A Multiscale-Porous Anion Exchange Membrane for Convenient and Scalable Electrokinetic Concentration of Cationic Species

A device able to electrokinetically concentrate cationic samples has many potential medical and industrial applications, but until now has remained undeveloped due to the lack of a commercial anion-permselective material leading to a prohibitively complex fabrication procedure. Herein, a novel multiscale-porous anion exchange membrane (MP-AEM) that enables the convenient and scalable electrokinetic concentration of cationic species is proposed. A mechanically enhanced multiscale-porous structure with a solid framework is realized by adopting polyester resin as an additive to overcome the intrinsic limitations of the AEM material. The scalable MP-AEM-embedded electrokinetic concentrator is devised based on the peculiar properties of the MP-AEM that for allow both ion and fluid transport. With the MP-AEM, the concentrator is fabricated in a highly streamlined manner consisting only of a simple insertion and assembly. The concentration performance of the MP-AEM-embedded electrokinetic concentrator is demonstrated with a positively charged fluorescent dye and a fluorescein-labeled protein, and the results show enrichment factors of 250 and 500, respectively. The MP-AEM makes cationic electrokinetic concentration more accessible and scalable, thereby enabling further progress in a wide range of fields.     

Representation and reconstruction of polygons and polyhedra using Hierarchical Extended Gaussian Images

In this paper, two new representation schemes called the Branched Gaussian Image (BGI) and the Hierarchical Extended Gaussian Image (HEGI) are proposed. They can be used for uniquely representing both concave and convex, two-dimensional figures and three-dimensional objects. The representation by the Branched Gaussian Image involves several Gaussian spheres connected by branches where the traversing directions might be different. Examples showing how the use of the BGI enables us to achieve the mapping and inverse mapping of concave polygons and polyhedra uniquely are presented. The Gaussian spheres in the BGI can be organized into a tree-like hierarchical structure known as the Hierarchical Extended Gaussian Image. A general procedure for mapping a polygon or polyhedron to its HEGI representation is described. An approach for reconstructing concave polygons from Branched Gaussian Images is presented. The reconstruction of a concave polyhedron from its Hierarchical Extended Gaussian Images by using an iterative method or a closed-form method for each convex component is also described.     

An Internet-based negotiation server for e-commerce

This paper describes the design and implementation of a replicable, Internet-based negotiation server for conducting bargaining-type negotiations between enterprises involved in e-commerce and e-business. Enterprises can be buyers and sellers of products/services or participants of a complex supply chain engaged in purchasing, planning, and scheduling. Multiple copies of our server can be installed to complement the services of Web servers. Each enterprise can install or select a trusted negotiation server to represent his/her interests. Web-based GUI tools are used during the build-time registration process to specify the requirements, constraints, and rules that represent negotiation policies and strategies, preference scoring of different data conditions, and aggregation methods for deriving a global cost-benefit score for the item(s) under negotiation. The registration information is used by the negotiation servers to automatically conduct bargaining type negotiations on behalf of their clients. In this paper, we present the architecture of our implementation as well as a framework for automated negotiations, and describe a number of communication primitives which are used in the underlying negotiation protocol. A constraint satisfaction processor (CSP) is used to evaluate a negotiation proposal or counterproposal against the registered requirements and constraints of a client company. In case of a constraint violation, an event is posted to trigger the execution of negotiation strategic rules, which either automatically relax the violated constraint, ask for human intervention, invoke an application, or perform other remedial operations. An Event-Trigger-Rule (ETR) server is used to manage events, triggers, and rules. Negotiation strategic rules can be added or modified at run-time. A cost-benefit analysis component is used to perform quantitative analysis of alternatives. The use of negotiation servers to conduct automated negotiation has been demonstrated in the context of an integrated supply chain scenario. Received: 30 October 2000 / Accepted: 12 January 2001 Published online: 2 August 2001     

Effects of supplement additives on anaerobic biogas production

Anaerobic digestion (AD) converts biomass to biogas. However, its performance is often affected by the nutrient condition of AD substrate. In this study, a few substrate supplements were selected to promote the biogas production; MgO, FeCl₃, and cellulase were selected based on the result from elemental analyses of the biomass. The potential impact of the additives on AD process was evaluated by performing a series of biochemical methane potential (BMP) tests. BMP reactors with the substrate with one of the selected additives (i.e., MgO of 380 mg Mg L^?1, FeCl₃ of 88 mg Fe L^?1 or cellulase of 25 mg L^?1) exhibited higher microbial activity; 5–15% more biogas production was observed, compared to the blank. Microbial community analysis showed that different additives resulted in proliferation of different microbial species. Therefore, it was decided to add the mixture of the three additives to the biomass. Addition of the mixed additive resulted in 22% more gas production.     

