Freeze-drying of low molecular weight poly(L-lactic acid) nanoparticles: effect of cryo- and lyoprotectants

The chemical and physical stability of polymeric nanoparticles is poor in aqueous suspensions, and the drying of these particles is often problematic. In the present study, the stability of freeze-dried low molecular weight poly(L-lactic acid) (PLA) nanoparticles was enhanced by adding glucose and/or lactose to the formulation as cryo- and lyoprotectants, respectively. Also the effect of an extra stabilizer, Tween 80, was studied. The best freeze-dried PLA nanoparticle formulations were achieved, when glucose and lactose were added in combination so that the amount of lactose was double the amount of glucose. With this combination the redispersion of high-quality nanoparticles (homogenous particle dispersion with original size and without aggregates) was achieved. The addition of Tween 80 further improved the quality of freeze-dried PLA nanoparticles by facilitating the redispersion of the lyophilized cake into optimal nanoparticles.     

Experimental studies on mechanical properties of cellular structures using Nomex® honeycomb cores

An experimental method is presented to obtain the effective in-plane compliance matrices of cellular structures using Nomex® honeycomb cores without a priori assumptions such as orthotropy. In this method, firstly, uni-axial tension tests are carried out for different material orientations. The independent variables in these experiments are the material orientation and displacement of the actuator, while the main dependent variables are positions of the marker points and the force acting on the specimens. Marker tracking technique is used to determine the marker positions which are processed to get strain of the measuring domain, while the stress is estimated through external loading and core geometry. The analysis is confined to the measuring domain under near homogeneous stress and strain fields. The experiment results are processed with transformation and least squares functions to obtain all effective in-plane elastic parameters, which are compared with analytical solution based on deformation of idealized cell structure. Through this comparison, the effects of geometrical parameters of cell structure are discussed in detail. By means of the introduced method, the problem of lack of experimental studies on the effective in-plane compliances of cellular structures in the literature is expected to be solved.     

Phonons in slow motion: dispersion relations in ultrathin Si membranes

We report the changes in dispersion relations of hypersonic acoustic phonons in free-standing silicon membranes as thin as ～8 nm. We observe a reduction of the phase and group velocities of the fundamental flexural mode by more than 1 order of magnitude compared to bulk values. The modification of the dispersion relation in nanostructures has important consequences for noise control in nano- and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS/NEMS) as well as opto-mechanical devices.     

Effects of ethanol to water ratio in feed solution on the crystallinity of spray-dried lactose

In the present study, the effects of ethanol to water ratio in feed solution on the physical properties of spray-dried alpha-lactose monohydrate were evaluated. Crystallinity of the spray-dried lactose was determined by isothermal microcalorimetry (IMC) and by differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). Water content of the spray-dried lactose was determined by thermogravimetric analysis and the surface area was evaluated by Brunauer, Emmett, and Teller (BET) method. The crystallinity of spray-dried lactose varied from 0% to 100%, depending on the ratio of ethanol to water in the feed solution. Lactose spray dried from pure ethanol was 100% crystalline and contained hydrate water. Lactose spray dried from pure water was 100% amorphous. The feed solution substantially affected the ratio of surface water to hydrate water, as the content of surface water increased and hydrate water decreased, while the crystallinity of spray-dried lactose decreased. Surface area of the spray-dried lactose increased as a function of amorphous content.     

Wireless ATM MAC performance evaluation,a case study: HIPERLAN type 1 vs. modified MDR

This paper deals with wireless ATM and in particular with MAC (Medium Access Control) mechanisms. The requirements for wireless ATM MAC are discussed, and contentionbased and TDMA/reservation based MAC protocols are compared. The objective is to find out the suitability of current wireless MAC schemes for ATM interworking, in comparison to new wireless ATM MAC proposals. Two candidate mechanisms, EYNPMA used in HIPERLAN type 1, and a modified MDR protocol, are discussed in more detail and their performance in different traffic scenarios is evaluated through simulations.     

