Intelligent Transportation Systems

This issues Works in Progress department features 10 interesting ongoing intelligent transportation systems projects. The first five projects (TIME, Sentient Transport, EVT, DynaCHINA, TrafficView) focus on traffic and vehicular data collection, transmission, and analysis. The sixth projects aims to provide intelligent-copilot services for driven, while the seventh focuses on asset identification and data collection for railroad environments. The eighth and ninth projects are budding application development environments for automobiles, and the tenth project is designing a multimodal biometric identification system for travel documents     

Intraarterial urokinase for acute native arterial occlusion of the limbs

Since 1988, 49 limbs of 47 patients underwent intraarterial urokinase infusion for acute native artery occlusion. The time from the onset of ischemic symptoms ranged from 1 to 45 days (mean = 17.5). The arterial sectors involved were femoropopliteal in 32 cases, followed by aortoiliac in 13 cases, distal in three cases, and subclavian in one case. Treatment consisted of placing a catheter in the clot and the infusion of 4400 U/kg in 20', followed by a series of 4400 U/kg weight/hour during 6 hours. Clinical evaluation, hemodynamic and coagulation parameters, and angiographical changes were assessed periodically. Infusion time ranged from 6 to 24 hours (mean = 13.2 hours). Improvement of ischemic was achieved in 43 (87.75%) patients. In five patients (12.25%) there was no improvement. Total immediate lysis was achieved in 35 cases (71.5%), and among them, 13 patients (26%) required no associated treatment, 16 (48%) underwent PTA, and four (12%) had surgery of underlying peripheral aneurysms revealed after thrombolysis. Partial lysis was achieved in 13 cases (26.5%), that was enough in four of them, but the remaining nine required further treatment (four PTA, and five arterial surgery). In one case no lysis was achieved, and arterial surgery was carried out. No mortality was recorded, and major complications included one upper gastrointestinal bleeding, and one cerebral hematoma. Late follow-up of successfully treated patients who did not require further surgery shows a cumulative patency rate of 81% at 24 months.     

Paris ham processing: Technological yield as affected by residual glycogen content of muscle

The aim of the present experiment was to study the relationships between pH, protein and residual glycogen content of pig muscle on the one hand, and technological yield (TY) of Paris ham processing on the other (Paris ham is a type of cured cooked ham). Fifty-two pigs were slaughtered at 100 kg liveweight in a commercial abattoir, in four slaughter series. Ultimate pH, protein and glycogen were determined around 24h post mortem. Two days after slaughter, the right hams were processed to Paris ham. Residual glycogen levels varied from 0 to 78 μmol/g of fresh tissue. All correlations between TY and the other traits under study were significant at the P < 0·05 level. Correlation between glycogen and TY was by far the highest one (r = 0t-0·60, P < 0·01). Protein content and both pH values gave similar but lower correlations with TY (r around 0·4, P < 0·01). It is concluded that the results of the present study agree with the hypothesis that the residual glycogen content of muscle has a direct effect on the technological yield of cooked ham processing.     

The variation in pig muscle glycolytic potential during lairage-an in-vivo study

The variations in glycolytic potential (GP, very close to glycogen content) were studied during lairage in pig m. longissimus dorsi using biopsy sampling. Pigs were sampled on arrival at the abattoor and after treatment. Post-mortem measurements including pH(1), pH(u) and FOP(u) were performed on both longissimus dorsi (LD) and biceps femoris (BF) muscles. The animals underwent one of the following treatments: 2 h lairage mixed or unmixed; 24 h lairage mixed or unmixed with access to water only; 24 h lairage mixed or unmixed with access to a sugar solution. A significant depletion in GP occurred during lairage except when pigs were fed liquid sugar. The extent of this depletion was irrespective of lairage duration or mixing. Pigs lairaged 24 h with access to water only exhibited a significantly lower pH(1) in m. BF suggesting a higher propensity to develop PSE meat. Values of pH(u) were low (pH < 5·5), and did not vary significantly between the treatments since muscle GP remained high, despite the depletion induced by lairage. This was attributed to the high level of muscle glycogen characterizing the Hampshire crossbred pigs used in this experiment. These results suggest that interaction between breed and handling procedure may be important regarding meat pH(u).     

