Complex systems exhibit critical thresholds at which they transition among alternative phases. Complex systems theory has been applied to analyze disease progression, distinguishing three stages along progression: (i) a normal non-infected state, (ii) a pre-disease state in which the host is infected and responds; therapeutic interventions could still be effective, (iii) an irreversible state, where the system is seriously threatened. The Dynamical Network Biomarker (DNB) theory sought for early-warnings of the transition from health to disease. Such DNBs might range from individual genes to complex structures in transcriptional regulatory or protein-protein interaction networks. Here we revisit transcriptomic data obtained during infection of tobacco plants with tobacco etch potyvirus to identify DNBs signaling the transition from mild/reversible to severe/irreversible disease. We identified genes showing a sudden transition in expression along disease. Some of these genes cluster in modules that show the properties of DNBs. These modules contain both genes known to be involved in response to pathogens (e.g., ADH2, CYP19, ERF1, KAB1, LAP1, MBF1C, PR1, or TPS5) and other genes not previously related to biotic stress responses (e.g., ABCI6, BBX21, NAP1, OSM34, or ZPN1).

Document classification is one of the most critical steps in the document analysis pipeline. There are two types of approaches for document classification, known as image-based and multimodal approaches. The image-based document classification approaches are solely based on the inherent visual cues of the document images. In contrast, the multimodal approach co-learns the visual and textual features, and it has proved to be more effective. Nonetheless, these approaches require a huge amount of data. This paper presents a novel approach for document classification that works with a small amount of data and outperforms other approaches. The proposed approach incorporates a hierarchical attention network(HAN) for the textual stream and the EfficientNet-B0 for the image stream. The hierarchical attention network in the textual stream uses the dynamic word embedding through fine-tuned BERT. HAN incorporates both the word level and sentence level features. While the earlier approaches rely on training on a large corpus (RVL-CDIP), we show that our approach works with a small amount of data (Tobacco-3482). To this end, we trained the neural network at Tobacco-3428 from scratch. Thereby, we outperform state-of-the-art by obtaining an accuracy of 90.3%. This results in a relative error reduction rate of 7.9%.

Bartonella henselae is a fastidious Gram-negative intracellular bacterium which can cause cat scratch disease, endocarditis in humans and animals as well as other complications, leading to acute or chronic infections. The current treatment for Bartonella infections is not very effective due to antibiotic resistance and also persistence. To develop better therapies for persistent and chronic Bartonella infections, in this study, with the help of SYBR Green I/PI viability assay, we performed a high-throughput screening of an essential oil library against stationary phase B. henselae. We successfully identified 32 essential oils that had high activity, including four essential oils extracted from Citrus plants, three from Origanum, three from Cinnamomum, two from Pelargonium and two from Melaleuca, as well as frankincense, ylang ylang, fir needle, mountain savory (winter), citronella, spearmint, elemi, vetiver, clove bud, allspice and cedarwood essential oils. The minimal inhibitory concentration (MIC) determination of these 32 top hits indicated they were not only active against stationary phase non-growing B. henselae but also had good activity against log phase growing B. henselae. The time-kill curve by drug exposure assay showed 13 active hits, including essential oils of oregano, cinnamon bark, mountain savory (winter), cinnamon leaf, geranium, clove bud, allspice, geranium bourbon, ylang ylang, citronella, elemi and vetiver, could eradicate all stationary phase B. henselae cells within 7 days at the concentration of 0.032% (v/v). Two active ingredients, carvacrol and cinnamaldehyde, of oregano and cinnamon bark essential oils, respectively, were shown to be very active against stationary phase B. henselae such that they were able to eradicate all the bacterial cells even at the concentration ≤ 0.01% (v/v). Our finding of active essential oils may help to develop more effective treatments for persistent Bartonella infections.

The relative force strengths of the Coulomb forces, gravitational forces, dark matter forces, weak forces and strong forces are compared for the dark matters, leptons, quarks, and normal matters (p and n baryons) in terms of the 3-D quantized space model. The quark confinement and asymptotic freedom are explained by the CC merging to the A(CC=-5)₃ state. The proton with the (EC,LC,CC) charge configuration of p(1,0,-5) is p(1,0) + A(CC=-5)₃. The A(CC=-5)₃ state has the 99.6% of the proton mass. The three quarks in p(1,0,-5) are asymptotically free in the EC and LC space of p(1,0) and are strongly confined in the CC space of A(CC=-5)₃. This means that the lepton beams in the deep inelastic scattering interact with three quarks in p(1,0) by the EC interaction and weak interaction. Then, the observed spin is the partial spin of p(1,0) which is 32.6 % of the total spin (1/2) of the proton. The A(CC=-5)₃ state has the 67.4 % of the proton spin. This explains the proton spin crisis. The EC charge distribution of the proton is the same to the EC charge distribution of p(1,0) which indicates that three quarks in p(1,0) are mostly near the proton surface. From the EC charge distribution of neutron, the 2 lepton system (called as the koron) of the koron is, for the first time, reported in the present work.

Terms related to gradients of scalar fields are introduced as scalar products into the formulation of entropy. A Lagrange density is then formulated by adding constraints based on known conservation laws. Applying the Lagrange formalism to the resulting Lagrange density leads to the Poisson equation of gravitation and also includes terms being related to curvature of space. The formalism further leads to terms possibly explaining nonlinear extensions known from modified Newtonian dynamics approaches. The article concludes with a short discussion of the presented methodology and provides an outlook on other phenomena, which might be tackled using this new approach.

The theory and working principle of fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) is presented that eloquently explains the mystery behind this new and powerful sample preparation technique. FPSE innovatively integrates the benefits of sol-gel coating technology and the rich surface chemistry of cellulose/polyester/fiberglass fabric, resulting in a microextraction device with very high sorbent loading in the form of an ultra-thin coating. This porous sorbent coating and the permeable substrate synergistically facilitate very fast extraction equilibrium. The flexibility of the FPSE device allows for direct insertion into original, unmodified samples of different origin. Strong chemical bonding between the sol-gel sorbent and the fabric substrate permits the exposure of FPSE devices to any organic solvent for analyte back-extraction/elution and to highly acidic or basic environments (pH 1-12) if required. A sol-gel derived sorbent, highly polar sol-gel poly(ethylene glycol) coating, was generated on cellulose substrates. Five cm2 segments of these coated fabrics were used as the FPSE devices for sample preparation using direct immersion. An important class of environmental pollutants, substituted phenols, was used as model compounds to evaluate the extraction performance of FPSE. The high primary contact surface area (PCSA) of the FPSE device and porous structure of the sol-gel coatings resulted in very high sample capacities and incredible extraction sensitivities for both the compound classes in a relatively short period of time. Different extraction parameters were evaluated and optimized. The new extraction devices demonstrated part per trillion level detection limits for substituted phenols, a wide range of detection linearity, and good performance reproducibility.

Three-dimensional (3D) imaging has attracted more and more interests because of its widespread applications, especially in information and life science. These techniques can be broadly divided into two types: ray-based and wavefront-based 3D imaging. Issues such as imaging quality and system complexity of these techniques limit the applications significantly, and therefore many investigations have focused on 3D imaging from depth measurements. This paper presents an overview of 3D imaging from depth measurements, and provides a summary of the connection between these the ray-based and wavefront-based 3D imaging techniques.

This paper investigates the influence of magnetic field for a two dimensional deformations on a two temperature problem at the free surface of a semi-infinite semiconducting medium under the effect of mechanical force during a photothermal theory and the effect of hydrostatic initial stress on the medium. The Harmonic Wave Method (Normal Mode Analysis) has been used to obtain the equations of elastic waves, heat conduction equation, quasi-static electric field, carrier density, two temperature coefficient, ratios, and constitutive relationships for the thermo-magnetic-electric medium. The effects of several parameters as thermoelastic and thermoelectric coupling parameters and two temperature parameter of this force on the displacement component, force stress, carrier density and temperature distribution has been depicted graphically.

When focusing on materials science in civil engineering, the current trend is to investigate the use of innovative solutions in order to enhance thermal and energy performances. This trend is amplified with the need for a sustainable development strategy for the construction sector. This paper assesses the integration of a Phase Change Material (PCM) in cement intended for building construction. The key characteristic of PCMs is their capacity to absorb energy and restore it. In building construction, this feature could be harnessed to save energy by incorporating PCMs in the materials used. In this study, passive integration of PCM in cement was tested and thermal properties of such an integration was assessed. The results provide insights into how PCMs affect cement as part of the concrete mixture, thus identifying the contribution of PCM-based cements in concrete mixtures.

Chemical analysis of the organic components in beers has applications to quality control, authenticity and improvements to the flavor characteristics and brewing process. This study aims to show the complementary nature of two instrumental techniques which in combination can identify and quantify the majority of organic components in a beer sample. Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) was used to provide concentrations of twenty five different organic compounds including alcohols, organic acids, carbohydrates, and amino acids. Calorie content was also estimated for the samples. NMR data for ethanol concentrations were validated by comparison to a Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FTIR) method. Headspace Solid-Phase Microextraction (SPME) Gas Chromatography Mass Spectrometry (GCMS) was used to identify a range of volatile compounds such as alcohols, esters and hop derived aroma compounds. A simple and inexpensive conversion of a Gas Chromatography Flame Ionization Detector (GC FID) instrument to allow the use of Solid-Phase Microextraction was found to be useful for the quantification of volatile esters.

The properties of the annual, semiannual and triennial oscillations (AO, SAO and TO) in the middle atmosphere have been investigated using the TIMED/SABER temperature data. The Lomb-Scargle and wavelet spectra were used to determine the dominant oscillations in the background temperature field. The AO is prominent at the mid-latitudes. The AO amplitudes present an asymmetry between the two Hemispheres, being larger in the mesosphere than in the stratosphere. The SAO dominates the tropical regions, with three amplitude maxima at altitudes of 45, 75, and 85 km. The SAOs in the upper mesosphere (75 km) are out of phase with those in the mesopause (85 km) in the tropical regions, which can generate an enhancement of 11 K at each equinox, contributing to the lower mesospheric inversion layer. The TO is significant in the tropical region, with amplitude being maximum at 35, 45 and 85 km. Result shows that there may be potential interaction by the TO with SAO at 85km at the equator. The relation between ENSO and TO has also been discussed. The ENSO signal may modulate the amplitude of the TO, mainly in the lower stratosphere. The real origin of the TO may lie in the wave-mean-flow interaction.

The intention of this paper is to elucidate new types of heat engines with extraordinary efficiency, more specifically to eventually focus on the author’s research into a temporary magnetic remanence device. First we extend the definition of heat engines through a diagrammatic classification scheme and note a paradoxical non-coincidence between the Carnot, Kelvin-Planck and other forms of the 2nd Law, between sectors of the diagram. It is then seen, between the diagram sectors, how super-efficient heat engines are able to reduce the degrees of freedom resulting from change in chemical potential, over mere generation of heat; until in the right sector of the diagram, the conventional wisdom for the need of two reservoirs is refuted. A brief survey of the Maxwell Demon problem finds no problem with information theoretic constructs. Our ongoing experimental enquiry into a temporary magnetic remanence cycle using standard kinetic theory, thermodynamics and electrodynamics is presented – yet a contradiction results with the 2nd law placing it in the right sector of the classification diagram.

This paper proposed three-dimensional numerical simulation method by coupling of electrostatic and fluid fields to evaluating the performance of electrical sensor in the concentration measurement of gas/solid two-phase flow. Compared with the static numerical simulation, this real-time dynamic 3-D simulation method can research on a designed capacitance sensor combining the dynamic characteristics of the two-phase flows for concentration measurement. Several fluid-electrostatic models of transmission pipes with different sensor structures are built. Under different test positions and different particle concentrations, the flow characteristics and the corresponding electric signals can be obtained, and the correlation coefficient between the concentration values and the capacitance values are used for performance evaluation of the sensors. The effects of flow regimes on concentration measurement are also been investigated in this paper. To validate the results of simulation, an experimental platform with horizontal straight pipe for phase volume concentration measurement of solid/air two-phase flow is built, and the experimental results agree well with simulation conclusions. The simulation and test results show that the coupling models can give constructive reference opinions for the sensor design and collection of installation position in different transmission pipelines, which are very important for the practical process of pneumatic conveying system.

