Efficiency of optimization algorithms on the adjustment of process parameters for geometric accuracy enhancement of denture plate in single point incremental sheet forming

Neural Computing and Applications - Single point incremental forming is a sheet metal forming technique with great potential for use in prototyping and custom manufacture. Although this technology...     

Occurrence of Textile Dyes and Metals in Tunisian Textile Dyeing Effluent: Effects on Oxidative Stress Status and Histological Changes in Balb/c Mice

Although it is known that textile wastewater contains highly toxic contaminants whose effects in humans represent public health problems in several countries, studies involving mammal species are scarce. This study was aimed to evaluate the toxicity profile of 90-days oral administration of textile dyeing effluent (TDE) on oxidative stress status and histological changes of male mice. The TDE was collected from the textile plant of Monastir, Tunisia and evaluated for the metals, aromatic amines, and textile dyes using analytical approaches. Metal analysis by ICP-MS showed that the tested TDE exhibited very high levels of Cr, As, and Sr, which exceeded the wastewater emission limits prescribed by WHO and Tunisian authority. The screening of TDE through UPLC-MS/MS confirmed the presence of two textile dyes: a triphenylmethane dye (Crystal violet) and a disperse azo dye (Disperse yellow 3). Exposure to TDE significantly altered the malondialdehyde (MDA), Conjugated dienes (CDs), Sulfhydryl proteins (SHP) and catalase levels in the hepatic and renal tissues. Furthermore, histopathology observation showed that hepatocellular and renal lesions were induced by TDE exposure. The present study concluded that TDE may involve induction of oxidative stress which ensues in pathological lesions in several vital organs suggesting its high toxicity. Metals and textile dyes may be associated with the observed toxicological effects of the TDE. These pollutants, which may have seeped into surrounding rivers in Monastir city, can cause severe health malaise in wildlife and humans.     

Active Appearance-Based Robot Localization Using Stereo Vision

A vision-based robot localization system must be robust: able to keep track of the position of the robot at any time even if illumination conditions change and, in the extreme case of a failure, able to efficiently recover the correct position of the robot. With this objective in mind, we enhance the existing appearance-based robot localization framework in two directions by exploiting the use of a stereo camera mounted on a pan-and-tilt device. First, we move from the classical passive appearance-based localization framework to an active one where the robot sometimes executes actions with the only purpose of gaining information about its location in the environment. Along this line, we introduce an entropy-based criterion for action selection that can be efficiently evaluated in our probabilistic localization system. The execution of the actions selected using this criterion allows the robot to quickly find out its position in case it gets lost. Secondly, we introduce the use of depth maps obtained with the stereo cameras. The information provided by depth maps is less sensitive to changes of illumination than that provided by plain images. The main drawback of depth maps is that they include missing values: points for which it is not possible to reliably determine depth information. The presence of missing values makes Principal Component Analysis (the standard method used to compress images in the appearance-based framework) unfeasible. We describe a novel Expectation-Maximization algorithm to determine the principal components of a data set including missing values and we apply it to depth maps. The experiments we present show that the combination of the active localization with the use of depth maps gives an efficient and robust appearance-based robot localization system.     

The N-terminal region of the luteovirus readthrough domain determines virus binding to Buchnera GroEL and is essential for virus persistence in the aphid

Luteoviruses and the luteovirus-like pea enation mosaic virus (PEMV; genus Enamovirus) are transmitted by aphids in a circulative, nonreplicative manner. Acquired virus particles persist for several weeks in the aphid hemolymph, in which a GroEL homolog, produced by the primary endosymbiont of the aphid, is abundantly present. Six subgroup II luteoviruses and PEMV displayed a specific but differential affinity for Escherichia coli GroEL and GroEL homologs isolated from the endosymbiotic bacteria of both vector and nonvector aphid species. These observations suggest that the basic virus-binding capacity resides in a conserved region of the GroEL molecule, although other GroEL domains may influence the efficiency of binding. Purified luteovirus and enamovirus particles contain a major 22-kDa coat protein (CP) and lesser amounts of an approximately 54-kDa readthrough protein, expressed by translational readthrough of the CP into the adjacent open reading frame. Beet western yellows luteovirus (BWYV) mutants devoid of the readthrough domain (RTD) did not bind to Buchnera GroEL, demonstrating that the RTD (and not the highly conserved CP) contains the determinants for GroEL binding. In vivo studies showed that virions of these BWYV mutants were significantly less persistent in the aphid hemolymph than were virions containing the readthrough protein. These data suggest that the Buchnera GroEL-RTD interaction protects the virus from rapid degradation in the aphid. Sequence comparison analysis of the RTDs of different luteoviruses and PEMV identified conserved residues potentially important in the interaction with Buchnera GroEL.     

