Recent advances in wireless communication, low power sensors and microcontrollers enable the deployment of large-scale wireless sensor networks. Localization is a fundamental service required by many wireless sensor network applications. We consider a distributed, probabilistic approach, suitable for outdoor systems with inaccurate range measurements. The approach restricts the possible locations of the nodes by using a combination of positive and negative constraints. We reduce the computational complexity of the algorithm by using two-dimensional fast Fourier transforms (FFTs). We evaluated the proposed probabilistic approach through simulations based on real-world measurements; the results are compared with two other localization schemes and the Cramer-Rao lower bound (CRLB). The results show that, for inaccurate range measurements, the proposed probabilistic approach outperforms existing methods and approaches the CRLB.

Permeability is an important parameter for characterizing the transport properties (e.g. heat and mass transfer) of porous media. It is one of the crucial issues that the permeability of porous media is exactly and quickly decided in many fields such as reservoir engineering, groundwater engineering and composite material modeling. Spontaneous imbibition is a fundamental and ubiquitous natural phenomenon extensively existing in a variety of processes. In this paper, the relationships between the height and weight of imbibition versus the time are derived based on Darcy's law, and a simple method for predicting effective permeability of porous media using spontaneous imbibition effect is proposed, including expressions for permeabilities of artificial and natural porous media. The validity of the proposed models is analysed and tested by experimental data.

No abstract

Geopolymer-TiO2 nanocomposites were prepared by two different techniques, namely the two-step acidification calcination treatment and one-step adding method. The potential photocatalytic activities of geopolymer-TiO2 nanocomposites prepared by the two different methods were tested and compared. Nanocomposites prepared via the one-step process showed better photocatalytic activity. The amount of TiO2 particles loaded on the surface of the foaming materials was investigated by XRD and SEM-Mapping. By comparing with the sample obtained from two-step treatment, the TiO2 particles were distributed uniformly on the surface of the foaming materials for the sample obtained from the one-step method in this study. Results showed that the specific surface area of the geopolymer-TiO2 prepared by the one-step treatment process (28.67 m2/g) was significantly lower than the two-step acidification calcination process (215.04 m2/g), while the photocatalytic efficiency with methylene blue trihydrate (MB) was better. This is due to the more stable structure of geopolymer-TiO2 nanocomposites, the better dispersion and more loading of TiO2 particles on the foaming materials surfaces, leading to the enhanced photocatalytic activity.

No abstract