Fine-tuning solid-state luminescence in NPIs (1,8-naphthalimides): impact of the molecular environment and cumulative interactions

An investigation of a series of seven angular ``V'' shaped NPIs (1-7) is presented. The effect of substitution of these structurally similar NPIs on their photophysical properties in the solution-state and the solid-state is presented and discussed in light of experimental and computational findings. Compounds 1-7 show negligible to intensely strong emission yields in their solid-state depending on the nature of substituents appended to the oxoaryl moiety. The solution and solid-state properties of the compounds can be directly correlated with their structural rigidity, nature of substituents and intermolecular interactions. The versatile solid-state structures of the NPI siblings are deeply affected by the pendant substituents. All of the NPIs (1-7) show antiparallel dimeric pi-pi stacking interactions in their solid-state which can further extend in a parallel, alternate, orthogonal or lateral fashion depending on the steric and electronic nature of the C-4' substituents. Structural investigations including Hirshfeld surface analysis methods reveal that where strongly interacting systems show weak to moderate emission in their condensed states, weakly interacting systems show strong emission yields under the same conditions. The nature of packing and extended structures also affects the emission colors of the NPIs in their solid-states. Furthermore, DFT computational studies were utilized to understand the molecular and cumulative electronic behaviors of the NPIs. The comprehensive studies provide insight into the condensed-state luminescence of aggregationprone small molecules like NPIs and help to correlate the structure-property relationships.

Texture Evolution in Nanocrystalline Nickel: Critical Role of Strain Path

The effect of strain path change during rolling on the evolution of deformation texture has been studied for nanocrystalline (nc) nickel. An orthogonal change in strain path, as imparted by alternating rolling and transverse directions, leads to a texture with a strong Bs {110}aOE (c) 112 > component. The microstructural features, after large deformation, show distinct grain morphology for the cross-rolled material. Crystal plasticity simulations, based on viscoplastic self-consistent model, indicate that slip involving partial dislocation plays a vital role in accommodating plastic deformation during the initial stages of rolling. The brass-type texture evolved after cross rolling to large strains is attributed to change in strain path.

Characterizing the Impact of Feedback Delays on Wideband Rate Adaptation

In contemporary orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), LTE-Advanced, and WiMAX, a codeword is transmitted over a group of subcarriers. Since different subcarriers see different channel gains in frequency-selective channels, the modulation and coding scheme (MCS) of the codeword must be selected based on the vector of signal-to-noise-ratios (SNRs) of these subcarriers. Exponential effective SNR mapping (EESM) maps the vector of SNRs into an equivalent flat-fading SNR, and is widely used to simplify this problem. We develop a new analytical framework to characterize the throughput of EESM-based rate adaptation in such wideband channels in the presence of feedback delays. We derive a novel accurate approximation for the throughput as a function of feedback delay. We also propose a novel bivariate gamma distribution to model the time evolution of EESM between the times of estimation and data transmission, which facilitates the analysis. These are then generalized to a multi-cell, multi-user scenario with various frequency-domain schedulers. Unlike prior work, most of which is simulation-based, our framework encompasses both correlated and independent subcarriers and various multiple antenna diversity modes; it is accurate over a wide range of delays.

Efficient generation of diffraction-limited multi-sheet pattern for biological imaging

We demonstrate a new technique to generate multiple light-sheets for fluorescence microscopy. This is possible by illuminating the cylindrical lens using multiple copies of Gaussian beams. A diffraction grating placed just before the cylindrical lens splits the incident Gaussian beam into multiple beams traveling at different angles. Subsequently, this gives rise to diffraction-limited light-sheets after the Gaussian beams pass through the combined cylindrical lens-objective sub-system. Direct measurement of field at and around the focus of objective lens shows multi-sheet pattern with an average thickness of 7.5 mu m and inter-sheet separation of 380 mu m. Employing an independent orthogonal detection sub-system, we successfully imaged fluorescently-coated yeast cells (approximate to 4 mu m) encaged in agarose gel-matrix. Such a diffraction-limited sheet-pattern equipped with dedicated detection system may find immediate applications in the field of optical microscopy and fluorescence imaging. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Performance of OFDM Systems With Best-m Feedback, Scheduling, and Delays for Uniformly Correlated Subchannels

