An Overview of Synergistic Data Tools for Biological Scrutiny

A network of biological databases is reviewed, supplying a framework for studies of human genes and the association of their genomic variations with human phenotypes. The network is composed of GeneCards, the human gene compendium, which provides comprehensive information on all known and predicted human genes, along with its suite members GeneDecks and GeneLoc. Two databases are shown that address genes and variations focusing on olfactory reception (HORDE) and transduction (GOSdb). In the realm of disease scrutiny, we portray MalaCards, a novel comprehensive database of human diseases and their annotations. Also shown is GeneKid, a tool aimed at generating novel kidney disease biomarkers using systems biology, as well as Xome, a database for whole-exome next-generation DNA sequences for human diseases in the Israeli population. Finally, we show LifeMap Discovery, a database of embryonic development, stem cell research and regenerative medicine, which links to both GeneCards and MalaCards.     

O2 and organic semiconductors: Electronic effects

Contact potential difference (CPD) measurements of the relative work functions of a range of organic semiconductor thin films show that oxygen causes effective p-type doping (with work functions increasing 0.1–0.3 eV). This doping effect is found to be reversible by exposure to high vacuum or heating in inert atmosphere. The mechanism of doping is explained by a model, based on a reversible formation of an O-substrate charge transfer state. Conductivity measurements of p-phthalocyanine films at variable temperatures support this doping model. The oxygen doping effect is consistent with filling of tail states in the gap, as shown by the increase of activation energy of hole transport with decreased O-doping, and by the good fit between experimental data and simulations of the in-gap density of states. A model hybrid solar cell configuration also shows the effect of doping by O₂ and corroborates the fact that O-doping fills the tail states in the system.     

Acoustic emission characterization of steel in H2S solution subjected to tensile load

Abstract

This paper investigates the characteristics of acoustic emission (AE) signals generated from hydrogen induced cracking (HIC) and sulfide stress corrosion cracking (SSCC) for a medium strength steel in hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) solution. The experiments performed in this study include the constant load test (CLT) and the constant extension rate test (CERT).

From the results of the CLT, the AE count rate caused by SSCC was found to be much higher than that resulted from the HIC; and the increase of the AE count rate was observed to be approximately proportional to the increase of the applied loading. In addition, the AE frequency distribution diagrams obtained from these tests were found to contain potential information for distinguishing the mechanisms of HIC and SSCC. From the results of CERT, the AE signals detected from the specimens tested in the H₂S solution were compared with those obtained from the specimens tested in the air. In addition, the AE count rate detected from the tensile specimens was studied according to the different deformation stages of the specimens. From this study, the variation of the AE count rate in each deformation stage was described.     

Sublinear Algorithms for Approximating String Compressibility

We raise the question of approximating the compressibility of a string with respect to a fixed compression scheme, in sublinear time. We study this question in detail for two popular lossless compression schemes: run-length encoding (RLE) and a variant of Lempel-Ziv (LZ77), and present sublinear algorithms for approximating compressibility with respect to both schemes. We also give several lower bounds that show that our algorithms for both schemes cannot be improved significantly. Our investigation of LZ77 yields results whose interest goes beyond the initial questions we set out to study. In particular, we prove combinatorial structural lemmas that relate the compressibility of a string with respect to LZ77 to the number of distinct short substrings contained in it (its ?th subword complexity , for small ?). In addition, we show that approximating the compressibility with respect to LZ77 is related to approximating the support size of a distribution.     

