WorldWideScience

Sample records for gel based vehicle

  1. Skin hydration and cooling effect produced by the Voltaren® vehicle gel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hug, Agnes M; Schmidts, Thomas; Kuhlmann, Jens; Segger, Dörte; Fotopoulos, Grigorios; Heinzerling, Johanna

    2012-05-01

    Voltaren vehicle gel is the carrier substance of the topical Voltaren products. This vehicle gel is especially formulated to be easily applied on the skin, while providing some sensory benefits. The present study aims to substantiate the widely perceived hydrating and cooling effect of Voltaren vehicle gel. Volar forearm skin hydration and transepidermal water loss (TEWL) were measured and user satisfaction was evaluated by questionnaires, after application in 31 healthy, female volunteers. The cooling effect was investigated for 40 min with thermal imaging on 12 forearm sites of six healthy subjects. Voltaren vehicle gel application increased skin hydration by 13.1% (P = 0.0002) when compared with the untreated site, 8 h after the final treatment after 2 weeks. TEWL decreased on both treated (0.37 g/m(2) /h) and untreated (0.74 g/m(2) /h) forearm sites after 2 weeks (8 h after last treatment), demonstrating a relative increase of 6.5% in water loss. Voltaren vehicle gel application resulted in a rapid reduction of skin surface temperature by 5.1°C after only 3 min with an average maximum reduction of 5.8°C after 10 min. The cooling effect was experienced by 94% subjects, while 74% felt that their skin became softer. No adverse events, including skin irritation, were reported during the study and by the 37 participants. This study showed a statistically significant increase in skin hydration as well as a rapid cooling effect lasting approximately 30 min, after application of Voltaren vehicle gel. The small relative increase in water loss may be attributed to an additional skin surface water loss secondary to the increased water content brought into the skin by the Voltaren vehicle gel. The use did not induce any skin irritation and was found acceptable to use by the majority of participants. © 2011 John Wiley & Sons A/S.

  2. Principles of topical treatment: advancement in gel vehicle technology.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Feldman, Steven R

    2014-04-01

    Topical treatment is a pillar of dermatologic practice. The delivery of drug by a topical vehicle is dependent on complex physical chemistry and on how well patients apply the product. The potency of topical agents is not solely dependent on the concentration of active drug in the vehicle. A corticosteroid molecule may have vastly different potency depending on what vehicle is used to deliver it. Similarly, a new gel vehicle is able to deliver considerably more active antifungal than an older vehicle technology and may represent a promising vehicle for other novel formulations. The use of new vehicles can provide more effective means for treating patients with skin disease.

  3. Novel microemulsion-based gel formulation of tazarotene for therapy of acne.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Patel, Mrunali Rashmin; Patel, Rashmin Bharatbhai; Parikh, Jolly R; Patel, Bharat G

    2016-12-01

    The objective of this study was to develop and evaluate a novel microemulsion based gel formulation containing tazarotene for targeted topical therapy of acne. Psudoternary phase diagrams were constructed to obtain the concentration range of oil, surfactant, and co-surfactant for microemulsion formation. The optimized microemulsion formulation containing 0.05% tazarotene was formulated by spontaneous microemulsification method consisting of 10% Labrafac CC, mixed emulsifiers 15% Labrasol-Cremophor-RH 40 (1:1), 15% Capmul MCM, and 60% distilled water (w/w) as an external phase. All plain and tazarotene-loaded microemulsions were clear and showed physicochemical parameters for desired topical delivery and stability. The permeation profiles of tazarotene through rat skin from optimized microemulsion formulation followed the Higuchi model for controlled permeation. Microemulsion-based gel was prepared by incorporating Carbopol®971P NF in optimized microemulsion formulation having suitable skin permeation rate and skin uptake. Microemulsion-based gel showed desired physicochemical parameters and demonstrated advantage over marketed formulation in improving the skin tolerability of tazarotene indicating its potential in improving its topical delivery. The developed microemulsion-based gel may be a potential drug delivery vehicle for targeted topical delivery of tazarotene in the treatment of acne.

  4. Gel in core carbosomes as novel ophthalmic vehicles with enhanced corneal permeation and residence.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moustafa, Mona A; El-Refaie, Wessam M; Elnaggar, Yosra S R; Abdallah, Ossama Y

    2018-05-17

    Carbopol is a good bio-adhesive polymer that increases the residence time in the eye. However, the effect of blinking and lacrimation still reduce the amount of polymer and the incorporated drug available for bioadhesion. Gel-core liposomes are advanced systems offering benefits making it a good tool for improved ocular drug delivery and residence time. Incorporation of carbopol in gel-core liposomes and their potential in ocular delivery have not so far been investigated. Fluconazole (FLZ) was selected as a challenging important ocular antifungal suffering from poor corneal permeation and short residence time. In this study, gel-core carbosomes have been elaborated as novel carbopol-based ophthalmic vehicles to solve ocular delivery obstacles of FLZ and to sustain its effect. Full in vitro appraisal was performed considering gel-core structure, entrapment efficiency, particle size and stability of the vesicles as quality attributes. Structure elucidation of the nanocarrier was performed using optical, polarizing and transmission electron microscopy before and after Triton-X100 addition. Ex-vivo ocular permeation and in vivo performance were investigated on male albino rabbits. Optimized formulation (CBS5) showed gel-core structure, nanosize (339.00 ± 5.50 nm) and not defined before (62.00% ± 1.73) entrapment efficiency. Cumulative amount of CBS5 permeated ex-vivo after 6 h, was 2.43 and 3.43 folds higher than that of conventional liposomes and FLZ suspension, respectively. In-vivo corneal permeation of CBS5 showed significantly higher AUC0-24 h (487.12 ± 74.80) compared to that of FLZ suspension (204.34 ± 7.46) with longer residence time in the eye lasts for more than 18 h. In conclusion, novel gel-core carbosomes could successfully be used as a promising delivery system for chronic ocular diseases. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  5. Stimuli responsive ion gels based on polysaccharides and other polymers prepared using ionic liquids and deep eutectic solvents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Prasad, Kamalesh; Mondal, Dibyendu; Sharma, Mukesh; Freire, Mara G; Mukesh, Chandrakant; Bhatt, Jitkumar

    2018-01-15

    Ion gels and self-healing gels prepared using ionic liquids (ILs) and deep eutectic solvents (DESs) have been largely investigated in the past years due to their remarkable applications in different research areas. Herewith we provide an overview on the ILs and DESs used for the preparation of ion gels, highlight the preparation and physicochemical characteristics of stimuli responsive gel materials based on co-polymers and biopolymers, with special emphasis on polysaccharides and discuss their applications. Overall, this review summarizes the fundamentals and advances in ion gels with switchable properties prepared using ILs or DESs, as well as their potential applications in electrochemistry, in sensing devices and as drug delivery vehicles. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  6. Rosemary Essential Oil-Loaded Lipid Nanoparticles: In Vivo Topical Activity from Gel Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Lucia Montenegro

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available Although rosemary essential oil (EO shows many biological activities, its topical benefits have not been clearly demonstrated. In this work, we assessed the effects on skin hydration and elasticity of rosemary EO after topical application via gel vehicles in human volunteers. To improve its topical efficacy, rosemary EO was loaded into lipid nanoparticles (NLCs consisting of cetyl palmitate as a solid lipid, and non-ionic surfactants. Such NLCs were prepared using different ratios of EO/solid lipid and those containing EO 3% w/w and cetyl pamitate 7% w/w were selected for in vivo studies, showing the best technological properties (small particle size, low polydispersity index and good stability. Gels containing free EO or EO-loaded NLCs were applied on the hand skin surface of ten healthy volunteers twice a day for one week. Skin hydration and elasticity changes were recorded using the instrument Soft Plus. Gels containing EO-loaded NLCs showed a significant increase in skin hydration in comparison with gels containing free EO. Skin elasticity increased, as well, although to a lesser extent. The results of this study point out the usefulness of rosemary EO-loaded NLCs for the treatment of cutaneous alterations involving loss of skin hydration and elasticity.

  7. Antimicrobial efficacy of alcohol-based hand gels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guilhermetti, M; Marques Wiirzler, L A; Castanheira Facio, B; da Silva Furlan, M; Campo Meschial, W; Bronharo Tognim, M C; Botelho Garcia, L; Luiz Cardoso, C

    2010-03-01

    In recent years, several commercial alcohol-based hand gels have appeared on the market to improve the hand-cleansing compliance of healthcare workers. Although the antimicrobial efficacy of these products has been reported in different countries, few studies have investigated this subject in Brazil. In this study, we assessed the antimicrobial efficacy of 12 alcohol-based hand gels produced in Brazil, containing 70% w/w or v/v ethyl alcohol as the active ingredient, according to the European Standard EN 1500 (EN 1500). The following alcohol gels were tested: Hand Gel, Voga Gel, Solumax Solugel, Doctor Clean, Rio Gel, Clear Gel, Sevengel, Hand CHC, Gel Bac, WBL-50 Gel, Sanigel and Soft Care Gel. In addition, 70% w/w ethyl alcohol and three alcohol-based hand rubs (Sterillium, Sterillium Gel, and Spitaderm), commonly used in Europe and effective according to EN 1500, were also tested. All the products tested, except for two, were approved by the EN 1500 test protocol with a 60s application. The results confirmed the antimicrobial efficacy of the majority of the alcohol gels produced in Brazil for hand hygiene of healthcare workers. Copyright 2009 The Hospital Infection Society. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  8. Silver nitrate based gel dosimeter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Titus, D; Samuel, E J J; Srinivasan, K; Roopan, S M; Madhu, C S

    2017-01-01

    A new radiochromic gel dosimeter based on silver nitrate and a normoxic gel dosimeter was investigated using UV-Visible spectrophotometry in the clinical dose range. Gamma radiation induced the synthesis of silver nanoparticles in the gel and is confirmed from the UV-Visible spectrum which shows an absorbance peak at around 450 nm. The dose response function of the dosimeter is found to be linear upto12Gy. In addition, the gel samples were found to be stable which were kept under refrigeration. (paper)

  9. Nanostructured lipid carriers-based flurbiprofen gel after topical administration: acute skin irritation, pharmacodynamics, and percutaneous absorption mechanism.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Aihua; Su, Zhen; Li, Sanming; Han, Fei

    2015-01-01

    In order to assess the preliminary safety and effectiveness of nanostructured lipid carriers-based flurbiprofen gel (FP NLC-gel), the acute irritation test, in vivo pharmacodynamics evaluation and pharmacokinetic study were investigated after topical application. No dropsy and erythema were observed after continuous dosing 7 d of FP NLC-gel on the rabbit skin, and the xylene-induced ear drossy could be inhibited by FP NLC-gel at different dosages. The maximum concentration of FP in rats muscle was 2.03 μg/g and 1.55 μg/g after oral and topical administration, respectively. While the peak concentration in untreated muscle after topical administration was only 0.37 μg/mL. And at any time, following topical administration the mean muscle-plasma concentration ratio Cmuscle/CPlasma was obviously higher than that following oral administration. Results indicated that FP could directly penetrate into the subcutaneous muscle tissue from the administration site. Thus, the developed FP NLC-gel could be a safe and effective vehicle for topical delivery of FP.

  10. Transdermal delivery of paeonol using cubic gel and microemulsion gel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Maofu; Shen, Qi; Chen, Jinjin

    2011-01-01

    Background The aim of this study was to develop new systems for transdermal delivery of paeonol, in particular microemulsion gel and cubic gel formulations. Methods Various microemulsion vehicles were prepared using isopropyl myristate as an oil phase, polyoxyethylated castor oil (Cremophor® EL) as a surfactant, and polyethylene glycol 400 as a cosurfactant. In the optimum microemulsion gel formulation, carbomer 940 was selected as the gel matrix, and consisted of 1% paeonol, 4% isopropyl myristate, 28% Cremophor EL/polyethylene glycol 400 (1:1), and 67% water. The cubic gel was prepared containing 3% paeonol, 30% water, and 67% glyceryl monooleate. Results A skin permeability test using excised rat skins indicated that both the cubic gel and microemulsion gel formulations had higher permeability than did the paeonol solution. An in vivo pharmacokinetic study done in rats showed that the relative bioavailability of the cubic gel and microemulsion gel was enhanced by about 1.51-fold and 1.28-fold, respectively, compared with orally administered paeonol suspension. Conclusion Both the cubic gel and microemulsion gel formulations are promising delivery systems to enhance the skin permeability of paeonol, in particular the cubic gel. PMID:21904450

  11. Performance Characterization of a Lithium-ion Gel Polymer Battery Power Supply System for an Unmanned Aerial Vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Reid, Concha M.; Manzo, Michelle A.; Logan, Michael J.

    2004-01-01

    Unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) are currently under development for NASA missions, earth sciences, aeronautics, the military, and commercial applications. The design of an all electric power and propulsion system for small UAVs was the focus of a detailed study. Currently, many of these small vehicles are powered by primary (nonrechargeable) lithium-based batteries. While this type of battery is capable of satisfying some of the mission needs, a secondary (rechargeable) battery power supply system that can provide the same functionality as the current system at the same or lower system mass and volume is desired. A study of commercially available secondary battery cell technologies that could provide the desired performance characteristics was performed. Due to the strict mass limitations and wide operating temperature requirements of small UAVs, the only viable cell chemistries were determined to be lithium-ion liquid electrolyte systems and lithium-ion gel polymer electrolyte systems. Two lithium-ion gel polymer cell designs were selected as candidates and were tested using potential load profiles for UAV applications. Because lithium primary batteries have a higher specific energy and energy density, for the same mass and volume allocation, the secondary batteries resulted in shorter flight times than the primary batteries typically provide. When the batteries were operated at lower ambient temperatures (0 to -20 C), flight times were even further reduced. Despite the reduced flight times demonstrated, for certain UAV applications, the secondary batteries operated within the acceptable range of flight times at room temperature and above. The results of this testing indicate that a secondary battery power supply system can provide some benefits over the primary battery power supply system. A UAV can be operated for hundreds of flights using a secondary battery power supply system that provides the combined benefits of rechargeability and an inherently safer

  12. Integration of gel-based and gel-free proteomic data for functional analysis of proteins through Soybean Proteome Database

    KAUST Repository

    Komatsu, Setsuko

    2017-05-10

    The Soybean Proteome Database (SPD) stores data on soybean proteins obtained with gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques. The database was constructed to provide information on proteins for functional analyses. The majority of the data is focused on soybean (Glycine max ‘Enrei’). The growth and yield of soybean are strongly affected by environmental stresses such as flooding. The database was originally constructed using data on soybean proteins separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, which is a gel-based proteomic technique. Since 2015, the database has been expanded to incorporate data obtained by label-free mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics, which is a gel-free proteomic technique. Here, the portions of the database consisting of gel-free proteomic data are described. The gel-free proteomic database contains 39,212 proteins identified in 63 sample sets, such as temporal and organ-specific samples of soybean plants grown under flooding stress or non-stressed conditions. In addition, data on organellar proteins identified in mitochondria, nuclei, and endoplasmic reticulum are stored. Furthermore, the database integrates multiple omics data such as genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics. The SPD database is accessible at http://proteome.dc.affrc.go.jp/Soybean/. Biological significanceThe Soybean Proteome Database stores data obtained from both gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques. The gel-free proteomic database comprises 39,212 proteins identified in 63 sample sets, such as different organs of soybean plants grown under flooding stress or non-stressed conditions in a time-dependent manner. In addition, organellar proteins identified in mitochondria, nuclei, and endoplasmic reticulum are stored in the gel-free proteomics database. A total of 44,704 proteins, including 5490 proteins identified using a gel-based proteomic technique, are stored in the SPD. It accounts for approximately 80% of all

  13. Integration of gel-based and gel-free proteomic data for functional analysis of proteins through Soybean Proteome Database.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Komatsu, Setsuko; Wang, Xin; Yin, Xiaojian; Nanjo, Yohei; Ohyanagi, Hajime; Sakata, Katsumi

    2017-06-23

    The Soybean Proteome Database (SPD) stores data on soybean proteins obtained with gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques. The database was constructed to provide information on proteins for functional analyses. The majority of the data is focused on soybean (Glycine max 'Enrei'). The growth and yield of soybean are strongly affected by environmental stresses such as flooding. The database was originally constructed using data on soybean proteins separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, which is a gel-based proteomic technique. Since 2015, the database has been expanded to incorporate data obtained by label-free mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics, which is a gel-free proteomic technique. Here, the portions of the database consisting of gel-free proteomic data are described. The gel-free proteomic database contains 39,212 proteins identified in 63 sample sets, such as temporal and organ-specific samples of soybean plants grown under flooding stress or non-stressed conditions. In addition, data on organellar proteins identified in mitochondria, nuclei, and endoplasmic reticulum are stored. Furthermore, the database integrates multiple omics data such as genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics. The SPD database is accessible at http://proteome.dc.affrc.go.jp/Soybean/. The Soybean Proteome Database stores data obtained from both gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques. The gel-free proteomic database comprises 39,212 proteins identified in 63 sample sets, such as different organs of soybean plants grown under flooding stress or non-stressed conditions in a time-dependent manner. In addition, organellar proteins identified in mitochondria, nuclei, and endoplasmic reticulum are stored in the gel-free proteomics database. A total of 44,704 proteins, including 5490 proteins identified using a gel-based proteomic technique, are stored in the SPD. It accounts for approximately 80% of all predicted proteins from

  14. Integration of gel-based and gel-free proteomic data for functional analysis of proteins through Soybean Proteome Database

    KAUST Repository

    Komatsu, Setsuko; Wang, Xin; Yin, Xiaojian; Nanjo, Yohei; Ohyanagi, Hajime; Sakata, Katsumi

    2017-01-01

    The Soybean Proteome Database (SPD) stores data on soybean proteins obtained with gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques. The database was constructed to provide information on proteins for functional analyses. The majority of the data is focused on soybean (Glycine max ‘Enrei’). The growth and yield of soybean are strongly affected by environmental stresses such as flooding. The database was originally constructed using data on soybean proteins separated by two-dimensional polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, which is a gel-based proteomic technique. Since 2015, the database has been expanded to incorporate data obtained by label-free mass spectrometry-based quantitative proteomics, which is a gel-free proteomic technique. Here, the portions of the database consisting of gel-free proteomic data are described. The gel-free proteomic database contains 39,212 proteins identified in 63 sample sets, such as temporal and organ-specific samples of soybean plants grown under flooding stress or non-stressed conditions. In addition, data on organellar proteins identified in mitochondria, nuclei, and endoplasmic reticulum are stored. Furthermore, the database integrates multiple omics data such as genomics, transcriptomics, metabolomics, and proteomics. The SPD database is accessible at http://proteome.dc.affrc.go.jp/Soybean/. Biological significanceThe Soybean Proteome Database stores data obtained from both gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques. The gel-free proteomic database comprises 39,212 proteins identified in 63 sample sets, such as different organs of soybean plants grown under flooding stress or non-stressed conditions in a time-dependent manner. In addition, organellar proteins identified in mitochondria, nuclei, and endoplasmic reticulum are stored in the gel-free proteomics database. A total of 44,704 proteins, including 5490 proteins identified using a gel-based proteomic technique, are stored in the SPD. It accounts for approximately 80% of all

  15. Comparative study on the effects of negatively-charged biopolymers on chitosan-based gels for the development of instantaneous gels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jimeno, Austin Ed B.; Chakraborty, Soma

    2015-01-01

    Polymeric electrolytic complexes are solutions of charged/ionized chains. These solutions of positive and negative charge can be combined to make instantaneous networks bonded by electrostatic interactions, a gel network. These electrostatic interaction allows for easy application in injectable gels as the network can be temporarily distributed with the application of force and reformed on the relief of it. Possible applications for these injectable gels include drug delivery and wound-healing. κ-Carrageenan, dextran sulfate, alginate, and chitosan are polyelectrolytic biocompatible polymers which are widely studied and used for a variety of biomedical applications. Gel networks are made by combining a negatively-charged (κ-Carrageenan, dextran sulfate, or alginate) and positively charged (chitosan) solutions. The strong electrostatic interaction between the opposite charges from the gel network and the inherent biocompatibility of the polymers allow future biomedical applications. Quat 188-modified chitosan has additional sites for electrostatic bonding, can be dissolved in neutral, basic, and acidic pH, and has shown inherent antibacterial activity. The objectives of this study are the following: to formulate chitosan-based gels mixing solutions of chitosan with solutions of either κ-Carrageenan, dextran sulfate, or alginate, study the gelation of the gels as function of time and pH (4, 7, and 9) using UV-Vis, characterize the chitosan-based gels through DSC and DMA, characterize the physiological degradation of the chitosan-based gels, and compare results with those from Quat 188-modified chitosan-based gels. Polyelectrolytic solutions of chitosan and negatively-charged biopolymer of similar viscosities were mixed. It was determined from the UV-Vis spectroscopy of the chitosan-carrageenan gels under pH7 buffer that the increase of concentration by a factor of 5 for 0.006M-0.0095M and 1.25 for 0.0095M-0.0150M Chitosan-Carrageenan gels improved gelation by the

  16. An evaluation of 10 percent and 20 percent benzocaine gels in patients with acute toothaches

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hersh, Elliot V.; Ciancio, Sebastian G.; Kuperstein, Arthur S.; Stoopler, Eric T.; Moore, Paul A.; Boynes, Sean G.; Levine, Steven C.; Casamassimo, Paul; Leyva, Rina; Mathew, Tanya; Shibly, Othman; Creighton, Paul; Jeffers, Gary E.; Corby, Patricia M.A.; Turetzky, Stanley N.; Papas, Athena; Wallen, Jillian; Idzik-Starr, Cynthia; Gordon, Sharon M.

    2013-01-01

    Background The authors evaluated the efficacy and tolerability of 10 percent and 20 percent benzocaine gels compared with those of a vehicle (placebo) gel for the temporary relief of toothache pain. They also assessed the compliance with the label dose administration directions on the part of participants with toothache pain. Methods Under double-masked conditions, 576 participants self-applied study gel to an open tooth cavity and surrounding oral tissues. Participants evaluated their pain intensity and pain relief for 120 minutes. The authors determined the amount of gel the participants applied. Results The responders’ rates (the primary efficacy parameter), defined as the percentage of participants who had an improvement in pain intensity as exhibited by a pain score reduction of at least one unit on the dental pain scale from baseline for two consecutive assessments any time between the five- and 20-minute points, were 87.3 percent, 80.7 percent and 70.4 percent, respectively, for 20 percent benzocaine gel, 10 percent benzocaine gel and vehicle gel. Both benzocaine gels were significantly (P ≤ .05) better than vehicle gel; the 20 percent benzocaine gel also was significantly (P ≤ .05) better than the 10 percent benzocaine gel. The mean amount of gel applied was 235.6 milligrams, with 88.2 percent of participants applying 400 mg or less. Conclusions Both 10 percent and 20 percent benzocaine gels were more efficacious than the vehicle gel, and the 20 percent benzocaine gel was more efficacious than the 10 percent benzocaine gel. All treatments were well tolerated by participants. Practical Implications Patients can use 10 percent and 20 percent benzocaine gels to temporarily treat toothache pain safely. PMID:23633700

  17. Vision-based Vehicle Detection Survey

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Alex David S

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available Nowadays thousands of drivers and passengers were losing their lives every year on road accident, due to deadly crashes between more than one vehicle. There are number of many research focuses were dedicated to the development of intellectual driver assistance systems and autonomous vehicles over the past decade, which reduces the danger by monitoring the on-road environment. In particular, researchers attracted towards the on-road detection of vehicles in recent years. Different parameters have been analyzed in this paper which includes camera placement and the various applications of monocular vehicle detection, common features and common classification methods, motion- based approaches and nighttime vehicle detection and monocular pose estimation. Previous works on the vehicle detection listed based on camera poisons, feature based detection and motion based detection works and night time detection.

  18. Application of phase diagrams to obtain a new surfactant-based fracturing gel; Aplicacao de diagrama de fases para obtencao de um novo gel de fraturamento hidraulico

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dantas, Tereza N. de Castro; Santana, Vanessa C.; Dantas Neto, Afonso A.; Franca Neta, Luzia S. de; Albuquerque, Heraldo S. [Rio Grande do Norte Univ., Natal, RN (Brazil)]. E-mail: tereza@eq.ufrn.br

    2003-07-01

    Through pseudo ternary phases diagram was defined a gel area with the objective of obtaining a new surfactant-based fracturing gel. The surfactant used was synthesized from regional vegetable oil. Fracturing gel properties, like: viscosity, leak off coefficient and proppant-settling rate were analyzed. The obtained results with the surfactant-based gel had its properties compared with a HPG-based gel (hydroxypropyl guar). Rheological tests was accomplished at 100 s{sup -1} being varied the temperature from 26 to 86 deg C, where the surfactant-based gel showed great results. The leak off coefficient was determined by static filtration and the new gel presented smaller coefficient in relation to the HPG gel. The proppant-setting rate was also determined in the gel and, the surfactant-based gel showed good static proppant support. One can conclude that obtained gel presents compatible characteristics when compared with the HPG gel, without the inconvenience of leaving insoluble residues in the well. (author)

  19. Evaluation of Topical Gel Bases Formulated with Various Essential ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Evaluation of Topical Gel Bases Formulated with Various Essential Oils for Antibacterial Activity against Methicillin- Resistant Staphylococcus Aureus. ... Lemon grass and thyme oils were chosen for further studies, including analysis of their composition by gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Gels were ...

  20. Sol-gel-based biosensing applied to medicinal science.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Moreira, Felismina T C; Moreira-Tavares, Ana P; Sales, M Goreti F

    2015-01-01

    Biosensors have opened new horizons in biomedical analysis, by ensuring increased assay speed and flexibility, and allowing point-of-care applications, multi-target analyses, automation and reduced costs of testing. This has been a result of many studies merging nanotechnology with biochemistry over the years, thereby enabling the creation of more suitable environments to biological receptors and their substitution by synthetic analogue materials. Sol-gel chemistry, among other materials, is deeply involved in this process. Sol-gel processing allows the immobilization of organic molecules, biomacromolecules and cells maintaining their properties and activities, permitting their integration into different transduction devices, of electrochemical or optical nature, for single or multiple analyses. Sol-gel also allows to the production of synthetic materials mimicking the activity of natural receptors, while bringing advantages, mostly in terms of cost and stability. Moreover, the biocompatibility of sol-gel materials structures of biological nature allowed the use of these materials in emerging in vivo applications. In this chapter, biosensors for biomedical applications based on sol-gel derived composites are presented, compared and described, along with current emerging applications in vivo, concerning drug delivery or biomaterials. Sol-gel materials are shown as a promising tool for current, emerging and future medical applications.

  1. Screening of mucoadhesive vaginal gel formulations

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ana Ochoa Andrade

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Rational design of vaginal drug delivery formulations requires special attention to vehicle properties that optimize vaginal coating and retention. The aim of the present work was to perform a screening of mucoadhesive vaginal gels formulated with carbomer or carrageenan in binary combination with a second polymer (carbomer, guar or xanthan gum. The gels were characterised using in vitroadhesion, spreadability and leakage potential studies, as well as rheological measurements (stress and frequency sweep tests and the effect of dilution with simulated vaginal fluid (SVF on spreadability. Results were analysed using analysis of variance and multiple factor analysis. The combination of polymers enhanced adhesion of both primary gelling agents, carbomer and carrageenan. From the rheological point of view all formulations presented a similar behaviour, prevalently elastic and characterised by loss tangent values well below 1. No correlation between rheological and adhesion behaviour was found. Carbomer and carrageenan gels containing the highest percentage of xanthan gum displayed good in vitro mucoadhesion and spreadability, minimal leakage potential and high resistance to dilution. The positive results obtained with carrageenan-xanthan gum-based gels can encourage the use of natural biocompatible adjuvants in the composition of vaginal products, a formulation field that is currently under the synthetic domain.

  2. RFID-based vehicle positioning and its applications in connected vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jianqiang; Ni, Daiheng; Li, Keqiang

    2014-03-04

    This paper proposed an RFID-based vehicle positioning approach to facilitate connected vehicles applications. When a vehicle passes over an RFID tag, the vehicle position is given by the accurate position stored in the tag. At locations without RFID coverage, the vehicle position is estimated from the most recent tag location using a kinematics integration algorithm till updates from the next tag. The accuracy of RFID positioning is verified empirically in two independent ways with one using radar and the other a photoelectric switch. The former is designed to verify whether the dynamic position obtained from RFID tags matches the position measured by radar that is regarded as accurate. The latter aims to verify whether the position estimated from the kinematics integration matches the position obtained from RFID tags. Both means supports the accuracy of RFID-based positioning. As a supplement to GPS which suffers from issues such as inaccuracy and loss of signal, RFID positioning is promising in facilitating connected vehicles applications. Two conceptual applications are provided here with one in vehicle operational control and the other in Level IV intersection control.

  3. Strong poly(ethylene oxide) based gel adhesives via oxime cross-linking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ghosh, Smita; Cabral, Jaydee D; Hanton, Lyall R; Moratti, Stephen C

    2016-01-01

    There is a demand for materials to replace or augment the use of sutures and staples in surgical procedures. Currently available commercial surgical adhesives provide either high bond strength with biological toxicity or polymer and protein-based products that are biologically acceptable (though with potential sensitizing potential) but have much reduced bond strength. It is desirable to provide novel biocompatible and biodegradable surgical adhesives/sealants capable of high strength with minimal immune or inflammatory response. In this work, we report the end group derivatization of 8-arm star PEOs with aldehyde and amine end groups. Gels were prepared employing the Schiff-base chemistry between the aldehydes and the amines. Gel setting times, swelling behavior and rheological characterization were carried out for these gels. The mechanical-viscoelastic properties were found to be directly proportional to the crosslinking density of the gels, the 10K PEO gel was stiffer in comparison to the 20K PEO gel. The adhesive properties of these gels were tested using porcine skin and showed excellent adhesion properties. Cytotoxicity studies were carried out for the individual gel components using two different methods: (a) Crystal Violet Staining assay (CVS assay) and (b) impedance and cell index measurement by the xCELLigence system at concentrations >5%. Gels prepared by mixing 20% w/w solutions were also tested for cytotoxicity. The results revealed that the individual gel components as well as the prepared gels and their leachables were non-cytotoxic at these concentrations. This work presents a new type of glue that is aimed at surgery applications using a water soluble star shaped polymer. It show excellent adhesion to skin and is tough and easy to use. We show that it is very biocompatible based on tests on live human cells, and could therefore in principle be used for internal surgery. Comparison with other reported and commercial glues shows that it is stronger

  4. RFID-Based Vehicle Positioning and Its Applications in Connected Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Jianqiang; Ni, Daiheng; Li, Keqiang

    2014-01-01

    This paper proposed an RFID-based vehicle positioning approach to facilitate connected vehicles applications. When a vehicle passes over an RFID tag, the vehicle position is given by the accurate position stored in the tag. At locations without RFID coverage, the vehicle position is estimated from the most recent tag location using a kinematics integration algorithm till updates from the next tag. The accuracy of RFID positioning is verified empirically in two independent ways with one using radar and the other a photoelectric switch. The former is designed to verify whether the dynamic position obtained from RFID tags matches the position measured by radar that is regarded as accurate. The latter aims to verify whether the position estimated from the kinematics integration matches the position obtained from RFID tags. Both means supports the accuracy of RFID-based positioning. As a supplement to GPS which suffers from issues such as inaccuracy and loss of signal, RFID positioning is promising in facilitating connected vehicles applications. Two conceptual applications are provided here with one in vehicle operational control and the other in Level IV intersection control. PMID:24599188

  5. RFID-Based Vehicle Positioning and Its Applications in Connected Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianqiang Wang

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposed an RFID-based vehicle positioning approach to facilitate connected vehicles applications. When a vehicle passes over an RFID tag, the vehicle position is given by the accurate position stored in the tag. At locations without RFID coverage, the vehicle position is estimated from the most recent tag location using a kinematics integration algorithm till updates from the next tag. The accuracy of RFID positioning is verified empirically in two independent ways with one using radar and the other a photoelectric switch. The former is designed to verify whether the dynamic position obtained from RFID tags matches the position measured by radar that is regarded as accurate. The latter aims to verify whether the position estimated from the kinematics integration matches the position obtained from RFID tags. Both means supports the accuracy of RFID-based positioning. As a supplement to GPS which suffers from issues such as inaccuracy and loss of signal, RFID positioning is promising in facilitating connected vehicles applications. Two conceptual applications are provided here with one in vehicle operational control and the other in Level IV intersection control.

  6. Pharmacokinetics of 2 dapivirine vaginal microbicide gels and their safety vs. Hydroxyethyl cellulose-based universal placebo gel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nel, Annalene M; Smythe, Shanique C; Habibi, Sepideh; Kaptur, Paulina E; Romano, Joseph W

    2010-10-01

    Dapivirine, a nonnucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitor, is in development as a microbicide for the protection of women against HIV infection. A randomized, double-blind, phase 1 trial was conducted in 36 healthy HIV-negative women to compare the pharmacokinetics of 2 dapivirine vaginal gel formulations (0.05% each) and their safety with the hydroxyethyl cellulose-based universal placebo gel. Gel was self-administered once daily for a total of 11 days. Blood and vaginal fluid samples were collected sequentially over 24 days for pharmacokinetic analysis. Safety was evaluated by pelvic examination, colposcopy, adverse events, and clinical laboratory assessments. Adverse event profiles were similar for the 3 gels. Most events were mild and not related to study gel. Headache and vaginal hemorrhage (any vaginal bleeding) were most common. Plasma concentrations of dapivirine did not exceed 1.1 ng/mL. Steady-state conditions were reached within approximately 10 days. Dapivirine concentrations in vaginal fluids were slightly higher for Gel 4789, but Cmax values on days 1 and 14 were not significantly different. Terminal half-life was 72-73 hours in plasma and 15-17 hours in vaginal fluids. Both formulations of dapivirine gel were safe and well tolerated. Dapivirine was delivered to the lower genital tract at concentrations at least 5 logs greater than in vitro inhibitory concentrations.

  7. Neutron detector based on lithiated sol-gel glass

    CERN Document Server

    Wallace, S; Miller, L F; Dai, S

    2002-01-01

    A neutron detector technology is demonstrated based on sup 6 Li/ sup 1 sup 0 B doped sol-gel glass. The detector is a sol-gel glass film coated silicon surface barrier detector (SBD). The ionized charged particles from (n, alpha) reactions in the sol-gel film enter the SBD and are counted. Data showing that gamma-ray pulse amplitudes interfere with identifying charged particles that exit the film layer with energies below the gamma-ray energy is presented. Experiments were performed showing the effect of sup 1 sup 3 sup 7 Cs and sup 6 sup 0 Co gamma rays on the SBD detector. The reaction product energies of the triton and alpha particles from sup 6 Li are significantly greater than the energies of the Compton electrons from high-energy gamma rays, allowing the measurement of neutrons in a high gamma background. The sol-gel radiation detection technology may be applicable to the characterization of transuranic waste, spent nuclear fuel and to the monitoring of stored plutonium.

  8. Rheological and sensory properties of hydrophilic skin protection gels based on polyacrylates.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kulawik-Pióro, Agnieszka; Kurpiewska, Joanna; Kułaszka, Agnieszka

    2018-03-01

    With the current increases in occupational skin diseases, literature data attesting the decreasing efficiency of barrier creams with respect to the manufacturer's declarations and legal regulations granting skin protection gels for employees, research is required to analyse and evaluate the recipes used for hydrophilic skin protection gels based on polyacrylates. This study investigated the rheological properties, pH and sensory perception of hydrophilic barrier gels based on polyacrylates. The acrylic acid derivatives used were good thickeners, and helped to form transparent gels of adequate durability. They could be used to create hydrophilic films on the surface of the skin to protect it against hydrophobic substances. A correlation was shown between the results of the rheological properties and the barrier properties of the gels. This confirms the possibility of monitoring the quality of the gels at the stage of recipe development. Polyacrylates are viable for use in industry to produce hydrophilic barrier creams suitable for skin protection.

  9. Vision-based vehicle detection and tracking algorithm design

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hwang, Junyeon; Huh, Kunsoo; Lee, Donghwi

    2009-12-01

    The vision-based vehicle detection in front of an ego-vehicle is regarded as promising for driver assistance as well as for autonomous vehicle guidance. The feasibility of vehicle detection in a passenger car requires accurate and robust sensing performance. A multivehicle detection system based on stereo vision has been developed for better accuracy and robustness. This system utilizes morphological filter, feature detector, template matching, and epipolar constraint techniques in order to detect the corresponding pairs of vehicles. After the initial detection, the system executes the tracking algorithm for the vehicles. The proposed system can detect front vehicles such as the leading vehicle and side-lane vehicles. The position parameters of the vehicles located in front are obtained based on the detection information. The proposed vehicle detection system is implemented on a passenger car, and its performance is verified experimentally.

  10. The clinical impact of vehicle technology using a patented formulation of benzoyl peroxide 5%/clindamycin 1% gel: comparative assessments of skin tolerability and evaluation of combination use with a topical retinoid.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Del Rosso, James Q; Tanghetti, Emil

    2006-02-01

    A major challenge encountered in clinical practice in patients with acne vulgaris is irritation related to topical medications used for treatment. Advances in vehicle technology have improved formulations containing active ingredients known to produce irritation in some patients, such as benzoyl peroxide (BP) and topical retinoids. Clinical studies, including combination therapy studies have demonstrated that certain additives, such as silicates and specific humectants, reduce irritation by maintaining barrier integrity. A patented gel formulation of BP 5%/clindamycin phosphate 1% (clindamycin) containing dimethicone and glycerin has been studied both as a monotherapy and in combination with topical retinoid use. This article evaluates specific vehicle additives included in this gel formulation and explains their role in reducing irritation. Data from clinical trials utilizing this technology in acne management are also reviewed.

  11. Clinical efficacy of new aloe vera- and myrrh-based oral mucoadhesive gels in the management of minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis: a randomized, double-blind, vehicle-controlled study.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mansour, Ghada; Ouda, Soliman; Shaker, Ahmed; Abdallah, Hossam M

    2014-07-01

    To evaluate the clinical efficacy, and safety of newly customized natural oral mucoadhesive gels, containing either aloe vera or myrrh as active ingredients, in the management of minor recurrent aphthous stomatitis (MiRAS). Ninety subjects with MiRAS were recruited from Oral Medicine Clinic, at Faculty of Dentistry, King Abdulaziz University, Saudi Arabia, for this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study. Two new natural gels, containing aloe vera and myrrh, were prepared in a concentration of (0.5% w/w), in addition to a plain mucoadhesive gel used as a placebo. Patients with fresh ulcers (aloe gel showed complete ulcer healing, 86.7%, and 80% of them revealed subsidence of erythema and exudation, respectively, especially at day 6 visit, whereas 76.7% of myrrh-treated patients revealed almost absence of pain at day 6. No side effects were encountered with the use of any of the three gels. The new formulated aloe- and myrrh-based gels proved to be effective in topical management of MiRAS. Aloe was superior in decreasing ulcer size, erythema, and exudation; whereas myrrh resulted in more pain reduction. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons A/S. Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

  12. Polymer gel dosimeter based on itaconic acid

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mattea, Facundo; Chacón, David

    2015-01-01

    A new polymeric dosimeter based on itaconic acid and N, N’-methylenebisacrylamide was studied. The preparation method, compositions of monomer and crosslinking agent and the presence of oxygen in the dosimetric system were analyzed. The resulting materials were irradiated with an X-ray tube at 158 cGy/min, 226 cGy min and 298 cGy/min with doses up to 1000 Gy. The dosimeters presented a linear response in the dose range 75–1000 Gy, sensitivities of 0.037 1/Gy at 298 cGy/min and an increase in the sensitivity with lower dose rates. One of the most relevant outcomes in this study was obtaining different monomer to crosslinker inclusion in the formed gel for the dosimeters where oxygen was purged during the preparation method. This effect has not been reported in other typical dosimeters and could be attributed to the large differences in the reactivity among these species. - Highlights: • A novel polymer gel dosimeters based on itaconic acid is presented and characterized. • The typical linear trend of the dose behavior in a specific dose range was found. • Different gel structures were formed when oxygen and an antioxidant were present. • Absorbed dose is univocally correlated with optic absorbance and Raman spectroscopy. • Itaconic acid appears as a reliable radiation dosimeter that may be further improved.

  13. Light vehicle crash avoidance needs and countermeasure profiles for safety applications based on vehicle-to-vehicle communications

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-30

    This report discusses light-vehicle crash countermeasure profiles and functions for five target pre-crash scenario groups based on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications. Target pre-crash scenario groups include rear-end, lane change, opposite direc...

  14. Comparative gel-based phosphoproteomics in response to signaling molecules

    KAUST Repository

    Marondedze, Claudius; Lilley, Kathryn S.; Thomas, Ludivine

    2013-01-01

    The gel-based proteomics approach is a valuable technique for studying the characteristics of proteins. This technique has diverse applications ranging from analysis of a single protein to the study of the total cellular proteins. Further, protein quality and to some extent distribution can be first assessed by means of one-dimensional gel electrophoresis and then more informatively, for comparative analysis, using the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis technique. Here, we describe how to take advantage of the availability of fluorescent dyes to stain for a selective class of proteins on the same gel for the detection of both phospho- and total proteomes. This enables the co-detection of phosphoproteins as well as total proteins from the same gel and is accomplished by utilizing two different fluorescent stains, the ProQ-Diamond, which stains only phosphorylated proteins, and Sypro Ruby, which stains the entire subset of proteins. This workflow can be applied to gain insights into the regulatory mechanisms induced by signaling molecules such as cyclic nucleotides through the quantification and subsequent identification of responsive phospho- and total proteins. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013.

  15. Comparative gel-based phosphoproteomics in response to signaling molecules

    KAUST Repository

    Marondedze, Claudius

    2013-09-03

    The gel-based proteomics approach is a valuable technique for studying the characteristics of proteins. This technique has diverse applications ranging from analysis of a single protein to the study of the total cellular proteins. Further, protein quality and to some extent distribution can be first assessed by means of one-dimensional gel electrophoresis and then more informatively, for comparative analysis, using the two-dimensional gel electrophoresis technique. Here, we describe how to take advantage of the availability of fluorescent dyes to stain for a selective class of proteins on the same gel for the detection of both phospho- and total proteomes. This enables the co-detection of phosphoproteins as well as total proteins from the same gel and is accomplished by utilizing two different fluorescent stains, the ProQ-Diamond, which stains only phosphorylated proteins, and Sypro Ruby, which stains the entire subset of proteins. This workflow can be applied to gain insights into the regulatory mechanisms induced by signaling molecules such as cyclic nucleotides through the quantification and subsequent identification of responsive phospho- and total proteins. © Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013.

  16. Therapeutic potential of gel-based injectables for vocal fold regeneration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bartlett, Rebecca S.; Thibeault, Susan L.; Prestwich, Glenn D.

    2012-01-01

    Vocal folds are anatomically and biomechanically unique, thus complicating the design and implementation of tissue engineering strategies for repair and regeneration. Integration of an enhanced understanding of tissue biomechanics, wound healing dynamics and innovative gel-based therapeutics has generated enthusiasm for the notion that an efficacious treatment for vocal fold scarring could be clinically attainable within several years. Fibroblast phenotype and gene expression are mediated by the three-dimensional mechanical and chemical microenvironment at an injury site. Thus, therapeutic approaches need to coordinate spatial and temporal aspects of the wound healing response in an injured vocal tissue to achieve an optimal clinical outcome. Successful gel-based injectables for vocal fold scarring will require a keen understanding of how the native inflammatory response sets into motion the later extracellular matrix remodeling, which in turn will determine the ultimate biomechanical properties of the tissue. We present an overview of the challenges associated with this translation as well as the proposed gel-based injectable solutions. PMID:22456756

  17. Therapeutic potential of gel-based injectables for vocal fold regeneration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bartlett, Rebecca S; Thibeault, Susan L; Prestwich, Glenn D

    2012-01-01

    Vocal folds are anatomically and biomechanically unique, thus complicating the design and implementation of tissue engineering strategies for repair and regeneration. Integration of an enhanced understanding of tissue biomechanics, wound healing dynamics and innovative gel-based therapeutics has generated enthusiasm for the notion that an efficacious treatment for vocal fold scarring could be clinically attainable within several years. Fibroblast phenotype and gene expression are mediated by the three-dimensional mechanical and chemical microenvironment at an injury site. Thus, therapeutic approaches need to coordinate spatial and temporal aspects of the wound healing response in an injured vocal tissue to achieve an optimal clinical outcome. Successful gel-based injectables for vocal fold scarring will require a keen understanding of how the native inflammatory response sets into motion the later extracellular matrix remodeling, which in turn will determine the ultimate biomechanical properties of the tissue. We present an overview of the challenges associated with this translation as well as the proposed gel-based injectable solutions. (paper)

  18. 3-D model-based vehicle tracking.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lou, Jianguang; Tan, Tieniu; Hu, Weiming; Yang, Hao; Maybank, Steven J

    2005-10-01

    This paper aims at tracking vehicles from monocular intensity image sequences and presents an efficient and robust approach to three-dimensional (3-D) model-based vehicle tracking. Under the weak perspective assumption and the ground-plane constraint, the movements of model projection in the two-dimensional image plane can be decomposed into two motions: translation and rotation. They are the results of the corresponding movements of 3-D translation on the ground plane (GP) and rotation around the normal of the GP, which can be determined separately. A new metric based on point-to-line segment distance is proposed to evaluate the similarity between an image region and an instantiation of a 3-D vehicle model under a given pose. Based on this, we provide an efficient pose refinement method to refine the vehicle's pose parameters. An improved EKF is also proposed to track and to predict vehicle motion with a precise kinematics model. Experimental results with both indoor and outdoor data show that the algorithm obtains desirable performance even under severe occlusion and clutter.

  19. Ionic liquid based multifunctional double network gel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ahmed, Kumkum; Higashihara, Tomoya; Arafune, Hiroyuki; Kamijo, Toshio; Morinaga, Takashi; Sato, Takaya; Furukawa, Hidemitsu

    2015-04-01

    Gels are a promising class of soft and wet materials with diverse application in tissue engineering and bio-medical purpose. In order to accelerate the development of gels, it is required to synthesize multi-functional gels of high mechanical strength, ultra low surface friction and suitable elastic modulus with a variety of methods and new materials. Among many types of gel ionic gel made from ionic liquids (ILs) could be used for diverse applications in electrochemical devices and in the field of tribology. IL, a promising materials for lubrication, is a salt with a melting point lower than 100 °C. As a lubricant, ILs are characterized by an extremely low vapor pressure, high thermal stability and high ion conductivity. In this work a novel approach of making double network DN ionic gel using IL has been made utilizing photo polymerization process. A hydrophobic monomer Methyl methacrylate (MMA) has been used as a first network and a hydrophobic IL monomer, N,N-diethyl-N-(2-mthacryloylethyl)-N-methylammonium bistrifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide (DEMM-TFSI) has been used as a second network using photo initiator benzophenon and crosslinker triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA). The resulting DN ionic gel shows transparency, flexibility, high thermal stability, good mechanical toughness and low friction coefficient value which can be a potential candidate as a gel slider in different mechanical devices and can open a new area in the field of gel tribology.

  20. Silica- and germania-based dual-ligand sol-gel organic-inorganic hybrid sorbents combining superhydrophobicity and π-π interaction. The role of inorganic substrate in sol-gel capillary microextraction.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Seyyal, Emre; Malik, Abdul

    2017-04-29

    Principles of sol-gel chemistry were utilized to create silica- and germania-based dual-ligand surface-bonded sol-gel coatings providing enhanced performance in capillary microextraction (CME) through a combination of ligand superhydrophobicity and π-π interaction. These organic-inorganic hybrid coatings were prepared using sol-gel precursors with bonded perfluorododecyl (PF-C 12 ) and phenethyl (PhE) ligands. Here, the ability of the PF-C 12 ligand to provide enhanced hydrophobic interaction was advantageously combined with π-π interaction capability of the PhE moiety to attain the desired sorbent performance in CME. The effect of the inorganic sorbent component on microextraction performance of was explored by comparing microextraction characteristics of silica- and germania-based sol-gel sorbents. The germania-based dual-ligand sol-gel sorbent demonstrated superior CME performance compared to its silica-based counterpart. Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) of the created silica- and germania-based dual-ligand sol-gel sorbents suggested higher carbon loading on the germania-based sorbent. This might be indicative of more effective condensation of the organic ligand-bearing sol-gel-active chemical species to the germania-based sol-gel network (than to its silica-based counterpart) evolving in the sol solution. The type and concentration of the organic ligands were varied in the sol-gel sorbents to fine-tune extraction selectivity toward different classes of analytes. Specific extraction (SE) values were used for an objective comparison of the prepared sol-gel CME sorbents. The sorbents with higher content of PF-C 12 showed remarkable affinity for aliphatic hydrocarbons. Compared to their single-ligand sol-gel counterparts, the dual-ligand sol-gel coatings demonstrated significantly superior CME performance in the extraction of alkylbenzenes, providing up to ∼65.0% higher SE values. The prepared sol-gel CME coatings provided low ng L -1 limit of detections (LOD

  1. Cell-Based Fabrication of Organic/Inorganic Composite Gel Material

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Takayoshi Nakano

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Biomaterials containing components similar to the native biological tissue would have benefits as an implantable scaffold material. To obtain such biomimetic materials, cells may be great contributors because of their crucial roles in synthetic organics. In addition, the synthesized organics—especially those derived from osteogenic differentiated cells—become a place where mineral crystals nucleate and grow even in vitro. Therefore to fabricate an organic/inorganic composite material, which is similar to the biological osteoid tissue, bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs were cultured in a 3D fibrin gel in this study. BMSCs secreted bone-related proteins that enhanced the biomineralization within the gel when the cells were cultured with an osteogenic differentiation medium. The compositions of both synthesized matrices and precipitated minerals in the obtained materials altered depending on the cell culture period. The mineral obtained in the 3D gel showed low crystalline hydroxyapatite. The composite materials also showed excellent osteoconductivity with new bone formation when implanted in mice tibiae. Thus, we demonstrated the contributions of cells for fabricating implantable organic/inorganic composite gel materials and a method for controlling the material composition in the gel. This cell-based material fabrication method would be a novel method to fabricate organic/inorganic composite biomimetic materials for bone tissue engineering.

  2. 3D MR gel dosimetry with lung equivalent gel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Scherer, J.; Solleder, M.; Schiessl, I.; Bogner, L.; Herbst, M.

    1998-01-01

    The MR gel dosimetry is used to verify complex 3D treatment plans. Till now this method served only for dose evaluation in homogeneous phantoms. On the way to build a heterogeneous anthropomorphic gel phantom, a lung equivalent gel with the density 0.4 g/cm 3 was developed. First experiments show a 1.55 times higher dose reponse in the low density gel (LD gel). The comparison of a dose distribution in a gel/LD gel/gel slab phantom with Monte Carlo calculations shows good agreement within 5%. More over the accuray of the measuring device magnetic resonance imager was studied in respect to the now exclusive digital image processing with the software MRD (MR dosimetry). Because of the dimensions of the Fricke gel phantom an artefact correction, based on the data from the unirradiated phantom proved to be essential. (orig.) [de

  3. Vision-Based Leader Vehicle Trajectory Tracking for Multiple Agricultural Vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Linhuan; Ahamed, Tofael; Zhang, Yan; Gao, Pengbo; Takigawa, Tomohiro

    2016-04-22

    The aim of this study was to design a navigation system composed of a human-controlled leader vehicle and a follower vehicle. The follower vehicle automatically tracks the leader vehicle. With such a system, a human driver can control two vehicles efficiently in agricultural operations. The tracking system was developed for the leader and the follower vehicle, and control of the follower was performed using a camera vision system. A stable and accurate monocular vision-based sensing system was designed, consisting of a camera and rectangular markers. Noise in the data acquisition was reduced by using the least-squares method. A feedback control algorithm was used to allow the follower vehicle to track the trajectory of the leader vehicle. A proportional-integral-derivative (PID) controller was introduced to maintain the required distance between the leader and the follower vehicle. Field experiments were conducted to evaluate the sensing and tracking performances of the leader-follower system while the leader vehicle was driven at an average speed of 0.3 m/s. In the case of linear trajectory tracking, the RMS errors were 6.5 cm, 8.9 cm and 16.4 cm for straight, turning and zigzag paths, respectively. Again, for parallel trajectory tracking, the root mean square (RMS) errors were found to be 7.1 cm, 14.6 cm and 14.0 cm for straight, turning and zigzag paths, respectively. The navigation performances indicated that the autonomous follower vehicle was able to follow the leader vehicle, and the tracking accuracy was found to be satisfactory. Therefore, the developed leader-follower system can be implemented for the harvesting of grains, using a combine as the leader and an unloader as the autonomous follower vehicle.

  4. Effect of conductive additives to gel electrolytes on activated carbon-based supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Barzegar, Farshad; Dangbegnon, Julien K.; Bello, Abdulhakeem; Momodu, Damilola Y.; Johnson, A. T. Charlie; Manyala, Ncholu

    2015-09-01

    This article is focused on polymer based gel electrolyte due to the fact that polymers are cheap and can be used to achieve extended potential window for improved energy density of the supercapacitor devices when compared to aqueous electrolytes. Electrochemical characterization of a symmetric supercapacitor devices based on activated carbon in different polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) based gel electrolytes was carried out. The device exhibited a maximum energy density of 24 Wh kg-1 when carbon black was added to the gel electrolyte as conductive additive. The good energy density was correlated with the improved conductivity of the electrolyte medium which is favorable for fast ion transport in this relatively viscous environment. Most importantly, the device remained stable with no capacitance lost after 10,000 cycles.

  5. Vehicle positioning based on UWB technology

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Siquan; Kang, Min; She, Chundong

    2017-08-01

    In recent years, with the rapid increase of the number of urban cars, the vehicle internet is becoming a trend of smart transportion. In such vehicle network, accurate location is very crucial in many new applications such as autopilot, semi-autopilot and Car-to-x communications. UWB technology has been used for indoor closed range positioning and ranging widely, while UWB outdoor positioning and ranging research is relatively less. This paper proposed UWB as the vehicle positioning technology and developed a method based on two-way-ranging (TWR) to solve the ranging problem between vehicles. At the same time, the improved TOA method was used to locate vehicles, which has higher precision compared with traditional GPS or LBS. A hardware module is introduced and the simulation results show that the modules are capable of precise positioning for vehicles in vehicle network.

  6. Fast sol-gel synthesis of LiFePO{sub 4}/C for high power lithium-ion batteries for hybrid electric vehicle application

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Beninati, Sabina; Damen, Libero; Mastragostino, Marina [University of Bologna, Department of Metal Science, Electrochemistry and Chemical Techniques, Via San Donato 15, 40127 Bologna (Italy)

    2009-12-01

    LiFePO{sub 4}/C of high purity grade was successfully synthesized by microwave accelerated sol-gel synthesis and showed excellent electrochemical performance in terms of specific capacity and stability. This cathode material was characterized in battery configuration with a graphite counter electrode by USABC-DOE tests for power-assist hybrid electric vehicle. It yielded a non-conventional Ragone plot that represents complexity of battery functioning in power-assist HEV and shows that the pulse power capability and available energy of such a battery surpasses the DOE goal for such an application. (author)

  7. Vehicle Speed Estimation and Forecasting Methods Based on Cellular Floating Vehicle Data

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei-Kuang Lai

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available Traffic information estimation and forecasting methods based on cellular floating vehicle data (CFVD are proposed to analyze the signals (e.g., handovers (HOs, call arrivals (CAs, normal location updates (NLUs and periodic location updates (PLUs from cellular networks. For traffic information estimation, analytic models are proposed to estimate the traffic flow in accordance with the amounts of HOs and NLUs and to estimate the traffic density in accordance with the amounts of CAs and PLUs. Then, the vehicle speeds can be estimated in accordance with the estimated traffic flows and estimated traffic densities. For vehicle speed forecasting, a back-propagation neural network algorithm is considered to predict the future vehicle speed in accordance with the current traffic information (i.e., the estimated vehicle speeds from CFVD. In the experimental environment, this study adopted the practical traffic information (i.e., traffic flow and vehicle speed from Taiwan Area National Freeway Bureau as the input characteristics of the traffic simulation program and referred to the mobile station (MS communication behaviors from Chunghwa Telecom to simulate the traffic information and communication records. The experimental results illustrated that the average accuracy of the vehicle speed forecasting method is 95.72%. Therefore, the proposed methods based on CFVD are suitable for an intelligent transportation system.

  8. Microemulsion and Microemulsion-Based Gels for Topical Antifungal Therapy with Phytochemicals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Boonme, Prapaporn; Kaewbanjong, Jarika; Amnuaikit, Thanaporn; Andreani, Tatiana; Silva, Amélia M; Souto, Eliana B

    2016-01-01

    Skin fungal infections are regular injuries suffered by people living in tropical areas. Most common pathogens are Trichophyton, Microsporum and Epidermophyton which can cause skin lesions in many parts of body. Topical antifungal phytochemicals are commonly used to avoid systemic adverse events and are more convenient for patient application than those administered by other routes. However, the effectiveness of topical treatments in eradicating fungal infection is more limited since the stratum corneum acts as the skin barrier, resulting in long treatment duration and low patient's compliance. The goal of this work is to identify optimized drug delivery systems to improve topic clinical efficacy. Microemulsions i.e. liquid dispersions of oil and water stabilized with an interfacial film of surfactant are well known drug delivery systems. A thickening agent may be included to form microemulsion-based gels to increase skin adhesion. Microemulsions and microemulsion-based gels can be loaded with several hydrophilic and lipophilic drugs because they are composed of both water and oil phases. Microemulsions and microemulsion-based gels can also be used for the delivery of many drugs including antifungal drugs through stratum corneum due to their capacity to act as skin penetration enhancement. In addition to a comprehensive review of microemulsion and microemulsion-based gels as suitable carriers for skin delivery of various antifungal drugs, this review also aims to discuss the delivery of antifungal phytochemicals.

  9. Effect of conductive additives to gel electrolytes on activated carbon-based supercapacitors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Farshad Barzegar

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available This article is focused on polymer based gel electrolyte due to the fact that polymers are cheap and can be used to achieve extended potential window for improved energy density of the supercapacitor devices when compared to aqueous electrolytes. Electrochemical characterization of a symmetric supercapacitor devices based on activated carbon in different polyvinyl alcohol (PVA based gel electrolytes was carried out. The device exhibited a maximum energy density of 24 Wh kg−1 when carbon black was added to the gel electrolyte as conductive additive. The good energy density was correlated with the improved conductivity of the electrolyte medium which is favorable for fast ion transport in this relatively viscous environment. Most importantly, the device remained stable with no capacitance lost after 10,000 cycles.

  10. Multiple Attribute Decision Making Based Relay Vehicle Selection for Electric Vehicle Communication

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhao Qiang

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available Large-scale electric vehicle integration into power grid and charging randomly will cause serious impacts on the normal operation of power grid. Therefore, it is necessary to control the charging behavior of electric vehicle, while information transmission for electric vehicle is significant. Due to the highly mobile characteristics of vehicle, transferring information to power grid directly might be inaccessible. Relay vehicle (RV can be used for supporting multi-hop connection between SV and power grid. This paper proposes a multiple attribute decision making (MADM-based RV selection algorithm, which considers multiple attribute, including data transfer rate, delay, route duration. It takes the characteristics of electric vehicle communication into account, which can provide protection for the communication services of electric vehicle charging and discharging. Numerical results demonstrate that compared to previous algorithm, the proposed algorithm offer better performance in terms of throughput, transmission delay.

  11. Shadow-Based Vehicle Detection in Urban Traffic

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Manuel Ibarra-Arenado

    2017-04-01

    Full Text Available Vehicle detection is a fundamental task in Forward Collision Avoiding Systems (FACS. Generally, vision-based vehicle detection methods consist of two stages: hypotheses generation and hypotheses verification. In this paper, we focus on the former, presenting a feature-based method for on-road vehicle detection in urban traffic. Hypotheses for vehicle candidates are generated according to the shadow under the vehicles by comparing pixel properties across the vertical intensity gradients caused by shadows on the road, and followed by intensity thresholding and morphological discrimination. Unlike methods that identify the shadow under a vehicle as a road region with intensity smaller than a coarse lower bound of the intensity for road, the thresholding strategy we propose determines a coarse upper bound of the intensity for shadow which reduces false positives rates. The experimental results are promising in terms of detection performance and robustness in day time under different weather conditions and cluttered scenarios to enable validation for the first stage of a complete FACS.

  12. Nanoemulsion-based gel formulation of diclofenac diethylamine: design, optimization, rheological behavior and in vitro diffusion studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hamed, Rania; Basil, Marwa; AlBaraghthi, Tamadur; Sunoqrot, Suhair; Tarawneh, Ola

    2016-12-01

    Chronic oral administration of the non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, diclofenac diethylamine (DDEA), is often associated with gastrointestinal ulcers and bleeding. As an alternative to oral administration, a nanoemulsion-based gel (NE gel) formulation of DDEA was developed for topical administration. An optimized formulation for the o/w nanoemulsion of oil, surfactant and cosurfactant was selected based on nanoemulsion mean droplet size, clarity, stability, and flowability, and incorporated into the gelling agent Carbopol® 971P. Rheological studies of the DDEA NE gel were conducted and compared to those of conventional DDEA gel and emulgel. The three gels exhibited an elastic behavior, where G' dominated G″ at all frequencies, indicating the formation of strong gels. NE gel exhibited higher G' values than conventional gel and emulgel, which indicated the formation of a stronger gel network. Strat-M® membrane, a synthetic membrane with diffusion characteristics that are well correlated to human skin, was used for the in vitro diffusion studies. The release of DDEA from conventional gel, emulgel and NE gel showed a controlled release pattern over 12 h, which was consistent with the rheological properties of the gels. DDEA release kinetics from the three gels followed super case II transport as fitted by Korsmeyer-Peppas model.

  13. GelTouch

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Miruchna, Viktor; Walter, Robert; Lindlbauer, David

    2015-01-01

    We present GelTouch, a gel-based layer that can selectively transition between soft and stiff to provide tactile multi-touch feedback. It is flexible, transparent when not activated, and contains no mechanical, electromagnetic, or hydraulic components, resulting in a compact form factor (a 2mm thin...... touchscreen layer for our prototype). The activated areas can be morphed freely and continuously, without being limited to fixed, predefined shapes. GelTouch consists of a poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) gel layer which alters its viscoelasticity when activated by applying heat (>32 C). We present three different...

  14. Depiction of priority light-vehicle pre-crash scenarios for safety applications based on vehicle-to-vehicle communications

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-04-30

    A template of pre-crash scenarios is presented to depict national crash statistics and kinematic information of time-to-collision for the design of appropriate crash countermeasures based on vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications. This template serv...

  15. Hybrid Power Management-Based Vehicle Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eichenberg, Dennis J.

    2011-01-01

    Hybrid Power Management (HPM) is the integration of diverse, state-of-the-art power devices in an optimal configuration for space and terrestrial applications (s ee figure). The appropriate application and control of the various power devices significantly improves overall system performance and efficiency. The basic vehicle architecture consists of a primary power source, and possibly other power sources, that provides all power to a common energy storage system that is used to power the drive motors and vehicle accessory systems. This architecture also provides power as an emergency power system. Each component is independent, permitting it to be optimized for its intended purpose. The key element of HPM is the energy storage system. All generated power is sent to the energy storage system, and all loads derive their power from that system. This can significantly reduce the power requirement of the primary power source, while increasing the vehicle reliability. Ultracapacitors are ideal for an HPM-based energy storage system due to their exceptionally long cycle life, high reliability, high efficiency, high power density, and excellent low-temperature performance. Multiple power sources and multiple loads are easily incorporated into an HPM-based vehicle. A gas turbine is a good primary power source because of its high efficiency, high power density, long life, high reliability, and ability to operate on a wide range of fuels. An HPM controller maintains optimal control over each vehicle component. This flexible operating system can be applied to all vehicles to considerably improve vehicle efficiency, reliability, safety, security, and performance. The HPM-based vehicle architecture has many advantages over conventional vehicle architectures. Ultracapacitors have a much longer cycle life than batteries, which greatly improves system reliability, reduces life-of-system costs, and reduces environmental impact as ultracapacitors will probably never need to be

  16. Electric vehicles and renewable energy in the transport sector - energy system consequences. Main focus: Battery electric vehicles and hydrogen based fuel cell vehicles

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nielsen, L.H.; Jørgensen K.

    2000-01-01

    The aim of the project is to analyse energy, environmental and economic aspects of integrating electric vehicles in the future Danish energy system. Consequences of large-scale utilisation of electric vehicles are analysed. The aim is furthermore toillustrate the potential synergistic interplay...... between the utilisation of electric vehicles and large-scale utilisation of fluctuating renewable energy resources, such as wind power. Economic aspects for electric vehicles interacting with a liberalisedelectricity market are analysed. The project focuses on battery electric vehicles and fuel cell...... vehicles based on hydrogen. Based on assumptions on the future technical development for battery electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles on hydrogen, and forthe conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, scenarios are set up to reflect expected options for the long-term development of road transport...

  17. Evaluation of Vehicle-Based Crash Severity Metrics.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tsoi, Ada H; Gabler, Hampton C

    2015-01-01

    Vehicle change in velocity (delta-v) is a widely used crash severity metric used to estimate occupant injury risk. Despite its widespread use, delta-v has several limitations. Of most concern, delta-v is a vehicle-based metric which does not consider the crash pulse or the performance of occupant restraints, e.g. seatbelts and airbags. Such criticisms have prompted the search for alternative impact severity metrics based upon vehicle kinematics. The purpose of this study was to assess the ability of the occupant impact velocity (OIV), acceleration severity index (ASI), vehicle pulse index (VPI), and maximum delta-v (delta-v) to predict serious injury in real world crashes. The study was based on the analysis of event data recorders (EDRs) downloaded from the National Automotive Sampling System / Crashworthiness Data System (NASS-CDS) 2000-2013 cases. All vehicles in the sample were GM passenger cars and light trucks involved in a frontal collision. Rollover crashes were excluded. Vehicles were restricted to single-event crashes that caused an airbag deployment. All EDR data were checked for a successful, completed recording of the event and that the crash pulse was complete. The maximum abbreviated injury scale (MAIS) was used to describe occupant injury outcome. Drivers were categorized into either non-seriously injured group (MAIS2-) or seriously injured group (MAIS3+), based on the severity of any injuries to the thorax, abdomen, and spine. ASI and OIV were calculated according to the Manual for Assessing Safety Hardware. VPI was calculated according to ISO/TR 12353-3, with vehicle-specific parameters determined from U.S. New Car Assessment Program crash tests. Using binary logistic regression, the cumulative probability of injury risk was determined for each metric and assessed for statistical significance, goodness-of-fit, and prediction accuracy. The dataset included 102,744 vehicles. A Wald chi-square test showed each vehicle-based crash severity metric

  18. Evaluation of the activity and safety of CS21 barrier genital gel® compared to topical aciclovir and placebo in symptoms of genital herpes recurrences: a randomized clinical trial.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Khemis, A; Duteil, L; Tillet, Y; Dereure, O; Ortonne, J-P

    2014-09-01

    Topical or systemic antiviral drugs reduce the duration of genital herpes recurrences but may not always alleviate functional symptoms. To assess the efficacy and safety of oxygenated glycerol triesters-based CS21 barrier genital gel(®) vs. topical aciclovir and placebo (vehicle) in resolving functional symptoms and in healing of genital herpes recurrences. A prospective randomized controlled, investigator-blinded trial of CS21 barrier genital gel(®) vs. topical aciclovir (reference treatment) and placebo (vehicle) was designed. The primary endpoint was the cumulative score of four herpes-related functional symptoms (pain, burning, itching and tingling sensations). Secondary endpoints included objective skin changes (erythema, papules, vesicles, oedema, erosion/ulceration, crusts), time to heal, local tolerance and overall acceptability of the treatment as reported by a self-administered questionnaire. Overall, 61 patients were included. CS 21 barrier genital gel(®) was significantly more efficient than topical aciclovir and vehicle for subjective symptoms and pain relief in genital herpes recurrences; additionally, time to heal was significantly shorter with CS 21 than with vehicle, whereas no significantly difference was observed between patients receiving topical aciclovir and vehicle. The treatments under investigation were well tolerated and the adverse events were comparable in the three treatment groups. Overall, these results support the interest of using of CS 21 barrier genital gel(®) in symptomatic genital herpes recurrences. Accordingly, this product offers a valuable alternative in topical management of recurrent genital herpes. © 2013 European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology.