Business-to-business integration: Applicability,benefits and barriers in the telecommunications industry

This paper statistically analyzes applicability of business-to-business integration (B2Bi), benefits from and barriers to electronic data interchange (EDI) and RosettaNet between major original equipment manufacturers and European operators in the telecommunications industry. Based on coordination costs and nine business processes, frequency of the business process and timeliness required in the business process have clearer positive influences on applicability of B2Bi than does accuracy required in the business process. Complexity of the business process does not have such a positive relation to this applicability. Comparison of 12 benefits and eight barriers between EDI and RosettaNet shows no considerable differences. RosettaNet yields only slightly higher direct benefits than EDI, whereas all indirect benefits from RosettaNet are significantly higher than indirect benefits from EDI. Surprisingly, barriers to RosettaNet are not lower than barriers to EDI although only a lack of knowledge on EDI or RosettaNet is a significantly higher barrier to RosettaNet.     

IR spectroscopy as a quantitative and predictive analysis method of phenol–formaldehyde resol resins

A set of resin samples was characterized by IR and ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. The suitability of IR spectroscopy for the quantitative analysis of resins was evaluated by statistical methods using the NMR reference data as calibration. The values of interesting properties, for example, the amount of free phenol and the formaldehyde-to-phenol (F/P) molar ratio, of the resins being similar to the calibration resins were predicted from the IR spectra. Also, the predicted results were compared with the ones observed by ¹³C-NMR spectroscopy. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 69: 2175–2185, 1998     

Formation of nitrogen oxides from fuel-N through HCN and NH3: a model-compound study

The conversion of fuel-nitrogen to HCN and NH₃ and to nitrogen oxides was studied with nitrogen-containing model compounds, chosen to represent the main nitrogen and oxygen functionalities in fossil fuels. Two kinds of experiments were performed in an entrained-flow reactor at 800 °C. The conversion of model-compound-N to HCN and NH₃ was determined under inert conditions, and the formation of NO, N₂O and NO₂ was determined under oxidizing conditions. In inert atmosphere, oxygen-containing functional groups had an important effect on the ratio of HCN to NH₃. In particular, OH groups bound directly in the ring structure increased the conversion of nitrogen to NH₃. In oxidizing atmosphere, the conversions of model-compound-N to N₂O were high, but the substituent groups had no well-defined effect on the ratio of N₂O to NO. The formation of NO₂ was insignificant.     

Robust decomposed system control for an electro-mechanical linear actuator mechanism under input constraints

This paper aims to develop a robust decomposed system control (RDSC) strategy under input constraints for an electro-mechanical linear actuator (EMLA) facing model uncertainty and external disturbances. At first, a state-space model of a complex multi-stage gearbox EMLA system, driven by a permanent magnet synchronous motor (PMSM), is developed, and the non-ideal characteristics of the ball screw are presented through the model. The result is a four-order nonlinear strict-feedback form (NSFF) system decomposed into three subsystems. As the paper's main result, a novel RDSC strategy with uniform exponential stability for controlling subsystem states is presented. This developed controller avoids the "explosion of complexity" problem associated with backstepping by treating the time derivative of the virtual control input as an uncertain system term. The proposed method, despite assuming load disturbances and input constraints with arbitrary bounds, offers a straightforward control approach for a broader range of applications. Further, the controller's performance is evaluated by simulating two distinct duty cycles, each representing different levels of demand on the actuator facing load disturbances near the rated motor performance.     

One Novel Hydraulic Actuating System for the Lower-Body Exoskeleton

The hydraulic exoskeleton is one research hotspot in the field of robotics,which can take heavy load due to the high power density of the hydraulic system.However,the traditional hydraulic system is normally centralized,inef-ficient,and bulky during application,which limits its development in the exoskeleton.For improving the robot's performance,its hydraulic actuating system should be optimized further.In this paper a novel hydraulic actuating system(HAS)based on electric-hydrostatic actuator is proposed,which is applied to hip and knee joints.Each HAS integrates an electric servo motor,a high-speed micro pump,a specific tank,and other components into a module.The specific parameters are obtained through relevant simulation according to human motion data and load require-ments.The dynamic models of the HAS are built,and validated by the system identification.Experiments of trajectory tracking and human-exoskeleton interaction are carried out,which demonstrate the proposed HAS has the ability to be applied to the exoskeleton.Compared with the previous prototype,the total weight of the HAS in the robot is reduced by about 40％,and the power density is increased by almost 1.6 times.