VeriVANca framework: verification of VANETs by property-based message passing of actors in Rebeca with inheritance

International Journal on Software Tools for Technology Transfer - Vehicular ad hoc networks have attracted the attention of many researchers during the last years due to the emergence of autonomous...     

Applicability of sheep and pig models for cancellous bone in human vertebral bodies

The mineral content of cancellous bone from sheep and pig vertebral bodies was determined by ashing at 800 degrees C. The results were compared with published results for human vertebral cancellous bone. The results for sheep (0.37 +/- 0.06 gcm(-3), mean +/- standard deviation) were not significantly different (p = 0.127) to those from pigs (0.33 +/- 0.03 gcm(-3)). The results from both species were significantly higher (p < 0.001) than those from human bones (0.15 +/- 0.02 gcm(-3)). This means that cancellous bone from sheep and pig vertebral bodies is not a good model for corresponding human bone. However, sheep and pig bone are useful, for example, for providing stringent tests of cutting instruments to be used in human spinal surgery.     

Oxidative Stability of Rice Bran Wax Oleogels and an Oleogel Cream Cheese Product

Recently, a number of publications demonstrated the successful applications of oleogels (OG) (liquid oils gelled through organogelators) in food products. Although many highlighted the health benefits of OG, potential negative impacts of thermal processing during oleogelation on nutrition and flavor quality of the OG‐based food are not fully studied. Hence, in this study, an oleogel‐cream‐cheese (OCC) product was formulated and the effects of OG processing on the oil's oxidative stability and the tocopherol content were investigated. The OG system used in the cheese product was prepared with high‐oleic soybean oil (HOSO) and rice bran wax. An ungelled cream‐cheese sample (UGCC) and two commercial cream‐cheese products were used as controls. Although high‐performance liquid chromatography data analysis showed a lower total tocopherol content in OG samples compared to HOSO, the samples’ α‐tocopherol content remained comparable. No significant differences were observed between the total tocopherol contents of OCC and UGCC cheese products, and the amount of all three‐tocopherol isomers remained constant during 14 days of storage. Although oxidation analysis showed more volatile compounds in OG samples compared to HOSO, there was only a minor difference in the volatile content between the OCC and UGCC samples. The results show minimal degradation of vegetable OG due to the thermal processing and storage that may help their potential application in dairy products.     

Bioinspired polydopamine coating-assisted electrospun polyurethane-graphene oxide nanofibers for bone tissue engineering application

It is inevitable to replace the tissues and organs that have been malfunctioning due to trauma or difference diseases, so tissue engineering can be a promising approach in case of regeneration. In this investigation, electrospun polyurethane-graphene oxide scaffold was coated with polydopamine (PDA) by immersing the constructs in dopamine hydrochloride solution under the alkaline condition for 24 h. The present study aimed to investigate the synergic effects of graphene oxide (GO) and PDA on the osteogenic expression. Field emission scanning electron microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectrum, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) proved the synthesis of GO. Water drop contact angle and swelling absorption test indicated significantly enhancement in hydrophilicity after coating the scaffolds with PDA. Besides, PDA induced more ability of mineralization bone-like component. According to the results, cell attachment and proliferation were greatly increased in coated constructs. Alkaline phosphatase expression was also increased on the PDA-deposited polymeric scaffolds. In general, these characteristics suggest that the PDA-coated polyurethane-GO scaffolds are an appropriate substrate for in vivo studies and the bone regeneration. © 2019 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2019 , 136, 47656.     

