Numerical study of microscopic particle arrangement of suspension flow in a narrow channel for the estimation of macroscopic rheological properties

In a narrow channel, the apparent relative viscosity of a suspension with finite-size particles is strongly dependent on its microscopic particle arrangement. Relative viscosity increases when suspended particles flow near the channel wall; thus, a suspension in a narrow channel does not always exhibit the same rheological properties even if the concentration is the same. In this study, we focus on the inertia and concentration of particles in a narrow channel and consider their effects on the microscopic particle arrangement and macroscopic suspension rheology. Two-dimensional pressure-driven suspension flow simulations were performed using a two-way coupling scheme, and normalized particle density distribution (PDD) were implemented to consider their particle arrangements. The results demonstrated that the velocity profiles for the particle suspension were changed by the Reynolds number and particle concentration because of the interactions between particles according to the power-law index. These changes affected the particle equilibrium positions in the channel, and the subsequent changes in solvent layer thickness caused changes in the macroscopic apparent viscosity. The behavior of microscopic particles played important roles in determining macroscopic rheology. Thus, we have confirmed that a normalized PDD can be used to estimate and assess the macroscopic rheology of a suspension.     

The effect of rare-earth oxides on the energy storage performances in BaTiO3 based ceramics

In this work, 0.7BaTiO₃-0.3Sr_0.2Bi_0.7TiO₃ (0.7BT-0.3SBT) ceramics with 0.15 mol% various rare-earth oxides doped are designed and synthesized by the conventional solid-state route. All prepared samples exhibited a single perovskite phase and dense microstructure with fine grain size (0.2–0.5 μm) after sintering at 1180 °C. Especially, the Gd-doped 0.7BT-0.3SBT ceramics exhibited excellent energy storage performances; the corresponding recoverable energy density and efficiency were 3.2 J/cm³ and 91.5% under an electric field of 330 kV/cm, respectively. Meanwhile, doping with Gd caused the BT-based ceramics to possess excellent temperature (30–150 °C) and outstanding frequency stabilities (10–1000 Hz). Moreover, the pulsed charge-discharge experiments revealed that a high power density of 59 MW/cm³ and a fast discharge speed of 110 ns with outstanding temperature stability could be synchronously obtained in the Gd-doped composition. All these features are attractive for pulsed power applications.     

Adaptive reversible data hiding for JPEG images with multiple two-dimensional histograms

Joint photographic experts group (JPEG) can provide good quality with small file size but also eliminate extensively the redundancies of images. Therefore, hiding data into JPEG images in terms of maintaining high visual quality at small file sizes has been a great challenge for researchers. In this paper, an adaptive reversible data hiding method for JPEG images containing multiple two-dimensional (2D) histograms is proposed. Adaptability is mainly reflected in three aspects. The first one is to preferentially select sharper histograms for data embedding after $K$ histograms are established by constructing the $k$th ($k\in \{1,2,\dots ,K\}$) histogram using the $k$th non-zero alternating current (AC) coefficient of all the quantized discrete cosine transform blocks. On the other hand, to fully exploit the strong correlation between coefficients of one histogram, the smoothness of each coefficient is estimated by a block smoothness estimator so that a sharply-distributed 2D-histogram is constructed by combining two coefficients with similar smoothness into a pair. The pair corresponding to low complexity is selected priorly for data embedding, leading to high embedding performance while maintaining low file size. Besides, we design multiple embedding strategies to adaptively select the embedding strategy for each 2D histogram. Experimental results demonstrate that the proposed method can achieve higher rate–distortion performance which maintaining lower file storage space, compared with previous studies.     

Imitative Collaboration: A mirror-neuron inspired mixed reality collaboration method with remote hands and local replicas

Mixed reality can overlay and display 3D digital content in the real world, convey abstract concepts to users, and promote the understanding of complex tasks. However, the abstract graphics overlaid on the physical space may cause a certain cognitive load for local users and reduce the efficiency of collaboration. To improve the efficiency of remote collaboration, we conducted an elicitation study on assembly tasks, explored the user needs for collaboration, and defined the design goals of our remote collaboration method. Inspired by the mirror-neuron mechanism, we present an imitative collaboration method that allows local users to imitate the interaction behavior of remote users to complete tasks. We also propose a series of interaction methods for remote users to select, copy, and interact with the local point clouds to facilitate the expression of collaboration intentions. Finally, the results of a user study evaluating our imitative collaboration method on assembly tasks are reported, confirming that our method improves collaboration efficiency while reducing the cognitive load of local users.     

