Personalized voice activated grasping system for a robotic exoskeleton glove

This paper proposes a novel human machine interface (HMI) and electronics system design to control a rehabilitation robotic exoskeleton glove. Such system can be activated with the user’s voice, take voice commands as input, recognize the command and perform biometric authentication in real-time with limited computing power, and execute the command on the exoskeleton. The electronics design is a stand-alone plug-and-play modulated design independent of the exoskeleton design. This personalized voice activated grasping system achieves better wearability, lower latency, and improved security than any existing exoskeleton glove control system.     

An application of factorial design to the development of fused silica capillary columns

Stationary phase crosslinking conditions for fused silica capillary columns were optimized with the use of a factorial design experiment. This experimental strategy was chosen because it provided for the determination of two-factor interactions. A predictive model was developed for the desired chromatographic performance parameters as a function of the variables of the crosslinking reaction. Confirmatory experiments proved the usefulness of the mathematical model which resulted in the production of capillary columns of superior performance with significant improvements in reproducibility.     

The optimization of silica gel synthesis from chemical bottle waste using response surface methodology

To reduce the amount of hazardous chemical bottle waste in the environment, we report the optimization research of silica extraction in chemical bottle waste into silica gel. Alkali fusion and sol–gel process were utilised to prepare silica gel effectively. The alkali fusion process was carried out by adding sodium hydroxide to produce sodium silicate. Afterwards, silica gel was prepared by the sol–gel method using hydrochloric acid. Box-Behnken Design (BBD) was applied to Optimisation factors the poptimiseactors affecting the silica recovery. The factors that optimised mass ratio, particle size, and temperature. The optimum recovery of silica gel was obtained by SiO₂: NaOH mass ratio of 1:3, the particle size of 63–74 µm, and a temperature of 800 °C. The purity of silica gel optimum is 63.74% characterised using X-ray fluorescence. The structure of silica gel is the appearance of amorphous peaks at 2θ 20-30° characterised using an x-ray diffractogram. The silica gel surface was characterises using scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive x-ray. It showed an irregular surface and characteristic showed that silica gel had a radius of 15.74 nm and a specific surface area of 297.08 m².     

Factor Xa: Simulation studies with an eye to inhibitor design

Factor Xa is a serine protease which activates thrombin and plays a key regulatory role in the blood-coagulation cascade. Factor Xa is at the crossroads of the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of coagulation and, hence, has become an important target for the design of anti-thrombotics (inhibitors). It is not known to be involved in other processes than hemostasis and its binding site is different to that of other serine proteases, thus facilitating selective inhibition. The design of high-affinity selective inhibitors of factor Xa requires knowledge of the structural and dynamical characteristics of its active site. The three-dimensional structure of factor Xa was resolved by X-ray crystallography and refined at 2.2 Å resolution by Padmanabhan and collaborators. In this article we present results from molecular dynamics simulations of the catalytic domain of factor Xa in aqueous solution. The simulations were performed to characterise the mobility and flexibility of the residues delimiting the unoccupied binding site of the enzyme, and to determine hydrogen bonding propensities (with protein and with solvent atoms) of those residues in the active site that could interact with a substrate or a potential inhibitor. The simulation data is aimed at facilitating the design of high-affinity selective inhibitors of factor Xa.     

Functionality map analysis of the active site cleft of human thrombin

Summary The Multiple Copy Simultaneous Search methodology has been used to construct functionality maps for an extended region of human thrombin, including the active site. This method allows the determination of energetically favorable positions and orientations for functional groups defined by the user on the three-dimensional surface of a protein. The positions of 10 functional group sites are compared with those of corresponding groups of four thrombin-inhibitor complexes. Many, but not all features, of known thrombin inhibitors are reproduced by the method. The results indicate that certain aspects of the binding modes of these inhibitors are not optimal. In addition, suggestions are made for improving binding by interaction with functional group sites on the thrombin surface that are not used by the thrombin inhibitors. Abbreviations: MCSS, multiple copy simultaneous search; PPACK, d-phenylalanyl-l-propyl-l-arginine chloromethane; NAPAP, N -(2-naphthylsulfonylglycyl)-d-para-amidinophenylalanylpiperidine; argatroban, (2R,4R)-4-methyl-1-[N -(3-methyl-1,2,3,4-tetrahydro-8-quinolinylsulfonyl)-l-arginyl]-2-piperidine carboxylic acid; rms, root mean square. The thrombin residues are numbered according to the chymotrypsin-based numbering by Bode et al. [8]. P1, P2, P3, etc., denote the peptide inhibitor residues on the amino-terminal side of the scissile peptide bond, and S1, S2, S3, etc., the corresponding subsites of thrombin     

Synthesis of mono meso-pyridyl 21,23-dithiaporphyrins and unsymmetrical non-covalent porphyrin dimers

A new method has been developed to synthesize 21,23-dithiaporphyrins having one pyridyl group at the meso position. The method required easily available unknown precursors and the condensation resulted in mono meso-pyridyl 21,23-dithiaporphyrins as single products in 8-11% yield. Two of the three mono meso-pyridyl N₂S₂ porphyrins were used to synthesize non-covalent unsymmetrical porphyrin dimers containing one N₂S₂ and one N₄ porphyrin cores.     

