Analysis of switched quantizer based on the quadratic spline functions

In this paper, an approximation of the optimal compressor function using the quadratic spline functions with 2L?=?8 segments is described. Since the quadratic spline with 2L?=?8 segments provides better approximation of the optimal compression function than quadratic spline with 2L?=?4 segments, capitalizing on the benefits of the obtained spline approximation, quantizer designing process is firstly performed for the so assumed number of segments and the Laplacian source of a unit variance. Then, to enhance the usability of the proposed model, the switched quantization technique is applied and a beneficial analysis is derived, providing insight in the robustness of the proposed quantizer performances with respect to the mismatch in designed for and applied to variances. Reached quality has been compared to another model from the literature, and it has been shown that the proposed model outperforms the previous model by almost 1.3?dB.     

Effect of rolling deformation on the structures and properties of multi‐walled carbon nanotube filled isotactic polypropylene

Isotactic polypropylene filled with various contents of multi‐walled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) were fabricated by the injection molding technique and then rolled at room temperature. The unrolled samples (URS) and rolled samples (RS) were characterized by X‐ray diffraction studies, scanning electron microscopy, mechanical and micromechanical tests and differential thermal analyses. Although the URS exhibit the lamellar α‐crystal with a*‐axis orientation, the RS show the same crystals with both a*‐ and c‐axis orientation, which is explained by interlamellar and intralamellar slips and lamellar destruction. Scanning electron micrographs display distinct surface morphological features for both URS and RS. While the tensile strength of RS is higher than that of URS, the Young's modulus (Y) is found to be lower than that of URS. Anisotropy in microharness (H) parallel and perpendicular to the rolled direction has been detected, although H for both samples increases with increasing MWCNT contents. The average relationship H/Y ≈ 0.18 as estimated for URS is closer to the predicted value of 0.10 for polymers than the H/Y ≈ 0.22 obtained for RS. The lamellar thickness for URS increases with increase of MWCNT content and that for RS decreases, as evaluated from both differential thermal analyses and X‐ray diffraction data. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry     

Preparation, Characterization and Photocatalytic Properties of Ba-Cd-Sr-Ti Doped Fe3O4 Nanohollow Spheres on Removal of Congo Red Under Visible-Light Irradiation

In this study, Ba-Cd-Sr-Ti doped Fe₃O₄ nanohollow spheres were successfully prepared via a simple solvothermal method. The crystal size, structure, morphology and elemental analysis of the as-prepared sample were investigated in detail by X-ray diffraction (XRD), FT-IR, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) spectroscopy, respectively. Magnetic hysteresis measurement was carried out on a vibrant sample magnetometer (VSM) showing the soft ferromagnetic property at room temperature. The synthesized nanohollow spheres were employed as a photocatalyst to study the photocatalytic degradation of dye contaminations. The UV-Vis results showed that the specimen could well catalyze the decolorizing of congo red (CR) solution and a removal efficiency of 99.5 % was obtained at pH 6. The optical characteristic of the products was studied by estimating the band-gap energy based on diffuse-reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) which represented the doped magnetite with semiconductor metals to be more prone in the visible region as compared to UV region. Some factors such as initial dye concentration, pH, and contact time influencing the decomposition of CR were evaluated.     

Study of progesterone and cortisol concentrations in the Italian Friesian claw

The present research was conducted to study progesterone and cortisol concentrations in the claw of cattle and to verify whether the cattle claw could be considered an efficient matrix to provide retrospective information regarding progesterone and cortisol concentrations related to pregnancy and peripartum periods. These 2 steroids are involved in hoof growth. The study was performed on 32 calves and 24 pregnant milking cows of the Holstein breed, which were clinically healthy and lacking any claw disorders. Samples of at least 0.5 cm in thickness were taken from the sole. Progesterone and cortisol concentrations were determined by RIA. The cortisol concentration in the horny shoe of calves from 0 to 30 d of age was significantly higher than the concentration at 31 to 60 and 61 to 120 d of age. Conversely, the progesterone concentration showed no statistically significant difference in relation to age. The horn progesterone concentrations recorded in the milking dairy cows at 7 mo of pregnancy showed high variability in the horizontal sections of the sole (the individual coefficient of variation ranged between 0.09 and 1.11). In 6 cows, genuine extreme values (genuine outliers) of the progesterone level were found. Moreover, significant differences existed among the progesterone concentrations of the sole's transverse sections. We detected a significant positive correlation between the weight of the horn samples after freeze-drying and their weight after hydration. The cortisol and progesterone levels in soaked horn samples were found to be significantly lower than in the same dry samples. These results show that cortisol and progesterone can be measured in the cattle claw horn. The claws of mature dairy cows could not be used as a matrix to provide a retrospective measure of cumulative hormone secretion, whereas the analysis of the calves’ claw horns showed retrospective hormonal information similar to hair samples.     

Droplet-based biochemical assay by magnetic wire manipulation between multiple droplets

Reaction performance of a droplet-based biochemical assay technique that uses magnetic wires as sample carriers is evaluated. Wires 2.0 mm in length, 0.05 mm in width, and 0.02 mm in thickness are fabricated by chemical etching, introduced into a droplet immersed in oil, and manipulated by the magnetic force of a moving magnet. Alkaline-phosphatase as an enzyme is immobilized on the wire surfaces by applying Au and self-assembled monolayer coatings, and the method’s on-chip reaction performance is evaluated. The enzymatic reaction is found to increase linearly as the number of wires and the reaction time increase. Relatively high performance reproducibility for enzymatic reactions is obtained; on average, the reaction absorbance, standard deviation, and coefficient of variance are found to be respectively 1.14, 0.103, and 9.1 %. The conductivity change in a fused droplet is used to evaluate the absolute volume of liquid transferred with the extracted wires and a value of 0.33 μl is obtained.     