  19. Stacking gels: A method for maximising output for pulsed-field gel electrophoresis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Heng See

    2009-01-01

    Full Text Available Pulsed field gel electrophoresis (PFGE, the gold standard of molecular typing methods, has a major disadvantage of an unusually long electrophoretic time. From the original protocol of 6 days, it was modified to 3 days and subsequently to a single day. We describe the procedure of stacking five to six gels one on top of another in order to increase and maximize the output in a shorter time without compromising the resolution and reproducibility. All the variables that affect pulsed field gels during electrophoresis were taken into consideration. We firstly optimized the parameters to be used and secondly determined whether stacking of five to six gels had any effect on the molecular separation during electrophoresis in comparison with a single gel run. DNA preparation, restriction, electrophoresis, staining and gel documentation was carried out based on previously published methods. Gels were analysed using BioNumerics and dice coefficient and unweighted pair group methods were used to generate dendrograms based on 1.5% tolerance values. Identical band profiles and band resolution-separation were seen in the PFGE patterns with single gel and multiple stacking gels. Cluster analysis further strengthened the fact that results from stacking gels were reproducible and comparable with a single gel run. This method of stacking gels saves time and maximizes the output at the same time. The run time for a single gel was about 28 hours, but with six stacked gels the run time was 54 hours compared with 28 x 6 = 168 hours if they were run separately as single gels thus saving time of 67.86%. Beside the big factor of saving time, stacking gels save resources (electricity, reagents, water, chemicals and working time by increasing the sample throughput in a shorter time without compromising on quality of data. But optimization of working parameters is vital depending on the PFGE system used.

  20. Design and Implementation of an Emergency Vehicle Signal Preemption System Based on Cooperative Vehicle-Infrastructure Technology

    OpenAIRE

    Yinsong Wang; Zhizhou Wu; Xiaoguang Yang; Luoyi Huang

    2013-01-01

    Emergency vehicle is an important part of traffic flow. The efficiency, reliability, and safety of emergency vehicle operations dropped due to increasing traffic congestion. With the advancement of the wireless communication technologies and the development of the vehicle-to-vehicle (v2v) and vehicle-to-infrastructure (v2i) systems, called Cooperative Vehicle-Infrastructure System (CVIS), there is an opportunity to provide appropriate traffic signal preemption for emergency vehicle based on r...

  1. Electric vehicles and renewable energy in the transport sector - energy system consequences. Main focus: Battery electric vehicles and hydrogen based fuel cell vehicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nielsen, L.H.; Joergensen, K.

    2000-04-01

    The aim of the project is to analyse energy, environmental and economic aspects of integrating electric vehicles in the future Danish energy system. Consequences of large-scale utilisation of electric vehicles are analysed. The aim is furthermore to illustrate the potential synergistic interplay between the utilisation of electric vehicles and large-scale utilisation of fluctuating renewable energy resources, such as wind power. Economic aspects for electric vehicles interacting with a liberalised electricity market are analysed. The project focuses on battery electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles based on hydrogen. Based on assumptions on the future technical development for battery electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles on hydrogen, and for the conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, scenarios are set up to reflect expected options for the long-term development of road transport vehicles. Focus is put on the Danish fleet of passenger cars and delivery vans. The scenario analysis includes assumptions on market potential developments and market penetration for the alternative vehicles. Vehicle replacement rates in the Danish transport fleet and the size of fleet development are based on data from The Danish Road Directorate. The electricity supply system development assumed is based on the Danish energy plan, Energy 21, The Plan scenario. The time horizon of the analysis is year 2030. Results from the scenario analysis include the time scales involved for the potential transition towards electricity based vehicles, the fleet composition development, the associated developments in transport fuel consumption and fuel substitution, and the potential CO{sub 2}-emission reduction achievable in the overall transport and power supply system. Detailed model simulations, on an hourly basis, have furthermore been carried out for year 2005 that address potential electricity purchase options for electric vehicles in the context of a liberalised electricity market

  2. Electric vehicles and renewable energy in the transport sector - energy system consequences. Main focus: Battery electric vehicles and hydrogen based fuel cell vehicles

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Nielsen, L.H.; Joergensen, K.

    2000-04-01

    The aim of the project is to analyse energy, environmental and economic aspects of integrating electric vehicles in the future Danish energy system. Consequences of large-scale utilisation of electric vehicles are analysed. The aim is furthermore to illustrate the potential synergistic interplay between the utilisation of electric vehicles and large-scale utilisation of fluctuating renewable energy resources, such as wind power. Economic aspects for electric vehicles interacting with a liberalised electricity market are analysed. The project focuses on battery electric vehicles and fuel cell vehicles based on hydrogen. Based on assumptions on the future technical development for battery electric vehicles, fuel cell vehicles on hydrogen, and for the conventional internal combustion engine vehicles, scenarios are set up to reflect expected options for the long-term development of road transport vehicles. Focus is put on the Danish fleet of passenger cars and delivery vans. The scenario analysis includes assumptions on market potential developments and market penetration for the alternative vehicles. Vehicle replacement rates in the Danish transport fleet and the size of fleet development are based on data from The Danish Road Directorate. The electricity supply system development assumed is based on the Danish energy plan, Energy 21, The Plan scenario. The time horizon of the analysis is year 2030. Results from the scenario analysis include the time scales involved for the potential transition towards electricity based vehicles, the fleet composition development, the associated developments in transport fuel consumption and fuel substitution, and the potential CO 2 -emission reduction achievable in the overall transport and power supply system. Detailed model simulations, on an hourly basis, have furthermore been carried out for year 2005 that address potential electricity purchase options for electric vehicles in the context of a liberalised electricity market. The

  3. Gaze-Based Controlling a Vehicle

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mardanbeigi, Diako; Witzner Hansen, Dan

    ) as an example of a complex gaze-based task in environment. This paper discusses the possibilities and limitations of how gaze interaction can be performed for controlling vehicles not only using a remote gaze tracker but also in general challenging situations where the user and robot are mobile...... modality if gaze trackers are embedded into the head- mounted devices. The domain of gaze-based interactive applications increases dramatically as interaction is no longer constrained to 2D displays. This paper proposes a general framework for gaze-based controlling a non- stationary robot (vehicle...... and the movements may be governed by several degrees of freedom (e.g. flying). A case study is also introduced where the mobile gaze tracker is used for controlling a Roomba vacuum cleaner....

  4. Integrated vehicle-based safety systems light-vehicle field operational test key findings report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2011-01-01

    "This document presents key findings from the light-vehicle field operational test conducted as part of the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems program. These findings are the result of analyses performed by the University of Michigan Transportat...

  5. Preparation and evaluation of chitosan-based nanogels/gels for oral delivery of myricetin.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Yashu; Xia, Mengxin; Wang, Huizhen; Li, Guowen; Shen, Hongyi; Ji, Guang; Meng, Qianchao; Xie, Yan

    2016-08-25

    A novel nanogel/gel based on chitosan (CS) for the oral delivery of myricetin (Myr) was developed and evaluated comprehensively. The particle size of the obtained Myr-loaded CS/β-glycerol phosphate (β-GP) nanogels was in the range of 100-300nm. The rheological tests showed that the sol-gel transition happened when the nanogels were exposed to physiological temperatures, and 3D network structures of the gelatinized nanogels (gels) were confirmed by Scanning Electron Microscopy. Myr was released from CS/β-GP nanogel/gel in acidic buffers via a Fickian mechanism, and this release was simultaneously accompanied by swelling and erosion. Moreover, the nanogel/gel exhibited no cytotoxicity by MTT assay, and the oral bioavailability of Myr in rats was improved with an accelerated absorption rate after Myr was loaded into CS/β-GP nanogel/gel. In summary, all of the above showed that CS/β-GP nanogel/gel was an excellent system for orally delivering Myr. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. Influence of colloidal silicon dioxide on gel strength, robustness, and adhesive properties of diclofenac gel formulation for topical application.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lu, Zheng; Fassihi, Reza

    2015-06-01

    The objective of this study is to identify the extent of stiffness, adhesiveness, and thixotropic character of a three-dimensional gel network of a 1% diclofenac sodium topical gel formulation in the presence and absence of colloidal silicon dioxide (CSD) and assess its ease of application and adhesiveness using both objective and subjective analysis. The 1% diclofenac gel was mixed with different amounts of CSD (e.g., 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 5% w/w) and allowed to equilibrate prior to testing. The texture analyzer in combination with a cone-cap assembly was used to objectively investigate the changes in spreadability and adhesiveness of the gel system before and after addition of CSD. Results indicate that an increase in pliability and adhesiveness at levels ≥2 to ≤5% w/w of CSD dispersed in the gel ensues. For subjective analysis, gels with (2% w/w) CSD and in the absence of CSD were uniformly applied to a 20-cm(2) (5 cm × 4 cm) surface area on the forearms of healthy volunteers and vehicle preferences by the volunteers regarding ease of application, durability on the skin, compliance, and feelings concerning its textural properties were assessed. It appears that changes in the gel formulation with the addition of CSD enhance gel viscosity and bonding to the skin. Results further show that changes in physical and rheological characteristics of gel containing 2% w/w CSD did not significantly change subject preferences for the gel preparations. These findings may help formulators to have additional options to develop more robust and cost-effective formulations.

  7. Analysis of Vehicle-Based Security Operations

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Carter, Jason M [ORNL; Paul, Nate R [ORNL

    2015-01-01

    Vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V) communications promises to increase roadway safety by providing each vehicle with 360 degree situational awareness of other vehicles in proximity, and by complementing onboard sensors such as radar or camera in detecting imminent crash scenarios. In the United States, approximately three hundred million automobiles could participate in a fully deployed V2V system if Dedicated Short-Range Communication (DSRC) device use becomes mandatory. The system s reliance on continuous communication, however, provides a potential means for unscrupulous persons to transmit false data in an attempt to cause crashes, create traffic congestion, or simply render the system useless. V2V communications must be highly scalable while retaining robust security and privacy preserving features to meet the intra-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication requirements for a growing vehicle population. Oakridge National Research Laboratory is investigating a Vehicle-Based Security System (VBSS) to provide security and privacy for a fully deployed V2V and V2I system. In the VBSS an On-board Unit (OBU) generates short-term certificates and signs Basic Safety Messages (BSM) to preserve privacy and enhance security. This work outlines a potential VBSS structure and its operational concepts; it examines how a vehicle-based system might feasibly provide security and privacy, highlights remaining challenges, and explores potential mitigations to address those challenges. Certificate management alternatives that attempt to meet V2V security and privacy requirements have been examined previously by the research community including privacy-preserving group certificates, shared certificates, and functional encryption. Due to real-world operational constraints, adopting one of these approaches for VBSS V2V communication is difficult. Timely misbehavior detection and revocation are still open problems for any V2V system. We explore the alternative approaches that may be

  8. A study of correlations between the release of drugs from petrolatum-based gels containing nonionic surfactants and some physical and physico-chemical characteristics of the gel systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Colo, G D; Nannipieri, E; Serafini, M F; Vitale, D

    1986-06-01

    Synopsis The in vitro release of benzocaine and 2-ethyIhexyl p-di-methylaminobenzoate (EH-PABA) from petrolatum-based gels either containing two nonionic surfactants, or not, was compared with some physical and/or physico-chemical characteristics of the drugs, the gels and the drug-gel systems. The surfactants had no effect on the release of EH-PABA, the less polar drug, whereas they decreased the release of benzocaine. Moreover, the release data show a complex dependence of diffusive properties of ben-zocaine on drug and surfactant concentration. Benzocaine appears to form mixed micelles with each of the two surfactants and/or undergoes self-aggregation phenomena within surfactant micelles. The results indicate that drug diffusion is influenced by gel porosity, drug molecular size and polarity and molecular interactions. Etude des corrélations entre la disponibilité des medicaments dans les gels a base de vaseline contenant des surfactifs non ioniques et quelques propriétés physiques et physicochimiques des gels.

  9. Data Visualization and Feature Selection Methods in Gel-based Proteomics

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Silva, Tomé Santos; Richard, Nadege; Dias, Jorge P.

    2014-01-01

    -based proteomics, summarizing the current state of research within this field. Particular focus is given on discussing the usefulness of available multivariate analysis tools both for data visualization and feature selection purposes. Visual examples are given using a real gel-based proteomic dataset as basis....

  10. Optimization of Microemulsion Based Transdermal Gel of Triamcinolone.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jagdale, Swati; Chaudhari, Bhagyashree

    2017-01-01

    Triamcinolone is a long acting corticosteroid used in the treatment of arthritis, eczema, psoriasis and similar conditions which cause inflammation. Triamcinolone has half-life of 88min. Prolonged oral use is associated with gastrointestinal adverse effects as peptic ulcer, abdominal distention and ulcerative esophagitis as described in various patents. Microemulgel offers advantage of better stability, better loading capacity and controlled release especially for drug with short half life. Objective of the present study was to optimize microemulgel based transdermal delivery of triamcinolone. Saturated solubility of triamcinolone in various oils, surfactants and co-surfactants is estimated. Pseudo-ternary phase diagrams were constructed to determine the region of transparent microemulsion. Microemulsion was evaluated for globule size (FE-SEM, zetasizer), % transmittance, pH, viscosity, conductivity etc. Design of experiment was used to optimize microemulsion based gel. Carbopol 971P and HPMC K100M were used as independent variables. Microemulsion based gel was evaluated for in-vitro as well as ex-vivo parameters. Microemulsion was formulated with oleic acid, lauroglycol FCC and propylene glycol. PDI 0.197 indicated microemulsion is mono-disperse. 32 factorial design gave batch F8 as optimized. Design expert suggested drug release; gel viscosity and bio-adhesive strength were three significant dependant factors affecting the transdermal delivery. F8 showed drug release 92.62.16±1.22% through egg membrane, 95.23±1.44% through goat skin after 8hr and Korsmeyer-Peppas release model was followed. It can be concluded that a stable, effective controlled release transdermal microemulgel was optimised for triamcinolone. This would be a promising tool to deliver triamcinolone with enhanced bioavailability and reduced dosing frequency. Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at epub@benthamscience.org.

  11. Influence of a multiple emulsion, liposomes and a microemulsion gel on sebum, skin hydration and TEWL.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahrhauser, D; Nagelreiter, C; Baierl, A; Skipiol, J; Valenta, C

    2015-04-01

    In this study, the influence of three cosmetically relevant, priorly characterized vehicles on skin hydration, sebum content and transepidermal water loss was investigated. The chosen vehicles included a liposomal pre-formulation, a multiple W/O/W emulsion and a microemulsion gel. The in vivo effects of these vehicles were demonstrated and compared among them. The stability of the prepared vehicles was determined visually, microscopically, rheologically by pH measurements and particle size. Interactions with skin were assessed by non-invasive biophysical techniques using the Corneometer(®), Aqua Flux(®) and Sebumeter, measuring skin hydration, TEWL and skin sebum content, respectively. All vehicles remained stable over an observation period of 6 weeks. The multiple emulsion increased sebum content and skin hydration. In case of the liposomes, each monitored parameter remained almost constant. In contrast, the microemulsion gel lowered skin hydration and increased TEWL values, but even 1 week after termination of the treatment TEWL decreased almost close to control levels. All produced vehicles were proven to remain physically stable over the duration of this study. The used multiple emulsion showed very skin-friendly properties by increasing sebum and skin hydration. Likewise, the liposomal pre-formulation exhibited no negative effects. On the contrary, the investigated microemulsion gel seemed to have skin dehydrating and TEWL increasing features. However, the multiple emulsion as well as liposomes was identified to be well-tolerated vehicles for skin which might qualify them for the use in cosmetic formulations. © 2014 Society of Cosmetic Scientists and the Société Française de Cosmétologie.

  12. Nanoscale dynamics and aging of fibrous peptide-based gels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Dudukovic, Nikola A., E-mail: dudukov1@illinois.edu [Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, Urbana, Illinois 61801 (United States); Zukoski, Charles F. [Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering, University at Buffalo, Buffalo, New York 14222 (United States)

    2014-10-28

    Solutions of the aromatic dipeptide derivative molecule fluorenylmethoxycarbonyl-diphenylalanine (Fmoc-FF) in dimethyl sulfoxide produce fibrous gels when mixed with water. We study the evolution of density fluctuations of this three-component system using X-ray photon correlation spectroscopy (XPCS) and compare these results to the macroscopic rheology of the gels and optical observations of the microstructure evolution. At the investigated scattering angles, the intensity autocorrelation functions do not follow behavior expected for simple diffusion of individual Fmoc-FF molecules localized within cages of nearest neighbors. Instead, the dynamics are associated with density fluctuations on length scales of ∼10–100 nm arising from disaggregation and reformation of fibers, leading to an increasingly uniform network. This process is correlated with the growth of the elastic modulus, which saturates at long times. Autocorrelation functions and relaxation times acquired from XPCS measurements are consistent with relaxation rates of structures at dynamic equilibrium. This study provides further support to the concept of exploring peptide-based gelators as valence-limited patchy particles capable of forming equilibrium gels.

  13. Rheology of oleo gels based on sorbitan and glyceryl mono stearates and vegetable oils for lubricating applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Sanchez, R.; Franco, J. M.; Delgado, M. A.; Valencia, C.; Gallegos, C.

    2011-07-01

    Oleo gels based on sorbitan and glyceryl mono stearates and different types of vegetable oils, potentially applicable as biodegradable alternatives to traditional lubricating greases, have been studied. In particular, the rheological behavior, by means of small-amplitude oscillatory shear (SAOS) measurements, and some lubrication performance-related properties (mechanical stability and tribological response) have been evaluated in this work. SAOS response and mechanical stability of these oleo gels are significantly influenced by the type and concentration of the organogelator and the vegetable oil used in the formulations. Glyceryl monostearate (GMS) generally produces stronger gels than sorbitan monostearate (SMS). The use of low-viscosity oils, such as rapeseed and soybean oils, yields gels with significantly higher values of the linear viscoelastic functions than oleo gels prepared with high-viscosity oils, i.e. castor oil. The rheological behavior of SMS-based oleo gels also depends on the cooling rate applied during the gelification process. On the other hand, the oleo gels studied present low values of the friction coefficient obtained in a tribological contact, although only some GMS/castor oil-based oleo gels exhibit a suitable mechanical stability. (Author) 28 refs.

  14. The gel electrophoresis markup language (GelML) from the Proteomics Standards Initiative.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gibson, Frank; Hoogland, Christine; Martinez-Bartolomé, Salvador; Medina-Aunon, J Alberto; Albar, Juan Pablo; Babnigg, Gyorgy; Wipat, Anil; Hermjakob, Henning; Almeida, Jonas S; Stanislaus, Romesh; Paton, Norman W; Jones, Andrew R

    2010-09-01

    The Human Proteome Organisation's Proteomics Standards Initiative has developed the GelML (gel electrophoresis markup language) data exchange format for representing gel electrophoresis experiments performed in proteomics investigations. The format closely follows the reporting guidelines for gel electrophoresis, which are part of the Minimum Information About a Proteomics Experiment (MIAPE) set of modules. GelML supports the capture of metadata (such as experimental protocols) and data (such as gel images) resulting from gel electrophoresis so that laboratories can be compliant with the MIAPE Gel Electrophoresis guidelines, while allowing such data sets to be exchanged or downloaded from public repositories. The format is sufficiently flexible to capture data from a broad range of experimental processes, and complements other PSI formats for MS data and the results of protein and peptide identifications to capture entire gel-based proteome workflows. GelML has resulted from the open standardisation process of PSI consisting of both public consultation and anonymous review of the specifications.

  15. Polymer gel dosimeter with AQUAJOINT® as hydrogel matrix

    Science.gov (United States)

    Maeyama, Takuya; Ishida, Yasuhiro; Kudo, Yoshihiro; Fukasaku, Kazuaki; Ishikawa, Kenichi L.; Fukunishi, Nobuhisa

    2018-05-01

    We report a polymer gel dosimeter based on a new gel matrix (AQUAJOINT®) that is a thermo-irreversible hydrogel formed by mixing two types of water-based liquids at room temperature. Normoxic N-vinylpyrrolidone-based polymer gels were prepared with AQUAJOINT® instead of gelatin. This AQUAJOINT®-based gel dosimeter exhibits a 2.5-fold increase in sensitivity over a gelatin-based gel dosimeter and a linear dose-response in the dose range of 0-8 Gy. This gel has heat resistance in a jar and controlled gel properties such as viscoelastic and mechanical characters, which may be useful for deformable polymer gel dosimetry.

  16. Study of nuclear glasses alteration gel and synthesis of some model gels; Etude du gel d`alteration des verres nucleaires et synthese de gels modeles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ricol, S

    1995-10-05

    This work deals with the general problem of alteration of the reference nuclear glass R7T7. Attention is paid particularly to the altered layer formed at the glass surface during alteration process. In opposition to previous works, related essentially to glass dissolution kinetics based on chemical analyses of lixiviated elements, this thesis deals with alteration problems through structural studies of the reference glass and derived gel. This approach allows the determination of mechanisms for the gel formation and a better understanding of the behaviour of glasses towards lixiviation. Both approaches appeared complementary. Based on several spectroscopic techniques, this work showed the particular role of cations such as calcium, zirconium and iron. Studies of silica-based synthetic gels showed the synergic effect of formers cation and of one highly coordinated cation. The variation of the wavenumber related to Si-O-Si asymmetric stretching vibration can be correlated to O/Si ratio for ternary systems Si/Na/Zr. On the contrary, the Si losses of the materials depend on the number of non-bridging oxygen atoms. In the perspective of long-term behaviour, the alteration gel presents better characteristics than initial glass. It is therefore a highly stable material in static conditions. In the same way, synthetic gels are materials with very low solubilities (much lower than the alteration gel) and could be used as confining matrices. (authors). refs., 71 figs., 37 tabs.

  17. A design approach for small vision-based autonomous vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Edwards, Barrett B.; Fife, Wade S.; Archibald, James K.; Lee, Dah-Jye; Wilde, Doran K.

    2006-10-01

    This paper describes the design of a small autonomous vehicle based on the Helios computing platform, a custom FPGA-based board capable of supporting on-board vision. Target applications for the Helios computing platform are those that require lightweight equipment and low power consumption. To demonstrate the capabilities of FPGAs in real-time control of autonomous vehicles, a 16 inch long R/C monster truck was outfitted with a Helios board. The platform provided by such a small vehicle is ideal for testing and development. The proof of concept application for this autonomous vehicle was a timed race through an environment with obstacles. Given the size restrictions of the vehicle and its operating environment, the only feasible on-board sensor is a small CMOS camera. The single video feed is therefore the only source of information from the surrounding environment. The image is then segmented and processed by custom logic in the FPGA that also controls direction and speed of the vehicle based on visual input.

  18. Sol-Gel Synthesis of Phosphate-Based Glasses for Hydrophilic Enamel Applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Dae-Sung; Ryu, Bong-ki

    2017-01-01

    In this study, quaternary phosphate-based sol-gel derived glasses were synthesized from a P 2 O 5 -CaO-Na 2 O-TiO 2 system with a high TiO 2 content of up to 50 mol%. The sol-gel method was chosen because incorporating a high percentage of titanium into a phosphate network via traditional melt-quench methods is non-trivial. The structure and thermal properties of the obtained stabilized sol-gel glasses were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The XRD results confirmed the amorphous nature of all of the stabilized sol–gel derived glasses. The FTIR results revealed that added TiO 2 enters the network as (TiO 6 ), which likely acts as a modifier oxide. Consequently, the number of terminal oxygen atoms increases, leading to an increase in the number of P-OH bonds. In addition, DSC results confirmed a decrease in glass transition and crystallization temperatures with increasing TiO 2 content. This is the first report of a sol-gel synthesis strategy combined with enameling to prepare glass at low processing temperatures and the first use of such a system for both hydrophilic and chemical resistance purposes.

  19. Sol-Gel Synthesis of Phosphate-Based Glasses for Hydrophilic Enamel Applications

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Dae-Sung; Ryu, Bong-ki [Pusan National University, Busan (Korea, Republic of)

    2017-04-15

    In this study, quaternary phosphate-based sol-gel derived glasses were synthesized from a P{sub 2}O{sub 5}-CaO-Na{sub 2}O-TiO{sub 2} system with a high TiO{sub 2} content of up to 50 mol%. The sol-gel method was chosen because incorporating a high percentage of titanium into a phosphate network via traditional melt-quench methods is non-trivial. The structure and thermal properties of the obtained stabilized sol-gel glasses were characterized using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The XRD results confirmed the amorphous nature of all of the stabilized sol–gel derived glasses. The FTIR results revealed that added TiO{sub 2} enters the network as (TiO{sub 6}), which likely acts as a modifier oxide. Consequently, the number of terminal oxygen atoms increases, leading to an increase in the number of P-OH bonds. In addition, DSC results confirmed a decrease in glass transition and crystallization temperatures with increasing TiO{sub 2} content. This is the first report of a sol-gel synthesis strategy combined with enameling to prepare glass at low processing temperatures and the first use of such a system for both hydrophilic and chemical resistance purposes.

  20. Gellan gum fluid gels for topical administration of diclofenac.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mahdi, Mohammed H; Conway, Barbara R; Mills, Thomas; Smith, Alan M

    2016-12-30

    Diclofenac topical formulations are often preferred for drug administration to patients who experience serious GIT problems. Absorption of the drug through the skin, however, can be challenging due to the natural protective feature of the stratum corneum (SC). In this article, fluid gels prepared from gellan gum were explored as a topical drug delivery vehicle. Rheological analysis of the formulations showed that it was possible to produce a topical gel with a viscosity and the mechanical strength similar to that of the commercially available Voltaren ® gel using 1% w/w of a 50:50 low acyl/high acyl (LA/HA) gellan blend. Soft-tribology was used to assess the lubrication properties of gellan fluid gels. The lubrication of the gellan gum fluid gel formulations at high rubbing speeds was similar to the lubrication of the Voltaren ® gel. The use of gellan gum dramatically increased skin permeation of diclofenac when compared with the commercially available formulation and could be controlled by changing the gellan gum concentration and/or sodium ion concentration in the formulation. This study highlights the potential use of fluid gels that can be easily tuned to have physical properties suitable for topical formulations with the added advantage of increasing drug permeation. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  1. Characterization Test Procedures for Intersection Collision Avoidance Systems Based on Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communications

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-12-01

    Characterization test procedures have been developed to quantify the performance of intersection collision avoidance (ICA) systems based on vehicle-to-vehicle communications. These systems warn the driver of an imminent crossing-path collision at a r...

  2. Lecithin-based nanostructured gels for skin delivery: an update on state of art and recent applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Elnaggar, Yosra S R; El-Refaie, Wessam M; El-Massik, Magda A; Abdallah, Ossama Y

    2014-04-28

    Conventional carriers for skin delivery encounter obstacles of drug leakage, scanty permeation and low entrapment efficiency. Phospholipid nanogels have recently been recognized as prominent delivery systems to circumvent such obstacles and impart easier application. The current review provides an overview on different types of lecithin nanostructured gels, with particular emphasis on liposomal versus microemulsion gelled systems. Liposomal gels investigated encompassed classic liposomal hydrogel, modified liposomal gels (e.g. Transferosomal, Ethosomal, Pro-liposomal and Phytosomal gels), Microgel in liposomes (M-i-L) and Vesicular phospholipid gel (VPG). Microemulsion gelled systems encompassed Lecithin microemulsion-based organogels (LMBGs), Pluronic lecithin organogels (PLOs) and Lecithin-stabilized microemulsion-based hydrogels. All systems were reviewed regarding matrix composition, state of art, characterization and updated applications. Different classes of lecithin nanogels exhibited crucial impact on transdermal delivery regarding drug permeation, drug loading and stability aspects. Future perspectives of this theme issue are discussed based on current laboratory studies. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  3. Integrated vehicle-based safety systems light-vehicle field operational test, methodology and results report.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-12-01

    "This document presents the methodology and results from the light-vehicle field operational test conducted as part of the Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems program. These findings are the result of analyses performed by the University of Michi...

  4. Multifeature Fusion Vehicle Detection Algorithm Based on Choquet Integral

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wenhui Li

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Vision-based multivehicle detection plays an important role in Forward Collision Warning Systems (FCWS and Blind Spot Detection Systems (BSDS. The performance of these systems depends on the real-time capability, accuracy, and robustness of vehicle detection methods. To improve the accuracy of vehicle detection algorithm, we propose a multifeature fusion vehicle detection algorithm based on Choquet integral. This algorithm divides the vehicle detection problem into two phases: feature similarity measure and multifeature fusion. In the feature similarity measure phase, we first propose a taillight-based vehicle detection method, and then vehicle taillight feature similarity measure is defined. Second, combining with the definition of Choquet integral, the vehicle symmetry similarity measure and the HOG + AdaBoost feature similarity measure are defined. Finally, these three features are fused together by Choquet integral. Being evaluated on public test collections and our own test images, the experimental results show that our method has achieved effective and robust multivehicle detection in complicated environments. Our method can not only improve the detection rate but also reduce the false alarm rate, which meets the engineering requirements of Advanced Driving Assistance Systems (ADAS.

  5. Tunable separations based on a molecular size effect for biomolecules by poly(ethylene glycol) gel-based capillary electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kubo, Takuya; Nishimura, Naoki; Furuta, Hayato; Kubota, Kei; Naito, Toyohiro; Otsuka, Koji

    2017-11-10

    We report novel capillary gel electrophoresis (CGE) with poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG)-based hydrogels for the effective separations of biomolecules containing sugars and DNAs based on a molecular size effect. The gel capillaries were prepared in a fused silica capillary modified with 3-(trimethoxysilyl)propylmethacrylate using a variety of the PEG-based hydrogels. After the fundamental evaluations in CGE regarding the separation based on the molecular size effect depending on the crosslinking density, the optimized capillary provided the efficient separation of glucose ladder (G1 to G20). In addition, another capillary showed the successful separation of DNA ladder in the range of 10-1100 base pair, which is superior to an authentic acrylamide-based gel capillary. For both glucose and DNA ladders, the separation ranges against the molecular size were simply controllable by alteration of the concentration and/or units of ethylene oxide in the PEG-based crosslinker. Finally, we demonstrated the separations of real samples, which included sugars carved out from monoclonal antibodies, mAbs, and then the efficient separations based on the molecular size effect were achieved. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. An Enhanced Soft Vibrotactile Actuator Based on ePVC Gel with Silicon Dioxide Nanoparticles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Won-Hyeong; Shin, Eun-Jae; Yun, Sungryul; Kim, Sang-Youn

    2018-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a soft vibrotactile actuator made by mixing silicon dioxide nanoparticles and plasticized PVC gel. The effect of the silicon dioxide nanoparticles in the plasticized PVC gel for the haptic performance is investigated in terms of electric, dielectric, and mechanical properties. Furthermore, eight soft vibrotactile actuators are prepared as a function of the content. Experiments are conducted to examine the haptic performance of the prepared eight soft vibrotactile actuators and to find the best weight ratio of the plasticized PVC gel to the nanoparticles. The experiments should show that the plasticized PVC gel with silicon dioxide nanoparticles improves the haptic performance of the plasticized PVC gel-based vibrotactile actuator, and the proposed vibrotactile actuator can create a variety of haptic sensations in a wide frequency range.

  7. Water-based sol-gel synthesis of hydroxyapatite: process development.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Liu, D M; Troczynski, T; Tseng, W J

    2001-07-01

    Hydroxyapatite (HA) ceramics were synthesized using a sol-gel route with triethyl phosphite and calcium nitrate as phosphorus and calcium precursors, respectively. Two solvents, water and anhydrous ethanol, were used as diluting media for HA sol preparation. The sols were stable and no gelling occurred in ambient environment for over 5 days. The sols became a white gel only after removal of the solvents at 60 degrees C. X-ray diffraction showed that apatitic structure first appeared at a temperature as low as 350 degrees C. The crystal size and the HA content in both gels increase with increasing calcination temperature. The type of initial diluting media (i.e., water vs. anhydrous ethanol) did not affect the microstructural evolution and crystallinity of the resulting HA ceramic. The ethanol-based sol dip-coated onto a Ti substrate, followed by calcination at 450 degrees C, was found to be porous with pore size ranging from 0.3 to 1 microm. This morphology is beneficial to the circulation of physiological fluid when the coating is used for biomedical applications. The satisfactory adhesion between the coating and substrate suggests its suitability for load-bearing uses.

  8. Visual Appearance-Based Unmanned Vehicle Sequential Localization

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Liu

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Localizationis of vital importance for an unmanned vehicle to drive on the road. Most of the existing algorithms are based on laser range finders, inertial equipment, artificial landmarks, distributing sensors or global positioning system(GPS information. Currently, the problem of localization with vision information is most concerned. However, vision-based localization techniquesare still unavailable for practical applications. In this paper, we present a vision-based sequential probability localization method. This method uses the surface information of the roadside to locate the vehicle, especially in the situation where GPS information is unavailable. It is composed of two step, first, in a recording stage, we construct a ground truthmap with the appearance of the roadside environment. Then in an on-line stage, we use a sequential matching approach to localize the vehicle. In the experiment, we use two independent cameras to observe the environment, one is left-orientated and the other is right. SIFT features and Daisy features are used to represent for the visual appearance of the environment. The experiment results show that the proposed method could locate the vehicle in a complicated, large environment with high reliability.

  9. Comprehensive bactericidal activity of an ethanol-based hand gel in 15 seconds

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kampf Günter

    2008-01-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Some studies indicate that the commonly recommended 30 s application time for the post contamination treatment of hands may not be necessary as the same effect may be achieved with some formulations in a shorter application time such as 15 s. Method We evaluated the bactericidal activity of an ethanol-based hand gel (Sterillium® Comfort Gel within 15 s in a time-kill-test against 11 Gram-positive, 16 Gram-negative bacteria and 11 emerging bacterial pathogens. Each strain was evaluated in quadruplicate. Results The hand gel (85% ethanol, w/w was found to reduce all 11 Gram-positive and all 16 Gram-negative bacteria by more than 5 log10 steps within 15 s, not only against the ATCC test strains but also against corresponding clinical isolates. In addition, a log10 reduction > 5 was observed against all tested emerging bacterial pathogens. Conclusion The ethanol-based hand gel was found to have a broad spectrum of bactericidal activity in only 15 s which includes the most common species causing nosocomial infections and the relevant emerging pathogens. Future research will hopefully help to find out if a shorter application time for the post contamination treatment of hands provides more benefits or more risks.

  10. An evaluation of the dosimetric performance characteristics of N-vinylpyrrolidone-based polymer gels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Papadakis, A E [Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, Iraklion 71003, Crete (Greece); Maris, T G [Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, Iraklion 71003, Crete (Greece); Zacharopoulou, F [Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, Iraklion 71003, Crete (Greece); Pappas, E [Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, Iraklion 71003, Crete (Greece); Zacharakis, G [Institute of Electronic Structure and Laser (IESL), Foundation for Research and Technology-Hellas (FORTH), PO Box 1527, Iraklion, Crete (Greece); Damilakis, J [Department of Medical Physics, Faculty of Medicine, University of Crete, PO Box 2208, Iraklion 71003, Crete (Greece)

    2007-08-21

    The aim of this work was to investigate the dosimetric performance properties of the N-vinylpyrrolidone argon (VIPAR) based polymer gel as a dosimetric tool in clinical radiotherapy. VIPAR gels with a larger concentration of gelatin than the standard recipe were manufactured and irradiated up to 68 Gy using a 6 and 18 MV linear accelerator. Using MRI, the R2-dose response was recorded at different imaging sessions within a 34 day time period post-irradiation. The R2-dose response was found to be linear between 5 and 68 Gy. Although dose sensitivity did not show significant variation with time, the measured R2-dose values showed an increasing trend, which was less evident beyond 17 days. At one day post-irradiation, calculated dose standard uncertainties at 20 Gy and 56 Gy were 2.2% and 1.7%, providing a dose resolution of 0.45 Gy and 0.97 Gy, respectively. Although these values fulfilled the 2% limit of ICRU, when gels were imaged at one day post-irradiation, it was shown that the temporal evolution of the R2 values deteriorated the per cent standard uncertainty and the dose resolution by {approx}57%, when imaged 17 days post-irradiation. Variation in the coagulation temperature of the gels did not impact the R2-dose sensitivity. This study has shown that the VIPAR gel has the properties of a dosimetric tool required in clinical radiotherapy, especially in applications where a wide dose dynamic range is employed. For results with the lowest per cent uncertainty and the optimum dose resolution, the dosimetry gels used in this work should be MR scanned at one day post-irradiation. Furthermore, a preliminary study on the R2-dose response of a new normoxic N-vinylpyrrolidone-based polymer gel showed that it could potentially replace the traditional VIPAR gel formulation, while preserving the wide dynamic dose response inherent to that monomer.

  11. Effectiveness of silica based sol-gel microencapsulation method for odorants and flavors leading to sustainable environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashraf, Muhammad Aqeel; Khan, Aysha Masood; Ahmad, Mushtaq; Sarfraz, Maliha

    2015-01-01

    Microencapsulation has become a hot topic in chemical research. Technology mainly used for control release and protection purposes. The sol-gel micro encapsulation approach for fragrance and aroma in porous silica-based materials leads to sustainable odorant and flavored materials with novel and unique beneficial properties. Sol-gel encapsulation of silica based micro particles considered economically cheap as capital investment in manufacturing is very low and environmentally friendly. Amorphous sol-gel SiO2 is non-toxic and safe, whereas the sol-gel entrapment of delicate chemicals in its inner pores results in pronounced chemical and physical stabilization of the entrapped active agents, thereby broadening the practical utilization of chemically unstable essential oils (EOs). Reviewing progress in the fabrication of diverse odorant and flavored sol-gels, shows us how different synthetic strategies are appropriate for practical application with important health and environmental benefits.

  12. Cartalk 2000: development of a co-operative ADAS based on vehicle-to-vehicle communication

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Morsink, P.L.J.; Hallouzi, R.; Dagli, I.; Cseh, C.; Schäfers, L.; Nelisse, M.W.; Bruin, D. de

    2003-01-01

    Advanced Driver Assistance Systems (ADAS) benefit from using vehicle-to-vehicle communication. In the 5th framework EC project CarTALK2000 co-operative ADAS are designed, tested and evaluated with respect to increasing traffic safety, efficiency and driving comfort. Communication based longitudinal

  13. Vehicle speed guidance strategy at signalized intersection based on cooperative vehicle infrastructure system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Fengyuan JIA

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available In order to reduce stopping time of vehicle at a signalized intersection, aiming at the difficulty, even the impossibility to obtain real-time queue length of intersection in third and fourth-tier cities in China sometimes, a speed guidance strategy based on cooperative vehicle infrastructure system is put forward and studied. For validating the strategy, the traffic signal timing data of the intersection at Hengshan Road and North Fengming Lake Road in Wuhu is collected by a vehicular traffic signal reminder system which is designed. The simulation experiments using the acquired data are done by software VISSIM. The simulation results demonstrate that the strategy under high and low traffic flow can effectively decrease the link travel-time, reducing average ratio is 9.2 % and 13.0 %, respectively, and the effect under low traffic flow is better than that under high traffic flow. The strategy improves efficiency of traffic at a signalized intersection and provides an idea for the application of vehicle speed guidance based on cooperative vehicle infrastructure system.

  14. All-solid-state flexible supercapacitors based on papers coated with carbon nanotubes and ionic-liquid-based gel electrolytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kang, Yu Jin; Kim, Woong; Chung, Haegeun; Han, Chi-Hwan

    2012-01-01

    All-solid-state flexible supercapacitors were fabricated using carbon nanotubes (CNTs), regular office papers, and ionic-liquid-based gel electrolytes. Flexible electrodes were made by coating CNTs on office papers by a drop-dry method. The gel electrolyte was prepared by mixing fumed silica nanopowders with ionic liquid, 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium bis(trifluoromethylsulfonyl)imide ([EMIM][NTf 2 ]). This supercapacitor showed high power and energy performance as a solid-state flexible supercapacitor. The specific capacitance of the CNT electrodes was 135 F g −1 at a current density of 2 A g −1 , when considering the mass of active materials only. The maximum power and energy density of the supercapacitors were 164 kW kg −1 and 41 Wh kg −1 , respectively. Interestingly, the solid-state supercapacitor with the gel electrolyte showed comparable performance to the supercapacitors with ionic-liquid electrolyte. Moreover, the supercapacitor showed excellent stability and flexibility. The CNT/paper- and gel-based supercapacitors may hold great potential for low-cost and high-performance flexible energy storage applications. (paper)

  15. Vehicle Based Vector Sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    2015-09-28

    buoyant underwater vehicle with an interior space in which a length of said underwater vehicle is equal to one tenth of the acoustic wavelength...underwater vehicle with an interior space in which a length of said underwater vehicle is equal to one tenth of the acoustic wavelength; an...unmanned underwater vehicle that can function as an acoustic vector sensor. (2) Description of the Prior Art [0004] It is known that a propagating

  16. Integrated vehicle-based safety systems (IVBSS) : light vehicle platform field operational test data analysis plan.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2009-12-22

    This document presents the University of Michigan Transportation Research Institutes plan to : perform analysis of data collected from the light vehicle platform field operational test of the : Integrated Vehicle-Based Safety Systems (IVBSS) progr...

  17. Online Dispatching Rules For Vehicle-Based Internal Transport Systems

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    T. Le-Anh (Tuan); M.B.M. de Koster (René)

    2004-01-01

    textabstractOn-line vehicles dispatching rules are widely used in many facilities such as warehouses to control vehicles' movements. Single-attribute dispatching rules, which dispatch vehicles based on only one parameter, are used commonly. However, multi-attribute dispatching rules prove to be

  18. Effectiveness of silica based sol-gel microencapsulation method for odorants and flavors leading to sustainable environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ashraf, Muhammad Aqeel; Khan, Aysha Masood; Ahmad, Mushtaq; Sarfraz, Maliha

    2015-01-01

    Microencapsulation has become a hot topic in chemical research. Technology mainly used for control release and protection purposes. The sol-gel micro encapsulation approach for fragrance and aroma in porous silica-based materials leads to sustainable odorant and flavored materials with novel and unique beneficial properties. Sol-gel encapsulation of silica based micro particles considered economically cheap as capital investment in manufacturing is very low and environmentally friendly. Amorphous sol-gel SiO2 is non-toxic and safe, whereas the sol-gel entrapment of delicate chemicals in its inner pores results in pronounced chemical and physical stabilization of the entrapped active agents, thereby broadening the practical utilization of chemically unstable essential oils (EOs). Reviewing progress in the fabrication of diverse odorant and flavored sol-gels, shows us how different synthetic strategies are appropriate for practical application with important health and environmental benefits. PMID:26322304

  19. Effectiveness of silica based Sol-gel microencapsulation Method for odorants and flavours leading to sustainable Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Muhammad Aqeel eAshraf

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Microencapsulation has become a hot topic in chemical research. Technology mainly used for control release and protection purposes. The sol–gel micro encapsulation approach for fragrance and aroma in porous silica-based materials leads to sustainable odorant and flavored materials with novel and unique beneficial properties. Sol-gel encapsulation of silica based micro particles considered economically cheap as capital investment in manufacturing is very low and environmentally friendly. Amorphous sol–gel SiO2 is non-toxic and safe, whereas the sol–gel entrapment of delicate chemicals in its inner pores results in pronounced chemical and physical stabilization of the entrapped actives, thereby broadening the practical utilization of chemically unstable essential oils. Reviewing progress in the fabrication of diverse odorant and flavoured sol-gels, shows us how different synthetic strategies are appropriate for practical application with important health and environmental benefits.

  20. Graphene oxide-enhanced sol-gel transition sensitivity and drug release performance of an amphiphilic copolymer-based nanocomposite

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hu, Huawen; Wang, Xiaowen; Lee, Ka I; Ma, Kaikai; Hu, Hong; Xin, John H.

    2016-01-01

    We report the fabrication of a highly sensitive amphiphilic copolymer-based nanocomposite incorporating with graphene oxide (GO), which exhibited a low-intensity UV light-triggered sol-gel transition. Non-cytotoxicity was observed for the composite gels after the GO incorporation. Of particular interest were the microchannels that were formed spontaneously within the GO-incorporated UV-gel, which expedited sustained drug release. Therefore, the present highly UV-sensitive, non-cytotoxic amphiphilic copolymer-based composites is expected to provide enhanced photothermal therapy and chemotherapy by means of GO’s unique photothermal properties, as well as through efficient passive targeting resulting from the sol-gel transition characteristic of the copolymer-based system with improved sensitivity, which thus promises the enhanced treatment of patients with cancer and other diseases. PMID:27539298

  1. Solid-state supercapacitors with ionic liquid based gel polymer electrolyte: Effect of lithium salt addition

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandey, G. P.; Hashmi, S. A.

    2013-12-01

    Performance characteristics of the solid-state supercapacitors fabricated with ionic liquid (IL) incorporated gel polymer electrolyte and acid treated multiwalled carbon nanotube (MWCNT) electrodes have been studied. The effect of Li-salt (LiPF6) addition in the IL (1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tris(pentafluoroethyl) trifluorophosphate, EMImFAP) based gel electrolyte on the performance of supercapacitors has been specifically investigated. The LiPF6/IL/poly(vinylidine fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) gel electrolyte film possesses excellent electrochemical window of 4 V (from -2.0 to 2.0 V), high ionic conductivity ∼2.6 × 10-3 S cm-1 at 20 °C and high enough thermal stability. The comparative performance of supercapacitors employing electrolytes with and without lithium salt has been evaluated by impedance spectroscopy and cyclic voltammetric studies. The acid-treated MWCNT electrodes show specific capacitance of ∼127 F g-1 with IL/LiPF6 containing gel polymer electrolyte as compared to that with the gel polymer electrolyte without Li-salt, showing the value of ∼76 F g-1. The long cycling stability of the solid state supercapacitor based on the Li-salt containing gel polymer electrolyte confirms the electrochemical stability of the electrolyte.

  2. Preparation and Properties of Polyester-Based Nanocomposite Gel Coat System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    P. Jawahar

    2006-01-01

    Full Text Available Nanocomposite gel coat system is prepared using unsaturated polyester resin with aerosil powder, CaCO3, and organoclay. The influence of organoclay addition on mechanical and water barrier properties of gel coat system is studied for different amount (1, 2, and 3 wt % of organoclay. The nanolevel incorporation of organoclay improves the mechanical and water barrier properties of nanocomposite gel coat system. The nanocomposite gel coat system exhibits 55% improvement in tensile modulus and 25% improvement in flexural modulus. There is a 30% improvement in impact property of nanocomposite gel coat system. The dynamic mechanical analysis shows a slight increase in glass transition temperature for nanocomposite gel coat system.

  3. A novel tantalum-based sol-gel packed microextraction syringe for highly specific enrichment of phosphopeptides in MALDI-MS applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Çelikbıçak, Ömür; Atakay, Mehmet; Güler, Ülkü; Salih, Bekir

    2013-08-07

    A new tantalum-based sol-gel material was synthesized using a unique sol-gel synthesis pathway by PEG incorporation into the sol-gel structure without performing a calcination step. This improved its chemical and physical properties for the high capacity and selective enrichment of phosphopeptides from protein digests in complex biological media. The specificity of the tantalum-based sol-gel material for phosphopeptides was evaluated and compared with tantalum(V) oxide (Ta2O5) in different phosphopeptide enrichment applications. The tantalum-based sol-gel and tantalum(V) oxide were characterized in detail using FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and also using a surface area and pore size analyzer. In the characterization studies, the surface morphology, pore volume, crystallinity of the materials and PEG incorporation into the sol-gel structure to produce a more hydrophilic material were successfully demonstrated. The X-ray diffractograms of the two different materials were compared and it was noted that the broad signals of the tantalum-based sol-gel clearly represented the amorphous structure of the sol-gel material, which was more likely to create enough surface area and to provide more accessible tantalum atoms for phosphopeptides to be easily adsorbed when compared with the neat and more crystalline structure of Ta2O5. Therefore, the phosphopeptide enrichment performance of the tantalum-based sol-gels was found to be remarkably higher than the more crystalline Ta2O5 in our studies. Phosphopeptides at femtomole levels could be selectively enriched using the tantalum-based sol-gel and detected with a higher signal-to-noise ratio by matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization-mass spectrometer (MALDI-MS). Moreover, phosphopeptides in a tryptic digest of non-fat bovine milk as a complex real-world biological sample were retained with higher yield using a tantalum-based sol-gel. Additionally, the sol-gel material

  4. Evaluation and Selection of Gel Base for the Formulation of ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    Purpose: To formulate dexpanthenol gels with enhanced in vivo absorption properties via skin. Methods: Carboxyvinyl derivatives (Carbopol 980 and Ultrez 10) and poloxamer (Lutrol F 127) were used as the hydrogel base in the formulations. Changes in rheological properties (apparent viscosity and penetration values) ...

  5. Electrophoresis of DNA in agarose gels, polyacrylamide gels and in free solution

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stellwagen, Nancy C.

    2009-01-01

    This review describes the electrophoresis of curved and normal DNA molecules in agarose gels, polyacrylamide gels and in free solution. These studies were undertaken to clarify why curved DNA molecules migrate anomalously slowly in polyacrylamide gels but not in agarose gels. Two milestone papers are cited, in which Ferguson plots were used to estimate the effective pore size of agarose and polyacrylamide gels. Subsequent studies on the effect of the electric field on agarose and polyacrylamide gel matrices, DNA interactions with the two gel matrices, and the effect of curvature on the free solution mobility of DNA are also described. The combined results suggest that the anomalously slow mobilities observed for curved DNA molecules in polyacrylamide gels are due primarily to preferential interactions of curved DNAs with the polyacrylamide gel matrix; the restrictive pore size of the matrix is of lesser importance. In free solution, DNA mobilities increase with increasing molecular mass until leveling off at a plateau value of (3.17 ± 0.01) × 10-4 cm2/Vs in 40 mM Tris-acetate-EDTA buffer at 20°C. Curved DNA molecules migrate anomalously slowly in free solution as well as in polyacrylamide gels, explaining why the Ferguson plots of curved and normal DNAs containing the same number of base pairs extrapolate to different mobilities at zero gel concentration. PMID:19517510

  6. pH Memory Effects of Tunable Block Copolymer Photonic Gels and Their Applications

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Youngjong; Thomas, Edwin L.

    2007-03-01

    Materials with hysteresis, showing a bistable state to the external stimuli, have been widely investigated due to their potential applications. For example, they could be used as memory devices or optical switches when they have magnetic or optical hysteresis response to the external stimuli. Here we report pH tunable photonic gels which are spontaneously assembled from block copolymers. The general idea of this research is based on the selective swelling of block copolymer lamellar mesogels, where the solubility of one block is responsive to the change of pH. In this system, the domain spacing of the lamellar is varied with the extent of swelling. As a model system, we used protonated polystyrene-b-poly(2-vinly pyridine) (PS-b-P2VP) block copolymers forming lamellar structures. The photonic gel films prepared from protonated PS-b-P2VP show a strong reflectance in aqueous solution and the band position was varied with pH. Interestingly, a very strong optical hysteresis was observed while the reflection band of photonic gels was tuned by changing pH. We anticipate that pH tunable photonic gels with hysteresis can be applicable to novel applications such as a component of memory devices, photonic switches or drug delivery vehicles.

  7. Study of nuclear glasses alteration gel and synthesis of some model gels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ricol, S.

    1995-01-01

    This work deals with the general problem of alteration of the reference nuclear glass R7T7. Attention is paid particularly to the altered layer formed at the glass surface during alteration process. In opposition to previous works, related essentially to glass dissolution kinetics based on chemical analyses of lixiviated elements, this thesis deals with alteration problems through structural studies of the reference glass and derived gel. This approach allows the determination of mechanisms for the gel formation and a better understanding of the behaviour of glasses towards lixiviation. Both approaches appeared complementary. Based on several spectroscopic techniques, this work showed the particular role of cations such as calcium, zirconium and iron. Studies of silica-based synthetic gels showed the synergic effect of formers cation and of one highly coordinated cation. The variation of the wavenumber related to Si-O-Si asymmetric stretching vibration can be correlated to O/Si ratio for ternary systems Si/Na/Zr. On the contrary, the Si losses of the materials depend on the number of non-bridging oxygen atoms. In the perspective of long-term behaviour, the alteration gel presents better characteristics than initial glass. It is therefore a highly stable material in static conditions. In the same way, synthetic gels are materials with very low solubilities (much lower than the alteration gel) and could be used as confining matrices. (authors). refs., 71 figs., 37 tabs

  8. Gelled-electrolyte batteries for electric vehicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tuphorn, H. (Accumulatorenfabrik Sonnenschein GmbH, Buedingen (Germany))

    1992-09-15

    Increasing problems of air pollution have pushed activities of electric vehicle projects world-wide and in spite of projects for developing new battery systems for high energy densities, today lead/acid batteries are almost the single system, ready for technical usage in this application. Valve-regulated lead/acid batteries with gelled electrolyte have the advantage that no maintenance is required and because the gel system does not cause problems with electrolyte stratification, no additional appliances for central filling or acid addition are required, which makes the system simple. Those batteries with high density active masses indicate high endurance results and field tests with 40 VW-CityStromers, equipped with 96 V/160 A h gel batteries with thermal management show good results during four years. In addition, gelled lead acid batteries possess superior high rate performance compared with conventional lead/acid batteries, which guarantees good acceleration results of the car and which makes the system recommendable for application in electric vehicles. (orig.).

  9. Gelled-electrolyte batteries for electric vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tuphorn, Hans

    Increasing problems of air pollution have pushed activities of electric vehicle projects worldwide and in spite of projects for developing new battery systems for high energy densities, today lead/acid batteries are almost the single system, ready for technical usage in this application. Valve-regulated lead/acid batteries with gelled electrolyte have the advantage that no maintenance is required and because the gel system does not cause problems with electrolyte stratification, no additional appliances for central filling or acid addition are required, which makes the system simple. Those batteries with high density active masses indicate high endurance results and field tests with 40 VW-CityStromers, equipped with 96 V/160 A h gel batteries with thermal management show good results during four years. In addition, gelled lead/acid batteries possess superior high rate performance compared with conventional lead/acid batteries, which guarantees good acceleration results of the car and which makes the system recommendable for application in electric vehicles.

  10. A Fuzzy Rule-based Controller For Automotive Vehicle Guidance

    OpenAIRE

    Hessburg, Thomas; Tomizuka, Masayoshi

    1991-01-01

    A fuzzy rule-based controller is applied to lateral guidance of a vehicle for an automated highway system. The fuzzy rules, based on human drivers' experiences, are developed to track the center of a lane in the presence of external disturbances and over a range of vehicle operating conditions.

  11. Analysis of initial changes in the proteins of soybean root tip under flooding stress using gel-free and gel-based proteomic techniques.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yin, Xiaojian; Sakata, Katsumi; Nanjo, Yohei; Komatsu, Setsuko

    2014-06-25

    Flooding has a severe negative effect on soybean cultivation in the early stages of growth. To obtain a better understanding of the response mechanisms of soybean to flooding stress, initial changes in root tip proteins under flooding were analyzed using two proteomic techniques. Two-day-old soybeans were treated with flooding for 3, 6, 12, and 24h. The weight of soybeans increased during the first 3h of flooding, but root elongation was not observed. Using gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques, 115 proteins were identified in root tips, of which 9 proteins were commonly detected by both methods. The 71 proteins identified by the gel-free proteomics were analyzed by a hierarchical clustering method based on induction levels during the flooding, and the proteins were divided into 5 clusters. Additional interaction analysis of the proteins revealed that ten proteins belonging to cluster I formed the center of a protein interaction network. mRNA expression analysis of these ten proteins showed that citrate lyase and heat shock protein 70 were down-regulated, whereas calreticulin was up-regulated in initial phase of flooding. These results suggest that flooding stress to soybean induces calcium-related signal transduction, which might play important roles in the early responses to flooding. Flooding has a severe negative effect on soybean cultivation, particularly in the early stages of growth. To better understand the response mechanisms of soybean to the early stages of flooding stress, two proteomic techniques were used. Two-day-old soybeans were treated without or with flooding for 3, 6, 12, and 24h. The fresh weight of soybeans increased during the first 3h of flooding stress, but the growth then slowed and no root elongation was observed. Using gel-based and gel-free proteomic techniques, 115 proteins were identified in root tips, of which 9 proteins were commonly detected by both methods. The 71 proteins identified by the gel-free proteomics were analyzed

  12. Tetrapeptide-coumarin conjugate 3D networks based on hydrogen-bonded charge transfer complexes: gel formation and dye release.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Zongxia; Gong, Ruiying; Jiang, Yi; Wan, Xiaobo

    2015-08-14

    Oligopeptide-based derivatives are important synthons for bio-based functional materials. In this article, a Gly-(L-Val)-Gly-(L-Val)-coumarin (GVGV-Cou) conjugate was synthesized, which forms 3D networks in ethanol. The gel nanostructures were characterized by UV-vis spectroscopy, FT-IR spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction (XRD), SEM and TEM. It is suggested that the formation of charge transfer (CT) complexes between the coumarin moieties is the main driving force for the gel formation. The capability of the gel to encapsulate and release dyes was explored. Both Congo Red (CR) and Methylene Blue (MB) can be trapped in the CT gel matrix and released over time. The present gel might be used as a functional soft material for guest encapsulation and release.

  13. Microcontroller based instrumentation for the fuel pin preparation facility by sol-gel method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suhasini, B.; Prabhakar Rao, J.; Srinivas, K.C.

    2009-01-01

    The fuel pin preparation facility by Sol-Gel route has been set up at Chemistry Group at Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research, Kalpakkam. Sol-Gel, a solution-gelation process involves conversion of solutions of nitrates of uranium-plutonium (at 0 deg C) into gel microspheres. To measure the exact quantities of the above solutions and to ensure their temperatures, a variety of sensors have been used at various stages in the plant. To monitor and acquire the data of process parameters used in the production and for an automated operation of the plant, a PC (master)-microcontroller (slave) based instrumentation has been developed along with acquisition software and a GU interface developed in Visual Basic. (author)

  14. Silk Electrogel Based Gastroretentive Drug Delivery System

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Qianrui

    Gastric cancer has become a global pandemic and there is imperative to develop efficient therapies. Oral dosing strategy is the preferred route to deliver drugs for treating the disease. Recent studies suggested silk electro hydrogel, which is pH sensitive and reversible, has potential as a vehicle to deliver the drug in the stomach environment. The aim of this study is to establish in vitro electrogelation e-gel based silk gel as a gastroretentive drug delivery system. We successfully extended the duration of silk e-gel in artificial gastric juice by mixing silk solution with glycerol at different ratios before the electrogelation. Structural analysis indicated the extended duration was due to the change of beta sheet content. The glycerol mixed silk e-gel had good doxorubicin loading capability and could release doxorubicin in a sustained-release profile. Doxorubicin loaded silk e-gels were applied to human gastric cancer cells. Significant cell viability decrease was observed. We believe that with further characterization as well as functional analysis, the silk e-gel system has the potential to become an effective vehicle for gastric drug delivery applications.

  15. Stereo-vision-based cooperative-vehicle positioning using OCC and neural networks

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ifthekhar, Md. Shareef; Saha, Nirzhar; Jang, Yeong Min

    2015-10-01

    Vehicle positioning has been subjected to extensive research regarding driving safety measures and assistance as well as autonomous navigation. The most common positioning technique used in automotive positioning is the global positioning system (GPS). However, GPS is not reliably accurate because of signal blockage caused by high-rise buildings. In addition, GPS is error prone when a vehicle is inside a tunnel. Moreover, GPS and other radio-frequency-based approaches cannot provide orientation information or the position of neighboring vehicles. In this study, we propose a cooperative-vehicle positioning (CVP) technique by using the newly developed optical camera communications (OCC). The OCC technique utilizes image sensors and cameras to receive and decode light-modulated information from light-emitting diodes (LEDs). A vehicle equipped with an OCC transceiver can receive positioning and other information such as speed, lane change, driver's condition, etc., through optical wireless links of neighboring vehicles. Thus, the target vehicle position that is too far away to establish an OCC link can be determined by a computer-vision-based technique combined with the cooperation of neighboring vehicles. In addition, we have devised a back-propagation (BP) neural-network learning method for positioning and range estimation for CVP. The proposed neural-network-based technique can estimate target vehicle position from only two image points of target vehicles using stereo vision. For this, we use rear LEDs on target vehicles as image points. We show from simulation results that our neural-network-based method achieves better accuracy than that of the computer-vision method.

  16. A wireless sensor network-based portable vehicle detector evaluation system.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yoo, Seong-eun

    2013-01-17

    In an upcoming smart transportation environment, performance evaluations of existing Vehicle Detection Systems are crucial to maintain their accuracy. The existing evaluation method for Vehicle Detection Systems is based on a wired Vehicle Detection System reference and a video recorder, which must be operated and analyzed by capable traffic experts. However, this conventional evaluation system has many disadvantages. It is inconvenient to deploy, the evaluation takes a long time, and it lacks scalability and objectivity. To improve the evaluation procedure, this paper proposes a Portable Vehicle Detector Evaluation System based on wireless sensor networks. We describe both the architecture and design of a Vehicle Detector Evaluation System and the implementation results, focusing on the wireless sensor networks and methods for traffic information measurement. With the help of wireless sensor networks and automated analysis, our Vehicle Detector Evaluation System can evaluate a Vehicle Detection System conveniently and objectively. The extensive evaluations of our Vehicle Detector Evaluation System show that it can measure the traffic information such as volume counts and speed with over 98% accuracy.

  17. A fuel-based approach to estimating motor vehicle exhaust emissions

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singer, Brett Craig

    Motor vehicles contribute significantly to air pollution problems; accurate motor vehicle emission inventories are therefore essential to air quality planning. Current travel-based inventory models use emission factors measured from potentially biased vehicle samples and predict fleet-average emissions which are often inconsistent with on-road measurements. This thesis presents a fuel-based inventory approach which uses emission factors derived from remote sensing or tunnel-based measurements of on-road vehicles. Vehicle activity is quantified by statewide monthly fuel sales data resolved to the air basin level. Development of the fuel-based approach includes (1) a method for estimating cold start emission factors, (2) an analysis showing that fuel-normalized emission factors are consistent over a range of positive vehicle loads and that most fuel use occurs during loaded-mode driving, (3) scaling factors relating infrared hydrocarbon measurements to total exhaust volatile organic compound (VOC) concentrations, and (4) an analysis showing that economic factors should be considered when selecting on-road sampling sites. The fuel-based approach was applied to estimate carbon monoxide (CO) emissions from warmed-up vehicles in the Los Angeles area in 1991, and CO and VOC exhaust emissions for Los Angeles in 1997. The fuel-based CO estimate for 1991 was higher by a factor of 2.3 +/- 0.5 than emissions predicted by California's MVEI 7F model. Fuel-based inventory estimates for 1997 were higher than those of California's updated MVEI 7G model by factors of 2.4 +/- 0.2 for CO and 3.5 +/- 0.6 for VOC. Fuel-based estimates indicate a 20% decrease in the mass of CO emitted, despite an 8% increase in fuel use between 1991 and 1997; official inventory models predict a 50% decrease in CO mass emissions during the same period. Cold start CO and VOC emission factors derived from parking garage measurements were lower than those predicted by the MVEI 7G model. Current inventories

  18. Sol-gel based sensor for selective formaldehyde determination

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Bunkoed, Opas [Trace Analysis and Biosensor Research Center, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112 (Thailand); Department of Chemistry and Center for Innovation in Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112 (Thailand); Davis, Frank [Cranfield Health, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL (United Kingdom); Kanatharana, Proespichaya, E-mail: proespichaya.K@psu.ac.th [Trace Analysis and Biosensor Research Center, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112 (Thailand); Department of Chemistry and Center for Innovation in Chemistry, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112 (Thailand); Thavarungkul, Panote [Trace Analysis and Biosensor Research Center, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112 (Thailand); Department of Physics, Faculty of Science, Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai, Songkhla 90112 (Thailand); Higson, Seamus P.J., E-mail: s.p.j.higson@cranfield.ac.uk [Cranfield Health, Cranfield University, Bedford MK43 0AL (United Kingdom)

    2010-02-05

    We report the development of transparent sol-gels with entrapped sensitive and selective reagents for the detection of formaldehyde. The sampling method is based on the adsorption of formaldehyde from the air and reaction with {beta}-diketones (for example acetylacetone) in a sol-gel matrix to produce a yellow product, lutidine, which was detected directly. The proposed method does not require preparation of samples prior to analysis and allows both screening by visual detection and quantitative measurement by simple spectrophotometry. The detection limit of 0.03 ppmv formaldehyde is reported which is lower than the maximum exposure concentrations recommended by both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This sampling method was found to give good reproducibility, the relative standard deviation at 0.2 and 1 ppmv being 6.3% and 4.6%, respectively. Other carbonyl compounds i.e. acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, acetone and butanone do not interfere with this analytical approach. Results are provided for the determination of formaldehyde in indoor air.

  19. Sol-gel based sensor for selective formaldehyde determination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bunkoed, Opas; Davis, Frank; Kanatharana, Proespichaya; Thavarungkul, Panote; Higson, Seamus P.J.

    2010-01-01

    We report the development of transparent sol-gels with entrapped sensitive and selective reagents for the detection of formaldehyde. The sampling method is based on the adsorption of formaldehyde from the air and reaction with β-diketones (for example acetylacetone) in a sol-gel matrix to produce a yellow product, lutidine, which was detected directly. The proposed method does not require preparation of samples prior to analysis and allows both screening by visual detection and quantitative measurement by simple spectrophotometry. The detection limit of 0.03 ppmv formaldehyde is reported which is lower than the maximum exposure concentrations recommended by both the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). This sampling method was found to give good reproducibility, the relative standard deviation at 0.2 and 1 ppmv being 6.3% and 4.6%, respectively. Other carbonyl compounds i.e. acetaldehyde, benzaldehyde, acetone and butanone do not interfere with this analytical approach. Results are provided for the determination of formaldehyde in indoor air.

  20. A Vehicle Steering Recognition System Based on Low-Cost Smartphone Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xinhua Liu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Recognizing how a vehicle is steered and then alerting drivers in real time is of utmost importance to the vehicle and driver’s safety, since fatal accidents are often caused by dangerous vehicle maneuvers, such as rapid turns, fast lane-changes, etc. Existing solutions using video or in-vehicle sensors have been employed to identify dangerous vehicle maneuvers, but these methods are subject to the effects of the environmental elements or the hardware is very costly. In the mobile computing era, smartphones have become key tools to develop innovative mobile context-aware systems. In this paper, we present a recognition system for dangerous vehicle steering based on the low-cost sensors found in a smartphone: i.e., the gyroscope and the accelerometer. To identify vehicle steering maneuvers, we focus on the vehicle’s angular velocity, which is characterized by gyroscope data from a smartphone mounted in the vehicle. Three steering maneuvers including turns, lane-changes and U-turns are defined, and a vehicle angular velocity matching algorithm based on Fast Dynamic Time Warping (FastDTW is adopted to recognize the vehicle steering. The results of extensive experiments show that the average accuracy rate of the presented recognition reaches 95%, which implies that the proposed smartphone-based method is suitable for recognizing dangerous vehicle steering maneuvers.

  1. Enhanced Design of a Soft Thin-Film Vibrotactile Actuator Based on PVC Gel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Won-Hyeong Park

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available We fabricated a soft thin-film vibrotactile actuator, which can be easily inserted into wearable devices, based on an electroactive PVC gel. One of the most important factors in fabricating a soft and thin vibrotactile actuator is to create vibrational force strong enough to stimulate human skin in a wide frequency range. To achieve this, we investigate the working principle of the PVC gel and suggest a new structure in which most of electric energy contributes to the deformation of the PVC gel. Due to this structure, the vibrational amplitude of the proposed PVC gel actuator could considerably increase (0.816 g (g = 9.8 m/s2 at resonant frequency. The vibrotactile amplitude is proportional to the amount of input voltage. It increased from 0.05 g up to 0.416 g with increasing applied voltages from 200 V to 1 kV at 1 Hz. The experimental results show that the proposed actuator can create a variety of haptic sensations.