2×10 Gbit/s WDM 1310-nm optical transmission over 63.5-kmstandard single-mode fiber using optical preamplifiers

Twenty Gbit/s transmission over 63.5 km SMF at 1310 nm is reported by using two channel 10 Gbit/s wavelength (de)multiplexing (Δλ=1.5 nm). Two 1310 nm SL-MQW semiconductor optical amplifiers are utilized for loss compensation and sensitivity improvement. For the 1310 nm wavelength domain, a record bitrate x distance product of 1.27 Tbit/s.km has been obtained. Crosstalk penalties are identified, and the feasibility of an extension up to at least four, 10 Gbit/s channels is discussed     

Optimisation of ambient temperature in facilities design

A systematic approach is presented for the optimisation of ambient temperatures in the design of offshore production facilities. The approach addresses the effectiveness of the equipment to operate in a certain ambient temperature environment. By designing for ambient temperatures most likely to occur, rather than for extreme conditions, cost savings can be achieved. Potential cost savings could be of the order of 10%, depending on the duty of the equipment.The approach is illustrated for equipment for which ambient temperature is a major design consideration, such as heat exchangers and power generators.     

Accelerated EM-based clustering of large data sets

Motivated by the poor performance (linear complexity) of the EM algorithm in clustering large data sets, and inspired by the successful accelerated versions of related algorithms like k-means, we derive an accelerated variant of the EM algorithm for Gaussian mixtures that: (1) offers speedups that are at least linear in the number of data points, (2) ensures convergence by strictly increasing a lower bound on the data log-likelihood in each learning step, and (3) allows ample freedom in the design of other accelerated variants. We also derive a similar accelerated algorithm for greedy mixture learning, where very satisfactory results are obtained. The core idea is to define a lower bound on the data log-likelihood based on a grouping of data points. The bound is maximized by computing in turn (i) optimal assignments of groups of data points to the mixture components, and (ii) optimal re-estimation of the model parameters based on average sufficient statistics computed over groups of data points. The proposed method naturally generalizes to mixtures of other members of the exponential family. Experimental results show the potential of the proposed method over other state-of-the-art acceleration techniques.

Tailoring Vanadium Dioxide Film Orientation Using Nanosheets: a Combined Microscopy,Diffraction, Transport,and Soft X‐Ray in Transmission Study

Vanadium dioxide (VO₂) is a much‐discussed material for oxide electronics and neuromorphic computing applications. Here, heteroepitaxy of VO₂ is realized on top of oxide nanosheets that cover either the amorphous silicon dioxide surfaces of Si substrates or X‐ray transparent silicon nitride membranes. The out‐of‐plane orientation of the VO₂ thin films is controlled at will between (011)_M1/(110)_R and (?402)_M1/(002)_R by coating the bulk substrates with Ti_0.87O₂ and NbWO₆ nanosheets, respectively, prior to VO₂ growth. Temperature‐dependent X‐ray diffraction and automated crystal orientation mapping in microprobe transmission electron microscope mode (ACOM‐TEM) characterize the high phase purity, the crystallographic and orientational properties of the VO₂ films. Transport measurements and soft X‐ray absorption in transmission are used to probe the VO₂ metal–insulator transition, showing results of a quality equal to those from epitaxial films on bulk single‐crystal substrates. Successful local manipulation of two different VO₂ orientations on a single substrate is demonstrated using VO₂ grown on lithographically patterned lines of Ti_0.87O₂ and NbWO₆ nanosheets investigated by electron backscatter diffraction. Finally, the excellent suitability of these nanosheet‐templated VO₂ films for advanced lensless imaging of the metal–insulator transition using coherent soft X‐rays is discussed.