The Impact of Fluid Dynamic Stress in Stirred Bioreactors – The Scale of the Biological Entity: A Personal View

From the start of industrial biotechnology, there has been a perception that biological entities are damaged by stirring, so-called ‘shear damage'. Often, it was the soft option to explain a loss of performance when it was due to other factors, such as bubble ingestion with proteins or on scale-up, where tip speed increased when it was due to decreased homogeneity, especially in pH. For many years, poor control and the range of analytical tools available made a more in-depth explanation difficult; and the concepts of ‘high' and ‘low shear' impellers, now largely disproven, increased it. Here, the size of the biological entity is compared to the Kolmogorov microscale of turbulence leading to a reasonably clear picture emerging. The article starts with the author's introduction to the issue approximately 42 year ago with enzymes, conveniently also the smallest entity; and finishes with the largest, filamentous fungi.     

Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) authentication and batch-to-batch consistency for different types of paints using benchtop and handheld FTIR spectrophotometers for oil and gas industry

Standardization of Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) fingerprint region for paints and assessment on the reproducibility using different spectrophotometers were investigated. While selective fingerprint regions may be confusing for technicians/analysts who are non-chemists, we attempt to generalize these regions (e.g., 1300–1000 cm⁻¹ for Epoxy part A and 1400–1000 cm⁻¹ for Epoxy part B) by choosing a universal region (2000–900 cm⁻¹) that works for different paints. Comparison result using a paired student t-test shows that the degree of similarity (r) values from the studied regions are not statistically different. The paint fails the screening analysis occasionally on-site when analyzed using handheld FTIR due to the higher level of noise that gives low r values (r < 0.900 ± 0.002). The same samples were analyzed using a benchtop FTIR and the r values are above 0.900 ± 0.002. While the screening may lead to a false rejection of the sample on-site, there could be occurrence of false acceptance. The on-site screening of EPZ part A with different formulations, for instance, shows that the r values over the entire IR spectrum are above 0.900 ± 0.002 when analyzed using handheld FTIR. After the samples were analyzed using the benchtop, the r values fall below 0.900 ± 0.002.     

A computational study of strain inhomogeneity in wire drawing

Inhomogeneous plastic deformation that develops during wire-drawing, and its impact on the drawing force, are investigated with a computational method. The effects of critical parameters, including die angle, area reduction, friction coefficient, and material hardening are sorted out, and the accuracy of certain simple formulas presented in the literature is assessed. The results suggest that the redundant strains (strains beyond those necessary for area reduction) are dependent principally on the die angle and area reduction; the interfacial friction and the strain hardening tend to have little influence on the strains. In addition, the impact of spatial inhomogeneity in hardness induced by strain hardening from prior passes is investigated.     

Modeling of tool wear in drilling by statistical analysis and artificial neural network

The useful life of a cutting tool and its operating conditions largely control the economics of the machining operations. Hence, it is imperative that the condition of the cutting tool, particularly some indication as to when it requires changing, to be monitored. The drilling operation is frequently used as a preliminary step for many operations like boring, reaming and tapping, however, the operation itself is complex and demanding.

Back propagation neural networks were used for detection of drill wear. The neural network consisted of three layers input, hidden and output. Drill size, feed, spindle speed, torque, machining time and thrust force are given as inputs to the ANN and the flank wear was estimated. Drilling experiments with 8 mm drill size were performed by changing the cutting speed and feed at two different levels. The number of neurons in the hidden layer were selected from 1, 2, 3, …, 20. The learning rate was selected as 0.01 and no smoothing factor was used. The estimated values of tool wear were obtained by statistical analysis and by various neural network structures. Comparative analysis has been done between statistical analysis, neural network structures and the actual values of tool wear obtained by experimentation.     

A Novel Data Centric Information Retrieval Protocol for Queries in Delay Tolerant Networks

Information Retrieval (IR) systems aim to retrieve data that satisfies certain requirements and constitute an important service in many types of networks, including Delay/Disruption Tolerant Networks (DTNs). In current DTN based IR systems, the data that satisfies a query is assumed to be stored on a single node. Therefore, once a node receives a query in which it has the corresponding data, the query can be resolved completely. However, in scenarios where a query requires data from multiple nodes, these IR systems may fail. Henceforth, in this paper, we propose Distributed Data-Centric Information Retrieval (DDC-IR), a data centric IR system that supports all query types; e.g., continuous and complex. More importantly, it is designed specifically to operate in DTNs. It also incorporates a new packet, aka Query Reply Packet, that includes both a query and one or more replies. We show how this packet facilitates efficient query resolution and enables data centric routing. In addition, it uses caching so that nodes store popular queries that has the effect of speeding up query resolution. We have conducted an extensive simulation study to compare DDC-IR to state of the art IR systems using the popular Random Waypoint model and a trace-file containing student movements on a campus. The results show that DDC-IR is able to resolve 50 % more queries and has an 80 % lower buffer occupancy level than existing IR systems. We also tested DDC-IR in networks with varying sizes. For networks with 100 nodes, DDC-IR is able to resolve queries while current IR systems fail to resolve any queries. In particular, when the number of nodes increases, current IR systems fail to resolve any queries, whilst DDC-IR is able to resolve complex and continuous queries. The influence of the number of sub-queries on query resolution time is also studied. Specifically, when the number of sub-queries in a complex query increases from five to nine, DDC-IR uses 50 % more time to resolve a query. In comparison, prior IR systems fail to resolve any queries.     

