Outage exponents of block-fading channels with power allocation

Power allocation is studied for fixed-rate transmission over block-fading channels with arbitrary continuous fading distributions and perfect transmitter and receiver channel state information. Both short- and long-term power constraints for arbitrary input distributions are considered. Optimal power allocation schemes are shown to be direct applications of previous results in the literature. It is shown that the short- and long-term outage exponents for arbitrary input distributions are related through a simple formula. The formula is useful to predict when the delay-limited capacity is positive. Furthermore, this characterization is useful for the design of efficient coding schemes for this relevant channel model. © 2010 IEEE.

Prediction of tread block forces for a free-rolling tyre in contact with a rough road

This paper describes a new approach to model the forces on a tread block for a free-rolling tyre in contact with a rough road. A theoretical analysis based on realistic tread mechanical properties and road roughness is presented, indicating partial contact between a tread block and a rough road. Hence an asperity-scale indentation model is developed using a semi-empirical formulation, taking into account both the rubber viscoelasticity and the tread block geometry. The model aims to capture the essential details of the contact at the simplest level, to make it suitable as part of a time-domain dynamic analysis of the coupled tyre-road system. The indentation model is found to have a good correlation with the finite element (FE) predictions and is validated against experimental results using a rolling contact rig. When coupled to a deformed tyre belt profile, the indentation model predicts normal and tangential force histories inside the tyre contact patch that show good agreement with FE predictions. © 2012 Elsevier B.V..

Real-time block flow tracking of atrial septal defect motion in 4D cardiac ultrasound

Real-time cardiac ultrasound allows monitoring the heart motion during intracardiac beating heart procedures. Our application assists atrial septal defect (ASD) closure techniques using real-time 3D ultrasound guidance. One major image processing challenge is the processing of information at high frame rate. We present an optimized block flow technique, which combines the probability-based velocity computation for an entire block with template matching. We propose adapted similarity constraints both from frame to frame, to conserve energy, and globally, to minimize errors. We show tracking results on eight in-vivo 4D datasets acquired from porcine beating-heart procedures. Computing velocity at the block level with an optimized scheme, our technique tracks ASD motion at 41 frames/s. We analyze the errors of motion estimation and retrieve the cardiac cycle in ungated images. © 2007 IEEE.

Short-term in vitro responses of human peripheral blood monocytes to ferritic stainless steel fiber networks.

Beneficial effects on bone-implant bonding may accrue from ferromagnetic fiber networks on implants which can deform in vivo inducing controlled levels of mechanical strain directly in growing bone. This approach requires ferromagnetic fibers that can be implanted in vivo without stimulating undue inflammatory cell responses or cytotoxicity. This study examines the short-term in vitro responses, including attachment, viability, and inflammatory stimulation, of human peripheral blood monocytes to 444 ferritic stainless steel fiber networks. Two types of 444 networks, differing in fiber cross section and thus surface area, were considered alongside austenitic stainless steel fiber networks, made of 316L, a widely established implant material. Similar high percent seeding efficiencies were measured by CyQuant® on all fiber networks after 48 h of cell culture. Extensive cell attachment was confirmed by fluorescence and scanning electron microscopy, which showed round monocytes attached at various depths into the fiber networks. Medium concentrations of lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) and tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) were determined as indicators of viability and inflammatory responses, respectively. Percent LDH concentrations were similar for both 444 fiber networks at all time points, whereas significantly lower than those of 316L control networks at 24 h. All networks elicited low-level secretions of TNF-α, which were significantly lower than that of the positive control wells containing zymosan. Collectively, the results indicate that 444 networks produce comparable responses to medical implant grade 316L networks and are able to support human peripheral blood monocytes in short-term in vitro cultures without inducing significant inflammatory or cytotoxic effects.

Hierarchical orientation of crystallinity by block-copolymer patterning and alignment in an electric field

Electron and hole conducting 10-nm-wide polymer morphologies hold great promise for organic electro-optical devices such as solar cells and light emitting diodes. The self-assembly of block-copolymers (BCPs) is often viewed as an efficient way to generate such materials. Here, a functional block copolymer that contains perylene bismide (PBI) side chains which can crystallize via π-π stacking to form an electron conducting microphase is patterned harnessing hierarchical electrohydrodynamic lithography (HEHL). HEHL film destabilization creates a hierarchical structure with three distinct length scales: (1) micrometer-sized polymer pillars, containing (2) a 10-nm BCP microphase morphology that is aligned perpendicular to the substrate surface and (3) on a molecular length scale (0.35-3 nm) PBI π-π-stacks traverse the HEHL-generated plugs in a continuous fashion. The good control over BCP and PBI alignment inside the generated vertical microstructures gives rise to liquid-crystal-like optical dichroism of the HEHL patterned films, and improves the electron conductivity across the film by 3 orders of magnitude. © 2013 American Chemical Society.

Influence of Peripheral Velocity on Vane Shear Strength of an Artificial Clay

Shearing rate is among the most important factors affecting the undrained shear strength of clays. In particular, for seismic or storm-wave loading conditions, the shearing rate is much higher than that used in many common laboratory or field tests. The testing program described here evaluates the effect of peripheral velocity on the undrained strength inferred from the shear vane test. The study was conducted on a lightly cemented bentonite-kaolinite mixture manufactured in the laboratory, which possesses many characteristics similar to those of natural materials. Results show that the shear strength increases with increasing peripheral velocity, while the residual shear strength seems to be nearly independent of rotation rate.

GMI and mismatched-CSI outage exponents in MIMO block-fading channels

We study transmission over multiple-antenna blockfading channels with imperfect channel state information at both the transmitter and receiver. Specifically, we investigate achievable rates based on the generalized mutual information. We then analyze the corresponding outage probability in the high signal-to-noise ratio regime. © 2013 IEEE.