Effect of iron on Ni–Mo–Fe composite as a low-cost bifunctional electrocatalyst for overall water splitting

By increasing demand for hydrogen and oxygen gas for energy and industrial applications, designing a cheap, high-efficiency, and bifunctional electrocatalyst for hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) and oxygen evolution reaction (OER) seems necessary. For this purpose Ni–Mo–Fe as a bifunctional electrocatalyst was synthesized by one-step electrodeposition. From this electrocatalyst with optimal composition and current density, a small overpotential of 65, 161 mV for delivering 10, 100 mA/cm² on HER in alkaline media was achieved. As-fabricated electrode exhibited 344,408 mV for delivering 10, 100 mA/cm² in OER. Furthermore, this electrocatalyst shows high stability and negligible degradation in overpotential for HER and OER under long term stability tests in alkaline media. The notable function of As-fabricated Ni–Mo–Fe is due to the synergism effect between Ni, Mo, and Fe element and binder-free structure. Owing to the high-performance and high-stability of Ni–Mo–Fe electrocatalyst under Hydrogen and Oxygen evolution reactions is a candidate for industrial uses in the alkaline electrolyzer.     

Evaluation of the Keitz Method for Quantifying the UV Output of Medium Pressure Mercury Lamps

This work was conducted to check the suitability of using the Keitz method to determine the output power of (polychromatic) medium pressure mercury lamps. The check was accomplished by comparing results from the Keitz method with those of a full multidirectional (goniometric) measurement method.     

Antibacterial activity of natural polymer gels and potential applications without synthetic antibiotics

Antibiotics' use has increased, resulting in disadvantages like patients' drug resistance. Consequently, urgent action is required to develop a new generation of antibacterial agents. Most antibacterial platforms still require a modification with further antibacterial agents (e.g., antibiotics) for adequate antibacterial efficiency. Thus, a nonantibiotic methodology is immediately needed. Furthermore, bactericidal agents used for this purpose are usually based on metal nanoparticles, carbon materials, and polymers. Still, chemicals, antibiotics, and biocides lead to environmental damage. Therefore, the help of biocompatible yet durable materials and polymers is highly appreciated. In addition, if a polymer is not biodegradable, it will remain in the environment for more than one hundred years due to its low degradation rate. Moreover, non-biodegradable polymers are harmful to in vivo applications. Hence, the use of biodegradable and non-toxic materials has received many considerations. Over the last few years, the design and synthesis of new polymer gels have gained increasing attention. A polymer gel, also known as a hydrogel, is a three-dimensional and cross-linked network filled with water or other liquid solvents. Besides, the hydrogels supercritical drying method results in aerogels, and the freeze-drying method generates cryogels, where their porous and sponge-like structures are preserved. Additionally, antibacterial polymer gels are a new generation of polymers considered attractive due to their unique properties. The most recent studies and the latest innovations in polymer gels and hybrid polymers with intrinsic antibacterial properties were discussed in the present review. The reviewed studies from 2015 to April 2022 showed a tremendous revival in research about biopolymer hydrogel, aerogel, and cryogel as antibacterial agents.     

A hybrid Nelder–Mead simplex and PSO approach on economic and economic-statistical designs of MEWMA control charts

Economic design of a control chart involves determining its basic parameters such that a cost function is minimized. This design when statistical performance measures are also considered is referred to as the economic-statistical design. In this paper, a simplex-based Nelder–Mead algorithm is used in combination with a particle swarm meta-heuristic procedure to solve both the economic and economic-statistical designs of a MEWMA control chart. The application results on extensive simulation experiments show that the particle swarm can lead the Nelder–Mead algorithm to better results. Furthermore, a comparative study is performed on the performances of three different algorithms of the Nelder–Mead, the particle swarm optimization (PSO), and the hybrid PSO and Nelder–Mead (PSO–NM). In this study, five different performance measures are taken into consideration and the results for both the economic and the economic-statistical models are reported at the end.     

A New matching strategy: Trial of the principal component coordinates

A new matching strategy based on the equalization of the first three principal component coordinates of sample and target in a 3D eigenvector space is stated. Two series of databases including 1269 specimens of Munsell Color Book and a virtual sample population of textile materials were selected. Their first three basis functions were extracted and considered as axes of eigenvector space. The principal component coordinates of two different collections of textile samples were determined in these spaces and considered as matching criteria. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated by the color difference values under different light sources as well as the root mean square differences of reflectance curves. Results indicate some types of improvements in comparison with previous algorithms in terms of spectral as well as colorimetric accuracy. © 2007 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Col Res Appl, 33, 10–18, 2008