  2. Sol gel based fiber optic sensor for blook pH measurement

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Grant, S. A.; Glass, R. S.

    1996-01-01

    This paper describes a fiber-optic pH sensor based upon sol-gel encapsulation of a self-referencing dye, seminaphthorhodamine-1 carboxylate (SNARF-1C). The simple sol-gel fabrication procedure and low coating leachability are ideal for encapsulation and immobilization of dye molecules onto the end of an optical fiber. A miniature bench-top fluorimeter system was developed for use with the optical fiber to obtain pH measurements. Linear and reproducible responses were obtained in human blood in the pH range 6.8 to 8.0, which encompasses the clinically-relevant range. Therefore, this sensor can be considered for in vivo use

  3. Organization versus frustration: low temperature transitions in a gelatine-based gel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Philipp, M; Mueller, U; Sanctuary, R; Baller, J; Krueger, J K [Laboratoire de Physique des Materiaux, Universite du Luxembourg, 162A, avenue de la Faiencerie, L-1511 (Luxembourg)], E-mail: martine.philipp@uni.lu

    2008-09-15

    A commercial physical gel composed of gelatine, water and glycerol shows a sol-gel transition which has been resolved by optical rotation measurements by step-wise heating the gel. This transition is not observable in the longitudinal acoustic mode measured at hypersonic frequencies with Brillouin spectroscopy. Depending on the thermal treatment of the investigated material during the sol-gel transition and within the gel state, Brillouin spectroscopy reflects tremendously different hypersonic dynamics. These distinct dynamics are responsible for the formation of different glassy states at low temperatures including that of a glass-ceramic. The large variety of super-cooled and glassy states is attributed to distinct distributions of the gel's constituents within the samples. Surprisingly, the same gel state can be produced either by annealing the gel over months or by the non-equilibrium effect of thermo-diffusion (Soret effect) in the course of some minutes.

  4. Water equivalence of NIPAM based polymer gel dosimeters with enhanced sensitivity for x-ray CT

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gorjiara, Tina; Hill, Robin; Bosi, Stephen; Kuncic, Zdenka; Baldock, Clive

    2013-01-01

    Two new formulations of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) based three dimensional (3D) gel dosimeters have recently been developed with improved sensitivity to x-ray CT readout, one without any co-solvent and the other one with isopropanol co-solvent. The water equivalence of the NIPAM gel dosimeters was investigated using different methods to calculate their radiological properties including: density, electron density, number of electrons per grams, effective atomic number, photon interaction probabilities, mass attenuation and energy absorption coefficients, electron collisional, radiative and total mass stopping powers and electron mass scattering power. Monte Carlo modelling was also used to compare the dose response of these gel dosimeters with water for kilovoltage and megavoltage x-ray beams and for megavoltage electron beams. We found that the density and electron density of the co-solvent free gel dosimeter are more water equivalent with less than a 2.6% difference compared to a 5.7% difference for the isopropanol gel dosimeter. Both the co-solvent free and isopropanol solvent gel dosimeters have lower effective atomic numbers than water, differing by 2.2% and 6.5%, respectively. As a result, their photoelectric absorption interaction probabilities are up to 6% and 19% different from water, respectively. Compton scattering and pair production interaction probabilities of NIPAM gel with isopropanol differ by up to 10% from water while for the co-solvent free gel, the differences are 3%. Mass attenuation and energy absorption coefficients of the co-solvent free gel dosimeter and the isopropanol gel dosimeter are up to 7% and 19% lower than water, respectively. Collisional and total mass stopping powers of both gel dosimeters differ by less than 2% from those of water. The dose response of the co-solvent free gel dosimeter is water equivalent (with 100 keV, correction factor is required for the gels. • For MV electron, correction factor needed for the gels to

  5. Papain-based gel for biochemical caries removal: influence on microtensile bond strength to dentin

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Evandro Piva

    2008-12-01

    Full Text Available This study investigated the influence of a papain-based gel (Papacárie for chemo-mechanical caries removal on bond strength to dentin. Human molars were assigned to the following groups: Group 1: sound teeth were flattened to expose dentin; Group 2: after flattening of surfaces, the papain-based gel was applied on the sound dentin; Group 3: overlying enamel from carious teeth was removed and mechanical excavation of dentin was conducted; Group 4: chemo-mechanical excavation of carious dentin was conducted using the papain-based gel. The Prime&Bond NT or Clearfil SE Bond adhesive systems were used for restorative procedures. A microtensile bond strength test was performed, and the modes of failure were determined under SEM. The data were submitted to two-way ANOVA and Tukey's test (p < 0.05. No significant differences were observed between the sound dentin groups. For both excavation methods, Clearfil presented a significantly higher bond strength than Prime&Bond NT. Also, for Clearfil, the mechanically excavated samples disclosed a significantly higher bond strength than the chemo-mechanically ones. For Prime&Bond NT, no significant differences were detected between the excavation methods. Predominance of mixed failures for the sound substrate and of adhesive failures for the carious dentin one was detected. The bond strength to carious dentin of the self-etching system was negatively affected by chemo-mechanical excavation using the papain-based gel.

  6. Water equivalence of NIPAM based polymer gel dosimeters with enhanced sensitivity for x-ray CT

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gorjiara, Tina; Hill, Robin; Bosi, Stephen; Kuncic, Zdenka; Baldock, Clive

    2013-10-01

    Two new formulations of N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM) based three dimensional (3D) gel dosimeters have recently been developed with improved sensitivity to x-ray CT readout, one without any co-solvent and the other one with isopropanol co-solvent. The water equivalence of the NIPAM gel dosimeters was investigated using different methods to calculate their radiological properties including: density, electron density, number of electrons per grams, effective atomic number, photon interaction probabilities, mass attenuation and energy absorption coefficients, electron collisional, radiative and total mass stopping powers and electron mass scattering power. Monte Carlo modelling was also used to compare the dose response of these gel dosimeters with water for kilovoltage and megavoltage x-ray beams and for megavoltage electron beams. We found that the density and electron density of the co-solvent free gel dosimeter are more water equivalent with less than a 2.6% difference compared to a 5.7% difference for the isopropanol gel dosimeter. Both the co-solvent free and isopropanol solvent gel dosimeters have lower effective atomic numbers than water, differing by 2.2% and 6.5%, respectively. As a result, their photoelectric absorption interaction probabilities are up to 6% and 19% different from water, respectively. Compton scattering and pair production interaction probabilities of NIPAM gel with isopropanol differ by up to 10% from water while for the co-solvent free gel, the differences are 3%. Mass attenuation and energy absorption coefficients of the co-solvent free gel dosimeter and the isopropanol gel dosimeter are up to 7% and 19% lower than water, respectively. Collisional and total mass stopping powers of both gel dosimeters differ by less than 2% from those of water. The dose response of the co-solvent free gel dosimeter is water equivalent (with x-ray beams over the energy range 180 keV-18 MV, both gel dosimeters have less than 2% discrepancy with water. For

  7. Optical ph sensing material prepared from doped sol-gel film for use in acid-base titration

    OpenAIRE

    Musa Ahmad; T.W. Tan

    2017-01-01

    An optical pH sensing material has been prepared in this study by using sol-gel technique. Bromothymol blue, bromophenol blue and thymol blue were chosen in this study as acidbase indicators for strong acid-strong base, strong acid-weak base and weak acid-strong base titration, respectively. The results show that these indicators could be successfully entrapped inside the sol-gel film and still maintain its chemical behaviour as in solution. The entrapped acid-base indicators respond well to ...

  8. Operations Assessment of Launch Vehicle Architectures using Activity Based Cost Models

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ruiz-Torres, Alex J.; McCleskey, Carey

    2000-01-01

    The growing emphasis on affordability for space transportation systems requires the assessment of new space vehicles for all life cycle activities, from design and development, through manufacturing and operations. This paper addresses the operational assessment of launch vehicles, focusing on modeling the ground support requirements of a vehicle architecture, and estimating the resulting costs and flight rate. This paper proposes the use of Activity Based Costing (ABC) modeling for this assessment. The model uses expert knowledge to determine the activities, the activity times and the activity costs based on vehicle design characteristics. The approach provides several advantages to current approaches to vehicle architecture assessment including easier validation and allowing vehicle designers to understand the cost and cycle time drivers.

  9. Sol-gel technology for biomedical engineering

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Podbielska, H.; Ulatowska-Jarza, A.

    2005-01-01

    Sol-gel derived silica possess many promising features, including low-temperature preparation procedure, porosity, chemical and physical stability. Applications exploiting porous materials to encapsulate sensor molecules, enzymes and many other compounds, are developing rapidly. In this paper some potential applications, with emphasis on biomedical and environmental ones, are reviewed. The material preparation procedure is described and practical remarks on silica-based sol-gels are included. It is reported that sol-gels with entrapped various molecules may be used in construction of implants and coatings with bioactive properties. It is shown how to exploit the sol-gel production route for construction of sol-gel coated fiberoptic applicators for laser therapy. The applications of bioactive materials are discussed, as well. It is demonstrated that it is possible to immobilize photosensitive compounds in sol-gel matrix without loosing their photoactivity. Some examples of sol-gel based biosensors are demonstrated, as well, showing their potential for detecting various gases, toxic substances, acidity, humidity, enzymes and biologically active agents. (authors)

  10. Micro- and nanostructured sol-gel-based materials for optical chemical sensing (2005–2015)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Barczak, Mariusz; McDonagh, Colette; Wencel, Dorota

    2016-01-01

    This review (with 172 references) highlights the progress made in the past 10 years in silica sol-gel-based materials for use in optical chemical sensing. Following an introduction, the processes leading to the sol-gel-based and ormosil materials, their printability and methods for characterisation are discussed. Then various classes of optical sensors, with a focus on sensors for pH values, oxygen, carbon dioxide, ammonia (also in dissolved form), and heavy metal ions are described. A further section covers nanoparticle-based optical sensors mainly for use in intracellular sensing of the above species. Recent developments in this area are also emphasised and future trends discussed. (author)

  11. A Hybrid Power Management (HPM) Based Vehicle Architecture

    Science.gov (United States)

    Eichenberg, Dennis J.

    2011-01-01

    Society desires vehicles with reduced fuel consumption and reduced emissions. This presents a challenge and an opportunity for industry and the government. The NASA John H. Glenn Research Center (GRC) has developed a Hybrid Power Management (HPM) based vehicle architecture for space and terrestrial vehicles. GRC's Electrical and Electromagnetics Branch of the Avionics and Electrical Systems Division initiated the HPM Program for the GRC Technology Transfer and Partnership Office. HPM is the innovative integration of diverse, state-of-the-art power devices in an optimal configuration for space and terrestrial applications. The appropriate application and control of the various power devices significantly improves overall system performance and efficiency. The basic vehicle architecture consists of a primary power source, and possibly other power sources, providing all power to a common energy storage system, which is used to power the drive motors and vehicle accessory systems, as well as provide power as an emergency power system. Each component is independent, permitting it to be optimized for its intended purpose. This flexible vehicle architecture can be applied to all vehicles to considerably improve system efficiency, reliability, safety, security, and performance. This unique vehicle architecture has the potential to alleviate global energy concerns, improve the environment, stimulate the economy, and enable new missions.

  12. Electroactive polymer gels based on epoxy resin

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samui, A. B.; Jayakumar, S.; Jayalakshmi, C. G.; Pandey, K.; Sivaraman, P.

    2007-04-01

    Five types of epoxy gels have been synthesized from common epoxy resins and hardeners. Fumed silica and nanoclay, respectively, were used as fillers and butyl methacrylate/acrylamide were used as monomer(s) for making interpenetrating polymer networks (IPNs) in three compositions. Swelling study, tensile property evaluation, dynamic mechanical thermal analysis, thermo-gravimetric analysis, scanning electron microscopy and electroactive property evaluation were done. The gels have sufficient mechanical strength and the time taken for bending to 20° was found to be 22 min for forward bias whereas it was just 12 min for reverse bias.

  13. Nanocrystal/sol-gel nanocomposites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Petruska, Melissa A [Los Alamos, NM; Klimov, Victor L [Los Alamos, NM

    2007-06-05

    The present invention is directed to solid composites including colloidal nanocrystals within a sol-gel host or matrix and to processes of forming such solid composites. The present invention is further directed to alcohol soluble colloidal nanocrystals useful in formation of sol-gel based solid composites.

  14. Vehicle security encryption based on unlicensed encryption

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Haomin; Song, Jing; Xu, Zhijia; Ding, Xiaoke; Deng, Wei

    2018-03-01

    The current vehicle key is easy to be destroyed and damage, proposing the use of elliptical encryption algorithm is improving the reliability of vehicle security system. Based on the encryption rules of elliptic curve, the chip's framework and hardware structure are designed, then the chip calculation process simulation has been analyzed by software. The simulation has been achieved the expected target. Finally, some issues pointed out in the data calculation about the chip's storage control and other modules.

  15. Sliding mode-based lateral vehicle dynamics control using tyre force measurements

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kunnappillil Madhusudhanan, Anil; Corno, Matteo; Holweg, Edward

    2015-11-01

    In this work, a lateral vehicle dynamics control based on tyre force measurements is proposed. Most of the lateral vehicle dynamics control schemes are based on yaw rate whereas tyre forces are the most important variables in vehicle dynamics as tyres are the only contact points between the vehicle and road. In the proposed method, active front steering is employed to uniformly distribute the required lateral force among the front left and right tyres. The force distribution is quantified through the tyre utilisation coefficients. In order to address the nonlinearities and uncertainties of the vehicle model, a gain scheduling sliding-mode control technique is used. In addition to stabilising the lateral dynamics, the proposed controller is able to maintain maximum lateral acceleration. The proposed method is tested and validated on a multi-body vehicle simulator.

  16. Fast and facile preparation of CTAB based gels and their applications in Au and Ag nanoparticles synthesis

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Upadhyay, Ravi Kant, E-mail: rkupadhyay85@gmail.com [Department of Chemistry, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Budh Nagar, 201314 Uttar Pradesh (India); Soin, Navneet, E-mail: n.soin@bolton.ac.uk [Knowledge Centre for Materials Chemistry (KCMC), Institute for Materials Research and Innovation (IMRI), University of Bolton, Deane Road, Bolton BL3 5AB (United Kingdom); Saha, Susmita, E-mail: ssaha@bose.res.in [Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 098 (India); Barman, Anjan, E-mail: abarman@bose.res.in [Department of Condensed Matter Physics and Material Sciences, S. N. Bose National Centre for Basic Sciences, Block JD, Sector III, Salt Lake, Kolkata 700 098 (India); Sinha Roy, Susanta, E-mail: susanta.roy@snu.edu.in [Department of Physics, School of Natural Sciences, Shiv Nadar University, Gautam Budh Nagar, 201314 Uttar Pradesh (India)

    2015-04-15

    We have demonstrated that the gel-like mesophase of Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide (CTAB) can be synthesized by judicial adjustment of water to surfactant molar ratio (W{sub 0}), without using any additional salts, gelating agents or co-surfactants. Gel formation was found to be highly dependent on the water to surfactant molar ratio (W{sub 0}), with the lowest value of W{sub 0} (41.5) resulting in rapid gel formation. Environmental scanning electron microscope (ESEM) analysis revealed that the gel was comprised of interconnected cylindrical structures. The presence of hydrogen bonding in the gel-like mesophase was confirmed by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) analysis. Rheology measurements revealed that all the gel samples were highly viscoelastic in nature. Furthermore, Au and Ag containing CTAB gels were explored as precursors for the preparation of spherical Gold (Au) and Silver (Ag) nanoparticles using Sodium borohydride (NaBH{sub 4}) as reducing agent. The effects of NaBH{sub 4} concentration on the particle size and morphology of the Au and Ag nanoparticles have also been studied. - Highlights: • A facile synthesis of CTAB based gel-like mesophase is reported. • CTAB gels were obtained by adjusting water to surfactant molar ratio (W{sub 0}). • FTIR analysis revealed that hydrogen bonding plays a key role in gel formation. • Au, Ag nanoparticles were synthesized by using CTAB gel and NaBH{sub 4}.

  17. Modified thermoresponsive Poloxamer 407 and chitosan sol-gels as potential sustained-release vaccine delivery systems

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Kojarunchitt, Thunjiradasiree; Baldursdottir, Stefania; Dong, Yao-Da

    2015-01-01

    Thermoresponsive, particle-loaded, Poloxamer 407 (P407)-Pluronic-R® (25R4) or chitosan-methyl cellulose (MC) formulations were developed as single-dose, sustained release vaccines. The sol-gels, loaded either with a particulate vaccine (cubosomes) or soluble antigen (ovalbumin) and adjuvants (Quil...... the chitosan-MC sol-gels sustained the release of antigen up to at least 14 days after administration. The chitosan-MC sol-gels stimulated both cellular and humoral responses. The inclusion of cubosomes in the sol-gels did not provide a definitive beneficial effect. Further analysis of the formulations...... with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) revealed that while cubosomes were stable in chitosan-MC gels they were not stable in P407-25R4 formulations. The reason for the mixed response to cubosome-loaded vehicles requires more investigation, however it appears that the cubosomes did not facilitate...

  18. Optical ph sensing material prepared from doped sol-gel film for use in acid-base titration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Musa Ahmad

    2017-11-01

    Full Text Available An optical pH sensing material has been prepared in this study by using sol-gel technique. Bromothymol blue, bromophenol blue and thymol blue were chosen in this study as acidbase indicators for strong acid-strong base, strong acid-weak base and weak acid-strong base titration, respectively. The results show that these indicators could be successfully entrapped inside the sol-gel film and still maintain its chemical behaviour as in solution. The entrapped acid-base indicators respond well to any pH changes and could be used to determine the end-point of the acid-base titration.

  19. Vehicle response-based track geometry assessment using multi-body simulation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kraft, Sönke; Causse, Julien; Coudert, Frédéric

    2018-02-01

    The assessment of the geometry of railway tracks is an indispensable requirement for safe rail traffic. Defects which represent a risk for the safety of the train have to be identified and the necessary measures taken. According to current standards, amplitude thresholds are applied to the track geometry parameters measured by recording cars. This geometry-based assessment has proved its value but suffers from the low correlation between the geometry parameters and the vehicle reactions. Experience shows that some defects leading to critical vehicle reactions are underestimated by this approach. The use of vehicle responses in the track geometry assessment process allows identifying critical defects and improving the maintenance operations. This work presents a vehicle response-based assessment method using multi-body simulation. The choice of the relevant operation conditions and the estimation of the simulation uncertainty are outlined. The defects are identified from exceedances of track geometry and vehicle response parameters. They are then classified using clustering methods and the correlation with vehicle response is analysed. The use of vehicle responses allows the detection of critical defects which are not identified from geometry parameters.

  20. Wavelet-based ground vehicle recognition using acoustic signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Choe, Howard C.; Karlsen, Robert E.; Gerhart, Grant R.; Meitzler, Thomas J.

    1996-03-01

    We present, in this paper, a wavelet-based acoustic signal analysis to remotely recognize military vehicles using their sound intercepted by acoustic sensors. Since expedited signal recognition is imperative in many military and industrial situations, we developed an algorithm that provides an automated, fast signal recognition once implemented in a real-time hardware system. This algorithm consists of wavelet preprocessing, feature extraction and compact signal representation, and a simple but effective statistical pattern matching. The current status of the algorithm does not require any training. The training is replaced by human selection of reference signals (e.g., squeak or engine exhaust sound) distinctive to each individual vehicle based on human perception. This allows a fast archiving of any new vehicle type in the database once the signal is collected. The wavelet preprocessing provides time-frequency multiresolution analysis using discrete wavelet transform (DWT). Within each resolution level, feature vectors are generated from statistical parameters and energy content of the wavelet coefficients. After applying our algorithm on the intercepted acoustic signals, the resultant feature vectors are compared with the reference vehicle feature vectors in the database using statistical pattern matching to determine the type of vehicle from where the signal originated. Certainly, statistical pattern matching can be replaced by an artificial neural network (ANN); however, the ANN would require training data sets and time to train the net. Unfortunately, this is not always possible for many real world situations, especially collecting data sets from unfriendly ground vehicles to train the ANN. Our methodology using wavelet preprocessing and statistical pattern matching provides robust acoustic signal recognition. We also present an example of vehicle recognition using acoustic signals collected from two different military ground vehicles. In this paper, we will

  1. Traction control of an electric vehicle based on nonlinear observers

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Diego A. Aligia

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available A traction control strategy for a four-wheel electric vehicle is proposed in this paper. The strategy is based on nonlinear observers which allows estimating the maximum force that can be transmitted to the road. Knowledge of the maximum force allows controlling the slip of the driving wheels, preventing the wheel’s slippage in low-grip surfaces. The proposed strategy also allows to avoid the undesired yaw moment in the vehicle which occurs when road conditions on either side of it are dierent. This improves the eciency and the control of the vehicle, avoiding possible losses of stability that can result in risks for its occupants. Both the proposed observer and the control strategy are designed based on a dynamic rotational model of the wheel and a brush force model. Simulation results are obtained based on a complete vehicle model on the Simulink/CarSim platform.

  2. Effects of a herbal gel containing carvacrol and chalcones on alveolar bone resorption in rats on experimental periodontitis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Botelho, Marco Antonio; Rao, Vietla Satyanarayana; Montenegro, Danusa; Bandeira, Mary Anne Menezes; Fonseca, Said Gonçalves Cruz; Nogueira, Nadia Accioly Pinto; Ribeiro, Ronaldo Albuquerque; Brito, Gerly Anne Castro

    2008-04-01

    Carvacrol and dimeric chalcones are the respective bioactive components of Lippia sidoides and Myracrodruon urundeuva, popular medicinal plants of Northeastern Brazil with proven antimicrobial and antiinflammatory properties. Periodontal disease is associated with inflammation and microbiological proliferation, thus the study aimed to investigate the effect of a topical gel based on carvacrol and chalcones in the experimental periodontal disease (EPD) in rats. Animals were treated with carvacrol and/or chalcones gel, immediately after EPD induction, three times a day for 11 days. Appropriate controls were included in the study. Animals were weighed daily. They were killed on day 11, the mandibles dissected and alveolar bone loss was measured. The periodontium were examined at histopathology and the neutrophil influx into the gingiva was assayed using myeloperoxidase activity. The bacterial flora were assessed through culture of the gingival tissue. Alveolar bone loss was significantly (p < 0.05) inhibited by combined carvacrol and chalcones gel, compared with the vehicle and non-treated groups. The treatment with the combined gel reduced tissue lesion at histopathology, decreased myeloperoxidase activity in gingival tissue and inhibited the growth of oral microorganisms as well as the weight loss. Carvacrol and chalcones combination gel has a beneficial effect upon EPD in this model. (c) 2008 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

  3. Vehicle Sideslip Angle Estimation Based on Hybrid Kalman Filter

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jing Li

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Vehicle sideslip angle is essential for active safety control systems. This paper presents a new hybrid Kalman filter to estimate vehicle sideslip angle based on the 3-DoF nonlinear vehicle dynamic model combined with Magic Formula tire model. The hybrid Kalman filter is realized by combining square-root cubature Kalman filter (SCKF, which has quick convergence and numerical stability, with square-root cubature based receding horizon Kalman FIR filter (SCRHKF, which has robustness against model uncertainty and temporary noise. Moreover, SCKF and SCRHKF work in parallel, and the estimation outputs of two filters are merged by interacting multiple model (IMM approach. Experimental results show the accuracy and robustness of the hybrid Kalman filter.

  4. Design of Hybrid Gels Based on Gellan-Cholesterol Derivative and P90G Liposomes for Drug Depot Applications

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Nicole Zoratto

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Gels are extensively studied in the drug delivery field because of their potential benefits in therapeutics. Depot gel systems fall in this area, and the interest in their development has been focused on long-lasting, biocompatible, and resorbable delivery devices. The present work describes a new class of hybrid gels that stem from the interaction between liposomes based on P90G phospholipid and the cholesterol derivative of the polysaccharide gellan. The mechanical properties of these gels and the delivery profiles of the anti-inflammatory model drug diclofenac embedded in such systems confirmed the suitability of these hybrid gels as a good candidate for drug depot applications.

  5. Vehicle Dynamics Control of In-wheel Electric Motor Drive Vehicles Based on Averaging of Tire Force Usage

    Science.gov (United States)

    Masaki, Nobuo; Iwano, Haruo; Kamada, Takayoshi; Nagai, Masao

    For in-wheel electric motor drive vehicles, a new vehicle dynamics control which is based on the tire force usage rate is proposed. The new controller adopts non-linear optimal control could manage the interference between direct yaw-moment control and the tire force usage rate. The new control is considered total longitudinal and transverse tire force. Therefore the controller can prevent tire force saturation near tire force limit during cornering. Simulations and test runs by the custom made four wheel drive in-wheel motor electric vehicle show that higher driving stability performance compared to the performance of the same vehicle without control.

  6. [Semisynthetic cellulose derivatives as the base of hydrophilic gel systems].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bajerová, M; Gajdziok, J; Dvorácková, K; Masteiková, R; Kollár, P

    2008-04-01

    The field of drug technology widely ulilizes gel systems of high-molecular substances, which have a number of advantages, such as low toxicity, availability, unique physical properties, biocompatibility, mucoadhesivity, and others. Gel systems are used in the field of local as well as general therapy, in both shape-specific and shape-non-specific dosage forms, in medicaments of the first, second, and third generations. An important group of gels employed in pharmacy are hydrophilic gels or hydrogels, most frequently composed of hydrophilic polymers of natural, semisynthetic and synthetic origin. Though cellulose derivatives as the representatives of polymers of semisynthetic origin are used in pharmaceutical technology for a long time, their research continues and their other possible uses are being searched for. Their advantages include especially safety, easy availability, and a relatively low price. The review paper describes selected cellulose derivatives, their properties and uses in pharmaceutical technology with regard to their use in the field of production of gel systems.

  7. Identification of adequate vehicles to carry nerve regeneration inducers using tubulisation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    do Nascimento-Elias Adriana Helena

    2012-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background Axonal regeneration depends on many factors, such as the type of injury and repair, age, distance from the cell body and distance of the denervated muscle, loss of surrounding tissue and the type of injured nerve. Experimental models use tubulisation with a silicone tube to research regenerative factors and substances to induce regeneration. Agarose, collagen and DMEM (Dulbecco’s modified Eagle’s medium can be used as vehicles. In this study, we compared the ability of these vehicles to induce rat sciatic nerve regeneration with the intent of finding the least active or inert substance. The experiment used 47 female Wistar rats, which were divided into four experimental groups (agarose 4%, agarose 0.4%, collagen, DMEM and one normal control group. The right sciatic nerve was exposed, and an incision was made that created a 10 mm gap between the distal and proximal stumps. A silicone tube was grafted onto each stump, and the tubes were filled with the respective media. After 70 days, the sciatic nerve was removed. We evaluated the formation of a regeneration cable, nerve fibre growth, and the functional viability of the regenerated fibres. Results Comparison among the three vehicles showed that 0.4% agarose gels had almost no effect on provoking the regeneration of peripheral nerves and that 4% agarose gels completely prevented fibre growth. The others substances were associated with profuse nerve fibre growth. Conclusions In the appropriate concentration, agarose gel may be an important vehicle for testing factors that induce regeneration without interfering with nerve growth.

  8. Identification of adequate vehicles to carry nerve regeneration inducers using tubulisation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    do Nascimento-Elias, Adriana Helena; Fresnesdas, Bruno César; Schiavoni, Maria Cristina Lopes; de Almeida, Natália Fernanda Gaspar; Santos, Ana Paula; de Oliveira Ramos, Jean; Junior, Wilson Marques; Barreira, Amilton Antunes

    2012-08-14

    Axonal regeneration depends on many factors, such as the type of injury and repair, age, distance from the cell body and distance of the denervated muscle, loss of surrounding tissue and the type of injured nerve. Experimental models use tubulisation with a silicone tube to research regenerative factors and substances to induce regeneration. Agarose, collagen and DMEM (Dulbecco's modified Eagle's medium) can be used as vehicles. In this study, we compared the ability of these vehicles to induce rat sciatic nerve regeneration with the intent of finding the least active or inert substance. The experiment used 47 female Wistar rats, which were divided into four experimental groups (agarose 4%, agarose 0.4%, collagen, DMEM) and one normal control group. The right sciatic nerve was exposed, and an incision was made that created a 10 mm gap between the distal and proximal stumps. A silicone tube was grafted onto each stump, and the tubes were filled with the respective media. After 70 days, the sciatic nerve was removed. We evaluated the formation of a regeneration cable, nerve fibre growth, and the functional viability of the regenerated fibres. Comparison among the three vehicles showed that 0.4% agarose gels had almost no effect on provoking the regeneration of peripheral nerves and that 4% agarose gels completely prevented fibre growth. The others substances were associated with profuse nerve fibre growth. In the appropriate concentration, agarose gel may be an important vehicle for testing factors that induce regeneration without interfering with nerve growth.

  9. Port-based Modeling and Control of Underactuated Aerial Vehicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mersha, A.Y.; Carloni, Raffaella; Stramigioli, Stefano

    2011-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a generic model and a controller design for a class of underactuated aerial vehicles, namely for unmanned aerial vehicles whose primary support against gravity is thrust. The approach followed is based on energetic consideration and uses the formalisms of port-Hamiltonian

  10. Route-Based Signal Preemption Control of Emergency Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haibo Mu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper focuses on the signal preemption control of emergency vehicles (EV. A signal preemption control method based on route is proposed to reduce time delay of EV at intersections. According to the time at which EV is detected and the current phase of each intersection on the travelling route of EV, the calculation methods of the earliest start time and the latest start time of green light at each intersection are given. Consequently, the effective time range of green light at each intersection is determined in theory. A multiobjective programming model, whose objectives are the minimal residence time of EV at all intersections and the maximal passing numbers of general society vehicles, is presented. Finally, a simulation calculation is carried out. Calculation results indicate that, by adopting the signal preemption method based on route, the delay of EV is reduced and the number of society vehicles passing through the whole system is increased. The signal preemption control method of EV based on route can reduce the time delay of EV and improve the evacuation efficiency of the system.

  11. Knowledge-based fault diagnosis system for refuse collection vehicle

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tan, CheeFai; Juffrizal, K.; Khalil, S. N.; Nidzamuddin, M. Y.

    2015-01-01

    The refuse collection vehicle is manufactured by local vehicle body manufacturer. Currently; the company supplied six model of the waste compactor truck to the local authority as well as waste management company. The company is facing difficulty to acquire the knowledge from the expert when the expert is absence. To solve the problem, the knowledge from the expert can be stored in the expert system. The expert system is able to provide necessary support to the company when the expert is not available. The implementation of the process and tool is able to be standardize and more accurate. The knowledge that input to the expert system is based on design guidelines and experience from the expert. This project highlighted another application on knowledge-based system (KBS) approached in trouble shooting of the refuse collection vehicle production process. The main aim of the research is to develop a novel expert fault diagnosis system framework for the refuse collection vehicle

  12. Knowledge-based fault diagnosis system for refuse collection vehicle

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Tan, CheeFai; Juffrizal, K.; Khalil, S. N.; Nidzamuddin, M. Y. [Centre of Advanced Research on Energy, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka, Hang Tuah Jaya, Durian Tunggal, Melaka (Malaysia)

    2015-05-15

    The refuse collection vehicle is manufactured by local vehicle body manufacturer. Currently; the company supplied six model of the waste compactor truck to the local authority as well as waste management company. The company is facing difficulty to acquire the knowledge from the expert when the expert is absence. To solve the problem, the knowledge from the expert can be stored in the expert system. The expert system is able to provide necessary support to the company when the expert is not available. The implementation of the process and tool is able to be standardize and more accurate. The knowledge that input to the expert system is based on design guidelines and experience from the expert. This project highlighted another application on knowledge-based system (KBS) approached in trouble shooting of the refuse collection vehicle production process. The main aim of the research is to develop a novel expert fault diagnosis system framework for the refuse collection vehicle.

  13. Clotrimazole nanoparticle gel for mucosal administration

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Esposito, Elisabetta; Ravani, Laura; Contado, Catia; Costenaro, Andrea; Drechsler, Markus; Rossi, Damiano; Menegatti, Enea; Grandini, Alessandro; Cortesi, Rita

    2013-01-01

    In this study a formulation suitable to be applied on oral and/or vaginal mucosa has been developed for the treatment of fungal infections. The aim of the research is a comparison between clotrimazole (CLO) containing semisolid formulations based on monoolein aqueous dispersion (MAD) or nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC). MAD and NLC have been characterized in terms of morphology and dimensional distribution by cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy (cryo-TEM) and Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS). CLO was encapsulated with high entrapment efficiency both in MAD and in NLC, according to Sedimentation Field Flow Fractionation (SdFFF) combined with HPLC. CLO recovery in MAD and NLC has been investigated by time. In order to obtain formulations with suitable viscosity for mucosal application, MAD was diluted with a carbomer gel, while NLC was directly viscosized by the addition of poloxamer 407 in the dispersion. The rheological properties of MAD and NLC after viscosizing have been investigated. Franz cell has been employed to study CLO diffusion from the different vehicles, evidencing diffusion rates from MAD and NLC superimposable to that obtained using Canesten ® . An anticandidal activity study demonstrated that both CLO-MAD and CLO-NLC were more active against Candida albicans with respect to the pure drug. Highlights: ► Comparison between monoolein aqueous dispersion (MAD) and nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC). ► Clotrimazole (CLO) encapsulated with high entrapment efficiency both in MAD and in NLC. ► The solid matrix of NLC controls CLO degradation better than MAD. ► CLO containing MAD and NLC exhibits a higher anticandidal activity than the free drug. ► Simple production of CLO-NLC based poloxamer gel, suitable for industry scaling up

  14. Applications and Properties of Ionic Liquid- Based Gels and Soft Solid Composites

    Science.gov (United States)

    Voss, Bret Alan McGinness

    2011-12-01

    Solid-liquid composites (gels) have a combination of properties that afford new material applications in which high solute diffusion is desirable. These composites have a soft-solid mechanical integrity and will not flow under gravity, but entrain a liquid matrix (i.e. 60-98 mass %) which allows for high diffusion and high reactivity. Room temperature ionic liquid (RTILs) are molten organic salts with a melting point below room temperature and negligible vapor pressure. If the RTILs are used as the liquid component of a gel, then the gel matrix will not evaporate (unlike other organic solvents) and may be used for long term applications. This thesis research applies RTIL gels for two new applications; carbon dioxide/nitrogen separation and chemical warfare agent (CWA) barrier and decontamination. Separating CO2 from the flue gas of coal and gas fired power-plants is an increasingly economically and environmentally important gas separation. In this first study, RTIL gels are cast in a supported membrane and gas permeability and ideal selectivity are measured. The RTIL matrix has an inherent affinity for CO2 and provides a high diffusion, hence high permeability (i.e. 500-700 barrer). The solidifying component is a low molecular-weight organic gelator (LMOG) which through physical bonding interactions (i.e. hydrogen bonding, pi-pi stacking and van der Walls forces) forms an entangled network which provides mechanical stability (i.e. increase trans-membrane pressure required to expel selective material from the support). In these studies two LMOGs and five RTILs are used to make supported gel membranes and determine gas permeability and temperature dependent trends. The second application for RTIL gels is a decontaminating barrier for CWAs and toxic industrial compounds (TICs). In these studies a layer of RTIL gel is applied on top of a substrate contaminated with a CWA simulant (i.e. chloroethylethylsulfide, CEES). The gel performs well as a barrier, preventing CEES

  15. A 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine-imprinted polymer gel surface plasmon resonance sensor based on template-responsive shrinkage

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zhou, Chunyan; Gao, Jigang; Zhang, Lili; Zhou, Jie

    2014-01-01

    Graphical abstract: -- Highlights: •Based on template-responsive shrinkage of imprinted gel film, a novel surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor is prepared. •The relevant electrochemical parameters are optimized. •The imprinted gel-SPR system has great capability for providing highly sensitive and selective analysis of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine. •The present SPR sensor was successfully employed to detect 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine in tap water and soil samples. -- Abstract: Molecularly imprinted polymer gel film on the gold substrate of a chip was prepared with minute amount of cross-linker for the fabrication of a surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor sensitive to 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine. The molecularly imprinted gel film was anchored on a gold chip by a surface-bound photo-radical initiator. The sensing of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine is based on responsive shrinkage of the imprinted polymer gel film that is triggered by target binding. This change can improve the responsiveness of the imprinted SPR sensor to 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine. The molecularly imprinted polymer gel film was characterized with contact angle measurements, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammogram, swelling measurements and atomic force microscopy. The changes of SPR spectroscopy wavenumber shifts revealed that the imprinted gel sensing film can ‘memorize’ the binding of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine compared to non-imprinted one. The imprinted gel-SPR sensor showed a linear response in the range of 9.0 × 10 −12 to 5.0 × 10 −10 mol L −1 (R 2 = 0.9998) for the detection of 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine, and it also exhibited high selectivity to 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine compared to its structurally related analogues. We calculated the detection limits to be 0.471 ng L −1 for tap water and 0.772 ng kg −1 for soil based on a signal to noise ratio of 3. The method showed good recoveries and precision for the samples spiked with 3,3′-dichlorobenzidine. This suggest

  16. Monolithic lithium-based aerogels via dispersed inorganic sol-gel method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Xiao Shufang; Zhou Bin; Du Ai; Xu Xiang; Yang Xiaoyun; Shen Jun; Wu Guangming; Zhang Zhihua; Wan Huijun

    2008-01-01

    Monolithic lithium-based aerogels were prepared by poly acrylic acid (PAA) and propylene oxide (PO) via the dispersed inorganic sol-gel method and drying with CO 2 supercritical fluid dry process. The density of the prepared sample is about 150 g/m 3 . The microstructure of the lithium-based aerogels was characterized by TEM, IR, XPS and BET. The results show that the material mainly contains Li, C and O element s. BET surface area is up to 18.9 m 2 /g. (authors)

  17. Passivity-based model predictive control for mobile vehicle motion planning

    CERN Document Server

    Tahirovic, Adnan

    2013-01-01

    Passivity-based Model Predictive Control for Mobile Vehicle Navigation represents a complete theoretical approach to the adoption of passivity-based model predictive control (MPC) for autonomous vehicle navigation in both indoor and outdoor environments. The brief also introduces analysis of the worst-case scenario that might occur during the task execution. Some of the questions answered in the text include: • how to use an MPC optimization framework for the mobile vehicle navigation approach; • how to guarantee safe task completion even in complex environments including obstacle avoidance and sideslip and rollover avoidance; and  • what to expect in the worst-case scenario in which the roughness of the terrain leads the algorithm to generate the longest possible path to the goal. The passivity-based MPC approach provides a framework in which a wide range of complex vehicles can be accommodated to obtain a safer and more realizable tool during the path-planning stage. During task execution, the optimi...

  18. Silica based gel as a potential waste form for high level waste from fuel reprocessing

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ford, C.E.; Dempster, T.J.; Melling, P.J.

    1983-10-01

    To assess the feasibility of safe disposal of high-level radioactive waste as synthetic clay, or material that would react with ground water to form clay, experiments have been carried out to determine the hydrothermal crystallisation and leaching behaviour of silica based gels fired at 900 deg C. Crystallisation rates at a pressure of 500 bars and at temperatures below 400 deg C are negligible and this more or less precludes pre-disposal production of synthetic clay on the scale required. Leaching experiments suggest that the leach rates of Cs from gels by distilled water are higher than those of boro-silicate glasses and SYNROC at the lower temperatures that would be preferred for geological storage. However, amounts of bulk dissolution of gels may be lower than those of boro-silicate glasses. The initial leaching behaviour of gels might be considerably improved by hot compaction at 900 to 1000 deg C. Consideration of likely waste form dissolution behaviour in a repository environment suggests that gels of appropriate composition might perform as well as, or better than, boro-silicate glasses. A novel hypothetical plant is described that could produce the gel waste form on the scale required on a more or less continuous basis. (author)

  19. Ophthalmic gels: Past, present and future.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Al-Kinani, Ali A; Zidan, Ghada; Elsaid, Naba; Seyfoddin, Ali; Alani, Adam W G; Alany, Raid G

    2018-02-15

    Aqueous gels formulated using hydrophilic polymers (hydrogels) along with those based on stimuli responsive polymers (in situ gelling or gel forming systems) continue to attract increasing interest for various eye health-related applications. They allow the incorporation of a variety of ophthalmic pharmaceuticals to achieve therapeutic levels of drugs and bioactives at target ocular sites. The integration of sophisticated drug delivery technologies such as nanotechnology-based ones with intelligent and environment responsive systems can extend current treatment duration to provide more clinically relevant time courses (weeks and months instead of hours and days) which will inevitably reduce dose frequency, increase patient compliance and improve clinical outcomes. Novel applications and design of contact lenses and intracanalicular delivery devices along with the move towards integrating gels into various drug delivery devices like intraocular pumps, injections and implants has the potential to reduce comorbidities caused by glaucoma, corneal keratopathy, cataract, diabetic retinopathies and age-related macular degeneration. This review describes ophthalmic gelling systems with emphasis on mechanism of gel formation and application in ophthalmology. It provides a critical appraisal of the techniques and methods used in the characterization of ophthalmic preformed gels and in situ gelling systems along with a thorough insight into the safety and biocompatibility of these systems. Newly developed ophthalmic gels, hydrogels, preformed gels and in situ gelling systems including the latest in the area of stimuli responsive gels, molecularly imprinted gels, nanogels, 3D printed hydrogels; 3D printed devices comprising ophthalmic gels are covered. Finally, new applications of gels in the production of artificial corneas, corneal wound healing and hydrogel contact lenses are described. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  20. PVC gel soft actuator-based wearable assist wear for hip joint support during walking

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Yi; Hashimoto, Minoru

    2017-12-01

    Plasticized polyvinyl chloride (PVC) gel and mesh electrode-based soft actuators have considerable potential to provide new types of artificial muscle, exhibiting similar responsiveness to biological muscle in air, >10% deformation, >90 kPa output stress, variable stiffness, long cycle life (>5 million cycles), and low power consumption. We have designed and fabricated a prototype of walking assist wear using the PVC gel actuator in previous study. The system has several advantages compared with traditional motor-based exoskeletons, including lower weight and power consumption, and no requirement for rigid external structures that constrain the wearer’s joints. In this study, we designed and established a control and power system to making the whole system portable and wearable outdoors. And we designed two control strategies based on the characteristics of the assist wear and the biological kinematics. In a preliminary experimental evaluation, a hemiparetic stroke patient performed a 10 m to-and-fro straight line walking task with and without assist wear on the affected side. We found that the assist wear enabled natural movement, increasing step length and decreasing muscular activity during straight line walking. We demonstrated that the assistance effect could be adjusted by controlling the on-off time of the PVC gel soft actuators. The results show the effectiveness of the proposed system and suggest the feasibility of PVC gel soft actuators for developing practical soft wearable assistive devices, informing the development of future wearable robots and the other soft actuator technologies for human movement assistance and rehabilitation.

  1. An RFID-Based Intelligent Vehicle Speed Controller Using Active Traffic Signals

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Joshué Pérez

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS. One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC, which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver’s attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results.

  2. An RFID-Based Intelligent Vehicle Speed Controller Using Active Traffic Signals

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez, Joshué; Seco, Fernando; Milanés, Vicente; Jiménez, Antonio; Díaz, Julio C.; de Pedro, Teresa

    2010-01-01

    These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC), which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver’s attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V) communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results. PMID:22219692

  3. An RFID-based intelligent vehicle speed controller using active traffic signals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pérez, Joshué; Seco, Fernando; Milanés, Vicente; Jiménez, Antonio; Díaz, Julio C; de Pedro, Teresa

    2010-01-01

    These days, mass-produced vehicles benefit from research on Intelligent Transportation System (ITS). One prime example of ITS is vehicle Cruise Control (CC), which allows it to maintain a pre-defined reference speed, to economize on fuel or energy consumption, to avoid speeding fines, or to focus all of the driver's attention on the steering of the vehicle. However, achieving efficient Cruise Control is not easy in roads or urban streets where sudden changes of the speed limit can happen, due to the presence of unexpected obstacles or maintenance work, causing, in inattentive drivers, traffic accidents. In this communication we present a new Infrastructure to Vehicles (I2V) communication and control system for intelligent speed control, which is based upon Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology for identification of traffic signals on the road, and high accuracy vehicle speed measurement with a Hall effect-based sensor. A fuzzy logic controller, based on sensor fusion of the information provided by the I2V infrastructure, allows the efficient adaptation of the speed of the vehicle to the circumstances of the road. The performance of the system is checked empirically, with promising results.

  4. Gels and gel-derived glasses in the system Na2O-B2O3-SiO2

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukherjee, S. P.

    1983-01-01

    The containerless melting of high-purity multicomponent homogeneous gels and gel monoliths offers a unique approach to making ultrapure multicomponent optical glasses in the reduced gravity environment of space. Procedures for preparing and characterizing gels and gel-derived glasses in the system Na2O-B2O3-SiO2 are described. Preparation is based on the polymerization reactions of alkoxysilane with trimethyl borate or boric acid and a suitable sodium compound. The chemistry of the gelling process is discussed in terms of process parameters and the gel compositions. The physicochemical nature of gels prepared by three different procedures was found to be significantly different. Infrared absorption spectra indicate finite differences in the molecular structures of the different gels. The melting of the gel powders and the transformation of porous gel monoliths to transparent 'glass' without melting are described.

  5. Robustness of Supercavitating Vehicles Based on Multistability Analysis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yipin Lv

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Supercavity can increase speed of underwater vehicles greatly. However, external interferences always lead to instability of vehicles. This paper focuses on robustness of supercavitating vehicles. Based on a 4-dimensional dynamic model, the existence of multistability is verified in supercavitating system through simulation, and the robustness of vehicles varying with parameters is analyzed by basins of attraction. Results of the research disclose that the supercavitating system has three stable states in some regions of parameters space, namely, stable, periodic, and chaotic states, while in other regions it has various multistability, such as coexistence of two types of stable equilibrium points, coexistence of a limit cycle with a chaotic attractor, and coexistence of 1-periodic cycle with 2-periodic cycle. Provided that cavitation number varies within a small range, with increase of the feedback control gain of fin deflection angle, size of basin of attraction becomes smaller and robustness of the system becomes weaker. In practical application, robustness of supercavitating vehicles can be improved by setting parameters of system or adjusting initial launching conditions.

  6. Practical Efficiency of Photovoltaic Panel Used for Solar Vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Koyuncu, T.

    2017-08-01

    In this experimental investigation, practical efficiency of semi-flexible monocrystalline silicon solar panel used for a solar powered car called “Firat Force” and a solar powered minibus called “Commagene” was determined. Firat Force has 6 solar PV modules, a maintenance free long life gel battery pack, a regenerative brushless DC electric motor and Commagene has 12 solar PV modules, a maintenance free long life gel battery pack, a regenerative brushless DC electric motor. In addition, both solar vehicles have MPPT (Maximum power point tracker), ECU (Electronic control unit), differential, instrument panel, steering system, brake system, brake and gas pedals, mechanical equipments, chassis and frame. These two solar vehicles were used for people transportation in Adiyaman city, Turkey, during one year (June 2010-May 2011) of test. As a result, the practical efficiency of semi-flexible monocrystalline silicon solar panel used for Firat Force and Commagene was determined as 13 % in despite of efficiency value of 18% (at 1000 W/m2 and 25 °C ) given by the producer company. Besides, the total efficiency (from PV panels to vehicle wheel) of the system was also defined as 9%.

  7. Method of making ionic liquid mediated sol-gel sorbents

    Science.gov (United States)

    Malik, Abdul; Shearrow, Anne M.

    2017-01-31

    Ionic liquid (IL)-mediated sol-gel hybrid organic-inorganic materials present enormous potential for effective use in analytical microextraction. One obstacle to materializing this prospect arises from high viscosity of ILs significantly slowing down sol-gel reactions. A method was developed which provides phosphonium-based, pyridinium-based, and imidazolium-based IL-mediated advanced sol-gel organic-inorganic hybrid materials for capillary microextraction. Scanning electron microscopy results demonstrate that ILs can serve as porogenic agents in sol-gel reactions. IL-mediated sol-gel coatings prepared with silanol-terminated polymers provided up to 28 times higher extractions compared to analogous sol-gel coatings prepared without any IL in the sol solution. This study shows that IL-generated porous morphology alone is not enough to provide effective extraction media: careful choice of the organic polymer and the precursor with close sol-gel reactivity must be made to ensure effective chemical bonding of the organic polymer to the created sol-gel material to be able to provide the desired sorbent characteristics.

  8. Solvent cleanup using base-treated silica gel solid adsorbent

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Tallent, O.K.; Mailen, J.C.; Pannell, K.D.

    1984-06-01

    A solvent cleanup method using silica gel columns treated with either sodium hydroxide (NaOH) or lithium hydroxide (LiOH) has been investigated. Its effectiveness compares favorably with that of traditional wash methods. After treatment with NaOH solution, the gels adsorb HNO 3 , dibutyl phosphate (DBP), UO 2 2+ , Pu 4+ , various metal-ion fission products, and other species from the solvent. Adsorption mechanisms include neutralization, hydrolysis, polymerization, and precipitation, depending on the species adsorbed. Sodium dibutyl phosphate, which partially distributes to the solvent from the gels, can be stripped with water; the stripping coefficient ranges from 280 to 540. Adsorption rates are diffusion controlled such that temperature effects are relatively small. Recycle of the gels is achieved either by an aqueous elution and recycle sequence or by a thermal treatment method, which may be preferable. Potential advantages of this solvent cleanup method are that (1) some operational problems are avoided and (2) the amount of NaNO 3 waste generated per metric ton of nuclear fuel reprocessed would be reduced significantly. 19 references, 6 figures, 12 tables

  9. Fabrication and characterization of sol-gel based nanoparticles for drug delivery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yadav, Reeta

    Nanogels are cross linked polymeric sol-gel based nanoparticles that offer an interior network for incorporation and protection of biomolecules, exhibiting unique advantages for polymer based delivery systems. We have successfully synthesized stable sol-gel nanoparticles by means of [a] silicification reactions using cationic peptides like polylysine as gelating agents, and [b] lyophilization of sol-gels. Macromolecules such as Hemoglobin and Glucose Oxidase and small molecules such as Sodium Nitroprusside (SNP) and antibiotics were encapsulated within the nanogels. We have used transmission electron microscopy, dynamic light scattering, zeta potential analysis, and spectroscopy to perform a physicochemical characterization of the nanogels resulting from the two approaches. Our studies have indicated that the nanogel encapsulated proteins and small molecules remain intact, stable and functional. A Hydrogen Peroxide (H2O2) and Nitric Oxide (NO) generating drug carrier was synthesized using these nanogels and the effect of generation of H2O2 from Glucose Oxidase encapsulated nanogels and NO from SNP encapsulated nanogels was tested on E.coli. The results show that the nanoparticles exert antimicrobial activity against E.Coli, in addition NO generating nanogels potentiated H2O2 generating nanogels induced killing. These data suggest that these NO and H2O2 releasing nanogels have the potential to serve as a novel class of antimicrobials for the treatment of multidrug resistant bacteria. The unique properties of these protein/drug incorporated nanogels raise the prospect of fine tailoring to specific applications such as drug delivery and bio imaging.

  10. Surface grafted chitosan gels. Part II. Gel formation and characterization

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Liu, Chao; Thormann, Esben; Claesson, Per M.

    2014-01-01

    Responsive biomaterial hydrogels attract significant attention due to their biocompatibility and degradability. In order to make chitosan based gels, we first graft one layer of chitosan to silica, and then build a chitosan/poly(acrylic acid) multilayer using the layer-by-layer approach. After...... cross-linking the chitosan present in the polyelectrolyte multilayer, poly(acrylic acid) is partly removed by exposing the multilayer structure to a concentrated carbonate buffer solution at a high pH, leaving a surface-grafted cross-linked gel. Chemical cross-linking enhances the gel stability against...... detachment and decomposition. The chemical reaction between gluteraldehyde, the cross-linking agent, and chitosan was followed in situ using total internal reflection Raman (TIRR) spectroscopy, which provided a molecular insight into the complex reaction mechanism, as well as the means to quantify the cross...

  11. Chemical Gel for Surface Decontamination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jung, Chong Hun; Moon, J. K.; Won, H. J.; Lee, K. W.; Kim, C. K.

    2010-01-01

    Many chemical decontamination processes operate by immersing components in aggressive chemical solutions. In these applications chemical decontamination technique produce large amounts of radioactive liquid waste. Therefore it is necessary to develop processes using chemical gels instead of chemical solutions, to avoid the well-known disadvantages of chemical decontamination techniques while retaining their high efficiency. Chemical gels decontamination process consists of applying the gel by spraying it onto the surface of large area components (floors, walls, etc) to be decontaminated. The gel adheres to any vertical or complex surface due to their thixotropic properties and operates by dissolving the radioactive deposit, along with a thin layer of the gel support, so that the radioactivity trapped at the surface can be removed. Important aspects of the gels are that small quantities can be used and they show thixitropic properties : liquid during spraying, and solid when stationary, allowing for strong adherence to surfaces. This work investigates the decontamination behaviors of organic-based chemical gel for SS 304 metallic surfaces contaminated with radioactive materials

  12. A colourimetric method for the determination of the degree of chemical cross-linking in aspartic acid-based polymer gels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    B. Gyarmati

    2015-02-01

    Full Text Available A 2,4,6-trinitrobenzenesulphonic acid (TNBS-based assay is developed to determine the degree of chemical cross-linking in aspartic acid-based polymer gels. The conventional colourimetric method for the quantitative determination of amine groups is difficult to use in polymer networks; thus, an improved method is developed to analyse polymer gels swollen in dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO. Reaction products of the derivatizing reaction are examined by NMR. The chemical stability of the reagent is increased in DMSO, and the method shows satisfactory linearity and accuracy. The degree of chemical cross-linking in the investigated gels is close to its theoretical maximum, but the conversion of the pendant amine groups to cross-linking points is strongly dependent on the feed composition of the gels.

  13. Description of light-vehicle pre-crash scenarios for safety applications based on vehicle-to-vehicle communications

    Science.gov (United States)

    2013-05-31

    This report describes pre-crash scenarios that might be addressed by vehicle-to-vehicle communications. The focus is on crashes involving at least 1 light vehicle with a gross vehicle weight rating of 10,000 pounds or less. The 2004-2008 General Esti...

  14. Polymer gel dosimeters with enhanced sensitivity for use in x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Jirasek, A; Hilts, M; McAuley, K B

    2010-01-01

    A primary limitation of current x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry is the low contrast, and hence poor dose resolution, of dose images produced by the system. The low contrast is largely due to the low-dose sensitivity of current formulations of polymer gel for x-ray CT imaging. This study reports on the investigation of new dosimeter formulations with improved dose sensitivity for x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry. We incorporate an isopropanol co-solvent into an N-isopropylacrylamide-based gel formulation in order to increase the total monomer/crosslinker concentration (%T) within the formulation. It is shown that gels of high %T exhibit enhanced dose sensitivity and dose resolutions over traditional formulations. The gels are shown to be temporally stable and reproducible. A single formulation (16%T) is used to demonstrate the capabilities of the x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry system in measuring known dose distributions. A 1 L gel volume is exposed to three separate irradiations: a single-field percent depth dose, a two-field 'cross' and a three-field 'test case'. The first two irradiations are used to generate a dose calibration curve by which images are calibrated. The calibrated images are compared with treatment planning predictions and it is shown that the x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry system is capable of capturing spatial and dose information accurately. The proposed new gel formulation is shown to be sensitive, stable and to improve the dose resolution over current formulations so as to provide a feasible gel for clinical applications of x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry.

  15. Assessment of improved buccal permeation and bioavailability of felodipine microemulsion-based cross-linked polycarbophil gel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Singh, Mahendra; Kanoujia, Jovita; Parashar, Poonam; Arya, Malti; Tripathi, Chandra B; Sinha, V R; Saraf, Shailendra K; Saraf, Shubhini A

    2018-06-01

    The oral bioavailability of felodipine (FEL) is very low, i.e., about 15%. This could be due to low water solubility and hepatic first-pass effect. The objective of the present study was to develop FEL microemulsion-based gel, to bypass the first pass effect, for buccal delivery. The optimized FEL microemulsion (OPT-MEF) was used to prepare buccoadhesive gels, with varying concentrations of hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) E4M and polycarbophil (PCP), and evaluated. The cross-linking of the PCP gelling agent was done by adjusting the pH with a neutralizing agent, triethanolamine (TEA). The formulations, namely drug suspension, OPT-MEF, microemulsion-based buccal gel containing 1% w/v (MEF-E4M1), 2% w/v (MEF-E4M2), and 3% w/v (MEF-E4M3) of HPMC K4M and 1% w/v (MEF-PCP1), 2% w/v (MEF-PCP2), and 3% w/v (MEF-PCP3) of PCP were prepared and optimized on the basis of ex vivo permeation study, mucoadhesion force, and viscosity. The optimized buccal gel (MEF-PCP1) showed significantly higher (p microemulsion, with improved buccal permeation and pharmacokinetic parameters was developed successfully to improve the bioavailability of FEL.

  16. A review of hydroxyapatite-based coating techniques: Sol-gel and electrochemical depositions on biocompatible metals.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Asri, R I M; Harun, W S W; Hassan, M A; Ghani, S A C; Buyong, Z

    2016-04-01

    New promising techniques for depositing biocompatible hydroxyapatite-based coatings on biocompatible metal substrates for biomedical applications have continuously been exploited for more than two decades. Currently, various experimental deposition processes have been employed. In this review, the two most frequently used deposition processes will be discussed: a sol-gel dip coating and an electrochemical deposition. This study deliberates the surface morphologies and chemical composition, mechanical performance and biological responses of sol-gel dip coating as well as the electrochemical deposition for two different sample conditions, with and without coating. The review shows that sol-gel dip coatings and electrochemical deposition were able to obtain the uniform and homogeneous coating thickness and high adherent biocompatible coatings even in complex shapes. It has been accepted that both coating techniques improve bone strength and initial osseointegration rate. The main advantages and limitations of those techniques of hydroxyapatite-based coatings are presented. Furthermore, the most significant challenges and critical issues are also highlighted. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

  17. Development of novel biocompatible hybrid nanocomposites based on polyurethane-silica prepared by sol gel process

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rashti, Ali [Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Yahyaei, Hossein [Department of Polymer Engineering and Color Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Firoozi, Saman [Department of Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine, Faculty of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Iran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ramezani, Sara [Department of Neuroscience, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Rahiminejad, Ali [Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Karimi, Roya [Department of Tissue Engineering and Applied Cell Science, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Farzaneh, Khadijeh [Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Mohseni, Mohsen [Department of Polymer Engineering and Color Technology, Amirkabir University of Technology, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Ghanbari, Hossein, E-mail: hghanbari@tums.ac.ir [Department of Medical Nanotechnology, School of Advanced Technologies in Medicine, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Tehran Heart Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of); Medical Biomaterials Research Center, Tehran University of Medical Sciences, Tehran (Iran, Islamic Republic of)

    2016-12-01

    Due to high biocompatibility, polyurethane has found many applications, particularly in development of biomedical devices. A new nanocomposite based on thermoset polyurethane and silica nanoparticles was synthesized using sol-gel method. Sol-gel process was fulfilled in two acidic and basic conditions by using tetraethylorthosilicate (TEOS) and trimethoxyisocyanatesilane as precursors. The hybrid films characterized for mechanical and surface properties using tensile strength, contact angle, ATR-FTIR and scanning electron microscopy. Biocompatibility and cytotoxicity of the hybrids were assessed using standard MTT, LDH and TUNEL assays. The results revealed that incorporation of silica nanoparticles was significantly improved tensile strength and mechanical properties of the hybrids. Based on the contact angle results, silica nanoparticles increased hydrophilicity of the hybrids. Biocompatibility by using human lung epithelial cell line (MRC-5) demonstrated that the hybrids were significantly less cytotoxic compared to pristine polymer as tested by MTT and LDH assays. TUNEL assay revealed no signs of apoptosis in all tested samples. The results of this study demonstrated that incorporation of silica nanoparticles into polyurethane lead to the enhancement of biocompatibility, indicating that these hybrids could potentially be used in biomedical field in particular as a new coating for medical implants. - Highlights: • Nanocomposites based on polyurethane and nanosilica prepared by sol-gel method fabricated • Addition of inorganic phase improved mechanical properties. • Nanosilica prepared by sol-gel method increased hydrophilicity. • By adding nanosilica to polyurethane biocompatibility increased significantly.

  18. Tantala-based sol-gel coating for capillary microextraction on-line coupled to high-performance liquid chromatography.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tran, MinhPhuong; Turner, Erica B; Segro, Scott S; Fang, Li; Seyyal, Emre; Malik, Abdul

    2017-11-03

    A sol-gel organic-inorganic hybrid sorbent, consisting of chemically integrated tantalum (V) ethoxide (TaEO) and polypropylene glycol methacrylate (PPGM), was developed for capillary microextraction (CME). The sol-gel sorbent was synthesized within a fused silica capillary through hydrolytic polycondensation of TaEO and chemical incorporation of PPGM into the evolving sol-gel tantala network. A part of the organic-inorganic hybrid sol-gel network evolving in the vicinity of the capillary walls had favorable conditions to get chemically bonded to the silanol groups on the capillary surface forming a surface-bonded coating. The newly developed sol-gel sorbent was employed to isolate and enrich a variety of analytes from aqueous samples for on-line analysis by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) equipped with a UV detector. CME was performed on aqueous samples containing trace concentrations of analytes representing polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, ketones, alcohols, amines, nucleosides, and nucleotides. This sol-gel hybrid coating provided efficient extraction with CME-HPLC detection limits ranging from 4.41pM to 28.19 pM. Due to direct chemical bonding between the sol-gel sorbent coating and the fused silica capillary inner surface, this sol-gel sorbent exhibited enhanced solvent stability. The sol-gel tantala-based sorbent also exhibited excellent pH stability over a wide pH range (pH 0-pH 14). Furthermore, it displayed great performance reproducibility in CME-HPLC providing run-to-run HPLC peak area relative standard deviation (RSD) values between 0.23% and 3.83%. The capillary-to-capillary RSD (n=3), characterizing capillary preparation method reproducibility, ranged from 0.24% to 4.11%. The results show great performance consistency and application potential for the sol-gel tantala-PPGM sorbent in various fields including biomedical, pharmaceutical, and environmental areas. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Potential air pollutant emission from private vehicles based on vehicle route

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huboyo, H. S.; Handayani, W.; Samadikun, B. P.

    2017-06-01

    Air emissions related to the transportation sector has been identified as the second largest emitter of ambient air quality in Indonesia. This is due to large numbers of private vehicles commuting within the city as well as inter-city. A questionnaire survey was conducted in Semarang city involving 711 private vehicles consisting of cars and motorcycles. The survey was conducted in random parking lots across the Semarang districts and in vehicle workshops. Based on the parking lot survey, the average distance private cars travelled in kilometers (VKT) was 17,737 km/year. The machine start-up number of cars during weekdays; weekends were on average 5.19 and 3.79 respectively. For motorcycles the average of kilometers travelled was 27,092 km/year. The machine start-up number of motorcycles during weekdays and weekends were on average 5.84 and 3.98, respectively. The vehicle workshop survey showed the average kilometers travelled to be 9,510 km/year for motorcycles, while for private cars the average kilometers travelled was 21,347 km/year. Odometer readings for private cars showed a maximum of 3,046,509 km and a minimum of 700 km. Meanwhile, for motorcycles, odometer readings showed a maximum of 973,164 km and a minimum of roughly 54.24 km. Air pollutant emissions on East-West routes were generally higher than those on South-North routes. Motorcycles contribute significantly to urban air pollution, more so than cars. In this study, traffic congestion and traffic volume contributed much more to air pollution than the impact of fluctuating terrain.

  20. Gel dosimetry - a laser based 3D scanner for gel samples - research in India

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Widmer, Johannes [Institut fuer Angewandte Photophysik, TU Dresden (Germany); Photonics Division, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu (India); Dhiviyaraj Kalaiselven, Senthil Kumar [Photonics Division, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu (India); Department of Therapeutic Radiology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis (United States); James, Jebaseelan Samuel [Photonics Division, VIT University, Vellore, Tamil Nadu (India)

    2013-07-01

    A laser based 3D scanner is developed to take tomography images of partly transparent samples. The scanner is optimized to characterize gel samples from spatially resolved dosimetry measurements. The resulting device should be suitably designed to be constructed in India. This gave me valuable insight into the scientific and technological environment of the country and made me find my way through a quite different culture of research and commerce, within and beyond the scientific context of the university. The project was implemented during a nine months stay at the Vellore Institute of Technology University in Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India, in co-operation with the Christian Medical College, Vellore, in 2006/07. It was conducted within the framework of existing research activities of the host university.

  1. Lipid Nanocapsule-Based Gels for Enhancement of Transdermal Delivery of Ketorolac Tromethamine

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jaleh Varshosaz

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available Previous reports show ineffective transdermal delivery of ketorolac by nanostructured lipid carriers (NLCs. The aim of the present work was enhancement of transdermal delivery of ketorolac by another colloidal carriers, lipid nanocapsules (LNCs. LNCs were prepared by emulsification with phase transition method and mixed in a Carbomer 934P gel base with oleic acid or propylene glycol as penetration enhancers. Permeation studies were performed by Franz diffusion cell using excised rat abdominal skin. Aerosil-induced rat paw edema model was used to investigate the in vivo performance. LNCs containing polyethylene glycol hydroxyl stearate, lecithin in Labrafac as the oily phase, and dilution of the primary emulsion with 3.5-fold volume of cold water produced the optimized nanoparticles. The 1% Carbomer gel base containing 10% oleic acid loaded with nanoparticles enhanced and prolonged the anti-inflammatory effects of this drug to more than 12 h in Aerosil-induced rat paw edema model.

  2. Initial investigation of a novel light-scattering gel phantom for evaluation of optical CT scanners for radiotherapy gel dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bosi, Stephen; Naseri, Pourandokht; Puran, Alicia; Davies, Justin; Baldock, Clive

    2007-01-01

    There is a need for stable gel materials for phantoms used to validate optical computerized tomography (CT) scanners used in conjunction with radiation-induced polymerizing gel dosimeters. Phantoms based on addition of light-absorbing dyes to gelatine to simulate gel dosimeters have been employed. However, to more accurately simulate polymerizing gels one requires phantoms that employ light-scattering colloidal suspensions added to the gel. In this paper, we present the initial results of using an optical CT scanner to evaluate a novel phantom in which radiation-exposed polymer gels are simulated by the addition of colloidal suspensions of varying turbidity. The phantom may be useful as a calibration transfer standard for polymer gel dosimeters. The tests reveal some phenomena peculiar to light-scattering gels that need to be taken into account when calibrating polymer gel dosimeters

  3. Development of Degree-of-Priority Based Control Strategy for Emergency Vehicle Preemption Operation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiawen Wang

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a degree-of-priority based control strategy for emergency vehicle preemption operation to decrease the impacts of emergency vehicles on normal traffic. The proposed model features its effectiveness to the following three aspects: (1 a multilayer fuzzy model was established to determine the degree-of-priority based on emergency vehicle preemption demand intensity and preemption influence intensity; (2 for emergency vehicles with proper classification, a travel time estimation model for emergency traffic was formulated, an optimal emergency route determines model based on the level of priority of emergency events, and the emergency vehicle travel time was developed to minimize evacuation time as well as minimize the adverse impacts of preemption on normal traffic; and (3 a conditional traffic signals priority control method at each intersection of the evacuation route was built, so that traffic queue at each intersection can be cleared before the arrival of emergency vehicles. A simulation model based on field data was developed, and the performance of the proposed strategy was compared with the conventional local detection based method under the microscopic simulation model. The results validated the efficiency of the proposed strategy in terms of minimizing the delay of emergency vehicles and reducing adverse impacts on normal traffic.