Accelerating time series motif discovery in the Intel Xeon Phi KNL processor

The Journal of Supercomputing - Time series analysis is an important research topic of great interest in many fields. Recently, the Matrix Profile method, and particularly one of its...     

Novel swirl flow-focusing microfluidic device for the production of monodisperse microbubbles

A novel swirl flow-focusing microfluidic axisymmetric device for the generation of monodisperse microbubbles at high production rates to be used as in-line contrast agents for medical applications is presented. The swirl effect is induced upstream of the discharge orifice by a circular array of microblades which form a given angle with the radial direction. The induced vortical component on the focusing liquid stabilizes the gas meniscus by the vorticity amplification due to vortex stretching as the liquid is forced through the discharge orifice. The stabilized meniscus tapers into a steady gas ligament that breaks into monodisperse microbubbles. A reduction up to \(57\%\) in the microbubble diameter is accomplished when compared to conventional axisymmetric flow-focusing microdevices. An exhaustive experimental study is performed for various blade angles and numerous gas to liquid flow rate ratios, validating previous VoF numerical simulations. The microbubbles issued from the stabilized menisci verify prior scaling law of flow-focusing.     

Rotibot: Use of Rotifers as Self‐Propelling Biohybrid Microcleaners

Self‐propelled biohybrid microrobots, employing marine rotifers as their engine, named “rotibot,” are presented and their practical utility and advantages for environmental remediation are demonstrated. Functionalized microbeads are attached electrostatically within the rotifer mouth and aggregated inside their inner lip. The high fluid flow toward the mouth, generated by the strokes of rotifer cilia bands, forces an extremely efficient transport of the contaminated sample over the active surfaces of the functionalized microbeads. The reactive particles confined around the rotifer's lip are thus exposed to a high flow rate of the pollutant solution, resulting in dramatically accelerated decontamination processes, without external mixing or harmful fuels. Theoretical simulations, modeling the greatly enhanced fluid dynamic associated with such built‐in mixing effect, correlate well with the experimental observations. The rotibot thus proves to be an effective, versatile, and robust dynamic microcleaning platform for removing diverse environmental pollutants. Microbeads functionalized with lysozyme and organophosphorus hydrolase enzymes are shown to be extremely useful for enzymatic biodegradation of Escherichia coli and the nerve agent methyl paraoxon, respectively, while ligand (meso‐2,3‐dimercaptosuccinic acid) modified beads are used for removing heavy metal contaminants. Rotifer‐based biohybrid microrobots hold considerable promise as self‐propelling dynamic pumps for diverse large‐scale environmental remediation applications.     

Intake of up to 3 Eggs/Day Increases HDL Cholesterol and Plasma Choline While Plasma Trimethylamine-<Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-oxide is Unchanged in a Healthy Population

Eggs are a source of cholesterol and choline and may impact plasma lipids and trimethylamine-N-oxide (TMAO) concentrations, which are biomarkers for cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk. Therefore, the effects of increasing egg intake (0, 1, 2, and 3 eggs/day) on these and other CVD risk biomarkers were evaluated in a young, healthy population. Thirty-eight subjects [19 men/19 women, 24.1 ± 2.2 years, body mass index (BMI) 24.3 ± 2.5 kg/m²] participated in this 14-week crossover intervention. Participants underwent a 2-week washout with no egg consumption, followed by intake of 1, 2, and 3 eggs/day for 4 weeks each. Anthropometric data, blood pressure (BP), dietary records, and plasma biomarkers (lipids, glucose, choline, and TMAO) were measured during each intervention phase. BMI, waist circumference, systolic BP, plasma glucose, and plasma triacylglycerol did not change throughout the intervention. Diastolic BP decreased with egg intake (P < 0.05). Compared to 0 eggs/day, intake of 1 egg/day increased HDL cholesterol (HDL-c) (P < 0.05), and decreased LDL cholesterol (LDL-c) (P < 0.05) and the LDL-c/HDL-c ratio (P < 0.01). With intake of 2–3 eggs/day, these changes were maintained. Plasma choline increased dose-dependently with egg intake (P < 0.0001) while fasting plasma TMAO was unchanged. These results indicate that in a healthy population, consuming up to 3 eggs/day results in an overall beneficial effect on biomarkers associated with CVD risk, as documented by increased HDL-c, a reduced LDL-c/HDL-c ratio, and increased plasma choline in combination with no change in plasma LDL-c or TMAO concentrations.     

