Comprehension and acceptability of on-board traffic information: Beliefs and driving behaviour

Co-Drive on-board traffic information system is a complementary tool providing a dynamic management of transportation infrastructure and traffic as well as the diffusion of accurate real-time information about the road environment and motorists’ driving behaviour. The aim of this study was to examine drivers’ acceptability of Co-Drive by investigating the impact of traffic information provided via on-board display devices on motorists’ beliefs and behaviour.     

Concentration influences on recovery in a high gradient magneticseparation axial filter

The buildup differential equations for the case of a single wire in high gradient magnetic filtration (HGMF)-axial configuration taking into account the suspension concentration are solved. A new equation for the deposit contour surface at different moments and for different suspension concentrations are obtained. The existence of a particulate suspension concentration, for which the radial extension velocity of deposit is maximum, is evidenced. The recovery for an ordered ferromagnetic matrix is calculated. The influence of the solid particle concentration from suspension on the filtration efficiency is presented     

Increase of regression speed of combustion through oxidizer doping

This paper presents an innovative method to increase the regression speed of a solid fuel grain by using oxidizer doping. The results obtained on a propulsion application showing the performance parameters as an output of a numerical model are provided. Two models are given that predict the regression speed increase for embedding wires and for oxidizer doping with a factor of ～2 to 3. Also, it is shown that this increase of the regression speed by using a low oxidizer doping percentage, which is based on the assumption that at a higher doping rate the combustion instabilities, can lead to detonations. Next, a thermochemical model for the combustion within the oxidizer doping model is afforded. For this model, the burn is assumed to take place around the surface of each of the oxidizer particles, being composed of two different burning processes: one is the burning on the surface of the solid fuel grain and the other is the burning between the solid fuel and the solid oxidizer. For a non-doped fuel grain, the burning takes place only on the surface of the fuel grain. Finally, a potential application of such propulsion units to small satellite launchers is presented, and a case study of such a vehicle intended to place a 50 kg payload on a low earth orbit (300 to 500 km altitude) is described. The modelling proposed is based on the assumption that the use of solid methane makes this launcher environmentally friendly.     

Sinanodonta woodiana (mollusca: bivalvia: unionidae): isolation and characterization of the first microsatellite markers

Sinanodonta woodiana (Lea, 1834) is a large Unionid species with a real invasion success. It colonized Europe, Central America, the Indonesian Islands and recently North America. The species life cycle involves a larval parasitic stage on freshwater fish species which contributes to the spread of the mussel. In this paper we describe, for the first time, eight polymorphic microsatellite loci for the species Sinanodonta woodiana. The genetic screening of individuals confirmed that all loci were highly polymorphic. The number of alleles per locus ranged from 7 to 14 and the observed heterozygosity ranged from 0.650 to 0.950. These loci should prove useful to study the species population genetics which could help to infer important aspects of the invasion process.     

The encapsulation effect of UV molecular absorbers into biocompatible lipid nanoparticles

The efficiency of a cosmetic product depends not only on the active ingredients, but also on the carrier system devoted to improve its bioavailability. This article aims to encapsulate two couples of UV molecular absorbers, with a blocking action on both UV-A and UV-B domains, into efficient lipid nanoparticles. The effect of encapsulation on the specific properties such as sun protection factor and photostability behaviour has been demonstrated. The lipid nanoparticles with size range 30-350 nm and a polydispersity index between 0.217 and 0.244 are obtained using a modified high shear homogenisation method. The nanoparticles had spherical shapes with a single crystallisation form of lipid matrices characteristic for the least ordered crystal structure (α-form). The in vitro determination of photoprotection has led to high SPF ratings, with values of about 20, which assure a good photoprotection and filtering about 95% of UV radiation. The photoprotection effect after irradiation stage was observed to be increased more than twice compared to initial samples as a result of isomerisation phenomena. All the results have shown that good photoprotection effect and improved photostability could be obtained using such sunscreen couples, thus demonstrating that UV absorbers-solid lipid nanoparticles are promising carriers for cosmetic formulations.     

