A backbone-reversed all-{beta} polypeptide (retro-CspA) folds and assembles into amyloid nanofibres

The backbone-reversed or ‘retro’, form of a modelall-ß-sheet protein, Escherichia coli CspA, was producedfrom a synthetic gene in E.coli in fusion with an N-terminalaffinity tag. Following purification under denaturing conditionsand dialysis-based removal of urea, the protein was found tofold into a soluble, poorly structured multimer. Upon concentration,this state readily transformed into amyloid nanofibres. CongoRed-binding amorphous forms were also observed. Since a ß-sheet-formingsequence is expected to retain high ß-sheet-formingpropensity even after backbone reversal and given the fact thatfolding of retro-CspA occurs only to a poorly structured form,we conclude that the increase effected in protein concentrationmay be responsible for the formation of intermolecular ß-sheets,facilitating the bleeding away of the protein’s conformationalequilibrium into aggregates that generate well-formed fibres.Since every molecule in these fibres contains a peptide tagfor binding Ni²⁺, the fibres may provide a template for depositionof nickel to generate novel materials. Received April 1, 2003; revised October 27, 2003; accepted October 30, 2003     

Detection of tuberculosis using MEMS

Microsystem Technologies - Tuberculosis is a contagious disease caused by the bacteria, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis. Early detection of TB is vital to increase the chances of cure. In this paper, a...     

VILO: a rapid learning nearest-neighbor classifier for malware triage

VILO is a lazy learner system designed for malware classification and triage. It implements a nearest neighbor (NN) algorithm with similarities computed over Term Frequency $\times $ Inverse Document Frequency (TFIDF) weighted opcode mnemonic permutation features (N-perms). Being an NN-classifier, VILO makes minimal structural assumptions about class boundaries, and thus is well suited for the constantly changing malware population. This paper presents an extensive study of application of VILO in malware analysis. Our experiments demonstrate that (a) VILO is a rapid learner of malware families, i.e., VILO’s learning curve stabilizes at high accuracies quickly (training on less than 20 variants per family is sufficient); (b) similarity scores derived from TDIDF weighted features should primarily be treated as ordinal measurements; and (c) VILO with N-perm feature vectors outperforms traditional N-gram feature vectors when used to classify real-world malware into their respective families.     

Least eccentric ellipses for geometric Hermite interpolation

We present a rational Bézier solution to the geometric Hermite interpolation problem. Given two points and respective unit tangent vectors, we provide an interpolant that can reproduce a circle if possible. When the tangents permit an ellipse, we produce one that deviates least from a circle. We cast the problem as a theorem and provide its proof, and a method for determining the weights of the control points of a rational curve. Our approach targets ellipses, but we also present a cubic interpolant that can find curves with inflection points and space curves when an ellipse cannot satisfy the tangent constraints.     

Design and analysis of an aging‐aware energy management system for islanded grids using mixed‐integer quadratic programming

The rapid increase of renewable energy sources made coordinated control of the distributed and intermittent generation units a more demanded task. Matching demand and supply is particularly challenging in islanded microgrids. In this study, we have demonstrated a mixed‐integer quadratic programming (MIQP) method to achieve efficient use of sources within an islanded microgrid. A unique objective function involving fuel consumption of diesel generator, degradation in a lithium‐ion battery energy storage system, carbon emissions, load shifting, and curtailment of the renewable sources is constructed, and an optimal operating point is pursued using the MIQP approach. A systematic and extensive methodology for building the objective function is given in a sequential and explicit manner with an emphasis on a novel model‐based battery aging formulation. Performance of the designed system and a sensitivity analysis of resulting battery dispatch, diesel generator usage, and storage aging against a range of optimization parameters are presented by considering real‐world specifications of the Semakau Island, an island in the vicinity of Singapore.     

Effect of MQL and nanofluid on the machinability aspects of hardened alloy steel

Abstract

The current research comprises of various machinability aspects of 4340 hardened alloy steel which are scrutinized with in context of improvements in main cutting force, tool flank wear, crater wear, surface roughness, micro-hardness, machined surface morphology, chip morphology, chip reduction coefficient and apparent coefficient of friction under three different cutting fluid applications i.e. compressed air, water soluble coolant and nanofluid (using eco-friendly radiator coolant as the base fluid and Al₂O₃ as the nanoparticle) using uncoated cermet cutting inserts and a comparative assessment was performed to select which fluid performed better in terms of various machining attributes among three cutting fluids. The minimum quantity lubrication technique (MQL) was used in which a smaller volume of coolant sprinkled at high pressure. This method is found as the most effective alternative to minimize health risks and machining costs, which is quite high in other setups. The test specimen was machined at three different cutting speeds i.e. 100, 120 and 140?m/min along with two machining parameters i.e. feed and depth of cut were kept constant respectively at 0.2?mm/rev and 0.4?mm. Outcomes made a conclusion that Al₂O₃ enriched ecofriendly nanocoolant outperformed both compressed air and water soluble coolant in terms of every machinability aspects.     

Performance analysis of tool electrode prepared through laser sintering process during electrical discharge machining of titanium

The International Journal of Advanced Manufacturing Technology - It is of great significance for intelligent manufacturing to study condition monitoring and diagnosis methods to realize early...     

Ab initio and thermodynamic modelling of alloying effects on activity of sacrificial aluminium anodes

This work summarizes the experimental literature to date on Al-alloy sacrificial anodes and shows that the presence of Sn as an alloying element in solid solution form consistently debases the alloy corrosion potential. This study then assesses the lattice expander theory, which states that lattice-expanding dopants can be used to increase Sn solubility in Al and thereby reduce passivation. The thermodynamic effects on Sn solubility of lattice expanders (Ga, Mg, Zr, In and Bi) are predicted with ab-initio methods. Our results support lattice expander theory although we demonstrate that Sn solubility can decrease by alloying with even large dopants if they form compounds with Sn.     

Active wafer shape modulation using a multi-actuator chucking system

Jet and Flash Imprint Lithography has proven to be a viable alternative to optical lithography for fabrication of sub 30 nm nanostructures for large volume semiconductor manufacturing. Machine throughput, overlay and process defectivity that meet and exceed the International Technology Roadmap for Semiconductors (ITRS) are essential for commercial viability of any new lithography technology. Jet and Flash Imprint Lithography uses an inkjet head to dispense a grid of liquid drops on the wafer surface to match the volume requirements of the pattern being imprinted. Wafer shape modulation has been shown to increase imprinting speed significantly by reducing air bubble trapping in the drop interstitial sites. A wafer shape modulation chuck that can address arbitrary field locations and sizes on a wafer with a novel actuation scheme that minimizes the number of actuators while increasing imprinting speed and reducing process defects significantly is presented.     

Analysis of Test Application Time for Test Data Compression Methods Based on Compression Codes

We present an analysis of test application time for test data compression techniques that are used for reducing test data volume and testing time in system-on-a-chip (SOC) designs. These techniques are based on data compression codes and on-chip decompression. The compression/decompression scheme decreases test data volume and the amount of data that has to be transported from the tester to the SOC. We show via analysis as well as through experiments that the proposed scheme reduces testing time and allows the use of a slower tester. Results on test application time for the ISCAS'89 circuits are obtained using an ATE testbench developed in VHDL to emulate ATE functionality.