Improved photovoltaic effect of polymer solar cells on planarized 2D photonic crystals

We herein advance the application of a two-dimensional (2D) photonic crystal (PC) as a window layer in an efficient polymer solar cell (PSC). The PSC used here consisted of a photovoltaic (PV) layer of poly(3-hexylthiophene): methanofullerene bulk-heterojunction with a planarized 2D PC window layer made of a hexagonal array of columns of SiO₂ nano-rods embedded in a dielectric layer of SiN_x. By means of a theoretical simulation of the 2D PCs using a finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method, it was shown that the path length of the incident light can be increased with a large deflection angle. The experimental results confirmed the simulated results obtained using the 2D PC layer. Furthermore, it was shown that a relative increase in power conversion efficiency (PCE) of about 25% was achieved for the PSC with the 2D PC layer, indicating that this layer induces further photon absorption due to efficient light-harvesting within the PV layer.     

Electrospun biodegradable nanofibers scaffolds for bone tissue engineering

Many polymeric materials have been developed and introduced for bone regeneration. Especially, their nanofibrous forms are mostly applied for artificial extracellular matrices. Polymeric materials in their nanofibrous form show some potent properties such as high surface‐to‐volume ratio, tunable porosity, and ease of surface functionalization. Benefiting from the properties of their main polymer and additives, they can provide new opportunities for cell seeding, proliferation, and new 3D‐tissue formation. This article focuses on most cited polymeric nanofibrous scaffolds fabricated by electrospinning and recent achievements. They were divided into two main categories: natural (collagen, silk, keratin, gelatin, chitosan, and alginate) and synthetic (e.g., polycaprolactone, polylactic acid, and polyglycolic acid) polymers. The role of several additives like hydroxyapatite, bone morphogenetic proteins (BMPs), tricalcium phosphate, and collagen type I in improving the adhesion, differentiation, and tissue formation of stem cells were discussed. Finally, the osteogenic capacity and ability of nanofibrous scaffolds to support the growth of clinically relevant bone tissue were briefly studied. © 2015 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2016 , 133, 42883.     

Admittance Loci Based Design of Plasmonic Sensor Working in Wavelength Interrogation Regime

A prism coupler based plasmonic sensor consisting of a prism, gold (Au) metal film and dielectric sample has been investigated with the use of admittance loci method in wavelength interrogation mode. Prism materials namely fused silica, chalcogenide (2S2G) and silicon have been used to study their effect on surface plasmon sensing in wavelength interrogation mode by admittance loci plots and by corresponding surface plasmon sensing curves. The performance of the plasmonic sensor under wavelength interrogation mode based on the choice of the prism material has been discussed and validated by the dynamic range and sensitivity plots.     

Detailed Microphysical Modeling of the Formation of Organic and Sulfuric Acid Coatings on Aircraft Emitted Soot Particles in the Near Field

The development of a detailed microphysical model that describes the complex multicomponent interactions between organic vapors and soot particles emitted from aircraft gas turbine engines is presented. Our model formulation includes both soot surface activation by organic vapors and organic vapor condensation on the activated part of the soot surfaces. To enable this formulation, approaches to estimate chemical and physical properties of aerosols containing complex mixtures of sulfuric acid, water, and organic molecules were developed. Relevant distributions of a list of organic surrogates at the engine exit plane were used to represent complex organic emissions from aircraft engines. A parametric study was performed using this new formulation to understand the effects of ambient conditions, organic emissions levels, and mass accommodation coefficient values on the evolution of near field volatile particulate matter emissions from aircraft engines at ground level.

Copyright 2014 American Association for Aerosol Research     

Solvent- and Light-Sensitive AIEE-Active Azo Dye: From Spherical to 1D and 2D Assemblies

Fluorescent molecular assembly systems provide an exciting platform for creating stimuli-responsive nano- and microstructured materials with optical, electronic, and sensing functions. To understand the relationship between (i) the plausible molecular structures preferentially adopted depending on the solvent polarity (such as N,N-dimethylformamide [DMF], tetrahydrofuran [THF], and toluene), (ii) the resulting spectroscopic features, and (iii) self-assembled nano-, micro-, and macrostructures, we chose a sterically crowded triangular azo dye (3Bu) composed of a polar molecular core and three peripheral biphenyl wings. The chromophore changed the solution color from yellow to pink-red depending on the solvent polarity. In a yellow DMF solution, a considerable amount of the twisted azo form could be kept stable with the help of favorable intermolecular interactions with the solvent molecules. By varying the concentration of the DMF solution, the morphology of self-assembled structures was transformed from nanoparticles to micrometer-sized one-dimensional (1D) structures such as sticks and fibers. In a pink-red toluene solution, the periphery of the central ring became more planar. The resulting significant amount of the keto-hydrazone tautomer grew into micro- and millimeter-sized 1D structures. Interestingly, when THF-H₂O (1:1) mixtures were stored at a low temperature, elongated fibers were stacked sideways and eventually developed into anisotropic two-dimensional (2D) sheets. Notably, subsequent exposure of visible-light-irradiated sphere samples to solvent vapor resulted in reversible fluorescence off↔on switching accompanied by morphological restoration. These findings suggest that rational selection of organic dyes, solvents, and light is important for developing reusable fluorescent materials.