Effect of temperature on the complexation of Uranium(VI) with fluoride in aqueous solutions

Complexation of U(VI) with fluoride at elevated temperatures in aqueous solutions was studied by spectrophotometry. Four successive complexes, UO{sub 2}F{sup +}, UO{sub 2}F{sub 2}(aq), UO{sub 2}F{sub 3}{sup -}, and UO{sub 2}F{sub 4}{sup 2-}, were identified, and the stability constants at 25, 40, 55, and 70 C were calculated. The stability of the complexes increased as the temperature was elevated. The enthalpies of complexation at 25 C were determined by microcalorimetry. Thermodynamic parameters indicate that the complexation of U(VI) with fluoride in aqueous solutions at 25 to 70 C is slightly endothermic and entropy-driven. The Specific Ion Interaction (SIT) approach was used to obtain the thermodynamic parameters of complexation at infinite dilution. Structural information on the U(VI)/fluoride complexes was obtained by extended X-ray absorption fine structure spectroscopy

The effect of temperature on the speciation of U(VI) in sulfate solutions

Sulfate, one of the inorganic constituents that could be present in the nuclear waste repository, forms complexes with U(VI) and affects its migration in the environment. Results show that the complexation of U(VI) with sulfate is enhanced by the increase in temperature. The effect of temperature on the complexation and speciation of U(VI) in sulfate solutions is discussed

Collision-Aware Fast Simulation for Soft Robots by Optimization-Based Geometric Computing

Soft robots can safely interact with environments because of their mechanical compliance. Self-collision is also employed in the modern design of soft robots to enhance their performance during different tasks. However, developing an efficient and reliable simulator that can handle the collision response well, is still a challenging task in the research of soft robotics. This paper presents a collision-aware simulator based on geometric optimization, in which we develop a highly efficient and realistic collision checking / response model incorporating a hyperelastic material property. Both actuated deformation and collision response for soft robots are formulated as geometry-based objectives. The collision-free body of a soft robot can be obtained by minimizing the geometry-based objective function. Unlike the FEA-based physical simulation, the proposed pipeline performs a much lower computational cost. Moreover, adaptive remeshing is applied to achieve the improvement of the convergence when dealing with soft robots that have large volume variations. Experimental tests are conducted on different soft robots to verify the performance of our approach

Actinide Thermodynamics at Elevated Temperatures

The postclosure chemical environment in the proposed Yucca Mountain repository is expected to experience elevated temperatures. Predicting migration of actinides is possible if sufficient, reliable thermodynamic data on hydrolysis and complexation are available for these temperatures. Data are scarce and scattered for 25 degrees C, and nonexistent for elevated temperatures. This collaborative project between LBNL and PNNL collects thermodynamic data at elevated temperatures on actinide complexes with inorganic ligands that may be present in Yucca Mountain. The ligands include hydroxide, fluoride, sulfate, phosphate and carbonate. Thermodynamic parameters of complexation, including stability constants, enthalpy, entropy and heat capacity of complexation, are measured with a variety of techniques including solvent extraction, potentiometry, spectrophotometry and calorimetr

Efficient Jacobian-Based Inverse Kinematics With Sim-to-Real Transfer of Soft Robots by Learning

This paper presents an efficient learning-based method to solve the inverse kinematic (IK) problem on soft robots with highly non-linear deformation. The major challenge of efficiently computing IK for such robots is due to the lack of analytical formulation for either forward or inverse kinematics. To address this challenge, we employ neural networks to learn both the mapping function of forward kinematics and also the Jacobian of this function. As a result, Jacobian-based iteration can be applied to solve the IK problem. A sim-to-real training transfer strategy is conducted to make this approach more practical. We first generate a large number of samples in a simulation environment for learning both the kinematic and the Jacobian networks of a soft robot design. Thereafter, a sim-to-real layer of differentiable neurons is employed to map the results of simulation to the physical hardware, where this sim-to-real layer can be learned from a very limited number of training samples generated on the hardware. The effectiveness of our approach has been verified on pneumatic-driven soft robots for path following and interactive positioning

