Binders for jute-reinforced unsaturated polyester resin

Reinforcement of polyester resin with jute cloth under constant load is studied, The pretreatment of jute cloth with tetrahydrofuran and the effect of binding properties of poly(vinyl acetate) and acrylic acid and their effect on the impact, tensile, and water absorptions of jute cloth polyester composites are reported and their chemical reactions are discussed.     

Laboratory examination of anisotropy in the foliation plane of metamorphic rocks

Mechanical testing and ultrasonic measurements were used to establish the properties of metamorphic rocks in different directions of the foliation plane. Tests were undertaken on 42 mm diameter specimens cored at right angles to the foliation of gneissic rocks from southwest Sweden. Ultrasonic and tensile testing was carried out in three diametral directions and the data for each direction were compared. Coefficients, failure load anisotropy and velocity anisotropy were obtained. An anisotropy coefficient of 3% was detected by ultrasonic measurements, while the Brazilian tests indicated 15%. The study has shown that an anisotropy coefficient of the foliation plane is present, albeit small. Electronic Publication     

Analytical Modeling of Short-Channel Fully-Depleted Triple Work Function Metal Gate (TWFMG) SOI MESFET

Silicon - In this paper, a new structure: triple work function metal gate SOI MESFET, intended for integration into the deep-submicron CMOS technology, is proposed. The gate of the device consists...     

An Engineered sgsh Mutant Zebrafish Recapitulates Molecular and Behavioural Pathobiology of Sanfilippo Syndrome A/MPS IIIA

Mucopolysaccharidosis IIIA (MPS IIIA, Sanfilippo syndrome type A), a paediatric neurological lysosomal storage disease, is caused by impaired function of the enzyme N-sulfoglucosamine sulfohydrolase (SGSH) resulting in impaired catabolism of heparan sulfate glycosaminoglycan (HS GAG) and its accumulation in tissues. MPS IIIA represents a significant proportion of childhood dementias. This condition generally leads to patient death in the teenage years, yet no effective therapy exists for MPS IIIA and a complete understanding of the mechanisms of MPS IIIA pathogenesis is lacking. Here, we employ targeted CRISPR/Cas9 mutagenesis to generate a model of MPS IIIA in the zebrafish, a model organism with strong genetic tractability and amenity for high-throughput screening. The sgsh^Δex5−6 zebrafish mutant exhibits a complete absence of Sgsh enzymatic activity, leading to progressive accumulation of HS degradation products with age. sgsh^Δex5−6 zebrafish faithfully recapitulate diverse CNS-specific features of MPS IIIA, including neuronal lysosomal overabundance, complex behavioural phenotypes, and profound, lifelong neuroinflammation. We further demonstrate that neuroinflammation in sgsh^Δex5−6 zebrafish is largely dependent on interleukin-1β and can be attenuated via the pharmacological inhibition of Caspase-1, which partially rescues behavioural abnormalities in sgsh^Δex5−6 mutant larvae in a context-dependent manner. We expect the sgsh^Δex5−6 zebrafish mutant to be a valuable resource in gaining a better understanding of MPS IIIA pathobiology towards the development of timely and effective therapeutic interventions.     

A new intelligent algorithm for dynamic facility layout problem in state of fuzzy constraints

In the present paper, the dynamic facilities layout problem is studied in presence of ambiguity of information flow. Product demand (and consequently material flow) is defined as fuzzy numbers with different membership functions. The problem is modeled in fuzzy programming. Three models of expected value, chance-constrained programming and dependent-chance programming and two hybrid intelligent algorithms are then presented. At the end, efficiency of algorithms for solving fuzzy models of dynamic facilities layout is shown through some numerical examples.     

Simulation of reactive precipitation processes using the network-of-zones model

A 2-D network-of-zones model is extended and applied to a reactive precipitation process in batch mode. The simulations are performed for a network of size 2 × (10 × 10) for an elementary reaction through the solution of 1400 ODEs. The complicated interactions between mixing efficacy and the system kinetics are systematically investigated. When the stirrer speed is very slow, the crystal size distribution (CSD) of the product in the precipitator is determined by the intensity of mixing. Conversely, at higher stirrer speed, the CSD is controlled by the system kinetics. More effective mixing leads to an increase in the number of crystals, a reduction of the average size and a narrower crystal size distribution. The extended network-of-zones model presented in this work can be used conveniently for integrating computational fluid dynamics and reactive precipitation processes.     

