Bacterial Cellulose Nanopaper as Reinforcement for Polylactide Composites: Renewable Thermoplastic NanoPaPreg

Bacterial cellulose (BC) is often regarded as a prime candidate nano‐reinforcement for the production of renewable nanocomposites. However, the mechanical performance of most BC nanocomposites is often inferior compared with commercially available polylactide (PLLA). Here, the manufacturing concept of paper‐based laminates is used, i.e., “PaPreg,” to produce BC nanopaper reinforced PLLA, which has been called “nanoPaPreg” by the authors. It is demon­strated that high‐performance nanoPaPreg (v_f = 65 vol%) with a tensile modulus and strength of 6.9 ± 0.5 GPa and 125 ± 10 MPa, respectively, can be fabricated. It is also shown that the tensile properties of nanoPaPreg are predominantly governed by the mechanical performance of BC nanopaper instead of the individual BC nanofibers, due to difficulties impregnating the dense nanofibrous BC network.

     

Crystal Structure Analysis of Betti Base 1-((2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)(2-hydroxyphenyl)methyl)urea•2DMF Solvate

A novel Betti base compound, 1-((2-hydroxynaphthalen-1-yl)(2-hydroxyphenyl)methyl)urea, UBB, was synthesized and characterized by spectral, structural and thermal studies. Single crystal X-ray diffraction studies reveal that the racemic mixture of the compound, when crystallized from DMF, yields R-isomer preferentially (prismatic crystals), whereas, when crystallized from 5:1 (v/v) mixture of DMF-THF, it yields S-isomer (rectangular shaped crystals) with two molecules of DMF, included in both the cases. The crystal structure is discussed in terms of supramolecular interactions and molecular modeling. Both R and S enantiomeric DMF solvate crystals are in their chiral triclinic P1 space group.     

Fast 3D modeling in complex environments using a single Kinect sensor

Three-dimensional (3D) modeling technology has been widely used in inverse engineering, urban planning, robot navigation, and many other applications. How to build a dense model of the environment with limited processing resources is still a challenging topic. A fast 3D modeling algorithm that only uses a single Kinect sensor is proposed in this paper. For every color image captured by Kinect, corner feature extraction is carried out first. Then a spiral search strategy is utilized to select the region of interest (ROI) that contains enough feature corners. Next, the iterative closest point (ICP) method is applied to the points in the ROI to align consecutive data frames. Finally, the analysis of which areas can be walked through by human beings is presented. Comparative experiments with the well-known KinectFusion algorithm have been done and the results demonstrate that the accuracy of the proposed algorithm is the same as KinectFusion but the computing speed is nearly twice of KinectFusion. 3D modeling of two scenes of a public garden and traversable areas analysis in these regions further verified the feasibility of our algorithm.     

Investigation of Alien Wavelength Quality in Live Multi-Domain,Multi-Vendor Link Using Advanced Simulation Tool

Abstract

This article presents an advanced optical model for simulation of alien wavelengths in multi-domain and multi-vendor dense wavelength-division multiplexing networks. The model aids optical network planners with a better understanding of the non-linear effects present in dense wavelength-division multiplexing systems and better utilization of alien wavelengths in future applications. The limiting physical effects for alien wavelengths are investigated in relation to power levels, channel spacing, and other factors. The simulation results are verified through experimental setup in live multi-domain dense wavelength-division multiplexing systems between two national research networks: SURFnet in Holland and NORDUnet in Denmark.     

Preliminary study on CAD-based method of characteristics for neutron transport calculation

Our new method makes use of a CAD-based automatic modeling tool, MCAM, for geometry modeling and ray tracing of particle transport in method of characteristics (MOC). It was found that it could considerably enhance the capability of MOC to deal with more complicated models for neutron transport calculation. In our study, the diamond-difference scheme was applied to MOC to reduce the spatial discretization errors of the flat flux approximation. Based on MCAM and MOC, a new 2D MOC code was developed and integrated into the SuperMC system, which is a Super Multi-function Computational system for neutronics and radiation simulation. The numerical results demonstrated the feasibility and effectiveness of the new method for neutron transport calculation in MOC.     

A comparison of two methods for estimating DCE-MRI parameters via individual and cohort based AIFs in prostate cancer: A step towards practical implementation

Multi-parametric Magnetic Resonance Imaging, and specifically Dynamic Contrast Enhanced (DCE) MRI, play increasingly important roles in detection and staging of prostate cancer (PCa). One of the actively investigated approaches to DCE MRI analysis involves pharmacokinetic (PK) modeling to extract quantitative parameters that may be related to microvascular properties of the tissue. It is well-known that the prescribed arterial blood plasma concentration (or Arterial Input Function, AIF) input can have significant effects on the parameters estimated by PK modeling. The purpose of our study was to investigate such effects in DCE MRI data acquired in a typical clinical PCa setting. First, we investigated how the choice of a semi-automated or fully automated image-based individualized AIF (iAIF) estimation method affects the PK parameter values; and second, we examined the use of method-specific averaged AIF (cohort-based, or cAIF) as a means to attenuate the differences between the two AIF estimation methods.     

发酵过程混合建模与优化控制新方法

针对当前微生物发酵过程存在因为生物传感器不具备足够的准确性和灵敏性,实验时的菌液和产物浓度等生化指标难以实时监测和控制等缺点,提出了采用量子粒子群优化算法(QPSO)优化最小二乘支持向量机(LSSVM)参数的QPSO-LSSVM混合建模新方法,并用于多粘菌素的发酵过程建模;同时,基于此模型,采用QPSO算法对pH值与溶解氧浓度Do控制轨线进行优化研究。首先,利用LSSVM进行发酵过程的建模,然后采用QPSO对LSSVM建模过程中的重要参数进行优化调整,形成QPSO-LSSVM混合建模与优化控制方法。仿真结果表明,该方法得到的模型能取得更好的预测效果,优化后的pH值与Do浓度控制轨线能够提高最终的产物浓度。该方法用于发酵过程的建模和重要参数的优化控制是可行的、有效的。     

基于三维成像技术的四轮定位参数建模方法

鉴于现有四轮定位仪参数求取方法误差大、参数项目少、对测量环境要求高等不足,提出了一种基于三维成像技术的四轮定位参数建模方法;该方法通过双摄像机对目标板拍摄获得的图像信息,应用空间向量方法,求取车体运动状态下的轮轴信息,动态建立四轮定位参数测量模型,解决测量平面的动态建立、测量平台的补偿等问题;经过零标定平台测试,当车轮旋转在18~22°时,定位参数求取方法正确有效,通过实车对比测量验证,平均误差小于0.07°。