Phase structure and mechanical properties of PP/EPR/CaCO3 nanocomposites: Effect of particle's size and treatment

Calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) reinforced polypropylene/ethylene propylene rubber (PP/EPR) copolymer composites for automotive use were developed by means of extrusion and injection molding process. Three kinds of CaCO₃ (stearic acid treated and untreated) nanoparticles and microparticles were used as fillers. The influence of stearic acid, particle size, and filler content on the state distribution and morphology were investigated by SEM and rheological measurements. Two different morphologies were observed: EPR and CaCO₃ dispersed in the PP matrix and a core shell structure, depending on the interactions between EPR and CaCO₃. Toughening mechanisms and mechanical properties of the different systems were investigated. Significant improvement in tensile modulus is observed in all composites, depending on filler content. Elongation and notched impact strength were drastically decreased, especially for composites with nano CaCO₃. Better impact properties were obtained with low content of treated particles, showing the importance of filler treatment. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 55:2859–2868, 2015. © 2015 Society of Plastics Engineers     

A multi-level conceptual data reduction approach based on the Lukasiewicz implication

Starting from fuzzy binary data represented as tables in the fuzzy relational database, in this paper, we use fuzzy formal concept analysis to reduce the tables size to only keep the minimal rows in each table, without losing knowledge (i.e., association rules extracted from reduced databases are identical at given precision level). More specifically, we develop a fuzzy extension of a previously proposed algorithm for crisp data reduction without loss of knowledge. The fuzzy Galois connection based on the Lukasiewicz implication is mainly used in the definition of the closure operator according to a precision level, which makes data reduction sensitive to the variation of this precision level.     

A recursive hierarchical parametric estimation algorithm for nonlinear systems described by Wiener‐Hammerstein models

In this paper, a recursive hierarchical parametric estimation (RHPE) algorithm is proposed for stochastic nonlinear systems which can be described by Wiener‐Hammerstein (W‐H) mathematical models. The formulation of parameters estimation problem is based on the prediction error approach and the gradient techniques. The convergence analysis of the developed RHPE algorithm is derived using stochastic gradient‐based theory. Wiener‐Hammerstein hydraulic process is treated to prove the efficiency of the proposed approach.     

Delay-dependent Stabilization Conditions of Controlled Positive Continuous-time Systems

The stabilization problem for a class of linear continuous-time systems with time-varying non differentiable delay is solved while imposing positivity in closed-loop. In particular, the synthesis of state-feedback controllers is studied by giving sufficient conditions in terms of linear matrix inequalities(LMIs). The obtained results are then extended to systems with non positive delay matrix by applying a memory controller. The effectiveness of the proposed method is shown by using numerical examples.     

Thermomechanical properties of virgin and recycled polypropylene impact copolymer/CaCO3 nanocomposites

The effect of successive injection moldings on the thermal, rheological, and mechanical properties of a polypropylene impact copolymer (PP) was investigated. The crystal content decreased as the molecular weight decreased due to chain scission with repeated injection molding. The Young modulus and the yield stress remained constant, despite a drop in the strain to break. Virgin and recycled PP matrix were filled with nanosized calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) particles. The effect of morphology on the thermal and mechanical properties of nanocomposites of virgin and recycled PP filled with nanosized CaCO₃ particles was also studied. The mechanical properties of the nanocomposites were strongly influenced by the intrinsic toughness of the matrix and the concentration and dispersion of the filler. The yield strength and strain of virgin PP decreased gradually, while its Young's modulus increased slightly with increasing CaCO₃ loading. These phenomena were less pronounced for the recycled matrix. Incorporation of nanoparticles to virgin matrix produced an increase in tensile stiffness and ductility, when good dispersion of the filler was achieved. However, the impact strength dropped dramatically for high filler contents. A significant increase in impact strength was observed for the recycled PP. POLYM. ENG. SCI., 50:1904–1913, 2010. © 2010 Society of Plastics Engineers     

State estimation for nonlinear conformable fractional‐order systems: A healthy operating case and a faulty operating case

The issue of estimating states for classical integer‐order nonlinear systems has been widely addressed in the literature. Yet, generalization of existing results to the fractional‐order framework represents a fertile area of research. Note that, recently, a new and advantageous type of fractional derivative, the conformable derivative, was defined. So far, the general query of designing observers for conformable fractional‐order systems has not been investigated. In addition, it has been proved in the literature that some important tools for stability analysis of fractional‐order systems are valid using the conformable derivative concept, but invalid using other fractional derivative concepts. Motivated by the cited facts, this paper presents a first‐state estimation scheme for fractional‐order systems under the conformable derivative concept. A healthy operating case and a faulty operating case are treated. In this paper, a version of Barbalat's lemma, which is invalid using the well‐known Caputo derivative, is exploited to prove the convergence of the estimation errors. In order to validate the theoretical results, a numerical example is studied in the simulation section.     

BicFinder: a biclustering algorithm for microarray data analysis

In the context of microarray data analysis, biclustering allows the simultaneous identification of a maximum group of genes that show highly correlated expression patterns through a maximum group of experimental conditions (samples). This paper introduces a heuristic algorithm called BicFinder (The BicFinder software is available at: ) for extracting biclusters from microarray data. BicFinder relies on a new evaluation function called Average Correspondence Similarity Index (ACSI) to assess the coherence of a given bicluster and utilizes a directed acyclic graph to construct its biclusters. The performance of BicFinder is evaluated on synthetic and three DNA microarray datasets. We test the biological significance using a gene annotation web-tool to show that our proposed algorithm is able to produce biologically relevant biclusters. Experimental results show that BicFinder is able to identify coherent and overlapping biclusters.     

Elevated IL-6 and IL-22 in Early Pregnancy Are Associated with Worse Disease Course in Women with Inflammatory Bowel Disease

Inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), including Ulcerative Colitis (UC) and Crohn’s disease (CD), are inflammatory conditions of the intestinal tract that affect women in their reproductive years. Pregnancy affects Th1- and Th2-cytokines, but how these changes occur during pregnancy in IBD is unclear. We performed a longitudinal profiling of serum cytokines in a cohort of 11 healthy pregnant women and 76 pregnant women with IBD from the first trimester of pregnancy to the first 12 months post-partum. Participants were monitored for biochemical disease activity (C-reactive protein [CRP] and fecal calprotectin [FCP]) and clinical activities. Maternal cytokines were measured using ELISA. We identified changes in Th1 and Th17 cytokines throughout pregnancy in healthy pregnant women. During pregnancy, maternal serum cytokine expressions were influenced by IBD, disease activity, and medications. Active UC was associated with an elevation in IL-21, whereas active CD was associated with elevated IFN-γ, IL-6, and IL-21. Interestingly, T1 serum cytokine levels of IL-22 (>0.624 pg/mL) and IL-6 (>0.648 pg/mL) were associated with worse IBD disease activity throughout pregnancy in women with UC and CD, respectively. This shows serum cytokines in pregnancy differ by IBD, disease activity, and medications. We show for the first time that T1 IL-22 and IL-6 correlate with IBD disease course throughout pregnancy.     

On the lattice of specifications: Applications to a specification methodology

In this paper we investigate the lattice properties of the natural ordering between specifications, which expresses that a specification expresses a stronger requirement than another specification. The lattice-like structure that we uncover is used as a basis for a specification methodology.