Dysregulation of cartilage homeostasis and the changes in the density and the architecture of the subchondral bone were postulated as a potent mechanically pathological activity contributing to osteoarthritis (OA) pathogenesis. Extracorporeal shockwave therapy (ESWT) is a new, none invasive and effective method in the treatment of animal OA model. In the current study, we demonstrated that shockwave induced the expression of protein-disulfide isomerase-associated 3 (Pdia-3) which is a multifunctional protein hypothesized to be a significant mediator for 1α,25-Dihydroxyvitamin D3 (1α,25(OH)₂D₃) signaling pathway using two-dimensional electrophoresis. Histological analysis and quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) were verified and observed that the expression of Pdia-3 at 2 weeks was significantly higher than that of any other group at 4 weeks, 8 weeks, and 12 weeks post-shockwave treatment in early OA knee of rat. The other factors of the 1α,25(OH)₂D₃ rapid membrane signaling pathway including extracellular signal-regulated protein kinases 1 (ERK1), osteopontin (OPG), alkaline phosphatase (ALP), and matrix metallopeptidase 13 (MMP13) were measured and significantly increased by qPCR at 2 weeks post-shockwave treatment in early OA knee. Our proteomic data revealed significant Pdia-3 expression in microenvironments of joint tissue that could be actively responded to ESWT, which may potentially regulate biological function of chondrocytes and osteoblasts in the treatment of OA knee.

Frequency, amplitude and phase information of the grid voltage are of great importance in constructing a robust controller structure for grid connected inverter systems. This paper presents a simple and robust approach for the instantaneous estimation of positive and negative sequence voltage components under distorted voltage conditions. A second order generalized integrator (SOGI) is used to filter the distorted voltage and to generate orthogonal voltage components for each of the three phases. These filtered and orthogonal components are used for instantaneous calculation of symmetrical components. The implemented method is frequency adaptive; the method is demonstrated and compared to a conventional phase locked loop (PLL) technique with both MATLAB/Simulink simulations and experiments utilizing the dSPACE ds1103 digital controller.

The evolving multiphase induction generators (MPIG) with more than three phases are receiving prominence in high power generation systems. This paper aims at the development of a comprehensive model of the wind turbine driven seven-phase induction generator (7PIG) along with necessary the power electronic converters and controller for grid interface. The dynamic model of the system is developed in Maltlab/Simulink. Synchronous reference frame phase-locked loop (SRFPLL) system is incorporated for grid synchronization. The modeling aspects are detailed and the system response is observed for various wind velocities. The effectiveness of seven phase induction generator is demonstrated with the fault tolerant capability and high output power with reduced phase current when compared to conventional 3-phase wind generation scheme. The response of the PLL is analyzed and the results are presented.

The most significant assumptions in the subdomain technique (i.e., based on the formal resolution of Maxwell's equations applied in subdomain) is defined by: “The iron parts (i.e., the teeth and the back-iron) are considered to be infinitely permeable so that the saturation effect is neglected”. In this paper, the author presents a new scientific contribution on improving of this method in two-dimensional (2-D) and in Cartesian coordinates by focusing on the consideration of iron. The subdomains connection is carried out in the two directions (i.e., x- and y-edges). For example, the improvement was performed by solving magnetostatic Maxwell's equations for an air- or iron-cored coil supplied by a direct current. To evaluate the efficacy of the proposed technique, the magnetic flux density distributions have been compared with those obtained by the 2-D finite-element analysis (FEA). The semi-analytical results are in quite satisfying agreement with those obtained by the 2-D FEA, considering both amplitude and waveform.

Different notions of entropy can be identified in different communities: (i) the thermodynamic sense, (ii) the information sense, (iii) the statistical sense, (iv) the disorder sense, and (v) the homogeneity sense. Especially the “disorder sense” and the “homogeneity sense” relate to and require the notion of space and time. One of the few prominent examples relating entropy to geometry and to space is the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy of a Black Hole. Although being developed for the description of a physics object—a black hole—having a mass, a momentum, a temperature, a charge etc. absolutely no information about these attributes of this object can eventually be found in the final formula. In contrast, the Bekenstein-Hawking entropy in its dimensionless form is a positive quantity only comprising geometric attributes like an area A—which is the area of the event horizon of the black hole-, a length L_P—which is the Planck length - and a factor ¼. A purely geometric approach towards this formula will be presented. The approach is based on a continuous 3D extension of the Heaviside function, with this extension drawing on the phase-field concept of diffuse interfaces. Entropy enters into the local, statistical description of contrast respectively gradient distributions in the transition region of the extended Heaviside function definition. The structure of the Bekenstein-Hawking formula eventually is derived for a geometric sphere based on mere geometric-statistic considerations.

Determination of time-weighted average (TWA) concentrations of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in air using solid-phase microextraction (SPME) is advantageous over other sampling techniques, but is often characterized by insufficient accuracies, particularly at longer sampling times. Experimental investigation of this issue and disclosing the origin of the problem is problematic and often not practically feasible due to high uncertainties. This research is aimed at developing the model of TWA extraction process and optimization of TWA air sampling by SPME using finite element analysis software (COMSOL Multiphysics). It was established that sampling by porous SPME coatings with high affinity to analytes is affected by slow diffusion of analytes inside the coating, an increase of analytes concentrations in the air near the fiber tip due to equilibration, and eventual lower sampling rate. The increase of a fiber retraction depth (Z) resulted in better recoveries. Sampling of studied VOCs using 23-ga Car/PDMS assembly at maximum possible Z (40 mm) was proven to provide more accurate results. Alternative sampling configuration based on 78.5 x 0.75 mm i.d. SPME liner was proven to provide similar accuracy at improved detection limits. Its modification with the decreased internal diameter from the sampling side should provide even better recoveries. The developed model offers new insight into optimization of air and gas sampling using SPME.

Polyhydroxyalcanoates (PHAs) are biodegradable polymers synthesized in cytoplasmic granules in bacteria, such as Cupriavidus necator (Ralstonia eutropha), Alcaligenes latus, Pseudomonas spp., Comamonas spp. and other species. PHAs accumulation occurs in response to stress conditions, i.e. under high carbon and low nitrogen (24:1 ratio). PHA can be synthesized using recombinant microorganisms (provided with the operon phbA/phbB/phbC), escaping the constrains of nutrient request, except addition of high amount of sugar (glucose, lactose, fructose). In this study; E. coli was genetically modified for PHB production in biofermentors. The production of PHA at industrial scale requires a continuous supplementation of fermentable sugars to support the availability of nutrients and to assess the level of the exponential growth phase; since sugars are required either for bacterial growth either for PHA synthesis and energy storage. The biofermentors need to be run in automated system. Sensors are used at many points in fermentators; in the evaluation of parameters: consumption of sugars; cell density; quantification of PHB synthesis. The need of operational control during the fermentation has prompted us to application of three measurements; one unit linked to a Nanodrop to evaluate OD; one linked to a reaction chamber to measure sugars consumed by enzyme based fluorescence detection; and one for bacteria Nile Blue staining and fluorescence intensity reads. The growth of bacteria on three different plant by-products was monitored and PHB production in four days using a banana by-product feed was optimised. These detectors will make possible to exploit the full potential of bioreactors optimizing the time of use and maximizing the number of bacteria synthesizing PHA.

This work intends to present a study on relations between a Lie algebra called dispersion operators algebra, linear canonical transformation and a phase space representation of quantum mechanics that we have introduced and studied in previous works. The paper begins with a brief recall of our previous works followed by the description of the dispersion operators algebra which is performed in the framework of the phase space representation. Then, linear canonical transformations are introduced and linked with this algebra. A multidimensional generalization of the obtained results is given.

Molecularly imprinted polymers (MIPs) were synthesized and applied for the selective extraction of oblongifolin C (OC) from fruit extracts of Garcinia yunnanensis Hu. A series of experiments and computational approaches were employed to improve the efficiency of screening for optimal MIP systems in the study. The molar ratio (1:4) was chosen at last based on the comparison of the binding energy of the complexes between the template (OC) and functional monomers using density functional theory (DFT) at the RI-PBE-D3-gCP/def2-TZVP level of theory. The binding characterization and the molecular recognition mechanism of MIPs were further explained using the molecular modeling method and NMR and IR spectra data. The reusability of this approach was demonstrated in over 20 batch rebinding experiments. 140.5 mg of OC (>95% purity) was obtained from the 5 g extracts with 2 g of MIPs with the best binding properties through gradient elution program from 35% to 70% methanol-water solution. At the same time, another structural analog, 46.5 mg of guttiferone K (GK) (>88% purity), was also obtained by the gradient elution procedure. Our results showed that the structural analogs could be separated from the crude extracts by the molecularly imprinted solid-phase extraction (MISPE) using a gradient elution procedure for the first time.

Quantitative phase microscopy (QPM), a technique combining phase imaging and microscopy, enables visualization of the 3-D topography in reflective samples as well as the inner structure or refractive index distribution of transparent and translucent samples. However, as in conventional optical microscopy, QPM provides either a large field of view (FOV) or a high resolution but not both. Many approaches such as oblique illumination, structured illumination and speckle illumination have been proposed to improve the spatial resolution of phase microscopy by restricting other degrees of freedom (mostly time). Therefore, the space bandwidth product (SBP) of QPM becomes enlarged. This paper aims to provide an up-to-date review on the resolution enhancement approaches of QPM, discussing the pros and cons of each technique as well as the confusion on resolution definition claim on QPM and other coherent microscopy.

We consider the financial planning problem of a retiree wishing to enter a retirement village at a future uncertain date. The date of entry is determined by the retiree's utility and bequest maximisation problem within the context of uncertain future health states. In addition, the retiree must choose optimal consumption, investment, bequest and purchase of insurance products prior to her full annuitisation on entry to the retirement village. A hyperbolic absolute risk-aversion (HARA) utility function is used to allow necessary consumption for basic living and medical costs. The retirement village will typically require an initial deposit upon entry. This threshold wealth requirement leads to exercising the replication of an American put option at the uncertain stopping time. From our numerical results, active insurance and annuity markets are shown to be a critical aspect in retirement planning.

Background: Pittosporum tobira (Thunb.) Aiton is an aromatic medicinal plant widely cultivated in the world. However, the essential oils (EOs) from P. tobira flowers for anti-cancer potential is still not systematically studied. The present aim to elucidate the phytochemical composition of the EOs and to explore mechanism of anticancer action. Methods: The EOs were extracted and analyzed by headspace solid-phase microextraction (HS-SPME) with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). Volatile components were identified according to Kovats retention index (KI) and NIST database. The anti-neoplasm mechanisms of the EOs was comprehensively investigated in lung carcinoma A549 and H460 cells. Results: A total of 47 secondary metabolites representing 94.18% of the EOs were successfully identified: monoterpenes and sesquiterpenes were the dominant terpenoids. The EOs exhibited antiproliferative activity on A549 and H460 lung carcinoma cells. Hoechst 33324 fluorescent staining indicated the typical characteristics of apoptosis and induced cycle phase arrest. AnnexinV/PI staining revealed that the number of apoptotic cells was increased. Furthermore, the EOs also induced the caspase-mediated mitochondrial apoptosis pathway. Conclusions: Findings suggest that the full-scale chemical composition and first characterization of anticancer activities of the EOs, it could be used for integrative natural anti-cancer agents in health care should be pay more attention.

The Munich ChronoType Questionnaire (MCTQ) has now been available for more than 15 years; its original publication has been cited 1,240 times (Google Scholar, May 2019); its online version, which was available until July 2017, has produced almost 300,000 entries from all over the world (MCTQ database). The MCTQ has gone through several versions, has been translated into 13 languages and has been validated against other more objective measures of daily timing in several independent studies. Besides being used as a method to correlate circadian features of human biology with other factors – ranging from health issues to geographical factors – the MCTQ gave rise to quantifying old wisdoms, like “teenagers are late” and has produced new concepts, like social jetlag. Some like the MCTQ’s simplicity and some view it critically; it is time to have a self-critical view on the MCTQ, to address some misunderstandings and give some definitions about MCTQ-derived chronotype and the concept of social jetlag.

In this paper, a new approach to the sliding-mode control of single-phase inverters under linear and non-linear loads is introduced. The main idea behind this approach is to utilize a non-linear, flexible and multi-slope function in controller structure. This non-linear function makes the controller possible to control the inverter by a non-linear multi-slope sliding surface. In general, this sliding surface has two parts with different slopes in each part and the flexibility of the sliding surface makes the multi-slope sliding-mode controller (MSSMC) possible to reduce the total harmonic distortion, to improve the tracking accuracy, and to prevent overshoots leading to undesirable transient-states in output voltage which are occurred when the load current sharply rises. In order to improve the tracking accuracy and to reduce the steady-state error, an integral term of the multi-slope function is also added to the sliding surface. The improved performance of the proposed controller is confirmed by simulations and finally, the results of the proposed approach are compared with a conventional SMC and a SRFPI controller.

Using coherent optical detection and digital signal processing, laser phase noise and equalization enhanced phase noise can be effectively mitigated using the feed-forward and feed-back carrier phase recovery approaches. In this paper, theoretical analyses of feed-back and feed-forward carrier phase recovery methods have been carried out in the long-haul high-speed n-level phase shift keying (n-PSK) optical fiber communication systems, involving a one-tap normalized least-mean-square (LMS) algorithm, a block-wise average algorithm, and a Viterbi-Viterbi algorithm. The analytical expressions for evaluating the estimated carrier phase and for predicting the bit-error-rate (BER) performance (such as the BER floors) have been presented and discussed in the n-PSK coherent optical transmission systems by considering both the laser phase noise and the equalization enhanced phase noise. The results indicate that the Viterbi-Viterbi carrier phase recovery algorithm outperforms the one-tap normalized LMS and the block-wise average algorithms for small phase noise variance (or effective phase noise variance), while the one-tap normalized LMS algorithm shows a better performance than the other two algorithms for large phase noise variance (or effective phase noise variance). In addition, the one-tap normalized LMS algorithm is more sensitive to the level of modulation formats.

