State feedback stabilization of cascaded nonlinear systems with discontinuous connection

In practical engineering, many phenomena are described as a discontinuous function of a state variable,and the discontinuity is usually the main reason for the degradation of the control performance. For example, in the setpoint control problem of mechanical systems, the static friction (described by a sgn function of velocity of the contacting faces) causes undesired positioning error. In this paper, we will investigate the stabilization problem for a class of nonlinear systems that consist of two subsystems with cascaded connection.We will show the basic idea with a special case first, and then the result will be extended to more general cases. Some interesting numerical examples will be given to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed design approach.     

Quality evaluation of polarization-modulation infrared reflection-absorption spectra of a Langmuir monolayer on water dependent on angle of incidence and molecular orientation

Quality analysis of polarization-modulation infrared reflection-absorption spectrometry (PM-IRRAS) for measurements of a Langmuir (L) monolayer film on water is presented. The spectral quality represented by the signal-to-noise ratio is evaluated by taking into account both the band intensity and the electrical signal throughput led out from the Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectrometer. The product of the two parameters, which is named the quality evaluation function, theoretically reveals the optimal angle of incidence for the L film measurements. In addition, the PM-IRRAS-specific surface selection rule with respect to the spectral quality is also presented.     

Design,Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel Fluorescent Probes Targeting the 18-kDa Translocator Protein

A series of fluorescent probes from the 6-chloro-2-phenylimidazo[1,2-a]pyridine-3-yl acetamides ligands featuring the 7-nitro-2-oxa-1,3-diazol-4-yl (NBD) moiety has been synthesized and biologically evaluated for their fluorescence properties and for their binding affinity to the 18-kDa translocator protein (TSPO). Spectroscopic studies including UV/Vis absorption and fluorescence measurements showed that the synthesized fluorescent probes exhibit favorable spectroscopic properties, especially in nonpolar environments. In vitro fluorescence staining in brain sections from lipopolysaccharide (LPS)-injected mice revealed partial colocalization of the probes with the TSPO. The TSPO binding affinity of the probes was measured on crude mitochondrial fractions separated from rat brain homogenates in a [¹¹C]PK11195 radioligand binding assay. All the new fluorescent probes demonstrated moderate to high binding affinity to the TSPO, with affinity (K_i) values ranging from 0.58 nM to 3.28 μM. Taking these data together, we propose that the new fluorescent probes could be used to visualize the TSPO.     

Selective grinding of glass to remove resin for silicon-based photovoltaic panel recycling

Secondary grinding was investigated as a mean of liberating glass from locked particles of glass and resin obtained by the primary shredding from the silicon-based PV panels. Many previous studies on separating glass from resin have focused on chemical processes. However, a simple physical process—using an eccentric stirring mill to selectively grind the glass, separating the glass from the resin, and concentrating the glass into a narrower particle size group—resulted in successful liberation. Grinding rate analysis using the population balance model quantitatively confirmed that glass particles were more easily ground than resin particles and that locked particles were more easily ground than free particles. This is because the high specific gravity of the glass particles and the greater adhesiveness of the locked particles cause them to be located near the stirring blade of the mill. The selectivity of grinding became more significant and the grinding time shorter as the rotation speed increased. At the optimal grinding speed of 2500 rpm, 97% of the glass was concentrated into particles under 5.6 mm in size in 5 min. The resulting glass particles had a carbon content of 1% or less, which makes them suitable for the manufacture of glass fiber.     

Enumeration of fungi in fruits by the most probable number method

In this study, enumeration methods for fungi in foods were evaluated using fruits that are often contaminated by fungi in the field and rot because of fungal contaminants. As the test methods, we used the standard most probable number (MPN) method with liquid medium in test tubes, which is traditionally used as the enumeration method for bacteria, and the plate-MPN method with agar plate media, in addition to the surface plating method as the traditional enumeration method for fungi. We tested 27 samples of 9 commercial domestic fruits using their surface skin. The results indicated that the standard MPN method showed slow recovery of fungi in test tubes and lower counts than the surface plating method and the plate-MPN method in almost all samples. The fungal count on the 4th d of incubation was approximately the same as on the 10th d by the surface plating method or the plate-MPN method, indicating no significant differences between the fungal counts by these 2 methods. This result indicated that the plate-MPN method had a number agreement with the traditional enumeration method. Moreover, the plate-MPN method has a little laborious without counting colonies, because fungal counts are estimated based on the number of plates with growing colonies. These advantages demonstrated that the plate-MPN method is a comparatively superior and rapid method for enumeration of fungi.     

Enhanced Li-ion conductivity of strontium doped Li-excess garnet-type Li7+xLa3-xSrxZr2O12

The mechanism underlying the enhancement of the conductivity of Li₇La₃Zr₂O₁₂ (LLZO), an oxide-based solid electrolyte that contains excess Li, was experimentally investigated through subvalent cation substitution. We prepared Sr-substituted Li-rich LLZO with high conductivity of the order of 10⁻⁴ S/cm by using a solid-state method. We investigated the mechanism underlying the conductivity enhancement via detailed structural analysis through Sr K-edge X-ray absorption near edge spectroscopy and X-ray diffraction and neutron powder diffraction analyses. The results suggested that the conductivity enhancement is due to the change in Li⁺ arrangement caused by the incorporation of excess Li into the LLZO lattice.     

Virus removal from aqueous environments with polyelectrolyte coatings on a polypropylene fleece

The adsorption of viruses from aqueous solution is frequently performed to detect viruses. Charged filtration materials capture viruses via electrostatic interactions, but lack the specificity of biological virus-binding substances like heparin. Herein, we present three methods to immobilize heparin-mimicking, virus-binding polymers to a filter material. Two mussel-inspired approaches are used, based on dopamine or mussel-inspired dendritic polyglycerol, and post-functionalized with a block-copolymer consisting of linear polyglycerol sulfate and amino groups as anchor (lPGS-b-NH₂). As third method, a polymer coating based on lPGS with benzophenone anchor groups is tested (lPGS-b-BPh). All three methods yield dense and stable coatings. A positively charged dye serves as a tool to quantitatively analyze the sulfate content on coated fleece. Especially lPGS-b-BPh is shown to be a dense polymer brush coating with about 0.1 polymer chains per nm². Proteins adsorb to the lPGS coated materials depending on their charge, as shown for lysozyme and human serum albumin. Finally, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus type 2 (SARS-CoV-2) can be removed from solution upon incubation with coated fleece materials by about 90% and 45%, respectively. In summary, the presented techniques may be a useful tool to collect viruses from aqueous environments.