Flow-rate-insensitive deterministic particle sorting using a combination of travelling and standing surface acoustic waves

Manipulation of cells by acoustic forces in a continuous flow offers a means to sort on the basis of physical properties in a contactless, label-free and biocompatible manner. Many acoustic sorting systems rely on either standing waves or travelling waves alone and require specific exposure times to the acoustic field, fine-tuned by manipulating the bulk flow rate. In this work, we demonstrate a flow-rate-insensitive device for continuous particle sorting by employing a pressure field that utilises both travelling and standing acoustic wave components, whose non-uniform spatial distribution arises from the attenuation of a leaky surface acoustic wave. We show that in parts of the pressure field in which the travelling wave component dominates, particles migrate across multiple wavelengths. In doing so, they drift into areas of standing wave dominance, whereby particles are confined within their respective nodal positions. It is demonstrated that this final confinement location is dependent on the particle size and independent of the force field exposure time and thus the flow rate, permitting the continuous separation of 5.1-, 6.1- and 7.0-µm particles. Omitting the need to precisely control the bulk flow rate potentially enables sorting in systems in which flow is not driven by external pumps.     

Quantum Phase Transition in Spin Systems Studied through Entanglement Estimators

Entanglement represents purely quantum effect involving two or more particles. Spin systems are good candidates for studying this effect and its relation with other collective phenomena ruled by quantum mechanics. While the presence of entangled states can be easily verified, the quantitative estimate of this property is still under investigation. One of the most useful tools in this framework is the concurrence whose definition, albeit limited to S = 1/2 systems, can be related to the correlators. We consider quantum spin systems defined along chains and square lattices, and described by Heisenberg-like Hamiltonians: our goal is to clarify the relation between entanglement and quantum phase transitions, as well as that between the concurrence the and the specific quantum state of the system.     

Computational heat transfer and two-phase flow topology in miniature tubes

Detailed computational multi-fluid dynamics simulations have been performed to study the effect of two-phase flow regime on heat transfer in small diameter pipes. Overall the heat removal rate in two-phase flow is higher than in single phase. Subtle differences in thermal removal rates are revealed when the flow-regime transitions from bubbly to slug and slug-train configurations. It is found that the wall thermal layer is affected by two separate mechanisms: an early-stage compression due to gas-jet fragmentation into slugs or bubbles, and a background inclusion-induced flow superimposed on the equivalent single-phase fully developed flow far downstream. The first mechanism resembles a confinement or blockage effect, and is shown to directly influence radial temperature gradients. The downstream mechanism is a cell-based developed flow (rather than fully developed), and is shown here to increase the wall shear in the vicinity of the cell, leading to higher heat transfer rates. The mean Nusselt number distribution shows that the bubbly, slug and slug-train patterns transport as much as three to four times more heat from the tube wall to the bulk flow than pure water flow. A mechanistic heat transfer model is proposed, based on frequency and length scale of inclusions.     

An Efficient Algorithm for Minimizing Real-Time Transition Systems

We address the problem of performing simultaneously reachability analysis and minimization of real-time transition systems represented by timed automata, i.e., automata extended with a finite set of clock variables. The transitions of the automaton may depend on the values of the clocks and may reset some of the clocks. An efficient algorithm is presented for minimizing a system with respect to a given initial partition that respects the enabling conditions of the transitions of the timed automaton. Our algorithm generates the portion of the minimized system that is reachable from a given initial configuration in time polynomial in the input and the size of the minimal reachable system.     

Self-ordered particle trains in inertial microchannel flows

Controlling the transport of particles in flowing suspensions at microscale is of interest in numerous contexts such as the development of miniaturized and point-of-care analytical devices (in bioengineering, for foodborne illnesses detection, etc.) and polymer engineering. In square microchannels, neutrally buoyant spherical particles are known to migrate across the flow streamlines and concentrate at specific equilibrium positions located at the channel centerline at low flow inertia and near the four walls along their symmetry planes at moderate Reynolds numbers. Under specific flow and geometrical conditions, the spherical particles are also found to line up in the flow direction and form evenly spaced trains. In order to statistically explore the dynamics of train formation and their dependence on the physical parameters of the suspension flow (particle-to-channel size ratio, Reynolds number and solid volume fraction), experiments have been conducted based on in situ visualizations of the flowing particles by optical microscopy. The trains form only once particles have reached their equilibrium positions (following lateral migration). The percentage of particles in trains and the interparticle distance in a train have been extracted and analyzed. The percentage of particles organized in trains increases with the particle Reynolds number up to a threshold value which depends on the concentration and then decreases for higher values. The average distance between the surfaces of consecutive particles in a train decreases as the particle Reynolds number increases and is independent of the particles size and concentration, if the concentration remains below a threshold value related to the degree of confinement of the suspension flow.     

