Improving gelling properties of myofibrillar proteins incorporating with cellulose micro/nanofibres

The effects of cellulose microfibres (CMFs, Average size: 100 ± 5 μm) and cellulose nanofibres (CNFs, Average size: 60 ± 3 nm) on the properties of myofibrillar protein (MP) gels from duck breast meat were studied. The results demonstrated that CMFs and CNFs were mostly connected to MP by non-covalent bonds, the diffusion and cross-linking of MP molecules was promoted, and a denser and more complete gel network was formed. With the increases of CMFs and CNFs concentration (0–10%), the hardness was increased by 13.15% and 19.78% for CMFs10% and CNFs10% gels, respectively, and the elasticity was increased by 40% and 80%, respectively. At the same concentration (0–10%), the increase in gel hardness, viscoelasticity and immobilised water content was greater in the CNFs-MP group than in the CMFs-MP group. The CNFs-MP group had a tighter gel network, and CNFs had a better potential to improve the gelation performance of MP.     

Digital twin-based analysis of volumetric error mapping procedures

The evaluation of the volumetric accuracy of a machine tool is an open challenge in the industry, and a wide variety of technical solutions are available in the market and at research level. All solutions have advantages and disadvantages concerning which errors can be measured, the achievable uncertainty, the ease of implementation, possibility of machine integration and automation, the equipment cost and the machine occupation time, and it is not always straightforward which option to choose for each application. The need to ensure accuracy during the whole lifetime of the machine and the availability of monitoring systems developed following the Industry 4.0 trend are pushing the development of measurement systems that can be integrated in the machine to perform semi-automatic verification procedures that can be performed frequently by the machine user to monitor the condition of the machine. Calibrated artefact based calibration and verification solutions have an advantage in this field over laser based solutions in terms of cost and feasibility of machine integration, but they need to be optimized for each machine and customer requirements to achieve the required calibration uncertainty and minimize machine occupation time.This paper introduces a digital twin-based methodology to simulate all relevant effects in an artefact-based machine tool calibration procedure, from the machine itself with its expected error ranges, to the artefact geometry and uncertainty, artefact positions in the workspace, probe uncertainty, compensation model, etc. By parameterizing all relevant variables in the design of the calibration procedure, this simulation methodology can be used to analyse the effect of each design variable on the error mapping uncertainty, which is of great help in adapting the procedure to each specific machine and user requirements. The simulation methodology and the analysis possibilities are illustrated by applying it on a 3-axis milling machine tool.     

Context-free grammars to detect straight segments and a novel polygonal approximation method

A new method for the polygonal approximation is presented. The method is based on the search for break points through a context-free grammar, that accepts digital straight segments with loss of information, as well as the decrease in the error committed employing the comparison of a tolerable error. We present an application of our method to different sets of objects widely used, as well as a comparison of our results with the best results reported in the literature, proving that our method achieves better values of error criteria. Besides, a new way to find polygonal approximations, with context-free grammars to recognize digital straight segments without loss of pixels, it is also addressed.     

Effects of non-thermal plasma treating wheat kernel on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and the quality of fresh wet noodles

The effects of non-thermal plasma (NTP) on the physicochemical properties of wheat flour and the quality of fresh wet noodles ( FWN) were investigated. The results showed that NTP effectively decreased the total plate count (TPC), yeast and mould count (YMC) and Bacillus spp. in wheat flour. Wet gluten contents and the stability time reached the maximum when treated for 20 s. The viscosity of starch increased significantly after treatment due to the increased of damaged starch. The contents of secondary structure were altered to some extent, which was because that the ordered network structure of gluten protein broken. Furthermore, compared with the control, texture properties of FWN were enhanced significantly at 20 s, and the darkening rate of FWN was greatly inhibited due to the low polyphenol oxidase (PPO) activity. Consequently, the most suitable treatment was 500 W for 20 s, providing a basis for the application of NTP in flour products.     

异种铁素体耐热钢接头界面组织及其影响

综述了铁素体与铁素体异种金属焊缝（dissimilar metal welds，DMWs）接头界面组织及其影响。结果表明，在焊后热处理或运行温度下的铁素体钢DMWs接头的不均匀界面组织中，通常会形成脱碳层和增碳层。在铁素体钢DMWs焊接接头界面组织影响因素中，焊缝金属的化学成分有重要影响；焊后热处理规范（温度和时间）、工作温度下运行时间的影响较为突出；焊接工艺参数的影响亦不可忽略。异种钢接头界面处近缝区裂纹的产生，以及接头的蠕变强度随Larson Miller 参数增大而下降等不利影响，均为异种钢界面碳迁移行为所导致。焊缝成分控制法是接头界面组织控制或改善的必要条件，而脱碳层部位转移法能有效防止裂纹发生，亦是接头安全运行的重要工艺措施之一。     

