Distributed space–time cooperative schemes for underwater acoustic communications

Author Posting. © IEEE, 2008. This article is posted here by permission of IEEE for personal use, not for redistribution. The definitive version was published in IEEE Journal of Oceanic Engineering 33 (2008): 489-50, doi:10.1109/JOE.2008.2005338.In resource limited, large scale underwater sensor networks, cooperative communication over multiple hops offers opportunities to save power. Intermediate nodes between source and destination act as cooperative relays. Herein, protocols coupled with space-time block code (STBC) strategies are proposed and analyzed for distributed cooperative communication. Amplify-and-forward-type protocols are considered, in which intermediate relays do not attempt to decode the information. The Alamouti-based cooperative scheme proposed by Hua (2003) for flat-fading channels is generalized to work in the presence of multipath, thus addressing a main characteristic of underwater acoustic channels. A time-reversal distributed space-time block code (TR-DSTBC) is proposed, which extends the dual-antenna TR-STBC (time-reversal space-time block code) approach from Lindskog and Paulraj (2000) to a cooperative communication scenario for signaling in multipath. It is first shown that, just as in the dual-antenna STBC case, TR along with the orthogonality of the DSTBC essentially allows for decoupling of the vector intersymbol interference (ISI) detection problem into separate scalar problems, and thus yields strong performance (compared with single-hop communication) and with substantially reduced complexity over nonorthogonal schemes. Furthermore, a performance analysis of the proposed scheme is carried out to provide insight on the performance gains, which are further confirmed via numerical results based on computer simulations and field data experiments

Results from the centers for disease control and prevention's predict the 2013-2014 Influenza Season Challenge

Background: Early insights into the timing of the start, peak, and intensity of the influenza season could be useful in planning influenza prevention and control activities. To encourage development and innovation in influenza forecasting, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) organized a challenge to predict the 2013-14 Unites States influenza season. Methods: Challenge contestants were asked to forecast the start, peak, and intensity of the 2013-2014 influenza season at the national level and at any or all Health and Human Services (HHS) region level(s). The challenge ran from December 1, 2013-March 27, 2014; contestants were required to submit 9 biweekly forecasts at the national level to be eligible. The selection of the winner was based on expert evaluation of the methodology used to make the prediction and the accuracy of the prediction as judged against the U.S. Outpatient Influenza-like Illness Surveillance Network (ILINet). Results: Nine teams submitted 13 forecasts for all required milestones. The first forecast was due on December 2, 2013; 3/13 forecasts received correctly predicted the start of the influenza season within one week, 1/13 predicted the peak within 1 week, 3/13 predicted the peak ILINet percentage within 1 %, and 4/13 predicted the season duration within 1 week. For the prediction due on December 19, 2013, the number of forecasts that correctly forecasted the peak week increased to 2/13, the peak percentage to 6/13, and the duration of the season to 6/13. As the season progressed, the forecasts became more stable and were closer to the season milestones. Conclusion: Forecasting has become technically feasible, but further efforts are needed to improve forecast accuracy so that policy makers can reliably use these predictions. CDC and challenge contestants plan to build upon the methods developed during this contest to improve the accuracy of influenza forecasts. © 2016 The Author(s)

A study on factors driving the capital structure decisions of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India

The prime focus of the study is to empirically examine the factors affecting the capital structure decisions of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in India. The sample consists of 174 non-financial firms. Generalised method of moments (GMM) has been applied to find out the firm specific factors affecting financing decisions of SMEs in India. The study specifically examines the effect of firm's profitability, tangibility, size, age, growth, liquidity, non-debt tax shield, cash flow ratio, and return on equity on the leverage of the firm. It confirms the applicability of the pecking order theory for SMEs in India. Keywords: Capital structure, SMEs, Generalised method of moments, Leverag

Inducing Cytotoxicity in Colon Cancer Cells and Suppressing Cancer Stem Cells by Dolasetron and Ketoprofen through Inhibition of RNA Binding Protein PUM1

