Regularized Estimation of Retinal Vascular Oxygen Tension From Phosphorescence Images

The level of retinal oxygenation is potentially an important cue to the onset or presence of some common retinal diseases. An improved method for assessing oxygen tension in retinal blood vessels from phosphorescence lifetime imaging data is reported in this paper. The optimum estimate for phosphorescence lifetime and oxygen tension is obtained by regularizing the least-squares (LS) method. The estimation method is implemented with an iterative algorithm to minimize a regularized LS cost function. The effectiveness of the proposed method is demonstrated by applying it to simulated data as well as image data acquired from rat retinas. The method is shown to yield estimates that are robust to noise and whose variance is lower than that obtained with the classical LS method.     

Assessment of antioxidant capacity by method comparison and amino acid characterisation in buffalo milk kefir

This study aimed to analyse the antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content of buffalo milk kefir fermented with grains or a commercial starter culture, as well as characterisation of the amino acid profile. During fermentation, the ferrous‐reducing activity of samples increased, while the 2,2‐diphenyl‐1‐picrylhydrazyl (DPPH) and 2,2′‐azino‐bis‐(3‐ethylbenzothiazoline‐6‐sulphonic acid) (ABTS) scavenging activity decreased. The highest value of the ABTS and DPPH scavenging activity was recorded for buffalo milk kefir with grain, which also showed a lower ferric‐reducing antioxidant power during storage. Statistical analyses showed a significant effect of starter culture type and fermentation/storage time on the antioxidant capacity of buffalo kefir.     

Air permeability and bursting strength of weft-knitted fabrics from glass yarn. Part I: cam setting and number of yarn ply effect

This study revealed the effect of cam setting and number of yarn ply on air permeability and bursting strength of weft-knitted fabrics from glass yarn. Change in cam setting from loose to tight level increased fiber content, and stitch-density; while it decreased loop length. Fabrics with 3-ply yarn exhibited higher fiber content; lower stitch-density; and longer loop length than fabrics with 2-ply yarn. Cam setting showed more pronounced effect on physical properties of fabric than number of yarn ply. Fabrics knitted via tight cam setting level exhibited less air permeability, and higher bursting strength than fabrics knitted via loose cam setting. Fabrics from 3-ply yarn showed less air permeability and higher bursting strength than fabrics from 2-ply yarn. Loop length, wale density, and fiber content were determined as the most effective physical properties on permeability and bursting strength. A negative correlation was detected between air permeability and bursting strength.     

Role of post-sulfonation of poly(ether ether sulfone) in proton conductivity and chemical stability of its proton exchange membranes for fuel cell

Commercially available poly(ether ether sulfone), PEES, was directly sulfonated using concentrated sulfuric acid at low temperatures by minimizing degradation during sulfonation. The sulfonation reaction was performed in the temperature range of 5–25 °C. Sulfonated polymers were characterized by FTIR, ¹H NMR spectroscopy and ion exchange capacity (IEC) measurements. Degradation during sulfonation was investigated by measuring intrinsic viscosity, glass transition temperature and thermal decomposition temperature of sulfonated polymers. Sulfonated PEES, SPEES, membranes were prepared by solvent casting method and characterized in terms of IEC, proton conductivity and water uptake. The effect of sulfonation conditions on chemical stability of membranes was also investigated via Fenton test. Optimum sulfonation condition was determined to be 10 °C with conc. H₂SO₄ based on the characteristics of sulfonated polymers and also the chemical stability of their membranes. SPEES membranes exhibited proton conductivity up to 185.8 mS cm⁻¹ which is higher than that of Nafion 117 (133.3 mS cm⁻¹) measured at 80 °C and relative humidity 100%.     