We apply principles of Gibbs phase plane chemistry to and across the entire ocean-atmospheric interface. Surface tension increments support a two dimensional, tangential pressure well known to determine rates of bulk gas, bubble, salt, spray and momentum transfer plus both sensible and latent heat fluxes. Hence it is worth asking whether tension mapping follows from current understanding of two dimensional composition. A history is provided dating back centuries and demonstrating that detrital organic macromolecules are central; subtle surfactant functional variation creates a microforcing field which dissipates turbulent energy at the sub-meter scale. Since we have just distributed major biopolymeric classes emitted as primary organic aerosol, further climate links can be established by considering full planar thermochemistry. Organic microlayer behaviors are reviewed with attention to confined, analog phase transitions among two dimensional “solid, liquid, (and) gaseous” states serving as elasticity indicators. We also discuss surfactant properties of general marine dissolved organic carbon, demonstrating that only proteins and lipids are capable of occupying significant local micro-area. The literature often suggests albumin and stearic acid as best proxies, and so we distribute their concentrations through multilevel global ecodynamic simulations. Consensus distributions are obtained in order to control adsorptive equilibria. Working from conservation of planar free energy, a parametric equation of state is devised relating excess coverage to the surface pressure-modulus. Constant settings for the proxy pair are drawn from laboratory study, and they successfully reproduce frequencies for surfactant solid-to-gas occurrence in ambient compression experiments. Functionally resolved organic measurements are rare and so we group them into super-ecological province tables showing that our bulk concentration estimates are reasonable. Outputs are then fed into a coverage-tension-elasticity code. Resulting contours traverse the critical range for piston velocity, bubble-spray and damping effects on either a regional or seasonal basis. There is also a possibility for widespread microlayer crystallization in polar seas. The concepts are a direct extension of our organic aerosol work, and the two approaches could be inserted into Earth System Models in tandem. Uncertainties in the logic are enumerated and include kinetic and thermochemical factors at multiple scales. But the problems are reducible through molecular modeling coupled to renewed laboratory and field study. Connections to marine colloids-gels, microlayer iron chelation, and linings of the ice channel network are discussed additionally.

Owing to the nondiffracting, self-accelerating, and self-healing properties, Airy beams of different nature have become a subject of immense interest in the past decade. Their interesting properties have opened doors to many diverse applications. Consequently, the questions of how to properly design spatial manipulation of Airy beams or how to implement them in different setups have become important and timely in the development of various optical devices. Here, based on our previous work, we present a short review on the spatial control of Airy beams, including the interactions of Airy beams in nonlinear media, beam propagation in harmonic potential, and the dynamics of abruptly autofocusing Airy beams in the presence of a dynamic linear potential. We demonstrate that under the guidance of nonlinearity and external potential, the trajectory, acceleration, structure, and even the basic properties of Airy beams can be adjusted to suit specific needs. We describe other fascinating phenomena observed with Airy beams, such as self-Fourier transformation, periodic inversion of Airy beams, and the appearance of spatial solitons in the presence of nonlinearity. These results have promoted the development of Airy beams, and have been utilized in various applications, including particle manipulation, self-trapping, and electronic matter waves.

A typhoon-induced storm surge is considered one of the most severe coastal disasters in Taiwan. However, the combination of the storm surge and the astronomical tide called the storm tide can actually cause extreme flooding in coastal areas. This study implemented a two-dimensional hydrodynamic model to account for the interaction between tides and storm surges on the coast of Taiwan. The model was validated with observed water levels at Sauo Fish Port, Hualien Port, and Chenggong Fish Port under different historical typhoon events. The model results are in reasonable agreement with the measured data. The validated model was then used to evaluate the effects of the typhoon's intensity, bathymetric change, and the combination of the typhoon’s intensity and bathymetric change on the maximum storm tide and its distribution along the east coast of Taiwan. The results indicated that the maximum storm tide rises to 1.92 m under a typhoon with an intensity of a 100-year return period. The maximum storm tide increased from a baseline of 1.26 m to 2.63 m for a 90% bathymetric rise at Sauo Fish Port under the conditions of Typhoon Jangmi (2008). The combination of the intensity of a typhoon with a 100-year return period and a 90% bathymetric rise will result in a maximum storm tide exceeding 4 m, 2 m, and 3 m at Sauo Fish Port, Hualien Port, and Chenggong Fish Port, respectively. We also found that the distribution of the maximum storm tide on the east coast of Taiwan can expand significantly subject to the bathymetric rise.

Numerical models widely used for hydrocarbon phase behavior and compositional flow simulations are based on assumption of thermodynamic equilibrium. However, it is not uncommon for oil and gas-condensate reservoirs to exhibit essentially non-equilibrium phase behavior, e.g., in the processes of secondary recovery after pressure depletion below saturation pressure, or during gas injection, or for condensate evaporation at low pressures. In many cases the ability to match field data with equilibrium model depends on simulation scale. The only method to account for non-equilibrium phase behavior adopted by the majority of flow simulators is the option of limited rate of gas dissolution (condensate evaporation) in black oil models. For compositional simulations no practical yet thermodynamically consistent method has been presented so far except for some upscaling techniques in gas injection problems. Previously reported academic non-equilibrium formulations have a common drawback of doubling the number of flow equations and unknowns compared to the equilibrium formulation. In the paper a unified thermodynamically-consistent formulation for compositional flow simulations with non-equilibrium phase behavior model is presented. Same formulation and a special scale-up technique can be used for upscaling of an equilibrium or non-equilibrium model to a coarse-scale non-equilibrium model. A number of test cases for real oil and gas-condensate mixtures are given. Model implementation specifics in a flow simulator are discussed and illustrated with test simulations. A non-equilibrium constant volume depletion algorithm is presented to simulate condensate recovery at low pressures in gas-condensate reservoirs. Results of satisfactory model matching to field data are reported and discussed.

For a wide field of view (FoV) wavefront coding athermalized infrared imaging system with a single decoding kernel, the off-axis aberration tends to cause artefacts. In order to correct off-axis aberration, many pieces of lenses will reduce the transmission efficiency and increase the weight and cost. To meet requirements for wide FoV, wide operating temperature and low weight of infrared imaging systems, this paper reports a wide-FoV wavefront coding athermalized infrared imaging system with a two-piece lens. Its principle, design, manufacture, measurement and performance validation are successively discussed. This paper constructs an optimization problem which maximizes the weighted mean of PSF consistency for both the FoV and operating temperature range. The two-piece lens contains four surfaces, where three aspheric surfaces are introduced to reduce optical off-axis aberrations and a cubic surface is introduced to achieve athermalization. The optical phase mask containing an aspheric surface and a cubic surface is manufactured by nano-metric machining of ion implanted material(NiIM). Experimental results validate that our wide-FoV wavefront coding athermalized infrared imaging system has a full FoV of 26.10° and an operating temperature over -20°C to +70°C.

Flux-switching permanent magnet (FSPM) motors have gained increasing attention in the electric vehicles (EVs) applications due to the advantages of high power density, high efficiency. However, the heat sources of both permanent magnet (PM) and armature winding are located on the limited stator space in the FSPM motors, which may result in the PM overheated and irreversible demagnetization caused by temperature rise and it is often ignored in the conventional thermal analysis. In this paper, a new electrical-thermal two-way coupling design method is proposed to analyze the electromagnetic performances, where the change of PM material characteristics under different temperatures is taken into consideration. Firstly, the motor topology and design equations are introduced. Secondly, the demagnetization curves of PM materials under different temperatures are modeled due to PM materials are sensitive to the temperature. And based on the electrical-thermal two-way coupling method, the motor performances are evaluated in details, such as the load PM flux linkage and output torque. Then, the motor is optimized, and the electromagnetic performances between initial and improved motors are compared. Finally, a prototype motor is manufactured, and the results are validated by experimental measurements.

This study describes all the properties of high T_c cuprates by introducing rotating holes that are created by angular momentum conservations on a 2D CuO₂ surface, and which have a different mass from that of a normal hole because of the magnetic field energy induced by the rotation. This new particle called a macroscopic Boson describes the doping dependences of pseudo-gap temperature and the transition temperature at which an anomaly metal phase appears and describes the origin of the pseudo-gap. Furthermore, this study introduces a new model to handle many-body interactions, which results in a new statistic equation. This statistic equation describing many-body interactions accurately explains why high T_c cuprates have significantly high critical temperatures. Moreover a partition function of macroscopic Bosons describes all the properties of anomaly metal phase, which sufficiently agree with experiments, using the result from our previous study [1] that analytically describes the doping dependence of T_c. By introducing a macroscopic Boson and the new statistical model for many-body interactions, this study uncovered the mystery of high T_c cuprates, which have been a challenge for many researchers. An important point is that, in this study, pure analytical calculations are consistently conducted, which agree with experimental data well (i.e., they do not use numerical calculations or fitting methods but use many actual physical constants).

This study examines the evolution of the two-factor authentication method and its adaptability to the online education system. Two-factor authentication is a security measure used especially in areas where information such as banking is valuable. Parallel to technological developments, it has developed as much as daily. It aims to take security one step forward because it is composed of two phases. Today, banking, IOT devices, public transport tickets and many other areas are used. Two-factor authentication methods against security attacks in the field of information are also being updated. In recent years, new technologies such as biometric (iris pattern, retinal pattern, etc.) or behavioral biometry (location tracking, walking information, touch speed etc.) were studied. Instead of physically studying somewhere like going to a course in modern society, online trainings become more advantageous. Most of these online trainings are given certificates such as participation certificate, success certificate, etc. The main problem here is whether the person who is being certified is true. In the study conducted in line with these details, there is a proposal for the application of the Mimic Control Method with Sound Intensity (MCMSI) method for on-line training by examining the two-factor authentication techniques up to the day.

Lp16-PSP from Lentinula edodes strain C91-3 has been reported previously in our laboratory to have selective cytotoxic activity against a panel of human cell lines. Herein, we have used several parameters in order to characterize the Lp16-PSP-induced cell death using HL-60 as model cancer. The results of phase contrast microscopy, nuclear examination, DNA fragmentation detection and flow cytometry revealed that high doses of Lp16-PSP resulted in the induction of apoptosis in HL-60 cells. The colorimetric assay showed the activation of caspase-8, -9 and -3 cascade highlighting the involvement of Fas/FasL-related pathway. Whereas, western blot revealed the cleavage of caspase-3, increased expression of Bax, the release of cytochrome c and decreased expression of Bcl-2 in a dose-dependent manner, suggesting the intrinsic pathway might be involved in Lp16-PSP-induced apoptosis either. Low doses of Lp16-PSP resulted in the anchorage-independent growth inhibition, induction of G1 phase arrest accompanied by the increased expression of p21WAF1/CIP1 along with the decreased expression of cyclin D, E, and cdk6. Our findings suggest that induction of apoptosis and p21WAF1/CIP1 mediated G1 arrest might be one of the mechanisms of the action of Lp16-PSP, however, further investigations on multiple leukemia cell lines and in vivo models are of ultimate need.

Isothermal interrupted hot compression tests of 5754 aluminum were conducted on Gleeble-3500 thermo-mechanical simulator at temperature 350 °C and 450 °C, strain rate 0.1 s-1 and 1s−1. These tests simulated flat rolling to investigate how softening behaviors respond to controlled parameters, such as deformation temperature, strain rate and delay times. This data allowed the parameters for the hot rolling process to be optimized. The delay times during interrupted compression vary between 5s and 60s. The dynamic softening at each pass and metadynamic recrystallization at the intervals of deformation passes were analyzed in detail. 0.2% offset yield strength is applied to calculate the softening fraction undergoing metadynamic recrystallization. A kinetic model was developed to describe metadynamic recrystallization behaviors of the hot deformed 5754 aluminum alloy. Furthermore, the time constant for 50% recrystallization was expressed as functions related to the temperature and the strain rate. The experimental and calculated results were found to be in close agreement, which verified the developed model.

Hierarchical tungsten oxide assemblies such as spindle-like, flowers with sharp petals, nanowires and regular hexagonal structures are successfully synthesized via a solvothermal reduction method by simply adjusting the reaction conditions. On the basis of the experimental results, it is determined that the reaction time significantly influences the phase transition, microstructure and photocatalytic activity of the prepared samples. The possible mechanisms for the phase transition and morphology evolution process have been systematically proposed. Moreover, the as-prepared products exhibit significant morphology-depended photocatalytic activity. The flower-like W18O49 prepared at 6 h possesses large specific surface area (150.1 m²g^-1), improved separation efficiency of electron-hole pairs and decreased electron-transfer resistance by the photoelectrochemical measurements. As a result, the flower-like W₁₈O₄₉ prepared at 6 h exhibits the highest photocatalytic activity for the degradation of Methyl orange aqueous solution. The radical trap experiments showed that the degradation of MO was driven mainly by the participation of h⁺ and •O²⁻ radicals.

