Boundary contour analysis for surface stress recovery in 2-D elasticity and Stokes flow

Summary A variant of the boundary element method, called the boundary contour method, offers a further reduction in dimensionality. Consequently, boundary contour analysis of 2-D problems does not require any numerical integration at all. In a boundary contour analysis, boundary stresses can be accurately computed using the approach proposed in Ref. [1]. However, due to singularity, this approach can be used only to calculate boundary stresses at points that do not lie at an end of a boundary element. Herein, it is shown that a technique based on the displacement/velocity shape functions can overcome this drawback. Further, the approach is much simpler to apply, requires less computational effort, and provides competitive accuracy. Numerical solutions and convergence study for some well-known problems in linear elasticity and Stokes flow are presented to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach. This research was supported in part by the 2004 Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Enhancement Award from Oak Ridge Associated Universities and by the University of South Alabama Research Council.     

Condition Monitoring of Ground Anchorages by Dynamic Impulses: GRANIT System

The GRANIT system operates by applying an impulse of known force by means of an impact device that is attached to the tendon of the anchorage. The vibration response signals resulting from this impulse are complex in nature and require analysis to be undertaken in order to extract information from the vibrational response signatures that is relevant to the condition of the anchorage. In the system, the complicated relationship that exists between characteristics of an anchorage and its response to an impulse is identified and learned by a novel artificial intelligence network based on artificial intelligence techniques.The results presented in this paper demonstrate the potential of the GRANIT system to diagnose the integrity of ground anchorages at a site near Stone, England, by using a trained neural network capable of diagnosing the post-tension level of the anchorage. This neural network was used for the diagnosis of load in a second ground anchorage adjacent to the original anchorage used for the training of the neural network. Further tests were taken with a different anchor head configuration of the anchorage and a different relationship between the signature response of the anchorage to an applied impulse and its post-tension level was found.Problems encountered during the diagnosis of this second set of test signatures by the trained neural network are investigated with the use of a lumped parameter dynamic model. This model is able to identify the parameters in the anchorage system that affect this change in response signature. The results from the investigation lead to a new form of classification for the installed anchorages, based on their anchor head configuration.Laboratory strand anchorage tests were undertaken in order to compare with and validate the results obtained from the field tests and the lumped parameter dynamic model.     

Analysis of capillary interaction and oil recovery under ultrasonic waves

Although, the effects of ultrasonic irradiation on multiphase flow through porous media have been studied in the past few decades, the physics of the acoustic interaction between fluid and rock is not yet well understood. Various mechanisms may be responsible for enhancing the flow of oil through porous media in the presence of an acoustic field. Capillary related mechanisms are peristaltic transport due to mechanical deformation of the pore walls, reduction of capillary forces due to the destruction of surface films generated across pore boundaries, coalescence of oil drops due to Bjerknes forces, oscillation and excitation of capillary trapped oil drops, forces generated by cavitating bubbles, and sonocapillary effects. Insight into the physical principles governing the mobilization of oil by ultrasonic waves is vital for developing and implementing novel techniques of oil extraction. This paper aims at identifying and analyzing the influence of high-frequency, high-intensity ultrasonic radiation on capillary imbibition. Laboratory experiments were performed using cylindrical Berea sandstone and Indiana limestone samples with all sides (quasi-co-current imbibition), and only one side (counter-current imbibition) contacting with the aqueous phase. The oil saturated cores were placed in an ultrasonic bath, and brought into contact with the aqueous phase. The recovery rate due to capillary imbibition was monitored against time. Air–water, mineral oil–brine, mineral oil–surfactant solution and mineral oil-polymer solution experiments were run each exploring a separate physical process governing acoustic stimulation. Water–air imbibition tests isolate the effect of ultrasound on wettability, capillarity and density, while oil–brine imbibition experiments help outline the ultrasonic effect on viscosity and interfacial interaction between oil, rock and aqueous phase. We find that ultrasonic irradiation enhances capillary imbibition recovery of oil for various fluid pairs, and that such process is dependent on the interfacial tension and density of the fluids. Although more evidence is needed, some runs hint that wettability was not altered substantially under ultrasound. Preliminary analysis of the imbibition recoveries also suggests that ultrasound enhances surfactant solubility and reduce surfactant adsorption onto the rock matrix. Additionally, counter-current experiments involving kerosene and brine in epoxy coated Berea sandstone showed a dramatic decline in recovery. Therefore, the effectiveness of any ultrasonic application may strongly depend on the nature of interaction type, i.e., co- or counter-current flow. A modified form of an exponential model was employed to fit the recovery curves in an attempt to quantify the factors causing the incremental recovery by ultrasonic waves for different fluid pairs and rock types.     