Oxygen transport and surface active properties of silicone containing copolymers of methyl methacrylate II

New organofunctional siloxanes from γ-methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (MPTMS) were synthesized by transesterification of methoxy groups with linear high alcohols, ether alcohols, and α-hydroxyacids. The factors affecting the substitution ratios were determined. These siloxanes were copolymerized with methyl methacrylate (MMA), crosslinked with ethylene glycol dimethacrylate (EGDM) in order to examine the effect of substituted groups to the oxygen permeability coefficient (P_d) and surface free energy properties of the resultant copolymers. The substitution of the oxygen containing polar groups decreased the oxygen permeability due to the interactions between polar groups decreasing the free volume. However, these groups increased the polar component of surface free energy (γ) and thus total surface free energy (γ_S). The hydrophilicity of the carbitol and 2-ethoxyethanol containing siloxane-MMA copolymers was found to be suitable for biomedical applications.     

The characterisation of the polyethylene-polystyrene-divinylbenzene interpolymer cation-exchange membranes in the electrolysis of borax solutions

The synthesis and the characterization of the PE-PS-DVB interpolymer cationexchange membranes in the electrolysis of borax solutions to produce boric acid and sodium hydroxide simultaneously was carried out. The characterization of the teflon based “Nafion 324” and polystyrene-DVB based “Permaplex C-20” membranes was also performed in the same system for comparison. The DVB contents were varied between 3 – 12% (by wt. in total monomers) and the increase of the cross-links resulted in the decrease of the water contents and ionexchange capacities of the membranes. The PE present in the membrane acted as a barrier for electroosmotic water transport. The membranes with high DVB contents showed better electrolysis performance due to their low water contents and low electroosmotic water transport properties. The use of the interpolymer membrane containing 11.6% DVB resulted in high current efficiency and high sodium cation dynamic transport number and worked satisfactorily at the process conditions of borax electrolysis.     

Modeling, stability and control of biped robots—a general framework

The focus of this survey is the modeling and control of bipedal locomotion systems. More specifically, we seek to review the developments in the field within the framework of stability and control of systems subject to unilateral constraints. We place particular emphasis on three main issues that, in our view, form the underlying theory in the study of bipedal locomotion systems. Impact of the lower limbs with the walking surface and its effect on the walking dynamics was considered first. The key issue of multiple impacts is reviewed in detail. Next, we consider the dynamic stability of bipedal gait. We review the use of discrete maps in studying the stability of the closed orbits that represent the dynamics of a biped, which can be characterized as a hybrid system. Last, we consider the control schemes that have been used in regulating the motion of bipedal systems. We present an overview of the existing work and seek to identify the needed future developments. Due to the very large number of publications in the field, we made the choice to mainly focus on journal papers.     

The synthesis of rGO/RuO2, rGO/PANI,RuO2/PANI and rGO/RuO2/PANI nanocomposites and their supercapacitors

Polymer Bulletin - In this work, reduced graphene oxide (rGO) was obtained by chemical reduction of graphene oxide (GO) using sodium borohydride (NaBH4). Four different nanocomposites rGO/ruthenium...     

Determination of acceptable operating cost level of nuclear energy for Turkey's power system

Generally, it is very difficult to assess the true operating cost of an electrical power unit in the countries where there is little or no operational experience. Since Turkey has no experience on operating a nuclear unit, operating costs of a nuclear unit is uncertain for use in generation expansion planning (GEP). Furthermore, there is a disagreement of whether it is cheap or not. In this study, an acceptable level of operating cost of nuclear units is determined for Turkey's power system. It is aimed to find a numerical value for nuclear operating cost at which nuclear is able to compete with other energy sources. Seven types of units are chosen as candidate units to the power system. Mixed-integer programming (MIP) is used as a mathematical model of generation expansion planning. The model consists of the cost function that minimizes the construction and operating costs and the reliability constraints. Adaptive simulated annealing genetic algorithm (ASAGA) is used for optimization algorithm to determine the types, times, and number of candidate units which meet forecasted demand within a pre-specified reliability criterion over the planning horizon from 2006 to 2025. In the case studies, a high level of nuclear energy operating cost is taken and then the cost is gradually lowered. Optimizations are made for each level of nuclear operating costs within four different scenarios and the quantities of nuclear capacity selected by optimizations are recorded. It is determined that, nuclear energy is able to compete with other energy sources when the operating cost is less than 210$/kWh yr or 2.4cent/kWh.