30,449 research outputs found

    Efficient route discovery for reactive routing

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    This thesis was submitted for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy and awarded by Brunel University.Information on the location of mobile nodes in Mobile Ad-hoc Networks (MANETs) has the potential to significantly improve network performance. This thesis uses node location information to develop new techniques for route discovery in on-demand routing protocols such as the Ad-hoc On-Demand Distance Vector (AODV), thus making an important contribution to enhancing the experience of using mobile networks. A Candidate Neighbours to Rebroadcast the Route Request (CNRR) approach has been proposed to reduce the deleterious impact, known as the broadcast storm, of RREQ packets flooding in traditional on-demand routing protocols. The main concept behind CNRR is specifying a set of neighbours which will rebroadcast the received RREQ. This is a departure from the traditional approach of all receiving nodes rebroadcasting RREQs and has the effect of reducing the problem of redundancy from which mobile networks suffer. The proposed protocol has been developed in two phases: Closest-CNRR and Furthest-CNRR. The simulation results show that the proposed algorithms have a significant effect as they reduce the routing overhead of the AODV protocol by up to 28% compared to the C-CNRR, and by up to 17.5% compared to the F-CNRR. Notably, the proposed algorithms simultaneously achieve better throughput and less data dropping. The Link Stability and Energy Aware protocol (LSEA) has been developed to reduce the overhead while increasing network lifetimes. The LSEA helps to control the global dissemination of RREQs in the network by eliminating those nodes that have a residual energy level below a specific threshold value from participation in end-to-end routes. The proposed LSEA protocol significantly increases network lifetimes by up to 19% compared with other on-demand routing protocols while still managing to obtain the same packet delivery ratio and network throughput levels. Furthermore, merging the LSEA and CNRR concepts has the great advantage of reducing the dissemination of RREQs in the network without loss of reachability among the nodes. This increases network lifetimes, reduces the overhead and increases the amount of data sent and received. Accordingly, a Position-based Selective Neighbour (PSN) approach has been proposed which combines the advantages of zoning and link stability. The results show that the proposed technique has notable advantages over both the AODV and MAAODV as it improves delivery ratios by 24.6% and 18.8%, respectively.Funded by National Council for Training - Sudan and the Sudan Academy of Science

    Aminoarabinose is essential for lipopolysaccharide export and intrinsic antimicrobial peptide resistance in Burkholderia cenocepacia

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    One common mechanism of resistance against antimicrobial peptides in Gram-negative bacteria is the addition of 4-amino-4-deoxy-l-arabinose (l-Ara4N) to the lipopolysaccharide (LPS) molecule. Burkholderia cenocepacia exhibits extraordinary intrinsic resistance to antimicrobial peptides and other antibiotics. We have previously discovered that unlike other bacteria, B. cenocepacia requires l-Ara4N for viability. Here, we describe the isolation of B. cenocepacia suppressor mutants that remain viable despite the deletion of genes required for l-Ara4N synthesis and transfer to the LPS. The absence of l-Ara4N is the only structural difference in the LPS of the mutants compared with that of the parental strain. The mutants also become highly sensitive to polymyxin B and melittin, two different classes of antimicrobial peptides. The suppressor phenotype resulted from a single amino acid replacement (aspartic acid to histidine) at position 31 of LptG, a protein component of the multi-protein pathway responsible for the export of the LPS molecule from the inner to the outer membrane. We propose that l-Ara4N modification of LPS provides a molecular signature required for LPS export and proper assembly at the outer membrane of B. cenocepacia, and is the most critical determinant for the intrinsic resistance of this bacterium to antimicrobial peptides

    Variations on the Author

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    “Variations on the Author” discusses two of Eduardo Coutinho’s recent films (Um Dia na Vida, from 2010, and Últimas Conversas, posthumously released in 2015) and their contribution to the general question of documentary authorship. The director’s filmography is characterized by a consistent yet self-effacing form of authorial self-inscription: Coutinho often features as an interviewer that rather than express opinions propels discourses; an interviewer that is good at listening. This mode of self-inscription characterizes him as an author who is not expressive but who is nonetheless markedly present on the screen. In Um Dia na Vida, however, Coutinho is completely absent form the image, while Últimas Conversas, on the contrary, includes a confessional prologue that moves the director from the margins to the center of his films. This article examines the ways in which these works stand out in the filmography of a director who offers new insights into the notion of cinematic authorship

    Exploring Emptiness: An Investigation of MA and MU in My Sonic Composition Practice

