Remotely Controlled Laboratory Experiments: Creation and Examples

Most users who can only connect to their university through distance learning enabled programs have no other choice than to sit out the experimental side of education. Remote Labs have the greatest potential to overcome the bottleneck in distance education. The goal of Remote Laboratory implementation is to grant these students access to laboratory equipment. Although there is not currently a way to perfectly emulate these encounters completely, there are many practices and tools that will help match a traditional kinesthetic environment in a Remote Lab. An experiment was created during thesis research to obtain experimental data and analyze the ability of Remote Labs to be integrated with current coursework. Surveys were distributed to appraise the perception of the lab. The collected data indicated that the perceptions a student carries about the effectiveness of Remote Laboratories improves after they perform the experiment

A Rapid Prototyping Experiment for Undergraduate Laboratory Courses

In this paper, the authors describe the development and implementation of a Problem-Based Learning Rapid Prototyping experiment for undergraduate laboratory courses. The laboratory is aimed at giving students a better understanding of current computer-aided product development processes and to help them improve their CAD modeling and design skills. The main body of the paper is comprised of apresentation of the corresponding laboratory manual and procedures, along with selected examples of experimental outcomes of the experiment as it was run in the spring and fall semester of 2009

Strategic Design of Engineering Education for the Flat World

We believe that two critical success factors for an engineer in the flat world are an ability to adapt to changes and to be able to work at the interface of different disciplines. Instead of educating traditional domain-specific and analysis-orientated engineers, we believe that the focus should be on educating and graduating strategic engineers who can realize complex systems for changing markets in a collaborative, globally distributed environment. We identify three key drivers that we believe are foundational to future engineering design education programs. These drivers are a) emphasis on strategic engineering, b) mass customization of courses, c) utilization of IT-enabled environments for distributed education. Strategic engineering is a field that relates to the design and creation of complex systems that are adaptable to changes. Mass customization of courses refers to adapting the course material to educational goals and learning styles of different students. IT enabled environments bring distributed students and instructors closer in the form of a virtual classroom

Comparative Interactomes of VRK1 and VRK3 with Their Distinct Roles in the Cell Cycle of Liver Cancer

Vaccinia-related kinase 1 (VRK1) and VRK3 are members of the VRK family of serine/threonine kinases and are principally localized in the nucleus. Despite the crucial roles of VRK1/VRK3 in physiology and disease, the molecular and functional interactions of VRK1/VRK3 are poorly understood. Here, we identified over 200 unreported VRK1/VRK3-interacting candidate proteins by affinity purification and LC-MS/MS. The networks of VRK1 and VRK3 interactomes were found to be associated with important biological processes such as the cell cycle, DNA repair, chromatin assembly, and RNA processing. Interactions of interacting proteins with VRK1/VRK3 were confirmed by biochemical assays. We also found that phosphorylations of XRCC5 were regulated by both VRK1/VRK3, and that of CCNB1 was regulated by VRK3. In liver cancer cells and tissues, VRK1/VRK3 were highly upregulated and its depletion affected cell cycle progression in the different phases. VRK3 seemed to affect S phase progression and G2 or M phase entry and exit, whereas VRK1 affects G1/S transition in the liver cancer, which could be explained by different interacting candidate proteins. Thus, this study not only provides a resource for investigating the unidentified functions of VRK1/VRK3, but also an insight into the regulatory roles of VRK1/VRK3 in biological processes.11Ysciescopuskc

Virtual surface morphology generation of Ti-6Al-4V directed energy deposition via conditional generative adversarial network

The core challenge in directed energy deposition is to obtain high surface quality through process optimisation, which directly affects the mechanical properties of fabricated parts. However, for expensive materials like Ti-6Al-4V, the cost and time required to optimise process parameters can be excessive in inducing good surface quality. To mitigate these challenges, we propose a novel method with artificial intelligence to generate virtual surface morphology of Ti-6Al-4V parts by given process parameters. A high-resolution surface morphology image generation system has been developed by optimising conditional generative adversarial networks. The developed virtual surface matches experimental cases well with an Frechet inception distance score of 174, in the range of accurate matching. Microstructural analysis with parts fabricated with artificial intelligence guidance exhibited less textured microstructural behaviour on the surface which reduces the anisotropy in the columnar structure. This artificial intelligence guidance of virtual surface morphology can help to obtain high-quality parts cost-effectively

Bladder Reconstruction Using Bovine Pericardium in a Case of Enterovesical Fistula

The use of graft materials in bladder mucosa has been examined in animal models, but debate exists over which materials are effective. Intestine has been used as a substitute in augmentation cystoplasty for patients with neuropathic bladder, but serious adverse effects of the operation have occurred in some instances. We report a case of a successful repair of an enterovesical fistula by use of bovine pericardium. The patient has remained well for 2.5 years. We suggest that bovine pericardium may be a suitable option as a bladder substitute

A reliability-based design framework for early stages of design process

WOS:000401635900021The traditional decision-making process during early design stages deals with deterministically evaluating the design candidates in accordance with concrete objectives by assuming optimal or nominal design performance values for the candidates. However, this may increase subjectivity in the decision process since the design knowledge during early design is usually imprecise and incomplete, and mostly needs to be iteratively updated throughout product design development. To diminish the subjectivity, the knowledge of the design requirements can be precisely and accurately represented by means of probabilistic constraints that describe the uncertainties in the design requirements; therefore, in this work, a systematic design framework supported by reliability analysis is developed in such a way that it is able to provide an effective connection among the early design steps especially both at system level and component level. Thus, the probability of failures of the design candidates and their sub-solutions are investigated, based on design constraints with Gaussian distributions, or lower and upper bounds, by utilizing Monte Carlo method. To illustrate the potential applicability and efficacy of the proposed framework, a two-finger gripper design problem is considered. The results clearly demonstrate that the proposed framework is effective to achieve reliable design solutions that have uncertain quantitative characteristics to be used further in probabilistic structural analysis during the next design stages such as embodiment and detail design stages.Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK)Turkiye Bilimsel ve Teknolojik Arastirma Kurumu (TUBITAK) [BIDEP 2219]This research was supported by the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), under the BIDEP 2219-International Postdoctoral Research Fellowship Programme

Ultralight-but-robust automotive vehicle with strong, lightweight, next-generation material

Issued as final reportKorea Institute for Advancement of Technolog

Influence of antibacterial mouthwash on post-exercise hypotension

Background: Acute exercise induces a blood pressure (BP) reduction that lasts minutes to hours, which is called post-exercise hypotension (PEH). Accumulating data suggest that oral bacteria play a role in BP regulation by contributing to nitric oxide production, implying that antibacterial mouthwash (AM) could affect PEH. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate the effects of an AM on post-exercise changes in BP and arterial stiffness index (ASI). Methods: Ten healthy young men completed two treadmill exercises at moderate intensity. After exercise, the subjects rinsed their mouth for 1 min with AM or nitrite-free water at 5, 35, 65, and 95 min during the recovery period. BP and ASI were assessed at 0, 10, 20, 30, 60, 90, and 120 min during the recovery period. Heart rate (HR) and blood lactate (BL) were also measured. Results: As expected, PEH occurred showing a decrease in the systolic, diastolic, and mean arterial pressures after exercise in the placebo group. The ASI also decreased after exercise in the placebo group. However, these BP-lowering effects of exercise were significantly diminished by AM, particularly at the later times of the recovery period. In addition, there was a difference between the treatments in ASI changes, but not in HR and BL changes. Conclusion: These findings demonstrate that AM usage after exercise can attenuate the beneficial effects of exercise on BP and the vasculature