Mechanophysical Cues in Extracellular Matrix Regulation of Cell Behavior

The extracellular matrix (ECM) is a macromolecular network that can provide biochemical and structural support for cell adhesion and formation. It regulates cell behavior by influencing biochemical and physical cues. It is a dynamic structure whose components are modified, degraded, or deposited during connective tissue development, giving tissues strength and structural integrity. The physical properties of the natural ECM environment control the design of naturally or synthetically derived biomaterials to guide cell function in tissue engineering. Tissue engineering is an important field that explores physical cues of the ECM to produce new viable tissue for medical applications, such as in organ transplant and organ recovery. Understanding how the ECM exerts physical effects on cell behavior, when cells are seeded in synthetic ECM scaffolds, is of utmost importance. Herein we review recent findings in this area that report on cell behaviors in a variety of ECMs with different physical properties, i.e., topology, geometry, dimensionality, stiffness, and tension.     

Development of mobile miniature natural gas liquefiers

With increasing consumption of natural gas (NG), small NG reservoirs, such as coalbed methane and oil field associated gas, have recently drawn significant attention. Owing to their special characteristics (e.g., scattered distribution and small output), small-scale NG liquefiers are highly required. Similarly, the mixed refrigerant cycle (MRC) is suitable for small-scale liquefaction systems due to its moderate complexity and power consumption. In consideration of the above, this paper reviews the development of mobile miniature NG liquefiers in Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (TIPC), China. To effectively liquefy the scattered NG and overcome the drawbacks of existing technologies, three main improvements, i.e., low-pressure MRC process driven by oil-lubricated screw compressor, compact cold box with the new designed heat exchangers, and standardized equipment manufacturing and integrated process technology have been made. The development pattern of “rapid cluster application and flexible liquefaction center” has been eventually proposed. The small-scale NG liquefier developed by TIPC has reached a minimum liquefaction power consumption of about 0.35 kW·h/Nm³. It is suitable to exploit small remote gas reserves which can also be used in boil-off gas reliquefaction and distributed peak-shaving of pipe networks.     

An airlight estimation method for image dehazing based on gray projection

Multimedia Tools and Applications - As the key parameter of dehazing algorithms, airlight value directly affect the calculation accuracy of sky region, and any deviation will lead to the chromatic...     

Effects of hydrolysis of precursor on the structures and properties of polymer-derived SiBN ceramic fibers

In this paper, polyborosilazane precursor was synthesied from HMDZ, HSiCl₃, BCl₃ and CH₃NH₂ using a multistep method. By controlling the storage conditions, parts of the polyborosilazane fibers were hydrolyzed. FT-IR, NMR, XRD, TEM and monofilament tensile strength test were employed to study the effects of hydrolysis of precursor on the structures and properties of polymer-derived SiBN ceramic fibers. FT-IR and NMR results indicate that Si-N group in PBSZ reacts with H₂O to form Si-O-Si group. After pyrolysis reaction at 1400℃, Si-O-Si group will finally transformed into highly ordered cristobalite and β-quartz, resulting in formation of the wrinkled surface of the obtained SiBN ceramic fiber. The strip-like defects on fiber surface, according to monofilament tensile strength test, had a significant effect on mechanical property of the obtained SiBN ceramic fiber and caused no increase in fiber tensile strength of hydrolytic polyborosilazane fiber before and after pyrolytic process.     

空气预热器实时监控系统堵塞可视化性能研究

针对电站锅炉回转式空气预热器运行时上下表面不可见的问题，本文提出了一种视频监控与故障分析系统，可直接监测转子表面情况。该系统通过视频监控获取图像，结合改进的Retinex算法对其进行处理，实现了以下2个功能:1）能分析积灰程度以判断转子堵塞 情况；2）与温度场融合实时显示转子表面热点分布以预防二次燃烧。该系统已应用于某600 MW机组，实现了在热态环境下对空气预热器转子积灰程度、热点分布、堵塞程度的估算与可视化，大大提高了空气预热器运行的可靠性。     

火电机组负荷分配中多源不确定性因素影响分析

不确定性因素存在于火电机组负荷分配中，影响机组负荷分配、节能环保目标。本文综合考虑负荷预测不确定性、机组煤耗率不确定性与其CO2排放系数不确定性，分别构建火电机组一次能源消耗成本与CO2排放量最小目标下的火电机组负荷优化分配模型；以此为基础，引入析因分析方差分解方法，量化多源不确定性因素单独与交互作用下对节能、环保目标的影响程度。结果表明:负荷预测不确定性对火电机组节能、环保目标影响最为显著，相对影响程度分别为51.13%、62.70%；机组煤耗特性及其CO2排放系数影响次之，相对影响程度分别为47.58%、34.95%。此研究结果对不确定性条件下电力系统负荷分配具有借鉴价值。     

A dense and compact laser cladding layer with solid metallurgical bonding significantly improved corrosion resistance of Mg alloy for engineering applications

Although Mg alloy attracts great attention for engineering applications because of high specific strength and low density, low corrosion resistance limits its extensive use. In this study, Mg–Al–Zn–Mn alloy was treated via a laser cladding process to generate a dense and compact laser cladding layer with solid metallurgical bonding on the substrate for improving corrosion resistance, effectively hindering the corrosion pervasion into Mg alloy. The corrosion current density declined from 103 μA/cm² for Mg alloy to 13 μA/cm² for the laser cladding layer in NaCl aqueous solution. Moreover, the laser cladding layer was slightly corroded in comparison with Mg alloy in NaCl aqueous solution. Besides, the microhardness of the cladding layer reached a mean value of 170.5 HV, 3.1 times of Mg alloy (56.8 HV) due to the in situ formation of hardening intermetallic phases. Wear resistance of laser cladding layer was also obviously improved. These results demonstrated that the laser cladding layer obviously enhanced anticorrosion property of Mg alloy for engineering applications.