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    The commentary investigates Japanese aesthetics of space, silence and emptiness - ma and mu - that informed my compositional practice during the research period 2012 - 2015. The portfolio comprises text compositions and sound installations in which forms of micro events and sustained events are employed. Throughout, the emphasis is on my personal engagement with, and manifestation of emptiness that concerns a particular model of listening and perception. Chapter 1 discusses six primary research areas: ma and mu, material, text, form, listening and perception. Firstly, I introduce ma and mu by examining noh culture and Zeami's teaching of senu hima (where there is no-action) in the context of my personal approaches to music. The following subjects are then used to contextualise my PhD practice by means of examples from various composers and visual artists. Here, these particular and enigmatic concepts are explored through Japanese art as well as Western contemporary works by Alvin Lucier, Eliane Radigue and those of the Wandelweiser collective. Part 2 provides contextual commentaries on selected compositions from the portfolio that mostly articulate my aesthetics in relation to the topics covered in Chapter 1. koso koso addresses my methodologies to investigate the essence of senu hima, followed by treow that discusses my approach to materials and the importance of space. I move on to grade two and grade two extended in order to examine text scores, and then, look into Espèces d'espaces 03 and 04 as examples of musical forms that I employ. Finally, listening and perception are investigated through the compositions gnome and con.de.structuring. Throughout, I describe how my works explore emptiness as a result of my particular emphasis on listening over composing

    The construction of Karen Karnak: The multi-author-function

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    This thesis is situated within the comparatively recent developments of Web 2.0 and the emergence of interactive WikiMedia, and explores the mode of authorship within a Read/Write culture compared to that of a Read/Only tradition. The hypothesis of this study is that the role of the audience has become merged with the author, and as such, represents new functions and attributes, distinct from a more conventional concept of authorship, in which the roles of audience and author are more separate. Read/Write and participatory culture, as defined by this study, is focused on collaboration, and includes the influences of D.I.Y. culture, Open-Source practices and the production of text by multiple authors. Multi-authorship presents a re-thinking of several concepts which support the notion of the individual author, since the focus of multi-authorship is not on attribution and ownership of a finished text, but on the continued malleability of a text. Modes of multi-authorship, demonstrated in the use of the pseudonyms Alan Smithee and Karen Eliot, represent declarative authors whose names signify multiple origins, whilst concurrently indicating a distinct body of work. The function of these names form an important context to this study, since primary research involves the construction of an experimental mode of multi-authorship utilising WikiMedia technology and the interaction of thirty nine participants, who are invited to create a body of work under the collective pseudonym Karen Karnak. The data generated by this experiment is analysed using aspects of Michel Foucault's author-function to identify and determine power structures inherent in the WikiMedia context. The interplay of power structures, including concepts such as identity, ownership and the body of work, affect the resulting mode of authorship and contribute to the construction of Karen Karnak, suggesting further areas of research into the emerging multi-author

    A note on Kim-Ma characterization of the Hilbert ball

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    This is an open access article under the CC BY license.[No abstract available]Kortney Rose Foundation, KRF, (2002-070-C00005); National Research Foundation of Korea, NRF* Corresponding author. E-mail addresses: [email protected] (K.-T. Kim), [email protected] (D. Ma). 1 Research supported in part by the grant KRF 2002-070-C00005 from The Korea Research Foundation

    Localized physical vapor deposition via focused laser spike dewetting of gold thin films for nanoscale patterning

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    Focused laser spike (FLaSk) excitation has been demonstrated as a reliable technique for the patterning of micro-to-nanoscale features locally by thermocapillary shear of thin films. Recent work on polymer thin films has revealed that overlapping laser scans can leverage coupled thermal and fluid effects to create subwavelength patterns. Compared to polymeric films, metallic thin films possess both a lower melt viscosity and higher surface tension. Here we investigate overlapping effects in the dewetting of ~15 nm gold thin films on borosilicate and quartz glass substrates with a 532 nm continuous wave laser. During this process, FLaSk initiates capillary and thermocapillary dewetting simultaneously. Further, the low oxidation potential and high vapor pressure of gold lead to non-equilibrium vaporization during heating. Since the parameters of overlapping scans control the amount of material that is heated and to what temperature it is heated, selection of laser power, scanning distance, writing speed, and numerical aperture results in particles with different sizes and spacing deposited on the writing substrates or a positioned superstrate through a laser-induced localized physical vapor deposition (LILPVD) process. If the laser parameters are selected within a specific working range, uniform or periodic particle distributions can be repeatably deposited in this fashion, which can then be used as seeds for nanomaterial growth. In addition, if the substrate melts during FLaSk, the viscous forces of the liquid-on-liquid dewetting broadens the range of patterning conditions by resisting the motion of the gold leading to more uniform particles over a large range of parameters.Peer reviewe

