Capacity balancing for vanadium redox flow batteries through continuous and dynamic electrolyte overflow

Journal of Applied Electrochemistry - The vanadium crossover through the membrane can have a significant impact on the capacity of the vanadium redox flow battery (VFB) over long-term...     

In vivo 19F MR inflammation imaging after myocardial infarction in a large animal model at 3 T

Magnetic Resonance Materials in Physics, Biology and Medicine - Fluorine-19 (19F) MRI with intravenously applied perfluorocarbons allows the in vivo monitoring of infiltrating immune cells as...     

Modular Production with Bio-Based Resources in a Decentral Production Network

The change in process industry from fossil resources to alternative feedstock is indispensable due to the scarcity of resources and global warming. This leads to new challenges for the production systems. On the market side, rapid innovation is accompanied by shorter product life cycles leading to an increasing uncertainty of demand in terms of product type, volume and location. Therefore, the following five elements are combined into a concept to address these challenges: transformable production systems, local bio-based resources, CO₂ as feedstock, renewable energy and decentral production network with local economies.     

High resolution supply chain management: optimized processes based on self-optimizing control loops and real time data

The efficient dealing with the dynamic environment of production industries is one of the most challenging tasks of Supply Chain Management in high-wage countries. Relevant and current information are still not used sufficiently, to handle the influence of the dynamic environment on intra- and inter-company order processing adequately. Among other things, the problem is caused by missing or delayed feedback of relevant data. As a consequence of that, planning results differ from the actual situation of production. High Resolution Supply Chain Management describes an approach aiming on high information transparency in supply chains in combination with decentralized, self-optimizing control loops for Production Planning and Control. The final objective is to enable manufacturing companies to produce efficiently and to be able to react to order-variations at any time, requiring process structures to be most flexible.     

Secured ECG Signal Transmission Using Optimized EGC with Chaotic Neural Network in WBSN

In wireless body sensor network (WBSN), the set of electrocardiogram (ECG) data which is collected from sensor nodes and transmitted to the server remotely supports the experts to monitor the health of a patient. While transmitting these collected data some adversaries may capture and misuse it due to the compromise of security. So, the major aim of this work is to enhance secure transmission of ECG signal in WBSN. To attain this goal, we present Pity Beetle Swarm Optimization Algorithm (PBOA) based Elliptic Galois Cryptography (EGC) with Chaotic Neural Network. To optimize the key generation process in Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC) over Galois field or EGC, private key is chosen optimally using PBOA algorithm. Then the encryption process is enhanced by presenting chaotic neural network which is used to generate chaotic sequences or cipher data. Results of this work show that the proposed cryptography algorithm attains better encryption time, decryption time, throughput and SNR than the conventional cryptography algorithms.     

Computationally Guided Molecular Design to Minimize the LE/CT Gap in D‐π‐A Fluorinated Triarylboranes for Efficient TADF via D and π‐Bridge Tuning

In this combined experimental and theoretical study, a computational protocol is reported to predict the excited states in D‐π‐A compounds containing the B(^FXyl)₂ (^FXyl = 2,6‐bis(trifluoromethyl)phenyl) acceptor group for the design of new thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) emitters. To this end, the effect of different donor and π‐bridge moieties on the energy gaps between local and charge‐transfer singlet and triplet states is examined. To prove this computationally aided design concept, the D‐π‐B(^FXyl)₂ compounds 1 – 5 were synthesized and fully characterized. The photophysical properties of these compounds in various solvents, polymeric film, and in a frozen matrix were investigated in detail and show excellent agreement with the computationally obtained data. Furthermore, a simple structure–property relationship is presented on the basis of the molecular fragment orbitals of the donor and the π‐bridge, which minimize the relevant singlet–triplet gaps to achieve efficient TADF emitters.     

The influence of task load on situation awareness and control strategy in the ATC tower environment

The safe and efficient operation of air traffic is highly dependent on the performance of the Air Traffic Control Officer (ATCO). The ATCOs control the traffic within defined areas by monitoring the traffic and granting clearances. A key element in analyzing the ATCOs is their interaction with the environment through their workplace. Especially the influence of task load on their situation awareness (SA) and applied control strategy provides information on the quality of the workplace. As task load increases, controllers are able to maintain performance by using different management or compensation strategies. This article supports the evaluation of ATCO’s workplaces by focusing on whether probe techniques for assessing SA are applicable for tower control operation and for measuring the influences of increased task load on the control strategy. An experiment with nine ATCOs was conducted in a simulated real-time air traffic control environment. Different measurements for SA were applied and compared regarding their efficiency and validity. The manipulation of task load and visibility influenced the SA and control strategy at the same time. Performance metrics were selected in advance to evaluate the participant’s efficiency. SA was measured with a probe technique and an offline self-assessment method. Findings suggest that probe techniques increase the insight into the understanding of SA in comparison to self-assessment and that they are applicable to the air traffic control environment. Control strategies were derived from the information-gathering process via the eye-movement behavior and connected to task load. The results imply that SA is part of the individual performance and that increasing demand through task load is handled with an adaptation of the control strategy.     

Simultaneous impact modified and chain extended glass fiber reinforced poly(lactic acid) composites: Mechanical,thermal, crystallization,and dynamic mechanical performance

Herein, glass fiber (GF) reinforced binary, ternary, and quaternary poly(lactic acid) (PLA) composites were prepared. Toughening, and chain extension of PLA was achieved through the incorporation of impact modifier and chain extender and their concurrent effects on the spectroscopic, crystallization, mechanical, thermal, and thermomechanical properties of the composites were investigated. High mechanical properties of GF influenced the mechanical performance of the composites. However, GF alone could not restrict the chain mobility of PLA due to poor interface and low crystallization activities in the PLA-GF composite. Incorporation of impact modifier and chain extender produced significantly enhanced interaction between GF and PLA. Significantly, the crystallinity, impact strength, and flexural modulus of PLA in the quaternary composite were increased by 58%, 63%, and 66%, respectively. In addition, damping and effectiveness coefficient of the PLA-GF composite were notably reduced by the simultaneous impact modification and chain extension of the reinforced composites.     

Gold-ruby glass in a new light: On the microstructuring of optical glasses with synchrotron radiation

We describe the microstructuring of gold-ruby glasses with synchrotron radiation. Plasmonic or luminescent microstructures with a lateral width of minimum 5 μm can be written directly into the glasses by implementing X-ray lithography. The technique involves two steps: First, gold containing glass samples are irradiated with synchrotron X-rays through a microstructured mask. And second, subsequent annealing at minimum 500°C induces the growth of gold nanoparticles. The patterned sites are ruby coloured due to the gold surface plasmon resonance of gold nanoparticles. Furthermore we investigated the photoluminescence of the microstructured glass. After synchrotron irradiation a red photoluminescence is observed under UV light excitation. Subsequent annealing for a few minutes at 300°C induces the quenching of the red luminescence. If the irradiated sample is annealed for 5 minutes at a higher temperature of 500°C a bright green light emission is detected. The green photoluminescence decreases after further annealing and finally vanishes. We assume that the origin of the luminescence are silicate hole centres. The technique of generating gold particles with synchrotron X-ray lithography has potential to produce micro-optical devices like optical storage units, photonic crystals, gratings or sensors.