Clinical trials of new drugs often face a high failure rate of approximately 45 percent due to safety and toxicity concerns. Repurposing drugs with well-established safety profiles becomes crucial in addressing this challenge. Colon cancer ranks as the third most prevalent cancer and the second leading cause of cancer related mortality worldwide. This study focuses on the RNA-binding protein pumilio1 (PUM1), a member of the PUF family involved in post-transcriptional gene expression regulation. By utilizing molecular docking techniques and FDA-approved drugs, potential inhibitors against PUM1 were identified. Notably, dolasetron and ketoprofen demonstrated promising results, exhibiting strong binding affinity, hydrophobic interactions, and favorable chemical reactivity according to Conceptual-DFT calculations. Both compounds effectively reduced cell viability, with IC50 values of 150 µM and 175 µM, respectively and shows long term inhibitory effects as seen by reduced in number of colonies. Moreover, they exhibited inhibitory effects on colon cancer stem cells, as indicated by reduced colonospheroid size and numbers. Apoptosis is induced by these compounds and has triggered activation of executioner caspase 3/7 in HCT116 cells which is evident through a caspase 3/7 assay and AO/EB staining, while the non-toxic effect of these compounds was evident from viability against non-cancerous cell line and hemolysis assay. Additionally, the treatment group showed a significant decrease in PUM1 and cancer stem cell markers expression compared to the control group. In conclusion, this study highlights the potential of targeting PUM1 as a novel approach to colon cancer treatment. Dolasetron and ketoprofen demonstrate promise as effective anti-cancer and anti-cancer stem cell drugs, inducing apoptosis in colon cancer cells through inhibition of PUM1

Efficient FPGA Implementation of an RFIR Filter Using the APC–OMS Technique with WTM for High-Throughput Signal Processing

Nowadays, Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters are used to change the attributes of a signal in the time or frequency domain. Among FIR filters, a reconfigurable filter has the advantage of changing the coefficient in real-time, while performing the operation. In this paper, the Anti-Symmetric Product Coding (APC) and Odd Multiple Storage (OMS) modules are utilized to implement the reconfigurable FIR filter (RFIR–APC–OMS). Herein, the APC–OMS module is used to reduce the area of the RFIR architecture. The performance of the RFIR–APC–OMS is analyzed in terms of: area, power, delay, LUT, flip flop, slices, and frequency. RFIR–APC–OMS has reduced 3.44% of area compared to the existing RFIR architecture employing the Dynamic Reconfigurable Partial Product Generator (DRPPG) module

Efficient FPGA Implementation of an RFIR Filter Using the APC–OMS Technique with WTM for High-Throughput Signal Processing

Nowadays, Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filters are used to change the attributes of a signal in the time or frequency domain. Among FIR filters, a reconfigurable filter has the advantage of changing the coefficient in real-time, while performing the operation. In this paper, the Anti-Symmetric Product Coding (APC) and Odd Multiple Storage (OMS) modules are utilized to implement the reconfigurable FIR filter (RFIR–APC–OMS). Herein, the APC–OMS module is used to reduce the area of the RFIR architecture. The performance of the RFIR–APC–OMS is analyzed in terms of: area, power, delay, LUT, flip flop, slices, and frequency. RFIR–APC–OMS has reduced 3.44% of area compared to the existing RFIR architecture employing the Dynamic Reconfigurable Partial Product Generator (DRPPG) module

Computational, Investigational Explorations on Structural, Electro-Optic Behavior of Pelargonidin Organic Colorant for TiO₂ Based DSSCs

In an expedition for green-energy generation and to lower the cost per watt of solar energy, environmentally friendly biotic colorants were separated from Tectona grandis seeds. The prime colorant in the extract is pelargonidin which sensitizes titanium dioxide (TiO2)-based photo anodes. The pelargonidin-sensitized TiO2 nanomaterials endured structural, photosensitive, spectral and current-voltage interpretations. Frontier molecular orbital analysis, physicochemical and electronic parameter computation, UV–visible and DOS spectral analysis, van der Waals prediction and molecular electrostatic potential map were performed theoretically with Gaussian tools, and IR symmetry response was computed using the crystal maker software package. The pelargonidin-sensitized TiO2-created dye-sensitized solar cells which exhibited capable solar light energy to photon conversion proficiency. For comparative purposes, the commercial P25 Degussa TiO2-based DSSC was also fabricated and its proficiency was analyzed. The commercial TiO2 exhibited 57 % higher proficiency in comparison to the sol-gel-derived TiO2-based DSSC

Culture-positive unilateral panophthalmitis in a serology-positive case of dengue hemorrhagic fever

Dengue fever, a mosquito-borne disease commonly found in the tropics, is one of the most prevalent forms of Flavivirus infection in humans. Symptomatically, it is characterized by fever, arthralgia, headache, and rash. Ophthalmic manifestations can involve both the anterior and posterior segment. Panophthalmitis is rare in dengue hemorrhagic fever, and there is no report of culture-positive panophthalmitis in this setting. Here, we report a case of a serology-positive 33-year-old male patient of dengue hemorrhagic fever who developed sudden onset pain, redness, and proptosis in the right eye. The patient subsequently developed panophthalmitis in his right eye, and Bacillus cereus was isolated from eviscerated sample. This case provides unique insights into pathogenesis of panophthalmitis in dengue and highlights the management options