Efficient clustering algorithms for self-organizing wireless sensor networks

Self-organization of wireless sensor networks, which involves network decomposition into connected clusters, is a challenging task because of the limited bandwidth and energy resources available in these networks. In this paper, we make contributions towards improving the efficiency of self-organization in wireless sensor networks. We first present a novel approach for message-efficient clustering, in which nodes allocate local “growth budgets” to neighbors. We introduce two algorithms that make use of this approach. We analyze the message complexity of these algorithms and provide performance results from simulations. The algorithms produce clusters of bounded size and low diameter, using significantly fewer messages than the earlier, commonly used, Expanding Ring approach. Next, we present a new randomized methodology for designing the timers of cluster initiators. This methodology provides a probabilistic guarantee that initiators will not interfere with each other. We derive an upper bound on the expected time for network decomposition that is logarithmic in the number of nodes in the network. We also present a variant that optimistically allows more concurrency among initiators and significantly reduces the network decomposition time. However, it produces slightly more clusters than the first method. Extensive simulations over different topologies confirm the analytical results and demonstrate that our proposed methodology scales to large networks.     

圆柱类构件超声相控阵聚焦模型

在利用平面相控阵超声换能器对圆柱类构件检测时,受曲界面结构引起的入射波和回波时延的影响,扫描声束的波阵面产生弯曲,在利用传统迭代遍历算法计算延迟时间时效率低,无法发挥相控阵换能器检测优势。针对上述问题,建立了一种基于圆柱类构件特征和耦合介质特性的超声相控阵扫描成像的聚焦模型。该模型基于换能器、耦合介质、圆柱类构件材料特性和几何关系以及声线模型和折射定律,建立了耦合介质及被检构件的声速、曲面曲率半径、阵列与曲面间的距离等关联的延迟时间聚焦控制模型。利用该模型计算出的延时时间,对各阵元发射时间进行控制,从而实现扫描声束的聚焦。该文以液体和有机玻璃制介质楔块为例,对圆柱钢曲面的相控阵声束聚焦进行了仿真实验,结果表明该文方法计算效率显著提升,同时声束可以在预设位置实现聚焦,验证了该模型在计算效率上的优势与有效性。     

An Experimental Design Approach to Quantitative Expression for Quality Control of a Multicomponent Antidiabetic Formulation by the HILIC Method

A rapid and reproducible hydrophilic liquid chromatography (HILIC) process was established for concomitant determination of remogliflozin etabonate (RE), vildagliptin (VD), and metformin (MF) in a formulation. A face-centered central composite experimental design was employed to optimize and predict the chromatographic condition by statistically studying the surface response model and design space with desirability close to one. A HILIC column with a simple mobile phase of acetonitrile (65% v/v) and 20 mM phosphate buffer (35% v/v, pH 6, controlled with orthophosphoric acid) was used to separate RE, VD, and MF. RE, VD, and MF were separated in 3.6 min using an isocratic mode mobile phase flow at a flow rate of 1.4 mL at room temperature, and the analytes were examined by recording the absorption at 210 nm. The developed HILIC method was thoroughly validated for all parameters recommended by ICH, and linearity was observed in the ranges 20–150 µg/mL, 10–75 µg/mL, and 50–750 µg/mL for RE, VD, and MF, respectively, along with excellent regression coefficients (r² > 0.999). The calculated percentage relative deviation and relative error ascertained the precision and accuracy of the method. The selectivity and accuracy were further confirmed by the high percentage recovery of added standard drugs to the formulation using the standard addition technique. The robustness of the HILIC processes was confirmed by developing a half-normal probability plot and Pareto chart, as the slight variation of a single factor had no significant influence on the assay outcomes. Utilization of the optimized HILIC procedure for concurrent quantification of RE, VD, and MF in solid dosage forms showed accurate and reproducible results. Hence, the fast HILIC method can be regularly employed for the quality assurance of pharmaceutical preparations comprising RE, VD, and MF.     

一种沟槽-场限环复合终端结构的设计

为了改善硅功率器件击穿电压性能以及改善IGBT电流的流动方向,提出了一种沟槽-场限环复合终端结构。分别在主结处引入浮空多晶硅沟槽,在场限环的左侧引入带介质的沟槽,沟槽右侧与场限环左侧横向扩展界面刚好交接。结果表明,这一结构改善了IGBT主结电流丝分布,将一部分电流路径改为纵向流动,改变了碰撞电离路径,在提高主结电势的同时也提高器件终端结构的可靠性;带介质槽的场限环结构进一步缩短了终端长度,其横纵耗尽比为3.79,较传统设计的场限环结构横纵耗尽比减少了1.48%,硅片利用率提高,进而减小芯片面积,节约制造成本。此方法在场限环终端设计中非常有效。