This paper presents the design of a high frequency zero voltage switching (ZVS) full-bridge converter with a phase-shifted driving signal for photovoltaic applications. The resonant power converter can provide high-power capacity under high-frequency operation. The proposed power converter can also reduce the size of the transformer under the same power rating. The high-frequency transformer was developed by using the resonant and switching frequencies of the power converter to reduce the switching loss and to improve the system efficiency. Phase-shifted modulation was selected to drive the switches of a full-bridge power converter based on the switching loss minimization method. The desired output voltage was controlled using a closed-loop controller under a loop gain stability margin. The simulation results showed that the output voltage can be controlled to the desired constant when the input voltage changes from 30 VDC to 60 VDC. The desired output voltage of power converter is constant at 400 VDC. The power converter can transfer the DC supply to a 220 VAC household via grid-connected inverter. Therefore, the proposed study showed the effectiveness of the phase-shift ZVS full-bridge power converter with high-frequency transformer. This power converter can control the operation of the desired voltage system and has a small sizing of power converter system, low switching loss, and high system efficiency.

Two-photon imaging of light stimulus-evoked neuronal activity has been used to study all neuron classes in the vertebrate retina, from the photoreceptors to the retinal ganglion cells. Clearly, the ability to study retinal circuits down to the level of single synapses or zoomed out at the level of complete populations of neurons, has been a major asset in our understanding of this beautiful circuit. In this chapter, we discuss the possibilities and pitfalls of using an all-optical approach in this highly light-sensitive part of the brain.

Among all the processing technologies of heat-treatable aluminum alloys like 2219 aluminum alloy, using friction stir welding (FSW) as the joining technology and using electromagnetic forming (EMF) for plastic forming technology both have obvious advantages and successful applications. Therefore, there is a broad prospect for the compound technologies which can be used on the 2219 aluminum alloy to manufacture the large-scale thin-wall parts in the astronautic industry. The microstructure and mechanical properties of 2219 aluminum alloy under the process compounded of FSW, heat treatment, and EMF were investigated by means of tensile test, optical microscope (OM), and scanning electron microscope (SEM). The results show that the reduction of strength, which was caused during the FSW process, can be recovered effectively by the post-welding heat treatment composed of solid solution and aging, while the ductility was still reduced after heat treatment. Under the compound technology of FSW, heat treatment, and EMF, the forming limit of 2219 aluminum alloy decreased distinctly due to the poor ductility of the welding joint. A ribbon-pattern, which was formed due to the banded structure caused by FSW process, was found on the fracture surface of welded 2219 aluminum alloy after EMF treatment. During the EMF process, because of the effects of induced eddy current, a unique structure, which was manifested as a molted-surface appearance under the SEM observation, was formed as the material fractured.

In this paper, a semi-empirical model of air waves induced by falling rock is described. The model is composed of a uniform motion phase (velocity close to 0 m·s^-1) and an acceleration movement phase. The uniform motion phase was determined based on experimentally and the acceleration movement phase was derived by theoretical analysis. A series of experiments were performed to verify the semi-empirical model and elucidated the law of the uniform motion phase. The acceleration movement phase accounted for a larger portion with a greater height of the falling rock. Experimental results of different falling heights of the goaf showed close agreement with theoretical analysis values. The semi-empirical model could accurately and conveniently estimate the velocity of air wave induced by falling rock. Thus, the semi-empirical model can provide a reference and basis for estimating the speed of air waves and designing protective measures in mines.

The parameter estimation problem for polynomial phase signals (PPSs) arises in a number of fields, including radar, sonar, biology, etc. In this paper, a fast algorithm of parameter estimation for monocomponent PPS is considered. We propose the so-called LSU-EKF estimator, which combines the least squares unwrapping (LSU) estimator and the extended Kalman filter (EKF). First, the coarse estimates of the parameters of PPS are obtained by the LSU estimator using a small number of samples. Subsequently, these coarse estimates are used to initial the EKF. Monte-Carlo simulations show that the computation complexity of the LSU-EKF estimator is much less than that of the LSU estimator, with little performance loss. Similar to the LSU estimator, the proposed algorithm is able to work over the entire identifiable region. Moreover, in the EKF stage, the accurate estimated results can be output point-by-point, which is useful in real applications.

Carbon nanomaterials with a different character of the chemical bond – graphene (sp2) and nanodiamond (sp3) are the building bricks for a new class of all-carbon hybrid nanomaterials, where the two different carbon networks with the sp3 and sp2 hybridization coexist, interact and even transform into one another. The unique electronic, mechanical, and chemical properties of the two border nanoallotropes of carbon ensure the immense application potential and versatility of these all-carbon graphene – diamond nanomaterials. The review gives an overview of the current state of the art of graphene – diamond nanomaterials, including their composites, heterojunctions, and other hybrids for sensing, electronic, energy storage, and other applications. Also, the graphene-to-diamond and diamond-to-graphene transformations at the nanoscale, essential for innovative fabrication, and stability and chemical reactivity assessment are discussed based on extensive theoretical, computational, and experimental studies.

The genetic code evolved by parallel tracks of chaotic and ordered processes. Liquid-liquid phase separation (hydrogels), a chaotic process, constructs diverse membraneless compartments within cells, resulting in regulated hydration and sequestration and concentration of reaction components. Hydrogels relate to chaotic amyloid fiber production. We propose that polyglycine and related hydrogels (i.e. GADV; G is glycine), phase separations, membraneless droplets and amyloid accretions organized protocell domains to drive the earliest evolution of the genetic code and the pre-life to cellular life transition. By contrast, evolution of tRNA, tRNAomes, aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases and translation systems followed highly ordered and systematic pathways, described by well-defined mechanisms and rules. The pathway of evolution of aminoacyl-tRNA synthetases, which tracked evolution of the genetic code, is clarified. Hydrogels and amyloids form a chaotic component, therefore, that complemented otherwise systematic processes. We describe with detail a pre-life world in which hydrogels and amyloids provided the selections of the first life.

Viruses have established symbiotic relationships with almost every other living organism on Earth and at all levels of biological organisation, from other viruses up to entire ecosystems. In most cases, peacefully coexisting with their hosts, but in most relevant cases, parasitising them and inducing diseases. Viruses are playing an essential role in shaping the eco-evolutionary dynamics of their hosts, and have been also involved in some of the major evolutionary innovations either by working as vectors of genetic information or by being themselves coopted by the host into their genomes. Viruses can be studied at different levels of biological organisation, from the molecular mechanisms of genome replication, gene expression and encapsidation, to global pandemics. All these levels are different and yet connected through the presence of threshold conditions allowing for the formation of a capsid, the loss of genetic information or epidemic spreading. These thresholds, as it occurs with temperatures separating phases in a liquid, define sharp qualitative types of behaviour. These {\em phase transitions} are very well known in Physics. They have been studied by means of simple, but powerful models able to capture their essential properties, allowing to understand them. Can the physics of phase transitions be an inspiration for our understanding of viral dynamics at different scales? Here we review well-known examples of transition phenomena in virology and their simplest mathematical modelling approaches. We suggest that the advantages of abstract, simplified pictures used in Physics are also the key to properly understand the origins and evolution of complexity in viruses. By means of several examples, we explore this multilevel landscape and how minimal models provide deep insights into a diverse array of problems. The relevance of these transitions in connecting dynamical patterns across levels and their evolutionary and clinical implications are outlined.

Palmitic acid metabolism involves delta-9 and delta-6 desaturase enzymes forming palmitoleic acid (9cis-16:1; n-7 series) and sapienic acid (6cis-16:1; n-10 series), respectively. The corresponding biological consequences and lipidomic research on these positional MUFA isomers are under development. Furthermore, sapienic acid can bring to the de novo synthesis of the n-10 polyunsaturated fatty acid (PUFA) sebaleic acid (5cis,8cis-18:2), but such transformations in cancer cells are not known. The model of Caco-2 cell line was used to monitor sapienic acid supplementation (150 and 300 μM) and evidence the formation of n-10 fatty acids as well as their incorporation at levels of membrane phospholipids and triglycerides. Comparison with palmitoleic and palmitic acids evidenced that lipid remodeling was influenced by the type of fatty acid and positional isomer, with increase of 8cis-18:1, n-10 PUFA and decrease of saturated fats in case of sapienic acid. Cholesteryl esters were formed only in case of sapienic acid. EC₅₀ of sapienic acid (232.3 μM at 96 hrs) was the highest found among the tested fatty acids, thus influencing cell viability that was only reduced at 25% at 300 μM, whereas palmitoleic acid induced cell death. Two-photon fluorescent microscopy with Laurdan as a fluorescent dye provided information on membrane fluidity, highlighting that sapienic acid increases the distribution of fluid regions, probably connected with the formation of 8cis-18:1 and the n-10 PUFA in cell lipidome. Our results bring evidence for MUFA positional isomers and de novo PUFA synthesis for developing lipidomic analysis and cancer research.

This paper reports 2 × 4 hybrid Mach-zehnder interferometer (MZI) - multi-mode interferometers (MMI) based compact thermo-optical switch consisting of slab waveguides on silicon-on-insulator, SOI, platform. The device consists of two identical MMIs, each of 6 μm wide and 140 μm long connected with two phase shifters MMIs each with 2 μm wide and 8 μm long and linear tappers each 4 μm long, connected at both ends of the MMIs to minimize the power coupling loss. The loss for linear taper is found to be below 0.02dB. The footprint of the whole device is six 6 μm × 324 μm. This structure is based on unique multimode region shape, which leads optical switch to have less coupling loss and reduced cross-talk. The average thermo-optical switching power consumption is 1.4 mW, the excess losses are 0.8 dB, and the imbalances are 0.1 dB. Aluminum is used as a heating pad, and a trench is created around this pad to prevent from spreading of heat and reduce power loss almost by a factor of 2 to the adjacent phase shifter. Our new heating method has advantages of compact size and ease of fabrication with the current CMOS technology.

Piezoelectric properties are of significant importance to medical ultrasound, actuators, sensor, and countless other device applications. The mechanism of piezoelectric properties can be deeply understood from structure evolutions. In this paper, we report a diagram of structure evolutions of the Pb(Zn1/3Nb2/3)0.91Ti0.09O3 (PZN-9PT) single crystal with excellent piezoelectric properties among the orthorhombic, tetragonal, and cubic phases with temperature increasing from room temperature to 220 C. Through fitting the temperature dependence XRD curves with Gauss and Lorenz functions, we obtained the evolutions of the content ratio of three kinds of phases (orthorhombic, tetragonal and cubic) and the lattice parameters of the PZN-9PT system with the changes of temperature. The XRD fitting results together with Raman and dielectric spectrums show that the phase transitions of PZN-9PT are a typical continuous evolution process, very similar to the phase transition of paraffin from solid to liquid. Additionally, resonance and anti-resonance spectrum show excellent piezoelectric properties of the crystals, which probably originate from the nano twin domains, as demonstrated by the TEM images. Of particular attention is that the thickness electromechanical coupling factor kt is up to 72%.

Fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) combines the advanced material properties of sol–gel derived microextraction sorbents and the flexible and permeable fabric support to create a robust, simple and green sample preparation device. It simultaneously improves the extraction sensitivity, and the speed of the extraction by incorporating high volume of sponge-like porous sol–gel hybrid inorganic–organic sorbents into permeable fabric substrates that is capable of extracting target analytes directly from simple to complex aqueous sample matrices. For the first time, this technique was applied to the trace level determination of selected polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) in environmental water samples using a non-polar sol–gel C18 coated FPSE media. Several extraction parameters were optimized to improve extraction efficiency and to achieve high detection sensitivity. Validation tests of spiked samples showed good linearity for four selected PAHs (R² = 0.9983–0.9997) over a wide range of concentrations (0.010-10 ng/mL). Limits of detection (LODs) and quantification (LOQs) were measured at pg/mL levels, 0.1–1 pg/mL and 0.3–3 pg/mL, respectively. Inter- and intra-day precision tests showed variations of 1.1–4.1% for four selected PAHs. Average absolute recovery values were in the range of 88.1–90.5% surpassed the recovery prediction model, with relative standard deviations below 5%. The developed FPSE-HPLC-FLD protocol was finally applied to analyze 8 environmental water samples. Out of four selected PAHs, fluoranthene (Flu) and phenanthrene (Phen) were the most frequently detected in four samples, at concentration levels of 5.6–7.7 ng/mL and 4.1-11 ng/mL, respectively followed by anthracene (Anth) and pyrene (Pyr) in two samples. The newly developed FPSE-HPLC-FLD protocol is simple, green, fast and economical, with adequate sensitivity for trace levels of four selected PAHs and seems to be promising in routine monitoring of water quality and safety.