  4. Sol-gel based oxidation catalyst and coating system using same

    Science.gov (United States)

    Watkins, Anthony N. (Inventor); Leighty, Bradley D. (Inventor); Oglesby, Donald M. (Inventor); Patry, JoAnne L. (Inventor); Schryer, Jacqueline L. (Inventor)

    2010-01-01

    An oxidation catalyst system is formed by particles of an oxidation catalyst dispersed in a porous sol-gel binder. The oxidation catalyst system can be applied by brush or spray painting while the sol-gel binder is in its sol state.

  5. Dehumidifier assisted drying of a model fruit pulp-based gel and sensory attributes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tiwari, Shipra; Ravi, Ramasamy; Bhattacharya, Suvendu

    2012-07-01

    Model fruit pulp-based gels were prepared by varying mango pulp (0% to 50%), sucrose (0% to 20%), and agar (1% to 3%) and according to a response surface experimental design followed by drying at a low temperature of 40 °C upto 15 h in a tray dryer assisted by a dehumidifier. The moisture content, shrinkage (SHR), and rheological parameters (failure strain, failure stress (FS), firmness, and energy for compression) were determined as a function of drying time. The composition of gel, particularly the agar content had a prominent effect on the characteristics of the dried gel. Detailed descriptive sensory analysis employing principle component analysis (PCA) biplot indicated two distinct groups of attributes; the first group comprised initial and final moisture contents, extent of moisture removal (EMR), and shrinkage. The fracture stress and energy formed the second group. The analysis of variance for failure stress showed that it depended only on the positive linear and quadratic effects of agar (significant at P ≤ 0.01 and 0.05, respectively). The theoretically predicted extent of moisture removal at 95.6% could be achieved when the level of agar was 1.2%; pulp and sucrose levels were also close to their lowest levels of 3.6% and 0.04%, respectively. Scope exists to develop gel-based fruit analogues wherein an appropriate hydrocolloid can be employed along with fruit juice/pulp. To provide a reasonable shelf-life of the developed intermediate moisture containing product, dehumidifier assisted drying is a pragmatic approach that affects sensory and rheological attributes of the dried fruit analogue. © 2012 Institute of Food Technologists®

  6. Polymer gel dosimeters with enhanced sensitivity for use in x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jirasek, A [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria BC V8W 3P6 (Canada); Hilts, M [Medical Physics, BC Cancer Agency-Vancouver Island Centre, Victoria BC V6R 2B6 (Canada); McAuley, K B, E-mail: jirasek@uvic.c [Department of Chemical Engineering, Queens University, Kingston, ON K7 L 3N6 (Canada)

    2010-09-21

    A primary limitation of current x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry is the low contrast, and hence poor dose resolution, of dose images produced by the system. The low contrast is largely due to the low-dose sensitivity of current formulations of polymer gel for x-ray CT imaging. This study reports on the investigation of new dosimeter formulations with improved dose sensitivity for x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry. We incorporate an isopropanol co-solvent into an N-isopropylacrylamide-based gel formulation in order to increase the total monomer/crosslinker concentration (%T) within the formulation. It is shown that gels of high %T exhibit enhanced dose sensitivity and dose resolutions over traditional formulations. The gels are shown to be temporally stable and reproducible. A single formulation (16%T) is used to demonstrate the capabilities of the x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry system in measuring known dose distributions. A 1 L gel volume is exposed to three separate irradiations: a single-field percent depth dose, a two-field 'cross' and a three-field 'test case'. The first two irradiations are used to generate a dose calibration curve by which images are calibrated. The calibrated images are compared with treatment planning predictions and it is shown that the x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry system is capable of capturing spatial and dose information accurately. The proposed new gel formulation is shown to be sensitive, stable and to improve the dose resolution over current formulations so as to provide a feasible gel for clinical applications of x-ray CT polymer gel dosimetry.

  7. A stereo vision-based obstacle detection system in vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huh, Kunsoo; Park, Jaehak; Hwang, Junyeon; Hong, Daegun

    2008-02-01

    Obstacle detection is a crucial issue for driver assistance systems as well as for autonomous vehicle guidance function and it has to be performed with high reliability to avoid any potential collision with the front vehicle. The vision-based obstacle detection systems are regarded promising for this purpose because they require little infrastructure on a highway. However, the feasibility of these systems in passenger car requires accurate and robust sensing performance. In this paper, an obstacle detection system using stereo vision sensors is developed. This system utilizes feature matching, epipoplar constraint and feature aggregation in order to robustly detect the initial corresponding pairs. After the initial detection, the system executes the tracking algorithm for the obstacles. The proposed system can detect a front obstacle, a leading vehicle and a vehicle cutting into the lane. Then, the position parameters of the obstacles and leading vehicles can be obtained. The proposed obstacle detection system is implemented on a passenger car and its performance is verified experimentally.

  8. Clotrimazole nanoparticle gel for mucosal administration

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Esposito, Elisabetta, E-mail: ese@unife.it [Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, I-44121 Ferrara (Italy); Ravani, Laura [Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, I-44121 Ferrara (Italy); Contado, Catia [Department of Chemistry, University of Ferrara, Ferrara (Italy); Costenaro, Andrea [Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, I-44121 Ferrara (Italy); Drechsler, Markus [Macromolecular Chemistry II, University of Bayreuth (Germany); Rossi, Damiano [Department of Biology and Evolution, LT Terra and Acqua Tech UR7, University of Ferrara, Ferrara (Italy); Menegatti, Enea [Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, I-44121 Ferrara (Italy); Grandini, Alessandro [Department of Biology and Evolution, LT Terra and Acqua Tech UR7, University of Ferrara, Ferrara (Italy); Cortesi, Rita [Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Ferrara, I-44121 Ferrara (Italy)

    2013-01-01

    In this study a formulation suitable to be applied on oral and/or vaginal mucosa has been developed for the treatment of fungal infections. The aim of the research is a comparison between clotrimazole (CLO) containing semisolid formulations based on monoolein aqueous dispersion (MAD) or nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC). MAD and NLC have been characterized in terms of morphology and dimensional distribution by cryogenic Transmission Electron Microscopy (cryo-TEM) and Photon Correlation Spectroscopy (PCS). CLO was encapsulated with high entrapment efficiency both in MAD and in NLC, according to Sedimentation Field Flow Fractionation (SdFFF) combined with HPLC. CLO recovery in MAD and NLC has been investigated by time. In order to obtain formulations with suitable viscosity for mucosal application, MAD was diluted with a carbomer gel, while NLC was directly viscosized by the addition of poloxamer 407 in the dispersion. The rheological properties of MAD and NLC after viscosizing have been investigated. Franz cell has been employed to study CLO diffusion from the different vehicles, evidencing diffusion rates from MAD and NLC superimposable to that obtained using Canesten{sup Registered-Sign }. An anticandidal activity study demonstrated that both CLO-MAD and CLO-NLC were more active against Candida albicans with respect to the pure drug. Highlights: Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Comparison between monoolein aqueous dispersion (MAD) and nanostructured lipid carrier (NLC). Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Clotrimazole (CLO) encapsulated with high entrapment efficiency both in MAD and in NLC. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer The solid matrix of NLC controls CLO degradation better than MAD. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer CLO containing MAD and NLC exhibits a higher anticandidal activity than the free drug. Black-Right-Pointing-Pointer Simple production of CLO-NLC based poloxamer gel, suitable for industry scaling up.

  9. An Improved Car-Following Model in Vehicle Networking Based on Network Control

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    D. Y. Kong

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Vehicle networking is a system to realize information interoperability between vehicles and people, vehicles and roads, vehicles and vehicles, and cars and transport facilities, through the network information exchange, in order to achieve the effective monitoring of the vehicle and traffic flow. Realizing information interoperability between vehicles and vehicles, which can affect the traffic flow, is an important application of network control system (NCS. In this paper, a car-following model using vehicle networking theory is established, based on network control principle. The car-following model, which is an improvement of the traditional traffic model, describes the traffic in vehicle networking condition. The impact that vehicle networking has on the traffic flow is quantitatively assessed in a particular scene of one-way, no lane changing highway. The examples show that the capacity of the road is effectively enhanced by using vehicle networking.

  10. Rule-based energy management strategies for hybrid vehicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Hofman, T.; Druten, van R.M.; Serrarens, A.F.A.; Steinbuch, M.

    2007-01-01

    Int. J. of Electric and Hybrid Vehicles (IJEHV), The highest control layer of a (hybrid) vehicular drive train is termed the Energy Management Strategy (EMS). In this paper an overview of different control methods is given and a new rule-based EMS is introduced based on the combination of Rule-Based

  11. Formulation Optimization and Ex Vivo and In Vivo Evaluation of Celecoxib Microemulsion-Based Gel for Transdermal Delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cao, Mengyuan; Ren, Lili; Chen, Guoguang

    2017-08-01

    Celecoxib (CXB) is a poorly aqueous solubility sulfonamide non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID). Hence, the formulation of CXB was selected for solubilization and bioavailability. To find out suitable formulation for microemulsion, the solubility of CXB in triacetin (oil phase), Tween 80 (surfactant), and Transcutol-P (co-surfactant) was screened respectively and optimized by using orthogonal experimental design. The Km value and concentration of oil, S mix , and water were confirmed by pseudo-ternary phase diagram studies and central composite design. One percent carbopol 934 was added to form CXB microemulsion-based gel. The final formulation was evaluated for its appearance, pH, viscosity, stability, drug content determination, globule size, and zeta potential. Its ex vivo drug permeation and the in vivo pharmacokinetic was investigated. Further research was performed to ensure the safety and validity by skin irritation study and in vivo anti-inflammatory activity study. Ex vivo permeation study in mice was designed to compare permeation and transdermal ability between microemulsion formulation and conventional gel. The results revealed that optimized microemulsion-based gel gained higher permeation based on smaller globule size and high drug loading of microemulsion. Transdermal ability was also greatly improved. Bioavailability was compared to market Celebrex® by the in vivo pharmacokinetic study in rabbits. The results indicated that CXB microemulsion-based gel had better bioavailability than Celebrex®.

  12. Novel vehicle detection system based on stacked DoG kernel and AdaBoost

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kang, Hyun Ho; Lee, Seo Won; You, Sung Hyun

    2018-01-01

    This paper proposes a novel vehicle detection system that can overcome some limitations of typical vehicle detection systems using AdaBoost-based methods. The performance of the AdaBoost-based vehicle detection system is dependent on its training data. Thus, its performance decreases when the shape of a target differs from its training data, or the pattern of a preceding vehicle is not visible in the image due to the light conditions. A stacked Difference of Gaussian (DoG)–based feature extraction algorithm is proposed to address this issue by recognizing common characteristics, such as the shadow and rear wheels beneath vehicles—of vehicles under various conditions. The common characteristics of vehicles are extracted by applying the stacked DoG shaped kernel obtained from the 3D plot of an image through a convolution method and investigating only certain regions that have a similar patterns. A new vehicle detection system is constructed by combining the novel stacked DoG feature extraction algorithm with the AdaBoost method. Experiments are provided to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed vehicle detection system under different conditions. PMID:29513727

  13. LMI-Based H¥ Anti-Rollover Control Algorithm of Vehicle Active Suspension

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    LIAO Cong

    2014-10-01

    Full Text Available In order to improve the anti-rollover ability for vehicles, a 4 DOF vehicle rollover dynamics model is established, base on which we have designed an active suspension anti-rollover controller and proposed the H¥ control strategy. Simulations were carried out using Matlab/Simulink, and results show that the proposed control scheme can not only reduce the roll angle and roll angular velocity, but also improve the rollover stability of the vehicle and reduce the probability of vehicle rollover accidents.

  14. Hybrid Optimization-Based Approach for Multiple Intelligent Vehicles Requests Allocation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahmed Hussein

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available Self-driving cars are attracting significant attention during the last few years, which makes the technology advances jump fast and reach a point of having a number of automated vehicles on the roads. Therefore, the necessity of cooperative driving for these automated vehicles is exponentially increasing. One of the main issues in the cooperative driving world is the Multirobot Task Allocation (MRTA problem. This paper addresses the MRTA problem, specifically for the problem of vehicles and requests allocation. The objective is to introduce a hybrid optimization-based approach to solve the problem of multiple intelligent vehicles requests allocation as an instance of MRTA problem, to find not only a feasible solution, but also an optimized one as per the objective function. Several test scenarios were implemented in order to evaluate the efficiency of the proposed approach. These scenarios are based on well-known benchmarks; thus a comparative study is conducted between the obtained results and the suboptimal results. The analysis of the experimental results shows that the proposed approach was successful in handling various scenarios, especially with the increasing number of vehicles and requests, which displays the proposed approach efficiency and performance.

  15. Large-scale model-based assessment of deer-vehicle collision risk.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Torsten Hothorn

    Full Text Available Ungulates, in particular the Central European roe deer Capreolus capreolus and the North American white-tailed deer Odocoileus virginianus, are economically and ecologically important. The two species are risk factors for deer-vehicle collisions and as browsers of palatable trees have implications for forest regeneration. However, no large-scale management systems for ungulates have been implemented, mainly because of the high efforts and costs associated with attempts to estimate population sizes of free-living ungulates living in a complex landscape. Attempts to directly estimate population sizes of deer are problematic owing to poor data quality and lack of spatial representation on larger scales. We used data on >74,000 deer-vehicle collisions observed in 2006 and 2009 in Bavaria, Germany, to model the local risk of deer-vehicle collisions and to investigate the relationship between deer-vehicle collisions and both environmental conditions and browsing intensities. An innovative modelling approach for the number of deer-vehicle collisions, which allows nonlinear environment-deer relationships and assessment of spatial heterogeneity, was the basis for estimating the local risk of collisions for specific road types on the scale of Bavarian municipalities. Based on this risk model, we propose a new "deer-vehicle collision index" for deer management. We show that the risk of deer-vehicle collisions is positively correlated to browsing intensity and to harvest numbers. Overall, our results demonstrate that the number of deer-vehicle collisions can be predicted with high precision on the scale of municipalities. In the densely populated and intensively used landscapes of Central Europe and North America, a model-based risk assessment for deer-vehicle collisions provides a cost-efficient instrument for deer management on the landscape scale. The measures derived from our model provide valuable information for planning road protection and defining

  16. A Dynamic Travel Time Estimation Model Based on Connected Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Daxin Tian

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available With advances in connected vehicle technology, dynamic vehicle route guidance models gradually become indispensable equipment for drivers. Traditional route guidance models are designed to direct a vehicle along the shortest path from the origin to the destination without considering the dynamic traffic information. In this paper a dynamic travel time estimation model is presented which can collect and distribute traffic data based on the connected vehicles. To estimate the real-time travel time more accurately, a road link dynamic dividing algorithm is proposed. The efficiency of the model is confirmed by simulations, and the experiment results prove the effectiveness of the travel time estimation method.

  17. Vision-based control in driving assistance of agricultural vehicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Khadraoui, D.; Martinet, P.; Bonton, P.; Gallice, J. [Univ. Blaise Pascal, Aubiere (France). Lab. des Sciences et Materiaux pour l`Electronique et d`Automatique; Debain, C. [Inst. de Recherche pour l`Ingenierie de l`Agriculture et de l`Environment, Montoldre (France). Div. Techniques du Machinisme Agricole; Rouveure, R. [Inst. de Recherche pour l`Ingenierie de l`Agriculture et de l`Environment, Antony (France). Div. Electronique et Intelligence Artificielle

    1998-10-01

    This article presents a real-time control system for an agricultural mobile machine (vehicle) based on an on-board vision system using a single camera. This system has been designed to help humans in repetitive and difficult tasks in the agricultural domain. The aim of the robotics application concerns the control of the vehicle with regard to the reap limit detected in image space. The perception aspect in relation to the application has been described in previous work, and here the authors deal with the control aspect. They integrate image features issues from the modeling of the scene in the control loop to perform an image-based servoing technique. The vehicle behavior described here concerns bicycle and neural models, and three control laws are then synthesized. The first and the second are modeling approaches and use an interaction between the scene and the image space. They are based on the regulation of a task function. The third is a black-box modeling technique, and is based on a neural network. Finally, experimental results obtained with these different control laws in different conditions are presented and discussed.

  18. Transungual Gel of Terbinafine Hydrochloride for the Management of Onychomycosis: Formulation, Optimization, and Evaluation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thatai, Purva; Sapra, Bharti

    2017-08-01

    The present study was aimed to optimize, develop, and evaluate microemulsion and microemulsion-based gel as a vehicle for transungual drug delivery of terbinafine hydrochloride for the treatment of onychomycosis. D-optimal mixture experimental design was adopted to optimize the composition of microemulsion having amount of oil (X 1 ), Smix (mixture of surfactant and cosurfactant; X 2 ), and water (X 3 ) as the independent variables. The formulations were assessed for permeation (micrograms per square centimeter per hour; Y 1 ), particle size (nanometer; Y 2 ), and solubility of the drug in the formulation (milligrams per milliliter; Y 3 ). The microemulsion containing 3.05% oil, 24.98% Smix, and 71.96% water was selected as the optimized formulation. The microemulsion-based gel showed better penetration (∼5 folds) as well as more retention (∼9 fold) in the animal hoof as compared to the commercial cream. The techniques used to screen penetration enhancers (hydration enhancement factor, ATR-FTIR, SEM, and DSC) revealed the synergistic effect of combination of urea and n-acetyl cysteine in disruption of the structure of hoof and hence, leading to enhanced penetration of drug.

  19. Outstanding features of alginate-based gel electrolyte with ionic liquid for electric double layer capacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Soeda, Kazunari; Yamagata, Masaki; Ishikawa, Masashi

    2015-04-01

    An alginate-based gel electrolyte with an ionic liquid (Alg/IL) is investigated for electric double-layer capacitors (EDLCs) by using physicochemical and electrochemical measurements. The Alg/EMImBF4 (EMImBF4 = 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate) gel electrolyte is thermally stable up to 280 °C, where EMImBF4 decomposes. Furthermore, the EDLC with the gel electrolyte can be operated even at high temperature. The cell containing Alg/EMImBF4 is also electrochemically stable even under high voltage (∼3.5 V) operation. Thus, the alginate is a suitable host polymer for the gel electrolyte for EDLCs. According to the result of charge-discharge characteristics, the voltage drop in the charge-discharge curve for the cell with Alg/EMImBF4 gel electrolyte is considerably smaller than that with liquid-phase EMImBF4 electrolyte. To clarify the effect of Alg in contact with the activated carbon electrode, we also prepared an Alg-containing ACFC electrode (Alg + ACFC), and evaluated its EDLC characteristics in liquid EMImBF4. The results prove that the presence of Alg close to the active materials significantly reduces the internal resistance of the EDLC cell, which may be attributed to the high affinity of Alg to activated carbon.

  20. Investigation of Tractor Base Bleeding for Heavy Vehicle Aerodynamic Drag Reduction

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Ortega, J; Salari, K; Storms, B

    2007-10-25

    One of the main contributors to the aerodynamic drag of a heavy vehicle is tractor-trailer gap drag, which arises when the vehicle operates within a crosswind. Under this operating condition, freestream flow is entrained into the tractor-trailer gap, imparting a momentum exchange to the vehicle and subsequently increasing the aerodynamic drag. While a number of add-on devices, including side extenders, splitter plates, vortex stabilizers, and gap sealers, have been previously tested to alleviate this source of drag, side extenders remain the primary add-on device of choice for reducing tractor-trailer gap drag. However, side extenders are not without maintenance and operational issues. When a heavy vehicle pivots sharply with respect to the trailer, as can occur during loading or unloading operations, the side extenders can become crushed against the trailer. Consequently, fleet operators are forced to incur additional costs to cover the repair or replacement of the damaged side extenders. This issue can be overcome by either shortening the side extenders or by devising an alternative drag reduction concept that can perform just as effectively as side extenders. To explore such a concept, we investigate tractor base bleeding as a means of reducing gap drag. Wind tunnel measurements are made on a 1:20 scale heavy vehicle model at a vehicle width-based Reynolds number of 420,000. The tractor bleeding flow, which is delivered through a porous material embedded within the tractor base, is introduced into the tractor-trailer gap at bleeding coefficients ranging from 0.0-0.018. To determine the performance of tractor base bleeding under more realistic operating conditions, computational fluid dynamics simulations are performed on a full-scale heavy vehicle within a crosswind for bleeding coefficients ranging from 0.0-0.13.

  1. Effects of vehicles and enhancers on transdermal delivery of clebopride.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rhee, Yun-Seok; Huh, Jai-Yong; Park, Chun-Woong; Nam, Tae-Young; Yoon, Koog-Ryul; Chi, Sang-Cheol; Park, Eun-Seok

    2007-09-01

    The effects of vehicles and penetration enhancers on the skin permeation of clebopride were evaluated using Franz type diffusion cells fitted with excised rat dorsal skins. The binary vehicle system, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether/isopropyl myristate (40/60, w/w), significantly enhanced the skin permeation rate of clebopride. The skin permeation enhancers, oleic acid and ethanol when used in the binary vehicle system, resulted in relatively high clebopride skin permeation rates. A gel formulation consisting of 1.5% (w/w) clebopride, 5% (w/w) oleic acid, and 7% (w/w) gelling agent with the binary vehicle system resulted in a permeation rate of 28.90 microg/cm2/h. Overall, these results highlight the potential of clebopride formulation for the transdermal route.

  2. Automated Search-Based Robustness Testing for Autonomous Vehicle Software

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kevin M. Betts

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Autonomous systems must successfully operate in complex time-varying spatial environments even when dealing with system faults that may occur during a mission. Consequently, evaluating the robustness, or ability to operate correctly under unexpected conditions, of autonomous vehicle control software is an increasingly important issue in software testing. New methods to automatically generate test cases for robustness testing of autonomous vehicle control software in closed-loop simulation are needed. Search-based testing techniques were used to automatically generate test cases, consisting of initial conditions and fault sequences, intended to challenge the control software more than test cases generated using current methods. Two different search-based testing methods, genetic algorithms and surrogate-based optimization, were used to generate test cases for a simulated unmanned aerial vehicle attempting to fly through an entryway. The effectiveness of the search-based methods in generating challenging test cases was compared to both a truth reference (full combinatorial testing and the method most commonly used today (Monte Carlo testing. The search-based testing techniques demonstrated better performance than Monte Carlo testing for both of the test case generation performance metrics: (1 finding the single most challenging test case and (2 finding the set of fifty test cases with the highest mean degree of challenge.

  3. Comparison of ompP5 sequence-based typing and pulsed-filed gel ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    In this study, comparison of the outer membrane protein P5 gene (ompP5) sequence-based typing with pulsed-field gel electrophoresis (PFGE) for the genotyping of Haemophilus parasuis, the 15 serovar reference strains and 43 isolates were investigated. When comparing the two methods, 31 ompP5 sequence types ...

  4. Price Based Electric Vehicle Charging

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Mahat, Pukar; Handl, Martin; Kanstrup, Kenneth

    2012-01-01

    It is expected that a lot of the new light vehicles in the future will be electrical vehicles (EV). The storage capacity of these EVs has the potential to complement renewable energy resources and mitigate its intermittency. However, EV charging may have negative impact on the power grid. This pa......It is expected that a lot of the new light vehicles in the future will be electrical vehicles (EV). The storage capacity of these EVs has the potential to complement renewable energy resources and mitigate its intermittency. However, EV charging may have negative impact on the power grid...... method where distribution system operator (DSO) optimizes the cost of EV charging while taking substation transformer capacity into account....

  5. In situ gel systems as 'smart' carriers for sustained ocular drug delivery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agrawal, Ashish Kumar; Das, Manasmita; Jain, Sanyog

    2012-04-01

    In situ gel systems refer to a class of novel delivery vehicles, composed of natural, semisynthetic or synthetic polymers, which present the unique property of sol-gel conversion on receipt of biological stimulus. The present review summarizes the latest developments in in situ gel technology, with regard to ophthalmic drug delivery. Starting with the mechanism of ocular absorption, the review expands on the fabrication of various polymeric in situ gel systems, made up of two or more polymers presenting multi-stimuli sensitivity, coupled with other interesting features, such as bio-adhesion, enhanced penetration or sustained release. Various key issues and challenges in this area have been addressed and critically analyzed. The advent of in situ gel systems has inaugurated a new transom for 'smart' ocular delivery. By virtue of possessing stimuli-responsive phase transition properties, these systems can easily be administered into the eye, similar to normal eye drops. Their unique gelling properties endow them with special features, such as prolonged retention at the site of administration, followed by sustained drug release. Despite the superiority of these systems as compared with conventional ophthalmic formulations, further investigations are necessary to address the toxicity issues, so as to minimize regulatory hurdles during commercialization.

  6. Electric vehicle equipment for grid-integrated vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kempton, Willett

    2013-08-13

    Methods, systems, and apparatus for interfacing an electric vehicle with an electric power grid are disclosed. An exemplary apparatus may include a station communication port for interfacing with electric vehicle station equipment (EVSE), a vehicle communication port for interfacing with a vehicle management system (VMS), and a processor coupled to the station communication port and the vehicle communication port to establish communication with the EVSE via the station communication port, receive EVSE attributes from the EVSE, and issue commands to the VMS to manage power flow between the electric vehicle and the EVSE based on the EVSE attributes. An electric vehicle may interface with the grid by establishing communication with the EVSE, receiving the EVSE attributes, and managing power flow between the EVE and the grid based on the EVSE attributes.

  7. Vision based speed breaker detection for autonomous vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    C. S., Arvind; Mishra, Ritesh; Vishal, Kumar; Gundimeda, Venugopal

    2018-04-01

    In this paper, we are presenting a robust and real-time, vision-based approach to detect speed breaker in urban environments for autonomous vehicle. Our method is designed to detect the speed breaker using visual inputs obtained from a camera mounted on top of a vehicle. The method performs inverse perspective mapping to generate top view of the road and segment out region of interest based on difference of Gaussian and median filter images. Furthermore, the algorithm performs RANSAC line fitting to identify the possible speed breaker candidate region. This initial guessed region via RANSAC, is validated using support vector machine. Our algorithm can detect different categories of speed breakers on cement, asphalt and interlock roads at various conditions and have achieved a recall of 0.98.

  8. Thermostable gel polymer electrolyte based on succinonitrile and ionic liquid for high-performance solid-state supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pandey, Gaind P.; Liu, Tao; Hancock, Cody; Li, Yonghui; Sun, Xiuzhi Susan; Li, Jun

    2016-10-01

    A flexible, free-standing, thermostable gel polymer electrolyte based on plastic crystalline succinonitrile (SN) and ionic liquid 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium tetrafluoroborate (BMImBF4) entrapped in copolymer poly(vinylidene fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) is prepared and optimized for application in solvent-free solid-state supercapacitors. The synthesized gel polymer electrolyte exhibits a high ionic conductivity over a wide temperature range (from ∼5 × 10-4 S cm-1 at -30 °C up to ∼1.5 × 10-2 S cm-1 at 80 °C) with good electrochemical stability window (-2.9 to 2.5 V). Thermal studies confirm that the SN containing gel polymer electrolyte remains stable in the same gel phase over a wide temperature range from -30 to 90 °C. The electric double layer capacitors (EDLCs) have been fabricated using activated carbon as active materials and new gel polymer electrolytes. Electrochemical performance of the EDLCs is assessed through cyclic voltammetry, galvanostatic charge-discharge cycling and impedance spectroscopy. The EDLC cells with the proper SN-containing gel polymer electrolyte has been found to give high specific capacitance 176 F g-1 at 0.18 A g-1 and 138 F g-1 at 8 A g-1. These solid-state EDLC cells show good cycling stability and the capability to retain ∼80% of the initial capacitance after 10,000 cycles.

  9. Regulation of the fate of dental-derived mesenchymal stem cells using engineered alginate-GelMA hydrogels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ansari, Sahar; Sarrion, Patricia; Hasani-Sadrabadi, Mohammad Mahdi; Aghaloo, Tara; Wu, Benjamin M; Moshaverinia, Alireza

    2017-11-01

    Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) derived from dental and orofacial tissues provide an alternative therapeutic option for craniofacial bone tissue regeneration. However, there is still a need to improve stem cell delivery vehicles to regulate the fate of the encapsulated MSCs for high quality tissue regeneration. Matrix elasticity plays a vital role in MSC fate determination. Here, we have prepared various hydrogel formulations based on alginate and gelatin methacryloyl (GelMA) and have encapsulated gingival mesenchymal stem cells (GMSCs) and human bone marrow MSCs (hBMMSCs) within these fabricated hydrogels. We demonstrate that addition of the GelMA to alginate hydrogel reduces the elasticity of the hydrogel mixture. While presence of GelMA in an alginate-based scaffold significantly increased the viability of encapsulated MSCs, increasing the concentration of GelMA downregulated the osteogenic differentiation of encapsulated MSCs in vitro due to decrease in the stiffness of the hydrogel matrix. The osteogenic suppression was rescued by addition of a potent osteogenic growth factor such as rh-BMP-2. In contrast, MSCs encapsulated in alginate hydrogel without GelMA were successfully osteo-differentiated without the aid of additional growth factors, as confirmed by expression of osteogenic markers (Runx2 and OCN), as well as positive staining using Xylenol orange. Interestingly, after two weeks of osteo-differentiation, hBMMSCs and GMSCs encapsulated in alginate/GelMA hydrogels still expressed CD146, an MSC surface marker, while MSCs encapsulated in alginate hydrogel failed to express any positive staining. Altogether, our findings suggest that it is possible to control the fate of encapsulated MSCs within hydrogels by tuning the mechanical properties of the matrix. We also reconfirmed the important role of the presence of inductive signals in guiding MSC differentiation. These findings may enable the design of new multifunctional scaffolds for spatial and temporal

  10. Intelligent vehicle based traffic monitoring – exploring application in South Africa

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Labuschagne, FJJ

    2010-08-01

    Full Text Available The paper details the anticipated benefits of an intelligent vehicle based traffic monitoring approach holds. The approach utilises advanced technology with the potential to reduce crashes and includes the monitor of vehicle speeds and flows...

  11. Sol-gel synthesis of hydroxyapatite; Sintese de hidroxiapatita via sol-gel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Zupanski, M.D.; Lucena, M.P.P.; Bergmann, C.P., E-mail: michelledunin@yahoo.com.b [Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, RS (Brazil)

    2010-07-01

    Hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been established as the calcium phosphate based compound with most applications in the biological field. Among the numerous techniques for synthesis of HAp, the sol-gel processing route affords great control over purity and formed phases using low processing temperatures. In addition, the sol-gel approach offers an option for homogeneous HAp coating on metal substrates, as well as the ability to generate nanocrystalline powders. In this work, the sol-gel synthesis of HAp was investigated employing triethyl phosphate and calcium nitrate tetrahydrate as phosphorous and calcium precursors, respectively. The aging effect on phase composition and powder morphology of the final product was studied in terms of temperature and aging time. The powders were studied by using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, particle size distribution by laser diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. (author)

  12. Sol-gel based optical sensor for determination of Fe (II): a novel probe for iron speciation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Samadi-Maybodi, Abdolraouf; Rezaei, Vida; Rastegarzadeh, Saadat

    2015-02-05

    A highly selective optical sensor for Fe (II) ions was developed based on entrapment of a sensitive reagent, 2,4,6-tri(2-pyridyl)-s-triazine (TPTZ), in a silica sol-gel thin film coated on a glass substrate. The thin films fabricated based on tetraethoxysilane (TEOS) as precursor, sol-gel pH∼3, water:alkoxyde ratio of 4:1 and TPTZ concentration of 0.112 mol L(-1). The influence of sol-gel parameters on sensing behavior of the fabricated sensor was also investigated. The fabricated sensor can be used for determination of Fe (II) ion with an outstanding high selectivity over a dynamic range of 5-115 ng mL(-1) and a detection limit of 1.68 ng mL(-1). It also showed reproducible results with relative standard deviation of 3.5% and 1.27% for 10 and 90 ng mL(-1) of Fe (II), respectively, along with a fast response time of ∼120 s. Total iron also was determined after reduction of Fe (III) to Fe (II) using ascorbic acid as reducing agent. Then, the concentration of Fe (III) was calculated by subtracting the concentration of Fe (II) from the total iron concentration. Interference studies showed a good selectivity for Fe (II) with trapping TPTZ into sol-gel matrix and appropriately adjusting the structure of doped sol-gel. The sensor was compared with other sensors and was applied to determine iron in different water samples with good results. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. A science-based executive for autonomous planetary vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peters, S.

    2001-01-01

    If requests for scientific observations, rather than specific plans, are uplinked to an autonomous execution system on the vehicle, it would be able to adjust its execution based upon actual performance. Such a science-based executive control system had been developed and demonstrated for the Rocky7 research rover.

  14. Development of strippable gel for surface decontamination applications

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banerjee, D.; Sandhya, U.; Khot, S.A.; Srinivas, C.

    2015-07-01

    Strippable gels are an attractive option for decontamination of surfaces particularly when materials are to be reused after decontamination. The process in general results in good decontamination performance with minimal secondary waste generation. This paper reports on development of strippable gel formulation using polyvinyl alcohol as the gel former. Peeling behavior of the gel film improved when glycerol was used as plasticizer. Incorporation of decontaminating agents is essential for the gel to be effective, so a number of decontaminating agents were screened based on their miscibility with the gel, smooth peeling, and good decontamination performance. Based on this study, a strippable gel, ‘INDIGEL’ was formulated as a potential candidate for surface decontamination applications. Extensive trials on evaluation of decontamination performance of Indigel were done on simulated surfaces like stainless steel tray, stainless steel fume hood, PVC floor, granite and ceramic table tops. Results show that Indigel is highly effective for decontamination of surfaces contaminated with all types of radionuclides. Simplicity of its use coupled with good decontamination ability will find application in nuclear and other chemical industries. (author)

  15. Vehicle State Estimator based regenerative braking implementation on an electric vehicle to improve lateral vehicle stability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, S.T.H.; van Boekel, J.J.P.; Iersel, van S.S.; Besselink, I.J.M.; Nijmeijer, H.

    2013-01-01

    The driving range of electric vehicles can be extended using regenerative braking. Regenerative braking uses the electric drive system, and therefore only the driven wheels, for decelerating the vehicle. Braking on one axle affects the stability of the vehicle, especially for road conditions with

  16. Vehicle state estimator based regenerative braking implementation on an electric vehicle to improve lateral vehicle stability

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Jansen, S.T.H.; Boekel, J.J.P. van; Iersel, S.S. van; Besselink, I.J.M.; Nijmeijer, H.

    2013-01-01

    The driving range of electric vehicles can be extended using regenerative braking. Regenerative braking uses the elctric drive system, and therefore only the driven wheels, for decelerating the vehicle. Braking on one axle affects the stability of the vehicle, especially for road conditions with

  17. Comparison of the surface ion density of silica gel evaluated via spectral induced polarization versus acid-base titration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hao, Na; Moysey, Stephen M. J.; Powell, Brian A.; Ntarlagiannis, Dimitrios

    2016-12-01

    Surface complexation models are widely used with batch adsorption experiments to characterize and predict surface geochemical processes in porous media. In contrast, the spectral induced polarization (SIP) method has recently been used to non-invasively monitor in situ subsurface chemical reactions in porous media, such as ion adsorption processes on mineral surfaces. Here we compare these tools for investigating surface site density changes during pH-dependent sodium adsorption on a silica gel. Continuous SIP measurements were conducted using a lab scale column packed with silica gel. A constant inflow of 0.05 M NaCl solution was introduced to the column while the influent pH was changed from 7.0 to 10.0 over the course of the experiment. The SIP measurements indicate that the pH change caused a 38.49 ± 0.30 μS cm- 1 increase in the imaginary conductivity of the silica gel. This increase is thought to result from deprotonation of silanol groups on the silica gel surface caused by the rise in pH, followed by sorption of Na+ cations. Fitting the SIP data using the mechanistic model of Leroy et al. (Leroyet al., 2008), which is based on the triple layer model of a mineral surface, we estimated an increase in the silica gel surface site density of 26.9 × 1016 sites m- 2. We independently used a potentiometric acid-base titration data for the silica gel to calibrate the triple layer model using the software FITEQL and observed a total increase in the surface site density for sodium sorption of 11.2 × 1016 sites m- 2, which is approximately 2.4 times smaller than the value estimated using the SIP model. By simulating the SIP response based on the calibrated surface complexation model, we found a moderate association between the measured and estimated imaginary conductivity (R2 = 0.65). These results suggest that the surface complexation model used here does not capture all mechanisms contributing to polarization of the silica gel captured by the SIP data.

  18. In-vitro release and permeation studies of ketoconazole from optimized dermatological vehicles using powder, nanoparticles and solid dispersion forms of drug

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mohammed, Irfan A.

    To optimize the clinical efficacy of Ketoconazole from an externally applied product, this project was undertaken to evaluate the drug release/permeation profile from various dermatological vehicles using regular powder, nanoparticles and solid dispersion forms with reduced level of drug. Nanoparticles of drug were prepared by wet media milling method using Polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP-10K) as a stabilizer. The nanoparticles were in the size range of 250-300nm. Solid dispersion was prepared by solvent evaporation method using drug to PVP-10K at a weight ratio of (1:2). Formulations containing 1% w/w drug were developed using HPMC gel, Carbomer gel and a cationic cream as the vehicles. Penetration enhancers including propylene glycol (PG), dimethylsulfoxide (DMSO) and polyethylene glycol 400 (PEG-400) at various levels were evaluated. A commercial 2% w/w ketoconazole product was included as a control for comparison. Studies were carried out with Franz Diffusion Cells using cellulose membrane and human cadaver skin for two and six hour studies. Among the formulations evaluated, the general rank order of the drug release through the cellulose membrane was observed to be: HPMC gel base > Anionic gel base > Cationic gel base > Commercial product. The addition of penetration enhancers showed variable effects in all samples evaluated. However, the HPMC gel-based vehicle showed significant effect in enhancing the drug release in the presence of DMSO. The formulation containing 1% w/w ketoconazole and 20% w/w DMSO gave a maximum drug release of 20.21% when compared to only 1.60% from the commercial product. This represents a twelve fold increase in the release of ketoconazole from the formulation. Furthermore, when the optimum gel-based formulation containing 1% w/w ketoconazole was studied over an extended period of 6 hours, it gave 36.01% drug release from the sample formulation compared to only 2.00% from the commercial product. Finally, this formulation was selected to

  19. Correlation of acidic and basic carrier ampholyte and immobilized pH gradient two-dimensional gel electrophoresis patterns based on mass spectrometric protein identification

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Nawrocki, A; Larsen, Martin Røssel; Podtelejnikov, A V

    1998-01-01

    Separation of proteins on either carrier ampholyte-based or immobilized pH gradient-based two-dimensional (2-D) gels gives rise to electrophoretic patterns that are difficult to compare visually. In this paper we have used matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization mass spectrometry (MALDI......-MS) to determine the identities of 335 protein spots in these two 2-D gel systems, including a substantial number of basic proteins which had never been identified before. Proteins that were identified in both gel systems allowed us to cross-reference the gel patterns. Vector analysis of these cross...

  20. Composite Biomaterials Based on Sol-Gel Mesoporous Silicate Glasses: A Review

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baino, Francesco; Fiorilli, Sonia; Vitale-Brovarone, Chiara

    2017-01-01

    Bioactive glasses are able to bond to bone and stimulate the growth of new tissue while dissolving over time, which makes them ideal materials for regenerative medicine. The advent of mesoporous glasses, which are typically synthesized via sol-gel routes, allowed researchers to develop a broad and versatile class of novel biomaterials that combine superior bone regenerative potential (compared to traditional melt-derived glasses) with the ability of incorporating drugs and various biomolecules for targeted therapy in situ. Mesoporous glass particles can be directly embedded as a bioactive phase within a non-porous (e.g., microspheres), porous (3D scaffolds) or injectable matrix, or be processed to manufacture a surface coating on inorganic or organic (macro)porous substrates, thereby obtaining hierarchical structures with multiscale porosity. This review provides a picture of composite systems and coatings based on mesoporous glasses and highlights the challenges for the future, including the great potential of inorganic–organic hybrid sol-gel biomaterials. PMID:28952496

  1. Implementation Approach for Electric Vehicles at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Task 4

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schey, Stephen [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Francfort, Jim [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-11-01

    Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, managing and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, is the lead laboratory for U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Testing. Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC contracted with Intertek Testing Services, North America (Intertek) to conduct several U.S. Department of Defense base studies to identify potential U.S. Department of Defense transportation systems that are strong candidates for introduction or expansion of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). This study is focused on the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (MCBCL) located in North Carolina. Task 1 consisted of a survey of the non-tactical fleet of vehicles at MCBCL to begin the review of vehicle mission assignments and types of vehicles in service. In Task 2, daily operational characteristics of vehicles were identified to select vehicles for further monitoring and attachment of data loggers. Task 3 recorded vehicle movements in order to characterize the vehicles’ missions. The results of the data analysis and observations were provided. Individual observations of the selected vehicles provided the basis for recommendations related to PEV adoption, i.e., whether a battery electric vehicle (BEV) or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (PHEV) (collectively PEVs) can fulfill the mission requirements. It also provided the basis for recommendations related to placement of PEV charging infrastructure. This report focuses on an implementation plan for the near-term adoption of PEVs into the MCBCL fleet. Intertek acknowledges the support of Idaho National Laboratory, Marine Corps headquarters, and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune fleet management and personnel for participation in this study. Intertek is pleased to provide this report and is encouraged by enthusiasm and support from MCBCL personnel.

  2. New TA Index-Based Rollover Prevention System for Electric Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiang Liu

    2015-03-01

    Full Text Available In addition to clean transportation and energy savings, electric vehicles can inherently offer better performance in the field of active safety and dynamic stability control, thanks to the superior fast and accurate control characteristics of electric motors. With the novel wheel status parameter TA for electric vehicles proposed by the authors in an earlier publication, a new TA index (TAI-based rollover prevention method is presented in this paper to improve the driving performance of EVs equipped with in-wheel motors. A three-level electric vehicle control structure is used to analyze the effective control steps for rollover prevention with the newly proposed TAI method. The simulation is conducted using an in-house developed electric vehicle dynamic model. The simulation results prove the feasibility of using TAI to detect rollover. The experiment uses an electric vehicle equipped with four in-wheel motors in the authors’ research lab. The vehicle parameter and performance data are imported to CarSim, which is industrial standard vehicle dynamic analysis software to run the rollover test. The experimental results also demonstrate that TAI is an effective method of rollover prevention.

  3. Cycling Performance of Li4Ti5O12 Electrodes in Ionic Liquid-Based Gel Polymer Electrolytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Jin Hee; Kim, Dong Won; Kang, Yong Ku

    2012-01-01

    We investigated the cycling behavior of Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 electrode in a cross-linked gel polymer electrolyte based on non-flammable ionic liquid consisting of 1-butyl-1-methylpyrrolidinium bis(trifluoromethanesulfonyl) imide and vinylene carbonate. The Li 4 Ti 5 O 12 electrodes in ionic liquid-based gel polymer electrolytes exhibited reversible cycling behavior with good capacity retention. Cycling data and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy analyses revealed that the optimum content of the cross-linking agent necessary to ensure both acceptable initial discharge capacity and good capacity retention was about 8 wt %

  4. Vision-Based SLAM System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Rodrigo Munguía

    2016-03-01

    Full Text Available The present paper describes a vision-based simultaneous localization and mapping system to be applied to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs. The main contribution of this work is to propose a novel estimator relying on an Extended Kalman Filter. The estimator is designed in order to fuse the measurements obtained from: (i an orientation sensor (AHRS; (ii a position sensor (GPS; and (iii a monocular camera. The estimated state consists of the full state of the vehicle: position and orientation and their first derivatives, as well as the location of the landmarks observed by the camera. The position sensor will be used only during the initialization period in order to recover the metric scale of the world. Afterwards, the estimated map of landmarks will be used to perform a fully vision-based navigation when the position sensor is not available. Experimental results obtained with simulations and real data show the benefits of the inclusion of camera measurements into the system. In this sense the estimation of the trajectory of the vehicle is considerably improved, compared with the estimates obtained using only the measurements from the position sensor, which are commonly low-rated and highly noisy.

  5. Vision-Based SLAM System for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munguía, Rodrigo; Urzua, Sarquis; Bolea, Yolanda; Grau, Antoni

    2016-03-15

    The present paper describes a vision-based simultaneous localization and mapping system to be applied to Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). The main contribution of this work is to propose a novel estimator relying on an Extended Kalman Filter. The estimator is designed in order to fuse the measurements obtained from: (i) an orientation sensor (AHRS); (ii) a position sensor (GPS); and (iii) a monocular camera. The estimated state consists of the full state of the vehicle: position and orientation and their first derivatives, as well as the location of the landmarks observed by the camera. The position sensor will be used only during the initialization period in order to recover the metric scale of the world. Afterwards, the estimated map of landmarks will be used to perform a fully vision-based navigation when the position sensor is not available. Experimental results obtained with simulations and real data show the benefits of the inclusion of camera measurements into the system. In this sense the estimation of the trajectory of the vehicle is considerably improved, compared with the estimates obtained using only the measurements from the position sensor, which are commonly low-rated and highly noisy.

  6. Functional coatings: the sol-gel approach

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Belleville, Ph.

    2010-01-01

    CEA's sol-gel laboratory is specialized in the development of innovative sol-gel optical coatings and has extended its application field to membrane materials and coatings for energy conversion, to electric coatings for microelectronics devices and to thin films for gas sensing. This article describes, by way of examples, the laboratory's research on sol-gel functional coatings, including nano-material synthesis, organic-inorganic hybrid-based solution preparation as well as deposition process development and prototyping. (author)

  7. Vehicle Ownership Analysis Based on GDP per Capita in China: 1963–2050

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tian Wu

    2014-08-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents the Gompertz function of per capita GDP and vehicle stock to forecast the vehicle ownership of China through to 2050 against a background of increasing energy use and CO2 emissions associated with the potential demands of on-road vehicles. We forecast the level of vehicle stock in China based on the extant patterns of vehicle development in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD countries, Europe, the United States and Japan. The results show that the OECD pattern and European pattern are more suitable for describing China’s vehicle stock growth when compared with Japanese and U.S. patterns. The study finds that China’s vehicle stock has developed as an S-shaped curve. During the forecast period, the inflection point of the increasing curve appears around the year 2030, with the annual growth of vehicle ownership increasing from 6.13% to 9.50% in the prior period prior and subsequently dropping to 0.45% in 2050. Based on the sensitivity analysis and robustness check, the impact of different Gompertz curve parameters and GDP growth rates on vehicle stock projection are analyzed.

  8. Indium oxide octahedrons based on sol–gel process enhance room temperature gas sensing performance

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mu, Xiaohui [Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing & Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, Shandong (China); Chen, Changlong, E-mail: chem.chencl@hotmail.com [Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing & Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, Shandong (China); Han, Liuyuan [Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing & Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, Shandong (China); Shao, Baiqi [State Key Laboratory of Rare Earth Resource Utilization, Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Changchun 130022 (China); Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing 100049 (China); Wei, Yuling [Instrumental Analysis Center, Qilu University of Technology, Jinan 250353, Shandong (China); Liu, Qinglong; Zhu, Peihua [Key Laboratory of Chemical Sensing & Analysis in Universities of Shandong, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, University of Jinan, Jinan 250022, Shandong (China)

    2015-07-15

    Highlights: • In{sub 2}O{sub 3} octahedron films are prepared based on sol–gel technique for the first time. • The preparation possesses merits of low temperature, catalyst-free and large production. • It was found that the spin-coating process in film fabrication was key to achieve the octahedrons. • The In{sub 2}O{sub 3} octahedrons could significantly enhance room temperature NO{sub 2} gas sensing performance. - Abstract: Indium oxide octahedrons were prepared on glass substrates through a mild route based on sol–gel technique. The preparation possesses characteristics including low temperature, catalyst-free and large production, which is much distinguished from the chemical-vapor-deposition based methods that usually applied to prepare indium oxide octahedrons. Detailed characterization revealed that the indium oxide octahedrons were single crystalline, with {1 1 1} crystal facets exposed. It was found that the spin-coating technique was key for achieving the indium oxide crystals with octahedron morphology. The probable formation mechanism of the indium oxide octahedrons was proposed based on the experiment results. Room temperature NO{sub 2} gas sensing measurements exhibited that the indium oxide octahedrons could significantly enhance the sensing performance in comparison with the plate-like indium oxide particles that prepared from the dip-coated gel films, which was attributed to the abundant sharp edges and tips as well as the special {1 1 1} crystal facets exposed that the former possessed. Such a simple wet-chemical based method to prepare indium oxide octahedrons with large-scale production is promising to provide the advanced materials that can be applied in wide fields like gas sensing, solar energy conversion, field emission, and so on.

  9. Indium oxide octahedrons based on sol–gel process enhance room temperature gas sensing performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mu, Xiaohui; Chen, Changlong; Han, Liuyuan; Shao, Baiqi; Wei, Yuling; Liu, Qinglong; Zhu, Peihua

    2015-01-01

    Highlights: • In 2 O 3 octahedron films are prepared based on sol–gel technique for the first time. • The preparation possesses merits of low temperature, catalyst-free and large production. • It was found that the spin-coating process in film fabrication was key to achieve the octahedrons. • The In 2 O 3 octahedrons could significantly enhance room temperature NO 2 gas sensing performance. - Abstract: Indium oxide octahedrons were prepared on glass substrates through a mild route based on sol–gel technique. The preparation possesses characteristics including low temperature, catalyst-free and large production, which is much distinguished from the chemical-vapor-deposition based methods that usually applied to prepare indium oxide octahedrons. Detailed characterization revealed that the indium oxide octahedrons were single crystalline, with {1 1 1} crystal facets exposed. It was found that the spin-coating technique was key for achieving the indium oxide crystals with octahedron morphology. The probable formation mechanism of the indium oxide octahedrons was proposed based on the experiment results. Room temperature NO 2 gas sensing measurements exhibited that the indium oxide octahedrons could significantly enhance the sensing performance in comparison with the plate-like indium oxide particles that prepared from the dip-coated gel films, which was attributed to the abundant sharp edges and tips as well as the special {1 1 1} crystal facets exposed that the former possessed. Such a simple wet-chemical based method to prepare indium oxide octahedrons with large-scale production is promising to provide the advanced materials that can be applied in wide fields like gas sensing, solar energy conversion, field emission, and so on

  10. A Robust Vehicle Localization Approach Based on GNSS/IMU/DMI/LiDAR Sensor Fusion for Autonomous Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoli Meng

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Precise and robust localization in a large-scale outdoor environment is essential for an autonomous vehicle. In order to improve the performance of the fusion of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System/IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit/DMI (Distance-Measuring Instruments, a multi-constraint fault detection approach is proposed to smooth the vehicle locations in spite of GNSS jumps. Furthermore, the lateral localization error is compensated by the point cloud-based lateral localization method proposed in this paper. Experiment results have verified the algorithms proposed in this paper, which shows that the algorithms proposed in this paper are capable of providing precise and robust vehicle localization.

  11. A Robust Vehicle Localization Approach Based on GNSS/IMU/DMI/LiDAR Sensor Fusion for Autonomous Vehicles.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Meng, Xiaoli; Wang, Heng; Liu, Bingbing

    2017-09-18

    Precise and robust localization in a large-scale outdoor environment is essential for an autonomous vehicle. In order to improve the performance of the fusion of GNSS (Global Navigation Satellite System)/IMU (Inertial Measurement Unit)/DMI (Distance-Measuring Instruments), a multi-constraint fault detection approach is proposed to smooth the vehicle locations in spite of GNSS jumps. Furthermore, the lateral localization error is compensated by the point cloud-based lateral localization method proposed in this paper. Experiment results have verified the algorithms proposed in this paper, which shows that the algorithms proposed in this paper are capable of providing precise and robust vehicle localization.

  12. Improving the temperature performance of low-density ceramic heatshields through sol-gel processing

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bull, Jeffrey; Leiser, Daniel; Sommers, Jeneen; Esfahani, Lili

    1991-01-01

    The performance of rigid insulations for use as thermal protection materials on reentry vehicles can be characterized by their resistance to dimensional and morphological change when exposed to an isothermal environment equivalent to that generated in entry. Improvements in these material characteristics for alumina-enhanced thermal barrier insulation by compositional modification through sol-gel processing are reported.

  13. Fuzzy Sliding Mode Lateral Control of Intelligent Vehicle Based on Vision

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Linhui Li

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available The lateral control of intelligent vehicle is studied in this paper, with the intelligent vehicle DLUIV-1 based on visual navigation as the object of research. Firstly, the lateral control model based on visual preview is established. The kinematics model based on visual preview, including speed and other factors, is used to calculate the lateral error and direction error. Secondly, according to the characteristics of lateral control, an efficient strategy of intelligent vehicle lateral mode is proposed. The integration of the vehicle current lateral error and direction error is chosen as the parameter of the sliding mode switching function to design the sliding surface. The control variables are adjusted according to the fuzzy control rules to ensure that they meet the existence and reaching condition. The sliding mode switching function is regarded as the control objective, to ensure the stability of the steering wheel rotation. Simulation results show that the lateral controller can guarantee high path-tracking accuracy and strong robustness for the change of model parameters.

  14. Fine-grained vehicle type recognition based on deep convolution neural networks

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hongcai CHEN

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Public security and traffic department put forward higher requirements for real-time performance and accuracy of vehicle type recognition in complex traffic scenes. Aiming at the problems of great plice forces occupation, low retrieval efficiency, and lacking of intelligence for dealing with false license, fake plate vehicles and vehicles without plates, this paper proposes a vehicle type fine-grained recognition method based GoogleNet deep convolution neural networks. The filter size and numbers of convolution neural network are designed, the activation function and vehicle type classifier are optimally selected, and a new network framework is constructed for vehicle type fine-grained recognition. The experimental results show that the proposed method has 97% accuracy for vehicle type fine-grained recognition and has greater improvement than the original GoogleNet model. Moreover, the new model effectively reduces the number of training parameters, and saves computer memory. Fine-grained vehicle type recognition can be used in intelligent traffic management area, and has important theoretical research value and practical significance.

  15. Fast and efficient proteolysis by reusable pepsin-encapsulated magnetic sol-gel material for mass spectrometry-based proteomics applications.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kayili, H Mehmet; Salih, Bekir

    2016-08-01

    Hydrophobic silicon-based material having magnetic properties was fairly synthesized by a classical sol-gel approach. Pepsin enzyme was encapsulated in the sol-gel material and the enzyme activity was evaluated in consequence of the digestion of some common proteins such as α- and β-casein, cytochrome c, myoglobin, and bovine serum albumin (BSA) both in a single protein batch and in the protein mixture. The optimum digestion time of the studied proteins using pepsin-encapsulated magnetic sol-gel material was found to be 20min. To produce the magnetic sol-gel material for convenient and easy proteomics applications, Fe3O4 was doped inside sol-gel material during the gelation step. It was observed that the activity of encapsulated pepsin was not affected by the amount of Fe3O4. Poly(ethylene glycol) was also inserted in sol-gel bulk to obtain suitable roughness and increase the hydrophilicity of the material surface to let protein molecules reach to the sol-gel material easily. The digestion of the protein mixture and non-fat bovine milk was performed with the pepsin-encapsulated magnetic sol-gel material and the digested solutions were analyzed using SDS-PAGE, MALDI-TOF-MS and LC-MS/MS for the protein identification. Reusability of the pepsin-encapsulated sol-gel material was examined and it was determined that they could be used at least 20 times. Finally, IgG digestions with a fast incubation time period were carried out using pepsin-encapsulated sol-gel material for generation of (Fab)2 product to evaluate the kinetic performance of the material. Copyright © 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  16. [In vitro evaluation of the gels properties prepared on Pluronic F-127 as vehicles for administration prolactin by injection].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Karolewicz, Bozena; Pawlik-Gałczyńska, Anna; Pluta, Janusz; Ryszka, Florian

    2011-01-01

    The aim of this study was to prepare a thermoresponsive formulations, which are a carrier for proteins--prolactin administered directly into solid tumor and which obtain sol-gel transitions at physiological ranges of temperature. Prolactin (PRL) is a hormone that in vivo and in vitro exhibits antiangiogenic properties. Application of this protein in the proposed formulations can be particularly advantageous because of its relatively low stability and limited ability to transmembrane penetration. The paper prepared thermoresponsive carriers, based on nonionic polymer Pluronic F-127 with selected excipients such as dextran 7000, PEG 400, Tween 20 and Tween 80. The sol-gel transition temperature of the formulations was investigated and their physicochemical properties such as pH, density, osmotic pressure were studied. In the remainder of the work carried out tests of prolactin release from the proposed media. The results obtained indicate that a significant influence on the theological parameters obtained carriers and the availability of pharmaceutical composition of prolactin was developed formulation.

  17. Real-time vehicle detection and tracking in video based on faster R-CNN

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Yongjie; Wang, Jian; Yang, Xin

    2017-08-01

    Vehicle detection and tracking is a significant part in auxiliary vehicle driving system. Using the traditional detection method based on image information has encountered enormous difficulties, especially in complex background. To solve this problem, a detection method based on deep learning, Faster R-CNN, which has very high detection accuracy and flexibility, is introduced. An algorithm of target tracking with the combination of Camshift and Kalman filter is proposed for vehicle tracking. The computation time of Faster R-CNN cannot achieve realtime detection. We use multi-thread technique to detect and track vehicle by parallel computation for real-time application.

  18. Gadolinium-loaded gel scintillators for neutron and antineutrino detection

    Science.gov (United States)

    Riddle, Catherine Lynn; Akers, Douglas William; Demmer, Ricky Lynn; Paviet, Patricia Denise; Drigert, Mark William

    2016-11-29

    A gadolinium (Gd) loaded scintillation gel (Gd-ScintGel) compound allows for neutron and gamma-ray detection. The unique gel scintillator encompasses some of the best features of both liquid and solid scintillators, yet without many of the disadvantages associated therewith. Preferably, the gel scintillator is a water soluble Gd-DTPA compound and water soluble fluorophores such as: CdSe/ZnS (or ZnS) quantum dot (Q-dot) nanoparticles, coumarin derivatives 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin, 7-hydroxy-4-methylcoumarin-3-acetic acid, 7-hydroxycoumarin-3-carboxylic acid, and Alexa Fluor 350 as well as a carbostyril compound, carbostyril 124 in a stable water-based gel, such as methylcellulose or polyacrylamide polymers. The Gd-loaded ScintGel allows for a homogenious distribution of the Gd-DTPA and the fluorophores, and yields clean fluorescent emission peaks. A moderator, such as deuterium or a water-based clear polymer, can be incorporated in the Gd-ScintGel. The gel scintillators can be used in compact detectors, including neutron and antineutrino detectors.

  19. Fundamentals of Polymer Gel Dosimeters

    Science.gov (United States)

    McAuley, Kim B.

    2006-12-01

    The recent literature on polymer gel dosimetry contains application papers and basic experimental studies involving polymethacrylic-acid-based and polyacrylamide-based gel dosimeters. The basic studies assess the relative merits of these two most commonly used dosimeters, and explore the effects of tetrakis hydroxymethyl phosphonium chloride (THPC) antioxidant on dosimeter performance. Polymer gel dosimeters that contain THPC or other oxygen scavengers are called normoxic dosimeters, because they can be prepared under normal atmospheric conditions, rather than in a glove box that excludes oxygen. In this review, an effort is made to explain some of the underlying chemical phenomena that affect dosimeter performance using THPC, and that lead to differences in behaviour between dosimeters made using the two types of monomer systems. Progress on the development of new more effective and less toxic dosimeters is also reported.

  20. Intelligent model-based diagnostics for vehicle health management

    Science.gov (United States)

    Luo, Jianhui; Tu, Fang; Azam, Mohammad S.; Pattipati, Krishna R.; Willett, Peter K.; Qiao, Liu; Kawamoto, Masayuki

    2003-08-01

    The recent advances in sensor technology, remote communication and computational capabilities, and standardized hardware/software interfaces are creating a dramatic shift in the way the health of vehicles is monitored and managed. These advances facilitate remote monitoring, diagnosis and condition-based maintenance of automotive systems. With the increased sophistication of electronic control systems in vehicles, there is a concomitant increased difficulty in the identification of the malfunction phenomena. Consequently, the current rule-based diagnostic systems are difficult to develop, validate and maintain. New intelligent model-based diagnostic methodologies that exploit the advances in sensor, telecommunications, computing and software technologies are needed. In this paper, we will investigate hybrid model-based techniques that seamlessly employ quantitative (analytical) models and graph-based dependency models for intelligent diagnosis. Automotive engineers have found quantitative simulation (e.g. MATLAB/SIMULINK) to be a vital tool in the development of advanced control systems. The hybrid method exploits this capability to improve the diagnostic system's accuracy and consistency, utilizes existing validated knowledge on rule-based methods, enables remote diagnosis, and responds to the challenges of increased system complexity. The solution is generic and has the potential for application in a wide range of systems.

  1. Effect of Organic Solvents in Preparation of Silica-Based Chemical Gel Decontaminates for Decontamination of Nuclear Facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yoon, Suk Bon; Jung, Chong Hun; Kim, Chang Ki; Choi, Byung Seon; Lee, Kune Woo; Moon, Jei Kwon

    2011-01-01

    Decontamination of nuclear facilities is necessary to reduce the radiation field during normal operations and decommissioning of complex equipment such as stainless steel components, other iron-based steel and alloys, metal surfaces, structural materials and so on. Chemical decontamination technology in particular is a highly effective method to remove the radioactive contamination through a chemical dissolution or a redox reaction. However, this method has the serious drawback due to the generation of large amounts of the radioactive liquid wastes. Recently, a few literatures have been reported for the preparation of the chemical gel decontaminants to reduce the amount of the radioactive liquid wastes and to enhance the decontamination efficiency through increasing the contact time between the gels and the radioactive contaminants. In the preparation of the chemical gels, the control of the viscosity highly depends on the amount of a coviscosifier used among the components of the chemical gels consisted of a viscosifier, a coviscosifier, and a chemical decontaminant. In this works, a new effective method for the preparation of the chemical gel was investigated by introducing the organic solvents. The mixture solution of the coviscosifier and organic solvent was more effective in the control of the viscosity compared with that of the coviscosifier only in gels. Furthermore, the decontamination efficiency of the chemical gels measured by using the multi-channel analyzer (MCA) showed the high decontamination factor for Co-60 and Cs-137 contaminated on the surface of the stainless steel 304

  2. A CCD-based system for the detection of DNA in electrophoresis gels by UV absorption

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Mahon, A.R.; MacDonald, J.H.; Mainwood, A.; Ott, R.J.

    1999-01-01

    A method and apparatus for the detection and quantification of large fragments of unlabelled nucleic acids in agarose gels is presented. The technique is based on ultraviolet (UV) absorption by nucleotides. A deuterium source illuminates individual sample lanes of an electrophoresis gel via an array of optical fibres. As DNA bands pass through the illuminated region of the gel the amount of UV light transmitted is reduced because of absorption by the DNA. During electrophoresis the regions of DNA are detected on-line using a UV-sensitive charge coupled device (CCD). As the absorption coefficient is proportional to the mass of DNA the technique is inherently quantitative. The mass of DNA in a region of the gel is approximately proportional to the integrated signal in the corresponding section of the CCD image. This system currently has a detection limit of less than 1.25 ng compared with 2-10 ng for the most popular conventional technique, ethidium bromide (EtBr) staining. In addition the DNA sample remains in its native state. The removal of the carcinogenic dye from the detection procedure greatly reduces associated biological hazards. (author)

  3. Dynamics of subway networks based on vehicles operation timetable

    Science.gov (United States)

    Xiao, Xue-mei; Jia, Li-min; Wang, Yan-hui

    2017-05-01

    In this paper, a subway network is represented as a dynamic, directed and weighted graph, in which vertices represent subway stations and weights of edges represent the number of vehicles passing through the edges by considering vehicles operation timetable. Meanwhile the definitions of static and dynamic metrics which can represent vertices' and edges' local and global attributes are proposed. Based on the model and metrics, standard deviation is further introduced to study the dynamic properties (heterogeneity and vulnerability) of subway networks. Through a detailed analysis of the Beijing subway network, we conclude that with the existing network structure, the heterogeneity and vulnerability of the Beijing subway network varies over time when the vehicle operation timetable is taken into consideration, and the distribution of edge weights affects the performance of the network. In other words, although the vehicles operation timetable is restrained by the physical structure of the network, it determines the performances and properties of the Beijing subway network.

  4. Role of alkyl alcohol on viscosity of silica-based chemical gels for decontamination of highly radioactive nuclear facilities

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Choi, B. S.; Yoon, S. B.; Jung, C. H.; Lee, K. W.; Moon, J. K.

    2012-01-01

    Silica-based chemical gel for the decontamination of nuclear facilities was prepared by using fumed silica as a viscosifier, a 0.5 M Ce (IV) solution dissolved in concentrated nitric acid as a chemical decontamination agent, and tripropylene glycol butyl ether (TPGBE) as a co-viscosifier. A new effective strategy for the preparation of the chemical gel was investigated by introducing the alkyl alcohols as organic solvents to effectively dissolve the co-viscosifier. The mixture solution of the co-viscosifier and alkyl alcohols was more effective in the control of viscosity than that of the co-viscosifier only in gel. Here, the alkyl alcohols played a key role as an effective dissolution solvent for the co-viscosifier in the preparation of the chemical gel, resulting in a reducing of the amount of the co-viscosifier and gel time compared with that of the chemical gel prepared without the alkyl alcohols. It was considered that the alkyl alcohols contributed to the effective dissolution of the co-viscosifier as well as the homogeneous mixing in the formation of the gel, while the co-viscosifier in an aqueous media of the chemical decontamination agent solution showed a lower solubility. The decontamination efficiency of the chemical gels prepared in this work using a multi-channel analyzer (MCA) showed a high decontamination efficiency of over ca. 94% and ca. 92% for Co-60 and Cs-137 contaminated on surface of the stainless steel 304, respectively. (authors)

  5. Intelligent behaviors through vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication

    Science.gov (United States)

    Garcia, Richard D.; Sturgeon, Purser; Brown, Mike

    2012-06-01

    The last decade has seen a significant increase in intelligent safety devices on private automobiles. These devices have both increased and augmented the situational awareness of the driver and in some cases provided automated vehicle responses. To date almost all intelligent safety devices have relied on data directly perceived by the vehicle. This constraint has a direct impact on the types of solutions available to the vehicle. In an effort to improve the safety options available to a vehicle, numerous research laboratories and government agencies are investing time and resources into connecting vehicles to each other and to infrastructure-based devices. This work details several efforts in both the commercial vehicle and the private auto industries to increase vehicle safety and driver situational awareness through vehicle-to-vehicle and vehicle-to-infrastructure communication. It will specifically discuss intelligent behaviors being designed to automatically disable non-compliant vehicles, warn tractor trailer vehicles of unsafe lane maneuvers such as lane changes, passing, and merging, and alert drivers to non-line-of-sight emergencies.

  6. Thixotropic corrosive gels for nuclear decontamination

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Bargues, St.

    1998-01-01

    The aim of this thesis was the development of corrosive gels for metallic surface decontamination. These gels formulation, based on a powerful oxidant (the cerium IV), the nitric acid, a mineral charge (silica) and a non ionic surface-active, has been developed according to the specific constraints of the nuclear industry. The objective was to prepare thixotropic gels becoming liquid after shacking to allow an easy pulverization and coming again solid to permit a perfect adhesion on the metallic surface. This rheological study of the gels has been completed by an evaluation of their corrosive properties. The last part of the work presents an industrial utilization during two years. (A.L.B.)

  7. Fibril formation from pea protein and subsequent gel formation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munialo, Claire Darizu; Martin, Anneke H; van der Linden, Erik; de Jongh, Harmen H J

    2014-03-19

    The objective of this study was to characterize fibrillar aggregates made using pea proteins, to assemble formed fibrils into protein-based gels, and to study the rheological behavior of these gels. Micrometer-long fibrillar aggregates were observed after pea protein solutions had been heated for 20 h at pH 2.0. Following heating of pea proteins, it was observed that all of the proteins were hydrolyzed into peptides and that 50% of these peptides were assembled into fibrils. Changes on a structural level in pea proteins were studied using circular dichroism, transmission electron microscopy, and particle size analysis. During the fibril assembly process, an increase in aggregate size was observed, which coincided with an increase in thioflavin T binding, indicating the presence of β-sheet aggregates. Fibrils made using pea proteins were more branched and curly. Gel formation of preformed fibrils was induced by slow acidification from pH 7.0 to a final pH of around pH 5.0. The ability of pea protein-based fibrillar gels to fracture during an amplitude sweep was comparable to those of soy protein and whey protein-based fibrillar gels, although gels prepared from fibrils made using pea protein and soy protein were weaker than those of whey protein. The findings show that fibrils can be prepared from pea protein, which can be incorporated into protein-based fibrillar gels.