A sample preparation method for recovering suppressed analyte ions in MALDI TOF MS

In matrix‐assisted laser desorption/ionization time‐of‐flight mass spectrometry (MALDI TOF MS), analyte signals can be substantially suppressed by other compounds in the sample. In this technical note, we describe a modified thin‐layer sample preparation method that significantly reduces the analyte suppression effect (ASE). In our method, analytes are deposited on top of the surface of matrix preloaded on the MALDI plate. To prevent embedding of analyte into the matrix crystals, the sample solution were prepared without matrix and efforts were taken not to re‐dissolve the preloaded matrix. The results with model mixtures of peptides, synthetic polymers and lipids show that detection of analyte ions, which were completely suppressed using the conventional dried‐droplet method, could be effectively recovered by using our method. Our findings suggest that the incorporation of analytes in the matrix crystals has an important contributory effect on ASE. By reducing ASE, our method should be useful for the direct MALDI MS analysis of multicomponent mixtures. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Signal amplification strategies for DNA and protein detection based on polymeric nanocomposites and polymerization: A review

Demand is increasing for ultrasensitive bioassays for disease diagnosis, environmental monitoring and other research areas. This requires novel signal amplification strategies to maximize the signal output. In this review, we focus on a series of significant signal amplification strategies based on polymeric nanocomposites and polymerization. Some common polymers are used as carriers to increase the local concentration of signal probes and/or biomolecules on their surfaces or in their interiors. Some polymers with special fluorescence and optical properties can efficiently transfer the excitation energy from a single site to the whole polymer backbone. This results in superior fluorescence signal amplification due to the resulting collective effort (integration of signal). Recent polymerization-based signal amplification strategies that employ atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP) and photo-initiated polymerization are also summarized. Several distinctive applications of polymers in ultrasensitive bioanalysis are highlighted.     

Dual gold nanoparticle lateflow immunoassay for sensitive detection of Escherichia coli O157:H7

Two patterns of signal amplification lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA), which used anti-mouse secondary antibody-linked gold nanoparticle (AuNP) for dual AuNP-LFIA were developed. Escherichia coli O157:H7 was selected as the model analyte. In the signal amplification direct LFIA method, anti-mouse secondary antibody-linked AuNP (anti-mouse-Ab-AuNP) was mixed with sample solution in an ELISA well, after which it was added to LFIA, which already contained anti-E. coli O157:H7 monoclonal antibody-AuNP (anti-E. coli O157:H7-mAb-AuNP) dispersed in the conjugate pad. Polyclonal antibody was the test line, and anti-mouse secondary antibody was the control line in nitrocellulose (NC) membrane. In the signal amplification indirect LFIA method, anti-mouse-Ab-AuNP was mixed with sample solution and anti-E. coli O157:H7-mAb-AuNP complex in ELISA well, creating a dual AuNP complex. This complex was added to LFIA, which had a polyclonal antibody as the test line and secondary antibody as the control line in NC membrane. The detection sensitivity of both LFIAs improved 100-fold and reached 1.14 × 10³ CFU mL⁻¹. The 28 nm and 45 nm AuNPs were demonstrated to be the optimal dual AuNP pairs. Signal amplification LFIA was perfectly applied to the detection of milk samples with E. coli O157:H7 via naked eye observation.     