Two novel inorganic–organic hybrid supramolecular assemblies, namely, (4-HNA)(18-crown-6)(HSO₄) (1) and (4-HNA)₂(18-crown-6)₂(PF₆)₂(CH₃OH) (2) (4-HNA = 4-nitroanilinium), were synthesized and characterized by infrared spectroscopy, single X-ray diffraction, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and temperature-dependent dielectric measurements. The two compounds underwent reversible phase transitions at about 255 K and 265 K, respectively. These phase transitions were revealed and confirmed by the thermal anomalies in DSC measurements and abrupt dielectric anomalies during heating. The phase transition may have originated from the [(4-HNA)(18-crown-6)]⁺ supramolecular cation. The inorganic anions tuned the crystal packings and thus influenced the phase-transition points and types. The variable-temperature X-ray diffraction data for crystal 1 revealed the occurrence of a phase transition in the high-temperature phase with the space group of P2₁/c and in the low-temperature phase with the space group of P2₁/n. Crystal 2 exhibited the same space group P2₁/c at different temperatures. The results indicated that crystals 1 and 2 both underwent an iso-structural phase transition.

Thresholding is considered as a statistical-decision making theory which can lessen the average error incurred in allocating pixels to two or more groups. The traditional Bayes decision rule can be applied with the prior knowledge of the Probability Density Function (PDF) of each class. It is surmised that a threshold resulting in the best class separation is the optimal one. In this paper, Otsu’s thresholding for image segmentation has been implemented. The well-known Otsu’s method is to learn a threshold that can maximize the between-class variance or equivalently make light of the within-class variance of the entire image. At first, a color image of a tree is taken. After that, the image is transformed into a grayscale image. Then in the first part, two-level thresholding is conducted, and later on, three-level thresholding is also applied. Again, two-level thresholding, as well as three level thresholding, are also applied to some other images. Finally, the comparison is made between two level thresholding and three level thresholding

The feasible, reliable and selective multi-template molecularly imprinted polymers (MT-MIPs) based on SBA-15 (SBA-15@MT-MIPs) for the selective separation and determination of the trace level of ginsenoside Rb₁ (Rb₁), ginsenoside Rg₁ (Rg₁) and notoginsenoside R₁ (R₁) (Panax notoginseng saponins, PNS) from biological samples were developed. The polymers were constructed by SBA-15 as support, Rb₁, Rg₁, R₁ as multi-template, acrylamide (AM) as functional monomer and ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDMA) as cross-linker. The new synthetic SBA-15@MT-MIPs were satisfactorily applied to solid-phase extraction (SPE) coupled with high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) for the separation and determination of trace PNS in plasma samples. Under the optimized conditions, the limits of detection (LODs) and quantitation (LOQs) of the proposed method for Rb₁, Rg₁ and R₁ were in the range of 0.63-0.75 ng mL^-1 and 2.1-2.5 ng mL^-1, respectively. The recoveries of R₁, Rb₁ and Rg₁ were obtained between 93.4% and 104.3% with relative standard deviations (RSDs) in the range of 3.3-4.2%. All results show that the obtained SBA-15@MT-MIPs could be a promising prospect for the practical application in the selective separation and enrichment of trace PNS in the biological samples.

That how to improve the sensitivity and the detection ability of the Large-caliber sensor is critical to satisfy the requirement of heavy vehicle wear condition monitoring. In this paper, we introduced the LC resonance principle to the design of sensor with large flow channel (7mm). The resonant exciting coil increases the impedance change of the exciting circuit caused by wear particles which magnify the current difference between the two exciting coils and improve the sensitivity of the sensor. The resonant induction coil greatly suppresses the interference signals and magnifies the weak induced electromotive force which is beneficial to enhance the detection ability. In order to boost the detectability for different materials particles, a phase controlled variable-frequency exciting system (PCVFES) was adopted to automatically switch the exciting frequency between 284kHz for ferromagnetic particles and 420KHz for non-ferromagnetic particles. For the weak signal detection, based on the essential characteristic of the signal, we apply a simpler method that modified lock-in amplifier (MLIA) rather than the conventional algorithms (Wavelet transform, EMD). Results show that using these methods the sensitivity and the detection ability of the sensor are significantly improved and the 75μm iron particles and 220μm copper particles were successfully detected which realizes the initial abnormal wear monitoring for the large flow project.

Ketogenic diet (KD) is getting in the focus as auxiliary cancer therapy, since it provides sufficient energy supply for healthy cells, while impairing energy production in tumor cells underlying the Warburg effect. Thereby, it can assist in inhibiting tumor growth and simultaneously counteract cachexia, which is frequently observed in cancer patients under chemotherapy. In order to provide molecular evidence for the proposed synergistic inhibition of tumor growth, we applied untargeted quantitative metabolome analysis on a breast cancer xenograft mouse model. Healthy mice and such bearing breast cancer xenografts and receiving chemotherapy were compared after treatment with control diet and KD. Metabolomic profiling was performed on plasma samples, applying high-performance liquid chromatography coupled to tandem mass spectrometry. Statistical analysis revealed metabolic fingerprints comprising numerous significantly regulated features in the group of mice bearing breast cancer. This fingerprint disappeared after treatment with KD, resulting in recovery to the metabolic status observed in healthy mice receiving control diet. Moreover, amino acid metabolism as well as fatty acid transport were found to be affected by both, the tumor and the applied KD. Our results provide clear evidence of a significant molecular effect of KD in the context of tumor growth inhibition.

This paper develops Bayesian inference in reliability of a class of scale mixtures of log-normal failure time (SMLNFT) models with stochastic (or uncertain) constraint in their reliability measures. The class is comprehensive and includes existing failure time (FT) models (such as log-normal, log-Cauchy, and log-logistic FT models) as well as new models that are robust in terms of heavy-tailed FT observations. Since classical frequency approaches to reliability analysis based on the SMLNFT model with stochastic constraint are intractable, the Bayesian method is pursued utilizing a Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) sampling based approach. This paper introduces a two-stage maximum entropy (MaxEnt) prior, which elicits a priori uncertain constraint and develops Bayesian hierarchical SMLNFT model by using the prior. The paper also proposes an MCMC method for Bayesian inference in the SMLNFT model reliability and calls attention to properties of the MaxEnt prior that are useful for method development. Finally, two data sets are used to illustrate how the proposed methodology works.

Assuming a two component, positive and negative mass, superfluid/supersolid for space (the Winterberg model), we model the Higgs field as a condensate made up of a positive and a negative mass, planckion pair. The connection is shown to be consistent (compatible) with the underlying field equations for each field, and the continuity equation is satisfied for both species of planckions, as well as for the Higgs field. An inherent length scale for space (the vacuum) emerges, which we estimate from previous work to be of the order of,

Electrodeposition of cadmium telluride (CdTe) on fluorine doped tin oxide (FTO) using two electrode configuration was successfully achieved with the main focus on the growth temperature. The electroplating temperatures explored ranges between (55 and 85)℃ for aqueous electrolytes containing 1.5 M cadmium nitrate tetrahydrate (Cd(NO3)2 •4H2O) and 0.002 M tellurium oxide (TeO2). The ensuing CdTe thin-films were characterised using X-ray diffraction (XRD), UV-Vis spectrophotometry, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) and photoelectrochemical (PEC) cell measurements. The electroplated CdTe thin-films exhibit a dominant (111) CdTe cubic structure, while the crystallite size increases with the increase in the electroplating temperature. The internal strain, dislocation density and the number of crystallites per unit area decrease with increasing growth temperature. The optical characterization depicts that the CdTe samples show comparable absorbance and a resulting bandgap of 1.51±0.03 eV for as-deposited CdTe layers. A marginal increase in the bandgap and reduction in the absorption edge slope towards lower deposition temperatures were also revealed. The annealed CdTe thin-films showed improvement in energy bandgap as it tends towards 1.45 eV while retaining the aforementioned absorption edge slope trend. Scanning electron microscopy shows that the underlying FTO layers are well covered with increasing grain size observable relative to the increase in the deposition temperature. The energy dispersive X-ray analyses show an alteration in the Te/Cd relative to the deposition temperature. Higher Te ratio with respect to Cd was revealed at deposition temperature lower than 85℃. The photoelectrochemical cell study shows that both p- and n-type CdTe can be electroplated and that deposition temperatures below 85℃ at 1400 mV results in p-type CdTe layers.

The present work describes the optimization and validation of a highly selective and sensitive analytical method using solid phase extraction and liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry (SPE LC-MS/MS) for the determination of some frequently prescribed pharmaceuticals in urban wastewater received and treated by Sharjah sewage treatment plant (STP). The extraction efficiency of different SPE cartridges was tested and the simultaneous extraction of pharmaceuticals was successfully accomplished using hydrophilic-lipophilic-balanced reversed phase Waters^® Oasis HLB cartridge (200 mg/ 6 mL) at pH 3. The analytes were separated on an Aquity BEH C₁₈ column (1.7 µm, 2.1 mm x 150 mm) using gradient elution and the mass spectrometric analysis were performed in multiple reactions monitoring (MRM) selecting two precursor ions to produce ion transition for each pharmaceutical using positive electrospray ionization (+ESI) mode. The correlation coefficient values in the linear calibration plot for each target compound exceeded 0.99 and the recovery percentages of the investigated pharmaceuticals were more than 84%. Limit of detection (LOD) varied between 0.1-1.5 ng/L and limit of quantification (LOQ) was 0.3-5 ng/L for all analytes. The precision of the method was calculated as the relative standard deviation (RSD%) of replicate measurements and was found to be in the ranges of 2.2% to 7.7% and 2.2% to 8.6% for inter and intra-day analysis, respectively. All of the obtained validation parameters satisfied the requirements and guidelines of analytical method validation.

The calculation of the standard enthalpies of vaporization, sublimation and solvation of organic molecules is presented using a common computer algorithm on the basis of a group-additivity method. The same algorithm is also shown to enable the calculation of their entropy of fusion as well as the total phase-change entropy of liquid crystals. The present method is based on the complete break-down of the molecules into their constituting atoms and their immediate neighbourhood; the respective calculations of the contribution of the atomic groups by means of the Gauss-Seidel fitting method is based on experimental data collected from literature. The feasibility of the calculations for each of the mentioned descriptors was verified by means of a 10-fold cross-validation procedure proving the good to high quality of the predicted values for the three mentioned enthalpies and for the entropy of fusion, whereas the predictive quality for the total phase-change entropy of liquid crystals was poor. The goodness of fit (Q²) and the standard deviation (σ) of the cross-validation calculations for the five descriptors was as follows: 0.9641 and 4.56 kJ/mol (N=3386 test molecules) for the enthalpy of vaporization, 0.8657 and 11.39 kJ/mol (N=1791) for the enthalpy of sublimation, 0.9546 and 4.34 kJ/mol (N=373) for the enthalpy of solvation, 0.8727 and 17.93 J/mol/K (N=2637) for the entropy of fusion and 0.5804 and 32.79 J/mol/K (N=2643) for the total phase-change entropy of liquid crystals. The large discrepancy between the results of the two closely related entropies is discussed in detail. Molecules, for which both the standard enthalpies of vaporization and sublimation were calculable, enabled the estimation of their standard enthalpy of fusion by simple subtraction of the former from the latter enthalpy. For 990 of them the experimental enthalpy-of-fusion values are also known, allowing their comparison with predictions, yielding a correlation coefficient R² of 0.6066.

The aim of this research was to investigate the mass, substances and energy flow through two-stroke low speed Diesel engines. For this reason, a zero-dimensional model of the combustion in the engine was developed with a calculated amount and composition of exhaust gases. Due to the large amount of oxygen in the exhaust gases, a ratio of real air consumption and stoichiometric amount of air required for combustion of injected fuel was set. The calculated ratio showed that the engine consumes four times more air than needed for combustion in AFR_stoich. In this work it is called the Air Consumption Factor or Ratio and has not been mentioned in scientific literature before. Air Consumption Ratio is defined as a factor of dry or humid air. To be more comprehensive, a modified diagram of composition of the flow in and out of a two-stroke fuel injection engine and the cylinder was drawn.

