An Approach of Spectra Standardization and Qualitative Identification for Biomedical Materials Based on Terahertz Spectroscopy

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) systems are widely used to obtain fingerprint spectra of many different biomedical substances, and thus the identification of different biological materials, medicines, or dangerous chemicals can be realized. However, the spectral data for the same substance obtained from different THz-TDS systems may have distinct differences because of differences in system errors and data processing methods, which leads to misclassification and errors in identification. To realize the exact and fast identification of substances, spectral standardization is the key issue. In this paper, we present detailed disposal methods and execution processes for the spectral standardization and substance identification, including feature extracting, database searching, and fingerprint spectrum matching of unknown substances. Here, we take twelve biomedical compounds including different biological materials, medicines, or dangerous chemicals as examples. These compounds were analyzed by two different THz-TDS systems, one of which is a commercial product and the other is our verification platform. The original spectra from two systems showed obvious differences in their curve shapes and amplitudes. After wavelet transform, cubic spline interpolation, and support vector machine (SVM) classification with an appropriate kernel function, the spectra from two systems can be standardized, and the recognition rate of qualitative identification can be up to 99.17%

Predicting the Microstructure of a Valve Head during the Hot Forging of Steel 21-4N

Valve microstructure is important during hot forging. Austenitic 21-4N steel is often used in exhaust valves. In this study, the microstructure evolution of the forging valve process was predicted using the internal state variables (i.e., average grain size, recrystallized fraction, and dislocation density) modus for 21-4N. First, 21-4N was subjected to hot compression tests on a Gleeble-1500D and static grain growth tests in a heating furnace. A set of uniform viscoplastic constitutive equations was established based on experimental data. Next, the determined unified constitutive equations were conducted in DEFORM-3D, and the microstructure evolution of 21-4N during forging was calculated. Finally, the simulation results of grain size evolution were validated via experiments. Results showed good consistency between the simulations and experiments. Thus, the models adequately predicted the microstructure evolution

Evaluation on Improvement Zone of Foundation after Dynamic Compaction

Dynamic compaction (DC) is one of the most popular methods for ground improvement. To solve the problem of the factors affecting the sandy soil improvement effect and estimate the effective improvement range under DC, the influences of drop number, drop energy, tamping distance, tamper radius, and drop momentum on the relative degree of improvement were investigated. Three normalized indicators △δz,i, △δA,i, and △δU,i were derived to evaluate the weak zone and corresponding improvement effect. For multipoint tamping, it is found that the improvement depth and the improvement of the weak zone are highly correlated with drop energy and drop momentum, while the influence of the drop number and tamper radius is relatively smaller. The improvement of the weak zone and the improvement depth decrease with tamping distance, whereas the improvement area increases with tamping distance. The soil compacted by the previous impact point will be improved to a lesser extent with impact at subsequent impact points. It is also noted that drop energy had better not exceed the saturated drop energy in DC design. Based on the parametric study, a formula considering the various factors of DC was put forward, with the validation by two field cases of DC

Evaluation on Improvement Zone of Foundation after Dynamic Compaction

Dynamic compaction (DC) is one of the most popular methods for ground improvement. To solve the problem of the factors affecting the sandy soil improvement effect and estimate the effective improvement range under DC, the influences of drop number, drop energy, tamping distance, tamper radius, and drop momentum on the relative degree of improvement were investigated. Three normalized indicators △δz,i, △δA,i, and △δU,i were derived to evaluate the weak zone and corresponding improvement effect. For multipoint tamping, it is found that the improvement depth and the improvement of the weak zone are highly correlated with drop energy and drop momentum, while the influence of the drop number and tamper radius is relatively smaller. The improvement of the weak zone and the improvement depth decrease with tamping distance, whereas the improvement area increases with tamping distance. The soil compacted by the previous impact point will be improved to a lesser extent with impact at subsequent impact points. It is also noted that drop energy had better not exceed the saturated drop energy in DC design. Based on the parametric study, a formula considering the various factors of DC was put forward, with the validation by two field cases of DC

Terahertz Spectroscopy for Accurate Identification of Panax quinquefolium Basing on Nonconjugated 24(R)-Pseudoginsenoside F11

Panax quinquefolium is a perennial herbaceous plant that contains many beneficial ginsenosides with diverse pharmacological effects. 24(R)-pseudoginsenoside F11 is specific to P. quinquefolium, a useful biomarker for distinguishing this species from other related plants. However, because of its nonconjugated property and the complexity of existing detection methods, this biomarker cannot be used as the identification standard. We herein present a stable 24(R)-pseudoginsenoside F11 fingerprint spectrum in the terahertz band, thereby proving that F11 can be detected and quantitatively analyzed via terahertz spectroscopy. We also analyzed the sample by high-performance liquid chromatography-triple quadrupole mass spectrometry. The difference between the normalized data for the two analytical methods was less than 5%. Furthermore, P. quinquefolium from different areas and other substances can be clearly distinguished based on these terahertz spectra with a standard principal component analysis. Our method is a fast, simple, and cost-effective approach for identifying and quantitatively analyzing P. quinquefolium