Contemporary cellular standards, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE) and LTE-Advanced, employ orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing (OFDM) and use frequency-domain scheduling and rate adaptation. In conjunction with feedback reduction schemes, high downlink spectral efficiencies are achieved while limiting the uplink feedback overhead. One such important scheme that has been adopted by these standards is best-m feedback, in which every user feeds back its m largest subchannel (SC) power gains and their corresponding indices. We analyze the single cell average throughput of an OFDM system with uniformly correlated SC gains that employs best-m feedback and discrete rate adaptation. Our model incorporates three schedulers that cover a wide range of the throughput versus fairness tradeoff and feedback delay. We show that, for small m, correlation significantly reduces average throughput with best-m feedback. This result is pertinent as even in typical dispersive channels, correlation is high. We observe that the schedulers exhibit varied sensitivities to correlation and feedback delay. The analysis also leads to insightful expressions for the average throughput in the asymptotic regime of a large number of users.

Ultrasound-modulated optical tomography: direct recovery of elasticity distribution from experimentally measured intensity autocorrelation

Based on an ultrasound-modulated optical tomography experiment, a direct, quantitative recovery of Young's modulus (E) is achieved from the modulation depth (M) in the intensity autocorrelation. The number of detector locations is limited to two in orthogonal directions, reducing the complexity of the data gathering step whilst ensuring against an impoverishment of the measurement, by employing ultrasound frequency as a parameter to vary during data collection. The M and E are related via two partial differential equations. The first one connects M to the amplitude of vibration of the scattering centers in the focal volume and the other, this amplitude to E. A (composite) sensitivity matrix is arrived at mapping the variation of M with that of E and used in a (barely regularized) Gauss-Newton algorithm to iteratively recover E. The reconstruction results showing the variation of E are presented. (C) 2015 Optical Society of America

Robust design of multiple trailing edge flaps for helicopter vibration reduction: A multi-objective bat algorithm approach

The objective of this study is to determine an optimal trailing edge flap configuration and flap location to achieve minimum hub vibration levels and flap actuation power simultaneously. An aeroelastic analysis of a soft in-plane four-bladed rotor is performed in conjunction with optimal control. A second-order polynomial response surface based on an orthogonal array (OA) with 3-level design describes both the objectives adequately. Two new orthogonal arrays called MGB2P-OA and MGB4P-OA are proposed to generate nonlinear response surfaces with all interaction terms for two and four parameters, respectively. A multi-objective bat algorithm (MOBA) approach is used to obtain the optimal design point for the mutually conflicting objectives. MOBA is a recently developed nature-inspired metaheuristic optimization algorithm that is based on the echolocation behaviour of bats. It is found that MOBA inspired Pareto optimal trailing edge flap design reduces vibration levels by 73% and flap actuation power by 27% in comparison with the baseline design.

Throughput Analysis of Best-m Feedback in OFDM Systems with Uniformly Correlated Subchannels

Practical orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) systems, such as Long Term Evolution (LTE), exploit multi-user diversity using very limited feedback. The best-m feedback scheme is one such limited feedback scheme, in which users report only the gains of their m best subchannels (SCs) and their indices. While the scheme has been extensively studied and adopted in standards such as LTE, an analysis of its throughput for the practically important case in which the SCs are correlated has received less attention. We derive new closed-form expressions for the throughput when the SC gains of a user are uniformly correlated. We analyze the performance of the greedy but unfair frequency-domain scheduler and the fair round-robin scheduler for the general case in which the users see statistically non-identical SCs. An asymptotic analysis is then developed to gain further insights. The analysis and extensive numerical results bring out how correlation reduces throughput.