Explosion dust particle size measurements

In situ measurements of the sizes and concentrations of dust particles generated by the detonation of high explosives in clay soil near Leesville, La., sandy clay soil near Huntsville, Ala., and sandy soils near Orogrande, N.M. are reported. Measurements were generally made within 1 m of the surface (in one case 10 m) at distances ranging from 10 to approximately 50 m from the detonation point with a combination of Knollenberg lightscattering counters (for particles with equivalent radius in the submicron to 15-microm range) and a Knollenberg optical array probe (for particles of 10-150 microm). Measurements were made for periods of several tens of seconds following detonation. All dust size distributions, irrespective of soil or explosive type, exhibit a bimodal character with mass mean radii of approximately 7 and 70 microm. Peak aerosol mass loadings inferred from the distributions have values ranging from 0.05 to 10 g gm-3 with the larger mode of particles contributing most to the mass loading. Predictions of dust extinction coefficients at visible (0.55-microm) and IR (10.4-microm) wavelengths were made using the measured size distributions together with estimates of dust refractive indices. These predictions suggest that extinction should be nearly neutral (wavelength independent) in agreement with transmission measurements made during some of the tests. Predicted mass extinction coefficients, under the assumption of dust material density of 2.5 g cm-3, are of the order of 0.05 m2 g-1 at both visible and IR wavelengths. This value is also in good agreement with a test-averaged measured value of 0.03 m3 g-1 (at lambda = 10.6 microm) obtained using a short path transmissometer and hi-vol sampler.     

Low Reynolds number capture of small particles on cylinders by diffusion,interception, and inertia at subcritical Stokes numbers

We predict the capture fraction η(Pe, R, Stk, Re) for cylinders at subcritical Stokes numbers Stk?<?Stk*, at small values of: the Reynolds number (Re), the inverse Peclet number (1/Pe), and the particle/fiber radius ratio (R?=?a_p/a_f). Inertial effects are described by matching an outer deterministic region with an inner near-wall region. In the first, Newtonian trajectory calculations along the stagnation streamline yield the particle concentration n_w at the stagnation point, which may exceed the upstream value n_∞ by a large enrichment ratio E(Stk) ≡ n_w/n_∞. At given Stk, all capturable particles originate very near the stagnation line, having approximately the same n_w/n_∞. Inertial effects decay greatly in the vicinity of the wall, whence the particle velocity for the inner problem is describable locally as a small perturbation of the fluid velocity. Furthermore, Friedlander’s diffusion-interception similarity parameter Π～Pe^1/3R still applies at finite inertia, reducing the inner problem to the (numerical) solution of a linear second order parabolic partial differential equation with only Π and Stk as parameters. Normalizing η(Pe, R, Stk, Re) with its stagnation point value results in a function F(Π, S) taking values of order unity in the whole domain of its (only) two variables. F(Π, S) is computed in the limits Π?=?0 (no interception) and Π = ∞ (no diffusion). Its determination at small or large Π is only sketched. Recasting into self-similar form prior calculations yields F(Π, 0) in the interesting range 0 < Π?<?2. The universal function F(Π, S) remains to be computed at values of Π of order unity.

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