数字合成(上)

什么是数字合成?当我们讨论它的时候,首先我们试着把多个元素整合成一个单个的完整的整体图像,当大多数这些技术仍然适用于图像时,我们将关注有用的和合理的能处理大的图像序列的工具和方法。正如您所见的,一个技术很好的合成师是可以包括从技师到艺术家的,不只是需要基本了解“操作的工具”,这里包括多种软件,而且必须是一个能洞察视觉本质的人。记住这一点,当遇到“它看起来是否正确?”的问题时,所有技术考虑都是不重要了,很明显只是一个对主题的把握,同时一个好的合成师都应以高要求来做出每个决定。定义什么是合成?有一个基本的定义:把…     

Assessing the value of information of data‐centric activities in the chemical processing industry 4.0

The quality of information generated in data‐driven empirical studies is of central importance in Industry 4.0. However, despite the undeniable and widely accepted importance, not sufficient attention has been devoted to its rigorous assessment and analysis. Consequently, if information quality cannot be measured, it also cannot be improved, and therefore current efforts for extracting value from big data empirical studies and data collectors are exposed to the risk of generating limited findings and insights, leading to suboptimal solutions. In this article, we describe and apply a framework for evaluating, analyzing and improving the quality of information generated in empirical studies called InfoQ, in the context of the Chemical Processing Industry (CPI). This systematic framework can be used by anyone involved in data‐driven activities, irrespectively of the context and specific goals. The application of InfoQ framework to several case studies is described in detail, to illustrate its practical relevance. © 2018 American Institute of Chemical Engineers AIChE J, 64: 3868–3881, 2018     

Porous PZT ceramics for receiving transducers

PZT-air (porous PZT) and PZT-polymer (polymer impregnated porous PZT) piezocomposites with varying porosity/polymer volume fractions have been manufactured. The composites were characterized in terms of hydrostatic charge (d/sub h/) and voltage (g/sub h/) coefficients, permittivity, hydrostatic figure of merit (d/sub h/.g/sub h/), and absolute sensitivity (M). With decreasing PZT ceramic volume, g/sub h/ increased, and d/sub h/.g/sub h/ had a broad maximum around 80 to 90% porosity/polymer content. The absolute sensitivity was also increased. In each case, PZT-air piezocomposites performed better than PZT-polymer piezocomposites. Hydrophones constructed from piezocomposites showed slightly lower measured receiving sensitivities than calculated values for piezocomposite materials, which was due to the loading effect of the cable and the low permittivity associated with the piezocomposites.     

对电压参考进行滤波以获得低噪声性能

输出电压相对于电压参考的短期变化即为噪声。参考电压噪声一般发生在以下两个频段：短期噪声在0．1Hz～10Hz，宽带噪声在10Hz～1kHz。由于噪声电压一般与参考电压成正比，故常用每百万分之一（ppm）来表示噪声，并借此使每百万分之一值恒定。能隙（或带隙）电压参考具有介于3ppm～16ppm之间的噪声电压，但埋入式齐纳电压参考的噪声更低，介于0．1ppm～0．5ppm之间。噪声随参考电流的增加而减小，但增加参考电流并不是大多数电压参考的选项。     

Additive-Free Aqueous MXene Inks for Thermal Inkjet Printing on Textiles

Direct printing of functional inks onto flexible substrates allows for scalable fabrication of wearable electronics. However, existing ink formulations for inkjet printing require toxic solvents and additives, which make device fabrication more complex, limit substrate compatibility, and hinder device performance. Even water-based carbon or metal nanoparticle inks require supplemental surfactants, binders, and cosolvents to produce jettable colloidal suspensions. Here, a general approach is demonstrated for formulating conductive inkjet printable, additive-free aqueous Ti₃C₂T_x MXene inks for direct printing on various substrates. The rheological properties of the MXene inks are tuned by controlling the Ti₃C₂T_x flake size and concentration. Ti₃C₂T_x-based electrical conduits and microsupercapacitors (MSCs) are printed on textile and paper substrates by optimizing the nozzle geometry for high-resolution inkjet printing. The chemical stability and electrical properties of the printed devices are also studied after storing the devices for six months under ambient conditions. Current collector-free, textile-based MSCs show areal capacitance values up to 294 mF cm⁻² (2 mV s⁻¹) in poly(vinyl alcohol)/sulfuric acid gel electrolyte, surpassing reported printed MXene-based MSCs and inkjet-printed MSCs using other 2D nanomaterials. This work is an important step toward increasing the functional capacity of conductive inks and simplifying the fabrication of wearable textile-based electronics.