1,351 research outputs found
A Study of Medium Access Control Protocols for Wireless Body Area Networks
The seamless integration of low-power, miniaturised, invasive/non-invasive
lightweight sensor nodes have contributed to the development of a proactive and
unobtrusive Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN). A WBAN provides long-term health
monitoring of a patient without any constraint on his/her normal dailylife
activities. This monitoring requires low-power operation of
invasive/non-invasive sensor nodes. In other words, a power-efficient Medium
Access Control (MAC) protocol is required to satisfy the stringent WBAN
requirements including low-power consumption. In this paper, we first outline
the WBAN requirements that are important for the design of a low-power MAC
protocol. Then we study low-power MAC protocols proposed/investigated for WBAN
with emphasis on their strengths and weaknesses. We also review different
power-efficient mechanisms for WBAN. In addition, useful suggestions are given
to help the MAC designers to develop a low-power MAC protocol that will satisfy
the stringent WBAN requirements.Comment: 13 pages, 8 figures, 7 table
An approximate solution of the MHD Falkner-Skan flow by Hermite functions pseudospectral method
Based on a new approximation method, namely pseudospectral method, a solution
for the three order nonlinear ordinary differential laminar boundary layer
Falkner-Skan equation has been obtained on the semi-infinite domain. The
proposed approach is equipped by the orthogonal Hermite functions that have
perfect properties to achieve this goal. This method solves the problem on the
semi-infinite domain without truncating it to a finite domain and transforming
domain of the problem to a finite domain. In addition, this method reduces
solution of the problem to solution of a system of algebraic equations. We also
present the comparison of this work with numerical results and show that the
present method is applicable.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figures; Published online in the journal of
"Communications in Nonlinear Science and Numerical Simulation
Money for the big eyes
Thesis (S.M. in Science Writing)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Humanities, Graduate Program in Science Writing, 2012.Cataloged from PDF version of thesis.Includes bibliographical references (p. 45-49).Since ancient civilization, humanity has kept its eyes on the heavens, and the invention of telescopes has only increased its scrutiny. As astronomers strive to see the universe with increasing clarity, telescopes have been getting bigger, better, and more expensive. The astronomy community is currently preparing for the next generation of ground-based optical telescopes: giant behemoths that will have mirrors of over twenty meters in diameter, set atop of high, dark mountains. Technological advancements have finally made it possible to create telescopes this large, and they will be able to view the skies ten times more sharply than the Hubble Space Telescope. Once completed in a decade or so, these telescopes will shine light on our most pressing questions in astronomy. However, with price tags of around a billion dollars each, raising the money to build them is a challenge. This thesis explores the technology behind the extremely large telescopes and the politics behind their funding. Telescope research began as private ventures, the Medici family's patronage of Galileo being a famous historical example. Today, the story is not so simple, involving public governments, international collaborations, and endless fundraising. While over a dozen different extremely large telescopes have been proposed in the last two decades, only three remain as viable ventures: the Giant Magellan Telescope, the Thirty Meter Telescope, and the European Extremely Large Telescope. This thesis recounts their unfinished story.by Fangfei Shen.S.M.in Science Writin
Fast incremental unit propagation by unifying watched-literals and local repair
Thesis (S.M.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Aeronautics and Astronautics, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (p. 100-102).The propositional satisfiability problem has been studied extensively due to its theoretical significance and applicability to a variety of fields including diagnosis, autonomous control, circuit testing, and software verification. In these applications, satisfiability problem solvers are often used to solve a large number of problems that are essentially the same and only differ from each other by incremental alterations. Furthermore, unit propagation is a common component of satisfiability problem solvers that accounts for a considerable amount of the solvers' computation time. Given this knowledge, it is desirable to develop incremental unit propagation algorithms that can efficiently perform changes between similar theories. This thesis introduces two new incremental unit propagation algorithms, called Logic-based Truth Maintenance System with Watched-literals and Incremental Truth Maintenance System with Watched-literals. These algorithms combine the strengths of the Logic-based and Incremental Truth Maintenance Systems designed for generic problem solvers with a state-of-the-art satisfiability solver data structure called watched literals.(cont.) Empirical results show that the use of the watched-literals data structure significantly decreases workload of the LTMS and the ITMS without adversely affecting the incremental performance of these truth maintenance systems.by Shen Qu.S.M
An approximation algorithm for the solution of the nonlinear Lane-Emden type equations arising in astrophysics using Hermite functions collocation method