Independent agents in a globalized world modelled by tissue P systems

For modelling the interactions of independent agents (only interacting via a common environment, but not depending on any direct physical interactions with other agents) in the globalized world, we here consider so-called agent tissue P systems (ATP systems). Based on the model of tissue P systems, such ATP systems consist of cells (independent agents) with specific programs which allow for changing the objects inside the agent or for exchanging objects from inside the agent with objects from the environment through the cell membrane. We investigate the computational power of specific variants of ATP systems, and also discuss the special decidability problem whether or not a given ATP system of a specific type from its initial contents can ever reach a configuration where all objects in the system are contained in a specific subset of the set of objects.     

Synthesis of shape-controlled particles based on synergistic effect of geometry confinement, double emulsion template, and polymerization quenching

We present a novel method to produce shape-controlled particles based on synergistic effect of geometry confinement, double emulsion template, and polymerization quenching. Based on the established method, a series of crescent and multi-pod particles can be produced easily and regulated flexibly.     

Structural transitions in neutral and charged proteins in vacuo

In vacuo proteins provide a simple laboratory to explore the roles of sequence, temperature, charge state, and initial configuration in protein folding. Moreover, by the very absence of solvent, the study of anhydrous proteins in vacuo will also help us to understand specific environmental effects. From the experimental viewpoint, these systems are now beginning to be characterized at low resolution. Molecular dynamics (MD) simulations, in combination with tools for protein shape analysis, can complement experiments and provide further insights on the folding-unfolding transitions of these proteins. We review some aspects of this issue by using the results from a detailed MD study of hen egg-white lysozyme. For lysozyme ions, unfolding can be triggered by Coulombic repulsion. In neutral lysozyme, unfolding can be induced by centrifugal forces and also by weakening the monomer-monomer interaction. In both cases, the resulting unfolded transients can be used as initial configurations for relaxation dynamics. All trajectories are analyzed in terms of global molecular shape features of the backbone, including its anisometry and chain entanglement complexity. This strategy allows us to quantify separately the degree of polymer collapse and the evolution of large-scale folding features. Using these last two notions, we discuss some basic questions regarding the nature of the accessible paths associated with unfolding from, and refolding into, compact conformers.     

纳米金刚石反应热的量子化学研究

为了研究纳米粒子的粒度对比表面能及其参与反应时对反应热的影响规律,本文以球形原子簇来模拟纳米金刚石颗粒,建立了计算纳米粒子比表面能和摩尔反应热的模型,用量子化学方法（AM1）,对粒度不同的金刚石纳米粒子的比表面能以及与二氧化碳反应的摩尔反应热进行了计算。结果表明：纳米粒子的比表面能随其粒径的减小而增大,且随着粒径的增大比表面能减小的趋势逐渐趋于平缓,而摩尔反应热的代数值则随其粒径的增大而增大。     

On the emergence of chaos in dynamical networks

We investigate how changes of specific topological features result on transitions among different bounded behaviours in dynamical networks. In particular, we focus on networks with identical dynamical systems, synchronised to a common equilibrium point, then a transition into chaotic behaviour is observed as the number of nodes and the strength of their coupling changes. We analyse the network's transverse Lyapunov exponents (tLes) to derive conditions for the emergence of bounded complex behaviour on different basic network models. We find that, for networks with a given number of nodes, chaotic behaviour emerges when the coupling strength is within a specific bounded interval; this interval is reduced as the number of nodes increases. Furthermore, the endpoints the emergence interval depend on the coupling structure of network. We also find that networks with homogeneous connectivity, such as regular lattices and small-world networks are more conducive to the emergence of chaos than networks with heterogeneous connectivity like scale-free and star-connected graphs. Our results are illustrated with numerical simulations of the chaotic benchmark Lorenz systems, and to underline their potential applicability to real-world systems, our results are used to establish conditions for the chaotic activation of a network of electrically coupled pancreatic β-cell models.     

Implementation of particle-in-cell stellar dynamics codes on the connection machine-2

The development of massively parallel supercomputers provides a unique opportunity to advance the state of the art inN-body simulations. TheseN-body codes are of great importance for simulations in stellar dynamics and plasma physics. For systems with long-range forces, such as gravity or electromagnetic forces, it is important to increase the number of particles toN 10⁷ particles. Significantly improved modeling ofN body systems can be expected by increasingN, arising from a more realistic representation of physical transport processes involving particle diffusion and energy and momentum transport. In addition, it will be possible to guarantee that physically significant portions of complex physical systems, such as Lindblad resonances of galaxies or current sheets in magnetospheres, will have an adequate population of particles for a realistic simulation. Particle-mesh (PM) and particle-particle particle-mesh (P³M) algorithms present the best prospects for the simulation of large-scaleN-body systems. As an example we present a two-dimensional PM simulation of a disk galaxy that we have developed on the Connection Machine-2, a massively parallel boolean hypercube supercomputer. The code is scalable to any CM-2 configuration available and, on the largest configuration, simulations withN = 128 M = 2²⁷ particles are possible in reasonable run times.     