确保管道运输的泄漏检测技术

保证所有管道中石油从一端流向另一端不泄漏要比它的探测更加困难。比较图中的3个系统,可以看到这项技术在40多年来是如何逐步发展的。     

Out-of-sample extrapolation of learned manifolds

We investigate the problem of extrapolating the embedding of a manifold learned from finite samples to novel out-of-sample data. We concentrate on the manifold learning method called Maximum Variance Unfolding (MVU) for which the extrapolation problem is still largely unsolved. Taking the perspective of MVU learning being equivalent to Kernel PCA, our problem reduces to extending a kernel matrix generated from an unknown kernel function to novel points. Leveraging on previous developments, we propose a novel solution which involves approximating the kernel eigenfunction using Gaussian basis functions. We also show how the width of the Gaussian can be tuned to achieve extrapolation. Experimental results which demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach are also included.     

The effect of flaming on computer-mediated negotiations

There is an increasing use of computer media for negotiations. However, the use of computer-mediated channels increases the hostile expressions of emotion, termed flaming. Although researchers agree that flaming has important effects on negotiation, predictions concerning these effects are inconsistent, suggesting a need for further investigation. We address this need by extending current flaming and negotiation research in two ways. First, we identify two different types of flaming: that which is motivated by perceptions concerning the negotiating opponent (e.g., he/she is unfair) and that which is motivated by perceptions concerning the negotiating context (e.g., the communication channel is too slow). Second, we differentiate between the effects of flaming on the concession behaviors of the flame sender and the flame recipient, and the effects of these behaviors on negotiated agreement. Via a laboratory study, we demonstrate that flames directed at the negotiation opponent slightly decrease the likelihood of reaching an agreement, and when an agreement is reached, it result in outcomes significantly favoring the flame recipient rather than the flame sender. In contrast, flames directed at the negotiation context significantly increase the likelihood of agreement, although outcomes still favor the flame recipient over the flame sender. These results suggest that flame senders are generally worse off than flame recipients, which provides an important basis for the strategic use of flaming in negotiations.     

Structural study of titanium oxide films synthesized by ion beam-assisted deposition

The application of titanium dioxide (TiO(2)) films as surgical implant coatings for antibiotic attachment depends crucially on their available surface area and thus their surface morphology and crystallinity. Here, we report our fabrication of high Wenzel ratio TiO(2) films targeted to increase the film surface area using the ion beam-assisted deposition (IBAD) technique at high-deposition temperatures (approximately 610 degrees C). The modulation of the films' surface morphology was accomplished by varying the chemical identity of the concurrent ion beams bombarded on the films during the e-beam evaporation process. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were employed to investigate the surface morphology of the as-deposited films. X-ray diffractometry (XRD) revealed that these nanocrystalline films primarily consist of anatase phase TiO(2). Wenzel ratio, the ratio of the actual surface area to the projected area, of IBAD films prepared with argon, oxygen, and nitrogen ion beams was measured to be 1.52, 1.31 and 1.49, respectively. The effect of the differences in chemical reactivity and ion size of these three type ion beams are discussed to explain the present results.     

Greenhouse gases mitigation by CO<Subscript>2</Subscript> reforming of methane to hydrogen-rich syngas using praseodymium oxide supported cobalt catalyst

This study focuses on the potential of hydrogen-rich syngas production by CO₂ reforming of methane over Co/Pr₂O₃ catalyst. The Co/Pr₂O₃ catalyst was synthesized via wet-impregnation method and characterized for physicochemical properties by TGA, XRD, BET, H₂-TPR, FESEM, EDX, and FTIR. The CO₂ reforming of methane over the as-synthesized catalyst was studied in a tubular stainless steel fixed-bed reactor at feed ratio ranged 0.1–1.0, temperature ranged 923–1023 K, and gas hourly space velocity (GHSV) of 30,000 h^?1 under atmospheric pressure condition. The catalyst activity studies showed that the increase in the reaction temperature from 923 to 1023 K and feed ratio from 0.1 to 1.0 resulted in a corresponding increase in the reactant’s conversion and the product’s yields. At 1023 K and feed ratio of 1.0, the activity of the Co/Pr₂O₃ catalyst climaxed with CH₄ and CO₂ conversions of 41.49 and 42.36 %. Moreover, the catalyst activity at 1023 K and feed ratio of 1.0 resulted in the production of H₂ and CO yields of 40.7 and 40.90 %, respectively. The syngas produced was estimated to have H₂:CO ratio of 0.995, making it suitable as chemical building blocks for the production of oxygenated fuel and other value-added chemicals. The used Co/Pr₂O₃ catalyst which was characterized by TPO, XRD, and SEM-EDX show some evidence of carbon formation and deposition on its surface.