Reduced Look Ahead Orthogonal Matching Pursuit

Compressed Sensing (CS) is an elegant technique to acquire signals and reconstruct them efficiently by solving a system of under-determined linear equations. The excitement in this field stems from the fact that we can sample at a rate way below the Nyquist rate and still reconstruct the signal provided some conditions are met. Some of the popular greedy reconstruction algorithms are the Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (OMP), the Subspace Pursuit (SP) and the Look Ahead Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (LAOMP). The LAOMP performs better than the OMP. However, when compared to the SP and the OMP, the computational complexity of LAOMP is higher. We introduce a modified version of the LAOMP termed as Reduced Look Ahead Orthogonal Matching Pursuit (Reduced LAOMP). Reduced LAOMP uses prior information from the results of the OMP and the SP in the quest to speedup the look ahead strategy in the LAOMP. Monte Carlo simulations of this algorithm deliver promising results.

Dependence of ``critical cloud fraction' on aerosol composition

Recent studies, over regions influenced by biomass burning aerosol, have shown that it is possible to define a critical cloud fraction' (CCF) at which the aerosol direct radiative forcing switch from a cooling to a warming effect. Using 4 years of multi-satellite data analysis, we show that CCF varies with aerosol composition and changed from 0.28 to 0.13 from postmonsoon to winter as a result of shift from less absorbing to moderately absorbing aerosol. Our results indicate that we can estimate aerosol absorption from space using independently measured top of the atmosphere (TOA) fluxes Cloud Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization-Moderate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer-Clouds and the Earth's Radiant Energy System (CALIPSO-MODIS-CERES)] combined algorithms for example.

Nonvanishing of Koecher-Maass series attached to Siegel cusp forms

We prove a nonvanishing result for Koecher-Maass series attached to Siegel cusp forms of weight k and degree n in certain strips on the complex plane. When n = 2, we prove such a result for forms orthogonal to the space of the Saito-Kurokawa lifts `up to finitely many exceptions', in bounded regions. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Similarity of Matrices Over Local Rings of Length Two

Let R be a (commutative) local principal ideal ring of length two, for example, the ring R = Z/p(2)Z with p prime. In this paper, we develop a theory of normal forms for similarity classes in the matrix rings M-n (R) by interpreting them in terms of extensions of R t]-modules. Using this theory, we describe the similarity classes in M-n (R) for n <= 4, along with their centralizers. Among these, we characterize those classes which are similar to their transposes. Non-self-transpose classes are shown to exist for all n > 3. When R has finite residue field of order q, we enumerate the similarity classes and the cardinalities of their centralizers as polynomials in q. Surprisingly, the polynomials representing the number of similarity classes in M-n (R) turn out to have non-negative integer coefficients.

Lower Bounds for Sums of Powers of Low Degree Univariates

We consider the problem of representing a univariate polynomial f(x) as a sum of powers of low degree polynomials. We prove a lower bound of Omega(root d/t) for writing an explicit univariate degree-d polynomial f(x) as a sum of powers of degree-t polynomials.

Spectral solutions to the Korteweg-de-Vries and nonlinear Schrodinger equations

In this paper, we present the solutions of 1-D and 2-D non-linear partial differential equations with initial conditions. We approach the solutions in time domain using two methods. We first solve the equations using Fourier spectral approximation in the spatial domain and secondly we compare the results with the approximation in the spatial domain using orthogonal functions such as Legendre or Chebyshev polynomials as their basis functions. The advantages and the applicability of the two different methods for different types of problems are brought out by considering 1-D and 2-D nonlinear partial differential equations namely the Korteweg-de-Vries and nonlinear Schrodinger equation with different potential function. (C) 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Effects of superimposed pulse bias on TiN coating in cathodic arc deposition

Orthogonal designs are used to investigate the main factors when doing experiments in which pulse bias is superimposed on d.c. bias during cathodic are deposition of TiN. Pulse peak, duty cycle, frequency, direct voltage, are current and pressure all are investigated when coating TiN on HSS substrates. Roughness, surface micrograph, microhardness and thickness are tested. By analysis of variance, it is shown that pressure and frequency are the main factors. R-a and droplet density of the film with (d.c. + pulse) bias decrease. A simple explanation for the result is suggested.