  8. High Impulse Nanoparticulate-Based Gel Propellants, Phase I

    Data.gov (United States)

    National Aeronautics and Space Administration — This proposed Small Business Innovative Research (SBIR) Phase I addresses the development of advanced gel propellants and determination of their suitability for...

  9. Sol-Gel Glasses

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukherjee, S. P.

    1985-01-01

    Multicomponent homogeneous, ultrapure noncrystalline gels/gel derived glasses are promising batch materials for the containerless glass melting experiments in microgravity. Hence, ultrapure, homogeneous gel precursors could be used to: (1) investigate the effect of the container induced nucleation on the glass forming ability of marginally glass forming compositions; and (2) investigate the influence of gravity on the phase separation and coarsening behavior of gel derived glasses in the liquid-liquid immiscibility zone of the nonsilicate systems having a high density phase. The structure and crystallization behavior of gels in the SiO2-GeO2 as a function of gel chemistry and thermal treatment were investigated. As are the chemical principles involved in the distribution of a second network former in silica gel matrix being investigated. The procedures for synthesizing noncrystalline gels/gel-monoliths in the SiO2-GeO2, GeO2-PbO systems were developed. Preliminary investigations on the levitation and thermal treatment of germania silicate gel-monoliths in the Pressure Facility Acoustic Levitator were done.

  10. A Range-Based Vehicle Life Cycle Assessment Incorporating Variability in the Environmental Assessment of Different Vehicle Technologies and Fuels

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maarten Messagie

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available How to compare the environmental performance of different vehicle technologies? Vehicles with lower tailpipe emissions are perceived as cleaner. However, does it make sense to look only to tailpipe emissions? Limiting the comparison only to these emissions denies the fact that there are emissions involved during the production of a fuel and this approach gives too much advantage to zero-tailpipe vehicles like battery electric vehicles (BEV and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV. Would it be enough to combine fuel production and tailpipe emissions? Especially when comparing the environmental performance of alternative vehicle technologies, the emissions during production of the specific components and their appropriate end-of-life treatment processes should also be taken into account. Therefore, the complete life cycle of the vehicle should be included in order to avoid problem shifting from one life stage to another. In this article, a full life cycle assessment (LCA of petrol, diesel, fuel cell electric (FCEV, compressed natural gas (CNG, liquefied petroleum gas (LPG, hybrid electric, battery electric (BEV, bio-diesel and bio-ethanol vehicles has been performed. The aim of the manuscript is to investigate the impact of the different vehicle technologies on the environment and to develop a range-based modeling system that enables a more robust interpretation of the LCA results for a group of vehicles. Results are shown for climate change, respiratory effects, acidification and mineral extraction damage of the different vehicle technologies. A broad range of results is obtained due to the variability within the car market. It is concluded that it is essential to take into account the influence of all the vehicle parameters on the LCA results.

  11. Slip Control of Electric Vehicle Based on Tire-Road Friction Coefficient Estimation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaojian Cui

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available The real-time change of tire-road friction coefficient is one of the important factors that influence vehicle safety performance. Besides, the vehicle wheels’ locking up has become an important issue. In order to solve these problems, this paper comes up with a novel slip control of electric vehicle (EV based on tire-road friction coefficient estimation. First and foremost, a novel method is proposed to estimate the tire-road friction coefficient, and then the reference slip ratio is determined based on the estimation results. Finally, with the reference slip ratio, a slip control based on model predictive control (MPC is designed to prevent the vehicle wheels from locking up. In this regard, the proposed controller guarantees the optimal braking torque on each wheel by individually controlling the slip ratio of each tire within the stable zone. Theoretical analyses and simulation show that the proposed controller is effective for better braking performance.

  12. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy Studies of Magnesium-Based Polymethylmethacrylate Gel Polymer Electroytes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Osman, Z.; Zainol, N.H.; Samin, S.M.; Chong, W.G.; Md Isa, K.B.; Othman, L.; Supa’at, I.; Sonsudin, F.

    2014-01-01

    Magnesium-based rechargeable batteries might be an interesting future alternative to lithium-based batteries since magnesium compounds are highly abundant in the earth and are environmental friendly. In this work, we have prepared polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA) based gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) films containing two different magnesium salts, which is magnesium triflate, Mg(CF 3 SO 3 ) 2 and magnesium perchlorate, Mg(ClO 4 ) 2 using solution casting technique . The ionic conductivity of both gel polymer electrolyte systems was evaluated using a.c impedance spectroscopy. Results show that at room temperature, GPE-Mg(CF 3 SO 3 ) 2 system exhibits the highest conductivity value at 1.27 × 10 −3 S cm −1 for the film containing 20 wt.% of Mg(CF 3 SO 3 ) 2 salt, while the highest conductivity value for the GPE-Mg(ClO 4 ) 2 system is 3.13 × 10 −3 S cm −1 for the film containing 15 wt.% of Mg(ClO 4 ) 2 salt. The conductivity-temperature studies of both GPE systems follow the Arrhenius behavior. The activation energies for ionic conduction were determined to be in the range of 0.18–0.26 eV. The transport numbers of magnesium ions in both GPE systems were evaluated using the combination of a.c impedance spectroscopy and d.c polarization techniques. The results obtained indicate that the charge carriers in the GPE films for both systems are predominantly due to ions

  13. Gels and gel-derived glasses in the Na2O-B2O3-SiO2 system. [containerless melting in space

    Science.gov (United States)

    Mukherjee, S. P.

    1982-01-01

    The containerless melting of high-purity multicomponent homogeneous gels and gel-monoliths offers a unique approach to making ultrapure multicomponent optical glasses in the reduced gravity environment of space. Procedures for preparing and characterizing gels and gel-derived glasses in the Na2O-B2O3-SiO2 system are described. Preparation is based on the polymerization reactions of alkoxysilane with trimethyl borate or boric acid and a suitable sodium compound. The chemistry of the gelling process is discussed in terms of process parameters and the gel compositions. The physicochemical nature of gels prepared by three different procedures were found to be significantly different. IR absorption spectra indicate finite differences in the molecular structures of the different gels. The melting of the gel powders and the transformation of porous gel-monoliths to transparent 'glass' without melting are described.

  14. Research on motor braking-based DYC strategy for distributed electric vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Jingming; Liao, Weijie; Chen, Lei; Cui, Shumei

    2017-08-01

    In order to bring into full play the advantages of motor braking and enhance the handling stability of distributed electric vehicle, a motor braking-based direct yaw moment control (DYC) strategy was proposed. This strategy could identify whether a vehicle has under-steered or overs-steered, to calculate the direct yaw moment required for vehicle steering correction by taking the corrected yaw velocity deviation and slip-angle deviation as control variables, and exert motor braking moment on the target wheels to perform correction in the manner of differential braking. For validation of the results, a combined simulation platform was set up finally to simulate the motor braking control strategy proposed. As shown by the results, the motor braking-based DYC strategy timely adjusted the motor braking moment and hydraulic braking moment on the target wheels, and corrected the steering deviation and sideslip of the vehicle in unstable state, improving the handling stability.

  15. Physical Properties of Silicone Gel Breast Implants.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jewell, Mark L; Bengtson, Bradley P; Smither, Kate; Nuti, Gina; Perry, TracyAnn

    2018-04-28

    Surgical applications using breast implants are individualized operations to fill and shape the breast. Physical properties beyond shape, size, and surface texture are important considerations during implant selection. Compare form stability, gel material properties, and shell thickness of textured shaped, textured round, and smooth round breast implants from 4 manufacturers: Allergan, Mentor, Sientra, and Establishment Labs through bench testing. Using a mandrel height gauge, form stability was measured by retention of dimensions on device movement from a horizontal to vertical supported orientation. Dynamic response of gel material (gel cohesivity, resistance to gel deformation, energy absorption) was measured using a synchronized target laser following application of graded negative pressure. Shell thickness was measured using digital thickness gauge calipers. Form stability, gel material properties, and shell thickness differed across breast implants. Of textured shaped devices, Allergan Natrelle 410 exhibited greater form stability than Mentor MemoryShape and Sientra Shaped implants. Allergan Inspira round implants containing TruForm 3 gel had greater form stability, higher gel cohesivity, greater resistance to gel deformation, and lower energy absorption than those containing TruForm 2 gel and in turn, implants containing TruForm 1 gel. Shell thickness was greater for textured versus smooth devices, and differed across styles. Gel cohesivity, resistance to gel deformation, and energy absorption are directly related to form stability, which in turn determines shape retention. These characteristics provide information to aid surgeons choosing an implant based on surgical application, patient tissue characteristics, and desired outcome.

  16. Road Vehicle Monitoring System Based on Intelligent Visual Internet of Things

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Qingwu Li

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, with the rapid development of video surveillance infrastructure, more and more intelligent surveillance systems have employed computer vision and pattern recognition techniques. In this paper, we present a novel intelligent surveillance system used for the management of road vehicles based on Intelligent Visual Internet of Things (IVIoT. The system has the ability to extract the vehicle visual tags on the urban roads; in other words, it can label any vehicle by means of computer vision and therefore can easily recognize vehicles with visual tags. The nodes designed in the system can be installed not only on the urban roads for providing basic information but also on the mobile sensing vehicles for providing mobility support and improving sensing coverage. Visual tags mentioned in this paper consist of license plate number, vehicle color, and vehicle type and have several additional properties, such as passing spot and passing moment. Moreover, we present a fast and efficient image haze removal method to deal with haze weather condition. The experiment results show that the designed road vehicle monitoring system achieves an average real-time tracking accuracy of 85.80% under different conditions.

  17. Assessing rear-end crash potential in urban locations based on vehicle-by-vehicle interactions, geometric characteristics and operational conditions.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dimitriou, Loukas; Stylianou, Katerina; Abdel-Aty, Mohamed A

    2018-03-01

    Rear-end crashes are one of the most frequently occurring crash types, especially in urban networks. An understanding of the contributing factors and their significant association with rear-end crashes is of practical importance and will help in the development of effective countermeasures. The objective of this study is to assess rear-end crash potential at a microscopic level in an urban environment, by investigating vehicle-by-vehicle interactions. To do so, several traffic parameters at the individual vehicle level have been taken into consideration, for capturing car-following characteristics and vehicle interactions, and to investigate their effect on potential rear-end crashes. In this study rear-end crash potential was estimated based on stopping distance between two consecutive vehicles, and four rear-end crash potential cases were developed. The results indicated that 66.4% of the observations were estimated as rear-end crash potentials. It was also shown that rear-end crash potential was presented when traffic flow and speed standard deviation were higher. Also, locational characteristics such as lane of travel and location in the network were found to affect drivers' car following decisions and additionally, it was shown that speeds were lower and headways higher when Heavy Goods Vehicles lead. Finally, a model-based behavioral analysis based on Multinomial Logit regression was conducted to systematically identify the statistically significant variables in explaining rear-end risk potential. The modeling results highlighted the significance of the explanatory variables associated with rear-end crash potential, however it was shown that their effect varied among different model configurations. The outcome of the results can be of significant value for several purposes, such as real-time monitoring of risk potential, allocating enforcement units in urban networks and designing targeted proactive safety policies. Copyright © 2018 Elsevier Ltd. All rights

  18. Electrochemical impedimetric sensor based on molecularly imprinted polymers/sol-gel chemistry for methidathion organophosphorous insecticide recognition.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bakas, Idriss; Hayat, Akhtar; Piletsky, Sergey; Piletska, Elena; Chehimi, Mohamed M; Noguer, Thierry; Rouillon, Régis

    2014-12-01

    We report here a novel method to detect methidathion organophosphorous insecticides. The sensing platform was architected by the combination of molecularly imprinted polymers and sol-gel technique on inexpensive, portable and disposable screen printed carbon electrodes. Electrochemical impedimetric detection technique was employed to perform the label free detection of the target analyte on the designed MIP/sol-gel integrated platform. The selection of the target specific monomer by electrochemical impedimetric methods was consistent with the results obtained by the computational modelling method. The prepared electrochemical MIP/sol-gel based sensor exhibited a high recognition capability toward methidathion, as well as a broad linear range and a low detection limit under the optimized conditions. Satisfactory results were also obtained for the methidathion determination in waste water samples. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Dynamics and Thermodynamics of Artificial Muscles Based on Nematic Gels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Hébert, M.; Kant, R.; de Gennes, P.-G.

    1997-07-01

    A scheme based on nemato-mechanical conversion has been proposed for potential artificial muscle applications (de Gennes P.-G., Hébert M. and Kant R., to appear in Macromol. Symp. (1996)). As the temperature in a nematic gel is reduced through the transition temperature, strong uniaxial deformation is encountered. We briefly expose the dynamics of contraction/elongation in this system. Work and dissipative losses are calculated for an operating cycle to get an approximative expression of the ratio work/losses, which can then be compared with real muscular efficiencies.

  20. Basic investigations on LCV micelle gel

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ebenezer, S B; Rafic, M K; Ravindran, P B

    2013-01-01

    The aim of this study was to investigate the feasibility of using Leuco Crystal Violet (LCV) based micelle gel dosimeter as a quality assurance tool in radiotherapy applications. Basic properties such as absorption coefficient and diffusion of LCV gel phantom over time were evaluated. The gel formulation consisted of 25 mM Trichloroacetic acid, 1mM LCV, 4 mM Triton X-100, 4% gelatin by mass and distilled water. The advantages of using this gel are its tissue equivalence, easy and less preparation time, lower diffusion rate and it can be read with an optical scanner. We were able to reproduce some of the results of Babic et al. The peak absorption was found to be at 600 nm and hence a matrix of yellow LEDs was used as light source. The profiles obtained from projection images confirmed the diffusion of LCV gel after 6 hours of irradiation. Hence the LCV gel phantom should be read before 6 hours post irradiation to get accurate dose information as suggested previously.

  1. Gels and lyotropic liquid crystals: using an imidazolium-based catanionic surfactant in binary solvents.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Cheng, Ni; Hu, Qiongzheng; Bi, Yanhui; Xu, Wenwen; Gong, Yanjun; Yu, Li

    2014-08-05

    The self-assembly behavior of an imidazolium-based catanionic surfactant, 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium dodecylsulfate ([C4mim][C12H25SO4]), was investigated in water-ethylammonium nitrate (EAN) mixed solvents with different volume ratios. It is particular interesting that this simple surfactant could not only form lyotropic liquid crystals (LLC) with multimesophases, i.e., normal hexagonal (H1), lamellar liquid crystal (Lα), and reverse bicontinuous cubic phase (V2), in the water-rich environment but also act as an efficient low-molecular-weight gelator (LMWG) which gelated EAN-abundant binary media in a broad concentration range. The peculiar nanodisk cluster morphology of gels composed of similar bilayer units was first observed. FT-IR spectra and density functional theory (DFT) calculations reveal that strong H bonding and electrostatic interactions between EAN and the headgroups of [C4mim][C12H25SO4] are primarily responsible for gelation. The self-assembled gels displayed excellent mechanical strength and a thermoreversible sol-gel transition. It is for the first time that a rich variety of controllable ordered aggregates could be observed only by simply modulating the concentration of a single imidazolium-based catanionic surfactant or the ratio of mixed solvents. This environmentally friendly system is expected to have broad applications in various fields, such as materials science, drug delivery systems, and supramolecular chemistry.

  2. Route-Based Control of Hybrid Electric Vehicles: Preprint

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gonder, J. D.

    2008-01-01

    Today's hybrid electric vehicle controls cannot always provide maximum fuel savings over all drive cycles. Route-based controls could improve HEV fuel efficiency by 2%-4% and help save nearly 6.5 million gallons of fuel annually.

  3. Modeling of Fibrin Gels Based on Confocal Microscopy and Light-Scattering Data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Magatti, Davide; Molteni, Matteo; Cardinali, Barbara; Rocco, Mattia; Ferri, Fabio

    2013-01-01

    Fibrin gels are biological networks that play a fundamental role in blood coagulation and other patho/physiological processes, such as thrombosis and cancer. Electron and confocal microscopies show a collection of fibers that are relatively monodisperse in diameter, not uniformly distributed, and connected at nodal points with a branching order of ∼3–4. Although in the confocal images the hydrated fibers appear to be quite straight (mass fractal dimension Dm = 1), for the overall system 1Based on the confocal images, we developed a method to generate three-dimensional (3D) in silico gels made of cylindrical sticks of diameter d, density ρ, and average length 〈L〉, joined at randomly distributed nodal points. The resulting 3D network strikingly resembles real fibrin gels and can be sketched as an assembly of densely packed fractal blobs, i.e., regions of size ξ, where the fiber concentration is higher than average. The blobs are placed at a distance ξ0 between their centers of mass so that they are overlapped by a factor η = ξ/ξ0 and have Dm ∼1.2–1.6. The in silico gels’ structure is quantitatively analyzed by its 3D spatial correlation function g3D(r) and corresponding power spectrum I(q) = FFT3D[g3D(r)], from which ρ, d, Dm, η, and ξ0 can be extracted. In particular, ξ0 provides an excellent estimate of the gel mesh size. The in silico gels’ I(q) compares quite well with real gels’ elastic light-scattering measurements. We then derived an analytical form factor for accurately fitting the scattering data, which allowed us to directly recover the gels’ structural parameters. PMID:23473498

  4. Equipment for production of hydrogel by sol-gel method

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Urbanek, V.

    1975-01-01

    The method of uranyl gel preparation is described by the sol-gel process of the internal gelation type. A laboratory-scale equipment with an output of 1.5 kg of gel per hour was built at the Nuclear Research Institute, Rez; the diameter of the microspheres produced may vary between 0.5 and 4.0 mm. The reliability of the equipment was verified by producing several tens of kilograms of uranyl gels and of gels based on other non-nuclear materials. (author)

  5. Modified thermoresponsive Poloxamer 407 and chitosan sol-gels as potential sustained-release vaccine delivery systems.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kojarunchitt, Thunjiradasiree; Baldursdottir, Stefania; Dong, Yao-Da; Boyd, Ben J; Rades, Thomas; Hook, Sarah

    2015-01-01

    Thermoresponsive, particle-loaded, Poloxamer 407 (P407)-Pluronic-R® (25R4) or chitosan-methyl cellulose (MC) formulations were developed as single-dose, sustained release vaccines. The sol-gels, loaded either with a particulate vaccine (cubosomes) or soluble antigen (ovalbumin) and adjuvants (Quil A and monophosphoryl lipid A), were free-flowing liquids at room temperature and formed stable gels at physiological temperatures. Rheological results showed that both systems meet the criteria of being thermoresponsive gels. The P407-25R4 sol-gels did not significantly sustain the release of antigen in vivo while the chitosan-MC sol-gels sustained the release of antigen up to at least 14 days after administration. The chitosan-MC sol-gels stimulated both cellular and humoral responses. The inclusion of cubosomes in the sol-gels did not provide a definitive beneficial effect. Further analysis of the formulations with small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) revealed that while cubosomes were stable in chitosan-MC gels they were not stable in P407-25R4 formulations. The reason for the mixed response to cubosome-loaded vehicles requires more investigation, however it appears that the cubosomes did not facilitate synchronous vaccine release and may in fact retard release, reducing efficacy in some cases. From these results, chitosan-MC sol-gels show potential as sustained release vaccine delivery systems, as compared to the P407-25R4 system that had a limited ability to sustain antigen release. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  6. A NOVEL GEL ELECTROLYTE FOR VALVE-REGULATED LEAD ACID BATTERY

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Metin GENÇTEN

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available A novel gel electrolyte system used in lead-acid batteries was investigated in this work. The gel systems were prepared by addition different amount of Al2O3, TiO2 and B2O3 into the gelled system consisting of 6 wt% fumed silica and 30 wt% sulfuric acid solution. The anodic peak currents and peak redox capacities of the gel electrolytes were characterized by cyclic voltammetric method. They decreased by the time B2O3 and Al2O3 were used as additives in fumed silica based gel electrolyte system. However, these values increased by the adding 3.0 wt% of TiO2. The solution and charge transfer resistances of the gel electrolytes were investigated by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. While the solution resistances were lower in gel systems having different amount additives than pure fumed silica based gel, the charge transfer resistance was the lowest in gel electrolytes consisting fumed silica and fumed silica-TiO2. The battery performances were studied by obtaining discharge curves of prepared gel electrolytes. The performance of gelled systems were higher than that of non-gelled electrolyte at room temperature. The mixture of fumed silica-TiO2 was suggested an alternative gel formulation for gel VRLA batteries.

  7. Formulation and method for preparing gels comprising hydrous aluminum oxide

    Science.gov (United States)

    Collins, Jack L.

    2014-06-17

    Formulations useful for preparing hydrous aluminum oxide gels contain a metal salt including aluminum, an organic base, and a complexing agent. Methods for preparing gels containing hydrous aluminum oxide include heating a formulation to a temperature sufficient to induce gel formation, where the formulation contains a metal salt including aluminum, an organic base, and a complexing agent.

  8. 40 CFR 600.206-08 - Calculation and use of FTP-based and HFET-based fuel economy values for vehicle configurations.

    Science.gov (United States)

    2010-07-01

    ... EMISSIONS OF MOTOR VEHICLES Fuel Economy Regulations for 1977 and Later Model Year Automobiles-Procedures... economy value exists for an electric vehicle configuration, all values for that vehicle configuration are... HFET-based fuel economy values for vehicle configurations. 600.206-08 Section 600.206-08 Protection of...

  9. Safety assessment of automated vehicle functions by simulation-based fault injection

    OpenAIRE

    Juez, Garazi; Amparan, Estibaliz; Lattarulo, Ray; Rastelli, Joshue Perez; Ruiz, Alejandra; Espinoza, Huascar

    2017-01-01

    As automated driving vehicles become more sophisticated and pervasive, it is increasingly important to assure its safety even in the presence of faults. This paper presents a simulation-based fault injection approach (Sabotage) aimed at assessing the safety of automated vehicle functions. In particular, we focus on a case study to forecast fault effects during the model-based design of a lateral control function. The goal is to determine the acceptable fault detection interval for pe...

  10. A novel CuI-based iodine-free gel electrolyte for dye-sensitized solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chen Junnian; Xia Jiangbin; Fan Ke; Peng Tianyou

    2011-01-01

    Highlights: → A novel CuI-based iodine-free gel electrolyte for DSSC is firstly prepared. → Such CuI-based electrolyte has relative high conductivity and stability. → Addition amount of LiClO 4 and PEO in the electrolyte is optimized. → Cell performance is improved by 116.2% compared with the cell without LiClO 4 . - Abstract: A novel CuI-based iodine-free gel electrolyte using polyethylene oxide (PEO, MW = 100,000) as plasticizer and lithium perchlorate (LiClO 4 ) as salt additive was developed for dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). Such CuI-based gel electrolyte can avoid the problems caused by liquid iodine electrolyte and has relative high conductivity and stability. The effects of PEO and LiClO 4 concentrations on the viscosity and ionic conductivity of the mentioned iodine-free electrolyte, as well as the performance of the corresponding quasi solid-state DSSCs were investigated comparatively. Experimental results indicate that the performance of DSSCs can be dramatically improved by adding LiClO 4 and PEO, and there are interactions (Li + -O coordination) between LiClO 4 and PEO, these Li + -O coordination interactions have important influence on the structure, morphology and ionic conductivity of the present CuI-based electrolyte. Addition of PEO into the electrolyte can inhibit the rapid crystal growth of CuI, and enhance the ion and hole transportation property owing to its long helix chain structure. The optimal efficiency (2.81%) was obtained for the quasi solid-state DSSC fabricated with CuI-based electrolyte containing 3 wt% LiClO 4 and 20 wt% PEO under AM 1.5 G (1 sun) light illumination, with a 116.2% improvement in the efficiency compared with the cell without addition of LiClO 4 , indicating the promising application in solar cells of the present CuI-based iodine-free electrolyte.

  11. Preparation of zirconium molybdate gel generator

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Charoen, S.; Aungurarat, G.; Laohawilai, S.; Sukontpradit, W.; Jingjit, S.

    1994-01-01

    A procedure for preparation of 99mTc generator based on conversion to zirconium molybdate gel of 99Mo produced by neutron activation was reported. The gel was prepared from zirconium oxychloride solution pH 1.6, ammonium molybdate solution pH 3-5 and mole ratio of Zr:Mo 1:1 which had water content about 7-8%. Small generators containing 1-1.5 g of gel were eluted with average efficiencies of 77% and the activity peak in the first 3 ml of 10 ml of saline solution. The amount of Mo and Zr in eluates were below the acceptance limit. The gel generators of activity about 100 mCi were prepared and had the good performance in elutability and stability

  12. Catalytic activity of acid and base with different concentration on sol-gel kinetics of silica by ultrasonic method.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Das, R K; Das, M

    2015-09-01

    The effects of both acid (acetic acid) and base (ammonia) catalysts in varying on the sol-gel synthesis of SiO2 nanoparticles using tetra ethyl ortho silicate (TEOS) as a precursor was determined by ultrasonic method. The ultrasonic velocity was received by pulsar receiver. The ultrasonic velocity in the sol and the parameter ΔT (time difference between the original pulse and first back wall echo of the sol) was varied with time of gelation. The graphs of ln[ln1/ΔT] vs ln(t), indicate two region - nonlinear region and a linear region. The time corresponds to the point at which the non-linear region change to linear region is considered as gel time for the respective solutions. Gelation time is found to be dependent on the concentration and types of catalyst and is found from the graphs based on Avrami equation. The rate of condensation is found to be faster for base catalyst. The gelation process was also characterized by viscosity measurement. Normal sol-gel process was also carried out along with the ultrasonic one to compare the effectiveness of ultrasonic. The silica gel was calcined and the powdered sample was characterized with scanning electron microscopy, energy dispersive spectra, X-ray diffractogram, and FTIR spectroscopy. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Model-based design approaches for plug-in hybrid vehicle design

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Mendes, C.J. [CrossChasm Technologies, Cambridge, ON (Canada); Stevens, M.B.; Fowler, M.W. [Waterloo Univ., ON (Canada). Dept. of Chemical Engineering; Fraser, R.A. [Waterloo Univ., ON (Canada). Dept. of Mechanical Engineering; Wilhelm, E.J. [Paul Scherrer Inst., Villigen (Switzerland). Energy Systems Analysis

    2007-07-01

    A model-based design process for plug-in hybrid vehicles (PHEVs) was presented. The paper discussed steps between the initial design concept and a working vehicle prototype, and focused on an investigation of the software-in-the-loop (SIL), hardware-in-the-loop (HIL), and component-in-the-loop (CIL) design phases. The role and benefits of using simulation were also reviewed. A method for mapping and identifying components was provided along with a hybrid control strategy and component-level control optimization process. The role of simulation in component evaluation, architecture design, and de-bugging procedures was discussed, as well as the role simulation networks can play in speeding deployment times. The simulations focused on work performed on a 2005 Chevrolet Equinox converted to a fuel cell hybrid electric vehicle (FCHEV). Components were aggregated to create a complete virtual vehicle. A simplified vehicle model was implemented onto the on-board vehicle control hardware. Optimization metrics were estimated at 10 alpha values during each control loop iteration. The simulation was then used to tune the control system under a variety of drive cycles and conditions. A CIL technique was used to place a physical hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) component under the control of a real time HEV/PHEV simulation. It was concluded that controllers should have a standardized component description that supports integration into advanced testing procedures. 4 refs., 9 figs.

  14. Sol-gel synthesis of lanthanum-gallate-based ceramic coatings

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Golubko, N.V.; Kaleva, G.M.; Roginskaya, Yu.E.; Politova, E.D.

    2007-01-01

    Phase-pure (La 0.9 Sr 0.1 )(Ga 0.7 Fe 0.3 )O 3-y and (Sr 1.8 La 0.2 )(GaFe)O 5.1 solid solutions with the perovskite and brownmillerite structures have been prepared from salt solutions by sol-gel processing at temperatures from 570 to 870 K. Ceramic coatings up to 100 μm in thickness have been produced by applying suspensions of the sol-gel powders to various substrates. The structure and microstructure of the ceramic coatings have been studied by X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy [ru

  15. Good agreement of conventional and gel-based direct agglutination test in immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Piek Christine J

    2012-02-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background The aim of this study was to compare a gel-based test with the traditional direct agglutination test (DAT for the diagnosis of immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA. Methods Canine (n = 247 and feline (n = 74 blood samples were submitted for DAT testing to two laboratories. A subset of canine samples was categorized as having idiopathic IMHA, secondary IMHA, or no IMHA. Results The kappa values for agreement between the tests were in one laboratory 0.86 for canine and 0.58 for feline samples, and in the other 0.48 for canine samples. The lower agreement in the second laboratory was caused by a high number of positive canine DATs for which the gel test was negative. This group included significantly more dogs with secondary IMHA. Conclusions The gel test might be used as a screening test for idiopathic IMHA and is less often positive in secondary IMHA than the DAT.

  16. Rubber-like poly(vinyl alcohol) gel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Nambu, Masao (Nippon Oil Co. Ltd., Yokohama (Japan). Central Technical Research Lab.)

    1990-09-01

    Anomalous poly (vinyl alcohol) gel has been found in our laboratory since 1980. The gel is prepared by repeated freezing (or freeze-dehydration) of aqueous poly (vinyl alcohol). Experiments establish the fact that anomalous gel is never produced in the course of freezing, but during sustained thawing the gelation does occur. Moreover, it was found that the softening point of the gel increases at 37degC. It is assumed that crystal nuclei are generated on freezing, then on thawing, some of them grow to very fine crystals which act as polymer network-knots (cross-linking). Additional freezing provide other seeds, which grow similarly, and these are accumulated until rubber-like gel is produced. The gel was always water-resistant at 37degC, and the potassium permanganate consumption of the extracted water layer remained far below the official restricted value for medical materials. The gel can be sterilized with gamma-rays or chlorhexidine. Moreover, it satisfies the official standards of acute toxicity, pyrogen, intracutaneous reaction, hemolyzation, and intracorporeal implantation, respectively. Applications to adhesion-preventing membrane (for joint or pericardium), tamponade (for jaw defects), electrode (for electroretinogram or artificial inner ear), artificial denture base and phantoms for magnetic resonance imaging were examined. (author) 54 refs.

  17. pH and temperature dual-sensitive liposome gel based on novel cleavable mPEG-Hz-CHEMS polymeric vaginal delivery system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Daquan; Sun, Kaoxiang; Mu, Hongjie; Tang, Mingtan; Liang, Rongcai; Wang, Aiping; Zhou, Shasha; Sun, Haijun; Zhao, Feng; Yao, Jianwen; Liu, Wanhui

    2012-01-01

    Background In this study, a pH and temperature dual-sensitive liposome gel based on a novel cleavable hydrazone-based pH-sensitive methoxy polyethylene glycol 2000-hydrazone-cholesteryl hemisuccinate (mPEG-Hz-CHEMS) polymer was used for vaginal administration. Methods The pH-sensitive, cleavable mPEG-Hz-CHEMS was designed as a modified pH-sensitive liposome that would selectively degrade under locally acidic vaginal conditions. The novel pH-sensitive liposome was engineered to form a thermogel at body temperature and to degrade in an acidic environment. Results A dual-sensitive liposome gel with a high encapsulation efficiency of arctigenin was formed and improved the solubility of arctigenin characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The dual-sensitive liposome gel with a sol-gel transition at body temperature was degraded in a pH-dependent manner, and was stable for a long period of time at neutral and basic pH, but cleavable under acidic conditions (pH 5.0). Arctigenin encapsulated in a dual-sensitive liposome gel was more stable and less toxic than arctigenin loaded into pH-sensitive liposomes. In vitro drug release results indicated that dual-sensitive liposome gels showed constant release of arctigenin over 3 days, but showed sustained release of arctigenin in buffers at pH 7.4 and pH 9.0. Conclusion This research has shed some light on a pH and temperature dual-sensitive liposome gel using a cleavable mPEG-Hz-CHEMS polymer for vaginal delivery. PMID:22679372

  18. A zwitterionic gel electrolyte for efficient solid-state supercapacitors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Peng, Xu; Liu, Huili; Yin, Qin; Wu, Junchi; Chen, Pengzuo; Zhang, Guangzhao; Liu, Guangming; Wu, Changzheng; Xie, Yi

    2016-01-01

    Gel electrolytes have attracted increasing attention for solid-state supercapacitors. An ideal gel electrolyte usually requires a combination of advantages of high ion migration rate, reasonable mechanical strength and robust water retention ability at the solid state for ensuring excellent work durability. Here we report a zwitterionic gel electrolyte that successfully brings the synergic advantages of robust water retention ability and ion migration channels, manifesting in superior electrochemical performance. When applying the zwitterionic gel electrolyte, our graphene-based solid-state supercapacitor reaches a volume capacitance of 300.8 F cm−3 at 0.8 A cm−3 with a rate capacity of only 14.9% capacitance loss as the current density increases from 0.8 to 20 A cm−3, representing the best value among the previously reported graphene-based solid-state supercapacitors, to the best of our knowledge. We anticipate that zwitterionic gel electrolyte may be developed as a gel electrolyte in solid-state supercapacitors. PMID:27225484

  19. On shear rheology of gel propellants

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Rahimi, Shai; Peretz, Arie [RAFAEL, MANOR Propulsion and Explosive Systems Division, Haifa (Israel); Natan, Benveniste [Faculty of Aerospace Engineering, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa (Israel)

    2007-04-15

    Selected fuel, oxidizer and simulant gels were prepared and rheologically characterized using a rotational rheometer. For fuel gelation both organic and inorganic gellants were utilized, whereas oxidizers and simulants were gelled with addition of silica and polysaccharides, respectively. The generalized Herschel-Bulkley constitutive model was found to most adequately represent the gels studied. Hydrazine-based fuels, gelled with polysaccharides, were characterized as shear-thinning pseudoplastic fluids with low shear yield stress, whereas inhibited red-fuming nitric acid (IRFNA) and hydrogen peroxide oxidizers, gelled with silica, were characterized as yield thixotropic fluids with significant shear yield stress. Creep tests were conducted on two rheological types of gels with different gellant content and the results were fitted by Burgers-Kelvin viscoelastic constitutive model. The effect of temperature on the rheological properties of gel propellant simulants was also investigated. A general rheological classification of gel propellants and simulants is proposed. (Abstract Copyright [2007], Wiley Periodicals, Inc.)

  20. Characteristic Model-Based Robust Model Predictive Control for Hypersonic Vehicles with Constraints

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jun Zhang

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available Designing robust control for hypersonic vehicles in reentry is difficult, due to the features of the vehicles including strong coupling, non-linearity, and multiple constraints. This paper proposed a characteristic model-based robust model predictive control (MPC for hypersonic vehicles with reentry constraints. First, the hypersonic vehicle is modeled by a characteristic model composed of a linear time-varying system and a lumped disturbance. Then, the identification data are regenerated by the accumulative sum idea in the gray theory, which weakens effects of the random noises and strengthens regularity of the identification data. Based on the regenerated data, the time-varying parameters and the disturbance are online estimated according to the gray identification. At last, the mixed H2/H∞ robust predictive control law is proposed based on linear matrix inequalities (LMIs and receding horizon optimization techniques. Using active tackling system constraints of MPC, the input and state constraints are satisfied in the closed-loop control system. The validity of the proposed control is verified theoretically according to Lyapunov theory and illustrated by simulation results.

  1. Neural-Network-Based Fuzzy Logic Navigation Control for Intelligent Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ahcene Farah

    2002-06-01

    Full Text Available This paper proposes a Neural-Network-Based Fuzzy logic system for navigation control of intelligent vehicles. First, the use of Neural Networks and Fuzzy Logic to provide intelligent vehicles  with more autonomy and intelligence is discussed. Second, the system  for the obstacle avoidance behavior is developed. Fuzzy Logic improves Neural Networks (NN obstacle avoidance approach by handling imprecision and rule-based approximate reasoning. This system must make the vehicle able, after supervised learning, to achieve two tasks: 1- to make one’s way towards its target by a NN, and 2- to avoid static or dynamic obstacles by a Fuzzy NN capturing the behavior of a human expert. Afterwards, two association phases between each task and the appropriate actions are carried out by Trial and Error learning and their coordination allows to decide the appropriate action. Finally, the simulation results display the generalization and adaptation abilities of the system by testing it in new unexplored environments.

  2. Actuator device utilizing a conductive polymer gel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chinn, Douglas A.; Irvin, David J.

    2004-02-03

    A valve actuator based on a conductive polymer gel is disclosed. A nonconductive housing is provided having two separate chambers separated by a porous frit. The conductive polymer is held in one chamber and an electrolyte solution, used as a source of charged ions, is held in the second chamber. The ends of the housing a sealed with a flexible elastomer. The polymer gel is further provide with electrodes with which to apply an electrical potential across the gel in order to initiate an oxidation reaction which in turn drives anions across the porous frit and into the polymer gel, swelling the volume of the gel and simultaneously contracting the volume of the electrolyte solution. Because the two end chambers are sealed the flexible elastomer expands or contracts with the chamber volume change. By manipulating the potential across the gel the motion of the elastomer can be controlled to act as a "gate" to open or close a fluid channel and thereby control flow through that channel.

  3. White-light-emitting supramolecular gels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Praveen, Vakayil K; Ranjith, Choorikkat; Armaroli, Nicola

    2014-01-07

    Let there be light, let it be white: Recent developments in the use of chromophore-based gels as scaffolds for the assembly of white-light-emitting soft materials have been significant. The main advantage of this approach lies in the facile accommodation of selected luminescent components within the gel. Excitation-energy-transfer processes between these components ultimately generate the desired light output. Copyright © 2014 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  4. Sol-gel based mid-infrared evanescent wave sensors for detection of organophosphate pesticides in aqueous solution

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Janotta, Markus; Karlowatz, Manfred; Vogt, Frank; Mizaikoff, Boris

    2003-10-31

    This work demonstrates the application of organically modified sol-gels as recognition layers combined with mid-infrared evanescent wave sensors for in situ detection of nitrated organics in aqueous media. Sol-gels were prepared by acid-catalyzed copolymerization of phenyltrimethoxysilane (PTMOS) and tetramethoxysilane (TMOS) and were spin-coated onto ZnSe attenuated total reflection (ATR) waveguides. These sensors were investigated with respect to their enrichment properties of selected organophosphates, i.e. parathion, fenitrothion and paraoxon, respectively, and their capability of suppressing interfering water background absorptions. Figures of merit are derived from calibration curves determined to assess sensitivity and reproducibility of the applied sensor system. It can be concluded that sol-gel coated infrared optical sensors enable reproducible detection of organophosphates down to the sub-ppm concentration range. Furthermore, measurement of spiked river water samples demonstrates feasibility as remote field sensor system. Once the required sensitivity is achieved, sol-gel based mid-infrared evanescent wave sensors have the potential of being an alternative to commonly applied biosensors for detection of organophosphates in environmental analysis, since they provide superior mechanical and chemical stability during application relevant periods of time.

  5. Kinetic scrolling-based position mapping for haptic teleoperation of unmanned aerial vehicles

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Ruesch, A.; Mersha, A.Y.; Stramigioli, Stefano; Carloni, Raffaella

    In this paper, we present a haptic teleoperation control algorithm for unmanned aerial vehicles, applying a kinetic scrolling-based position mapping. The proposed algorithm overcomes the master workspace limitations and enables to teleoperate the aerial vehicle in unbounded workspace in a fast and

  6. A Region Tracking-Based Vehicle Detection Algorithm in Nighttime Traffic Scenes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jianqiang Wang

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available The preceding vehicles detection technique in nighttime traffic scenes is an important part of the advanced driver assistance system (ADAS. This paper proposes a region tracking-based vehicle detection algorithm via the image processing technique. First, the brightness of the taillights during nighttime is used as the typical feature, and we use the existing global detection algorithm to detect and pair the taillights. When the vehicle is detected, a time series analysis model is introduced to predict vehicle positions and the possible region (PR of the vehicle in the next frame. Then, the vehicle is only detected in the PR. This could reduce the detection time and avoid the false pairing between the bright spots in the PR and the bright spots out of the PR. Additionally, we present a thresholds updating method to make the thresholds adaptive. Finally, experimental studies are provided to demonstrate the application and substantiate the superiority of the proposed algorithm. The results show that the proposed algorithm can simultaneously reduce both the false negative detection rate and the false positive detection rate.

  7. Single-Phase Boost Inverter-Based Electric Vehicle Charger With Integrated Vehicle to Grid Reactive Power Compensation

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Wickramasinghe Abeywardana, Damith Buddika; Acuna, Pablo; Hredzak, Branislav

    2018-01-01

    Vehicle to grid (V2G) reactive power compensation using electric vehicle (EV) onboard chargers helps to ensure grid power quality by achieving unity power factor operation. However, the use of EVs for V2G reactive power compensation increases the second-order harmonic ripple current component...... from the grid, exposes the EV battery to these undesirable ripple current components for a longer period and discharges the battery due to power conversion losses. This paper presents a way to provide V2G reactive power compensation through a boost inverter-based single stage EV charger and a DC...

  8. Night-Time Vehicle Detection Algorithm Based on Visual Saliency and Deep Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yingfeng Cai

    2016-01-01

    Full Text Available Night vision systems get more and more attention in the field of automotive active safety field. In this area, a number of researchers have proposed far-infrared sensor based night-time vehicle detection algorithm. However, existing algorithms have low performance in some indicators such as the detection rate and processing time. To solve this problem, we propose a far-infrared image vehicle detection algorithm based on visual saliency and deep learning. Firstly, most of the nonvehicle pixels will be removed with visual saliency computation. Then, vehicle candidate will be generated by using prior information such as camera parameters and vehicle size. Finally, classifier trained with deep belief networks will be applied to verify the candidates generated in last step. The proposed algorithm is tested in around 6000 images and achieves detection rate of 92.3% and processing time of 25 Hz which is better than existing methods.

  9. Investigation of the Spatial Resolution of MR-Based Polymer Gel Dosimetry versus Film Densitometry using Dose Modulation Transfer Function

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Reza Moghadam-Drodkhani

    2011-03-01

    Full Text Available Introduction: The conventional methods of dosimetry are not capable of dosimetry in such a small volume of less than one cubic millimeter. Although the polymer gel dosimetry method based on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI could achieve three dimensional dosimetry with high resolution, a spatial resolution evaluation based on gel dose modulation transfer function has not been investigated yet. Therefore, in this study, the spatial resolution of two systems of film densitometry and polymer gel dosimetry based on MRI has been evaluated by using the dose modulation transfer function (DMTF.   Material and Methods: Kodak therapy verification films and MAGICA polymer gel samples were positioned below a brass absorption grid with different periodic slices (a/2= 280, 525, 1125 μm, which was placed in a water bath container to avoid regions of dose build-up just below the absorption grid and then irradiated with Cobalt-60 photons on a Theratron external-beam treatment unit. Dose variation under the brass grid was determined using a calibration curve, while transverse relaxation time (T2 as the selective parameter in a dose image based on multiple echo MRI with 1.5 Tesla GE Signa Echo Speed system (FOV=10 cm, matrix size=512 ×512, pixel size =0.199×0.199 mm2, TE = 20, 40, 60, 80 ms, TR=4200 ms, NEX = 4, slice thickness=2 mm, gap=1 mm was calculated. DMTF from the modulation depths of T2 and variation in film optical density after calibration would be achieved. The results of polymer gel were compared with film. Results: After deriving the dose distribution profile under the absorption grid, minima and maxima at the smallest period of a = 560 μm could scarcely be resolved, but the modulations due to a=2250 μm and a = 1050 μm grids could be discerned. The modulation depth for a=2250 μm grid was set to 100% and the other modulations were subsequently referred to this maximum modulation. For film densitometry at a = 1050 μm, the modulation depth was

  10. Altering the level of calcium changes the physical properties and digestibility of casein-based emulsion gels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    McIntyre, Irene; O Sullivan, Michael; O Riordan, Dolores

    2017-04-19

    Casein-based emulsion gels prepared with different types of lipid (i.e. milk fat or rapeseed oil) were formulated with high (774 mg Ca per 100 g) or low (357 mg Ca per 100 g) calcium levels by blending acid and rennet casein. Their physicochemical characteristics (i.e. composition, texture, microstructure & water mobility) and in vitro digestibility were compared to conventionally formulated high-calcium (723 mg Ca per 100 g) emulsion gels made from rennet casein with calcium chelating salts (CCS). CCS-free, high-calcium emulsion gels were significantly (p ≤ 0.05) softer than those with low calcium levels (possibly due to their shorter manufacture time and higher pH) and showed the highest rates of disintegration during simulated gastric digestion. Despite having a higher moisture to protein ratio, the high-calcium emulsion gels containing CCS had broadly similar hardness values to those of high-calcium concentration prepared without CCS, but had higher cohesiveness. The high-calcium matrices containing CCS had quite a different microstructure and increased water mobility compared to those made without CCS and showed the slowest rate (p ≤ 0.05) of disintegration in the gastric environment. Gastric resistance was not affected by the type of lipid phase. Conversely, fatty acid release was similar for all emulsion gels prepared from milk fat, however, high-calcium emulsion gels (CCS-free) prepared from rapeseed oil showed higher lipolysis. Results suggest that food matrix physical properties can be modified to alter resistance to gastric degradation which may have consequences for the kinetics of nutrient release and delivery of bioactives sensitive to the gastric environment.

  11. Genetic heterogeneity of Campylobacter concisus determined by pulsed field gel electrophoresis-based macrorestriction profiling

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Matsheka, M.I.; Elisha, B.G.; Lastovica, A.L.

    2002-01-01

    1 for pulsed field gel electrophoresis-based genotyping. Subsequently, 53 strains of C concisus, principally from cases of diarrhoea in children, were examined. Fifty-one distinct patterns were obtained, indicating the high discriminatory potential of the method. Patterns comprised between one...... comprised of several genomospecies. The pulsed field gel electrophoresis typing method described here has considerable potential for molecular epidemiological studies of C concisus and may be a useful adjunctive method for helping to resolve key taxonomic issues for this species....... and 14 restriction fragments, with type and reference strains of two well-defined genomospecies of oral and faecal origin containing six and 12 fragments respectively. Our results show that C concisus is genetically diverse and suggest the species as currently defined to be a taxonomic continuum...

  12. Modification of gel architecture and TBE/TAE buffer composition to minimize heating during agarose gel electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sanderson, Brian A; Araki, Naoko; Lilley, Jennifer L; Guerrero, Gilberto; Lewis, L Kevin

    2014-06-01

    Agarose gel electrophoresis of DNA and RNA is routinely performed using buffers containing either Tris, acetate, and EDTA (TAE) or Tris, borate, and EDTA (TBE). Gels are run at a low, constant voltage (∼10 V/cm) to minimize current and asymmetric heating effects, which can induce band artifacts and poor resolution. In this study, alterations of gel structure and conductive media composition were analyzed to identify factors causing higher electrical currents during horizontal slab gel electrophoresis. Current was reduced when thinner gels and smaller chamber buffer volumes were used, but was not influenced by agarose concentration or the presence of ethidium bromide. Current was strongly dependent on the amount and type of EDTA used and on the concentrations of the major acid-base components of each buffer. Interestingly, resolution and the mobilities of circular versus linear plasmid DNAs were also affected by the chemical form and amount of EDTA. With appropriate modifications to gel structure and buffer constituents, electrophoresis could be performed at high voltages (20-25 V/cm), reducing run times by up to 3-fold. The most striking improvements were observed with small DNAs and RNAs (10-100 bp): high voltages and short run times produced sharper bands and higher resolution. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  13. Preceding Vehicle Detection and Tracking Adaptive to Illumination Variation in Night Traffic Scenes Based on Relevance Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Guo, Junbin; Wang, Jianqiang; Guo, Xiaosong; Yu, Chuanqiang; Sun, Xiaoyan

    2014-01-01

    Preceding vehicle detection and tracking at nighttime are challenging problems due to the disturbance of other extraneous illuminant sources coexisting with the vehicle lights. To improve the detection accuracy and robustness of vehicle detection, a novel method for vehicle detection and tracking at nighttime is proposed in this paper. The characteristics of taillights in the gray level are applied to determine the lower boundary of the threshold for taillights segmentation, and the optimal threshold for taillight segmentation is calculated using the OTSU algorithm between the lower boundary and the highest grayscale of the region of interest. The candidate taillight pairs are extracted based on the similarity between left and right taillights, and the non-vehicle taillight pairs are removed based on the relevance analysis of vehicle location between frames. To reduce the false negative rate of vehicle detection, a vehicle tracking method based on taillights estimation is applied. The taillight spot candidate is sought in the region predicted by Kalman filtering, and the disturbed taillight is estimated based on the symmetry and location of the other taillight of the same vehicle. Vehicle tracking is completed after estimating its location according to the two taillight spots. The results of experiments on a vehicle platform indicate that the proposed method could detect vehicles quickly, correctly and robustly in the actual traffic environments with illumination variation. PMID:25195855

  14. Novel thixotropic gel electrolytes based on dicationic bis-imidazolium salts for quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kim, Jun Young; Kim, Tae Ho; Kim, Dong Young; Park, Nam-Gyu; Ahn, Kwang-Duk

    Novel thixotropic gel electrolytes have been successfully prepared by utilizing oligomeric poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based bis-imidazolium diiodide salts and hydrophilic silica nanoparticles for application in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The thixotropic gel-state of the ionic liquid-based composite electrolytes is confirmed by observing the typical hysteresis loop and temporary hydrogen bonding. On using the PEO-based composite electrolyte, a quasi-solid-state DSSC exhibited highly improved properties such as easy penetration of the electrolyte into the cell without leakage, long-term stability, high open-circuit voltage without the use of 4- tert-butylpyridine, and a high energy-conversion efficiency of 5.25% under AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW cm -2).

  15. Android App Based Vehicle Tracking Using GPS And GSM

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jessica Saini

    2017-09-01

    Full Text Available Global Positioning System GPS is used in numerous applications in todays world. A real time vehicle tracking system using the GPS technology is proposed in this paper. The project Android App based Vehicle Tracking Using GSM AND GPRS mainly focuses in tracking the location of the vehicle on which the device has been installed. It will then send the data in the form of latitude and longitude coordinates through SMS on the users mobile where the coordinates will be plotted in the Android app automatically. Initially the GPS installed in the device takes input from the satellite and stores it in the microcontrollers buffer. In order to track the vehicle the mobile user has to call on the SIM number that is registered in the GSM module of the device. Once the call is received the device authenticates the calling number. If authenticated the location of the vehicle is sent to the registered mobile number in the form of SMS. After sending the message the GSM is deactivated and the GPS is activated again. The coordinates of the location received in the SMS can be viewed on the android app. The hardware part described in the paper comprises of GPRS GSM module LCD to view the coordinates ATMega Microcontroller MAX 232 Arduino RS232 and relay.

  16. Fabrication and evaluation of variable focus and large deformation plano-convex microlens based on non-ionic poly(vinyl chloride)/dibutyl adipate gels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kim, Sang-Youn; Yeo, Myoung; Shin, Eun-Jae; Park, Won-Hyeong; Jang, Jong-Seok; Nam, Byeong-Uk; Bae, Jin Woo

    2015-01-01

    In this paper, we propose a variable focus microlens module based on a transparent, electroactive, and non-ionic PVC/DBA gel. A non-ionic PVC/DBA (nPVC) gel on an ITO glass was confined beneath a rigid annular electrode, and applied pressure squeezed a bulge of the nPVC gel into the annular electrode, resulting in a hemispherical plano-convex nPVC gel microlens. The proposed nPVC gel microlens was analyzed and optimized. When voltage is applied to the circular perimeter (the annular electrode) of this fabricated microlens, electrically induced creep deformation of the nPVC gel occurs, changing its optical focal length. The focal length remarkably increases from 3.8 mm up to 14.3 mm with increasing applied voltages from 300 V to 800 V. Due to its compact, transparent, and electroactive characteristics, the proposed nPVC gel microlens can be easily inserted into small consumer electronic devices, such as digital cameras, camcorders, cell phones, and other portable optical devices. (paper)

  17. Robust Vehicle Detection in Aerial Images Based on Cascaded Convolutional Neural Networks.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhong, Jiandan; Lei, Tao; Yao, Guangle

    2017-11-24

    Vehicle detection in aerial images is an important and challenging task. Traditionally, many target detection models based on sliding-window fashion were developed and achieved acceptable performance, but these models are time-consuming in the detection phase. Recently, with the great success of convolutional neural networks (CNNs) in computer vision, many state-of-the-art detectors have been designed based on deep CNNs. However, these CNN-based detectors are inefficient when applied in aerial image data due to the fact that the existing CNN-based models struggle with small-size object detection and precise localization. To improve the detection accuracy without decreasing speed, we propose a CNN-based detection model combining two independent convolutional neural networks, where the first network is applied to generate a set of vehicle-like regions from multi-feature maps of different hierarchies and scales. Because the multi-feature maps combine the advantage of the deep and shallow convolutional layer, the first network performs well on locating the small targets in aerial image data. Then, the generated candidate regions are fed into the second network for feature extraction and decision making. Comprehensive experiments are conducted on the Vehicle Detection in Aerial Imagery (VEDAI) dataset and Munich vehicle dataset. The proposed cascaded detection model yields high performance, not only in detection accuracy but also in detection speed.

  18. Evolution of an artificial neural network based autonomous land vehicle controller.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Baluja, S

    1996-01-01

    This paper presents an evolutionary method for creating an artificial neural network based autonomous land vehicle controller. The evolved controllers perform better in unseen situations than those trained with an error backpropagation learning algorithm designed for this task. In this paper, an overview of the previous connectionist based approaches to this task is given, and the evolutionary algorithms used in this study are described in detail. Methods for reducing the high computational costs of training artificial neural networks with evolutionary algorithms are explored. Error metrics specific to the task of autonomous vehicle control are introduced; the evolutionary algorithms guided by these error metrics reveal improved performance over those guided by the standard sum-squared error metric. Finally, techniques for integrating evolutionary search and error backpropagation are presented. The evolved networks are designed to control Carnegie Mellon University's NAVLAB vehicles in road following tasks.

  19. Design And Analysis Of Doppler Radar-Based Vehicle Speed Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Su Myat Paing

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available The most unwanted thing to happen to a road user is road accident. Most of the fatal accidents occur due to over speeding. Faster vehicles are more prone to accident than the slower one. Among the various methods for detecting speed of the vehicle object detection systems based on Radar have been replaced for about a century for various purposes like detection of aircrafts spacecraft ships navigation reading weather formations and terrain mapping. The essential feature in adaptive vehicle activated sign systems is the accurate measurement of a vehicles velocity. The velocities of the vehicles are acquired from a continuous wave Doppler radar. A very low amount of power is consumed in this system and only batteries can use to operate. The system works on the principle of Doppler Effect by detecting the Doppler shift in microwaves reflected from a moving object. Since the output of the sensor is sinusoidal wave with very small amplitude and needs to be amplified with the help of the amplifier before further processing. The purpose to calculate and display the speed on LCD is performed by the microcontroller.

  20. Improved gel electrophoresis matrix for hydrophobic protein separation and identification.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tokarski, Caroline; Fillet, Marianne; Rolando, Christian

    2011-03-01

    We propose an improved acrylamide gel for the separation of hydrophobic proteins. The separation strategy is based on the incorporation of N-alkylated and N,N'-dialkylated acrylamide monomers in the gel composition in order to increase hydrophobic interactions between the gel matrix and the membrane proteins. Focusing on the most efficient monomer, N,N'-dimethylacrylamide, the potentiality of the new matrix was evaluated on membrane proteins of the human colon HCT-116 cell line. Protein analysis was performed using an adapted analytical strategy based on FT-ICR tandem mass spectrometry. As a result of this comparative study, including advanced reproducibility experiments, more hydrophobic proteins were identified in the new gel (average GRAVY: -0.085) than in the classical gel (average GRAVY: -0.411). Highly hydrophobic peptides were identified reaching a GRAVY value up to 1.450, therefore indicating their probable locations in the membrane. Focusing on predicted transmembrane domains, it can be pointed out that 27 proteins were identified in the hydrophobic gel containing up to 11 transmembrane domains; in the classical gel, only 5 proteins containing 1 transmembrane domain were successfully identified. For example, multiple ionic channels and receptors were characterized in the hydrophobic gel such as the sodium/potassium channel and the glutamate or the transferrin receptors whereas they are traditionally detected using specific enrichment techniques such as immunoprecipitation. In total, membrane proteins identified in the classical gel are well documented in the literature, while most of the membrane proteins only identified on the hydrophobic gel have rarely or never been described using a proteomic-based approach. 2010 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

  1. A Novel Microdialysis Glucose Sensor System Based on Co-immobilizing on AU Micro-Electrode by SOL-GEL Technique

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Yu, Ping

    2001-01-01

    .... The sensor is based on co_immobilizing glucose oxidase (COD) with the catalase by sol-gel technique on the surface of the silicon bases with two pattern of An microelectrodes. A graduated ("sandwich...

  2. The Gel Generator option

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Boyd, R.E.

    1999-01-01

    The development of a national policy for guaranteeing an ample supply of 99m Tc to nuclear medicine, involves issues which go beyond the means by which radioactivation is achieved. Indeed, in such an exercise the pragmatic dictates of business and the sensitivities of politics must also be taken into account. Furthermore where a preference towards the nuclear reactor or the potential of cyclotrons is being questioned, the debate is incomplete if the only options that are considered are the fission-based 99 Mo generator versus the direct cyclotron production of 99m Tc. There is a third option (also neutron γ-based), an alternative to the fission 99 Mo generator, which ought not be overlooked. The application of low specific activity (n,γ) 99 Mo to a new type of generator, the Gel Generator, has been the focus of much research, particularly in Australia and more recently in China. After the initial concept had been established in the laboratory, the Australian researchers then undertook a comprehensive program of tests on the Gel Generator to assess its potential, either in the clinical laboratory or the centralised radiopharmacy, for supplying 99m Tc suitable for nuclear medicine. The outcome of this program was a clear indication that the Gel Generator innovation had the capability to provide both technical and economic advantages to the nuclear medicine industry. These advantages are described. Since that time the Gel Generator has been selected for routine use in China where it now satisfies more than 30% of the 99m Tc demand. (author)

  3. Electric Vehicle Preparedness: Task 1, Assessment of Fleet Inventory for Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schey, Stephen [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Francfort, Jim [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-01-01

    Several U.S. Department of Defense-based studies were conducted to identify potential U.S. Department of Defense transportation systems that are strong candidates for introduction or expansion of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Task 1 included a survey of the inventory of non-tactical fleet vehicles at the Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune (MCBCL) to characterize the fleet. This information and characterization will be used to select vehicles for monitoring that takes place during Task 2. This monitoring involves data logging of vehicle operation in order to identify the vehicle’s mission and travel requirements. Individual observations of these selected vehicles provide the basis for recommendations related to PEV adoption. It also identifies whether a battery electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (collectively referred to as PEVs) can fulfill the mission requirements and provides observations related to placement of PEV charging infrastructure.

  4. A Vehicle Active Safety Model: Vehicle Speed Control Based on Driver Vigilance Detection Using Wearable EEG and Sparse Representation.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Zutao; Luo, Dianyuan; Rasim, Yagubov; Li, Yanjun; Meng, Guanjun; Xu, Jian; Wang, Chunbai

    2016-02-19

    In this paper, we present a vehicle active safety model for vehicle speed control based on driver vigilance detection using low-cost, comfortable, wearable electroencephalographic (EEG) sensors and sparse representation. The proposed system consists of three main steps, namely wireless wearable EEG collection, driver vigilance detection, and vehicle speed control strategy. First of all, a homemade low-cost comfortable wearable brain-computer interface (BCI) system with eight channels is designed for collecting the driver's EEG signal. Second, wavelet de-noising and down-sample algorithms are utilized to enhance the quality of EEG data, and Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT) is adopted to extract the EEG power spectrum density (PSD). In this step, sparse representation classification combined with k-singular value decomposition (KSVD) is firstly introduced in PSD to estimate the driver's vigilance level. Finally, a novel safety strategy of vehicle speed control, which controls the electronic throttle opening and automatic braking after driver fatigue detection using the above method, is presented to avoid serious collisions and traffic accidents. The simulation and practical testing results demonstrate the feasibility of the vehicle active safety model.

  5. RDE-based assessment of a factory bi-fuel CNG/gasoline light-duty vehicle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rašić, Davor; Rodman Oprešnik, Samuel; Seljak, Tine; Vihar, Rok; Baškovič, Urban Žvar; Wechtersbach, Tomaž; Katrašnik, Tomaž

    2017-10-01

    On-road exhaust emissions of a Euro 5 factory bi-fuel CNG/gasoline light-duty vehicle equipped with the TWC were assessed considering the Real Driving Emissions (RDE) guidelines. The vehicle was equipped with a Portable Emission Measurement System (PEMS) that enabled the measurement of THC, CO, NOx, CO2, and CH4. With respect to the characteristics of the vehicle, the appropriate Worldwide Harmonized Light-Duty Vehicle Test Cycles (WLTC) were selected and based on the requirements of the RDE legislation a suitable route was conceived. In addition to the moderate RDE-based route, an extended RDE-based route was also determined. The vehicle was driven along each defined route twice, once with each individual fuel option and with a fully warm vehicle. RDE routes feature a multitude of new driving patterns that are significantly different to those encountered in the NEDC. However, as these driving patterns can greatly influence the cumulative emissions an insight in to local time trace phenomena is crucial to understand, reason and to possibly reduce the cumulative emissions. Original contributions of this paper comprise analyses of the RDE-LDV local time resolved driving emissions phenomena of a CNG-powered vehicle that are benchmarked against the ones measured under the use of gasoline in the same vehicle and under similar operating conditions to reason emission trends through driving patterns and powertrain parameters and exposing the strong cold-start independent interference of CO and N2O infrared absorption bands in the non-dispersive infrared (NDIR) analyzer. The paper provides experimental evidence on this interference, which significantly influences on the readings of CO emissions. The paper further provides hypotheses why CO and N2O interference is more pronounced when using CNG in LDVs and supports these hypotheses by PEMS tests. The study reveals that the vehicle's NOx real-world emission values of both conceived RDE-based routes when using both fuels are

  6. New TA Index-Based Rollover Prevention System for Electric Vehicles

    OpenAIRE

    Xiang Liu; Min Xu; Mian Li

    2015-01-01

    In addition to clean transportation and energy savings, electric vehicles can inherently offer better performance in the field of active safety and dynamic stability control, thanks to the superior fast and accurate control characteristics of electric motors. With the novel wheel status parameter TA for electric vehicles proposed by the authors in an earlier publication, a new TA index (TAI)-based rollover prevention method is presented in this paper to improve the driving performance of EV...

  7. Advanced Emergency Braking Control Based on a Nonlinear Model Predictive Algorithm for Intelligent Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ronghui Zhang

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available Focusing on safety, comfort and with an overall aim of the comprehensive improvement of a vision-based intelligent vehicle, a novel Advanced Emergency Braking System (AEBS is proposed based on Nonlinear Model Predictive Algorithm. Considering the nonlinearities of vehicle dynamics, a vision-based longitudinal vehicle dynamics model is established. On account of the nonlinear coupling characteristics of the driver, surroundings, and vehicle itself, a hierarchical control structure is proposed to decouple and coordinate the system. To avoid or reduce the collision risk between the intelligent vehicle and collision objects, a coordinated cost function of tracking safety, comfort, and fuel economy is formulated. Based on the terminal constraints of stable tracking, a multi-objective optimization controller is proposed using the theory of non-linear model predictive control. To quickly and precisely track control target in a finite time, an electronic brake controller for AEBS is designed based on the Nonsingular Fast Terminal Sliding Mode (NFTSM control theory. To validate the performance and advantages of the proposed algorithm, simulations are implemented. According to the simulation results, the proposed algorithm has better integrated performance in reducing the collision risk and improving the driving comfort and fuel economy of the smart car compared with the existing single AEBS.

  8. Phthaloylchitosan-Based Gel Polymer Electrolytes for Efficient Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. N. F. Yusuf

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Phthaloylchitosan-based gel polymer electrolytes were prepared with tetrapropylammonium iodide, Pr4NI, as the salt and optimized for conductivity. The electrolyte with the composition of 15.7 wt.% phthaloylchitosan, 31.7 wt.% ethylene carbonate (EC, 3.17 wt.% propylene carbonate (PC, 19.0 wt.% of Pr4NI, and 1.9 wt.% iodine exhibits the highest room temperature ionic conductivity of 5.27 × 10−3 S cm−1. The dye-sensitized solar cell (DSSC fabricated with this electrolyte exhibits an efficiency of 3.5% with JSC of 7.38 mA cm−2, VOC of 0.72 V, and fill factor of 0.66. When various amounts of lithium iodide (LiI were added to the optimized gel electrolyte, the overall conductivity is observed to decrease. However, the efficiency of the DSSC increases to a maximum value of 3.71% when salt ratio of Pr4NI : LiI is 2 : 1. This cell has JSC, VOC and fill factor of 7.25 mA cm−2, 0.77 V and 0.67, respectively.

  9. Solid-state electric double layer capacitors fabricated with plastic crystal based flexible gel polymer electrolytes: Effective role of electrolyte anions

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Suleman, Mohd; Kumar, Yogesh; Hashmi, S.A.

    2015-01-01

    Flexible gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) thick films incorporated with solutions of lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate (Li-triflate or LiTf) and lithium bis trifluoromethane-sulfonimide (LiTFSI) in a plastic crystal succinonitrile (SN), entrapped in poly(vinylidine fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) have been prepared and characterized. The films have been used as electrolytes in the electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs). Coconut-shell derived activated carbon with high specific surface area (∼2100 m 2 g −1 ) and mixed (micro- and meso-) porosity has been used as EDLC electrodes. The structural, thermal, and electrochemical characterization of the GPEs have been performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), impedance measurements and cyclic voltammetry. The high ionic conductivity (∼10 −3 S cm −1 at 25 °C), good electrochemical stability window (>4.0 V) and flexible nature of the free-standing films of GPEs show their competence in the fabrication of EDLCs. The EDLCs have been tested using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and charge–discharge studies. The EDLCs using LiTf based electrolyte have been found to give higher values of specific capacitance, specific energy, power density (240–280 F g −1 , ∼39 Wh kg −1 and ∼19 kW kg −1 , respectively) than the EDLC cell with LiTFSI based gel electrolyte. EDLCs have been found to show stable performance for ∼10 4 charge–discharge cycles. The comparative studies indicate the effective role of electrolyte anions on the capacitive performance of the solid-state EDLCs. - Graphical abstract: Display Omitted - Highlights: • Flexible EDLCs with succinonitrile based gel electrolyte membranes are reported. • Anionic size of salts in gel electrolytes plays important role on capacitive performance. • Li-triflate incorporated gel electrolyte shows better performance over LiTFSI-based gel.