In this paper we propose a collocation method for solving some well-known
classes of Lane-Emden type equations which are nonlinear ordinary differential
equations on the semi-infinite domain. They are categorized as singular initial
value problems. The proposed approach is based on a Hermite function
collocation (HFC) method. To illustrate the reliability of the method, some
special cases of the equations are solved as test examples. The new method
reduces the solution of a problem to the solution of a system of algebraic
equations. Hermite functions have prefect properties that make them useful to
achieve this goal. We compare the present work with some well-known results and
show that the new method is efficient and applicable.Comment: 34 pages, 13 figures, Published in "Computer Physics Communications
The infection of primary avian tracheal epithelial cells with infectious bronchitis virus
Here we introduce a culture system for the isolation, passaging and amplification of avian tracheal epithelial (ATE) cells. The ATE medium, which contains chicken embryo extract and fetal bovine serum, supports the growth of ciliated cells, goblet cells and basal cells from chicken tracheas on fibronectin- or matrigel-coated dishes. Non-epithelial cells make up less than 10% of the total population. We further show that ATE cells support the replication and spread of infectious bronchitis virus (IBV). Interestingly, immunocytostaining revealed that basal cells are resistant to IBV infection. We also demonstrate that glycosaminoglycan had no effect on infection of the cells by IBV. Taken together, these findings suggest that primary ATE cells provide a novel cell culture system for the amplification of IBV and the in vitro characterization of viral cytopathogenesis
Modeling Stress-Strain Behavior of Sand-EPS Beads Lightweight Fills Based on Cam-Clay Models
Terminal n-linked galactose is the primary receptor for adeno-associated virus
Sialylated glycans serve as cell surface attachment factors for a broad range of pathogens. We report an atypical example, where desialylation increases cell surface binding and infectivity of adeno-associated virus (AAV) serotype 9, a human parvovirus isolate. Enzymatic removal of sialic acid, but not heparan sulfate or chondroitin sulfate, increased AAV9 transduction regardless of cell type. Viral binding and transduction assays on mutant Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cell lines defective in various stages of glycan chain synthesis revealed a potential role for core glycan residues under sialic acid in AAV9 transduction. Treatment with chemical inhibitors of glycosylation and competitive inhibition studies with different lectins suggest that N-linked glycans with terminal galactosyl residues facilitate cell surface binding and transduction by AAV9. In corollary, resialylation of galactosylated glycans on the sialic acid-deficient CHO Lec2 cell line with different sialyltransferases partially blocked AAV9 transduction. Quantitative analysis of AAV9 binding to parental, sialidase-treated or sialic acid-deficient mutant CHO cells revealed a 3-15-fold increase in relative binding potential of AAV9 particles upon desialylation. Finally, pretreatment of well differentiated human airway epithelial cultures and intranasal instillation of recombinant sialidase in murine airways enhanced transduction efficiency of AAV9 by > 1 order of magnitude. Taken together, the studies described herein provide a molecular basis for low infectivity of AAV9 in vitro and a biochemical strategy to enhance gene transfer by AAV9 vectors in general
The Impact of Stellar Migration on Disk Outskirts
Stellar migration, whether due to trapping by transient spirals (churning),
or to scattering by non-axisymmetric perturbations, has been proposed to
explain the presence of stars in outer disks. After a review of the basic
theory, we present compelling, but not yet conclusive, evidence that churning
has been important in the outer disks of galaxies with type II (down-bending)
profiles, while scattering has produced the outer disks of type III
(up-bending) galaxies. In contrast, field galaxies with type I (pure
exponential) profiles appear to not have experienced substantial migration. We
conclude by suggesting work that would improve our understanding of the origin
of outer disks.Comment: Invited review, Book chapter in "Outskirts of Galaxies", Eds. J. H.
Knapen, J. C. Lee and A. Gil de Paz, Astrophysics and Space Science Library,
Springer, in press 39 pages, 15 figure
Kinetic energy driven superconductivity in doped cuprates
Within the t-J model, the mechanism of superconductivity in doped cuprates is
studied based on the partial charge-spin separation fermion-spin theory. It is
shown that dressed holons interact occurring directly through the kinetic
energy by exchanging dressed spinon excitations, leading to a net attractive
force between dressed holons, then the electron Cooper pairs originating from
the dressed holon pairing state are due to the charge-spin recombination, and
their condensation reveals the superconducting ground-state. The electron
superconducting transition temperature is determined by the dressed holon pair
transition temperature, and is proportional to the concentration of doped holes
in the underdoped regime. With the common form of the electron Cooper pair, we
also show that there is a coexistence of the electron Cooper pair and
antiferromagnetic short-range correlation, and hence the antiferromagnetic
short-range fluctuation can persist into the superconducting state. Our results
are qualitatively consistent with experiments.Comment: 6 pages, Revtex, two figures are included, corrected typo
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