidos grasos insaturados, para los que se prefiere ingerir pescado a otros animales

Modulation mode detection and classification for in-vivo nano-scale communication systems operating in terahertz band

This paper initiates the efforts to design an intelligent/cognitive nano receiver operating in terahertz band. Specifically, we investigate two essential ingredients of an intelligent nano receiver—modulation mode detection (to differentiate between pulse-based modulation and carrier-based modulation) and modulation classification (to identify the exact modulation scheme in use). To implement modulation mode detection, we construct a binary hypothesis test in nano-receiver’s passband and provide closed-form expressions for the two error probabilities. As for modulation classification, we aim to represent the received signal of interest by a Gaussian mixture model (GMM). This necessitates the explicit estimation of the THz channel impulse response and its subsequent compensation (via deconvolution). We then learn the GMM parameters via expectation–maximization algorithm. We then do Gaussian approximation of each mixture density to compute symmetric Kullback–Leibler divergence in order to differentiate between various modulation schemes (i.e., ${M}$ -ary phase shift keying and ${M}$ -ary quadrature amplitude modulation). The simulation results on mode detection indicate that there exists a unique Pareto-optimal point (for both SNR and the decision threshold), where both error probabilities are minimized. The main takeaway message by the simulation results on modulation classification is that for a pre-specified probability of correct classification, higher SNR is required to correctly identify a higher order modulation scheme. On a broader note, this paper should trigger the interest of the community in the design of intelligent/cognitive nano receivers (capable of performing various intelligent tasks, e.g., modulation prediction, and so on)

Ibuprofen Nanoparticles and its cytotoxicity on A549 and HaCaT cell lines

yesIbuprofen (IBF) is an outstanding non-steroidal drug for analgesic and anti-inflammatory therapies but it exhibits poor solubility in water [1, 2]. Increased dosage administration has been linked to gastrointestinal and cardiovascular complications [3]. Many techniques have been employed to improve the solubility of NSAIDs [4]. In this study, the anti-solvent precipitation method was used to make Ibuprofen nanoparticles (IBF NPs). Optimised preparation parameters such as solvent (ethanol), raw drug concentration (400 mg), solvent/anti-solvent ratio (1:50) and surfactant concentration (0.25 mg/ml) have been studied to yield nanoparticles with a mean size of 58.8 nm, which is confirmed by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy. These IBF NPs posess increased aqueous solubility compared to the micro counterpart and maintain with chemical integrity indicated by high performance liquid chromatography and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. In addition, in vitro cytotoxicity of IBF NPs has been studied on A549 and HaCat cell lines using MTT and LDH assays. Both cells were obtained from ATCC. The A549 cells were grown in a modification of Ham’s F-12, containing L-glutamine, called F-12K. The HaCaT cells were grown in DMEM containing sodium pyruvate (110 mg/l). Normal cell culture and sub-culture were applied and the cells were used after around 45 passages [5]. The cell culture media containing 105cells/ml were placed in a 96-well plate with addition of IBF NPs and Micro form at concentrations in the range of between 6 and 500 ug/ml by diluting them with DMEM and F-12K for use with the HaCaT and A549 cells respectively. After 24, 48 and 72h exposure, the MTT and LDH cytotoxicity assay were performed in triplicates and on three separate experiment cultures and the absorbance was recorded at 570 nm and 492nm respectively with Elisa micro plate reader. The cell viability (%) related to control (cells in culture medium without NPs) was calculated. A very good cytotoxicity profile was observed, indicating an in vitro cytocompatibility of the IBF NPs in these cell culture systems and no significant changes in cytotoxicity compared with Micro IBF. We conclude that our IBF NPs have increased solubility, same chemical integrity and unchanged cytotoxicity compared to IBF Micro drug. Further work will concentrate on optimising more rigorous parameter to produce excellent quality NPs. More detailed characterisation of IBF NPs is to be tested, such as using PXRD and SEM to further corroborate particle shape and size. The range of no toxic in vitro concentrations is also to be further confirmed. Eventually scaled up preparation of IBF NPs will be developed without relinquishing NPs quality. This would improve the potential for in vitro/ in vivo applications and clinical use of IBF NPs and NSAIDs in general

Synthesis, spectroscopic characterization and pharmacological evaluation of oxazolone derivatives

A series of 4-aryl methylidene-2-phenyl/methyl-5-(4H)-oxazolone derivatives (2-7) have been synthesized using the reported method by condensation of aldehydes with N-benzoyl / N-acetyl glycine in the presence of zinc oxide as a catalyst and acetic anhydride at room temperature in ethanol. The compounds (2-6) are new derivatives. The structures of compounds were evaluated on the basis of 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, EIMS, FT-IR and elemental analysis. All the compounds were screened for their antibacterial and urease inhibition activity. Antibacterial activity was tested by agar well diffusion method using Mueller Hinton Agar medium. Compound (2) showed excellent activity against S. aureus which has 16 mm (80%) inhibition and above 24 mm (70%) against S. typhi. The most active compound against E. coli was compound (6) having 20 mm (80%) inhibition followed by compound (5) having above 18 mm (70%) inhibition. Urease inhibition activity of all the compounds was determined by indophenol method. Compounds (3, 6) and (7) showed significant inhibition against Jacks bean urease