OpenPneu: Compact platform for pneumatic actuation with multi-channels

This paper presents a compact system, OpenPneu, to support the pneumatic actuation for multi-chambers on soft robots. Micro-pumps are employed in the system to generate airflow and therefore no extra input as compressed air is needed. Our system conducts modular design to provide good scalability, which has been demonstrated on a prototype with ten air channels. Each air channel of OpenPneu is equipped with both the inflation and the deflation functions to provide a full range pressure supply from positive to negative with a maximal flow rate at 1.7 L/min. High precision closed-loop control of pressures has been built into our system to achieve stable and efficient dynamic performance in actuation. An open-source control interface and API in Python are provided. We also demonstrate the functionality of OpenPneu on three soft robotic systems with up to 10 chambers

Ultrasound hyperthermia induces apoptosis in head and neck squamous cell carcinoma : an in vitro study

Hyperthermia is considered an efficient complement in the treatment of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Hyperthermia induces cell apoptosis in a temperature- and time-dependent manner. However, the molecular mechanism of hyperthermia remains unclear. The aim of this study was to investigate the mechanism of apoptosis induced by ultrasound hyperthermia in HNSCC cell lines HN-30 and HN-13. We examined the dynamic changes of early apoptosis and secondary necrosis in HN-30 and HN-13 cells treated by hyperthermia at 42°C for 10 min. We further examined mitochondrial membrane potential in vitro by ultrasound hyperthermia for different heating temperatures (38-44°C, 10 min) and heating times (42°C, 10-50 min). After heating by ultrasound at 42°C for 10 min, the apoptosis index achieved its highest level at 8 h after treatment, decreased rapidly and remained constant at a reduced level at 12 h. The level of secondary necrosis increased with the level of early apoptosis but remained at a higher level until 14 h. The level of secondary necrosis correlated with the level of early apoptosis (HN-13: r=0.7523, P=0.0030; HN-30: r=0.6510, P=0.016). The fractions of cells with low mitochondrial membrane potential (??) in the heating-temperature grads group and heating-time grads group decreased significantly over time. Therefore, HN-30 and HN-13 cells developed apoptosis after ultrasound hyperthermia treatment with decreases in the mitochondrial transmembrane potential level. Ultrasound hyperthermia induces apoptosis in HN-30 and HN-13 cells, possibly via the mitochondrial caspase pathway

Quest for Environmentally-Benign Ligands for Actinide Separations: Thermodynamic, Spectroscopic, and Structural Characterization of U(VI) Complexes with Oxa-Diamide and Related Ligands

Complexation of U(VI) with N,N,N{prime},N{prime}-tetramethyl-3-oxa-glutaramide (TMOGA) and N,N-dimethyl-3-oxa-glutaramic acid (DMOGA) was studied in comparison with their dicarboxylate analog, oxydiacetic acid (ODA). Thermodynamic parameters, including stability constants, enthalpy and entropy of complexation, were determined by spectrophotometry, potentiometry and calorimetry. Single-crystal X-ray diffractometry, EXAFS spectroscopy, FT-IR absorption and laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy were used to obtain structural information on the U(VI) complexes. Like ODA, TMOGA and DMOGA form tridentate U(VI) complexes, with three oxygen atoms (the amide, ether and/or carboxylate oxygen) coordinating to the linear UO{sub 2}{sup 2+} cation via the equatorial plane. The stability constants, enthalpy and entropy of complexation all decrease in the order ODA > DMOGA > TMOGA, showing that the complexation is entropy driven and the substitution of a carboxylate group with an amide group reduces the strength of complexation with U(VI) due to the decrease in the entropy of complexation. The trend in the thermodynamic stability of the complexes correlates very well with the structural and spectroscopic data obtained by single crystal XRD, FT-IR and laser-induced luminescence spectroscopy