Fabric phase sorptive extraction, an innovative integration of solid phase extraction and solid phase microextraction principles, has been combined with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry for the rapid extraction and determination of nineteen organochlorine pesticides in various fruit juices and water samples. FPSE consolidates the advanced features of sol-gel derived extraction sorbents with the rich surface chemistry of cellulose fabric substrate, which could directly extract target analytes from complex sample matrices and substantially simplifies the sample preparation operation. Important FPSE parameters including sorbent chemistry, extraction time, stirring speed, type and volume of back-extraction solvent and back-extraction time have been optimized. Calibration curves were obtained in the concentration range 0.1-500 ng/mL. Under the optimum conditions, the limits of detection were obtained in the range 0.007-0.032 ng/mL with satisfactory precision (RSD<6%). The relative recoveries obtained by spiking organochlorine pesticides in water and selected juice samples were in the range of 91.56–99.83%. The sorbent sol-gel poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(propylene glycol)-poly(ethylene glycol) was applied for the extraction and preconcentration of organochlorine pesticides in aqueous and fruit juice samples prior to analysis with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry. The results demonstrated that the present method is simple, rapid, and precise for the determination of organochlorine pesticides in aqueous samples.

Thin Slab Casting and Directing Rolling (TSCDR) has become a major process for flat- rolled production. However, the elimination of slab reheating and limited number of thermomechanical deformation passes leave fewer opportunities for austenite grain refinement resulting in some large grains persist in the final microstructure. In order to achieve excellent Ductile to Brittle Transaction (DBTT) and Drop Weight Tear Test (DWTT) properties in thicker gauge high strength low alloy products, it is necessary to control austenite grain coarsening prior to the onset of thermomechanical processing. This contribution proposes a suite of methods to refine the austenite grain from both theoretical and practical perspective including: increasing cooling rate during casting, liquid core reduction, increasing austenite nucleation sites during the delta ferrite to austenite phase transformation, controlling holding furnace temperature and time to avoid austenite coarsening, and producing new alloy with two phase pinning to arrest grain coarsening. These methodologies can not only refine austenite grain size in the slab center, but also improve the slab homogeneity.

Most of the phase change materials (PCMs) have been limited to use as functional additions or sealed in containers, and extra auxiliary equipment or supporting matrix is needed. The emergence of 3D printing technique has dramatically advanced the developments of materials and simplified production processes. This study focuses on a novel strategy to model thermal energy storage crystalline gels with three-dimensional architecture directly from liquid resin without supporting materials through light-induced polymerization 3D printing technique. A mask-projection stereolithography printer was used to measure the 3D printing test, and the printable characters of crystalline thermal energy storage P(SA-DMAA) gels with different molar ratios were evaluated. For the P(SA-DMMA) gels with small fraction of SA, the 3D fabrication was realized with higher printing precision both on mili- and micro-meter scales. As a comparison of 3D printed samples, P(SA-DMAA) gels made by other two methods, post-UV curing treatment after 3D printing and UV curing using conventional mold, were prepared. The 3D printed P(SA-DMAA) gels shown high crystallinity. Post–UV curing treatment was beneficial to full curing of 3D printed gels, but did not lead to the further improvement of crystal structure to get higher crystallinity. The P(SA-DMAA) crystalline gel having the highest energy storage enthalpy that reached 69.6 J·g⁻¹ was developed. Its good thermoregulation property in the temperature range from 25 to 40 °C was proved. The P(SA-DMAA) gels are feasible for practical applications as one kind of 3D printing material with thermal energy storage and thermoregulation functionality.

This paper considers a two-way relay network, where two source nodes exchange messages through several relays in the presence of an eavesdropper, and the channel state information (CSI) of the eavesdropper is imperfectly known. The amplify-and-forward relay protocol is used and the relay beamforming weights are designed. The model is built up to minimize the total relay transmit power while guaranteeing the quality of service at users and preventing the eavesdropper from decoding the signals. Due to the imperfect CSI, a semi-infinite programming problem is obtained. An algorithm is proposed to solve the problem, and the iterative points are updated through the linesearch technique, where the feasibility are preserved during iterations. The optimality property is analyzed. The obtained subproblems are quadratic constrained quadratic programming problems, either with less than $4$ constraints or with only one variable, which are solved optimally. Simulation results demonstrate the importance of the proposed model, and imply that the proposed algorithm is efficient and converges very fast, where more than 85% of the problems are solved optimally.

Mapping vegetation species is critical to facilitate related quantitative assessment, and for invasive plants mapping their distribution is important to enhance monitoring and controlling activities. Integrating high resolution multispectral remote sensing (RS) image and lidar (light detection and ranging) point clouds can provide robust features for vegetation mapping. However, using multiple source of high-resolution RS data for vegetation mapping at large spatial scale can be both computationally and sampling intensive. Here we designed a two-step classification workflow to decrease computational cost and sampling effort, and to increase classification accuracy by integrating multispectral and lidar data to derive spectral, textural, and structural features for mapping target vegetation species. We used this workflow to classify kudzu, an aggressive invasive vine, in the entire Knox County (1,362 km2) of Tennessee, the United States. Object-based image analysis was conducted in the workflow. The first-step classification used 320 kudzu samples and extensive coarsely labeled samples (based on national land cover) to generate an overprediction map of kudzu using random forest (RF). For the second step, 350 samples were randomly extracted from the overpredicted kudzu and labeled manually for the final prediction using RF and support vector machine (SVM). Computationally intensive features were only used for the second-step classification. SVM had constantly better accuracy than RF, and the Producer’s Accuracy, User’s Accuracy, and Kappa for the SVM model on kudzu was 0.94, 0.96, and 0.90, respectively. SVM predicted 1010 kudzu patches covering 1.29 km2 in Knox County. We found the sample size of kudzu used for algorithm training impacted the accuracy and number of kudzu predicted. The proposed workflow could also improve sampling efficiency and specificity. Our workflow had much higher accuracy than the traditional method conducted in this research, and could be easily implemented to map kudzu in other regions or other vegetation species.

Quantum Fisher Information (QFI) is a very useful concept for analyzing situations that require phase sensitivity. It become a popular topic especially in Quantum Metrology domain. In this work, we study the changes in quantum Fisher information (QFI) values for one relative arbitrary phased quantum system consisting of a superposition of N Qubits W and GHZ states. In a recent work [7], QFI values of this mentioned system for N qubits were studied. In this work, we extend this problem for the changes of QFI values in some noisy channels for the studied system. We show the changes in QFI depending on noise parameters. We report interesting results for different type of decoherence channels. We show the general case results for this problem.

With large-scale distributed generators (DGs) in an active distribution network (ADN), conventional load flow convergence failure is incurred by heavy power transmission. The Holomorphic Embedding Load Flow Method (HELM) has proven to be more robust than the Newton–Raphson method under heavy power transmission. At present, HELM is mainly designed for balanced transmission networks. In this study, we developed a three-phase HELM model to accommodate DGs, delta connection loads, and ZIP loads for ADN. The effectiveness and better performance of the proposed method under heavy load situations were validated using modified unbalanced IEEE 13, 34, 37, and 123 test feeders.

In this paper, we present a novel Two-Echelon Ground Vehicle and Its Mounted Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Cooperated Routing Problem (2E-GUCRP). The 2E-GUCRP arises in the field of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) Routing Problem such as those encountered in the context of city logistics. In a typical cooperated system, the UAV is launched from the Ground Vehicle (GV) and automatically flies to the designated target. Meanwhile, acting as a mobile base station, the GV can charge or change the UAV’s battery on the designated landing points to enable the UAV to continue its mission. The objective is to design efficient GV and UAV routes to minimize the total mission time while meeting the operational constraints. A Mixed Integer Programming (MIP) model, which could be solved by commercial software, is constructed to describe this problem. In order to quickly solve the medium-scale problems, two existing heuristics to solve 2E-VRP are improved. The computational experiments are set up to compare our model with the 2E-VRP. The results indicate that the 2E-GUCRP obtains a better efficiency. Further discussion of the practical instance points out that the increase in efficiency is related to the speed relationship between the GV and the UAV.

It is strongly desirable to accurately detect the clouds in hyperspectral images onboard before compression. However, conventional onboard cloud detection methods are not appropriate to all situation such as shadowed cloud or darken snow covered surfaces which are not identified properly in the NDSI test. In this paper, we propose a new spectral–spatial classification strategy to enhance the orbiting cloud screen performances obtained on hyperspectral images by integrating threshold exponential spectral angle map (TESAM), adaptive Markov random field (aMRF) and dynamic stochastic resonance (DSR). TESAM is performed to classify the cloud pixels coarsely based on spectral information. Then aMRF is performed to do optimal process by using spatial information, which improved the classification performance significantly. Some misclassification points still exist after aMRF processing because of the noisy data in the onboard environment. DSR is used to eliminate misclassification points in binary labeling image after aMRF. Taking level 0.5 data from hyperion as dataset, the average overall accuracy of the proposed algorithm is 96.28% after test. The method can provide cloud mask for the on-going EO-1 images and related satellites with the same spectral settings without manual intervention. The experiment indicate that the proposed method reveals better performance than the classical onboard cloud detection or current state-of-the-art hyperspectral classification methods.

This paper presents a new scientific contribution on the two-dimensional (2-D) subdomain technique in polar coordinates taking into account the finite relative permeability of the ferromagnetic material. The constant relative permeability corresponds to linear part of the nonlinear B(H) curve. As in conventional technique, the method of separation of variables and the Fourier’s series are used for the resolution of magnetostatic Maxwell’s equations in each region. Although, the general solutions of magnetic field in the subdomains and boundary conditions (BCs) between regions are different in the conventional and proposed method. In this later, the magnetic field solution in each subdomain is a superposition of two magnetic quantities in the two directions (i.e., r- and Q-axis) and the BCs between two regions are also in both directions. For example, the scientific contribution has been applied to an air- or iron-cored coil supplied by a constant current. The distribution of local quantities (i.e., the magnetic vector potential and flux density) has been validated by a corresponding 2-D finite-element analysis (FEA). The obtained semi-analytical results are in very good agreement with those of numerical method.

Below T_CO=157 K the quasi-one-dimensional charge-transfer salt (TMTTF)_2SbF_6 undergoes a pronounced phase transition to a charge-ordered ground state. We have explored the non-linear and photoconductive behavior as a function of applied voltage, laser pulse energy and temperature. Besides a decay of the photoconductive signal in a double exponential fashion in the millisecond range, we discover current oscillations in the kHz range induced by the application of short laser pulses. While the resonance frequencies do not depend on voltage or laser intensity and vary only slightly with temperature, the amplitude changes linearly with the laser intensity and voltage. The findings are discussed and compared to comparable phenomena in other low-dimensional electron systems.

This article is a followup to an earlier review which outlined some of the interesting features of the soliton/wave-action potential (AP) model, and noted the need to test its key aspects; including the need to test if its presumed lipid phase transition is actually happening during AP firings in excitable cells. The intent here is to point out the sort of tests, and evidence from them, that might be needed if the soliton/wave-AP model is to be accepted broadly by biologists. Here, after an overview of the modern electrophysiological-AP model and of the soliton/wave-AP model, there are three areas considered. First, possible compositional influences on membrane properties relative to the soliton/wave-AP model are presented. Including questions with regard to the soliton/wave-AP model’s assumption that changes in surface potentials influence the transmembrane potential. Second, some recent work from the good folks who advocate for the soliton/wave-AP model concerning the occurrence of lipid phase transitions in neurons or in extracts from nervous tissues are examined. Here it is noted that there is a need to consider whether these lipid phase transitions happen within normal physiological conditions or not. Third, and finally, the advocates for the soliton/wave-AP model have adopted a thermodynamic/theory-based philosophical approach in their studies. It is argued that this philosophical approach is a radical departure from the philosophical approach used under the scientific method. The features of this new approach, and implications its use, are examined.

A new variant of two-echelon routing problem is investigated, where the truck and the drone are used to cooperatively complete the deliveries of all parcels. The truck not only acts as a tool for parcel delivery, but also serves as a moving depot for the drone. The drone can carry several parcels and take off from the truck, while returning to the truck after completing the delivery. The energy consumption model for the routing process of the drone is analyzed, when it is utilized to deliver multiple parcels. A two-stage route-based modelling approach is proposed to optimize both the truck’s main route and the drone’s adjoint flying routes. A hybrid heuristic integrating nearest neighbor and cost saving strategies is developed to quickly construct a feasible solution. The simulated annealing algorithm is applied to improve the quality of the solution, where a Tabu list is employed to improve the search efficiency. Random instances at different scales are used to test the performance of the proposed algorithm. A case study based on the practical road network in Changsha, China, is presented, through which the sensitivity analysis is conducted with respect to some critical factors.

Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) micro and nano architectures have been intensively studied in the past years because of many varied applications in environmental, energy conversion, and storage fields, such as heterogeneous catalysis, dye-sensitized solar cells, lithium/sodium ion batteries, lithium-sulfur (Li-S) batteries, and bio-nanotechnology, etc. Especially the surface and interface structures in the TiO₂ structures play important roles in those applications. This mini review article focuses on TiO₂ micro and nano architectures with the prevalent crystal structures (anatase, rutile, brookite, and TiO₂(B)), and summarizes major advances in the surface and interface engineering and applications in environmental and electrochemical applications. We present the principles and growth mechanisms of TiO₂ nanostructures via different strategies, with an emphasis on rational control of the surface and interface structures. We further discuss the applications of TiO₂ micro and nano architectures in photocatalysis, lithium/sodium ion batteries, and Li-S batteries. Throughout the discussion, the relationship between the device performance and the surface structures of TiO₂ micro/nano structures will be highlighted. Then we discuss the phase transitions of TiO₂ nanostructures and possible strategies of improving the phase stability. The review concludes with a perspective on the current challenges and future research directions.