Designing polylactide/clay nanocomposites for textile applications: Effect of processing conditions,spinning, and characterization

An experimental study was carried out to design polylactide (PLA)-clay nanocomposites for developing fibers. PLA and 1–10 wt % of a selected organomodified bentonite (Bentone® 104-B104) were melt mixed to examine the effect of processing conditions (temperature, shear, residence time) on the morphology of performed polymer nanocomposites (PNC). Because of a good compatibility with PLA matrix, the dispersion of B104 occurred under different conditions without difficulty, and a similar morphology was obtained. The results obtained showed that at low temperature of mixing, the shear stress exerted on polymer has a key role on the extent of intercalation and delamination. Upscale experiments were further performed using optimized conditions and 4 wt % B104 was added to PLA matrix by melt blending to produce PNC for spinning. Then, the recovered PNC were melt spun to produce multifilaments yarns, and it was demonstrated that surprisingly, it is not necessary to use a plasticizer to spin a blend with 4 wt % B104. The properties of the yarns have been studied in terms of clay dispersion as well as thermal, mechanical, and shrinkage properties. B104 could be added up to 4 wt % into PLA without detrimentally sacrificing the tensile strength of melt-spun filaments, especially at high draw ratio. Interestingly, the PNC-based multifilaments were knitted and the flammability studied using cone calorimeter at 35 kW/m². A strong decrease, up to 46%, of the heat release rate was measured. © 2008 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci, 2008     

Collagen immobilization on polyethylene terephthalate surface after helium plasma treatment

An attractive alternative to add new functionalities such as biocompatibility due to the micro- and nano-scaled modification of polymer surfaces is offered by plasma processing. Many vital processes of tissue repair and growth following injuries depend on the rate of adsorption and self-assembling of the collagen molecules at the interfaces. Consequently, besides the amount of protein, it is necessary to investigate the form in which the collagen molecules are organizing on the polymer surface. In this study, direct current (DC) helium plasma treatment was used in order to obtain poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) films with different amounts of collagen and different shapes of aggregates formed from the collagen molecules. The immobilization of collagen on PET surface was confirmed by XPS measurements, an increase of the nitrogen content by increasing the plasma exposure time being recorded. The SEM and AFM measurements revealed the presence of grains and dendrites of collagen formed on the polymer surface. At 15 min plasma treatment time, the polymer surface after collagen immobilization has a homogenous topography. Usually, one can find fibrils, coil or dendrimers of collagen formed in buffer solutions and immobilized on different polymer surfaces. On the other hand, in this particular configuration, the combination of DC plasma and helium gas as a PET functionalization tool is an original one. As the collagen is not covalently immobilized on the surfaces, it may interact with the cell culture medium proteins, part of the collagen might being replaced by other serum proteins.     

Surface energy evaluation of casting and nanofiber polyurethane films by using different models

The components of the surface free energy (SFE) were determined from static contact angle measurements of five liquids using different methods. The two manufacturing techniques (casting and electrospinning) applied to obtain polyurethane (PU) membranes give surfaces with different wetting properties. The SFE data varied and were strongly dependent on calculations methods and liquids that were used for contact angle measurements. As a whole, the SFE of electrospun PU membrane (PU-N) (~24 mN/m) was slightly higher than that of casting PU membrane (PU-F) (~18 mN/m) with similar chemical compositions. The overall increase in the value of SFE is mainly due to the microstructures with increased surface area and modulations of nanofibers. The results evidence the impact of the PU membrane preparation on the properties of the biomaterial surface. Such structure–properties–function relationship is necessary to lay the groundwork for establishing a set of design criteria to guide the fabrication of synthetic materials.     

Efficient Floating-Point Implementation of the Probit Function on FPGAs

Journal of Signal Processing Systems - Non-uniform random number generators are key components in Monte Carlo simulations. The inverse cumulative distribution function (ICDF) technique provides a...     

Pyrene functionalized side chain alanine and histidine containing copolyacrylates prepared by free radical copolymerization

An optically active copolyacrylate, poly(N‐acryloyl‐L‐alanine‐co‐N‐acryloyl‐L‐histidine), is prepared by classical radical copolymerization of N‐acryloyl‐L‐alanine and N‐acryloyl‐L‐histidine, and further chemically modified with 1‐pyrene‐methanol. The structures of the synthesized compounds are confirmed by spectral analysis (FTIR, ¹H/¹³C‐NMR, UV, fluorescence spectroscopy), thermal methods, and molecular weight measurements. Also, their optical activity is studied using circular dichroism (CD) spectroscopy and optical rotation measurements. The specific rotation values reveal that the direction of rotation of the parent copolymer is dictated by the monomer containing L‐alanine. CD data suggest negative and positive Cotton effects regarding the monomers with amino acids. In the case of the unmodified copolymer it is noted the changes of ellipticity values with increasing pH while the random‐coil conformation is preserved, which makes it suitable as a pH‐responsive system. Photochemical and photophysical investigations reveal that the pyrene‐functionalized chiroptical copolyacrylate can be used as a fluorescent chemosensor for the detection of nitro‐derivatives in organic media. © 2016 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134, 44457.