HEAT TRANSFER IN A THIN LIQUID FILM IN THE PRESENCE OF AN ELECTRIC FIELD

Heat transfer enhancement in an evaporating thin liquid film utilizing a electric field under isothermal interfacial condition is presented. A new mathematical model subjected to van der Waals attractive forces, capillary pressure, and an electric field is developed to describe the heat transfer enhancement in the evaporating thin liquid film. The effect of the electrostatic field on the curvature of the thin film, evaporative flux, pressure gradient distribution, heat flux, and heat transfer coefficient in the thin film is presented. The results show that applying an electric field can enhance heat transfer in a thin liquid film significantly. In addition, utilizing electric fields on the evaporating film will be a way to expand the extended meniscus region to attain high heat transfer coefficients and high rates of heat flux.     

Co-registered Frequency-Domain Photoacoustic Radar and Ultrasound System for Subsurface Imaging in Turbid Media

Frequency-domain photoacoustic radar (FD-PAR) imaging of absorbers in turbid media and their comparison and/or validation as well as co-registration with their corresponding ultrasound (US) images are demonstrated in this paper. Also presented are the FD-PAR tomography and the effects of reducing the number of scan lines (or angles) on image quality, resolution, and contrast. The FD-PAR modality uses intensity-modulated (coded) continuous wave laser sources driven by frequency-swept (chirp) waveforms. The spatial cross-correlation function between the PA response and the reference signal used for laser source modulation produces the reconstructed image. Live animal testing is demonstrated, and images of comparable signal-to-noise ratio, contrast, and spatial resolution were obtained. Various image improvement techniques to further reduce absorber spread and artifacts in the images such as normalization, filtering, and amplification were also investigated. The co-registered image produced from the combined US and PA images provides more information than both images independently. The significance of this work lies in the fact that achieving PA imaging functionality on a commercial ultrasound instrument could accelerate its clinical acceptance and use. This work is aimed at functional PA imaging of small animals in vivo.     

Investigation of Ablation Efficiency of Stainless Steel Using Pulsed Lasers in Burst Mode

Due to its high corrosion resistance and mechanical properties, stainless steel is commonly used in various industrial applications. Although different types of stainless steel are similar in their chemical composition, they can differ significantly in their thermal diffusivity. This property is relevant in the ability of a material to conduct heat and thus, in laser processing. In this frame, this study compares the ablation efficiency and characteristics of polished stainless steel samples of the alloys AISI 304, AISI 420, and AISI 316Ti. They are irradiated with single ultrashort pulses having pulse durations between 250 fs and 10 ps as well as using GHz burst modii. The goal is to investigate the differences in both the ablation threshold and the ablation rate to improve the ablation efficiency. The results show that shorter pulse durations lead to a more efficient ablation process. On the other hand, GHz bursts are found to be, in general, less efficient. In addition, there is a significant difference in the surface morphology depending on the process parameters. The differences in the thermal diffusivity do not significantly influence the ablation threshold fluence but surface morphology and the ablation rate.     

An efficient hybrid approach based on PSO, ACO and k-means for cluster analysis

Clustering is a popular data analysis and data mining technique. A popular technique for clustering is based on k-means such that the data is partitioned into K clusters. However, the k-means algorithm highly depends on the initial state and converges to local optimum solution. This paper presents a new hybrid evolutionary algorithm to solve nonlinear partitional clustering problem. The proposed hybrid evolutionary algorithm is the combination of FAPSO (fuzzy adaptive particle swarm optimization), ACO (ant colony optimization) and k-means algorithms, called FAPSO-ACO–K, which can find better cluster partition. The performance of the proposed algorithm is evaluated through several benchmark data sets. The simulation results show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is better than other algorithms such as PSO, ACO, simulated annealing (SA), combination of PSO and SA (PSO–SA), combination of ACO and SA (ACO–SA), combination of PSO and ACO (PSO–ACO), genetic algorithm (GA), Tabu search (TS), honey bee mating optimization (HBMO) and k-means for partitional clustering problem.