Morphological study of thin films: Simulation and experimental insights using horizontal visibility graph

We studied the morphological nature of various thin films such as silicon carbide (SiC), diamond (C), germanium (Ge), and gallium nitride (GaN) on silicon substrate Si(100) using the pulsed laser deposition (PLD) method and Monte Carlo simulation. We, for the first time, systematically employed the visibility algorithm graph to meticulously study the morphological features of various PLD grown thin films. These thin-film morphologies are investigated using random distribution, Gaussian distribution, patterned heights, etc. The nature of the interfacial height of individual surfaces is examined by a horizontal visibility graph (HVG). It demonstrates that the continuous interfacial height of the silicon carbide, diamond, germanium, and gallium nitride films are attributed to random distribution and Gaussian distribution in thin films. However, discrete peaks are obtained in the brush and step-like morphology of germanium thin films. Further, we have experimentally verified the morphological nature of simulated silicon carbide, diamond, germanium, and gallium nitride thin films were grown on Si(100) substrate by pulsed laser deposition (PLD) at elevated temperature. Various characterization techniques have been used to study the morphological, and electrical properties which confirmed the different nature of the deposited films on the Silicon substrate. Decent hysteresis behavior has been confirmed by current-voltage (IV) measurement in all the four deposited films. The highest current has been measured for GaN at ～60 nA and the lowest current in SiC at ～30 nA level which is quite low comparing with the expected signal level (μA). The HVG technique is suitable to understand surface features of thin films which are substantially advantageous for the energy devices, detectors, optoelectronic devices operating at high temperatures.     

Unreliable numbers: error and harm induced by bad design can be reduced by better design

Number entry is a ubiquitous activity and is often performed in safety- and mission-critical procedures, such as healthcare, science, finance, aviation and in many other areas. We show that Monte Carlo methods can quickly and easily compare the reliability of different number entry systems. A surprising finding is that many common, widely used systems are defective, and induce unnecessary human error. We show that Monte Carlo methods enable designers to explore the implications of normal and unexpected operator behaviour, and to design systems to be more resilient to use error. We demonstrate novel designs with improved resilience, implying that the common problems identified and the errors they induce are avoidable.     

A review on ultrasonic spot welding of copper alloys

As a solid state joining process, ultrasonic spot welding has been proven to be a promising technique for joining copper alloys. However, challenges still remain in employing ultrasonic spot welding to join copper alloys. This article comprehensively reviews the current state of ultrasonic spot welding of copper alloys with a number of critical issues including materials flow, plastic deformation, temperature distribution, vibration, relative motion, vertical displacement, interface friction coefficient, online monitoring technique, coupled with the macrostructure and microstructure, the mechanical properties and electrical conductivity. In addition, the future trends in this field are provided.     

On the performance of improved quadrature spatial modulation

Quadrature spatial modulation (QSM) utilizes the in‐phase and quadrature spatial dimensions to transmit the real and imaginary parts of a single signal symbol, respectively. The improved QSM (IQSM) transmits two signal symbols per channel use through a combination of two antennas for each of the real and imaginary parts. The main contributions of this study can be summarized as follows. First, we derive an upper bound for the error performance of the IQSM. We then design constellation sets that minimize the error performance of the IQSM for several system configurations. Second, we propose a double QSM (DQSM) that transmits the real and imaginary parts of two signal symbols through any available transmit antennas. Finally, we propose a parallel IQSM (PIQSM) that splits the antenna set into equal subsets and performs IQSM within each subset using the same two signal symbols. Simulation results demonstrate that the proposed constellations significantly outperform conventional constellations. Additionally, DQSM and PIQSM provide a performance similar to that of IQSM while requiring a smaller number of transmit antennas and outperform IQSM with the same number of transmit antennas.     

Control of the particle microstructure during the synthesis of bulk-polymerized transparent methacrylate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene resin

A series of methacrylate-acrylonitrile-butadiene-styrene (MABS) resins was prepared using bulk polymerization. The polarity of the continuous phase and the compatibility of two phases were changed by adjusting the methyl methacrylate (MMA) content, choosing values that were close to styrene-butadiene rubber solubility value. The possibility of controlling the microstructure of the MABS resin by changing the polarity of the components and the compatibility of two phases was assessed. The dynamic mechanical analysis shows that the compatibility of two phases varies with the MMA content. The morphological analysis shows that increasing MMA contents results in a gradual decrease in the sub-inclusion structure with a network skeleton of rubber particles, and that all the particles become solid rubber when the MMA content reaches 75%. The sub-inclusion structure reappears but does not have a network skeleton when the MMA content is 90%. The impact strength and morphological analysis indicate that the solid rubber particles and the sub-inclusion structure with a network skeleton provide excellent toughness, while the sub-inclusion structure without a network skeleton does not. In contrast, the transmittance of the ABS resin first increased and then decreased with increasing MMA content.