  10. Solid-state electric double layer capacitors fabricated with plastic crystal based flexible gel polymer electrolytes: Effective role of electrolyte anions

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Suleman, Mohd; Kumar, Yogesh; Hashmi, S.A., E-mail: sahashmi@physics.du.ac.in

    2015-08-01

    Flexible gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) thick films incorporated with solutions of lithium trifluoromethanesulfonate (Li-triflate or LiTf) and lithium bis trifluoromethane-sulfonimide (LiTFSI) in a plastic crystal succinonitrile (SN), entrapped in poly(vinylidine fluoride-co-hexafluoropropylene) (PVdF-HFP) have been prepared and characterized. The films have been used as electrolytes in the electrical double layer capacitors (EDLCs). Coconut-shell derived activated carbon with high specific surface area (∼2100 m{sup 2} g{sup −1}) and mixed (micro- and meso-) porosity has been used as EDLC electrodes. The structural, thermal, and electrochemical characterization of the GPEs have been performed using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), impedance measurements and cyclic voltammetry. The high ionic conductivity (∼10{sup −3} S cm{sup −1} at 25 °C), good electrochemical stability window (>4.0 V) and flexible nature of the free-standing films of GPEs show their competence in the fabrication of EDLCs. The EDLCs have been tested using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, cyclic voltammetry, and charge–discharge studies. The EDLCs using LiTf based electrolyte have been found to give higher values of specific capacitance, specific energy, power density (240–280 F g{sup −1}, ∼39 Wh kg{sup −1} and ∼19 kW kg{sup −1}, respectively) than the EDLC cell with LiTFSI based gel electrolyte. EDLCs have been found to show stable performance for ∼10{sup 4} charge–discharge cycles. The comparative studies indicate the effective role of electrolyte anions on the capacitive performance of the solid-state EDLCs. - Graphical abstract: Display Omitted - Highlights: • Flexible EDLCs with succinonitrile based gel electrolyte membranes are reported. • Anionic size of salts in gel electrolytes plays important role on capacitive performance. • Li-triflate incorporated gel electrolyte shows better

  11. A hybrid positioning strategy for vehicles in a tunnel based on RFID and in-vehicle sensors.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Song, Xiang; Li, Xu; Tang, Wencheng; Zhang, Weigong; Li, Bin

    2014-12-05

    Many intelligent transportation system applications require accurate, reliable, and continuous vehicle positioning. How to achieve such positioning performance in extended GPS-denied environments such as tunnels is the main challenge for land vehicles. This paper proposes a hybrid multi-sensor fusion strategy for vehicle positioning in tunnels. First, the preliminary positioning algorithm is developed. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) technology is introduced to achieve preliminary positioning in the tunnel. The received signal strength (RSS) is used as an indicator to calculate the distances between the RFID tags and reader, and then a Least Mean Square (LMS) federated filter is designed to provide the preliminary position information for subsequent global fusion. Further, to improve the positioning performance in the tunnel, an interactive multiple model (IMM)-based global fusion algorithm is developed to fuse the data from preliminary positioning results and low-cost in-vehicle sensors, such as electronic compasses and wheel speed sensors. In the actual implementation of IMM, the strong tracking extended Kalman filter (STEKF) algorithm is designed to replace the conventional extended Kalman filter (EKF) to achieve model individual filtering. Finally, the proposed strategy is evaluated through experiments. The results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

  12. A Hybrid Positioning Strategy for Vehicles in a Tunnel Based on RFID and In-Vehicle Sensors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiang Song

    2014-12-01

    Full Text Available Many intelligent transportation system applications require accurate, reliable, and continuous vehicle positioning. How to achieve such positioning performance in extended GPS-denied environments such as tunnels is the main challenge for land vehicles. This paper proposes a hybrid multi-sensor fusion strategy for vehicle positioning in tunnels. First, the preliminary positioning algorithm is developed. The Radio Frequency Identification (RFID technology is introduced to achieve preliminary positioning in the tunnel. The received signal strength (RSS is used as an indicator to calculate the distances between the RFID tags and reader, and then a Least Mean Square (LMS federated filter is designed to provide the preliminary position information for subsequent global fusion. Further, to improve the positioning performance in the tunnel, an interactive multiple model (IMM-based global fusion algorithm is developed to fuse the data from preliminary positioning results and low-cost in-vehicle sensors, such as electronic compasses and wheel speed sensors. In the actual implementation of IMM, the strong tracking extended Kalman filter (STEKF algorithm is designed to replace the conventional extended Kalman filter (EKF to achieve model individual filtering. Finally, the proposed strategy is evaluated through experiments. The results validate the feasibility and effectiveness of the proposed strategy.

  13. A nonadhesive solid-gel electrode for a non-invasive brain–machine interface

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shigeru eToyama

    2012-07-01

    Full Text Available A non-invasive brain–machine interface (BMI or brain-computer interface (BCI is a technology for helping individuals with disabilities and utilizes neurophysiological signals from the brain to control external machines or computers without requiring surgery. However, when applying EEG methodology, users must place EEG electrodes on the scalp each time, and the development of easy-to-use electrodes for clinical use is required. In this study, we developed a conductive nonadhesive solid-gel electrode for practical non-invasive BMIs. We performed basic material testing, including examining the volume resistivity, viscoelasticity, and moisture-retention properties of the solid gel. Then, we compared the performance of the solid gel, a conventional paste, and an in-house metal pin-based electrode using impedance measurements and P300-BMI testing. The solid gel was observed to be conductive (volume resistivity 13.2 Ωcm and soft (complex modulus 105.4 kPa, and it remained wet for a prolonged period (>10 hours in a dry environment. Impedance measurements revealed that the impedance of the solid-gel-based and conventional paste-based electrodes was superior to that of the pin-based electrode. The EEG measurement suggested that the signals obtained with the solid-gel electrode were comparable to those with the conventional paste-based electrode. Moreover, the P300-BMI study suggested that systems using the solid-gel or pin-based electrodes were effective. One of the advantages of the solid gel is that it does not require cleaning after use, whereas the conventional paste adheres to the hair, which requires washing. Furthermore, the solid-gel electrode was not painful compared with a metal-pin electrode. Taken together, the results suggest that the solid-gel electrode worked well for practical BMIs and could be useful for bedridden patients such as those with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

  14. Lower irritation microemulsion-based rotigotine gel: formulation optimization and in vitro and in vivo studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Zheng; Mu, Hong-Jie; Zhang, Xue-Mei; Ma, Peng-Kai; Lian, Sheng-Nan; Zhang, Feng-Pu; Chu, Sheng-Ying; Zhang, Wen-Wen; Wang, Ai-Ping; Wang, Wen-Yan; Sun, Kao-Xiang

    2015-01-01

    Rotigotine is a potent and selective D1, D2, and D3 dopaminergic receptor agonist. Due to an extensive first-pass effect, it has a very low oral bioavailability (approximately 0.5% in rats). The present investigation aimed to develop a microemulsion-based hydrogel for transdermal rotigotine delivery with lower application site reactions. Pseudoternary phase diagrams were constructed to determine the region of oil in water (o/w)-type microemulsion. Central composite design was used to support the pseudoternary phase diagrams and to select homogeneous and stable microemulsions with an optimal amount of rotigotine permeation within 24 hours. In vitro skin permeation experiments were performed, using Franz diffusion cells, to compare rotigotine-loaded microemulsions with rotigotine solutions in oil. The optimized formulation was used to prepare a microemulsion-based hydrogel, which was subjected to bioavailability and skin irritancy studies. The selected formulations of rotigotine-loaded microemulsions had enhanced flux and permeation coefficients compared with rotigotine in oil. The optimum microemulsion contained 68% water, 6.8% Labrafil(®), 13.44% Cremophor(®) RH40, 6.72% Labrasol(®), and 5.04% Transcutol(®) HP; the drug-loading rate was 2%. To form a microemulsion gel, 1% Carbomer 1342 was added to the microemulsion. The bioavailability of the rotigotine-loaded microemulsion gel was 105.76%±20.52% with respect to the marketed rotigotine patch (Neupro(®)). The microemulsion gel irritated the skin less than Neupro. A rotigotine microemulsion-based hydrogel was successfully developed, and an optimal formulation for drug delivery was identified. This product could improve patient compliance and have broad marketability.

  15. Optimization of the Upper Surface of Hypersonic Vehicle Based on CFD Analysis

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gao, T. Y.; Cui, K.; Hu, S. C.; Wang, X. P.; Yang, G. W.

    2011-09-01

    For the hypersonic vehicle, the aerodynamic performance becomes more intensive. Therefore, it is a significant event to optimize the shape of the hypersonic vehicle to achieve the project demands. It is a key technology to promote the performance of the hypersonic vehicle with the method of shape optimization. Based on the existing vehicle, the optimization to the upper surface of the Simplified hypersonic vehicle was done to obtain a shape which suits the project demand. At the cruising condition, the upper surface was parameterized with the B-Spline curve method. The incremental parametric method and the reconstruction technology of the local mesh were applied here. The whole flow field was been calculated and the aerodynamic performance of the craft were obtained by the computational fluid dynamic (CFD) technology. Then the vehicle shape was optimized to achieve the maximum lift-drag ratio at attack angle 3°, 4° and 5°. The results will provide the reference for the practical design.

  16. Acceptability of a transdermal gel-based male hormonal contraceptive in a randomized controlled trial☆, ☆☆, ★

    Science.gov (United States)

    Roth, Mara Y.; Shih, Grace; Ilani, Niloufar; Wang, Christina; Page, Stephanie T.; Bremner, William J.; Swerdloff, Ronald S.; Sitruk-Ware, Regine; Blithe, Diana L.; Amory, John K.

    2014-01-01

    Objective Fifty percent of pregnancies in the United States are unintended despite numerous contraceptive methods available to women. The only male contraceptive methods, vasectomy and condoms, are used by 10% and 16% of couples, respectively. Prior studies have shown efficacy of male hormonal contraceptives in development, but few have evaluated patient acceptability and potential use if commercially available. The objective of this study is to determine if a transdermal gel-based male hormonal contraceptive regimen, containing testosterone and Nestorone® gels, would be acceptable to study participants as a primary contraceptive method. Study Design As part of a three-arm, 6-month, double-blind, randomized controlled trial of testosterone and nestorone gels at two academic medical centers, subjects completed a questionnaire to assess the acceptability of the regimen. Of the 99 men randomized, 79 provided data for analysis. Results Overall, 56% (44/79) of men were satisfied or extremely satisfied with this gel-based method of contraception, and 51% (40/79) reported that they would recommend this method to others. One third of subjects (26/79) reported that they would use this as their primary method of contraception if it were commercially available today. However, men with concerns about sexually transmitted disease were significantly less satisfied than men without such concerns (p=0.03). Conclusions A majority of the men who volunteered to participate in this trial of an experimental male hormonal contraceptive were satisfied with this transdermal male hormonal contraceptive. If commercially available, a combination of topical nesterone and testosterone gels could provide a reversible, effective method of contraception that is appealing to men. Implications A substantial portion of men report they would use this transdermal male contraceptive regimen if commercially available. This method would provide a novel, reversible method of contraception for men, whose

  17. [Dynamic road vehicle emission inventory simulation study based on real time traffic information].

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Cheng; Liu, Juan; Chen, Chang-Hong; Zhang, Jian; Liu, Deng-Guo; Zhu, Jing-Yu; Huang, Wei-Ming; Chao, Yuan

    2012-11-01

    The vehicle activity survey, including traffic flow distribution, driving condition, and vehicle technologies, were conducted in Shanghai. The databases of vehicle flow, VSP distribution and vehicle categories were established according to the surveyed data. Based on this, a dynamic vehicle emission inventory simulation method was designed by using the real time traffic information data, such as traffic flow and average speed. Some roads in Shanghai city were selected to conduct the hourly vehicle emission simulation as a case study. The survey results show that light duty passenger car and taxi are major vehicles on the roads of Shanghai city, accounting for 48% - 72% and 15% - 43% of the total flow in each hour, respectively. VSP distribution has a good relationship with the average speed. The peak of VSP distribution tends to move to high load section and become lower with the increase of average speed. Vehicles achieved Euro 2 and Euro 3 standards are majorities of current vehicle population in Shanghai. Based on the calibration of vehicle travel mileage data, the proportions of Euro 2 and Euro 3 standard vehicles take up 11% - 70% and 17% - 51% in the real-world situation, respectively. The emission simulation results indicate that the ratios of emission peak and valley for the pollutants of CO, VOC, NO(x) and PM are 3.7, 4.6, 9.6 and 19.8, respectively. CO and VOC emissions mainly come from light-duty passenger car and taxi, which has a good relationship with the traffic flow. NO(x) and PM emissions are mainly from heavy-duty bus and public buses and mainly concentrate in the morning and evening peak hours. The established dynamic vehicle emission simulation method can reflect the change of actual road emission and output high emission road sectors and hours in real time. The method can provide an important technical means and decision-making basis for transportation environment management.

  18. Shockwave-Based Automated Vehicle Longitudinal Control Algorithm for Nonrecurrent Congestion Mitigation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Liuhui Zhao

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A shockwave-based speed harmonization algorithm for the longitudinal movement of automated vehicles is presented in this paper. In the advent of Connected/Automated Vehicle (C/AV environment, the proposed algorithm can be applied to capture instantaneous shockwaves constructed from vehicular speed profiles shared by individual equipped vehicles. With a continuous wavelet transform (CWT method, the algorithm detects abnormal speed drops in real-time and optimizes speed to prevent the shockwave propagating to the upstream traffic. A traffic simulation model is calibrated to evaluate the applicability and efficiency of the proposed algorithm. Based on 100% C/AV market penetration, the simulation results show that the CWT-based algorithm accurately detects abnormal speed drops. With the improved accuracy of abnormal speed drop detection, the simulation results also demonstrate that the congestion can be mitigated by reducing travel time and delay up to approximately 9% and 18%, respectively. It is also found that the shockwave caused by nonrecurrent congestion is quickly dissipated even with low market penetration.

  19. Initial evaluation of commercial optical CT-based 3D gel dosimeter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Islam, K.T.S.; Dempsey, James F.; Ranade, Manisha K.; Maryanski, Marek J.; Low, Daniel A.

    2003-01-01

    We evaluated the OCTOPUS-ONE trade mark sign research laser CT scanner developed and manufactured by MGS Research, Inc. (Madison, CT). The scanner is designed for imaging 3D optical density distributions in BANG registered gels. The scanner operates in a translate-rotate configuration with a single scanning laser beam. The rotating cylindrical gel phantom is immersed in a refractive index matching solution and positioned at the center of a square tank made of plastic and glass. A stationary polarized He-Ne laser beam (633 nm) is reflected from a mirror moving parallel to the tank wall and scans the gel. Another mirror moves synchronously along the opposite side of the tank and collects the transmitted light and sends it to a single stationary silicon photodetector. A filtered backprojection algorithm is used to reconstruct projection data in a plane. The laser-mirrors-detector assembly is mounted on a horizontal platform that moves vertically for slice selection. We have tested the mechanical and optical setup, projection centering on the axis of rotation, linearity, and spatial resolution. We found the optical detector to respond linearly to transmitted light from control samples. The spatial resolution of the scanner was determined by employing a split field resolution technique. We obtained the horizontal and vertical full widths at half maxima of the laser beam intensity profiles as 0.6 and 0.8 mm, respectively. Dose calibration tests of the gel were performed using a nine-field (2x2 cm 2 each) dose pattern irradiated at different dose levels. Finally, we compared gel-derived 2D planar dose distribution against radiochromic film measured dose distribution for both the nine-field and a uniform 5x5 cm 2 field of 6 MV x rays. Very similar dose distributions were observed in gel and radiochromic film except in regions of steep dose gradient and highest dose. A dose normalization of 15.6% was required between the two dosimeters due to differences in overall

  20. Novel thixotropic gel electrolytes based on dicationic bis-imidazolium salts for quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Kim, Jun Young [Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, SungKyunKwan University, Suwon, Kyunggi-do 440-746 (Korea); Functional Polymer Lab., Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791 (Korea); Kim, Tae Ho [Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, SungKyunKwan University, Suwon, Kyunggi-do 440-746 (Korea); Kim, Dong Young; Park, Nam-Gyu [Energy Materials Research Center, Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791 (Korea); Ahn, Kwang-Duk [Functional Polymer Lab., Korea Institute of Science and Technology, Seoul 136-791 (Korea)

    2008-01-03

    Novel thixotropic gel electrolytes have been successfully prepared by utilizing oligomeric poly(ethylene oxide) (PEO)-based bis-imidazolium diiodide salts and hydrophilic silica nanoparticles for application in quasi-solid-state dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs). The thixotropic gel-state of the ionic liquid-based composite electrolytes is confirmed by observing the typical hysteresis loop and temporary hydrogen bonding. On using the PEO-based composite electrolyte, a quasi-solid-state DSSC exhibited highly improved properties such as easy penetration of the electrolyte into the cell without leakage, long-term stability, high open-circuit voltage without the use of 4-tert-butylpyridine, and a high energy-conversion efficiency of 5.25% under AM 1.5 illumination (100 mW cm{sup -2}). (author)

  1. Prevention and Reduction of Atrophic Acne Scars with Adapalene 0.3%/Benzoyl Peroxide 2.5% Gel in Subjects with Moderate or Severe Facial Acne: Results of a 6-Month Randomized, Vehicle-Controlled Trial Using Intra-Individual Comparison.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Dréno, Brigitte; Bissonnette, Robert; Gagné-Henley, Angélique; Barankin, Benjamin; Lynde, Charles; Kerrouche, Nabil; Tan, Jerry

    2018-04-01

    Very few clinical trials have investigated the effect of topical acne treatment on scarring. Our objective was to evaluate the efficacy of adapalene 0.3%/benzoyl peroxide 2.5% gel (A0.3/BPO2.5) in atrophic acne scar formation in patients with acne. In this multicenter, randomized, investigator-blinded, vehicle-controlled study, subjects with moderate or severe facial acne (Investigator's Global Assessment [IGA] score 3 or 4; ≥ 25 inflammatory lesions; ten or more atrophic acne scars) applied A0.3/BPO2.5 or vehicle daily per half face for 24 weeks. Subjects with acne requiring systemic treatment were excluded. Assessments included investigator atrophic acne scar count, Scar Global Assessment (SGA), acne lesion count, IGA, skin roughness and skin texture, subject self-assessment of clinical acne-related scars and satisfaction questionnaire, tolerability, and safety. Included subjects (n = 67) had mainly moderate acne (92.5% IGA 3); mean scores at baseline were approximately 40 acne lesions and 12 scars per half face. By week 24, the change from baseline in total scar count was - 15.5% for A0.3/BPO2.5 versus  + 14.4% for vehicle (approximately 30% difference), with a mean of 9.5 scars versus 13.3 per half face, respectively (p vehicle (p vehicle (p vehicle side, most commonly skin irritation (14.9 vs. 6%, respectively). Topical A0.3/BPO2.5 prevented and reduced atrophic scar formation. Scar count increased with vehicle (+ 14.4%) but decreased with A0.3/BPO2.5 (- 15.5%) over 24 weeks. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT02735421.

  2. Pulsed field gel electrophoresis a practical guide

    CERN Document Server

    Birren, Bruce

    1993-01-01

    Pulsed Field Gel Electrophoresis: A Practical Guide is the first laboratory manual to describe the theory and practice of this technique. Based on the authors' experience developing pulsed field gel instruments and teaching procedures, this book provides everything a researcher or student needs to know in order to understand and carry out pulsed field gel experiments. Clear, well-tested protocols assume only that users have a basic familiarity with molecular biology. Thorough coverage of useful data, theory, and applications ensures that this book is also a lasting resource for more adv

  3. Explorative data analysis of two-dimensional electrophoresis gels

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Schultz, J.; Gottlieb, D.M.; Petersen, Marianne Kjerstine

    2004-01-01

    of gels is presented. First, an approach is demonstrated in which no prior knowledge of the separated proteins is used. Alignment of the gels followed by a simple transformation of data makes it possible to analyze the gels in an automated explorative manner by principal component analysis, to determine......Methods for classification of two-dimensional (2-DE) electrophoresis gels based on multivariate data analysis are demonstrated. Two-dimensional gels of ten wheat varieties are analyzed and it is demonstrated how to classify the wheat varieties in two qualities and a method for initial screening...... if the gels should be further analyzed. A more detailed approach is done by analyzing spot volume lists by principal components analysis and partial least square regression. The use of spot volume data offers a mean to investigate the spot pattern and link the classified protein patterns to distinct spots...

  4. pH and temperature dual-sensitive liposome gel based on novel cleavable mPEG-Hz-CHEMS polymeric vaginal delivery system

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chen D

    2012-05-01

    Full Text Available Daquan Chen,1,2 Kaoxiang Sun,1,2 Hongjie Mu,1 Mingtan Tang,3 Rongcai Liang,1,2 Aiping Wang,1,2 Shasha Zhou,1 Haijun Sun,1 Feng Zhao,1 Jianwen Yao,1 Wanhui Liu1,21School of Pharmacy, Yantai University, 2State Key Laboratory of Longacting and Targeting Drug Delivery Systems, Yantai, 3School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Shandong University, Jinan, People's Republic of ChinaBackground: In this study, a pH and temperature dual-sensitive liposome gel based on a novel cleavable hydrazone-based pH-sensitive methoxy polyethylene glycol 2000-hydrazone-cholesteryl hemisuccinate (mPEG-Hz-CHEMS polymer was used for vaginal administration.Methods: The pH-sensitive, cleavable mPEG-Hz-CHEMS was designed as a modified pH-sensitive liposome that would selectively degrade under locally acidic vaginal conditions. The novel pH-sensitive liposome was engineered to form a thermogel at body temperature and to degrade in an acidic environment.Results: A dual-sensitive liposome gel with a high encapsulation efficiency of arctigenin was formed and improved the solubility of arctigenin characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and differential scanning calorimetry. The dual-sensitive liposome gel with a sol-gel transition at body temperature was degraded in a pH-dependent manner, and was stable for a long period of time at neutral and basic pH, but cleavable under acidic conditions (pH 5.0. Arctigenin encapsulated in a dual-sensitive liposome gel was more stable and less toxic than arctigenin loaded into pH-sensitive liposomes. In vitro drug release results indicated that dual-sensitive liposome gels showed constant release of arctigenin over 3 days, but showed sustained release of arctigenin in buffers at pH 7.4 and pH 9.0.Conclusion: This research has shed some light on a pH and temperature dual-sensitive liposome gel using a cleavable mPEG-Hz-CHEMS polymer for vaginal delivery.Keywords: mPEG-Hz-CHEMS polymer, pH-sensitive liposomes, thermosensitive

  5. Transport Phenomena in Gel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Masayuki Tokita

    2016-05-01

    Full Text Available Gel becomes an important class of soft materials since it can be seen in a wide variety of the chemical and the biological systems. The unique properties of gel arise from the structure, namely, the three-dimensional polymer network that is swollen by a huge amount of solvent. Despite the small volume fraction of the polymer network, which is usually only a few percent or less, gel shows the typical properties that belong to solids such as the elasticity. Gel is, therefore, regarded as a dilute solid because its elasticity is much smaller than that of typical solids. Because of the diluted structure, small molecules can pass along the open space of the polymer network. In addition to the viscous resistance of gel fluid, however, the substance experiences resistance due to the polymer network of gel during the transport process. It is, therefore, of importance to study the diffusion of the small molecules in gel as well as the flow of gel fluid itself through the polymer network of gel. It may be natural to assume that the effects of the resistance due to the polymer network of gel depends strongly on the network structure. Therefore, detailed study on the transport processes in and through gel may open a new insight into the relationship between the structure and the transport properties of gel. The two typical transport processes in and through gel, that is, the diffusion of small molecules due to the thermal fluctuations and the flow of gel fluid that is caused by the mechanical pressure gradient will be reviewed.

  6. Injectable biocompatible and biodegradable pH-responsive hollow particle gels containing poly(acrylic acid): the effect of copolymer composition on gel properties.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Halacheva, Silvia S; Adlam, Daman J; Hendow, Eseelle K; Freemont, Tony J; Hoyland, Judith; Saunders, Brian R

    2014-05-12

    The potential of various pH-responsive alkyl (meth)acrylate ester- and (meth)acrylic acid-based copolymers, including poly(methyl methacrylate-co-acrylic acid) (PMMA-AA) and poly(n-butyl acrylate-co-methacrylic acid) (PBA-MAA), to form pH-sensitive biocompatible and biodegradable hollow particle gel scaffolds for use in non-load-bearing soft tissue regeneration have been explored. The optimal copolymer design criteria for preparation of these materials have been established. Physical gels which are both pH- and redox-sensitive were formed only from PMMA-AA copolymers. MMA is the optimal hydrophobic monomer, whereas the use of various COOH-containing monomers, e.g., MAA and AA, will always induce a pH-triggered physical gelation. The PMMA-AA gels were prepared at physiological pH range from concentrated dispersions of swollen, hollow, polymer-based particles cross-linked with either cystamine (CYS) or 3,3'-dithiodipropionic acid dihydrazide (DTP). A linear relationship between particle swelling ratios, gel elasticity, and ductility was observed. The PMMA-AA gels with lower AA contents feature lower swelling ratios, mechanical strengths, and ductilities. Increasing the swelling ratio (e.g., through increasing AA content) decreased the intraparticle elasticity; however, intershell contact and gel elasticity were found to increase. The mechanical properties and performance of the gels were tuneable upon varying the copolymers' compositions and the structure of the cross-linker. Compared to PMMA-AA/CYS, the PMMA-AA/DTP gels were more elastic and ductile. The biodegradability and cytotoxicity of the new hollow particle gels were tested for the first time and related to their composition, mechanical properties, and morphology. The new PMMA-AA/CYS and PMMA-AA/DTP gels have shown good biocompatibility, biodegradability, strength, and interconnected porosity and therefore have good potential as a tissue repair agent.

  7. Accelerated Lane-Changing Trajectory Planning of Automated Vehicles with Vehicle-to-Vehicle Collaboration

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Haijian Bai

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Considering the complexity of lane changing using automated vehicles and the frequency of turning lanes in city settings, this paper aims to generate an accelerated lane-changing trajectory using vehicle-to-vehicle collaboration (V2VC. Based on the characteristics of accelerated lane changing, we used a polynomial method and cooperative strategies for trajectory planning to establish a lane-changing model under different degrees of collaboration with the following vehicle in the target lane by considering vehicle kinematics and comfort requirements. Furthermore, considering the shortcomings of the traditional elliptical vehicle and round vehicle models, we established a rectangular vehicle model with collision boundary conditions by analysing the relationships between the possible collision points and the outline of the vehicle. Then, we established a simulation model for the accelerated lane-changing process in different environments under different degrees of collaboration. The results show that, by using V2VC, we can achieve safe accelerated lane-changing trajectories and simultaneously satisfy the requirements of vehicle kinematics and comfort control.

  8. Research on vehicles and cargos matching model based on virtual logistics platform

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhuang, Yufeng; Lu, Jiang; Su, Zhiyuan

    2018-04-01

    Highway less than truckload (LTL) transportation vehicles and cargos matching problem is a joint optimization problem of typical vehicle routing and loading, which is also a hot issue of operational research. This article based on the demand of virtual logistics platform, for the problem of the highway LTL transportation, the matching model of the idle vehicle and the transportation order is set up and the corresponding genetic algorithm is designed. Then the algorithm is implemented by Java. The simulation results show that the solution is satisfactory.

  9. Assessment of Charging Infrastructure for Plug-in Electric Vehicles at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Task 3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schey, Stephen [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Francfort, Jim [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-11-01

    Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, managing and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, is the lead laboratory for the U.S. Department of Energy’s advanced vehicle testing. Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC contracted with Intertek Testing Services, North America (Intertek) to conduct several U.S. Department of Defense-based studies to identify potential U.S. Department of Defense transportation systems that are strong candidates for introduction or expansion of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Task 1 consisted of a survey of the non-tactical fleet of vehicles at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune to begin the review of vehicle mission assignments and types of vehicles in service. Task 2 selected vehicles for further monitoring and involved identifying daily operational characteristics of these select vehicles. Data logging of vehicle movements was initiated in order to characterize the vehicle’s mission. The Task 3 vehicle utilization report provided results of the data analysis and observations related to the replacement of current vehicles with PEVs. Finally, this report provides an assessment of charging infrastructure required to support the suggested PEV replacements. Intertek acknowledges the support of Idaho National Laboratory, Marine Corps headquarters, and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Fleet management and personnel for participation in this study. Intertek is pleased to provide this report and is encouraged by enthusiasm and support from Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune personnel.

  10. Emissions from Road Vehicles Fuelled by Fischer Tropsch Based Diesel and Gasoline

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Larsen, U; Lundorf, P; Ivarsson, A; Schramm, J [Technical University of Denmark (Denmark); Rehnlund, B [Atrax Energi AB (Sweden); Blinge, M [The Swedish Transport Institute (Sweden)

    2006-11-15

    The described results were carried out under the umbrella of IEA Advanced Motor Fuels Agreement. The purpose was to evaluate the emissions of carbon monoxide (CO), unburned hydrocarbons (HC), nitrogen oxides (NOx), particulate matter (PM) and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) from vehicles fuelled by Fischer Tropsch (FT) based diesel and gasoline fuel, compared to the emissions from ordinary diesel and gasoline. The comparison for diesel fuels was based on a literature review, whereas the gasoline comparison had to be based on our own experiments, since almost no references were found in this field. In this context measurement according to the Federal Test Procedure (FTP) and the New European Driving Cycle (NEDC) were carried out on a chassis dynamometer with a directly injected gasoline vehicle. Experiments were carried out with a reference fuel, a fuel based 70% on FT and an alkylate fuel (Aspen), which was supposed to be very similar, in many ways, to FT fuel. FT based diesel generally showed good emission performance, whereas the FT based gasoline not necessary lead to lower emissions. On the other hand, the Aspen fuel did show many advantages for the emissions from the gasoline vehicle.

  11. 99mTc gel generators based on zirconium molybdate-99Mo: III: Influence of preparatory conditions of zirconium molybdate-99Mo gel on generator performance

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saraswathy, P.; Sarkar, S.K.; Arjun, G.; Ramamoorthy, N.; Nandy, S.K.

    2004-01-01

    The effect of subtle variations on zirconium molybdate- 99 Mo gel preparatory conditions, such as stoichiometry of reactants, pH of gel formation, conditioning of gel granules etc., prior to elution were investigated primarily to arrive at the conditions resulting in high 99m Tc release and minimal 99 Mo breakthrough upon elution with normal saline. Zirconium molybdate- 99 Mo gels were prepared by reacting solutions of Zr and Mo in mole ratios of 0.75-1.5. Both water and normal saline were used for gel disintegration, and the release of 99m Tc and 99 Mo from gel columns into eluates was compared. Sharper elution profile of 99m Tc, but with significantly higher 99 Mo breakthrough (5-8 times), was obtained when water alone was used for disintegration and elution, in comparison to when saline was used. Gels exhibiting optimum characteristics were found to be formed at a pH of 4-5 by reacting [Zr]: [Mo] in the mole ratio of 1.25: 1 and after drying, the product was dispersed into granules by disintegration with normal saline. 99m Tc elution efficiency was found to be ∝ 75% and 99 Mo breakthrough ∝ 0.05%. The elution profile was sharp when a 6 g gel column coupled to a 2 g acidic alumina column (to trap 99 Mo) was eluted with 6-9 ml normal saline. Generators containing upto 23 GBq 99 Mo were prepared, eluted extensively without changing the alumina column and found to provide pertechnetate of good quality, commensurate with hospital radiopharmacy requirements. (orig.)

  12. Caffeine-catalyzed gels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    DiCiccio, Angela M; Lee, Young-Ah Lucy; Glettig, Dean L; Walton, Elizabeth S E; de la Serna, Eva L; Montgomery, Veronica A; Grant, Tyler M; Langer, Robert; Traverso, Giovanni

    2018-07-01

    Covalently cross-linked gels are utilized in a broad range of biomedical applications though their synthesis often compromises easy implementation. Cross-linking reactions commonly utilize catalysts or conditions that can damage biologics and sensitive compounds, producing materials that require extensive post processing to achieve acceptable biocompatibility. As an alternative, we report a batch synthesis platform to produce covalently cross-linked materials appropriate for direct biomedical application enabled by green chemistry and commonly available food grade ingredients. Using caffeine, a mild base, to catalyze anhydrous carboxylate ring-opening of diglycidyl-ether functionalized monomers with citric acid as a tri-functional crosslinking agent we introduce a novel poly(ester-ether) gel synthesis platform. We demonstrate that biocompatible Caffeine Catalyzed Gels (CCGs) exhibit dynamic physical, chemical, and mechanical properties, which can be tailored in shape, surface texture, solvent response, cargo release, shear and tensile strength, among other potential attributes. The demonstrated versatility, low cost and facile synthesis of these CCGs renders them appropriate for a broad range of customized engineering applications including drug delivery constructs, tissue engineering scaffolds, and medical devices. Copyright © 2018 The Authors. Published by Elsevier Ltd.. All rights reserved.

  13. Vehicle Detection in Aerial Images Based on Region Convolutional Neural Networks and Hard Negative Example Mining.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Tianyu; Zhou, Shilin; Deng, Zhipeng; Zou, Huanxin; Lei, Lin

    2017-02-10

    Detecting vehicles in aerial imagery plays an important role in a wide range of applications. The current vehicle detection methods are mostly based on sliding-window search and handcrafted or shallow-learning-based features, having limited description capability and heavy computational costs. Recently, due to the powerful feature representations, region convolutional neural networks (CNN) based detection methods have achieved state-of-the-art performance in computer vision, especially Faster R-CNN. However, directly using it for vehicle detection in aerial images has many limitations: (1) region proposal network (RPN) in Faster R-CNN has poor performance for accurately locating small-sized vehicles, due to the relatively coarse feature maps; and (2) the classifier after RPN cannot distinguish vehicles and complex backgrounds well. In this study, an improved detection method based on Faster R-CNN is proposed in order to accomplish the two challenges mentioned above. Firstly, to improve the recall, we employ a hyper region proposal network (HRPN) to extract vehicle-like targets with a combination of hierarchical feature maps. Then, we replace the classifier after RPN by a cascade of boosted classifiers to verify the candidate regions, aiming at reducing false detection by negative example mining. We evaluate our method on the Munich vehicle dataset and the collected vehicle dataset, with improvements in accuracy and robustness compared to existing methods.

  14. Good agreement of conventional and gel-based direct agglutination test in immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Piek, C.J.; Teske, E.; van Leeuwen, M.W.; Day, M.J.

    2012-01-01

    Abstract Background The aim of this study was to compare a gel-based test with the traditional direct agglutination test (DAT) for the diagnosis of immune-mediated haemolytic anaemia (IMHA). Methods Canine (n = 247) and feline (n = 74) blood samples were submitted for DAT testing to two

  15. SOL-GEL SILICA-BASED Ag–Ca–P COATINGS WITH AGRESSIVE PRETREATMENT OF TITANIUM SUBSTRATE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ELENA BORSHCHEVA

    2011-12-01

    Full Text Available The aim of the experiment was the obtaining of thin silica coatings on titanium by sol-gel method, using mechanical (SiC - paper No.180 and chemical (leaching in HF pretreatments of the titanium substrates. The solutions were based on TEOS. For the sol-gel dipping process 4 different solutions were prepared: silica, silica with AgNO3 and silica + AgNO3 with brushite (CaHPO4·2H2O or monetite (CaHPO4 powders. The solutions were aged for 7 and 14 days at laboratory temperature. After sol-gel dip-coating process the samples were dried and fired. The adhesion of fired coatings was measured by tape test according to ASTM procedure and the bioactivity of the coatings was tested using in vitro test. The surfaces of the samples after firing, tape test and in vitro test were observed with the optical and electron microscopes. The firing results showed that silica-silver coatings did not change, brushite sol-gel coatings have cracked and the monetite sol-gel coatings have cracked also, but less than brushite ones. In spite of coating´s crackings, the square’s frames made on the surfaces were without any breakdowns after tape tests and the adhesion of all coatings was very good, classified by the highest grade 5. The results of in vitro tests showed that all coatings interacted with simulated body fluid (SBF. After exposition in SBF the new layer formed on substrates. In case of 7 days aged coatings containing brushite the new layer was uniform and compact. In case of 7 days aged coatings containing monetite the new layer was formed by crystals aggregated tightly together. The monetite and brushite coatings prepared from 14 days aged sol were the same as previous ones, but they were thicker. X-ray analyses after in vitro test confirmed dellaite, titanate and hydroxyapatite phases.

  16. Does Driving Range of Electric Vehicles Influence Electric Vehicle Adoption?

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Seiho Kim

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available This study aims to determine the influential factors on the market share of electric vehicles through panel data analysis based on time series data from 2011 to 2015 in 31 countries. We selected five significant independent variables that are expected to affect electric vehicle adoption based on literature review. The econometric model in this study suggests that the relative price of electric vehicle compared to internal combustion engine vehicle, driving range, and number of models available in markets are correlated to the market share of electric vehicles. On the other hand, relationship between recharging infrastructure—an important factor for electric vehicle adoption in many studies—and market share of electric vehicles turned out to be insignificant in this study. From a political point of view, we argue that policy makers need to allocate more resources to research and development in order to extend driving range at the early stage of electric vehicle deployment in the markets.

  17. PARTICLE FILTER BASED VEHICLE TRACKING APPROACH WITH IMPROVED RESAMPLING STAGE

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Leong Khong

    2014-02-01

    Full Text Available Optical sensors based vehicle tracking can be widely implemented in traffic surveillance and flow control. The vast development of video surveillance infrastructure in recent years has drawn the current research focus towards vehicle tracking using high-end and low cost optical sensors. However, tracking vehicles via such sensors could be challenging due to the high probability of changing vehicle appearance and illumination, besides the occlusion and overlapping incidents. Particle filter has been proven as an approach which can overcome nonlinear and non-Gaussian situations caused by cluttered background and occlusion incidents. Unfortunately, conventional particle filter approach encounters particle degeneracy especially during and after the occlusion. Particle filter with sampling important resampling (SIR is an important step to overcome the drawback of particle filter, but SIR faced the problem of sample impoverishment when heavy particles are statistically selected many times. In this work, genetic algorithm has been proposed to be implemented in the particle filter resampling stage, where the estimated position can converge faster to hit the real position of target vehicle under various occlusion incidents. The experimental results show that the improved particle filter with genetic algorithm resampling method manages to increase the tracking accuracy and meanwhile reduce the particle sample size in the resampling stage.

  18. Vehicle parts detection based on Faster - RCNN with location constraints of vehicle parts feature point

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yang, Liqin; Sang, Nong; Gao, Changxin

    2018-03-01

    Vehicle parts detection plays an important role in public transportation safety and mobility. The detection of vehicle parts is to detect the position of each vehicle part. We propose a new approach by combining Faster RCNN and three level cascaded convolutional neural network (DCNN). The output of Faster RCNN is a series of bounding boxes with coordinate information, from which we can locate vehicle parts. DCNN can precisely predict feature point position, which is the center of vehicle part. We design an output strategy by combining these two results. There are two advantages for this. The quality of the bounding boxes are greatly improved, which means vehicle parts feature point position can be located more precise. Meanwhile we preserve the position relationship between vehicle parts and effectively improve the validity and reliability of the result. By using our algorithm, the performance of the vehicle parts detection improve obviously compared with Faster RCNN.

  19. Antioxidant effect of green tea on polymer gel dosimeter

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Samuel, E J J; Sathiyaraj, P; Deena, T; Kumar, D S

    2015-01-01

    Extract from Green Tea (GTE) acts as an antioxidant in acrylamide based polymer gel dosimeter. In this work, PAGAT gel was used for investigation of antioxidant effect of GTE.PAGAT was called PAGTEG (Polyacrylamide green tea extract gel dosimeter) after adding GTE. Free radicals in water cause pre polymerization of polymer gel before irradiation. Polyphenols from GTE are highly effective to absorb the free radicals in water. THPC is used as an antioxidant in polymer gel dosimeter but here we were replaced it by GTE and investigated its effect by spectrophotometer. GTE added PAGAT samples response was lower compared to THPC added sample. To increase the sensitivity of the PAGTEG, sugar was added. This study confirmed that THPC was a good antioxidant for polymer gel dosimeter. However, GTE also can be used as an antioxidant in polymer gel if use less quantity (GTE) and add sugar as sensitivity enhancer

  20. Utilization Assessment of Target Electrification Vehicles at Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune. Task 3

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schey, Stephen [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Francfort, Jim [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2015-11-01

    Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC, managing and operating contractor for the U.S. Department of Energy’s Idaho National Laboratory, is the lead laboratory for U.S. Department of Energy Advanced Vehicle Testing. Battelle Energy Alliance, LLC contracted with Intertek Testing Services, North America (Intertek) to conduct several U.S. Department of Defense base studies to identify potential U.S. Department of Defense transportation systems that are strong candidates for introduction or expansion of plug-in electric vehicles (PEVs). Task 1 consisted of a survey of the non-tactical fleet of vehicles at MCBCL to begin the review of vehicle mission assignments and types of vehicles in service. Task 2 involved identifying daily operational characteristics of select vehicles and initiating data logging of vehicle movements in order to characterize the vehicle’s mission. Individual observations of these selected vehicles provide the basis for recommendations related to PEV adoption and whether a battery electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle (collectively referred to as PEVs) can fulfill the mission requirements and provide observations related to placement of PEV charging infrastructure. This report provides the results of the data analysis and observations related to replacement of current vehicles with PEVs. This fulfills part of the Task 3 requirements. Task 3 also includes an assessment of the charging infrastructure required to support this replacement, which is the subject of a separate report. Intertek acknowledges the support of Idaho National Laboratory, Marine Corps headquarters, and Marine Corps Base Camp Lejeune Fleet management and personnel for participation in this study. Intertek is pleased to provide this report and is encouraged by enthusiasm and support from MCBCL personnel.

  1. AN AUTONOMOUS GPS-DENIED UNMANNED VEHICLE PLATFORM BASED ON BINOCULAR VISION FOR PLANETARY EXPLORATION

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Qin

    2018-04-01

    Full Text Available Vision-based navigation has become an attractive solution for autonomous navigation for planetary exploration. This paper presents our work of designing and building an autonomous vision-based GPS-denied unmanned vehicle and developing an ARFM (Adaptive Robust Feature Matching based VO (Visual Odometry software for its autonomous navigation. The hardware system is mainly composed of binocular stereo camera, a pan-and tilt, a master machine, a tracked chassis. And the ARFM-based VO software system contains four modules: camera calibration, ARFM-based 3D reconstruction, position and attitude calculation, BA (Bundle Adjustment modules. Two VO experiments were carried out using both outdoor images from open dataset and indoor images captured by our vehicle, the results demonstrate that our vision-based unmanned vehicle is able to achieve autonomous localization and has the potential for future planetary exploration.

  2. An Autonomous Gps-Denied Unmanned Vehicle Platform Based on Binocular Vision for Planetary Exploration

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qin, M.; Wan, X.; Shao, Y. Y.; Li, S. Y.

    2018-04-01

    Vision-based navigation has become an attractive solution for autonomous navigation for planetary exploration. This paper presents our work of designing and building an autonomous vision-based GPS-denied unmanned vehicle and developing an ARFM (Adaptive Robust Feature Matching) based VO (Visual Odometry) software for its autonomous navigation. The hardware system is mainly composed of binocular stereo camera, a pan-and tilt, a master machine, a tracked chassis. And the ARFM-based VO software system contains four modules: camera calibration, ARFM-based 3D reconstruction, position and attitude calculation, BA (Bundle Adjustment) modules. Two VO experiments were carried out using both outdoor images from open dataset and indoor images captured by our vehicle, the results demonstrate that our vision-based unmanned vehicle is able to achieve autonomous localization and has the potential for future planetary exploration.

  3. A Vehicle Active Safety Model: Vehicle Speed Control Based on Driver Vigilance Detection Using Wearable EEG and Sparse Representation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zutao Zhang

    2016-02-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we present a vehicle active safety model for vehicle speed control based on driver vigilance detection using low-cost, comfortable, wearable electroencephalographic (EEG sensors and sparse representation. The proposed system consists of three main steps, namely wireless wearable EEG collection, driver vigilance detection, and vehicle speed control strategy. First of all, a homemade low-cost comfortable wearable brain-computer interface (BCI system with eight channels is designed for collecting the driver’s EEG signal. Second, wavelet de-noising and down-sample algorithms are utilized to enhance the quality of EEG data, and Fast Fourier Transformation (FFT is adopted to extract the EEG power spectrum density (PSD. In this step, sparse representation classification combined with k-singular value decomposition (KSVD is firstly introduced in PSD to estimate the driver’s vigilance level. Finally, a novel safety strategy of vehicle speed control, which controls the electronic throttle opening and automatic braking after driver fatigue detection using the above method, is presented to avoid serious collisions and traffic accidents. The simulation and practical testing results demonstrate the feasibility of the vehicle active safety model.

  4. ELISA AND SOL-GEL BASED IMMUNOAFFINITY PURIFICATION OF THE PYRETHROID BIOALLETHRIN IN FOOD AND ENVIRONMENTAL SAMPLES

    Science.gov (United States)

    The peer-reviewed article describes the development of a new sol-gel based immunoaffinity purification procedure and an immunoassay for the pyrethroid bioallethrin. The immunoaffinity chromatography procedure was applied to food samples providing an efficient cleanup prior to im...

  5. Experimental evaluation of optimal Vehicle Dynamic Control based on the State Dependent Riccati Equation technique

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Alirezaei, M.; Kanarachos, S.A.; Scheepers, B.T.M.; Maurice, J.P.

    2013-01-01

    Development and experimentally evaluation of an optimal Vehicle Dynamic Control (VDC) strategy based on the State Dependent Riccati Equation (SDRE) control technique is presented. The proposed nonlinear controller is based on a nonlinear vehicle model with nonlinear tire characteristics. A novel

  6. Research on Heat Dissipation of Electric Vehicle Based on Safety Architecture Optimization

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhou, Chao; Guo, Yajuan; Huang, Wei; Jiang, Haitao; Wu, Liwei

    2017-10-01

    In order to solve the problem of excessive temperature in the discharge process of lithium-ion battery and the temperature difference between batteries, a heat dissipation of electric vehicle based on safety architecture optimization is designed. The simulation is used to optimize the temperature field of the heat dissipation of the battery. A reasonable heat dissipation control scheme is formulated to achieve heat dissipation requirements. The results show that the ideal working temperature range of the lithium ion battery is 20?∼45?, and the temperature difference between the batteries should be controlled within 5?. A cooling fan is arranged at the original air outlet of the battery model, and the two cooling fans work in turn to realize the reciprocating flow. The temperature difference is controlled within 5? to ensure the good temperature uniformity between the batteries of the electric vehicle. Based on the above finding, it is concluded that the heat dissipation design for electric vehicle batteries is safe and effective, which is the most effective methods to ensure battery life and vehicle safety.

  7. The development of Cutina lipogels and gel microemulsion for topical administration of fluconazole

    OpenAIRE

    Ellaithy, H. M.; El-Shaboury, K. M. F.

    2002-01-01

    The influence of the vehicle on the release and permeation of fluconazole, a topical antifungal drug dissolved in Jojoba oil was evaluated. Series of Cutina lipogels (Cutina CPA [cetyl palmitate], CBS [mixture of glyceryl stearate, cetearyl alcohol, cetyl palmitate, and cocoglycerides], MD [glyceryl stearate], and GMS [glyceryl monostearate]) in different concentrations as well as gel microemulsion were prepared. In-vitro drug release in Sorensens citrate buffer (pH 5.5) and permeation throug...

  8. Thorium inorganic gels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Genet, M.; Brandel, V.

    1988-01-01

    The optimum pH and concentration values of thorium salts and oxoacids or oxoacid salts which lead to transparent and stable inorganic gels have been determined. The isotherm drying process of the gel at 50 0 C leads successively to a partly dehydrated gel, then, to the formation of an unusual liquid phase and, finally to a dry amorphous solid phase which is still transparent. This kind of transparent inorganic gels and amorphous phase can be used as matrices for spectroscopic studies [fr

  9. Silver and Cyanine Staining of Oligonucleotides in Polyacrylamide Gel.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Tang, Weizhong; Zhou, Huafu; Li, Wei

    2015-01-01

    To explore why some oligonucleotides in denaturing polyacrylamide gel could not be silver-stained, 134 different oligonucleotides were analyzed using denaturing polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis stained with silver and asymmetric cyanine. As a result, we found that the sensitivity of oligos (dA), (dC), (dG) and (dT) to silver staining could be ranged as (dA) > (dG) > (dC) > (dT) from high to low. It was unexpected that oligo (dT) was hard to be silver-stained. Moreover, the silver staining of an oligonucleotide containing base T could be partially or completely inhibited by base T. The inhibition of silver staining by base T was a competitive inhibition which could be affected by the amounts of the argyrophil nucleobase and base T, the cis-distance between the argyrophil nucleobase and base T, and the gel concentration. The changes of the intensity of an oligonucleotide band caused by the changes of DNA base composition were diverse and interesting. The intensity of some oligonucleotide bands would significantly change when the changes of DNA base composition accumulated to a certain extent (usually ≥ 4 nt). The sensitivity of cyanine staining of ≤ 11-nt long oligonucleotides could be enhanced about 250-fold by fixing the gels with methanol fixing solution.

  10. Renewable Energy for Electric Vehicles : Price Based Charging Coordination

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Richstein, J.C.; Schuller, A.; Dinther, C.; Ketter, W.; Weinhardt, C.

    2012-01-01

    In this paper we investigate the charging coordination of battery electric vehicles (BEV) with respect to the availability of intermittent renewable energy generation considering individual real world driving profiles in a deterministic simulation based analysis, mapping a part of the German power

  11. DNA gel electrophoresis: the reptation model(s).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Slater, Gary W

    2009-06-01

    DNA gel electrophoresis has been the most important experimental tool to separate DNA fragments for several decades. The introduction of PFGE in the 1980s and capillary gel electrophoresis in the 1990s made it possible to study, map and sequence entire genomes. Explaining how very large DNA molecules move in a gel and why PFGE is needed to separate them has been an active field of research ever since the launch of the journal Electrophoresis. This article presents a personal and historical overview of the development of the theory of gel electrophoresis, focusing on the reptation model, the band broadening mechanisms, and finally the factors that limit the read length and the resolution of electrophoresis-based sequencing systems. I conclude with a short discussion of some of the questions that remain unanswered.

  12. Energy-Efficient Bioalcohol Recovery by Gel Stripping

    Science.gov (United States)

    Godbole, Rutvik; Ma, Lan; Hedden, Ronald

    2014-03-01

    Design of energy-efficient processes for recovering butanol and ethanol from dilute fermentations is a key challenge facing the biofuels industry due to the high energy consumption of traditional multi-stage distillation processes. Gel stripping is an alternative purification process by which a dilute alcohol is stripped from the fermentation product by passing it through a packed bed containing particles of a selectively absorbent polymeric gel material. The gel must be selective for the alcohol, while swelling to a reasonable degree in dilute alcohol-water mixtures. To accelerate materials optimization, a combinatorial approach is taken to screen a matrix of copolymer gels having orthogonal gradients in crosslinker concentration and hydrophilicity. Using a combination of swelling in pure solvents, the selectivity and distribution coefficients of alcohols in the gels can be predicted based upon multi-component extensions of Flory-Rehner theory. Predictions can be validated by measuring swelling in water/alcohol mixtures and conducting h HPLC analysis of the external liquid. 95% + removal of butanol from dilute aqueous solutions has been demonstrated, and a mathematical model of the unsteady-state gel stripping process has been developed. NSF CMMI Award 1335082.

  13. Formulation and in vitro/in vivo evaluation of chitosan-based film forming gel containing ketoprofen.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Oh, Dong-Won; Kang, Ji-Hyun; Lee, Hyo-Jung; Han, Sang-Duk; Kang, Min-Hyung; Kwon, Yie-Hyuk; Jun, Joon-Ho; Kim, Dong-Wook; Rhee, Yun-Seok; Kim, Ju-Young; Park, Eun-Seok; Park, Chung-Woong

    2017-11-01

    The film forming gel, adhered to skin surfaces upon application and formed a film, has an advantage onto skin to provide protection and continuous drug release to the application site. This study aimed to prepare a chitosan-based film forming gel containing ketoprofen (CbFG) and to evaluate the CbFG and film from CbFG (CbFG-film). CbFG were prepared with chitosan, lactic acid and various skin permeation enhancers. The physicochemical characteristics were evaluated by texture analysis, viscometry, SEM, DSC, XRD and FT-IR. To identify the mechanism of skin permeation, in vitro skin permeation study was conducted with a Franz diffusion cell and excised SD-rat and hairless mouse dorsal skin. In vivo efficacy assessment in mono-iodoacetate (MIA)-induced rheumatoid arthritis animal model was also conducted. CbFG was successfully prepared and, after applying CbFG to the excised rat dorsal skin, the CbFG-film was also formed well. The physicochemical characteristics of CbFG and CbFG-film could be explained by the grafting of oleic acid onto chitosan in the absence of catalysts. In addition, CbFG containing oleic acid had a higher skin permeation rate in comparison with any other candidate enhancers. The in vivo efficacy study also confirmed significant anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects. Consequently, we report the successful preparation of chitosan-based film forming gel containing ketoprofen with excellent mechanical properties, skin permeation and anti-inflammatory and analgesic effects.

  14. Localization Based on Magnetic Markers for an All-Wheel Steering Vehicle

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yeun Sub Byun

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available Real-time continuous localization is a key technology in the development of intelligent transportation systems. In these systems, it is very important to have accurate information about the position and heading angle of the vehicle at all times. The most widely implemented methods for positioning are the global positioning system (GPS, vision-based system, and magnetic marker system. Among these methods, the magnetic marker system is less vulnerable to indoor and outdoor environment conditions; moreover, it requires minimal maintenance expenses. In this paper, we present a position estimation scheme based on magnetic markers and odometry sensors for an all-wheel-steering vehicle. The heading angle of the vehicle is determined by using the position coordinates of the last two detected magnetic markers and odometer data. The instant position and heading angle of the vehicle are integrated with an extended Kalman filter to estimate the continuous position. GPS data with the real-time kinematics mode was obtained to evaluate the performance of the proposed position estimation system. The test results show that the performance of the proposed localization algorithm is accurate (mean error: 3 cm; max error: 9 cm and reliable under unexpected missing markers or incorrect markers.

  15. The design method and research status of vehicle detection system based on geomagnetic detection principle

    Science.gov (United States)

    Lin, Y. H.; Bai, R.; Qian, Z. H.

    2018-03-01

    Vehicle detection systems are applied to obtain real-time information of vehicles, realize traffic control and reduce traffic pressure. This paper reviews geomagnetic sensors as well as the research status of the vehicle detection system. Presented in the paper are also our work on the vehicle detection system, including detection algorithms and experimental results. It is found that the GMR based vehicle detection system has a detection accuracy up to 98% with a high potential for application in the road traffic control area.

  16. Sol-gel synthesis of hydroxyapatite

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Zupanski, M.D.; Lucena, M.P.P.; Bergmann, C.P.

    2010-01-01

    Hydroxyapatite (HAp) has been established as the calcium phosphate based compound with most applications in the biological field. Among the numerous techniques for synthesis of HAp, the sol-gel processing route affords great control over purity and formed phases using low processing temperatures. In addition, the sol-gel approach offers an option for homogeneous HAp coating on metal substrates, as well as the ability to generate nanocrystalline powders. In this work, the sol-gel synthesis of HAp was investigated employing triethyl phosphate and calcium nitrate tetrahydrate as phosphorous and calcium precursors, respectively. The aging effect on phase composition and powder morphology of the final product was studied in terms of temperature and aging time. The powders were studied by using X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, particle size distribution by laser diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. (author)

  17. Gel electrolytes based on poly(acrylonitrile)/sulpholane with hybrid TiO2/SiO2 filler for advanced lithium polymer batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kurc, Beata

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: • Paper describes properties of gel electrolyte based on PAN with TMS and TiO 2 -SiO 2 . • The TiO 2 -SiO 2 oxide composite was precipitated in the emulsion system and used as the fillers. • The capacity of the graphite anode depends on the current rate and the amount of TiO 2 -SiO 2 . • For PE3 electrolyte was obtained practical capacity more than 90% of the theoretical capacity. - Abstract: This paper describes the synthesis and properties of a new type of ceramic fillers for composite polymer gel electrolytes. Hybrid TiO 2 -SiO 2 ceramic powders have been obtained by co-precipitation from titanium(IV) sulfate solution using sodium silicate as the precipitating agent. The resulting submicron-size powders have been applied as fillers for composite polymer gel electrolytes for Li-ion batteries based on polyacrylonitrile (PAN) membranes. The powders and gel electrolytes have been examined structurally and electrochemically, showing favorable properties in terms of electrolyte uptake and electrochemical characteristics in Li-ion cells

  18. Development of Curcumin loaded chitosan polymer based nanoemulsion gel: In vitro, ex vivo evaluation and in vivo wound healing studies.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Thomas, Lydia; Zakir, Foziyah; Mirza, Mohd Aamir; Anwer, Md Khalid; Ahmad, Farhan Jalees; Iqbal, Zeenat

    2017-08-01

    In the present study, various nanoemulsions were prepared using Labrafac PG+Triacetin as oil, Tween 80 as a surfactant and polyethylene glycol (PEG 400) as a co-surfactant. The developed nanoemulsions (NE1-NE5) were evaluated for physicochemical characterizations and ex-vivo for skin permeation and deposition studies. The highest skin deposition was observed for NE2 with 46.07% deposition amongst all developed nanoemulsions (NE1-NE5). Optimized nanoemulsion (NE2) had vesicle size of 84.032±0.023nm, viscosity 78.23±22.2 cps, refractive index 1.404. Nanoemulsion gel were developed by incorporation of optimized nanoemulsion (NE2) into 1-3% chitosan and characterized by physical evaluation and rheological studies. Chitosan gel (2%) was found to be suitable for gelation of nanoemulsion based on its consistency, feel and ease of spreadability. The flux of nanoemulsion gel was found 68.88μg/cm 2 /h as compared to NE2 (76.05μg/cm 2 /h) is significantly lower suggesting limited skin permeation of curcumin form gel. However, the retained amount of curcumin on skin by gel formulation (980.75±88μg) is significantly higher than NE2 (771.25±67μg). Enhanced skin permeation of NE2 (46.07%) was observed when compared to nanoemulsion gel (31.25%) and plain gel (11.47%). The outcome of this study evidently points out the potential of curcumin entrapped nanoemulsion gel in wound healing. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  19. Fabrication and physical and biological properties of fibrin gel derived from human plasma

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhao, Haiguang; Ma, Lie; Zhou, Jie; Mao, Zhengwei; Gao, Changyou; Shen, Jiacong

    2008-03-01

    The fast development of tissue engineering and regenerative medicine drives the old biomaterials, for example, fibrin glue, to find new applications in these areas. Aiming at developing a commercially available hydrogel for cell entrapment and delivery, in this study we optimized the fabrication and gelation conditions of fibrin gel. Fibrinogen was isolated from human plasma by a freeze-thaw circle. Gelation of the fibrinogen was accomplished by mixing with thrombin. Absorbance of the fibrinogen/thrombin mixture at 550 nm as a function of reaction time was monitored by UV-VIS spectroscopy. It was found that the clotting time is significantly influenced by the thrombin concentration and the temperature, while less influenced by the fibrinogen concentration. After freeze-drying, the fibrin gel was characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), revealing fibrous microstructure. Thermal gravimetric analysis found that the degradation temperature of the crosslinked fibrin gel starts from 288 °C, which is about 30 °C higher than that of the fibrinogen. The hydrogel has an initial water-uptake ratio of ~50, decreased to 30-40 after incubation in water for 11 h depending on the thrombin concentration. The fibrin gels lost their weights in PBS very rapidly, while slowly in DMEM/fetal bovine serum and DMEM. In vitro cell culture found that human fibroblasts could normally proliferate in the fibrin gel with spreading morphology. In conclusion, the fibrin gel containing higher concentration of fibrinogen (20 mg ml-1) and thrombin (5 U ml-1) has suitable gelation time and handling properties, and thus is applicable as a delivery vehicle for cells such as fibroblasts.

  20. Modal Analysis of In-Wheel Motor-Driven Electric Vehicle Based on Bond Graph Theory

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Di Tan

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available A half-car vibration model of an electric vehicle driven by rear in-wheel motors was developed using bond graph theory and the modular modeling method. Based on the bond graph model, modal analysis was carried out to study the vibration characteristics of the electric vehicle. To verify the effectiveness of the established model, the results were compared to ones computed on the ground of modal analysis and Newton equations. The comparison shows that the vibration model of the electric vehicle based on bond graph theory not only is able to better compute the natural frequency but also can easily determine the deformation mode, momentum mode, and other isomorphism modes and describe the dynamic characteristics of an electric vehicle driven by in-wheel motors more comprehensively than other modal analysis methods.

  1. Fatigue Performance Assessment of Composite Arch Bridge Suspenders Based on Actual Vehicle Loads

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Chen

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available In the through arch bridges, the suspenders are the key components connecting the arch rib and the bridge deck in the middle, and their safety is an increasing focus in the field of bridge engineering. In this study, various vehicle traffic flow parameters are investigated based on the actual vehicle data acquired from the long-term structural health monitoring system of a composite arch bridge. The representative vehicle types and the probability density functions of several parameters are determined, including the gross vehicle weight, axle weight, time headway, and speed. A finite element model of the bridge structure is constructed to determine the influence line of the cable force for various suspenders. A simulated vehicle flow, generated using the Monte Carlo method, is applied on the influence lines of the target suspender to determine the stress process, and then the stress amplitude spectrum is obtained based on the statistical analysis of the stress process using the rainflow counting method. The fatigue performance levels of various suspenders are analyzed according to the Palmgren-Miner linear cumulative damage theory, which helps to manage the safety of the suspenders.

  2. The efficacy of 5% dapsone gel plus oral isotretinoin versus oral isotretinoin alone in acne vulgaris: A randomized double-blind study

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gita Faghihi

    2014-01-01

    This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a combination of 5% dapsone gel plus oral isotretinoin in the treatment of acne vulgaris. Materials and Methods: A randomized, placebo-controlled, study was carried out on patients with moderate to severe acne. The patients were randomly divided in two groups: (dapsone gel and vehicle gel. All Patients were administered oral isotretinoin 20 mg daily and topical gel twice a day for 8 weeks. The Global Acne Assessment Score (GAAS, the number lesions and side-effects were documented at base line and weeks 4, 8 and 12. Results: A total of 58 patients (age range: 18-25 years were included in our study. The number of lesions was significantly lower in the dapsone-treated group at all follow-up visits (P < 0.001. The mean GAAS score in the dapsone-treated group and in the Placebo-treated group decreased, but there was no statistical difference in two groups (P < 0.001. The side-effects on the dapsone-treated group were a mild burning sensation in 7 patients (24.13%, mild erythema of the skin and mild dryness in 4 (13.79% and 3 (10.34% cases respectively (P < 0.001. In our study, adverse effects were common but they were minor and tolerable. No clinically significant changes in laboratory parameters were observed (P < 0.001. Conclusions: Dapsone gel was an effective medication for patients who received isotretinoin for acne vulgaris treatment resulting in a significant reduction of the number of lesions.

  3. Integrated development of light armored vehicles based on wargaming simulators

    Science.gov (United States)

    Palmarini, Marc; Rapanotti, John

    2004-08-01

    Vehicles are evolving into vehicle networks through improved sensors, computers and communications. Unless carefully planned, these complex systems can result in excessive crew workload and difficulty in optimizing the use of the vehicle. To overcome these problems, a war-gaming simulator is being developed as a common platform to integrate contributions from three different groups. The simulator, OneSAF, is used to integrate simplified models of technology and natural phenomena from scientists and engineers with tactics and doctrine from the military and analyzed in detail by operations analysts. This approach ensures the modelling of processes known to be important regardless of the level of information available about the system. Vehicle survivability can be improved as well with better sensors, computers and countermeasures to detect and avoid or destroy threats. To improve threat detection and reliability, Defensive Aids Suite (DAS) designs are based on three complementary sensor technologies including: acoustics, visible and infrared optics and radar. Both active armour and softkill countermeasures are considered. In a typical scenario, a search radar, providing continuous hemispherical coverage, detects and classifies the threat and cues a tracking radar. Data from the tracking radar is processed and an explosive grenade is launched to destroy or deflect the threat. The angle of attack and velocity from the search radar can be used by the soft-kill system to carry out an infrared search and track or an illuminated range-gated scan for the threat platform. Upon detection, obscuration, countermanoeuvres and counterfire can be used against the threat. The sensor suite is completed by acoustic detection of muzzle blast and shock waves. Automation and networking at the platoon level contribute to improved vehicle survivability. Sensor data fusion is essential in avoiding catastrophic failure of the DAS. The modular DAS components can be used with Light Armoured

  4. Silica-Based Sol-Gel Coating on Magnesium Alloy with Green Inhibitors

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Vinod Upadhyay

    2017-06-01

    Full Text Available In this work, the performances of several natural organic inhibitors were investigated in a sol-gel system (applied on the magnesium alloy Mg AZ31B substrate. The inhibitors were quinaldic acid (QDA, betaine (BET, dopamine hydrochloride (DOP, and diazolidinyl urea (DZU. Thin, uniform, and defect-free sol-gel coatings were prepared with and without organic inhibitors, and applied on the Mg AZ31B substrate. SEM and EDX were performed to analyze the coating surface properties, the adhesion to the substrate, and the thickness. Electrochemical measurements, including electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS and anodic potentiodynamic polarization scan (PDS, were performed on the coated samples to characterize the coatings’ protective properties. Also, hydrogen evolution measurement—an easy method to measure magnesium corrosion—was performed in order to characterize the efficiency of coating protection on the magnesium substrate. Moreover, scanning vibrating electrode technique (SVET measurements were performed to examine the efficiency of the coatings loaded with inhibitors in preventing and containing corrosion events in defect areas. From the testing results it was observed that the formulated sol-gel coatings provided a good barrier to the substrate, affording some protection even without the presence of inhibitors. Finally, when the inhibitors’ performances were compared, the QDA-doped sol-gel was able to contain the corrosion event at the defect.

  5. Colloid molecular weight estimation by gel chromatography/acrylamide gel electrophoresis

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liberatore, F.A.; Dearborn, C.; Nigam, S.; Poon, C.; Camin, L.; Liteplo, M.

    1984-01-01

    Size or molecular weight (MW) estimation of radiolabeled collides in aqueous solutions has long been a problem. The authors have prepared several minimicroaggregated albumin colloids (mμAA) by heat denaturation of stannous-containing HSA solutions at pH 7.0, 7.5, and 8.5). The resulting colloids were labeled with Tc-99m and compared with Au-198 colloid and Tc-99m-antimony sulfide colloid (Tc-99m-Sb/sub 2/S3) by gel chromatography and gel electrophoresis. Tc-99mm-mμAA aggregated at pH 7.0 and the Au-198 colloid appeared in the external void volume of a BioRad A5.0 agarose column indicating an apparent MW of > 5 x 10/sup 6/ daltons. The pH7.5 Tc-99m-mμAA, migrated within the filtration range of the column as did a small fraction of Tc-99m-Sb/sub 2/S/sub 3/, suggesting that the MW is between 6 x 10/sup 4/ - 5 x 10/sup 6/ daltons. The Tc-99m-mμAA, aggregated at pH 8.5, had an apparent MW on gel filtration similar to that of untreated albumin, MW 6.6 x 10-/sup 4/ daltons. The mobilities of the colloids, on acrylamide disc gel electrophoresis, were consistent with the results on gel chromatography. The largest colloids, Au-198 colloid and pH 7.0 Tc-99m-mμAA, barely entered the separating gel; intermediate sized colloids, a small fraction of Tc-99m-Sb/sub 2/S/sub 3/ and pH 7.5 Tc-99m-mμAA migrated farther into the separating gel; while pH 8.5 Tc-99m-mμAA had mobility approaching that of untreated albumin. Lymphoscintigraphy studies using these colloids in animals showed the predicted, particle size-related differences in migration and clearance. The authors conclude that gel chromatography and gel electrophoresis are useful methods for estimating the apparent size of the colloidal particles

  6. Research on Acceleration Compensation Strategy of Electric Vehicle Based on Fuzzy Control Theory

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhu, Tianjun; Li, Bin; Zong, Changfu; Wei, Zhicheng

    2017-09-01

    Nowadays, the driving technology of electric vehicle is developing rapidly. There are many kinds of methods in driving performance control technology. The paper studies the acceleration performance of electric vehicle. Under the premise of energy management, an acceleration power compensation method by fuzzy control theory based on driver intention recognition is proposed, which can meet the driver’s subjective feelings better. It avoids the problem that the pedal opening and power output are single correspondence when the traditional vehicle accelerates. Through the simulation test, this method can significantly improve the performance of acceleration and output torque smoothly in non-emergency acceleration to ensure vehicle comfortable and stable.