基于双时间点检测的毫米波雷达人流量监测方法

针对现有基于视频监控的人流量统计方案成本高、算法复杂且不利于个人隐私保护的局限性，利用毫米波雷达体积小、成本低、分辨率高的特点，提出了一种基于双时间点检测的人流量监测方法。该方法先获取人体目标散射点位置和多普勒频移信息来构成点云数据，然后根据多普勒频移正负来判断人体的运动方向，并筛选具有高多普勒频移值的点云数据以降低干扰点对聚类结果的影响；在双时间点对特定区域内人员数量进行统计，并根据双时间点之间所获取的点云数据聚类结果对所统计人员数据进行修正。实验结果表明，该方法能够用匿名的方式以较高的正确率统计人员进出。     

具有保护肠上皮细胞HT-29免受大肠杆菌和H2O2损伤潜力的植物乳杆菌的筛选

益生菌可在肠道定植从而发挥抗炎或抗氧化活性，有利于宿主肠道健康。本实验研究了从新疆传统发酵乳制品中分离得到的8?株植物乳杆菌对大肠杆菌侵袭和过氧化氢刺激肠上皮细胞HT-29的保护作用。结果表明：在8?株植物乳杆菌中，植物乳杆菌35具有最高的黏附能力。植物乳杆菌35可通过取代、竞争、排阻的方式抑制大肠杆菌对HT-29细胞的黏附，抑制率分别为42.60%、59.17%、60.19%。植物乳杆菌35及其多糖可抑制大肠杆菌刺激HT-29细胞产生白细胞介素-8；同时保护HT-29细胞免受过氧化氢的损伤，增加超氧化物歧化酶、谷胱甘肽过氧化物酶活力水平并降低丙二醛含量。结论：植物乳杆菌35及其粗胞外多糖具有抑制大肠杆菌O157诱导的炎症性肠病的潜力。     

Tunable BaxSr1-xTiO3 nanoparticles induced high energy storage density in layer-structured asymmetric polymer-based nanocomposites

In order to solve the problem of low charging and discharging energy density of dielectric capacitors, the structure design of layered polymer matrix composites is carried out in this paper. Ba_0.7Sr_0.3TiO₃, Ba_0.8Sr_0.2TiO₃ and Ba_0.9Sr_0.1TiO₃ nanoparticles were successfully prepared by the oxalate coprecipitation method. The surface of Ba_xSr_1-xTiO₃ was successfully coated with dopamine, which promoted the dispersion of the polymer matrix of the ceramic powder. Monolayer Ba_xSr_1-xTiO₃/PVDF composites containing Ba_xSr_1-xTiO₃ with different Ba/Sr ratios were successfully prepared by the casting method. Three-layer asymmetric composites with different fillers were successfully prepared by layer-by-layer casting. The phase and microstructure of the as-prepared materials were analyzed by XRD and SEM. The dielectric, electrical conductivity, ferroelectric and energy storage properties of the composites were tested. The effects and laws of the design of the three-layer asymmetric structure on the dielectric properties and energy storage properties of the layered composites are mainly studied. When the structure of the three-layer asymmetric composite is 1-2-3, the breakdown field strength reaches 330 kV/mm, the discharge energy density reaches 8.51 J/cm³, and the charge-discharge efficiency is 67%. This work demonstrates that layered composites with asymmetric properties can facilitate the development of electrical energy storage.     

四氢姜黄素经PI3K/Akt信号通路对人血小板活化和聚集的调控作用

目的：探讨姜黄素的主要肠道代谢物四氢姜黄素（tetrahydrocurcumin，THC）对血小板活化和聚集的影响及其可能的分子机制。方法：在体外实验中，用不同浓度的THC（0、0.5、1、10 μmol/L）提前与健康人纯化血小板共同孵育40 min，然后加入凝血酶激活血小板2 min，用流式细胞术测定血小板表面CD62P和CD63的表达量，用酶联免疫吸附法测定血小板释放血小板因子-4（platelet factor-4，PF4）和趋化因子配体-5（chemokine ligand 5，CCL5）水平，用血小板聚集仪检测血小板释放ATP水平和血小板最大聚集率，用Western blot蛋白免疫印迹法检测血小板磷酸肌醇-3-激酶（phosphoinositide 3-kinase，PI3K）和Akt蛋白的磷酸化水平。结果：与模型组（血小板悬液中加入0.05%二甲基亚砜）相比，THC能抑制凝血酶诱导的血小板表面CD62P和CD63的表达，抑制PF4、CCL5和ATP的释放，降低血小板最大聚集率，下调PI3K和Akt蛋白的磷酸化水平，且呈浓度依赖效应，其中10 μmol/L的浓度下作用效果显著（P＜0.01、P＜0.001）。PI3K的特异性激动剂740 Y-P可部分逆转THC对PF4和CCL5释放和血小板聚集的抑制作用（P＜0.05、P＜0.01）。结论：THC具有显著抑制血小板活化和聚集的作用，其机制可能是THC可下调PI3K/Akt介导的信号通路。     

Consolidation considering increasing soil column radius for dredged slurries improved by vacuum preloading method

Soil column is often investigated in the improvement of dredged slurries. Different from the smear zone, the soil column forms gradually and has extremely low permeability. This study presents an analytical solution for soil consolidation considering the increasing radius of the soil column and time-dependent discharge capacity. Based on the solution, the influence of the radius' increase on the consolidation behavior is found significant when the soil column has low permeability and large final radius, and the increase of formation time can lead to the increase of consolidation speed and final consolidation degree.