气基磁化焙烧回收包头稀土尾矿中铁的研究

试验采用磁化焙烧-磁选的方法来回收包头稀土尾矿中的Fe。考察了还原球团的粒径、焙烧温度、还原气体的成分、还原气气体流量、焙烧时间对于磁化焙烧回收Fe的影响。在焙烧温度为580℃,CO与CO2的浓度比为40∶60,还原气体气流量为1.2 L·min-1,焙烧时间为60 min的条件下对球团进行磁化焙烧,并将焙烧后的球团进行磨矿,使得-200目的物料占物料总重量的95%。将磨矿后的物料置于磁场强度为233 k A·m-1的磁选管中进行磁选,可以得到品位为60%左右的铁精矿,其铁回收率达到70%左右。     

Low rank matrix recovery from rank one measurements

We study the recovery of Hermitian low rank matrices $X\in {\mathbb{C}}^{n\times n}$ from undersampled measurements via nuclear norm minimization. We consider the particular scenario where the measurements are Frobenius inner products with random rank-one matrices of the form $a_j{a}_j^{?}$ for some measurement vectors $a_1,\dots ,a_m$, i.e., the measurements are given by $b_j=\mathrm{tr}(X{a}_j{a}_j^{?})$. The case where the matrix $X=x{x}^{?}$ to be recovered is of rank one reduces to the problem of phaseless estimation (from measurements $b_j=|〈x,a_j〉{|}^2$) via the PhaseLift approach, which has been introduced recently. We derive bounds for the number m of measurements that guarantee successful uniform recovery of Hermitian rank r matrices, either for the vectors $a_j$, $j=1,\dots ,m$, being chosen independently at random according to a standard Gaussian distribution, or $a_j$ being sampled independently from an (approximate) complex projective t-design with $t=4$. In the Gaussian case, we require $m\ge Crn$ measurements, while in the case of 4-designs we need $m\ge \mathit{Cr}n\log ?(n)$. Our results are uniform in the sense that one random choice of the measurement vectors $a_j$ guarantees recovery of all rank r-matrices simultaneously with high probability. Moreover, we prove robustness of recovery under perturbation of the measurements by noise. The result for approximate 4-designs generalizes and improves a recent bound on phase retrieval due to Gross, Krahmer and Kueng. In addition, it has applications in quantum state tomography. Our proofs employ the so-called bowling scheme which is based on recent ideas by Mendelson and Koltchinskii.     

Comparative and evolutionary studies of mammalian arylsulfatase and sterylsulfatase genes and proteins encoded on the X-chromosome

At least 19 sulfatase genes have been reported on the human genome, including four arylsulfatase (ARS) genes (ARSD; ARSE; ARSF; ARSH) and a sterylsulfatase (STS) gene located together on the X-chromosome. Bioinformatic analyses of mammalian genomes were undertaken using known human STS and ARS amino acid sequences to study the evolution of these genes and proteins encoded on eutherian and marsupial genomes. Several domain regions and key residues were conserved including signal peptides, active site residues, metal (Ca²⁺) and substrate binding sequences, transmembranes and N-glycosylation sites. Phylogenetic analyses describe the relationships and potential origins of these genes during mammalian evolution. Primate ARSH enzymes lacked signal peptide sequences which may influence their biological functions. CpG117 and CpG92 were detected within the 5′ region of the human STS and ARSD genes, respectively, and miR-205 within the 3′-UTR for the human STS gene, using bioinformatic methods A proposal is described for a primordial invertebrate STS-like gene serving as an ancestor for unequal cross over events generating the gene complex on the eutherian mammalian X-chromosome.     

基于旋转变换和鲁棒主成分分析的车牌校正方法

本文研究了受到非高斯噪声污染及边框信息不完整的车牌图像校正的问题.利用鲁棒主成分分析与旋转变换结合的方法,获得了更具普适性的车牌矫正方法.并通过与主成分分析法、旋转投影法的矫正结果相比较,推广了本文方法具有更好的鲁棒性和普适性的结果.