  7. 3D dosimetry in HDR brachytherapy resonance imaging nuclear magnetic (b= 0.2 t) using a base acrylic gel (MAGIC)

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Batista Hernandez, Guillermo; Velez, Graciela R.; Schurrer, Clemar

    2009-01-01

    Dosimetry gels using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) has been extended in recent literature. Our study presents the preparation, calibration IRM of acrylic gel (MAGIC) and its application in measuring dose in a 3D distribution HDR Brachytherapy with 192Ir source. The first gels used were the type Fricke gels based on the relationship of dose and time T1 relaxation. In 2001, Fong presented a new normoxic gel known as MAGIC whose main components are Methacrylic Acid (polymerizing), and Hydroquinone (inhibitor of self-curing) based on the relationship of dose and T2 relaxation time. Subsequent studies make changes in the concentrations component of the MAGIC (Methacrylic Acid and Hydroquinone in particular) to observe the behavior of the sensitivity of the gel with respect to its components and beam magnetic resonance equipment using magnetic fields higher to 0.5 T. This is done with equipment available to the staff of a Radiotherapy clinic setting. MAGIC gel is prepared according to composition by Crescenti (6% methacrylic acid), is calibrated with a 60Co unit TERADI INVAP 8002c (Argentina). Was raised shooting in a Siemens MRI scanner of 0.2 T Magnetom Concerto irradiated with a team of Brachytherapy High Dose Rate (HDR) Micro selectron Nucletron's V2 HDR for comparison with dose distributions provided by the planning system from Nucletron PLATO Sunrise. Was obtained a calibration curve for doses ranging from 0 to 8.0 Gy and a field strength 0.2 T magnetic We compared the sensitivity obtained in our calibration (Slope of the calibration curve) with those presented in the literature. Two phantoms were prepared for measurement in brachytherapy: a PMMA and a PVC. It was noted that MAGIC gel reacts chemically with PMMA and cured prior to irradiation. The phantom of PVC (no reactions) were irradiated with Micro selectron equipment and measured the dose distribution in 3D MRI. Were measured doses at the points specified by the Planning System and PLATO Sunrise compared

  8. Structural and Electrochemical Analysis of PMMA Based Gel Electrolyte Membranes

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chithra M. Mathew

    2015-01-01

    Full Text Available New gel polymer electrolytes containing poly(vinylidene chloride-co-acrylonitrile and poly(methyl methacrylate are prepared by solution casting method. With the addition of 60 wt.% of EC to PVdC-AN/PMMA blend, ionic conductivity value 0.398×10-6 S cm−1 has been achieved. XRD and FT-IR studies have been conducted to investigate the structure and complexation in the polymer gel electrolytes. The FT-IR spectra show that the functional groups C=O and C≡N play major role in ion conduction. Thermal stability of the prepared membranes is found to be about 180°C.

  9. Evaluation of wheat by polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis | Shuaib ...

    African Journals Online (AJOL)

    ... polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE). Electrophorogram for each variety were scored and presence or absence of each band noted and was entered in a binary data matrix. Based on the data of SDS-PAGE gels cluster analysis was performed to check the variations among varieties. The overall result shows ...

  10. Full Vehicle Vibration and Noise Analysis Based on Substructure Power Flow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhien Liu

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Combining substructure and power flow theory, in this paper an external program is written to control MSC. Nastran solution process and the substructure frequency response are also formulated accordingly. Based on a simple vehicle model, characteristics of vibration, noise, and power flow are studied, respectively. After being compared with the result of conventional FEM (finite element method, the new method is confirmed to be feasible. When it comes to a vehicle with the problem of low-frequency noise, finite element models of substructures for vehicle body and chassis are established, respectively. In addition, substructure power flow method is also employed to examine the transfer characteristics of multidimensional vibration energy for the whole vehicle system. By virtue of the adjustment stiffness of drive shaft support and bushes at rear suspension lower arm, the vehicle interior noise is decreased by about 3 dB when the engine speed is near 1050 rpm and 1650 rpm in experiment. At the same time, this method can increase the computation efficiency by 78%, 38%, and 98% when it comes to the optimization of chassis structure, body structure, and vibration isolation components, respectively.

  11. A Study on Vehicle Emission Factor Correction Based on Fuel Consumption Measurement

    Science.gov (United States)

    Wang, Xiaoning; Li, Meng; Peng, Bo

    2018-01-01

    The objective of this study is to address the problem of obvious differences between the calculated and measured emissions of pollutants from motor vehicle by using the existing "Environmental Impact Assessment Specification of Highway Construction Projects". First, a field study collects the vehicle composition ratio, speed, slope, fuel consumption and other essential data. Considering practical applications, the emission factors corresponding to 40km/h and 110km/h and 120km/h velocity are introduced by data fitting. Then, the emission factors of motor vehicle are revised based on the measured fuel consumption, and the pollutant emission modified formula was calculated and compared with the standard recommendation formula. The results show the error between calculated and measured values are within 5%, which can better reflect the actual discharge of the motor vehicle.

  12. A New Algorithm for ABS/GPS Integration Based on Fuzzy-Logic in Vehicle Navigation System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ali Amin Zadeh

    2011-10-01

    Full Text Available GPS based vehicle navigation systems have difficulties in tracking vehicles in urban canyons due to poor satellite availability. ABS (Antilock Brake System Navigation System consists of self-contained optical encoders mounted on vehicle wheels that can continuously provide accurate short-term positioning information. In this paper, a new concept regarding GPS/ABS integration, based on Fuzzy Logic is presented. The proposed algorithm is used to identify GPS position accuracy based on environment and vehicle dynamic knowledge. The GPS is used as reference during the time it is in a good condition and replaced by ABS positioning system when GPS information is unreliable. We compare our proposed algorithm with other common algorithm in real environment. Our results show that the proposed algorithm can significantly improve the stability and reliability of ABS/GPS navigation system.

  13. Magneto-dependent stress relaxation of magnetorheological gels

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Yangguang; Liu, Taixiang; Liao, G J; Lubineau, Gilles

    2017-01-01

    The stress relaxation behaviors of magnetorheological (MR) gels under stepwise shear loading are systematically investigated. The particle-enhanced effect, the magneto-induced effect, and the temperature-enhanced effect on the stress relaxation of MR gels are discussed. For further analysis of the magneto-induced stress relaxation mechanism in MR gels, a phenomenological model is established to describe the stress relaxation behavior of the matrix and the magnetic particle chains. All characteristic parameters introduced in the model, i.e. relaxation time, instantaneous modulus, and stable modulus, have well-defined physical meanings and are fitted based on the experimental results. The influence of each parameter on the macroscopic response is discussed and it is found that the relaxation stress induced by the magneto-mechanical coupling effect plays an important role in the stress relaxation process of MR gels.

  14. Magneto-dependent stress relaxation of magnetorheological gels

    KAUST Repository

    Xu, Yangguang

    2017-09-01

    The stress relaxation behaviors of magnetorheological (MR) gels under stepwise shear loading are systematically investigated. The particle-enhanced effect, the magneto-induced effect, and the temperature-enhanced effect on the stress relaxation of MR gels are discussed. For further analysis of the magneto-induced stress relaxation mechanism in MR gels, a phenomenological model is established to describe the stress relaxation behavior of the matrix and the magnetic particle chains. All characteristic parameters introduced in the model, i.e. relaxation time, instantaneous modulus, and stable modulus, have well-defined physical meanings and are fitted based on the experimental results. The influence of each parameter on the macroscopic response is discussed and it is found that the relaxation stress induced by the magneto-mechanical coupling effect plays an important role in the stress relaxation process of MR gels.

  15. Small field dose delivery evaluations using cone beam optical computed tomography-based polymer gel dosimetry

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Timothy Olding

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available This paper explores the combination of cone beam optical computed tomography with an N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAM-based polymer gel dosimeter for three-dimensional dose imaging of small field deliveries. Initial investigations indicate that cone beam optical imaging of polymer gels is complicated by scattered stray light perturbation. This can lead to significant dosimetry failures in comparison to dose readout by magnetic resonance imaging (MRI. For example, only 60% of the voxels from an optical CT dose readout of a 1 l dosimeter passed a two-dimensional Low′s gamma test (at a 3%, 3 mm criteria, relative to a treatment plan for a well-characterized pencil beam delivery. When the same dosimeter was probed by MRI, a 93% pass rate was observed. The optical dose measurement was improved after modifications to the dosimeter preparation, matching its performance with the imaging capabilities of the scanner. With the new dosimeter preparation, 99.7% of the optical CT voxels passed a Low′s gamma test at the 3%, 3 mm criteria and 92.7% at a 2%, 2 mm criteria. The fitted interjar dose responses of a small sample set of modified dosimeters prepared (a from the same gel batch and (b from different gel batches prepared on the same day were found to be in agreement to within 3.6% and 3.8%, respectively, over the full dose range. Without drawing any statistical conclusions, this experiment gives a preliminary indication that intrabatch or interbatch NIPAM dosimeters prepared on the same day should be suitable for dose sensitivity calibration.

  16. UNMANNED AIR VEHICLE STABILIZATION BASED ON NEURAL NETWORK REGULATOR

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    S. S. Andropov

    2016-09-01

    Full Text Available A problem of stabilizing for the multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle in an environment with external disturbances is researched. A classic proportional-integral-derivative controller is analyzed, its flaws are outlined: inability to respond to changing of external conditions and the need for manual adjustment of coefficients. The paper presents an adaptive adjustment method for coefficients of the proportional-integral-derivative controller based on neural networks. A neural network structure, its input and output data are described. Neural networks with three layers are used to create an adaptive stabilization system for the multirotor unmanned aerial vehicle. Training of the networks is done with the back propagation method. Each neural network produces regulator coefficients for each angle of stabilization as its output. A method for network training is explained. Several graphs of transition process on different stages of learning, including processes with external disturbances, are presented. It is shown that the system meets stabilization requirements with sufficient number of iterations. Described adjustment method for coefficients can be used in remote control of unmanned aerial vehicles, operating in the changing environment.

  17. Development of an open source laboratory information management system for 2-D gel electrophoresis-based proteomics workflow

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Toda Tosifusa

    2006-10-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Background In the post-genome era, most research scientists working in the field of proteomics are confronted with difficulties in management of large volumes of data, which they are required to keep in formats suitable for subsequent data mining. Therefore, a well-developed open source laboratory information management system (LIMS should be available for their proteomics research studies. Results We developed an open source LIMS appropriately customized for 2-D gel electrophoresis-based proteomics workflow. The main features of its design are compactness, flexibility and connectivity to public databases. It supports the handling of data imported from mass spectrometry software and 2-D gel image analysis software. The LIMS is equipped with the same input interface for 2-D gel information as a clickable map on public 2DPAGE databases. The LIMS allows researchers to follow their own experimental procedures by reviewing the illustrations of 2-D gel maps and well layouts on the digestion plates and MS sample plates. Conclusion Our new open source LIMS is now available as a basic model for proteome informatics, and is accessible for further improvement. We hope that many research scientists working in the field of proteomics will evaluate our LIMS and suggest ways in which it can be improved.

  18. The Synthesis of a Novel Cellulose Physical Gel

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jiufang Duan

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Cellulose possessing β-cyclodextrin (β-CD was used as a host molecule and cellulose possessing ferrocene (Fc as a guest polymer. Infrared spectra, differential scanning calorimetry (DSC, ultraviolet spectroscopy (UV, and contact angle analysis were used to characterise the material structure and the inclusion behaviour. The results showed that the β-CD-cellulose and the Fc-cellulose can form inclusion complexes. Moreover, ferrocene oxidation, and reduction of state can be adjusted by sodium hypochlorite (NaClO as an oxidant and glutathione (GSH as a reductant. In this study, a physical gel based on β-CD-cellulose/Fc-cellulose was formed under mild conditions in which autonomous healing between cut surfaces occurred after 24 hours. The physical gel can be controlled in the sol-gel transition. The compressive strength of the Fc-cellulose/β-CD-cellulose gel increased with increased cellulose concentration. The host-guest interaction between the side chains of cellulose could strengthen the gel. The cellulose physical gel may eventually be used as a stimulus-responsive, healing material in biomedical applications.

  19. Association Study between BDNF Gene Polymorphisms and Autism by Three-Dimensional Gel-Based Microarray

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zuhong Lu

    2009-06-01

    Full Text Available Single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs are important markers which can be used in association studies searching for susceptible genes of complex diseases. High-throughput methods are needed for SNP genotyping in a large number of samples. In this study, we applied polyacrylamide gel-based microarray combined with dual-color hybridization for association study of four BDNF polymorphisms with autism. All the SNPs in both patients and controls could be analyzed quickly and correctly. Among four SNPs, only C270T polymorphism showed significant differences in the frequency of the allele (χ2 = 7.809, p = 0.005 and genotype (χ2 = 7.800, p = 0.020. In the haplotype association analysis, there was significant difference in global haplotype distribution between the groups (χ2 = 28.19,p = 3.44e-005. We suggest that BDNF has a possible role in the pathogenesis of autism. The study also show that the polyacrylamide gel-based microarray combined with dual-color hybridization is a rapid, simple and high-throughput method for SNPs genotyping, and can be used for association study of susceptible gene with disorders in large samples.

  20. Capillary gel electrophoresis for rapid, high resolution DNA sequencing.

    OpenAIRE

    Swerdlow, H; Gesteland, R

    1990-01-01

    Capillary gel electrophoresis has been demonstrated for the separation and detection of DNA sequencing samples. Enzymatic dideoxy nucleotide chain termination was employed, using fluorescently tagged oligonucleotide primers and laser based on-column detection (limit of detection is 6,000 molecules per peak). Capillary gel separations were shown to be three times faster, with better resolution (2.4 x), and higher separation efficiency (5.4 x) than a conventional automated slab gel DNA sequenci...

  1. Volume phase transitions of cholesteric liquid crystalline gels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Matsuyama, Akihiko

    2015-05-07

    We present a mean field theory to describe anisotropic deformations of a cholesteric elastomer without solvent molecules and a cholesteric liquid crystalline gel immersed in isotropic solvents at a thermal equilibrium state. Based on the neoclassical rubber theory of nematic elastomers, we derive an elastic energy and a twist distortion energy, which are important to determine the shape of a cholesteric elastomer (or gel). We demonstrate that when the elastic energy dominates in the free energy, the cholesteric elastomer causes a spontaneous compression in the pitch axis and elongates along the director on the plane perpendicular to the pitch axis. Our theory can qualitatively describe the experimental results of a cholesteric elastomer. We also predict the first-order volume phase transitions and anisotropic deformations of a gel at the cholesteric-isotropic phase transition temperature. Depending on a chirality of a gel, we find a prolate or oblate shape of cholesteric gels.

  2. Volume phase transitions of cholesteric liquid crystalline gels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Matsuyama, Akihiko, E-mail: matuyama@bio.kyutech.ac.jp [Department of Bioscience and Bioinformatics, Faculty of Computer Science and Systems Engineering, Kyushu Institute of Technology, Kawazu 680-4, Iizuka, Fukuoka 820-8502 (Japan)

    2015-05-07

    We present a mean field theory to describe anisotropic deformations of a cholesteric elastomer without solvent molecules and a cholesteric liquid crystalline gel immersed in isotropic solvents at a thermal equilibrium state. Based on the neoclassical rubber theory of nematic elastomers, we derive an elastic energy and a twist distortion energy, which are important to determine the shape of a cholesteric elastomer (or gel). We demonstrate that when the elastic energy dominates in the free energy, the cholesteric elastomer causes a spontaneous compression in the pitch axis and elongates along the director on the plane perpendicular to the pitch axis. Our theory can qualitatively describe the experimental results of a cholesteric elastomer. We also predict the first-order volume phase transitions and anisotropic deformations of a gel at the cholesteric-isotropic phase transition temperature. Depending on a chirality of a gel, we find a prolate or oblate shape of cholesteric gels.

  3. Non-stationary heat transfer in gels applied to biotehnology

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pokusaev Boris

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Unsteady heat transfer in agarose gels of various concentrations was studied in order to make a breakthrough in the technology of 3-D additive bioprinting. Data on the kinetics of the phase transformation was obtained using spectroscopy as a function of temperature during the formation of agarose hydrogel. The dynamics of aging was investigated for gels of different densities. The time dependence of the structural changes was obtained. Particular attention was paid to the changes in the structure of the gel due to the processes of evaporation of the liquid during the gel formation and during long-term storage. Experiments were performed to determine the dynamics of the temperature fields simultaneously with heat flux measurements during the formation of agarose gels from different initial concentrations. A technique based on experimental data for the computations of the thermophysical coefficients of agarose gels was developed.

  4. Development and application of a sol-gel immunosorbent-based method for the determination of isoproturon in surface water.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Zhang, Xiuli; Martens, Dieter; Krämer, Petra M; Kettrup, Antonius A; Liang, Xinmiao

    2006-01-13

    An immunosorbent was fabricated by encapsulation of monoclonal anti-isoproturon antibodies in sol-gel matrix. The immunosorbent-based loading, rinsing and eluting processes were optimized. Based on these optimizations, the sol-gel immunosorbent (SG-IS) selectively extracted isoproturon from an artificial mixture of 68 pesticides. In addition to this high selectivity, the SG-IS proved to be reusable. The SG-IS was combined with liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS-MS) to determine isoproturon in surface water, and the linear range was up to 2.2 microg/l with correlation coefficient higher than 0.99 and relative standard deviation (RSD) lower than 5% (n=8). The limit of quantitation (LOQ) for 25-ml surface water sample was 5 ng/l.

  5. Multiple depots vehicle routing based on the ant colony with the genetic algorithm

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    ChunYing Liu

    2013-09-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: the distribution routing plans of multi-depots vehicle scheduling problem will increase exponentially along with the adding of customers. So, it becomes an important studying trend to solve the vehicle scheduling problem with heuristic algorithm. On the basis of building the model of multi-depots vehicle scheduling problem, in order to improve the efficiency of the multiple depots vehicle routing, the paper puts forward a fusion algorithm on multiple depots vehicle routing based on the ant colony algorithm with genetic algorithm. Design/methodology/approach: to achieve this objective, the genetic algorithm optimizes the parameters of the ant colony algorithm. The fusion algorithm on multiple depots vehicle based on the ant colony algorithm with genetic algorithm is proposed. Findings: simulation experiment indicates that the result of the fusion algorithm is more excellent than the other algorithm, and the improved algorithm has better convergence effective and global ability. Research limitations/implications: in this research, there are some assumption that might affect the accuracy of the model such as the pheromone volatile factor, heuristic factor in each period, and the selected multiple depots. These assumptions can be relaxed in future work. Originality/value: In this research, a new method for the multiple depots vehicle routing is proposed. The fusion algorithm eliminate the influence of the selected parameter by optimizing the heuristic factor, evaporation factor, initial pheromone distribute, and have the strong global searching ability. The Ant Colony algorithm imports cross operator and mutation operator for operating the first best solution and the second best solution in every iteration, and reserves the best solution. The cross and mutation operator extend the solution space and improve the convergence effective and the global ability. This research shows that considering both the ant colony and genetic algorithm

  6. Optimal energy management for a flywheel-based hybrid vehicle

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Berkel, van K.; Hofman, T.; Vroemen, B.G.; Steinbuch, M.

    2011-01-01

    This paper presents the modeling and design of an optimal Energy Management Strategy (EMS) for a flywheel-based hybrid vehicle, that does not use any electrical motor/generator, or a battery, for its hybrid functionalities. The hybrid drive train consists of only low-cost components, such as a

  7. Effect of nightguard vital bleaching gel on the color stability of provisional restorative materials

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Salwa Omar Bajunaid

    2016-01-01

    Conclusions: Composite-based provisional material showed highest color stability when exposed to vital tooth bleaching gel, whereas methacrylate-based material was the least color stable. Polycarbonate crowns were more color stable when exposed to 15% bleaching gel as opposed to 10% bleaching gel.

  8. Development of Nanoemulsion Based Gel Loaded with Phytoconstituents for the Treatment of Urinary Tract Infection and in Vivo Biodistribution Studies

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Atinderpal Kaur

    2017-12-01

    Full Text Available Purpose: A nanoemulsion based gel containing Polyphenon 60 (P60 and cranberry (CRB has been developed to deliver via intravaginal route for the treatment of urinary tract infection. Methods: Polyphenon 60 and cranberry were loaded in a single nanoemulsion gel (NBG by ultra-sonication method and characterized for particle size, rheological properties, in vitro release and growth curve analysis. P60+CRB NBG were radiolabelled using technetium pertechnetate (99mTc to perform in vivo pharmacokinetic studies in animals. Results: The finalized NE had a droplet size of 58±1 nm. In vitro release of 90.92 ± 0.6% in 8 hr for P60 and 99.39 ± 0.5% in 6 hr for CRB was observed in simulated vaginal fluid. Growth curve of E. coli indicated the inhibitory action of nanoemulsion based gel at the fifth hour of inoculation. Gamma scintigraphy studies on female Sprague-Dawley rats showed transport of nanoemulsion based gel from the vaginal cavity into the systemic circulation. Further, biodistribution studies with radiolabelled P60+CRB NBG showed significant higher uptake of radiolabelled actives by kidney (3.20±0.16 and urinary bladder (3.64±0.29, when administered intravaginally. Conclusion: The findings suggested 99mTc-P60+CRB NBG can potentially be transported through vaginal cavity and reach the target organs and showed effective distribution in organs affected in urinary tract infection

  9. An image-based method to measure all-terrain vehicle dimensions for engineering safety purposes.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Jennissen, Charles A; Miller, Nathan S; Tang, Kaiyang; Denning, Gerene M

    2014-04-01

    All-terrain vehicle (ATV) crashes are a serious public health and safety concern. Engineering approaches that address ATV injury prevention are critically needed. Avenues to pursue include evidence-based seat design that decreases risky behaviours, such as carrying passengers and operation of adult-size vehicles by children. The goal of this study was to create and validate an image-based method to measure ATV seat length and placement. Publicly available ATV images were downloaded. Adobe Photoshop was then used to generate a vertical grid through the centre of the vehicle, to define the grid scale using the manufacturer's reported wheelbase, and to determine seat length and placement relative to the front and rear axles using this scale. Images that yielded a difference greater than 5% between the calculated and the manufacturer's reported ATV lengths were excluded from further analysis. For the 77 images that met inclusion criteria, the mean±SD for the difference in calculated versus reported vehicle length was 1.8%±1.2%. The Pearson correlation coefficient for comparing image-based seat lengths determined by two independent measurers (20 models) and image-based lengths versus lengths measured at dealerships (12 models) were 0.95 and 0.96, respectively. The image-based method provides accurate and reproducible results for determining ATV measurements, including seat length and placement. This method greatly expands the number of ATV models that can be studied, and may be generalisable to other motor vehicle types. These measurements can be used to guide engineering approaches that improve ATV safety design.

  10. Performance-based standards (PBS) vehicles for transport in the agricultural sector

    CSIR Research Space (South Africa)

    Nordengen, Paul A

    2008-07-01

    Full Text Available manufacturers start designing vehicles on an ad hoc basis. It should be borne in mind that PBS vehicle designs include certain safety features, and must be loaded in the correct manner. The RTMS approach offers the most suitable way of ensuring.... The objectives of the Performance-Based Standards (PBS) philosophy are to utilise technology to reduce road damage, improve safety, increase payloads and reduce costs. To overcome the limitations of prescriptive legislation, is has been proposed that PBS...

  11. Sensor-based control with digital maps association for global navigation: a real application for autonomous vehicles

    OpenAIRE

    Alves De Lima , Danilo; Corrêa Victorino , Alessandro

    2015-01-01

    International audience; This paper presents a sensor-based control strategy applied in the global navigation of autonomous vehicles in urban environments. Typically, sensor-based control performs local navigation tasks regarding some features perceived from the environment. However, when there is more than one possibility to go, like in road intersection, the vehicle control fails to accomplish its global navigation. In order to solve this problem, we propose the vehicle global navigation bas...

  12. Internal structure analysis of particle-double network gels used in a gel organ replica

    Science.gov (United States)

    Abe, Mei; Arai, Masanori; Saito, Azusa; Sakai, Kazuyuki; Kawakami, Masaru; Furukawa, Hidemitsu

    2016-04-01

    In recent years, the fabrication of patient organ replicas using 3D printers has been attracting a great deal of attention in medical fields. However, the cost of these organ replicas is very high as it is necessary to employ very expensive 3D printers and printing materials. Here we present a new gel organ replica, of human kidney, fabricated with a conventional molding technique, using a particle-double network hydrogel (P-DN gel). The replica is transparent and has the feel of a real kidney. It is expected that gel organ replicas produced this way will be a useful tool for the education of trainee surgeons and clinical ultrasonography technologists. In addition to developing a gel organ replica, the internal structure of the P-DN gel used is also discussed. Because the P-DN gel has a complex structure comprised of two different types of network, it has not been possible to investigate them internally in detail. Gels have an inhomogeneous network structure. If it is able to get a more uniform structure, it is considered that this would lead to higher strength in the gel. In the present study we investigate the structure of P-DN gel, using the gel organ replica. We investigated the internal structure of P-DN gel using Scanning Microscopic Light Scattering (SMILS), a non-contacting and non-destructive.

  13. Polymer gel dosimetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baldock, C [Institute of Medical Physics, School of Physics, University of Sydney (Australia); De Deene, Y [Radiotherapy and Nuclear Medicine, Ghent University Hospital (Belgium); Doran, S [CRUK Clinical Magnetic Resonance Research Group, Institute of Cancer Research, Surrey (United Kingdom); Ibbott, G [Radiation Physics, UT M D Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX (United States); Jirasek, A [Department of Physics and Astronomy, University of Victoria, Victoria, BC (Canada); Lepage, M [Centre d' imagerie moleculaire de Sherbrooke, Departement de medecine nucleaire et de radiobiologie, Universite de Sherbrooke, Sherbrooke, QC (Canada); McAuley, K B [Department of Chemical Engineering, Queen' s University, Kingston, ON (Canada); Oldham, M [Department of Radiation Oncology, Duke University Medical Center, Durham, NC (United States); Schreiner, L J [Cancer Centre of South Eastern Ontario, Kingston, ON (Canada)], E-mail: c.baldock@physics.usyd.edu.au, E-mail: yves.dedeene@ugent.be

    2010-03-07

    Polymer gel dosimeters are fabricated from radiation sensitive chemicals which, upon irradiation, polymerize as a function of the absorbed radiation dose. These gel dosimeters, with the capacity to uniquely record the radiation dose distribution in three-dimensions (3D), have specific advantages when compared to one-dimensional dosimeters, such as ion chambers, and two-dimensional dosimeters, such as film. These advantages are particularly significant in dosimetry situations where steep dose gradients exist such as in intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) and stereotactic radiosurgery. Polymer gel dosimeters also have specific advantages for brachytherapy dosimetry. Potential dosimetry applications include those for low-energy x-rays, high-linear energy transfer (LET) and proton therapy, radionuclide and boron capture neutron therapy dosimetries. These 3D dosimeters are radiologically soft-tissue equivalent with properties that may be modified depending on the application. The 3D radiation dose distribution in polymer gel dosimeters may be imaged using magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), optical-computerized tomography (optical-CT), x-ray CT or ultrasound. The fundamental science underpinning polymer gel dosimetry is reviewed along with the various evaluation techniques. Clinical dosimetry applications of polymer gel dosimetry are also presented. (topical review)

  14. Grid-connected vehicles as the core of future land-based transport systems

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gilbert, Richard; Perl, Anthony

    2007-01-01

    Grid-connected vehicles (GCVs)-e.g., electric trains, metros, trams, and trolley buses-are propelled by electric motors directly connected to remote power sources. Their low at-vehicle energy consumption and ability to use a wide range of renewable energy sources make them strong contenders for urban and interurban transport systems in an era of energy constraints that favours use of renewable fuels, which may lie ahead. Needs for autonomous motorised mobility could be acceptably met in large measure by deployment of personal GCVs, also known as personal rapid transit (PRT). Alternatives, including fuel-cell vehicles and dual-drive vehicles fuelled with ethanol, will be less feasible. The 'car of the future' may not be an automobile so much as a PRT element of a comprehensive GCV-based system that offers at least as much utility and convenience as today's transport systems

  15. CFD Based Added Mass Prediction in Cruise Condition of Underwater Vehicle Dynamic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Agoes Moelyadi, Mochammad; Bambang Riswandi, Bagus

    2018-04-01

    One of the unsteady flow behavior on the hydrodynamic characteristics of underwater vehicle is the presence of added mass. In cruising conditions, the underwater vehicle may require the addition of speed or experience the disturbance in the form of unsteady flow so that cause the hydrodynamic interaction between the surface of the vehicle with the surrounding fluid. This leads to the rise of local velocity of flow and the great changes of hydrodynamic forces which are very influential on the stability of the underwater vehicle. One of the result is an additional force called added mass. It is very useful parameter to control underwater vehicle dynamic.This paper reports the research on the added mass coefficient of underwater vehicles obtained through the Computational Fluid Dynmaic (CFD) simulation method using CFX software. Added mass coefficient is calculated by performing an unsteady simulation or known as transient simulation. Computational simulations are based on the Reynold Average Navier- Stokes (RANS) equation solution. The simulated vehicle moves forward and backward according to the sinus function, with a frequency of 0.25 Hz, a 2 m amplitude, a cruising depth of 10 m below sea level, and Vcruise 1.54 m / s (Re = 9.000.000). Simulation result data includes velocity contour, variation of force and acceleration to frequency, and added mass coefficient.

  16. The Lateral Tracking Control for the Intelligent Vehicle Based on Adaptive PID Neural Network.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Han, Gaining; Fu, Weiping; Wang, Wen; Wu, Zongsheng

    2017-05-30

    The intelligent vehicle is a complicated nonlinear system, and the design of a path tracking controller is one of the key technologies in intelligent vehicle research. This paper mainly designs a lateral control dynamic model of the intelligent vehicle, which is used for lateral tracking control. Firstly, the vehicle dynamics model (i.e., transfer function) is established according to the vehicle parameters. Secondly, according to the vehicle steering control system and the CARMA (Controlled Auto-Regression and Moving-Average) model, a second-order control system model is built. Using forgetting factor recursive least square estimation (FFRLS), the system parameters are identified. Finally, a neural network PID (Proportion Integral Derivative) controller is established for lateral path tracking control based on the vehicle model and the steering system model. Experimental simulation results show that the proposed model and algorithm have the high real-time and robustness in path tracing control. This provides a certain theoretical basis for intelligent vehicle autonomous navigation tracking control, and lays the foundation for the vertical and lateral coupling control.

  17. The Lateral Tracking Control for the Intelligent Vehicle Based on Adaptive PID Neural Network

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Gaining Han

    2017-05-01

    Full Text Available The intelligent vehicle is a complicated nonlinear system, and the design of a path tracking controller is one of the key technologies in intelligent vehicle research. This paper mainly designs a lateral control dynamic model of the intelligent vehicle, which is used for lateral tracking control. Firstly, the vehicle dynamics model (i.e., transfer function is established according to the vehicle parameters. Secondly, according to the vehicle steering control system and the CARMA (Controlled Auto-Regression and Moving-Average model, a second-order control system model is built. Using forgetting factor recursive least square estimation (FFRLS, the system parameters are identified. Finally, a neural network PID (Proportion Integral Derivative controller is established for lateral path tracking control based on the vehicle model and the steering system model. Experimental simulation results show that the proposed model and algorithm have the high real-time and robustness in path tracing control. This provides a certain theoretical basis for intelligent vehicle autonomous navigation tracking control, and lays the foundation for the vertical and lateral coupling control.

  18. IDENTIFICATION OF SOME CARCINOGENIC POLYCYCLIC AROMATIC HYDROCARBONS IN BANGLADESHI VEHICLES EXHAUST TAR BY GAS CHROMATOGRAPHY-MASS SPECTROPHOTOMETER

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    M. Amzad Hossain

    2010-06-01

    Full Text Available A more sensitive GC-MS method has been established for the determination of some carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs in vehicles exhaust tar samples. The tar samples were extracted using dichloromethane (DMC: n-hexane solvent mixture. A multi-layer clean-up (silica gel/sodium sulphate column was used, followed by glass fiber filter (GFF paper. The method was successfully applied to determine a number of PAHs present in exhaust tar sample of different vehicles of the Atomic Energy Centre, Dhaka, Bangladesh.   Keywords: Carcinogenic polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, vehicles tar samples, identification, GC-MS/MS

  19. Buckling of paramagnetic chains in soft gels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Huang, Shilin; Pessot, Giorgio; Cremer, Peet; Weeber, Rudolf; Holm, Christian; Nowak, Johannes; Odenbach, Stefan; Menzel, Andreas M.; Auernhammer, Günter K.

    We study the magneto-elastic coupling behavior of paramagnetic chains in soft polymer gels exposed to external magnetic fields. To this end, a laser scanning confocal microscope is used to observe the morphology of the paramagnetic chains together with the deformation field of the surrounding gel network. The paramagnetic chains in soft polymer gels show rich morphological shape changes under oblique magnetic fields, in particular a pronounced buckling deformation. The details of the resulting morphological shapes depend on the length of the chain, the strength of the external magnetic field, and the modulus of the gel. Based on the observation that the magnetic chains are strongly coupled to the surrounding polymer network, a simplified model is developed to describe their buckling behavior. A coarse-grained molecular dynamics simulation model featuring an increased matrix stiffness on the surfaces of the particles leads to morphologies in agreement with the experimentally observed buckling effects.

  20. Applications of gel dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ibbott, Geoffrey S

    2004-01-01

    Gel dosimetry has been examined as a clinical dosimeter since the 1950s. During the last two decades, however, a rapid increase in the number of investigators has been seen, and the body of knowledge regarding gel dosimetry has expanded considerably. Gel dosimetry is still considered a research project, and the introduction of this tool into clinical use is proceeding slowly. This paper will review the characteristics of gel dosimetry that make it desirable for clinical use, the postulated and demonstrated applications of gel dosimetry, and some complications, set-backs, and failures that have contributed to the slow introduction into routine clinical use

  1. Relative Humidity Sensor Based on No-Core Fiber Coated by Agarose-Gel Film

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Wei Xu

    2017-10-01

    Full Text Available A relative humidity (RH sensor based on single-mode–no-core–single-mode fiber (SNCS structure is proposed and experimentally demonstrated. The agarose gel is coated on the no-core fiber (NCF as the cladding, and multimode interference (MMI occurs in the SNCS structure. The transmission spectrum of the sensor is modulated at different ambient relative humidities due to the tunable refractive index property of the agarose gel film. The relative humidity can be measured by the wavelength shift and intensity variation of the dip in the transmission spectra. The humidity response of the sensors, coated with different concentrations and coating numbers of the agarose solution, were experimentally investigated. The wavelength and intensity sensitivity is obtained as −149 pm/%RH and −0.075 dB/%RH in the range of 30% RH to 75% RH, respectively. The rise and fall time is tested to be 4.8 s and 7.1 s, respectively. The proposed sensor has a great potential in real-time RH monitoring.

  2. A phase III trial comparing an anionic phospholipid-based cream and aloe vera-based gel in the prevention of radiation dermatitis in pediatric patients

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Merchant, Thomas E; Bosley, Christina; Smith, Julie; Baratti, Pam; Pritchard, David; Davis, Tina; Li, Chenghong; Xiong, Xiaoping

    2007-01-01

    Radiation dermatitis is a common side effect of radiation therapy (RT). In severe cases, RT must be interrupted until the skin heals, which can compromise treatment. The purpose of the study was to compare an anionic polar phospholipid (APP)-based cream and an aloe vera-based gel to determine their effectiveness in preventing and treating radiation dermatitis. Forty-five pediatric patients (median age, 11 years) with various diagnoses who received at least 23.4 Gy participated. APP cream and aloe vera gel were symmetrically applied within the irradiated field after each treatment. Three measures were collected before, during and after completion of treatment: subject's skin comfort, dermatologic assessment, and common toxicity criteria (CTC). Significant differences in specific variables favoring APP cream use were noted in some patients including skin comfort variables, dry (p = 0.002), soft (p = 0.057), feels good (p = 0.002), rough (p = 0.065), smooth (p = 0.012) and dermatologic variables, dryness (p = 0.013), erythema (p = 0.002) and peely (p = 0.008). Grouped CTC scores were supportive of APP cream (p = 0.004). In comparing the first and last assessments, two dermatologic variables, dryness (p = 0.035) and peely (p = 0.016), favored APP cream. APP cream is more effective than aloe vera-based gel for prevention and treatment of radiation dermatitis

  3. Electric Vehicle Based Battery Storages for Future Power System Regulation Services

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Pillai, Jayakrishnan Radhakrishna; Bak-Jensen, Birgitte

    2009-01-01

    supplying the reserve power requirements. This limited regulation services from conventional generators in the future power system calls for other new reserve power solutions like Electric Vehicle (EV) based battery storages. A generic aggregated EV based battery storage for long-term dynamic load frequency...

  4. PREPARATION AND PROPERTIES OF COMPOUND ARNEBIAE RADIX MICROEMULSION GEL.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jing; He, Yanping; Gao, Ting; Zhang, Licheng; Zhao, Yuna

    2017-01-01

    Compound Arnebiae radix oil has been clinically applied to treat burns and scalds for a long time. However, it is unstable and inconvenient to use. The aim of this study was to prepare a compound Arnebiae radix microemulsion gel for transdermal delivery system and evaluate its characteristics. Based on the solubility of Shikonin, the active component of Arnebiae radix and the results of phase studies, adequate ratio of each component in microemulsion was determined. The optimized microemulsion gel was prepared using Carbomer 940. The gels were characterized in terms of appearance, preliminary stability test and the content of Shikonin in the compound Arnebiae radix microemulsion gel with HPLC analysis. The optimized conditions for preparing microemulsion were Tween-80, glycerin, isopropyl myristate (IPM) with the ratio of 6:3:2. The optimal microemulsion gel was obtained with Carbomer 940 (1.0%). The prepared compound Arnebiae radix microemulsion gel showed good stability over time. It is more convenience in application than the previous used formulations.

  5. 4g-Based Specialty Vehicles Real-Time Monitoring System Design and Implementation

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Zhuang Yu-Feng

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available In the future development of natural gas transportation industry, emerging ITS technology will be applied more and more, aiming at integrating precise positioning technology, geographic information system technology, database technology, multimedia technology and modern communication technology, sensor network technology and video capture technology, so as to achieve the transport steam (oil vehicles in real time monitoring and management. The main research content of this paper is to design and research the monitoring and locating system of luck (oil vehicle based on 4G on Android System. Real-time monitoring and alarming by sensor module, real-time video recording and uploading through camera module, real-time position recording and uploading through GPS module, vehicle navigation module and quick alarm module, which is composed of five parts. The system is the application of new intelligent transport technology in the field of special vehicle transport. It apply electronic information technology and internet of things technology to the vehicle system, so we can monitor natural gas and other special dangerous goods anytime, anywhere.

  6. Mutation screening of the TP53 gene by temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sørlie, Therese; Johnsen, Hilde; Vu, Phuong; Lind, Guro Elisabeth; Lothe, Ragnhild; Børresen-Dale, Anne-Lise

    2005-01-01

    A protocol for detection of mutations in the TP53 gene using temporal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) is described. TTGE is a mutation detection technique that separates DNA fragments differing by single base pairs according to their melting properties in a denaturing gel. It is based on constant denaturing conditions in the gel combined with a temperature gradient during the electrophoretic run. This method combines some of the advantages of the related techniques denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis (DGGE) and constant denaturant gel electrophoresis (CDGE) and eliminates some of the problems. The result is a rapid and sensitive screening technique that is robust and easily set up in smaller laboratory environments.

  7. Real-Time Vehicle Energy Management System Based on Optimized Distribution of Electrical Load Power

    OpenAIRE

    Yuefei Wang; Hao Hu; Li Zhang; Nan Zhang; Xuhui Sun

    2016-01-01

    As a result of severe environmental pressure and stringent government regulations, refined energy management for vehicles has become inevitable. To improve vehicle fuel economy, this paper presents a bus-based energy management system for the electrical system of internal combustion engine vehicles. Both the model of an intelligent alternator and the model of a lead-acid battery are discussed. According to these models, the energy management for a vehicular electrical system is formulated as ...

  8. Removing water from gels

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Lane, E.S.; Winter, J.A.

    1982-01-01

    Water is removed from a gel material by contacting the gel material with an organic liquid and contacting the organic liquid with a gas such that water is taken up by the gas. The invention, in one embodiment, may be used to dry gel materials whilst maintaining an open porous network therein. In one example, the invention is applied to gel precipitated spheres containing uranium and plutonium. (author)

  9. Developing an Ontology-Based Rollover Monitoring and Decision Support System for Engineering Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feixiang Xu

    2018-05-01

    Full Text Available The increasing number of rollover accidents of engineering vehicles has attracted close attention; however, most researchers focus on the analysis and monitoring of rollover stability indexes and seldom the assessment and decision support for the rollover risk of engineering vehicles. In this context, an ontology-based rollover monitoring and decision support system for engineering vehicles is proposed. The ontology model is built for representing monitored rollover stability data with semantic properties and for constructing semantic relevance among the various concepts involved in the rollover domain. On the basis of this, ontology querying and reasoning methods based on the Simple Protocol and RDF Query Language (SPARQL and Semantic Web Rule Language (SWRL rules are utilized to realize the rollover risk assessment and to obtain suggested measures. PC and mobile applications (APPs have also been developed to implement the above methods. In addition, five sets of rollover stability data for an articulated off-road engineering vehicle under different working conditions were analyzed to verify the accuracy and effectiveness of the proposed system.

  10. Efficacy of alginate-based reflux suppressant and magnesium-aluminium antacid gel for treatment of heartburn in pregnancy: a randomized double-blind controlled trial

    OpenAIRE

    Pontip Meteerattanapipat; Vorapong Phupong

    2017-01-01

    The aim of this study was to compare the therapeutic efficacy of alginate-based reflux suppressant and magnesium-aluminium antacid gel for treatment of heartburn in pregnancy. A double-blinded, randomized, controlled trial was conducted. One hundred pregnant women at less than 36 weeks gestation with heartburn at least twice per week were randomized to either alginate-based reflux suppressant or to magnesium-aluminium antacid gel. Details of heartburn were recorded before beginning the treatm...

  11. Vehicle Unsteady Dynamics Characteristics Based on Tire and Road Features

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Bin Ma

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available During automotive related accidents, tire and road play an important role in vehicle unsteady dynamics as they have a significant impact on the sliding friction. The calculation of the rubber viscoelastic energy loss modulus and the true contact area model is improved based on the true contact area and the rubber viscoelastic theory. A 10 DOF full vehicle dynamic model in consideration of the kinetic sliding friction coefficient which has good accuracy and reality is developed. The stability test is carried out to evaluate the effectiveness of the model, and the simulation test is done in MATLAB to analyze the impact of tire feature and road self-affine characteristics on the sport utility vehicle (SUV unsteady dynamics under different weights. The findings show that it is a great significance to analyze the SUV dynamics equipped with different tire on different roads, which may provide useful insights into solving the explicit-implicit features of tire prints in systematically and designing active safety systems.

  12. Categorization of rheological scaling models for particle gels applied to casein gels

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Mellema, M.; Opheusden, van J.H.J.; Vliet, van T.

    2002-01-01

    Rennet-induced casein gels made from skim milk were studied rheologically. A scaling model or framework for describing the rheological behavior of gels is discussed and used for classification of the structure of casein gels. There are two main parameters in the model that describe the number of

  13. Fibril Formation from Pea Protein and Sesequent Gel Formation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Munialo, C.D.; Martin, A.H.; Linden, van der E.; Jongh, de H.H.J.

    2014-01-01

    The objective of this study was to characterize fibrillar aggregates made using pea proteins, to assemble formed fibrils into protein-based gels, and to study the rheological behavior of these gels. Micrometer-long fibrillar aggregates were observed after pea protein solutions had been heated for 20

  14. Fibril Formation from Pea Protein and Subsequent Gel Formation

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Munialo, XC.D.; Martin, A.H.; Linden, E. van der; Jongh, H.H.J de

    2014-01-01

    The objective of this study was to characterize fibrillar aggregates made using pea proteins, to assemble formed fibrils into protein-based gels, and to study the rheological behavior of these gels. Micrometer-long fibrillar aggregates were observed after pea protein solutions had been heated for 20

  15. Selectivity enhancement of phosphate based functional polymeric gels towards Uranium(VI) using ion imprinting

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Chappa, Sankararao; Agarwal, Chhavi; Pandey, A.K.

    2015-01-01

    The imprinting of gel containing polymer chains of ethylene glycol methacrylate phosphate (EGMP) for U(VI) ions were carried out. The U(VI) imprinting has been carried out in pure EGMP and in EGMP: poly(ethylene glycol) methacrylate (PEGMA) = 1:9 composition. Complexation of the monomer with template (U(VI)) followed by polymerization have been used to imprint the U(VI) onto the polymer chains. The comparison of uptake studies of U(VI) and Pu(IV) at 3 M HNO 3 shows increased selectivity of U(VI) relative to Pu(IV) for both the gel compositions. The less uptake of U(VI) for imprinted EGMP:PEGMA gel relative to pure imprinted EGMP gel at tracer level can be possibly due to the requirement of two EGMP units in the vicinity for U(VI) complexation. (author)

  16. Deriving fuel-based emission factor thresholds to interpret heavy-duty vehicle roadside plume measurements.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Quiros, David C; Smith, Jeremy D; Ham, Walter A; Robertson, William H; Huai, Tao; Ayala, Alberto; Hu, Shaohua

    2018-04-13

    Remote sensing devices have been used for decades to measure gaseous emissions from individual vehicles at the roadside. Systems have also been developed that entrain diluted exhaust and can also measure particulate matter (PM) emissions. In 2015, the California Air Resources Board (CARB) reported that 8% of in-field diesel particulate filters (DPF) on heavy-duty (HD) vehicles were malfunctioning and emitted about 70% of total diesel PM emissions from the DPF-equipped fleet. A new high-emitter problem in the heavy-duty vehicle fleet had emerged. Roadside exhaust plume measurements reflect a snapshot of real-world operation, typically lasting several seconds. In order to relate roadside plume measurements to laboratory emission tests, we analyzed carbon dioxide (CO 2 ), oxides of nitrogen (NO X ), and PM emissions collected from four HD vehicles during several driving cycles on a chassis dynamometer. We examined the fuel-based emission factors corresponding to possible exceedances of emission standards as a function of vehicle power. Our analysis suggests that a typical HD vehicle will exceed the model year (MY) 2010 emission standards (of 0.2 g NO X /bhp-hr and 0.01 g PM/bhp-hr) by three times when fuel-based emission factors are 9.3 g NO X /kg fuel and 0.11 g PM/kg using the roadside plume measurement approach. Reported limits correspond to 99% confidence levels, which were calculated using the detection uncertainty of emissions analyzers, accuracy of vehicle power calculations, and actual emissions variability of fixed operational parameters. The PM threshold was determined for acceleration events between 0.47 and 1.4 mph/sec only, and the NO X threshold was derived from measurements where aftertreatment temperature was above 200°C. Anticipating a growing interest in real-world driving emissions, widespread implementation of roadside exhaust plume measurements as a compliment to in-use vehicle programs may benefit from expanding this analysis to a larger

  17. Preparation and characterization of core-shell electrodes for application in gel electrolyte-based dye-sensitized solar cells

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Avellaneda, Cesar O.; Goncalves, Agnaldo D.; Benedetti, Joao E.; Nogueira, Ana F.

    2010-01-01

    Core-shell electrodes based on TiO 2 covered with different oxides were prepared and characterized. These electrodes were applied in gel electrolyte-based dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSC). The TiO 2 electrodes were prepared from TiO 2 powder (P25 Degussa) and coated with thin layers of Al 2 O 3 , MgO, Nb 2 O 5 , and SrTiO 3 prepared by the sol-gel method. The core-shell electrodes were characterized by X-ray diffraction, scanning electron microscopy and atomic force microscopy measurements. J-V curves in the dark and under standard AM 1.5 conditions and photovoltage decay measurements under open-circuit conditions were carried out in order to evaluate the influence of the oxide layer on the charge recombination dynamics and on the device's performance. The results indicated an improvement in the conversion efficiency as a result of an increase in the open circuit voltage. The photovoltage decay curves under open-circuit conditions showed that the core-shell electrodes provide longer electron lifetime values compared to uncoated TiO 2 electrodes, corroborating with a minimization in the recombination losses at the nanoparticle surface/electrolyte interface. This is the first time that a study has been applied to DSSC based on gel polymer electrolyte. The optimum performance was achieved by solar cells based on TiO 2 /MgO core-shell electrodes: fill factor of ∼0.60, short-circuit current density J sc of 12 mA cm -2 , open-circuit voltage V oc of 0.78 V and overall energy conversion efficiency of ∼5% (under illumination of 100 mW cm -2 ).

  18. Fake Plate Vehicle Auditing Based on Composite Constraints in Internet of Things Environment

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Shasha; Xiangji Huang, Jimmy; Tohti, Turdi

    2018-03-01

    Accordance to the real application demands, this paper proposes a fake plate vehicle auditing method based on composite constrains strategy, a corresponding simulated IOT (internet of things) environment was created and uses liner matrix, Base64 encryption and grid monitoring technology and puts forward a real-time detecting algorithm for fake plate vehicles. The developed real system not only shows the superiority on its speed, detection accuracy and visualization, it also be good at realizing the vehicle’s real-time position and predicting the possible traveling trajectory.

  19. Fault detection of the connection of lithium-ion power batteries based on entropy for electric vehicles

    Science.gov (United States)

    Yao, Lei; Wang, Zhenpo; Ma, Jun

    2015-10-01

    This paper proposes a method of fault detection of the connection of Lithium-Ion batteries based on entropy for electric vehicle. In electric vehicle operation process, some factors, such as road conditions, driving habits, vehicle performance, always affect batteries by vibration, which easily cause loosing or virtual connection between batteries. Through the simulation of the battery charging and discharging experiment under vibration environment, the data of voltage fluctuation can be obtained. Meanwhile, an optimal filtering method is adopted using discrete cosine filter method to analyze the characteristics of system noise, based on the voltage set when batteries are working under different vibration frequency. Experimental data processed by filtering is analyzed based on local Shannon entropy, ensemble Shannon entropy and sample entropy. And the best way to find a method of fault detection of the connection of lithium-ion batteries based on entropy is presented for electric vehicle. The experimental data shows that ensemble Shannon entropy can predict the accurate time and the location of battery connection failure in real time. Besides electric-vehicle industry, this method can also be used in other areas in complex vibration environment.

  20. Simulation Research on Vehicle Active Suspension Controller Based on G1 Method

    Science.gov (United States)

    Li, Gen; Li, Hang; Zhang, Shuaiyang; Luo, Qiuhui

    2017-09-01

    Based on the order relation analysis method (G1 method), the optimal linear controller of vehicle active suspension is designed. The system of the main and passive suspension of the single wheel vehicle is modeled and the system input signal model is determined. Secondly, the system motion state space equation is established by the kinetic knowledge and the optimal linear controller design is completed with the optimal control theory. The weighting coefficient of the performance index coefficients of the main passive suspension is determined by the relational analysis method. Finally, the model is simulated in Simulink. The simulation results show that: the optimal weight value is determined by using the sequence relation analysis method under the condition of given road conditions, and the vehicle acceleration, suspension stroke and tire motion displacement are optimized to improve the comprehensive performance of the vehicle, and the active control is controlled within the requirements.

  1. Power Management Strategy of Hybrid Electric Vehicles Based on Quadratic Performance Index

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Chaoying Xia

    2015-11-01

    Full Text Available An energy management strategy (EMS considering both optimality and real-time performance has become a challenge for the development of hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs in recent years. Previous EMSes based on the optimal control theory minimize the fuel consumption, but cannot be directly implemented in real-time because of the requirement for a prior knowledge of the entire driving cycle. This paper presents an innovative design concept and method to obtain a power management strategy for HEVs, which is independent of future driving conditions. A quadratic performance index is designed to ensure the vehicle drivability, maintain the battery energy sustainability and average and smooth the engine power and motor power to indirectly reduce fuel consumption. To further improve the fuel economy, two rules are adopted to avoid the inefficient engine operation by switching control modes between the electric and hybrid modes according to the required driving power. The derived power of the engine and motor are related to current vehicle velocity and battery residual energy, as well as their desired values. The simulation results over different driving cycles in Advanced Vehicle Simulator (ADVISOR show that the proposed strategy can significantly improve the fuel economy, which is very close to the optimal strategy based on Pontryagin’s minimum principle.

  2. A pure silica ytterbium-doped sol–gel-based fiber laser

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baz, Assaad; El Hamzaoui, Hicham; Fsaifes, Ihsan; Bouwmans, Géraud; Bouazaoui, Mohamed; Bigot, Laurent

    2013-01-01

    In this letter it is demonstrated that the sol–gel route combined with fiber fabrication by the stack and draw method can be used to realize efficient fiber lasers. More precisely, a pure silica ytterbium-doped photonic crystal fiber with a core obtained by the sol–gel polymeric technique is studied, and a laser efficiency of more than 73% is achieved for a laser emission around 1034 nm. The optical and spectroscopic properties of the monolith and fiber are investigated, together with the sensitivity of the fiber to photodarkening. The dimensions of the ytterbium-doped monolith combined with the uniform doping and refractive index that are reported make this technique particularly interesting for the realization of large-mode area fibers. (letter)

  3. Compliant gel polymer electrolyte based on poly(methyl acrylate-co-acrylonitrile)/poly(vinyl alcohol) for flexible lithium-ion batteries

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Ma, Xianguo; Huang, Xinglan; Gao, Jiandong; Zhang, Shu; Deng, Zhenghua; Suo, Jishuan

    2014-01-01

    Highlights: •Compliant gel polymer electrolyte based on P(MA-co-AN)/PVA is facilely prepared for flexible lithium-ion batteries. •The compliant gel polymer electrolyte displays high ionic conductivity, self-standing and mechanical flexible. •The compliant gel polymer electrolyte exhibits excellent chemical and electrochemical performances. -- Abstract: In this report, mechanically compliant gel polymer electrolyte (GPE) for flexible lithium-ion batteries is facilely fabricated. The GPE that based on the poly(methyl acrylate-co-acrylonitrile)/poly(vinyl alcohol) (P(MA-co-AN)/PVA) was prepared via emulsion polymerization. Herein, the P(MA-co-AN) copolymer is anticipated to exert beneficial for the bendability of the GPE, as well as swollen with the liquid electrolyte to provide a facile pathway for ion movement. The PVA serves as a stabilizer during the emulsion polymerization and a mechanical framework for the compliant polymer membrane. Performance benefits of the mechanically compliant membrane are elucidated in terms of mechanical behavior, thermostability and ionic conductivity. The GPE is still self-standing and mechanical flexible after swollen with liquid electrolyte. The GPE displays a conductivity of 0.98 mS cm −1 with the uptake electrolyte up to 150% of its own weight at 30 °C, excellent electrochemical stability window (5.2 V vs. Li/Li + ) and favorable interfacial characteristics. When used in flexible lithium-ion batteries, such a GPE demonstrates satisfactory compatibility with LiCoO 2 and graphite electrodes

  4. Reducing Traffic Congestions by Introducing CACC-Vehicles on a Multi-Lane Highway Using Agent-Based Approach

    Science.gov (United States)

    Arnaout, Georges M.; Bowling, Shannon R.

    2011-01-01

    Traffic congestion is an ongoing problem of great interest to researchers from different areas in academia. With the emerging technology for inter-vehicle communication, vehicles have the ability to exchange information with predecessors by wireless communication. In this paper, we present an agent-based model of traffic congestion and examine the impact of having CACC (Cooperative Adaptive Cruise Control) embedded vehicle(s) on a highway system consisting of 4 traffic lanes without overtaking. In our model, CACC vehicles adapt their acceleration/deceleration according to vehicle-to-vehicle inter-communication. We analyze the average speed of the cars, the shockwaves, and the evolution of traffic congestion throughout the lifecycle of the model. The study identifies how CACC vehicles affect the dynamics of traffic flow on a complex network and reduce the oscillatory behavior (stop and go) resulting from the acceleration/deceleration of the vehicles.

  5. A brick-architecture-based mobile under-vehicle inspection system

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qian, Cheng; Page, David; Koschan, Andreas; Abidi, Mongi

    2005-05-01

    In this paper, a mobile scanning system for real-time under-vehicle inspection is presented, which is founded on a "Brick" architecture. In this "Brick" architecture, the inspection system is basically decomposed into bricks of three kinds: sensing, mobility, and computing. These bricks are physically and logically independent and communicate with each other by wireless communication. Each brick is mainly composed by five modules: data acquisition, data processing, data transmission, power, and self-management. These five modules can be further decomposed into submodules where the function and the interface are well-defined. Based on this architecture, the system is built by four bricks: two sensing bricks consisting of a range scanner and a line CCD, one mobility brick, and one computing brick. The sensing bricks capture geometric data and texture data of the under-vehicle scene, while the mobility brick provides positioning data along the motion path. Data of these three modalities are transmitted to the computing brick where they are fused and reconstruct a 3D under-vehicle model for visualization and danger inspection. This system has been successfully used in several military applications and proved to be an effective safer method for national security.

  6. Zirconium molybdate gel as a generator for technetium-99m

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Evans, J.V.; Shying, M.E.

    1984-12-01

    A new sup(99m)Tc generator based on zirconium molybdate gel is described. Essentially the gel is a cation ion exchanger which permits the elution of the pertechnetate ion. The high molybdenum content of this gel, its stability under self-irradiation, and the absence of organic materials during preparation provide a generator concept that eliminates high processing costs, active waste storage costs and stability problems in other types of generator

  7. Reversible sol-gel-sol medium for enzymatic optical biosensors

    NARCIS (Netherlands)

    Safaryan, S.; Yakovlev, A.; Pidko, E.A.; Vinogradov, A.; Vinogradov, V.

    2017-01-01

    In this paper we for the first time report a reversible sol-gel-sol approach to obtain optical enzymatic biosensors with improved enzyme stability and good sensitivity by using desktop inkjet printing. The developed technique is based on the bio-inorganic inks allowing for a sol-gel-sol transition

  8. Implementation Approach for Plug-in Electric Vehicles at Joint Base Lewis McChord. Task 4

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Schey, Stephen [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States); Francfort, Jim [Idaho National Lab. (INL), Idaho Falls, ID (United States)

    2014-12-01

    This study focused on Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM), which is located in Washington State. Task 1 consisted of a survey of the non-tactical fleet of vehicles at JBLM to begin the review of vehicle mission assignments and the types of vehicles in service. In Task 2, daily operational characteristics of select vehicles were identified and vehicle movements were recorded in data loggers in order to characterize the vehicles’ missions. In Task 3, the results of the data analysis and observations were provided. Individual observations of the selected vehicles provided the basis for recommendations related to PEV adoption (i.e., whether a battery electric vehicle or plug-in hybrid electric vehicle [collectively referred to as PEVs] can fulfill the mission requirements0, as well as the basis for recommendations related to placement of PEV charging infrastructure. This report focuses on an implementation plan for the near-term adoption of PEVs into the JBLM fleet.

  9. A spring-mass-damper system dynamics-based driver-vehicle integrated model for representing heterogeneous traffic

    Science.gov (United States)

    Munigety, Caleb Ronald

    2018-04-01

    The traditional traffic microscopic simulation models consider driver and vehicle as a single unit to represent the movements of drivers in a traffic stream. Due to this very fact, the traditional car-following models have the driver behavior related parameters, but ignore the vehicle related aspects. This approach is appropriate for homogeneous traffic conditions where car is the major vehicle type. However, in heterogeneous traffic conditions where multiple vehicle types are present, it becomes important to incorporate the vehicle related parameters exclusively to account for the varying dynamic and static characteristics. Thus, this paper presents a driver-vehicle integrated model hinged on the principles involved in physics-based spring-mass-damper mechanical system. While the spring constant represents the driver’s aggressiveness, the damping constant and the mass component take care of the stability and size/weight related aspects, respectively. The proposed model when tested, behaved pragmatically in representing the vehicle-type dependent longitudinal movements of vehicles.

  10. The efficacy of 5% dapsone gel plus oral isotretinoin versus oral isotretinoin alone in acne vulgaris: A randomized double-blind study

    Science.gov (United States)

    Faghihi, Gita; Rakhshanpour, Mehrdad; Abtahi-Naeini, Bahareh; Nilforoushzadeh, Mohammad Ali

    2014-01-01

    Background: Acne vulgaris, a common human skin condition, is an inflammatory disease characterized by comedones, papules, nodules and possibly scarring. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of a combination of 5% dapsone gel plus oral isotretinoin in the treatment of acne vulgaris. Materials and Methods: A randomized, placebo-controlled, study was carried out on patients with moderate to severe acne. The patients were randomly divided in two groups: (dapsone gel and vehicle gel). All Patients were administered oral isotretinoin 20 mg daily and topical gel twice a day for 8 weeks. The Global Acne Assessment Score (GAAS), the number lesions and side-effects were documented at base line and weeks 4, 8 and 12. Results: A total of 58 patients (age range: 18-25 years) were included in our study. The number of lesions was significantly lower in the dapsone-treated group at all follow-up visits (P < 0.001). The mean GAAS score in the dapsone-treated group and in the Placebo-treated group decreased, but there was no statistical difference in two groups (P < 0.001). The side-effects on the dapsone-treated group were a mild burning sensation in 7 patients (24.13%), mild erythema of the skin and mild dryness in 4 (13.79%) and 3 (10.34%) cases respectively (P < 0.001). In our study, adverse effects were common but they were minor and tolerable. No clinically significant changes in laboratory parameters were observed (P < 0.001). Conclusions: Dapsone gel was an effective medication for patients who received isotretinoin for acne vulgaris treatment resulting in a significant reduction of the number of lesions. PMID:25250291

  11. Evaluation of preparation and performance of gel column 99Tcm generators based on zirconium molybdate - 99Mo

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Saraswathy, P.; Sarkar, S.K.; Patel, R.R.; Arora, S.S.; Arjun, G.; Narasimhan, D.V.S.; Ramamoorthy, N.

    1998-01-01

    In view of the importance and relevance of zirconium molybdate (ZrMo) based gel generators for 99 Tc m , developed first by Australian scientists, particularly for developing nations having production capability for neutron activated 99 Mo, work has been carried out in our centre towards optimisation of the preparatory conditions. Appropriate facilities have been set up for safe, reliable and regular manufacture of such 99 Tc m gel generators on a small scale based on our earlier successful attempts on the approach for process standardisation. The results of our extensive evaluation, including for clinical use, are reported here. Following the regular procedure standardised by us earlier, 9 lots of 99 Mo were converted in ZrMo gel adopting aseptic practices and two different techniques for drying the ZrMo cake - heated air at 60-80 deg. C and microwave drying at 385 watts. The ZrMo granules obtained after further processing were loaded onto generator assemblies. 10 g molybdenum was handled in each batch of gel conversion, while typically 2 g Mo was used per generator column, except in the case of demonstration of higher capacity generators. The generator performance was evaluated systematically over nearly 15 days, in terms of rapidity and smoothness of elution, 99 Tc m elution yield and quality of eluted pertechnetate. The consistent results of over 60% (Max. 90%) yield of 99 Tc m , -3 % 99 Mo breakthrough, >98% radiochemical purity of pertechnetate, 99 Tc m compounds etc. indicated satisfactory quality of pertechnetate, comparable to that obtained by conventional generator systems. 12 such generators, containing up to 18.5 GBq 99 Mo, supplied for clinical use and evaluated at two hospital radiopharmacies showed satisfactory generator performance. The applicability for preparing larger capacity generators for centralised radiopharmacies and feasibility to achieve reduced process time and ease of control by using microwave oven drying have been established. (author)

  12. Effect of nightguard vital bleaching gel on the color stability of provisional restorative materials.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Bajunaid, Salwa Omar

    2016-01-01

    To assess the hypothesis that there was no difference in effect of 10% and 15% tooth bleaching agents on color stability of materials used for provisional fixed dental prosthesis. Fifteen samples from two materials used for provisional fixed dental prosthesis: methacrylate-based and composite-based materials and 15 preformed polycarbonate crowns soaked in bleaching gel or distilled water. Spectrophotometer recorded color of specimens at baseline, after 3, 7, and 14 days. Data were statistically analyzed using two-factor ANOVA test to compare the color stability of tested materials. Methyl-based provisional material exhibited statistically higher color change when exposed to 10% and 15% bleaching gel (delta EFNx01: 9.0 and 11.1, respectively) as compared to distilled water (delta EFNx01: 2.9). Delta EFNx01 of composite-based material specimens exposed to distilled water was statistically higher (6.3) than specimens exposed to 10% and 15% bleaching gel (1.5 and 1.1, respectively). Polycarbonate crowns showed a statistically lower color change when exposed to 15% (0.9) than to 10% bleaching gel (5.1) or distilled water (5.5). Composite-based provisional material showed highest color stability when exposed to vital tooth bleaching gel, whereas methacrylate-based material was the least color stable. Polycarbonate crowns were more color stable when exposed to 15% bleaching gel as opposed to 10% bleaching gel.

  13. Tracking of Vehicle Movement on a Parking Lot Based on Video Detection

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ján HALGAŠ

    2014-06-01

    Full Text Available This article deals with topic of transport vehicles identification for dynamic and static transport based on video detection. It explains some of the technologies and approaches necessary for processing of specific image information (transport situation. The paper also describes a design of algorithm for vehicle detection on parking lot and consecutive record of trajectory into virtual environment. It shows a new approach to moving object detection (vehicles, people, and handlers on an enclosed area with emphasis on secure parking. The created application enables automatic identification of trajectory of specific objects moving within the parking area. The application was created in program language C++ with using an open source library OpenCV.

  14. Advanced Electrical Machines and Machine-Based Systems for Electric and Hybrid Vehicles

    OpenAIRE

    Ming Cheng; Le Sun; Giuseppe Buja; Lihua Song

    2015-01-01

    The paper presents a number of advanced solutions on electric machines and machine-based systems for the powertrain of electric vehicles (EVs). Two types of systems are considered, namely the drive systems designated to the EV propulsion and the power split devices utilized in the popular series-parallel hybrid electric vehicle architecture. After reviewing the main requirements for the electric drive systems, the paper illustrates advanced electric machine topologies, including a stator perm...

  15. Numerical modelling and experimental study of liquid evaporation during gel formation

    Science.gov (United States)

    Pokusaev, B. G.; Khramtsov, D. P.

    2017-11-01

    Gels are promising materials in biotechnology and medicine as a medium for storing cells for bioprinting applications. Gel is a two-phase system consisting of solid medium and liquid phase. Understanding of a gel structure evolution and gel aging during liquid evaporation is a crucial step in developing new additive bioprinting technologies. A numerical and experimental study of liquid evaporation was performed. In experimental study an evaporation process of an agarose gel layer located on Petri dish was observed and mass difference was detected using electronic scales. Numerical model was based on a smoothed particle hydrodynamics method. Gel in a model was represented as a solid-liquid system and liquid evaporation was modelled due to capillary forces and heat transfer. Comparison of experimental data and numerical results demonstrated that model can adequately represent evaporation process in agarose gel.

  16. Cellulose gels produced in room temperature ionic liquids by ionizing radiation

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kimura, Atsushi; Nagasawa, Naotsugu; Taguchi, Mitsumasa

    2014-01-01

    Cellulose-based gels were produced in room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs) by ionizing radiation. Cellulose was dissolved at the initial concentration of 20 wt% in 1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium (EMI)-acetate or N,N-diethyl-N-methyl-N-(2-methoxyethyl)ammonium (DEMA)-formate with a water content of 18 wt%, and irradiated with γ-rays under aerated condition to produce new cellulose gels. The gel fractions of the cellulose gels obtained in EMI-acetate and DEMA-formate at a dose of 10 kGy were 13% and 19%, respectively. The formation of gel fractions was found to depend on the initial concentration of cellulose, water content, and irradiation temperature. The obtained gel readily absorbed water, methanol, ethanol, dichloromethane, N,N-dimethylacetamide, and RTILs. - Highlights: • Cellulose gels were produced in room temperature ionic liquids (RTILs). • Water plays a crucial role in the cross-linking reaction. • Cellulose gels swollen with RTILs show good electronic conductivity (3.0 mS cm −1 )

  17. Wheel Slip Control of Vehicle ABS Using Piezoactuator-Based Valve System

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Juncheol Jeon

    2014-04-01

    Full Text Available This paper presents a novel piezoactuator-based valve for vehicle ABS. The piezoactuator located in one side of a rigid beam makes a displacement required to control the pressure at a flapper-nozzle of the pneumatic valve. In order to obtain the wide control range of the pressure, a pressure modulator comprised of dual-type cylinder and piston is proposed. The governing equation of the piezovalve system which consists of the proposed piezoactuator-based valve and the pressure modulator is obtained. The longitudinal vehicle dynamics and the wheel slip condition are then formulated. In order to evaluate the performance of the proposed piezovalve system from the viewpoint of the vehicle ABS, a sliding mode controller is designed for wheel slip control. The tracking control performances for the desired wheel slip rate are evaluated and the braking performances in terms of braking distance are then presented on different road conditions (dry asphalt, wet asphalt, and wet jennite. It is clearly shown that the desired wheel slip rate is well achieved and the braking distance and braking time can be significantly reduced by using the proposed piezovalve system associated with the slip rate controller.

