Continuous and Segmented-Flow Microfluidics for Biomolecular Analysis

Segmented flows in microfluidics have attracted much recent attention. Of particular interest is the use of nanolitre droplets as interface tools in microfluidics. A droplet interface connects techniques while leaving them sufficiently independent of each other; a task that difficult to perform within a continuous flow system. The first part of this thesis is dedicated to sample preparation and analysis in continuous flow microfluidic systems. The polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is investigated, using electroosmotic flow to transport the sample across various temperature zones. Additionally, a novel sieving matrix for electrophoretic separation of dsDNA fragments and PCR amplicons on microchip and capillary is demonstrated. The second part of this thesis focuses on interfacing segmented and continuous flows. Two novel interfaces are described and demonstrated. The first interface connects droplet flows and a chip-based electrophoresis device. Using this interface, samples or reactions performed in droplets can be directly transferred to a separation channel without suspending the separation. This allows multiple samples to be analysed in a single separation channel, without cross contamination between droplets. Consequently, PCR reactions and dsDNA calibration ladders can be prepared in droplet format and analysed in high throughput. The second interface links nano-liquid chromatography and MALDI mass spectrometry. Droplet fractionation post nano-LC separation is used to preserve resolution between separated bands. The droplets are subsequently delivered to a MALDI plate for mass spectrometric analysis by removing the continuous oil phase using a hydrophobic oleophilic membrane. The tools developed here reduce manual intervention and provide a link between multiple analytical techniques involved in biomolecule analysis. These innovations will improve reproducibility and reduce cross-contamination between samples

Aeronautical engineering, a continuing bibliography with indexes

This bibliography lists 567 reports, articles and other documents introduced into the NASA scientific and technical information system in January 1984

Treatise on Hearing: The Temporal Auditory Imaging Theory Inspired by Optics and Communication

A new theory of mammalian hearing is presented, which accounts for the auditory image in the midbrain (inferior colliculus) of objects in the acoustical environment of the listener. It is shown that the ear is a temporal imaging system that comprises three transformations of the envelope functions: cochlear group-delay dispersion, cochlear time lensing, and neural group-delay dispersion. These elements are analogous to the optical transformations in vision of diffraction between the object and the eye, spatial lensing by the lens, and second diffraction between the lens and the retina. Unlike the eye, it is established that the human auditory system is naturally defocused, so that coherent stimuli do not react to the defocus, whereas completely incoherent stimuli are impacted by it and may be blurred by design. It is argued that the auditory system can use this differential focusing to enhance or degrade the images of real-world acoustical objects that are partially coherent. The theory is founded on coherence and temporal imaging theories that were adopted from optics. In addition to the imaging transformations, the corresponding inverse-domain modulation transfer functions are derived and interpreted with consideration to the nonuniform neural sampling operation of the auditory nerve. These ideas are used to rigorously initiate the concepts of sharpness and blur in auditory imaging, auditory aberrations, and auditory depth of field. In parallel, ideas from communication theory are used to show that the organ of Corti functions as a multichannel phase-locked loop (PLL) that constitutes the point of entry for auditory phase locking and hence conserves the signal coherence. It provides an anchor for a dual coherent and noncoherent auditory detection in the auditory brain that culminates in auditory accommodation. Implications on hearing impairments are discussed as well.Comment: 603 pages, 131 figures, 13 tables, 1570 reference