This article presents a decentralized phase-shedding technique for multiphase converters. The usual central digital controller is replaced by identical local controllers forming a daisy-chain structure. Phase-shedding decisions are taken locally based on a local inductor current monitoring and threshold crossing management. This control strategy allows to implement as many phases as desired in a modular manner. In order to handle specific events such as load current inrush or a start-up sequence and to guarantee optimal transient responses, additional functions are included into each local controllers. The inter-cell communication protocol is described, along with necessary design considerations of threshold and timing values. Finally, functional simulations are carried out on a 5-leg 12V/1.2V 60W multiphase converter, which validate the proposed decentralized phase-shedding strategy for a microcontroller power supply implementation.

Mereotopology is a concept rooted in analytical philosophy. The phase-field concept is based on mathematical physics and finds applications in materials engineering. The two concepts seem to be disjoint at a first glance. While mereotopology qualitatively describes static relations between things like x isConnected y (topology) or x isPartOf y (mereology) by first order logic and Boolean algebra, the phase-field concept describes the geometric shape of things and its dynamic evolution by drawing on a scalar field. The geometric shape of any thing is defined by its boundaries to one or more neighboring things. The notion and description of boundaries thus provides a bridge between mereotopology and the phase-field concept. The present article aims to relate phase-field expressions describing boundaries and especially triple junctions to their Boolean counterparts in mereotopology and contact algebra. An introductory overview on mereotopology is followed by an introduction to the phase-field concept already indicating first relations to mereo- topology. Mereotopological axioms and definitions are then discussed in detail from a phase-field perspective. A dedicated section introduces and discusses further notions of the isConnected relation emerging from the phase-field perspective like isSpatiallyConnected, isTemporallyConnected, isPhysicallyConnected, isPathConnected and wasConnected. Such relations introduce dynamics and thus physics into mereotopology as transitions from isDisconnected to isPartOf can be described.

In this work, we focus on investigating electrothermal flow in a rotating electric field (ROT-ETF), with primary attention paid to the horizontal traveling-wave electrothermal (TWET) vortex induced at the center of the electric field. The frequency-dependent flow profiles in the microdevice are analyzed using different heat transfer models. Accordingly, we address in particular the importance of electrode cooling in ROT-ETF as metal electrodes of high thermal conductivity while substrate material of low heat dissipation capability are employed to develop such microfluidic chips. Under this circumstance, cooling of electrode array due to external natural convection on millimeter-scale electrode pads for external wire connection occurs and makes the internal temperature maxima shift from the electrode plane to a bit of distance right above the cross-shaped interelectrode gaps, giving rise to reversal of flow rotation from a typical repulsion-type to attraction-type induction vortex, which is in good accordance with our experimental observations of co-field TWET streaming at frequencies on the order of reciprocal charge relaxation time of the bulk fluid. These results point out a way to make a correct interpretation of out-of-phase electrothermal streaming behavior, which holds great potential for handing high-conductivity analytes in modern microfluidic systems.

The water-rich liquid layer immobilized on the surface of the polar stationary phases is critical to the retention of polar compounds in hydrophilic interaction chromatography (HILIC). Although the presence of the adsorbed water layer has been investigated and confirmed by multiple techniques, there is a lack of quantitative measure that can be easily determined and linked to chromatographic parameters. This study proposes a simple measure termed volume ratio (the ratio of the adsorbed water layer volume and the mobile phase volume) that provides a relative, but quantitative information on the adsorbed water layer and may be linked to the phase ratio. The volume ratio can be easily determined using toluene elution volume. The volume ratio values are measured in 25 polar stationary phases in various mobile phase conditions. In addition to the acetonitrile content in the mobile phase, ammonium acetate concentration in the mobile phase and column temperature also have significant influences on the volume ratio and the adsorbed water layer.

3D meso-scale structures that can reach up to centimeters in overall size but retain micro- or nano-features, proved to be promising in various science fields ranging from micro-mechanical metamaterials to photonics and bio-medical scaffolds. In this work we present synchronization of the linear and galvano scanners for efficient femtosecond 3D optical printing of objects at the meso-scale (from sub-μm to sub-cm spanning five orders of magnitude). In such configuration the linear stages provide stitch-free structuring at nearly limitless (up to tens-of-cm) working area, while galvo-scanners allow to achieve translation velocities in the range of mm/s-cm/s without sacrificing nano-scale positioning accuracy and preserving undistorted shape of the final print. The principle behind this approach is demonstrated, proving its inherent advantages in comparison to separate use of only linear stages or scanners. The printing rate is calculated in terms voxels/s, showcasing the capability to maintain an optimal feature size while increasing throughput. Full capabilities of this approach are demonstrated by fabricating structures that reach millimeters in size but still retain μm-scale features: scaffolds for cell growth, microlenses and photonic crystals. All this is combined into a benchmark structure: a meso-butterfly. Provided results show that synchronization of two scan modes is crucial for the end goal of industrial-scale implementation of this technology and makes the laser printing well aligned with similar approaches in nanofabrication by electron and ion beams.

The main objective of this communication is to describe the ‘Global Salt Cycle’. Giant salt accumulations are commonly found along continental margins of former rifts. The first stage in the accumulation process is saturation of newly formed oceanic crust with seawater. Final mobilisation and accumulation of the salts occurs during rifting, localised in the vicinity of relict subduction zones. Oceanic crust is created along the spreading ridges in the deep oceans of the Earth. It exchanges mass and energy with seawater in hydrothermal circulation cells that penetrate deep into the new and fractured crust. Water-rock interactions include the formation of hydrated and hydroxylated minerals, e.g., serpentinites and clay minerals. By incorporating hydroxyl groups and water in their crystal lattices, the salinity of remaining brines increases. Subduction of oceanic crust and serpentinised lithosphere transports water, hydrated minerals, and marine salts deep into the crust and mantle. Upon pressurisation and heating of the subducting slab, different parts of this water are expelled at different depths/temperatures. The resulting fluids will contain salts brought in with the slab, as well as new salts formed by water-rock interaction. The combination of elevated pressures and temperatures, water, salinity, and CO2, create permeability in the normally impermeable, peridotitic mantle, by altering the fluid-rock dihedral angles of mineral grains. This P/T-determined intergranular permeability allows ascent of saline fluids, under lithostatic pressure, within the mantle wedge, or the slab itself. The fluids produce a mechanically weakened and buoyant zone within the mantle wedge due to high pore pressure between mineral grains and reduced mantle density. During the lifetime of a subduction zone, a substantial accumulation of saline fluids within the mantle wedge and crust, is evident. Deep, fluid reservoirs accumulate between the subduction trench and the volcanic front. They may exist for hundreds of millions of years, even after the extinction of the subduction zone. Saline fluids may escape to the surface along deep faults, due to overfilling of available pores/fractures. Fluids within the mantle wedge may form rock melts or exist as supercritical, mineral rich fluids. The combination of reduced pressure due to rifting, and a saline and buoyant mantle, creates a mantle circulation that brings the accumulated, saline fluids, to crustal levels. Salts will therefore accumulate during initial stages of rifting as a result of massive fluid expulsion, phase change and boiling of mantle fluids. No extra energy is required to produce phase change and boiling. The result is formation of solid salts or dense brines/slurries invading fractured crustal rocks, or escaping to the surface/seabed. This process may take place both before and after the sea has invaded a continental rift.

This paper reports a novel fabric phase sorptive extraction-high performance liquid chromatography-ultra violet detection (FPSE-HPLC-UV) method for the simultaneous extraction and analysis of four phenyltin derivatives that include triphenyltin hydroxide, triphenyltin acetate, triphenyltin chloride and tetraphenyltin in environmental water (agricultural waste water and municipal waste water) and canned food samples. The selected analytes were well resolved by Waters Nova pack C18 column (3.9 x 150 mm, 4 µm particle size) in isocratic elution mode within 15 minutes. The new microextraction media has been analytically evaluated using phenyltin derivatives as model compounds. The factors affecting the extraction efficiency of FPSE have been evaluated and the optimum extraction conditions were determined. Under these optimum conditions, the limits of detection (LODs) for sol-gel C18 coated fabric phase sorptive extraction (FPSE) media in combination with HPLC-UV for the analysis of the phenyltin derivatives were in the range of 10-100 ng/mL with high precision (low relative standard deviation) at 10 ng/mL concentration with good absolute recoveries. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first FPSE extraction procedure applied to environmental water and canned food samples for the simultaneous determination of phenyltin derivatives and could be readily adopted as a rapid and robust green analytical tool for routine environmental and food analytical laboratories.

2017 was an excellent year in terms of new drugs (chemical entities and biologics) approved by the FDA, with a total of forty-six. In turn, one of the highlights was the number of peptides (six) included in this list. Here, the six peptides are analysed in terms of chemical structure, synthetic strategy used for their production, source, biological target, and mode of action.

Zinc oxide (ZnO) nanostructures have been studied extensively in the past years due to the novel electronic, photonic, mechanical and electrochemical properties. Recently, more attention has been paid to assemble nanoscale building blocks into three dimensional (3D) complex hierarchical structures, which not only inherit the excellent properties of the single building blocks but also provide potential applications in the bottom-up fabrication of functional devices. This review article focuses on 3D ZnO hierarchical nanostructures, and summarizes major advances in the solution phase synthesis, applications in environment, and electrical/electrochemical devices. We present the principles and growth mechanisms of ZnO nanostructures via different solution methods, with an emphasis on rational control of the morphology and assembly. We then discuss the applications of 3D ZnO hierarchical nanostructures in photocatalysis, field emission, electrochemical sensor, and lithium ion batteries. Throughout the discussion, the relationship between the device performance and the microstructures of 3D ZnO hierarchical nanostructures will be highlighted. This review concludes with a personal perspective on the current challenges and future researches.

Energy is a fundamental ingredient in economic development and energy consumption is an index of prosperity and the standard of living. The consumption of energy has increased significantly in the last number of decades, as the standard of living has improved. Renewable energy is a sustainable and clean source of energy derived from nature. Renewable energy technology is one of the solutions, which produces energy by transforming natural resources into useful energy forms. When you do something for the first time in the world, you never attain a perfect product or solution from the start. In Central Greece Lamia city, we are the first to design and implement an off-grid energy system using hydrogen energy storage technology and phase change materials for a house residence. The action plan for energy efficiency, a series of directives and incentive mechanisms, mandatory energy certification of buildings, indicate the urgent need to reduce energy consumption in buildings, which results in a more comfortable living, long service life of buildings, which in turn preserves the environment.

Self-assembly membranes, composed of 1,2-dimyristoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DMPC) and 1,2-dihexanoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DHPC), were characterized at the total lipid concentration below 20 mM. The sizes of the assemblies varied depending on the molar ratio of DMPC and DHPC (q = [DMPC]/[DHPC]). The small assemblies with diameter of ca. 10 nm were formed at q ≤ 2.0 at 20 ºC (below phase transition temperature of DMPC). The physicochemical membrane properties were then studied using fluorescence probes, 1,6-diphenyl-1,3,5-hexatriene and 6-dodecanoyl-N,N-dimethyl-2-naphthylamine, upon the dilution. DHPC micelle showed a higher membrane fluidity, while the DMPC/DHPC membranes at q ≥ 0.5 showed lower membrane fluidities as well as DMPC vesicle in gel (ordered) phase. Upon dilution, the ordered membrane properties were maintained while the solution turbidities increased, implying the morphological change of the self-assembly, bicelle to the vesicle in gel phase. Based on the obtained results, a phase diagram of DMPC/DHPC binary system (at 20 ºC) is described: (i) the bicelle suspension is transparent and the membrane is in ordered state, (ii) the micelle suspension is transparent and the membrane is in disordered state, (iii) the vesicle suspension is turbid and the membrane is in ordered state.

In this paper, a two-stage stochastic programming modelling is proposed to design a multi-period, multistage, and single-commodity integrated forward/reverse logistics network design problem under uncertainty. The problem involves both strategic and tactical decision levels. The first stage deals with strategic decisions, which are the number, capacity, and location of forward and reverse facilities. At the second stage tactical decisions such as base stock level as an inventory policy is determined. The generic introduced model consists of suppliers, manufactures, and distribution centers in forward logistic and collection centers, remanufactures, redistribution, and disposal centers in reverse logistic. The strength of proposed model is its applicability to various industries. The problem is formulated as a mixed-integer linear programming model and is solved by using Benders’ Decomposition (BD) approach. In order to accelerate the Benders’ decomposition, a number of valid inequalities are added to the master problem. The proposed accelerated BD is evaluated through small-, medium-, and large-sized test problems. Numerical results reveal that proposed solution algorithm increases convergence of lower bound and upper bound of BD and is able to reach an acceptable optimality gap in a convenient CPU time.