  18. Anion embedded sol-gel films on Al for corrosion protection

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Sheffer, Mari; Groysman, Alec; Starosvetsky, David; Savchenko, Natali; Mandler, Daniel

    2004-01-01

    We report here on the successful incorporation of organic anions into a sol-gel film on Al as a means of enhancing the protection against corrosion. Following our previous study where we showed that hydrophobic sol-gel films provided pronounced corrosion inhibition, we studied the corrosion inhibition that phenylphosphonic acid (PPA) has when embedded inside a thin sol-gel coating on Al. The anion of this organic anion tends to stay inside a phenyltrimethoxysilane (PTMOS) based sol-gel film due to π-interactions. Our findings, which are derived primarily from potentiodynamic polarization measurements, electrochemical noise, scanning electron microscopy measurements and Auger electron spectroscopy (AES), clearly show that the organic phosphonate adds to the protection efficiency of the sol-gel film

  19. Metal-silica sol-gel materials

    Science.gov (United States)

    Stiegman, Albert E. (Inventor)

    2002-01-01

    The present invention relates to a single phase metal-silica sol-gel glass formed by the co-condensation of a transition metal with silicon atoms where the metal atoms are uniformly distributed within the sol-gel glass as individual metal centers. Any transition metal may be used in the sol-gel glasses. The present invention also relates to sensor materials where the sensor material is formed using the single phase metal-silica sol-gel glasses. The sensor materials may be in the form of a thin film or may be attached to an optical fiber. The present invention also relates to a method of sensing chemicals using the chemical sensors by monitoring the chromatic change of the metal-silica sol-gel glass when the chemical binds to the sensor. The present invention also relates to oxidation catalysts where a metal-silica sol-gel glass catalyzes the reaction. The present invention also relates to a method of performing oxidation reactions using the metal-silica sol-gel glasses. The present invention also relates to organopolymer metal-silica sol-gel composites where the pores of the metal-silica sol-gel glasses are filled with an organic polymer polymerized by the sol-gel glass.

  20. Thoria sol-gel processes

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Matthews, R.B.

    1978-10-01

    Alternate fuel fabrication techniques are being developed at WNRE as part of the thorium fuel cycle program. The sol-gel techniques are attractive and this report assembles and summarizes information relating to thoria sol-gel fuels. Some background information on the behaviour and advantages of sol-gel fuel forms is presented, followed by a review of relevant colloid chemistry and an explanation of the fundamental steps of sol-gel processes. Finally, several variants to the basic process are reviewed and evaluated. (author)

  1. Fiber based optical tweezers for simultaneous in situ force exertion and measurements in a 3D polyacrylamide gel compartment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Ti, Chaoyang; Thomas, Gawain M; Ren, Yundong; Zhang, Rui; Wen, Qi; Liu, Yuxiang

    2015-07-01

    Optical tweezers play an important role in biological applications. However, it is difficult for traditional optical tweezers based on objective lenses to work in a three-dimensional (3D) solid far away from the substrate. In this work, we develop a fiber based optical trapping system, namely inclined dual fiber optical tweezers, that can simultaneously apply and measure forces both in water and in a 3D polyacrylamide gel matrix. In addition, we demonstrate in situ, non-invasive characterization of local mechanical properties of polyacrylamide gel by measurements on an embedded bead. The fiber optical tweezers measurements agree well with those of atomic force microscopy (AFM). The inclined dual fiber optical tweezers provide a promising and versatile tool for cell mechanics study in 3D environments.

  2. Review of Fricke gel dosimeters

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Schreiner, L J

    2004-01-01

    The innovation of adding a gel matrix to the traditional Fricke dosimeter to stabilize geometric information established the field of gel dosimetry for radiation therapy. A discussion of Fricke gels provides an overview of the issues that determine the dose response of all gel dosimeters in general. In this paper we review some of the features of Fricke systems to illustrate these issues and, in addition, to motivate renewed clinical interest in Fricke gels

  3. Gel nano-particulates against radioactivity; Des nanoparticules en gel contre la radioactivite

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Deroin, Ph

    2004-11-01

    The Argonne research center (USA) has developed a 'super-gel' compound, a polymer close to those used in baby's diapers, which can reach a 90% efficiency in the radioactive decontamination of porous materials, like bricks or concrete. The contaminated materials are sprayed with a mixture of polymer gel and wetting agent with nano-particulates in suspension. Under the action of the wetting agent, radioactivity migrates from the pores to the gel and is trapped by the nano-particulates. The drying and recycling of the gel allows to reduce the volume of radioactive wastes. Short paper. (J.S.)

  4. Investigation of in situ gelling alginate formulations as a sustained release vehicle for co-precipitates of dextromethrophan and Eudragit S 100

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Maghraby Gamal Mohamed El

    2014-03-01

    Full Text Available Alginate vehicles are capable of forming a gel matrix in situ when they come into contact with gastric medium in the presence of calcium ions. However, the gel structure is pH dependent and can break after gastric emptying, leading to dose dumping. The aim of this work was to develop modified in situ gelling alginate formulations capable of sustaining dextromethorphan release throughout the gastrointestinal tract. Alginate solution (2 %, m/m was used as a vehicle for the tested formulations. Solid matrix of the drug and Eudragit S 100 was prepared by dissolving the drug and polymer in acetone. The organic solvent was then evaporated and the deposited solid matrix was micronized, sieved and dispersed in alginate solution to obtain candidate formulations. The release behavior of dextromethorphan was monitored and evaluated in a medium simulating the gastric and intestinal pH. Drug-polymer compatibility and possible solid-state interactions suggested physical interaction through hydrogen bonding between the drug and the polymer. A significant decrease in the rate and extent of dextromethorphan release was observed with increasing Eudragit S 100 concentration in the prepared particles. Most formulations showed sustained release profiles similar to that of a commercial sustained-release liquid based on ion exchange resin. The release pattern indicated strict control of drug release both under gastric and intestinal conditions, suggesting the potential advantage of using a solid dispersion of drug-Eudragit S 100 to overcome the problem of dose dumping after the rupture of the pH dependent alginate gels

  5. Sequence Dependent Electrophoretic Separations of DNA in Pluronic F127 Gels

    Science.gov (United States)

    You, Seungyong; van Winkle, David H.

    2010-03-01

    Two-dimensional (2-D) electrophoresis has successfully been used to visualize the separation of DNA fragments of the same length. We electrophorese a double-stranded DNA ladder in an Agarose gel for the first dimension and in gels of Pluronic F127 for the second dimension at room temperature. The 1000 bp band that travels together as a single band in an Agarose gel is split into two bands in Pluronic gels. The slower band follows the exponential decay trend that the other ladder constituents do. After sequencing the DNA fragments, the faster band has an apparently random sequence, while the slower band and the others have two A-tracts in each 250 bp segment. The A-tracts consist of a series of at least five adenine bases pairing with thymine bases. This result leads to the conclusion that the migration of the DNA molecules bent with A-tracts is more retarded in Pluronic gels than the wild-type of DNA molecules.

  6. Design of Autonomous Gel Actuators

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Shuji Hashimoto

    2011-01-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, we introduce autonomous gel actuators driven by chemical energy. The polymer gels prepared here have cyclic chemical reaction networks. With a cyclic reaction, the polymer gels generate periodical motion. The periodic motion of the gel is produced by the chemical energy of the oscillatory Belouzov-Zhabotinsky (BZ reaction. We have succeeded in making synthetic polymer gel move autonomously like a living organism. This experimental fact represents the great possibility of the chemical robot.

  7. Energy Management Strategy for a Hybrid Electric Vehicle Based on Deep Reinforcement Learning

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yue Hu

    2018-01-01

    Full Text Available An energy management strategy (EMS is important for hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs since it plays a decisive role on the performance of the vehicle. However, the variation of future driving conditions deeply influences the effectiveness of the EMS. Most existing EMS methods simply follow predefined rules that are not adaptive to different driving conditions online. Therefore, it is useful that the EMS can learn from the environment or driving cycle. In this paper, a deep reinforcement learning (DRL-based EMS is designed such that it can learn to select actions directly from the states without any prediction or predefined rules. Furthermore, a DRL-based online learning architecture is presented. It is significant for applying the DRL algorithm in HEV energy management under different driving conditions. Simulation experiments have been conducted using MATLAB and Advanced Vehicle Simulator (ADVISOR co-simulation. Experimental results validate the effectiveness of the DRL-based EMS compared with the rule-based EMS in terms of fuel economy. The online learning architecture is also proved to be effective. The proposed method ensures the optimality, as well as real-time applicability, in HEVs.

  8. Optimal processing for gel electrophoresis images: Applying Monte Carlo Tree Search in GelApp.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Nguyen, Phi-Vu; Ghezal, Ali; Hsueh, Ya-Chih; Boudier, Thomas; Gan, Samuel Ken-En; Lee, Hwee Kuan

    2016-08-01

    In biomedical research, gel band size estimation in electrophoresis analysis is a routine process. To facilitate and automate this process, numerous software have been released, notably the GelApp mobile app. However, the band detection accuracy is limited due to a band detection algorithm that cannot adapt to the variations in input images. To address this, we used the Monte Carlo Tree Search with Upper Confidence Bound (MCTS-UCB) method to efficiently search for optimal image processing pipelines for the band detection task, thereby improving the segmentation algorithm. Incorporating this into GelApp, we report a significant enhancement of gel band detection accuracy by 55.9 ± 2.0% for protein polyacrylamide gels, and 35.9 ± 2.5% for DNA SYBR green agarose gels. This implementation is a proof-of-concept in demonstrating MCTS-UCB as a strategy to optimize general image segmentation. The improved version of GelApp-GelApp 2.0-is freely available on both Google Play Store (for Android platform), and Apple App Store (for iOS platform). © 2016 WILEY-VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim.

  9. Preparation of (Bi,Pb)2Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox precursor powders by a modified polyethylene glycol based sol-gel process

    DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

    Grivel, Jean-Claude; Andersen, N.H.

    2002-01-01

    A modified sol-gel process based on polyethylene glycol has been developed for preparing (Bi,Pb)(2)Sr2Ca2Cu3Ox precursor powders in view of Ag-sheeted tape manufacture. A careful control of the pH and concentration temperature yields an amorphous gel, which can be converted to a fine and extremely...

  10. Detection of human DNA polymorphisms with a simplified denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Noll, W.W.; Collins, M.

    1987-01-01

    Single base pair differences between otherwise identical DNA molecules can result in altered melting behavior detectable by denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis. The authors have developed a simplified procedure for using denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis to detect base pair changes in genomic DNA. Genomic DNA is digested with restriction enzymes and hybridized in solution to labeled single-stranded probe DNA. The excess probe is then hybridized to complementary phage M13 template DNA, and the reaction mixture is electrophoresed on a denaturing gradient gel. Only the genomic DNA probe hybrids migrate into the gel. Differences in hybrid mobility on the gel indicate base pair changes in the genomic DNA. They have used this technique to identify two polymorphic sites within a 1.2-kilobase region of human chromosome 20. This approach should greatly facilitate the identification of DNA polymorphisms useful for gene linkage studies and the diagnosis of genetic diseases

  11. A method for attitude measurement of a test vehicle based on the tracking of vectors

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Yang, Ning; Yang, Ming; Huo, Ju

    2015-01-01

    In the vehicle simulation test, in order to improve the measuring precision for the attitude of a test vehicle, a measuring method based on the vectors of light beams is presented, in which light beams are mounted on the test vehicle as the cooperation target, and the attitude of the test vehicle is calculated with the light beams’ vectors in the test vehicle’s coordinate system and the world coordinate system. Meanwhile, in order to expand the measuring range of the attitude parameters, cooperation targets and light beams in each cooperation target are increased. On this basis, the concept of an attitude calculation container is defined, and the selection method for the attitude calculation container that participates in the calculation is given. Simultaneously, the vectors of light beams are tracked so as to ensure the normal calculation of the attitude parameters. The experiments results show that this measuring method based on the tracking of vectors can achieve the high precision and wide range of measurement for the attitude of the test vehicle. (paper)

  12. Highly efficient solid-state neutron scintillators based on hybrid sol-gel nanocomposite materials

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Kesanli, Banu; Hong, Kunlun; Meyer, Kent; Im, Hee-Jung; Dai, Sheng

    2006-01-01

    This research highlights opportunities in the formulation of neutron scintillators that not only have high scintillation efficiencies but also can be readily cast into two-dimensional detectors. Series of transparent, crack-free monoliths were prepared from hybrid polystyrene-silica nanocomposites in the presence of arene-containing alkoxide precursor through room temperature sol-gel processing. The monoliths also contain lithium-6 salicylate as a target material for neutron-capture reactions and amphiphilic scintillator solution as a fluorescent sensitizer. Polystyrene was functionalized by trimethoxysilyl group in order to enable the covalent incorporation of aromatic functional groups into the inorganic sol-gel matrices for minimizing macroscopic phase segregation and facilitating lithium-6 doping in the sol-gel samples. Neutron and alpha responses of these hybrid polystyrene-silica monoliths were explored

  13. Vehicle Maximum Weight Limitation Based on Intelligent Weight Sensor

    Science.gov (United States)

    Raihan, W.; Tessar, R. M.; Ernest, C. O. S.; E Byan, W. R.; Winda, A.

    2017-03-01

    Vehicle weight is an important factor to be maintained for transportation safety. A weight limitation system is proposed to make sure the vehicle weight is always below its designation prior the vehicle is being used by the driver. The proposed system is divided into two systems, namely vehicle weight confirmation system and weight warning system. In vehicle weight confirmation system, the weight sensor work for the first time after the ignition switch is turned on. When the weight is under the weight limit, the starter engine can be switched on to start the engine system, otherwise it will be locked. The seconds system, will operated after checking all the door at close position, once the door of the car is closed, the weight warning system will check once again the weight during runing engine condition. The results of these two systems, vehicle weight confirmation system and weight warning system have 100 % accuracy, respectively. These show that the proposed vehicle weight limitation system operate well.

  14. A Microcontroller Based Car-Safety System Implementing Drowsiness Detection And Vehicle-Vehicle Distance Detection In Parallel.

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Pragyaditya Das.

    2015-08-01

    Full Text Available Abstract Accidents due to drowsiness can be controlled and prevented with the help of eye blink sensor using IR rays. It consists of IR transmitter and an IR receiver. The transmitter transmits IR rays into the eye. If the eye is shut then the output is high. If the eye is open then the output is low. This output is interfaced with an alarm inside and outside the vehicle. This module can be connected to the braking system of the vehicle and can be used to reduce the speed of the vehicle. The alarm inside the vehicle will go on for a period of time until the driver is back to his senses. If the driver is unable to take control of the vehicle after that stipulated amount of time then the alarm outside the vehicle will go on to warn and tell others to help the driver.

  15. Mass spectrometry compatible surfactant for optimized in-gel protein digestion.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Saveliev, Sergei V; Woodroofe, Carolyn C; Sabat, Grzegorz; Adams, Christopher M; Klaubert, Dieter; Wood, Keith; Urh, Marjeta

    2013-01-15

    Identification of proteins resolved by SDS-PAGE depends on robust in-gel protein digestion and efficient peptide extraction, requirements that are often difficult to achieve. A lengthy and laborious procedure is an additional challenge of protein identification in gel. We show here that with the use of the mass spectrometry compatible surfactant sodium 3-((1-(furan-2-yl)undecyloxy)carbonylamino)propane-1-sulfonate, the challenges of in-gel protein digestion are effectively addressed. Peptide quantitation based on stable isotope labeling showed that the surfactant induced 1.5-2 fold increase in peptide recovery. Consequently, protein sequence coverage was increased by 20-30%, on average, and the number of identified proteins saw a substantial boost. The surfactant also accelerated the digestion process. Maximal in-gel digestion was achieved in as little as one hour, depending on incubation temperature, and peptides were readily recovered from gel eliminating the need for postdigestion extraction. This study shows that the surfactant provides an efficient means of improving protein identification in gel and streamlining the in-gel digestion procedure requiring no extra handling steps or special equipment.

  16. Usability Analysis of Collision Avoidance System in Vehicle-to-Vehicle Communication Environment

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Hong Cho

    2014-01-01

    Full Text Available Conventional intelligent vehicles have performance limitations owing to the short road and obstacle detection range of the installed sensors. In this study, to overcome this limitation, we tested the usability of a new conceptual autonomous emergency braking (AEB system that employs vehicle-to-vehicle (V2V communication technology in the existing AEB system. To this end, a radar sensor and a driving and communication environment constituting the AEB system were simulated; the simulation was then linked by applying vehicle dynamics and control logic. The simulation results show that the collision avoidance relaxation rate of V2V communication-based AEB system was reduced compared with that of existing vehicle-mounted-sensor-based system. Thus, a method that can lower the collision risk of the existing AEB system, which uses only a sensor cluster installed on the vehicle, is realized.

  17. What are the environmental benefits of electric vehicles? A life cycle based comparison of electric vehicles with biofuels, hydrogen and fossil fuels

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Jungmeier, Gerfried; Canella, Lorenza; Beermann, Martin; Pucker, Johanna; Koenighofer, Kurt [JOANNEUM RESEARCH Forschungsgesellschaft mbH, Graz (Austria)

    2013-06-01

    The Renewable Energy Directive aims reaching a share of 10% of renewable fuels in Europe in 2020. These renewable fuels are transportation biofuels, renewable electricity and renewable hydrogen. In most European countries transportation biofuels are already on the transportation fuel market in significant shares, e.g. in Austria 7% by blending bioethanol to gasoline and biodiesel to diesel. Electric vehicles can significantly contribute towards creating a sustainable, intelligent mobility and intelligent transportation systems. They can open new business opportunities for the transportation engineering sector and electricity companies. But the broad market introduction of electric vehicles is only justified due to a significant improvement of the environmental impact compared to conventional vehicles. This means that in addition to highly efficient electric vehicles and renewable electricity, the overall environmental impact in the life cycle - from building the vehicles and the battery to recycling at the end of its useful life - has to be limited to an absolute minimum. There is international consensus that the environmental effects of electric vehicles (and all other fuel options) can only be analysed on the basis of life cycle assessment (LCA) including the production, operation and the end of life treatment of the vehicles. The LCA results for different environmental effects e.g. greenhouse gas emissions, primary energy consumption, eutrophication will be presented in comparison to other fuels e.g. transportation biofuels, gasoline, natural gas and the key factors to maximize the environmental benefits will be presented. The presented results are mainly based on a national research projects. These results are currently compared and discussed with international research activities within the International Energy Agency (lEA) in the Implementing Agreement on Hybrid and Electric Vehicles (IA-HEV) in Task 19 ''Life Cycle Assessment of Electric Vehicles

  18. Alkali Metal Modification of Silica Gel-Based Stationary Phase in Gas Chromatography

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Ashraf Yehia El-Naggar

    2013-01-01

    Full Text Available Modification of the precipitated silica gel was done by treatment with alkali metal (NaCl before and after calcination. The silica surfaces before and after modification were confirmed by infrared spectroscopy in order to observe the strength and abundance of the acidic surface OH group bands which play an important role in the adsorption properties of polar and nonpolar solutes. The surface-modified silica gels were tested as GC solid stationary phases in terms of the separation efficiency for various groups of non-polar and polar solutes. Also, thermodynamic parameters (ΔH, ΔG, and ΔS were determined using n-hexane as a probe in order to show the adsorbate-adsorbent interaction. It was observed that the non-polar solutes could be separated Independent on the reactivity and porosity of the silica surfaces. The efficiency of the surface-modified silica gels to separate the aromatic hydrocarbons seemed to be strongly influenced by the density of the surface hydroxyls.

  19. Preparation of Natural Rubber (NR) Based Nano-Sized Materials Using Sol-Gel Technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Dahlan Mohd; Mahathir Mohamed

    2011-01-01

    The objectives of this project are to prepare nano-sized natural rubber-based hybrid coating material by sol-gel technique; to explore the possibility of producing ENR-Si (epoxidized natural rubber-silica) cramer with toughening effects; and to use it in radiation curing of surface coating. Since early 1960s Malaysia has introduced various forms of value-added natural rubber such as Standard Malaysian Rubber (SMR), methylmethacrylate-grafted natural rubber (MG rubber), followed by liquid natural rubber and epoxidized natural rubber (ENR). Products such as liquid epoxidized natural rubber acrylate (LENRA) and thermoplastic natural rubber (TPNR) are still on-going research projects in Nuclear Malaysia. The former has strong possibility to be used as radiation-sensitive comparabilities in TPNR blends, besides its original purpose for example in radiation curing of surface coating. But earlier findings indicated that, to make it (as for surface coating) more effective, reinforcement system is needed to be introduced. Strong candidate is silica by sol-gel technique, since common reinforcement filler for example carbon black has drawbacks in this particular case. This technique was introduced in late 1960s to produce metal oxides such as silica and titanium oxides in solution. (author)

  20. Motion planning for autonomous vehicle based on radial basis function neural network in unstructured environment.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Chen, Jiajia; Zhao, Pan; Liang, Huawei; Mei, Tao

    2014-09-18

    The autonomous vehicle is an automated system equipped with features like environment perception, decision-making, motion planning, and control and execution technology. Navigating in an unstructured and complex environment is a huge challenge for autonomous vehicles, due to the irregular shape of road, the requirement of real-time planning, and the nonholonomic constraints of vehicle. This paper presents a motion planning method, based on the Radial Basis Function (RBF) neural network, to guide the autonomous vehicle in unstructured environments. The proposed algorithm extracts the drivable region from the perception grid map based on the global path, which is available in the road network. The sample points are randomly selected in the drivable region, and a gradient descent method is used to train the RBF network. The parameters of the motion-planning algorithm are verified through the simulation and experiment. It is observed that the proposed approach produces a flexible, smooth, and safe path that can fit any road shape. The method is implemented on autonomous vehicle and verified against many outdoor scenes; furthermore, a comparison of proposed method with the existing well-known Rapidly-exploring Random Tree (RRT) method is presented. The experimental results show that the proposed method is highly effective in planning the vehicle path and offers better motion quality.

  1. New resin gel for uranium determination by diffusive gradient in thin films technique

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Gregusova, Michaela; Docekal, Bohumil

    2011-01-01

    A new resin gel based on Spheron-Oxin chelating ion-exchanger with anchored 8-hydroxyquinoline functional groups was tested for application in diffusive gradient in thin film technique (DGT) for determination of uranium. Selectivity of uranium uptake from model carbonate loaded solutions of natural water was studied under laboratory conditions and compared with selectivity of the conventional Chelex 100 based resin gel. The affinity of Spheron-Oxin functional groups enables determination of the overall uranium concentration in water containing carbonates up to the concentration level of 10 2 mg L -1 . The effect of uranium binding to the polyacrylamide (APA) and agarose diffusive gels (AGE) was also studied. Uranium is probably bound in both gels by a weak interaction with traces of acrylic acid groups in the structure of APA gel and with pyruvic and sulfonic acid groups in the AGE gel. These sorption effects can be eliminated to the negligible level by prolonged deployment of DGT probes or by disassembling probes after the 1-2 days post-sampling period that is sufficient for release of uranium from diffusive gel and its sorption in resin gel.

  2. New resin gel for uranium determination by diffusive gradient in thin films technique

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Gregusova, Michaela, E-mail: gregusova@iach.cz [Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Veveri 97, 602 00 Brno (Czech Republic); Docekal, Bohumil [Institute of Analytical Chemistry, Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic v.v.i., Veveri 97, 602 00 Brno (Czech Republic)

    2011-01-17

    A new resin gel based on Spheron-Oxin chelating ion-exchanger with anchored 8-hydroxyquinoline functional groups was tested for application in diffusive gradient in thin film technique (DGT) for determination of uranium. Selectivity of uranium uptake from model carbonate loaded solutions of natural water was studied under laboratory conditions and compared with selectivity of the conventional Chelex 100 based resin gel. The affinity of Spheron-Oxin functional groups enables determination of the overall uranium concentration in water containing carbonates up to the concentration level of 10{sup 2} mg L{sup -1}. The effect of uranium binding to the polyacrylamide (APA) and agarose diffusive gels (AGE) was also studied. Uranium is probably bound in both gels by a weak interaction with traces of acrylic acid groups in the structure of APA gel and with pyruvic and sulfonic acid groups in the AGE gel. These sorption effects can be eliminated to the negligible level by prolonged deployment of DGT probes or by disassembling probes after the 1-2 days post-sampling period that is sufficient for release of uranium from diffusive gel and its sorption in resin gel.

  3. Implementation of MRI gel dosimetry in radiation therapy

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Baeck, S.Aa.J.

    1998-12-01

    Gel dosimetry was used together with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure three-dimensional absorbed dose distributions in radiation therapy. Two different dosimeters were studied: ferrous- and monomer gel, based on the principles of radiation-induced oxidation and polymerisation, respectively. Single clinical electron and photon beams were evaluated and gel dose distributions were mainly within 2% of conventional detector results. The ferrous-gel was also used for clinical proton beams. A decrease in signal per absorbed dose was found close to the end of the range of the protons (15-20%). This effect was explained as a linear energy transfer dependence, further supported with Monte Carlo simulations. A method for analysing and comparing data from treatment planning system (TPS) and gel measurements was developed. The method enables a new pixel by pixel evaluation, isodose comparison and dose volume histogram verification. Two standard clinical radiation therapy procedures were examined using the developed TPS verification method. The treatment regimes included several beams of different radiation qualities. The TPS calculated data were in very good agreement with the dose distribution measured by the ferrous-gel. However, in a beam abutment region, larger dose difference was found. Beam adjustment errors and a minor TPS underestimation of the lateral scatter contribution outside the primary electron beam may explain the discrepancy. The overall uncertainty in the ferrous-gel dose determination was considerably reduced using an optimised MRI acquisition protocol and a new MRI scanner. The relative dose uncertainty was found to be better than 3.3% for all dose levels (95% confidence level). Using the method developed for comparing measured gel data with calculated treatment plans, the gel dosimetry method was proven to be a useful tool for radiation treatment planning verification

  4. Implementation of MRI gel dosimetry in radiation therapy

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Baeck, S.Aa.J

    1998-12-01

    Gel dosimetry was used together with magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to measure three-dimensional absorbed dose distributions in radiation therapy. Two different dosimeters were studied: ferrous- and monomer gel, based on the principles of radiation-induced oxidation and polymerisation, respectively. Single clinical electron and photon beams were evaluated and gel dose distributions were mainly within 2% of conventional detector results. The ferrous-gel was also used for clinical proton beams. A decrease in signal per absorbed dose was found close to the end of the range of the protons (15-20%). This effect was explained as a linear energy transfer dependence, further supported with Monte Carlo simulations. A method for analysing and comparing data from treatment planning system (TPS) and gel measurements was developed. The method enables a new pixel by pixel evaluation, isodose comparison and dose volume histogram verification. Two standard clinical radiation therapy procedures were examined using the developed TPS verification method. The treatment regimes included several beams of different radiation qualities. The TPS calculated data were in very good agreement with the dose distribution measured by the ferrous-gel. However, in a beam abutment region, larger dose difference was found. Beam adjustment errors and a minor TPS underestimation of the lateral scatter contribution outside the primary electron beam may explain the discrepancy. The overall uncertainty in the ferrous-gel dose determination was considerably reduced using an optimised MRI acquisition protocol and a new MRI scanner. The relative dose uncertainty was found to be better than 3.3% for all dose levels (95% confidence level). Using the method developed for comparing measured gel data with calculated treatment plans, the gel dosimetry method was proven to be a useful tool for radiation treatment planning verification 103 refs, 20 figs, 6 tabs

  5. Energy Management Strategies based on efficiency map for Fuel Cell Hybrid Vehicles

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Feroldi, Diego; Serra, Maria; Riera, Jordi [Institut de Robotica i Informatica Industrial (CSIC-UPC), C. Llorens i Artigas 4, 08028 Barcelona (Spain)

    2009-05-15

    The addition of a fast auxiliary power source like a supercapacitor bank in fuel cell-based vehicles has a great potential because permits a significant reduction of the hydrogen consumption and an improvement of the vehicle efficiency. The Energy Management Strategies, commanding the power split between the power sources in the hybrid arrangement to fulfil the power requirement, perform a fundamental role to achieve this objective. In this work, three strategies based on the knowledge of the fuel cell efficiency map are proposed. These strategies are attractive due to the relative simplicity of the real time implementation and the good performance. The strategies are tested both in a simulation environment and in an experimental setup using a 1.2-kW PEM fuel cell. The results, in terms of hydrogen consumption, are compared with an optimal case, which is assessed trough an advantageous technique also introduced in this work and with a pure fuel cell vehicle as well. This comparative reveals high efficiency and good performance, allowing to save up to 26% of hydrogen in urban scenarios. (author)

  6. Western Blot of Stained Proteins from Dried Polyacrylamide Gels

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gruber, Claudia; Stan-Lotter, Helga

    1996-01-01

    Western blotting of proteins is customarily performed following their separation on polyacrylamide gels, either prior to staining (1) or, as recently reported, following staining (2). We describe here Western blotting with stained gels, which had been dried and some of which had been stored for years. This procedure permits immunological analysis of proteins, to which antisera may have become available only later, or where the application of newly developed sensitive detection methods is desired. Once rehydration of the gels is achieved, proteins can be-transferred to blotting membranes by any appropriate protocol. Proteins stained with Coomassie Blue have to be detected with a non-chromogenic method, such as the film-based enhanced chemiluminescence (ECL)2) procedure (3). Silver stained proteins, which transfer in the colorless form, may be visualized by any detection method, although, because of the usually very low amounts of proteins, detection by ECL is preferable. Blotting of stained proteins from rehydrated gels is as rapid and as quantitative as from freshly prepared gels, in contrast to blotting from wet stained gels, which requires extensive washing and results in low transfer efficiency (2). Together with a photographic record of the gel pattern, unambiguous identification of immunoreactive proteins from complex mixtures is possible. Some further applications of this work are discussed.

  7. A Constraint-Based Model for Fast Post-Disaster Emergency Vehicle Routing

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Roberto Amadini

    2013-12-01

    Full Text Available Disasters like terrorist attacks, earthquakes, hurricanes, and volcano eruptions are usually unpredictable events that affect a high number of people. We propose an approach that could be used as a decision support tool for a post-disaster response that allows the assignment of victims to hospitals and organizes their transportation via emergency vehicles. By exploiting the synergy between Mixed Integer Programming and Constraint Programming techniques, we are able to compute the routing of the vehicles so as to rescue much more victims than both heuristic based and complete approaches in a very reasonable time.

  8. Strippable gel for decontamination of contaminated metallic surfaces

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Banerjee, D.; Sandhya, U.; Khot, S.A.; Srinivas, C.; Wattal, P.K.

    2013-01-01

    Periodic decontamination of radioactive laboratories including fume hoods, glove boxes and all surfaces used for handling, processing and transporting radioactive materials is mandatory in all nuclear installations as this reduces spread of contamination and decreases total man rem exposure. Conventionally, chemical decontaminating agents or surfactant solutions are used for this purpose. However, this approach leads to generation of large volume of secondary radioactive waste. The use of strippable gel is an attractive alternative with low secondary waste generation particularly where removal of loose or weakly fixed contamination is necessary and also when the decontaminated material are to be reused, for e.g. decontamination of fume hoods, glove boxes, transport casks, spent fuel storage racks, control rod drive transport containers etc. Literature on gel formulations is scarce and mostly in the patent form. The sustained effort on gel formulation development has resulted in a basic gel formulation. The gel is a highly viscous water-based organic polymer, particularly suitable for application on vertical surfaces including difficult to reach metallic surfaces of complex geometry and not just limited to horizontal surfaces. The gel can be easily applied on contaminated surfaces by brushing or spraying. Curing of the gel is complete within 16-24 hours under ambient conditions and can then be removed by peeling as a dry sheet. While curing, the contaminants are trapped in gel either physically or chemically depending upon the nature of the contaminant. Salient features of cured gel include that it is water soluble and can be disposed off after immobilization in cement. Decontamination performance of the gel was initially evaluated by applying it on SS planchettes contaminated with known amount of radionuclides such as Cs(I), Co(II) and Ce(III). The measured decontamination factor was found to be in the range of 50-500, lowest for Ce(III) and highest for Co

  9. Blood grouping based on PCR methods and agarose gel electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sell, Ana Maria; Visentainer, Jeane Eliete Laguila

    2015-01-01

    The study of erythrocyte antigens continues to be an intense field of research, particularly after the development of molecular testing methods. More than 300 specificities have been described by the International Society for Blood Transfusion as belonging to 33 blood group systems. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is a central tool for red blood cells (RBC) genotyping. PCR and agarose gel electrophoresis are low cost, easy, and versatile in vitro methods for amplifying defined target DNA (RBC polymorphic region). Multiplex-PCR, AS-PCR (Specific Allele Polymerase Chain Reaction), and RFLP-PCR (Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism-Polymerase Chain Reaction) techniques are usually to identify RBC polymorphisms. Furthermore, it is an easy methodology to implement. This chapter describes the PCR methodology and agarose gel electrophoresis to identify the polymorphisms of the Kell, Duffy, Kidd, and MNS blood group systems.

  10. An Online Energy Management Control for Hybrid Electric Vehicles Based on Neuro-Dynamic Programming

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Feiyan Qin

    2018-03-01

    Full Text Available Hybrid electric vehicles are a compromise between traditional vehicles and pure electric vehicles and can be part of the solution to the energy shortage problem. Energy management strategies (EMSs are highly related to energy utilization in HEVs’ fuel economy. In this research, we have employed a neuro-dynamic programming (NDP method to simultaneously optimize fuel economy and battery state of charge (SOC. In this NDP method, the critic network is a multi-resolution wavelet neural network based on the Meyer wavelet function, and the action network is a conventional wavelet neural network based on the Morlet function. The weights and parameters of both networks are obtained by an algorithm of backpropagation type. The NDP-based EMS has been applied to a parallel HEV and compared with a previously reported NDP EMS and a stochastic dynamic programing-based method. Simulation results under ADVISOR2002 have shown that the proposed NDP approach achieves better performance than both the methods. These indicate that the proposed NDP EMS, and the CWNN and MRWNN, are effective in approximating a nonlinear system.

  11. Polymer gels and networks

    National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

    Osada, Yoshihito; Khokhlov, A. R

    2002-01-01

    ... or magnetic field, etc.). It was realized that not only can polymer gels absorb and hold a considerable volume of liquids, but they can also be forced to expel the absorbed liquid in a controlled manner. Of particular interest are hydrogels, i.e., polymer gels, which swell extensively in water. The most common hydrogels are polyelectrolyte gels: ...

  12. Visible light communication based vehicle positioning using LED street light and rolling shutter CMOS sensors

    Science.gov (United States)

    Do, Trong Hop; Yoo, Myungsik

    2018-01-01

    This paper proposes a vehicle positioning system using LED street lights and two rolling shutter CMOS sensor cameras. In this system, identification codes for the LED street lights are transmitted to camera-equipped vehicles through a visible light communication (VLC) channel. Given that the camera parameters are known, the positions of the vehicles are determined based on the geometric relationship between the coordinates of the LEDs in the images and their real world coordinates, which are obtained through the LED identification codes. The main contributions of the paper are twofold. First, the collinear arrangement of the LED street lights makes traditional camera-based positioning algorithms fail to determine the position of the vehicles. In this paper, an algorithm is proposed to fuse data received from the two cameras attached to the vehicles in order to solve the collinearity problem of the LEDs. Second, the rolling shutter mechanism of the CMOS sensors combined with the movement of the vehicles creates image artifacts that may severely degrade the positioning accuracy. This paper also proposes a method to compensate for the rolling shutter artifact, and a high positioning accuracy can be achieved even when the vehicle is moving at high speeds. The performance of the proposed positioning system corresponding to different system parameters is examined by conducting Matlab simulations. Small-scale experiments are also conducted to study the performance of the proposed algorithm in real applications.

  13. Preparation of continuous alumina gel fibres by aqueous sol–gel ...

    Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

    Abstract. Continuous alumina gel fibres were prepared by sol–gel method. The spinning sol was prepared by mixing aluminum nitrate, lactic acid and polyvinylpyrrolidone with a mass ratio of 10:3:1·5. Thermogravimetry– differential scanning calorimetry (TG–DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectra, X-ray diffraction ...

  14. Blotting from PhastGel to Membranes by Ultrasound.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Kost, Joseph; Azagury, Aharon

    2015-01-01

    Ultrasound based approach for enhanced protein blotting is proposed. Three minutes of ultrasound exposure (1 MHz, 2.5 W/cm(2)) was sufficient for a clear transfer of proteins from a polyacrylamide gel (PhastGel) to nitrocellulose or Nylon 66 Biotrans membrane. The proteins evaluated were prestained sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide standards (18,500-106,000 Da) and 14C-labeled Rainbow protein molecular weight markers (14,300-200,000 Da).

  15. Investigation on safety of gel decontamination technology

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Liu Zhihui; Song Fengli; Wang Yongxian; Zhang Taoge

    2014-01-01

    Gel decontamination technology is an advanced decontamination process of metal contaminated by radionuclide. It has the advantages such as simple operation process, high decontaminating factor, etc. But the disadvantages are that it has high spraying pressure and is strongly corrosive, which has safety risk to the operator and equipment. The effect of such factors as spraying pressure on operators was analyzed based on process feature, and it is proposed that it be worthwhile to make further study on the corrosion of gels to spraying equipment, taking into account corrosion feature of gels to stainless steel. Meanwhile, the safety issue was demonstrated on collecting and handling wastes from gel decontamination process. And then, protective measures, study methods, and solutions are put forward. The results show that protection should be strengthened during spraying to reduce the effect of splashing and fogging on workers; the equipment should be cleaned in time to reduce the effect of corrosion, and reducers should be added into waste liquid to eliminate the effect of residual detergent. (authors)

  16. A functionalizable reverse thermal gel based on a polyurethane/PEG block copolymer

    Science.gov (United States)

    Park, Daewon; Wu, Wei; Wang, Yadong

    2010-01-01

    Injectable reverse thermal gels have great potentials as biomaterials for tissue engineering and drug delivery. However, most existing gels lack functional groups that can be modified with biomolecules that can guide cell/material interactions. We created an amine-functionalized ABA block copolymer, poly(ethylene glycol)-poly(serinol hexamethylene urethane), or ESHU. This reverse thermal gel consists of a hydrophobic block (B): poly(serinol hexamethylene urethane) and a hydrophilic block (A): poly(ethylene glycol). The polymer was characterized by GPC, FTIR and 1H FTNMR. Rheological study demonstrated that ESHU solution in phosphate-buffered saline initiated phase transition at 32°C and reached maximum elastic modulus at 37°C. The in vitro degradation tests performed in PBS and cholesterol esterase solutions revealed that the polymer was hydrolyzable and the presence of cholesterol esterase greatly accelerated the hydrolysis. The in vitro cytotoxicity tests carried out using baboon smooth muscle cells demonstrated that ESHU had good cytocompatibility with cell viability indistinguishable from tissue culture treated polystyrene. Subcutaneous implantation in rats revealed well tolerated accurate inflammatory response with moderate ED-1 positive macrophages in the early stages, which largely resolved 4 weeks post-implantation. We functionalized ESHU with a hexapeptide, Ile-Lys-Val-Ala-Val-Ser (IKVAVS), which gelled rapidly at body temperature. We expect this new platform of functionalizable reverse thermal gels to provide versatile biomaterials in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine. PMID:20937526

  17. Study on Reverse Reconstruction Method of Vehicle Group Situation in Urban Road Network Based on Driver-Vehicle Feature Evolution

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Xiaoyuan Wang

    2017-01-01

    Full Text Available Vehicle group situation is the status and situation of dynamic permutation which is composed of target vehicle and neighboring traffic entities. It is a concept which is frequently involved in the research of traffic flow theory, especially the active vehicle security. Studying vehicle group situation in depth is of great significance for traffic safety. Three-lane condition was taken as an example; the characteristics of target vehicle and its neighboring vehicles were synthetically considered to restructure the vehicle group situation in this paper. The Gamma distribution theory was used to identify the vehicle group situation when target vehicle arrived at the end of the study area. From the perspective of driver-vehicle feature evolution, the reverse reconstruction method of vehicle group situation in the urban road network was proposed. Results of actual driving, virtual driving, and simulation experiments showed that the model established in this paper was reasonable and feasible.

  18. Sealing wells with gel

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Lopez, E C

    1967-10-01

    A new system is being used in Mexico to temporarily plug producing wells. The temporary seal is a gel with a catalyst. The use of this temporary plug allows gas-lift wells to be taken off production in order to carry out emergency repairs. The gel solidifies by the action of the catalyst to a high temperature (70 - 150/sup 0/C). By locating the bottom of the tubing at the top of the production interval, the gel material will go into the permeable formation, and immediately set. When the gel has solidified, it seals off the horizon that must not be stimulated, and leaves the others exposed to the acid action. When the treatment is finished, the gel, by action of the catalyst, is liquefied and removed from the formation, being produced with the oil.

  19. Gel-eletroforese no diagnóstico da varíola Gel-electrophoresis in the smallpox diagnosis

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Julio A. Mesquita

    1972-01-01

    Full Text Available O emprego de gel-eletroforese no diagnóstico da varíola, demonstrou ser ao menos trinta vezes (30X mais sensível que o teste de agar-gel, nas condições descritas (tabela I. Doze (12 espécimes, cujos testes convencionais de inoculação em ovos embrionados e de agar-gel resultaram positivos, foram testados em suas diluições originais congeladas por mais de um ano, sendo seis deles revelados por gel-eletroforese enquanto nenhum o foi por agar-gel (tabela II. Trinta e três (33 amostras isoladas no laboratório, foram testadas com material colhido de membrana cório-alantóica da primeira inoculação para o diagnóstico, conservado em glicerina 50%, resultando 15 positivas em gel-eletroforese e apenas 3 em agar-gel (tabela II. Os últimos 60 espécimes recebidos para diagnóstico, através a Campanha de Erradicação da Varíola, também resultaram negativos em gel-eletroforese, que não mostrou falsos-positivos nas condições descritas.The test of gel-electrophoresis applied to the pox virus group showed to be at least thirth times (30X more sensitive than agar-gel test on the described conditions (Table I. Twelve specimens, which were positives form Smallpox in the conventional tests of egg inoculation and agar-gel difusion test, have been screened in their original dilutions frozen for more than 1 year and six of them were still detectable by gel-eletrophoresis, while by agar-gel test any of them was positive (Table II. Thirty three Smallpox isolates have been tested with material from first egg inoculation (chorioallantoic membranes which have been stored in glycerin 50%, at - 15ºC. Fifteen of them were still positive by gel-electrophoresis and only 3 by agar-gel (Table II. The last 60 specimens received for diagnosis from Smallpox Erradication Campaign (CEV, were negatives by both tests. The gel-electrophoresis, did not show false-positives on described conditions.

  20. Observer-based linear parameter varying H∞ tracking control for hypersonic vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Yiqing Huang

    2016-11-01

    Full Text Available This article aims to develop observer-based linear parameter varying output feedback H∞ tracking controller for hypersonic vehicles. Due to the complexity of an original nonlinear model of the hypersonic vehicle dynamics, a slow–fast loop linear parameter varying polytopic model is introduced for system stability analysis and controller design. Then, a state observer is developed by linear parameter varying technique in order to estimate the unmeasured attitude angular for slow loop system. Also, based on the designed linear parameter varying state observer, a kind of attitude tracking controller is presented to reduce tracking errors for all bounded reference attitude angular inputs. The closed-loop linear parameter varying system is proved to be quadratically stable by Lypapunov function technique. Finally, simulation results show that the developed linear parameter varying H∞ controller has good tracking capability for reference commands.

  1. 3-D dose verification for IMRT using optical CT based polymer gel dosimetry

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Wuu, C [Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University, New York, New York (United States); Xu, Y [Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University, New York, New York (United States); Maryanski, M J [Department of Radiation Oncology, Columbia University, New York, New York (United States); MGS Research Inc., Madison, Connecticut (United States)

    2004-01-01

    In this study BANG[reg] polymer gels in conjunction with OCTOPUS{sup TM} optical CT scanner (MGS Research Inc., Madison, CT) was employed to measure the relative 3D dose distribution of an IMRT treatment. Measured relative dose distributions from the gel measurement were compared with those from treatment planning system calculations and EDR2 film measurements with regard to planar dose distributions in axial, coronal, and sagittal orientations.

  2. 3-D dose verification for IMRT using optical CT based polymer gel dosimetry

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Wuu, C; Xu, Y; Maryanski, M J

    2004-01-01

    In this study BANG[reg] polymer gels in conjunction with OCTOPUS TM optical CT scanner (MGS Research Inc., Madison, CT) was employed to measure the relative 3D dose distribution of an IMRT treatment. Measured relative dose distributions from the gel measurement were compared with those from treatment planning system calculations and EDR2 film measurements with regard to planar dose distributions in axial, coronal, and sagittal orientations

  3. Predictive control strategies for energy saving of hybrid electric vehicles based on traffic light information

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Kaijiang YU

    2015-10-01

    Full Text Available As the conventional control method for hybrid electric vehicle doesn’t consider the effect of known traffic light information on the vehicle energy management, this paper proposes a model predictive control intelligent optimization strategies based on traffic light information for hybrid electric vehicles. By building the simplified model of the hybrid electric vehicle and adopting the continuation/generalized minimum residual method, the model prediction problem is solved. The simulation is conducted by using MATLAB/Simulink platform. The simulation results show the effectiveness of the proposed model of the traffic light information, and that the proposed model predictive control method can improve fuel economy and the real-time control performance significantly. The research conclusions show that the proposed control strategy can achieve optimal control of the vehicle trajectory, significantly improving fuel economy of the vehicle, and meet the system requirements for the real-time optimal control.

  4. Low temperature sol-gel process for optical coatings based on magnesium fluoride and titanium dioxide; Niedertemperatur Sol-Gel Verfahren fuer optische Schichtsysteme auf Basis von Magnesiumfluorid und Titandioxid

    Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

    Krueger, Hannes

    2009-09-24

    This work deals with the development of a low temperature sol-gel spincoating process for thin films with thicknesses in the nanometer range based on metal oxides and metal fluorides. Optical films such as anti-reflective (AR) or high reflective coatings are of much interest and consist of alternating dielectric layers of low and high refractive index materials. Regarding the general procedure for the metal fluorides a novel nonaqueous sol-gel synthesis starting from metal alkoxides and alcohol-dissolved HF was used. The coatings were dried and calcined at 100 C. The morphology of these films was characterised with REM, TEM and AFM. EDX and XPS were used to identify the chemical composition and ellipsometry and UV-vis spectroscopy to determine the optical properties of the films. This new process allows the preparation of homogeneous magnesium fluoride and titanium dioxide layers with low roughness (R{sub a} {<=} 1,9 nm) on silicon and quartz substrates. The magnesium fluoride layers are partially amorphous or microcrystalline with crystallite sizes from 2 nm to 10 nm. The titanium dioxide layers are predominantly amorphous. The thicknesses of the magnesium fluoride and titanium dioxide single layers were adjustable between 25 nm and 500 nm depending on the number of coating steps and on the concentration of the used sols. The magnesium fluoride layers had a refractive index of n{sub 500} = 1,36 and the titanium dioxide layers a refraction index of n{sub 500} = 2,05. For the first time, an alternating metal fluoride and oxide multilayer system was produced with a low temperature sol-gel method (consisting of magnesium fluoride and titanium dioxide). Based on the determined optical constants of the magnesium fluoride and titanium dioxide single layers, AR and HR multilayer systems were calculated and fabricated. The transmission spectra of the designs and the corresponding multilayer were in good agreement. Similar results were obtained with the reflection spectra

  5. Photopatterned free-standing polyacrylamide gels for microfluidic protein electrophoresis.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Duncombe, Todd A; Herr, Amy E

    2013-06-07

    Designed for compatibility with slab-gel polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (PAGE) reagents and instruments, we detail development of free-standing polyacrylamide gel (fsPAG) microstructures supporting electrophoretic performance rivalling that of microfluidic platforms. For the protein electrophoresis study described here, fsPAGE lanes are comprised of a sample reservoir and contiguous separation gel. No enclosed microfluidic channels are employed. The fsPAG devices (120 μm tall) are directly photopatterned atop of and covalently attached to planar polymer or glass surfaces. Leveraging the fast prototype-test cycle - significantly faster than mold based fabrication techniques - we optimize the fsPAG architecture to minimize injection dispersion for rapid (prototyping of the fsPAGE provides researchers a powerful tool for developing custom analytical assays. We highlight the utility of assay customization by fabricating a polyacrylamide gel with a spatial pore-size distribution and demonstrate the resulting enhancement in separation performance over a uniform gel. Further, we up-scale from a unit separation to an array of 96 concurrent fsPAGE assays in 10 min run time driven by one electrode pair. The fsPAG array layout matches that of a 96-well plate to facilitate integration of the planar free standing gel array with multi-channel pipettes while remaining compatible with conventional slab-gel PAGE reagents, such as staining for label-free protein detection. Notably, the entire fsPAGE workflow from fabrication, to operation, and readout uses readily available materials and instruments - making this technique highly accessible.

  6. In-gel and OFFGEL-based proteomic approach for authentication of meat species from minced meat and meat products.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Naveena, Basappa M; Jagadeesh, Deepak S; Kamuni, Veeranna; Muthukumar, Muthupalani; Kulkarni, Vinayak V; Kiran, Mohan; Rapole, Srikanth

    2018-02-01

    Fraudulent mislabelling of processed meat products on a global scale that cannot be detected using conventional techniques necessitates sensitive, robust and accurate methods of meat authentication to ensure food safety and public health. In the present study, we developed an in-gel (two-dimensional gel electrophoresis, 2DE) and OFFGEL-based proteomic method for authenticating raw and cooked water buffalo (Bubalus bubalis), sheep (Ovis aries) and goat (Caprus hircus) meat and their mixes. The matrix-assisted liquid desorption/ionization time-of-flight mass spectrometric analysis of proteins separated using 2DE or OFFGEL electrophoresis delineated species-specific peptide biomarkers derived from myosin light chain 1 and 2 (MLC1 and MLC2) of buffalo-sheep-goat meat mix in definite proportions at 98:1:1, 99:0.5:0.5 and 99.8:0.1:0.1 that were found stable to resist thermal processing. In-gel and OFFGEL-based proteomic approaches are efficient in authenticating meat mixes spiked at minimum 1.0% and 0.1% levels, respectively, in triple meat mix for both raw and cooked samples. The study demonstrated that authentication of meat from a complex mix of three closely related species requires identification of more than one species-specific peptide due to close similarity between their amino acid sequences. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry. © 2017 Society of Chemical Industry.

  7. Development of lidocaine gels for enhanced local anesthetic action.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Shin, Sang-Chul; Cho, Cheong-Weon; Yang, Kyu-Ho

    2004-12-09

    In relieving local pains, lidocaine, one of ester type local anesthetics, has been used. To develop the lidocaine gels of enhanced local anesthetic effects, hydroxypropyl methylcellulose (HPMC) based bioadhesive polymer gel containing an enhancer was formulated. As the drug concentration in the gels increased up to 3%, the permeation rate of drug linearly increased, thereafter reaching a plateau. As the temperature of surrounding solutions increased, the permeation of drug increased. The activation energy of drug permeation was 3.29 kcal/mol for lidocaine. The permeation rate of drug through skin was studied using various enhancers, such as glycols, non-ionic surfactants, and bile salts. Among the enhancers studied, diethylene glycol showed the greatest enhancing effects on drug permeation through skin. The analgesic activity was examined using a tail-flick analgesimeter. In the area under the efficacy curve (AUEC) of the rat-tail flick tests, lidocaine gel containing diethylene glycol showed about 3.89-fold increase in analgesic activity compared with the control. The addition of vasoconstrictor in the gels prolonged the analgesic effects. The result of this study supports that the bioadhesive gel with efficient anesthetic effect could be developed using HPMC with combination of enhancer and vasoconstrictor.

  8. Mutation screening of the TP53 gene by temporal temperature gel electrophoresis (TTGE).

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sørlie, Therese; Johnsen, Hilde; Vu, Phuong; Lind, Guro Elisabeth; Lothe, Ragnhild; Børresen-Dale, Anne-Lise

    2014-01-01

    A protocol for detection of mutations in the TP53 gene using temporal temperature gradient electrophoresis (TTGE) is described. TTGE is a mutation detection technique that separates DNA fragments differing by single base pairs according to their melting properties in a denaturing gel. It is based on constant denaturing conditions in the gel combined with a temperature gradient during the electrophoretic run. This method combines some of the advantages of the related techniques, denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis and constant denaturant gel electrophoresis, and eliminates some of the problems. The result is a rapid and sensitive screening technique which is robust and easily set up in smaller laboratory environments.

  9. Data-Foraging-Oriented Reconnaissance Based on Bio-Inspired Indirect Communication for Aerial Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Josué Castañeda Cisneros

    2017-07-01

    Full Text Available In recent years, aerial vehicles have allowed exploring scenarios with harsh conditions. These can conduct reconnaissance tasks in areas that change periodically and have a high spatial and temporal resolution. The objective of a reconnaissance task is to survey an area and retrieve strategic information. The aerial vehicles, however, have inherent constraints in terms of energy and transmission range due to their mobility. Despite these constraints, the Data Foraging problem requires the aerial vehicles to exchange information about profitable data sources. In Data Foraging, establishing a single path is not viable because of dynamic conditions of the environment. Thus, reconnaissance must be focused on periodically searching profitable environmental data sources, as some animals perform foraging. In this work, a data-foraging-oriented reconnaissance algorithm based on bio-inspired indirect communication for aerial vehicles is presented. The approach establishes several paths that overlap to identify valuable data sources. Inspired by the stigmergy principle, the aerial vehicles indirectly communicate through artificial pheromones. The aerial vehicles traverse the environment using a heuristic algorithm that uses the artificial pheromones as feedback. The solution is formally defined and mathematically evaluated. In addition, we show the viability of the algorithm by simulations which have been tested through various statistical hypothesis.

  10. The use of time-resolved fluorescence in gel-based proteomics for improved biomarker discovery

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sandberg, AnnSofi; Buschmann, Volker; Kapusta, Peter; Erdmann, Rainer; Wheelock, Åsa M.

    2010-02-01

    This paper describes a new platform for quantitative intact proteomics, entitled Cumulative Time-resolved Emission 2-Dimensional Gel Electrophoresis (CuTEDGE). The CuTEDGE technology utilizes differences in fluorescent lifetimes to subtract the confounding background fluorescence during in-gel detection and quantification of proteins, resulting in a drastic improvement in both sensitivity and dynamic range compared to existing technology. The platform is primarily designed for image acquisition in 2-dimensional gel electrophoresis (2-DE), but is also applicable to 1-dimensional gel electrophoresis (1-DE), and proteins electroblotted to membranes. In a set of proof-of-principle measurements, we have evaluated the performance of the novel technology using the MicroTime 100 instrument (PicoQuant GmbH) in conjunction with the CyDye minimal labeling fluorochromes (GE Healthcare, Uppsala, Sweden) to perform differential gel electrophoresis (DIGE) analyses. The results indicate that the CuTEDGE technology provides an improvement in the dynamic range and sensitivity of detection of 3 orders of magnitude as compared to current state-of-the-art image acquisition instrumentation available for 2-DE (Typhoon 9410, GE Healthcare). Given the potential dynamic range of 7-8 orders of magnitude and sensitivities in the attomol range, the described invention represents a technological leap in detection of low abundance cellular proteins, which is desperately needed in the field of biomarker discovery.

  11. Instrumental texture profile analysis of gelatin gel extracted from grouper skin and commercial (bovine and porcine) gelatin gels.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Rahman, Mohammad Shafiur; Al-Mahrouqi, Abdullah Issa

    2009-01-01

    Mechanical compression was used to study the gelling characteristics of gelatin gels. Texture profile analysis (TPA) showed that the hardness of fish and mammalian gelatin increased significantly as the concentrations of gels increased. TPA attributes of 10% fish skin gel showed significant differences from those obtained from 20% and 30% gels. In bovine and porcine cases, such generic trends were not observed. Mechanical characteristics of 10% gels of gelatin from fish skin, determined from one cycle compression, were significantly lower than other sources of gelatin gels, while bovine and porcine gels did not show any significant differences. In the case of TPA, hardness of bovine gelatin gel was highest at 41 N for 10% gel, followed by porcine (30 N) then fish skin (5 N) gelatin gels. The gels prepared from different sources did not show any generic trends when all other mechanical attributes were considered.

  12. Compatibility between weak gel and microorganisms in weak gel-assisted microbial enhanced oil recovery.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Qi, Yi-Bin; Zheng, Cheng-Gang; Lv, Cheng-Yuan; Lun, Zeng-Min; Ma, Tao

    2018-03-20

    To investigate weak gel-assisted microbial flooding in Block Wang Long Zhuang in the Jiangsu Oilfield, the compatibility of weak gel and microbe was evaluated using laboratory experiments. Bacillus sp. W5 was isolated from the formation water in Block Wang Long Zhuang. The rate of oil degradation reached 178 mg/day, and the rate of viscosity reduction reached 75.3%. Strain W5 could produce lipopeptide with a yield of 1254 mg/L. Emulsified crude oil was dispersed in the microbial degradation system, and the average diameter of the emulsified oil particles was 18.54 μm. Bacillus sp. W5 did not affect the rheological properties of the weak gel, and the presence of the weak gel did not significantly affect bacterial reproduction (as indicated by an unchanged microbial biomass), emulsification (surface tension is 35.56 mN/m and average oil particles size is 21.38 μm), oil degradation (162 mg/day) and oil viscosity reduction (72.7%). Core-flooding experiments indicated oil recovery of 23.6% when both weak gel and Bacillus sp. W5 were injected into the system, 14.76% when only the weak gel was injected, and 9.78% with strain W5 was injected without the weak gel. The results demonstrate good compatibility between strains W5 and the weak gel and highlight the application potential of weak gel-assisted microbial flooding. Copyright © 2018 The Society for Biotechnology, Japan. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

  13. Object-based detection of vehicles using combined optical and elevation data

    Science.gov (United States)

    Schilling, Hendrik; Bulatov, Dimitri; Middelmann, Wolfgang

    2018-02-01

    The detection of vehicles is an important and challenging topic that is relevant for many applications. In this work, we present a workflow that utilizes optical and elevation data to detect vehicles in remotely sensed urban data. This workflow consists of three consecutive stages: candidate identification, classification, and single vehicle extraction. Unlike in most previous approaches, fusion of both data sources is strongly pursued at all stages. While the first stage utilizes the fact that most man-made objects are rectangular in shape, the second and third stages employ machine learning techniques combined with specific features. The stages are designed to handle multiple sensor input, which results in a significant improvement. A detailed evaluation shows the benefits of our workflow, which includes hand-tailored features; even in comparison with classification approaches based on Convolutional Neural Networks, which are state of the art in computer vision, we could obtain a comparable or superior performance (F1 score of 0.96-0.94).

  14. Structural and optical studies of nano-structure silica gel doped with different rare earth elements, prepared by two different sol -gel techniques

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Battisha, I.K.; El Beyally, A.; Seliman, S.I.; El Nahrawi, A.S.

    2005-01-01

    Structural and optical characteristics of pure silica gel (silica-xerogel, SiO 2 ) and doped with different concentrations ranging from 1 up to 6% of some rare earth (REEs) ions such as, praseodymium Pr +3 ,and Europium Eu +3 , Erbium Er +3 and Holmium Ho +3 , ions, in the form of thin film and monolith materials were prepared by sol - gel technique, Using tetra-ethoxysilane as precursor materials, which are of particular interest for sol-gel integrated optics applications. Some structural and optical features of sol-gel derived monolith and thin films are analyzed and compared, namely the structure of nano-particle monolith and thin film silica-gel samples, based on X-ray diffraction (XRD). The types of structural information obtainable are compared in detail. It is show that the XRD spectra of a-cristobalite are obtained for the two type materials and even by doping with the four REEs ions. Optical measurements of monolith and thin films were also studied and compared, the normal transmission and specular reflection were measured. The refractive index were calculated and discussed

  15. High transparent shape memory gel

    Science.gov (United States)

    Gong, Jin; Arai, Masanori; Kabir, M. H.; Makino, Masato; Furukawa, Hidemitsu

    2014-03-01

    Gels are a new material having three-dimensional network structures of macromolecules. They possess excellent properties as swellability, high permeability and biocompatibility, and have been applied in various fields of daily life, food, medicine, architecture, and chemistry. In this study, we tried to prepare new multi-functional and high-strength gels by using Meso-Decoration (Meso-Deco), one new method of structure design at intermediate mesoscale. High-performance rigid-rod aromatic polymorphic crystals, and the functional groups of thermoreversible Diels-Alder reaction were introduced into soft gels as crosslinkable pendent chains. The functionalization and strengthening of gels can be realized by meso-decorating the gels' structure using high-performance polymorphic crystals and thermoreversible pendent chains. New gels with good mechanical properties, novel optical properties and thermal properties are expected to be developed.

  16. Map-Based Power-Split Strategy Design with Predictive Performance Optimization for Parallel Hybrid Electric Vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Jixiang Fan

    2015-09-01

    Full Text Available In this paper, a map-based optimal energy management strategy is proposed to improve the consumption economy of a plug-in parallel hybrid electric vehicle. In the design of the maps, which provide both the torque split between engine and motor and the gear shift, not only the current vehicle speed and power demand, but also the optimality based on the predicted trajectory of vehicle dynamics are considered. To seek the optimality, the equivalent consumption, which trades off the fuel and electricity usages, is chosen as the cost function. Moreover, in order to decrease the model errors in the process of optimization conducted in the discrete time domain, the variational integrator is employed to calculate the evolution of the vehicle dynamics. To evaluate the proposed energy management strategy, the simulation results performed on a professional GT-Suit simulator are demonstrated and the comparison to a real-time optimization method is also given to show the advantage of the proposed off-line optimization approach.

  17. Influence of pre-cooking protein paste gelation conditions and post-cooking gel storage conditions on gel texture.

    Science.gov (United States)

    Paker, Ilgin; Matak, Kristen E

    2016-01-15

    Gelation conditions affect the setting of myofibrillar fish protein gels. Therefore the impact of widely applied pre-cooking gelation time/temperature strategies and post-cooking period on the texture and color of final protein gels was determined. Four pre-cooking gelation strategies (no setting time, 30 min at 25 °C, 1 h at 40 °C or 24 h at 4 °C) were applied to protein pastes (fish protein concentrate and standard functional additives). After cooking, texture and color were analyzed either directly or after 24 h at 4 °C on gels adjusted to 25 °C. No-set gels were harder, gummier and chewier (P cooking. Gel-setting conditions had a greater (P cooking stored gels in texture and color, depending on the pre-cooking gelation strategy. Pre-cooking gelation conditions will affect final protein gel texture and color, with gel stability benefiting from a gel-setting period. However, post-cooking storage may have a greater impact on final gels, with textural attributes becoming more consistent between all samples. © 2015 Society of Chemical Industry.

  18. Design incentives to increase vehicle size created from the U.S. footprint-based fuel economy standards

    International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

    Whitefoot, Kate S.; Skerlos, Steven J.

    2012-01-01

    The recently amended U.S. Corporate Average Fuel Economy (CAFE) standards determine fuel-economy targets based on the footprint (wheelbase by track width) of vehicles such that larger vehicles have lower fuel-economy targets. This paper considers whether these standards create an incentive for firms to increase vehicle size by presenting an oligopolistic-equilibrium model in which automotive firms can modify vehicle dimensions, implement fuel-saving technology features, and trade off acceleration performance and fuel economy. Wide ranges of scenarios for consumer preferences are considered. Results suggest that the footprint-based CAFE standards create an incentive to increase vehicle size except when consumer preference for vehicle size is near its lower bound and preference for acceleration is near its upper bound. In all other simulations, the sales-weighted average vehicle size increases by 2–32%, undermining gains in fuel economy by 1–4 mpg (0.6–1.7 km/L). Carbon-dioxide emissions from these vehicles are 5–15% higher as a result (4.69×10 11 –5.17×10 11 kg for one year of produced vehicles compared to 4.47×10 11 kg with no size changes), which is equivalent to adding 3–10 coal-fired power plants to the electricity grid each year. Furthermore, results suggest that the incentive is larger for light trucks than for passenger cars, which could increase traffic safety risks. - Highlights: ► New U.S. fuel-economy standards may create an incentive to increase vehicle size. ► We model firms as choosing vehicle designs and prices in oligopolistic equilibrium. ► Vehicle size increases 2–32% for 20 out of 21 scenarios of consumer preferences. ► Increases in size reduce fuel economy gains from 5–13%, resulting in 5–15% higher CO 2 emissions. ► Incentive is larger for trucks than cars, which may increase traffic safety risks.

  19. Charge-regularized swelling kinetics of polyelectrolyte gels: Elasticity and diffusion

    Science.gov (United States)

    Sen, Swati; Kundagrami, Arindam

    2017-11-01

    We apply a recently developed method [S. Sen and A. Kundagrami, J. Chem. Phys. 143, 224904 (2015)], using a phenomenological expression of osmotic stress, as a function of polymer and charge densities, hydrophobicity, and network elasticity for the swelling of spherical polyelectrolyte (PE) gels with fixed and variable charges in a salt-free solvent. This expression of stress is used in the equation of motion of swelling kinetics of spherical PE gels to numerically calculate the spatial profiles for the polymer and free ion densities at different time steps and the time evolution of the size of the gel. We compare the profiles of the same variables obtained from the classical linear theory of elasticity and quantitatively estimate the bulk modulus of the PE gel. Further, we obtain an analytical expression of the elastic modulus from the linearized expression of stress (in the small deformation limit). We find that the estimated bulk modulus of the PE gel decreases with the increase of its effective charge for a fixed degree of deformation during swelling. Finally, we match the gel-front locations with the experimental data, taken from the measurements of charged reversible addition-fragmentation chain transfer gels to show an increase in gel-size with charge and also match the same for PNIPAM (uncharged) and imidazolium-based (charged) minigels, which specifically confirms the decrease of the gel modulus value with the increase of the charge. The agreement between experimental and theoretical results confirms general diffusive behaviour for swelling of PE gels with a decreasing bulk modulus with increasing degree of ionization (charge). The new formalism captures large deformations as well with a significant variation of charge content of the gel. It is found that PE gels with large deformation but same initial size swell faster with a higher charge.

  20. A feature matching and fusion-based positive obstacle detection algorithm for field autonomous land vehicles

    Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

    Tao Wu

    2017-03-01

    Full Text Available Positive obstacles will cause damage to field robotics during traveling in field. Field autonomous land vehicle is a typical field robotic. This article presents a feature matching and fusion-based algorithm to detect obstacles using LiDARs for field autonomous land vehicles. There are three main contributions: (1 A novel setup method of compact LiDAR is introduced. This method improved the LiDAR data density and reduced the blind region of the LiDAR sensor. (2 A mathematical model is deduced under this new setup method. The ideal scan line is generated by using the deduced mathematical model. (3 Based on the proposed mathematical model, a feature matching and fusion (FMAF-based algorithm is presented in this article, which is employed to detect obstacles. Experimental results show that the performance of the proposed algorithm is robust and stable, and the computing time is reduced by an order of two magnitudes by comparing with other exited algorithms. This algorithm has been perfectly applied to our autonomous land vehicle, which has won the champion in the challenge of Chinese “Overcome Danger 2014” ground unmanned vehicle.