Alternative Processing Methods for the Thermal Treatment of Radioactive Wastes

The UK has large volumes of radioactive materials which are classified as Intermediate Level Waste (ILW). The baseline treatment for these wastes is encapsulation via cementation, however, this method is not ideally suited for numerous wastes, both in the UK and globally. Alternative thermal processing methods for these materials may be capable of producing wasteforms with improved properties. This thesis presents a series of scoping studies on the thermal treatment of a diverse range of ILWs in order to identify the potential benefits and pits falls of such processes. The wastes selected were Tri-Structural Isotropic (TRISO) Fuel Particles, Prototype Fast Reactor (PFR) raffinate, SIXEP sand/clinoptilolite ion exchange materials and SrTreat® Ion exchange material. The scoping studies performed showed promise for the thermal treatment of all selected waste streams. A summary of the main results for each waste stream are provided below; TRISO Fuel Particles: Immobilisation focused on encapsulation of the particles in highly durable glass matrices. Alumino-borosilicates were determined to be the most effective glass composition for the production of composites, in terms of both their physical and chemical properties. The ability of Hot Isostatic Pressing (HIPing) to improve composites was investigated. Unfortunately, this was shown to result in severe fracturing within the composite. This was hypothesised to occur as a result of excessive pressurisation during the cooling cycle. The HIP process did show some benefits in terms of particle coating properties and with small alterations to the HIP cycle utilised it should also be possible to eliminate the detrimental fracturing features. PFR Raffinate: The vitrification of PFR raffinate was investigated using the G73 glass composition, a glass which has been previously proposed for the immobilisation of other ILWs. This glass was proven to be capable of accommodating a waste loading of up to 20 wt% PFR raffinate. The glass produced was homogeneous with good waste retention, had no noted crystal formation, an aqueous durability comparable to currently employed HLW glasses and the thermal characteristics necessary for industrial scale up. Further study should be performed on the ability of this waste to retain Cs during processing and in aqueous solution. SIXEP Sand/Clinoptilolite Waste: SIXEP sand/clinoptilolite was processed at 95 wt% with a 50 % volume reduction by HIPing. The waste produced was a phase separated glass-ceramic. The wasteform was deemed to be suitable for ILW immobilisation and had an exceptional Cs ii retention in aqueous solutions. However, the presence of an alkali earth sulphate phase increased the Sr release to solution. Attempts to qualify the suitability of this wasteform for disposal, developed methodologies to investigate the properties of phase separated materials. A combination of vertical scanning interferometry (VSI), dissolution experiments and SEM imaging was shown to be capable of elucidating the dissolution behaviour based upon compositional variation. SrTreat®: SrTreat® was processed at 100% waste loading via HIPing. This aim was to investigate the potential for developing ion exchange columns which could subsequently be HIPed, as such, providing a complete waste treatment solution. The HIP process produced a monolithic, mixed phase sodium titanate ceramic. This ceramic was formed by the sintering of individual grain structures and retained the compositional variations seen in the granular waste stream. The wasteform was porous around the grain edges, determined to occur as a result of carbonate formation prior to HIPing. The carbonation of this material is likely to limit the potential to utilise HIPing as a disposal methodology for these wastes. However the aqueous dissolution behaviour of these wastes was still favourable and the process was shown to create a significant reduction in waste volume. The work performed in this thesis has shown that various methods for thermal treatment can be rapidly investigated to determine the potential benefits and pit falls. The application of thermal treatments was shown to be capable of producing significant improvements in wasteform quality by comparison with the cementitious alternatives

Object Detection and Tracking in Cooperative Multi-Robot Transportation

Contemporary manufacturing systems imply the utilization of autonomous robotic systems, mainly for the execution of manipulation and transportation tasks. With a goal to reduce transportation and manipulation time, improve efficiency, and achieve flexibility of intelligent manufacturing systems, two or more intelligent mobile robots can be exploited. Such multi-robot systems require coordination and some level of communication between heterogeneous or homogeneous robotic systems. In this paper, we propose the utilization of two heterogeneous robotic systems, original intelligent mobile robots RAICO (Robot with Artificial Intelligence based COgnition) and DOMINO (Deep learning-based Omnidirectional Mobile robot with Intelligent cOntrol), for transportation tasks within a laboratory model of a manufacturing environment. In order to reach an adequate cooperation level and avoid collision while moving along predefined paths, our own developed intelligent mobile robots RAICO and DOMINO will communicate their current poses, and object detection and tracking system is developed. A stereo vision system equipped with two parallelly placed industrial-grade cameras is used for image acquisition, while convolutional neural networks are utilized for object detection, classification, and tracking. The proposed object detection and tracking system enables real-time tracking of another mobile robot within the same manufacturing environment. Furthermore, continuous information about mobile robot poses and the size of the bounding box generated by the convolutional neural network in the process of detection of another mobile robot is used for estimation of object movement and collision avoidance. Mobile robot localization through time is performed based on kinematic models of two intelligent mobile robots, and conducted experiments within a laboratory model of manufacturing environment confirm the applicability of the proposed framework for object detection and collision avoidance

Друга міжнародна конференція зі сталого майбутнього: екологічні, технологічні, соціальні та економічні питання (ICSF 2021). Кривий Ріг, Україна, 19-21 травня 2021 року

Second International Conference on Sustainable Futures: Environmental, Technological, Social and Economic Matters (ICSF 2021). Kryvyi Rih, Ukraine, May 19-21, 2021.Друга міжнародна конференція зі сталого майбутнього: екологічні, технологічні, соціальні та економічні питання (ICSF 2021). Кривий Ріг, Україна, 19-21 травня 2021 року

Proceedings of the 19th Sound and Music Computing Conference

Proceedings of the 19th Sound and Music Computing Conference - June 5-12, 2022 - Saint-Étienne (France). https://smc22.grame.f