Building envelope can play a crucial role in building improvement efficiency and the adoption of Phase Change Materials (PCMs) coupled with transparent elements may (i) allow a better control of the heat flows from/to the outdoor environment, (ii) increase the exploitation of solar energy at building scale and (iii) modulate the light transmission to avoid glare effects. Starting from a literature review of experimental works, this research identifies the main possible integration of PCM in transparent/translucent building envelope components (in glazing, in shutters and in multilayer façade system) drawing a global picture potentials and limitations of these technologies. Transparent envelopes with PCMs have been classified from the simplest “zero” technology, which integrates the PCM into the double glass unit (DGU), to more complex solutions – with different numbers of cavities of the glass (TGU), different position of PCM layer (internal/external shutter), and in combination with other materials (TIM, aerogel, prismatic solar reflector, PCM curtain controlled by an electric pump). The results of the analysis are resumed in a SWOT (strengths, weakness, opportunities and threats) analysis table to underline strengths and weaknesses of transparent building envelope components with PCMs, and to indicate opportunities and threats for future research and building application.

This paper studied the nonlinear vibrations of top tensioned cantilevered pipes conveying pressurized steady two-phase flow under thermal loading. The coupled axial and transverse governing partial differential equations of motion of the system were derived based on Hamilton’s mechanics with the centreline assumed to be extensible. Multiple scale perturbation method was used to resolve the governing equations, which resulted to an analytical approach for assessing the natural frequency, mode shape and the nonlinear coupled axial and transverse steady state response of the pipe. The analytical assessment reveals that at some frequencies the system is uncoupled, while at some frequencies a 1:2 coupling exists between the axial and the transverse frequencies of the pipe. Nonlinear frequencies versus the amplitude displacement of the cantilever pipe conveying two-phase flow at super critical mixture velocity for the uncoupled scenario exhibit a nonlinear hardening behaviour, an increment in the void fractions of the two-phase flow resulted to a reduction in the pipe’s transverse vibration frequencies and the coupled amplitude of the system. However, increasing the temperature difference, pressure and the presence of top tension were observed to increase the pipe’s transverse vibration frequencies without a significant change in the coupled amplitude of the system.

In this research, atomistic molecular dynamics simulations are combined with mesoscopic phase-field computational methods in order to investigate phase-transformation in polycrystalline Aluminum microstructure. In fact, microstructural computational modeling of engineering materials could help to optimize their mechanical properties for industrial applications (e.g. directional solidification for turbine blades). As a result, a multiscale modeling approach is developed to find a relation between manufacturing variables (e.g. temperature) and microstructural properties of crystalline materials (e.g. grain size), which could be used to develop an advanced manufacturing process for sensitive applications. The results show that atomistic modeling of grain growth could be used as a first-principle approach in order to study phase transformation's kinetics, which could capture morphology of polycrystalline materials more accurately. On the other hand, phase-field mesoscopic approach needs less computational efforts, but still it relies on semi-empirical data to capture accurate phase transformation regimes, which makes this approach suitable for rapid examining of new manufacturing conditions as well as its effects on microstructural properties of polycrystalline materials.

What are relevant levels of description when investigating human language? How are these levels connected to each other? Does one description yield smoothly into the next one such that different models lie naturally along a hierarchy containing each other? Or, instead, are there sharp transitions between one description and the next, such that to gain a little bit accuracy it is necessary to change our framework radically? Do different levels describe the same linguistic aspects with increasing (or decreasing) accuracy? Historically, answers to these questions were guided by intuition and resulted in subfields of study, from phonetics to syntax and semantics. Need for research at each level is acknowledged, but seldom are these different aspects brought together (with notable exceptions). Here we propose a methodology to inspect empirical corpora systematically, and to extract from them, blindly, relevant phenomenological scales and interactions between them. Our methodology is rigorously grounded in information theory, multi-objective optimization, and statistical physics. Salient levels of linguistic description are readily interpretable in terms of energies, entropies, phase transitions, or criticality. Our results suggest a critical point in the description of human language, indicating that several complementary models are simultaneously necessary (and unavoidable) to describe it.

The demands for high power and low emissions put focus on energy efficiency when developing new engines. An important part is the UAV engine cooling system, which cools the engine structure below damaging temperatures. For high temperatures in the cooling system there is a risk that boiling occurs and while the initial nucleate boiling enhances the cooling effect, the subsequent Film boiling decreases the heat transfer drastically. It is important to understand the benefits and limitations of various fluids when designing a two-phase cooling system. This paper proposes an alternative organic coolant. Its normal application range is 15°C to 400°C, and its pressure range is from atmospheric to 10.6 bar. DOWTHERM A fluid possesses unsurpassed thermal stability at temperatures of 400°C. This fluid, in both the liquid and vapor form, is noncorrosive toward common metals and alloys. Even at the high temperatures involved, the equipment usually exhibits excellent service life. Original equipment in many systems is still being used after 30 years of continuous service. The numerical results, described in this paper, show the potential of DOWTHERM A as a good alternative for cooling a UAV engine. It will extend the working temperature range of the Diesel engine and will maintain the structural integrity of the piston, cylinder and the piston rings.

Measurement-Device-Independent Quantum Key Distribution (MDI-QKD) is a two-photon protocol devised to eliminate eavesdropping attacks that interrogate or control the detector in realized quantum key distribution systems. In MDI-QKD, the measurements are carried out by an untrusted third party, and the measurement results are announced openly. Knowledge or control of the measurement results gives the third party no information about the secret key. Error-free implementation of the MDI-QKD protocol requires the crypto-communicating parties, Alice and Bob, to independently prepare and transmit single photons that are physically indistinguishable, with the possible exception of their polarization states. In this paper, we apply the formalism of quantum optics and Monte Carlo simulations to quantify the impact of small errors in wavelength, bandwidth, polarization and timing between Alice's photons and Bob's photons on the MDI-QKD quantum bit error rate (QBER). Using published single-photon source characteristics from two-photon interference experiments as a test case, our simulations predict that the finite tolerances of these sources contribute (4.04+/-20/N_sifted) to the QBER in an MDI-QKD implementation generating an N_sifted-bit sifted key.

Stagnation is the transient state of a solar thermal system under high solar irradiation where the useful solar gain is zero. Both flat-plate collectors with selective absorber coatings and vacuum-tube collectors exhibit stagnation temperatures far above the saturation temperature of the glycol-based heat carriers within the range of typical system pressures. Therefore, stagnation is always associated with vaporization and propagation of vapor into the pipes of the solar circuit. It is therefore essential to design the system in such a way that vapor never reaches components that cannot withstand high temperatures. In this article, a thermal-hydraulic model based on the integral form of a two-phase mixture model and a drift-flux correlation is presented. The model is applicable to solar thermal flat-plate collectors with meander-shaped absorber tubes and selective absorber coatings. Experimental data from stagnation experiments on two systems, which are identical except for the optical properties of the absorber coating, allowed comparison with simulations carried out under the same boundary conditions. The absorber of one system features a conventional highly selective coating, while the absorber of the other system features a thermochromic coating, which exhibits a significantly lower stagnation temperature. Comparison of simulation results and experimental data show good conformity. This model is implemented into an open-source software tool called “THD” for the thermal-hydraulic dimensioning of solar systems. The latest version of THD, updated by the results of this article, enables planners to achieve cost-optimal design of solar thermal systems and to ensure failsafe operation by predicting the steam range under the initial and boundary conditions of worst-case scenarios.

Background: Cyber Security is to protect online data and software from cyber threats. These cyberattacks are typically intended to gain access to, change, or delete sensitive information; extort money from users; or disrupt regular corporate activities. It is difficult to keep up a regular follow up with new technologies so it is necessary to keep the important data safe from cyber threats. There are many types of cyber threats; malware, ransom-ware, social engineering, phishing etc. To prevent cyber-attacks one can use password manager tools like LastPass and others. People also use two factor authentication for double security on their accounts. Methods: Boards such as the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are developing frameworks to assist firms in understanding their security risks, improving cybersecurity procedures, and preventing cyber assaults. The fight against cybercrimes and attack, rganisations needed a strong base there are 5 types of cyber securities; Critical Infrastructure Security, application security, network security, cloud security and (IoT) Security. In the modern time US is highly based on computers and on different software so it is really important for US to be more conscious about the security as they get many threats almost everyday for hacking their data and accounts.Results and Conclusion: Nowadays, even small businesses rarely recover their loss from the cyber-attacks and many back-off from continuing their businesses after being target of hackers. The first cybercrime attack was recorded on 1988 by a graduate student. Now that large companies and even small businesses are aware of cyber-attacks so they try their best to take every precaution to prevent the hacking with double security and password manager tools.

This research is related to the eco-hydrological problems of herbaceous wetland drying and biodiversity loss in the floodplain lakes of the Middle Basin of the Biebrza river (Poland). An experiment was set up, whose main goals were: (i) mapping the vegetation types and the temporarily or permanently flooded areas, and (ii) comparing the usefulness of C-band Sentinel-1A (S1A) and X-band TerraSAR-X/TanDEM-X (TSX/TDX) for mapping purposes. The S1A imagery was acquired on a regular basis using the dual polarization VV/VH and the Interferometric Wide Swath Mode. The TSX/TDX data were acquired in quad-pol, a fully polarimetric mode, during the Science Phase. The paper addresses the following aspects: i) wetland mapping with S1A multi-temporal series; ii) wetland mapping with fully polarimetric TSX/TDX data; iii) comparing the wetland mapping using dual polarization TSX/TDX subsets, i.e. HH-HV, HH-VV and VV-VH; iv) comparing wetland mapping using S1A and TSX/TDX data based on the same polarization (VV-VH); v) studying the suitability of the Shannon Entropy for wetland mapping; and vi) assessing the contribution of interferometric coherence for wetland classification. The experimental results show main limitations of the S1A dataset, while they highlight the good accuracy that can be achieved using the TSX/TDX data, especially those taken in fully polarimetric mode.

Thermophysical characterization of three paraffin waxes (RT27, RT21 and RT35HC) is carried out in this study using DSC, TGA and transient plane source technics. Then, a numerical study of their melting in a rectangular enclosure is examined. The enthalpy-porosity approach is used to formulate this problem in order to understand the heat transfer mechanism during the melting process. The analysis of the solid-liquid interface shape, the temperature field shows that the conduction is the dominant heat transfer mode in the beginning of the melting process. It is followed by a transition regime and the natural convection becomes the dominant heat transfer mode. The effects of the Rayleigh number and the aspect ratio of the enclosure on the melting phenomenon are studied and it is found that the intensity of the natural convection increases as the Rayleigh number is higher and the aspect ratio is smaller. In the second part of the numerical study, a comparison of the performance of paraffins waxes during the melting process is conducted. Results reveals that from a kinetically RT21 is the most performant but in term of heat storage capacity, it was inferred that RT35HC is the most efficient PCM.

VpStyA1 and VpStyA2B of Variovorax paradoxus EPS is annotated and characterized as the first representative of an E2-type styrene monooxygenase of proteobacteria. It comprises a single epoxidase (VpStyA1) and a fusion protein (VpStyA2B) which serves mainly as NADH:FAD-oxidoreductase. VpStyA2B had a Km of 33.6 ± 4.0 µM for FAD and a kcat of 22.3 ± 1.1 s-1. VpStyA2B and VpStyA1 showed monooxygenase activity on styrene of 0.14 U mg-1 and 0.46 U mg-1 as well as on benzyl methyl sulfide of 1.62 U mg-1 and of 3.11 U mg-1. A putative fusion region at position 408 (AREAV) was mutated to provide insights on VpStyA2B-function. The best mutant (408-AAAAA) obtained showed a 6.6-times higher affinity for FAD while keeping the NADH-affinity and -oxidation activity. Corresponding epoxidase activity increased (1.6-times). But, other mutants showed still NADH:FAD-oxidoreductase activity, but lost mostly their epoxidase activity indicating effects on the monooxygenase-part as well. Thus, this monooxygenase system represents an interesting candidate for biocatalyst development.

Printed electronic devices are attracting significant interest due to their versatility and low cost; however, quality control during manufacturing is a significant challenge, preventing the widespread adoption of this promising technology. We show that terahertz (THz) radiation can be used for the in situ inspection of printed electronic devices, as confirmed through a comparison with conventional electrical conductivity methods. Our in situ method consists of printing a simple test pattern exhibiting a distinct signature in the THz range that enables the precise characterization of {the static} electrical conductivities of the printed ink. We demonstrate that contactless dual-wavelength THz spectroscopy analysis, which requires only a single THz measurement, is more precise and repeatable than the conventional four-point probe conductivity measurement method. Our results open the door to a simple strategy for performing contactless quality control in real time of printed electronic devices at any stage of its production line.