Language-based Performance Prediction for Distributed and Mobile Systems

We present a framework for performance prediction of distributed and mobile systems. We rely on process calculi and their structural operational semantics. The dynamic behaviour is described through transition systems whose transitions are labelled by encodings of their proofs that we then map into stochastic processes. We enhance related works by allowing general continuous distributions resorting to a notion of enabling between transitions. We also discuss how the number of resources available affects the overall model. Finally, we introduce a notion of bisimulation that takes stochastic information into account and prove it to be a congruence. When only exponential distributions are of interest our equivalence induces a lumpable partition on the underlying Markov process.     

Covering arrays for efficient fault characterization in complex configuration spaces

Many modern software systems are designed to be highly configurable so they can run on and be optimized for a wide variety of platforms and usage scenarios. Testing such systems is difficult because, in effect, you are testing a multitude of systems, not just one. Moreover, bugs can and do appear in some configurations, but not in others. Our research focuses on a subset of these bugs that are "option-related"-those that manifest with high probability only when specific configuration options take on specific settings. Our goal is not only to detect these bugs, but also to automatically characterize the configuration subspaces (i.e., the options and their settings) in which they manifest. To improve efficiency, our process tests only a sample of the configuration space, which we obtain from mathematical objects called covering arrays. This paper compares two different kinds of covering arrays for this purpose and assesses the effect of sampling strategy on fault characterization accuracy. Our results strongly suggest that sampling via covering arrays allows us to characterize option-related failures nearly as well as if we had tested exhaustively, but at a much lower cost. We also provide guidelines for using our approach in practice.     

基于MCGS组态软件的油库监控管理软件开发

许多小型监控系统以工业控制计算机为核心，并且越来越多地采用组态方式的开发监控管理软件。本文结合某油库监控管理系统的开发，介绍采用组态编程设计监控管理软件的方法和思路，寻求一种快捷高效、模式化的编程方法，以适合现场灵活多变、应用广泛的各种工业监控管理。     

Visionary prototyping

Today, besides introducing intelligence directly into equipment/systems through embedded microcomputers and providing virtual prototyping through enhanced computer-aided design/computer-aided engineering (CAD/CAE) facilities, information now is well regarded as an essential part of the integrated design approach whereby all members of the prototype development and manufacturing automation team can work closely together throughout the design and manufacturing cycle. The article focuses on two subtopics. The first is the development of a theory for prototyping discrete-event and hybrid systems and its applications. In discrete-event dynamic systems (DEDS), state transitions are caused by internal, discrete events in the system. An overview for the development of a simple graphical environment for simulating, analyzing, synthesizing, monitoring, and controlling discrete-event and hybrid systems is also presented. The second focus is on prototyping machine vision for real-time automation applications. We discuss the problems associated with traditional machine vision systems for cost-effective, real-time applications, novel alternative system design to overcome these problems, and the new trends of modern vision sensors. Modern smart sensors provide the features of traditional machine vision systems at less than half of the usual price by eliminating the signal-conversion electronics, fixed-frame rates, and limited gray-scale quantization. The camera, image-acquisition electronics, and computer are integrated into a single unit to allow dynamic access to the charge-coupled devices without image float or flutter. We also present a physically accurate image synthesis method as a flexible, practical tool for examining a large number of hardware/software configuration combinations for a wide range of parts     

On determinism in modal transition systems

Modal transition system (MTS) is a formalism which extends the classical notion of labelled transition systems by introducing transitions of two types: must transitions that have to be present in any implementation of the MTS and may transitions that are allowed but not required.The MTS framework has proved to be useful as a specification formalism of component-based systems as it supports compositional verification and stepwise refinement. Nevertheless, there are some limitations of the theory, namely that the naturally defined notions of modal refinement and modal composition are incomplete with respect to the semantic view based on the sets of the implementations of a given MTS specification. Recent work indicates that some of these limitations might be overcome by considering deterministic systems, which seem to be more manageable but still interesting for several application areas.In the present article, we provide a comprehensive account of the MTS framework in the deterministic setting. We study a number of problems previously considered on MTS and point out to what extend we can expect better results under the restriction of determinism.     

Longitudinal use of method rationale in method configuration: an exploratory study

Organizations that implement a company-wide method to standardize the way that systems development is carried out still have a need to adapt this method to specific projects. When adapting this method the end results should align with the basic philosophy of the original method. To this end, goal-driven situational method engineering has been proposed. However, there are no longitudinal studies on systems developers’ use of such approaches and their intentions to balance their need of adaptation with the basic philosophy of the original method. This paper explores how goal-driven method configuration has been used by two project teams in six successive systems development projects, with the intention to balance the goals and values of a specific method with the systems developers’ need for method adaptation. We do that through the use of method rationality resonance theory. Through content examples of method configurations, we report on (a) lessons learned from the project teams’ work on balancing the goals of the company-wide method with their needs and (b) theoretical development of the method rationality resonance theory.