    Ma Huan (original author), Wan Ming (ed.) Ming chaoben " Yingya shenglan " jiaozh

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    Ptak Roderich. Ma Huan (original author), Wan Ming (ed.) Ming chaoben " Yingya shenglan " jiaozh. In: Archipel, volume 71, 2006. Autour de la peinture à Java. Volume II. pp. 240-244

    Modelling epidemic spreading phenomena processes on networks

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    Spreading processes are ubiquitous in nature and societies, e.g. spreading of diseases and computer virus, propagation of messages, and activation of neurons. Computer viruses cause an enormous economic loss. Moreover, many illnesses/diseases still causing a serious threat to public health. For example, the outbreaks of circulating influenza strains cause millions of illness and deaths worldwide every year. Pronounced outbreaks of flu usually occur during winter. This recognized timing allows public health agencies to organize their flu-related mitigation and response activities to prepare for the winter flu season. Although the general wintertime peak of influenza incidence in temperate regions can be easily forecast, the specific intensity, duration, and time of individual local outbreaks are quite changeable. Even after an outbreak has begun, it is still difficult to predict the future characteristics of the epidemic curve. If the diseases/viruses outbreak characteristics could be reliably predicted, the public health response will be better coordinated.The goal is to develop a fast and accurate epidemic model to estimate, fit and forecast the spreading of an epidemic on a defined network. The aim is to conduct a study over viruses spreading phenomena both theoretically and numerically, then create a general model/algorithm that can be easily applied to different diseases and computer viruses. In this master thesis, we propose a new approach which can be used on real illness/viruses data (such as influenza) to estimate and forecast the epidemic more accurately. The approach is to use a model-inference system combining the network science, susceptible-infected-recovered-susceptible (SIRS) model, statistical filtering techniques and gradient descent. We are able to fit and estimate with a relatively low error compared to other algorithms. Moreover, we forecast the out-breaker with a high accuracy, four weeks before the true out-breaker on synthetic epidemic data. The model is evaluated on a regular graph, Erdös-Rényi graph, Watts-Strogatz small-world graph, & Barabási-Albert graph. Furthermore, the model is carried out on real-world epidemic data (influenza data) for four countries (the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium and the United Kingdom), from the years 2012 to 2017.Electrical Engineering | Telecommunications and Sensing System

    Geochemistry and U-Pb Geochronology of the 1450-1425 Ma Large Igneous Province of Eastern Laurentia and 2480-780 Ma Large Igneous Provinces of Western Laurentia

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    Mesoproterozoic magmatism that is exposed on the eastern and western margins of Laurentia (North America) are interpreted to be parts of large igneous provinces (LIP). The western margin between Kimberley (British Columbia) and Yellowstone National Park (Wyoming), and the eastern margin between Labrador City and coastal Labrador are herein referred to as western Laurentia (WL) and eastern Laurentia (EL), respectively. WL intraplate magmatism was previously divided into two LIPs the: 1) ca. 1460 Ma Moyie-Purcell LIP (MPL) which consists of the i) Purcell lavas in the USA, ii) Moyie sills of the Belt-Purcell basin iii) dykes of the Tobacco Root Mountains and 2) the ca. 780 Ma Gunbarrel LIP. The MPL is composed of tholeiitic basalts, and associated with the world class Sullivan Pb-Zn deposit. EL consists of basalts of the non-mineralized Michael-Shabogamo Gabbros (MSG).This research demonstrated that at least 17 geochemical groups are present in WL of which some belong to additional previously unrecognized events. Seven geochemical groups belong to the ca. 1460 Ma MPL; 1 with the ca. 780 Ma Gunbarrel LIP, 2 with a 1590-1550 Ma Mammoth-Western Channel LIP (MWCL); 2 with ages of 2480, and 1420 Ma; and 5 undated mafic pulses. The MWCL is similar to contemporaneous volcanic rocks within the South Australia craton, which was adjacent to NW Laurentia ca. 1590 Ma. This study proposes a shared 1590 Ma plume and LIP magmatism between Laurentia, and South Australia cratons.The MSG of EL are subalkaline basalts enriched in P2O5 and K2O and are shown to represent a single event with 2 pulses based on new U-Pb ages. Each pulse is defined by a distinct [P2O5*1000]/Zr (P/Zr) ratio: 1) a high P/Zr group at ca. 1425-1435 Ma; and 2) a low P/Zr group at ca. 1435-1450 Ma. Enrichment of P2O5 and K2O is due to melting of a metasomatized subcontinental lithospheric mantle with melting facilitated by a slab window
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