A Web-Based Knowledge Network for Supporting Emerging Internet Applications

Although the Internet and the World Wide Web technologies have gained a tremendous amount of popularity among people and organizations, the network that these technologies created is not much more than a multimedia data network. It provides tools and services for people to browse and search for data but does not provide the facilities for automatically delivering the relevant information for supporting decision–making to the right people or applications at the right time. Nor does it provide the means for users to enter and share their knowledge that would be useful for making the right decisions. In this work, we introduce the concept of a Web–based knowledge network, which allows users and organizations to publish, not only their multimedia data, but also their knowledge in terms of events, parameterized event filters, customizable rules and triggers that are associated with their data and application systems. Operations on the data and application systems may post events over the Internet to trigger the processing of rules defined by both information providers and consumers. The knowledge network is constructed by a number of replicable software components, which can be installed at various network sites. They, together with the existing Web servers, form a network of knowledge Web servers.     

Exercise barrier severity and perseverance of active youth with physical disabilities.

Purpose: The authors investigated perceived exercise and physical activity barriers of active youth with physical disabilities. Research Method/Design: A 46-item exercise barrier instrument was administered to 145 youth (117 boys and 28 girls, 12 to 19 years of age). Using the Rasch model, the authors estimated barrier severity and youths' exercise perseverance. Model-data fit was determined by Infit and Outfit statistics (≥ 0.5 and ≤ 1.5). Results: Except for 1 item, the model fit the data well. The most difficult barriers that youth with physical disabilities faced were lack of time and pain or discomfort. The older youth demonstrated higher exercise perseverance than the younger youth. There were no differences in youths' exercise perseverance scores by gender or National Wheelchair Basketball Association classification. Implications: Removing severe barriers should be a part of future exercise and physical activity interventions targeting this population. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Content Protective Multi‐Agent Platform for MsMu Service and Pattern‐Based Content Management

Recent research on mobile Internet protocol television and digital right management (DRM) interconnections has focused on multimedia technologies designed to enhance content scalability and adaptive content distribution. However, due to the architectural and scalable limitations, recent systems are not flexible and securable with respect to their adaptive content distribution and protective policy management. Therefore, we propose a content protective multi‐agent platform that provides secure multimedia services, correlation management, pattern‐based management, and multisource multi‐use (MsMu)‐based services. Our architecture, supported by DRM, lets us create a rich set of MsMu‐based content protection and seamless multimedia services through the extension of one source multi‐use (OsMu)‐based content services. We have verified our platform, which provides scalable and securable services with a 17% lower service response time by using a testbed.     

Effects of basic gas diffusion layer components on PEMFC performance with capillary pressure gradient

The gas diffusion layer (GDL) is composed of a substrate and a micro-porous layer (MPL), and is treated with polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) to promote water discharge. Additionally, the MPL mainly consists of carbon black and PTFE. In other words, the optimal design of these elements has a dominant effect on the polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cell (PEMFC) performance. For the GDL, it is crucial to prevent water flooding, and the water flux within the GDL is strongly affected by the capillary pressure gradient. In this study, the PEMFC performance was systematically investigated by varying the substrate PTFE content, MPL PTFE content, and MPL carbon loading per unit area. The effects of each experimental variable on the PEMFC performance and especially on the capillary pressure gradient were quantitatively analyzed when the GDLs were manufactured by the doctor blade manufacturing method. The experimental results indicated that as the PTFE content of the anode and cathode GDL increased, the PEMFC performance deteriorated due to the deformation of the porosity and tortuosity of the GDL. Additionally, the PEMFC performance improved as the MPL PTFE content of the cathode GDL increased at low relative humidity (RH), but the PEMFC performance tendency was reversed at high RH. Further, the MPL carbon loading of 2 mg/${\text{cm}}^2$ demonstrated the best performance, and the advantages and disadvantages of the MPL carbon loading were identified. In addition, the effects of each experimental variable on liquid water, water vapor, and gas permeability were investigated.     

A new image segmentation technique based on partition mode test

Image segmentation is one of the most important steps in a modern computerized machine vision system. This paper describes a simple, systematic one-pass image segmentation algorithm which is based on the partition mode test of pixels within a (2 × 2) window and assigning and updating label fields to the pixels of this window. A number of well chosen examples are shown to demonstrate the capabilities of the new algorithm.     

Evaporation Heat Transfer Coefficients of R-446A

ABSTRACT

The present study investigated the evaporation heat transfer coefficients of R-446A, as a low global warming potential alternative refrigerant to R-410A. The evaporation heat transfer coefficients were obtained by measuring the wall temperature of a straight stainless tube and refrigerant pressure. The heat transfer coefficients were measured for the quality range from 0.05 to 0.95, the mass flux from 100 to 400 kg/m²s, heat flux from 10 to 30 kW/m², and saturation temperature from 5 to 10°C. The evaporation heat transfer coefficient of R-410A was verified by comparing the measured evaporation heat transfer coefficient with the value predicted by the existing correlation. The evaporation heat transfer coefficient of R-446A was measured using a proven experimental apparatus. When the heat flux was 10 kW/m², the evaporation heat transfer coefficient of R-446A was always higher than that of R-410A. But, when the heat flux was 30 kW/m², the evaporation heat transfer coefficient of R-446A was measured to be lower than that of R-410A near the dry-out point. The effect of the tube diameter on the R-446A evaporation heat transfer coefficient was negligible. The effect of saturation pressure on the evaporation heat transfer coefficient was prominent in the low quality region where the nucleate boiling was dominant.