Facial-sketch Synthesis: A New Challenge

Machine Intelligence Research - This paper aims to conduct a comprehensive study on facial-sketch synthesis (FSS). However, due to the high cost of obtaining hand-drawn sketch datasets, there is a...     

Piezoelectric properties of PVDF-conjugated polymer nanofibers

This study presents the development and characterization of PVDF-conjugated polymer nanofiber-based systems. Five different conducting polymers (CPs) were synthesized successfully and used to create the nanofiber systems. The CPs used are polyaniline (PANI), polypyrrole (PPY), polyindole (PIN), polyanthranilic acid (PANA), and polycarbazole (PCZ). Nanofiber systems were produced utilizing the Forcespinning® technique. The nanofiber systems were developed by mechanical stretching. No electrical field or post-process poling was used in the nanofiber systems. The morphology, structure, electrochemical and piezoelectric performance was characterized. All of the nanofiber PVDF/CP systems displayed higher piezoelectric performance than the fine fiber PVDF systems. The PVDF/PPY nanofiber system displays the highest piezoelectric performance of 15.56 V. The piezoelectric performance of the PVDF/CP nanofiber systems favors potential for an attractive source of energy where highly flexible membranes could be used in power actuators, sensors and portable, and wireless devices to mention some.     

Lipidomic Analysis of Plasma from Healthy Men and Women Shows Phospholipid Class and Molecular Species Differences between Sexes

The phospholipid composition of lipoproteins is determined by the specificity of hepatic phospholipid biosynthesis. Plasma phospholipid 20:4n-6 and 22:6n-3 concentrations are higher in women than in men. We used this sex difference in a lipidomics analysis of the impact of endocrine factors on the phospholipid class and molecular species composition of fasting plasma from young men and women. Diester species predominated in all lipid classes measured. 20/54 Phosphatidylcholine (PtdCho) species were alkyl ester, 15/48 phosphatidylethanolamine (PtdEtn) species were alkyl ester, and 12/48 PtdEtn species were alkenyl ester. There were no significant differences between sexes in the proportions of alkyl PtdCho species. The proportion of alkyl ester PtdEtn species was greater in women than men, while the proportion of alkenyl ester PtdEtn species was greater in men than women. None of the phosphatidylinositol (PtdIns) or phosphatidylserine (PtdSer) molecular species contained ether-linked fatty acids. The proportion of PtdCho16:0_22:6, and the proportions of PtdEtn O-16:0_20:4 and PtdEtn O-18:2_20:4 were greater in women than men. There were no sex differences in PtdIns and PtdSer molecular species compositions. These findings show that plasma phospholipids can be modified by sex. Such differences in lipoprotein phospholipid composition could contribute to sexual dimorphism in patterns of health and disease.     

Towards a Better Prediction of Cell Settling on Nanostructure Arrays—Simple Means to Complicated Ends

Vertical arrays of nanostructures (NSs) are emerging as promising platforms for probing and manipulating live mammalian cells. The broad range of applications requires different types of interfaces, but cell settling on NS arrays is not yet fully controlled and understood. Cells are both seen to deform completely into NS arrays and to stay suspended like tiny fakirs, which have hitherto been explained with differences in NS spacing or density. Here, a better understanding of this phenomenon is provided by using a model that takes into account the extreme membrane deformation needed for a cell to settle into a NS array. It is shown that, in addition to the NS density, cell settling depends strongly on the dimensions of the single NS, and that the settling can be predicted for a given NS array geometry. The predictive power of the model is confirmed by experiments and good agreement with cases from the literature. Furthermore, the influence of cell‐related parameters is evaluated theoretically and a generic method of tuning cell settling through surface coating is demonstrated experimentally. These findings allow a more rational design of NS arrays for the numerous exciting biological applications where the mode of cell settling is crucial.     

The effectiveness of adaptive versus non-adaptive learning with digital educational games

For the training of academic skills, digital educational games with integrated adaptivity are promising. Adaptive games are considered superior to non-adaptive games, because they constantly assess children's performance, and accordingly adapt the difficulty of the tasks corresponding to the children's individual level. However, empirical evidence with regard to the effectivity of adaptive compared to non-adaptive games is limited. A study was conducted with 191 children from the third year of Kinder garten who were enrolled in one of three conditions, that is, playing an adaptive version of the reading game (RG), a non-adaptive version of the RG or training with pen-and-paper exercises. In all three conditions, children trained emergent reading (phonological awareness and letter knowledge) once a week for 30 min over a period of 5 weeks. Children's performance on cognitive (phonological awareness, letter knowledge, reading fluency) and non-cognitive (motivation, self-concept) factors was assessed. Results revealed a significant improvement in phonological awareness and letter knowledge in all conditions. However, no differences between the conditions were observed with respect to children's improvement on phonological awareness and letter knowledge or on their post-test scores for reading fluency. With regard to motivation and self-concept, again, no differences in these non-cognitive factors were observed across conditions.     

Engineering egress data considering pedestrians with reduced mobility

To quantify the evacuation process, evacuation practitioners use engineering egress data describing the occupant movement characteristics. These data are typically based to young and fit populations. However, the movement abilities of occupants who might be involved in evacuations are becoming more variable—with the building populations of today typically including increasing numbers of individuals: with impairments or who are otherwise elderly or generally less mobile. Thus, there will be an increasing proportion of building occupants with reduced ability to egress. For safe evacuation, there is therefore a need to provide valid engineering egress data considering pedestrians with disabilities. Gwynne and Boyce recently compiled a series of data sets related to the evacuation process to support practitioner activities in the chapter Engineering Data in the SFPE Handbook of Fire Protection Engineering. This paper supplements these data sets by providing information on and presenting data obtained from additional research related to the premovement and horizontal movement of participants with physical‐, cognitive‐, or age‐related disabilities. The aim is to provide an overview of currently available data sets related to, and key factors affecting the egress performance of, mixed ability populations which could be used to guide fire safety engineering decisions in the context of building design.