Comparative Genomic Analysis of the 2016 Vibrio cholerae Outbreak in South Korea

In August 2016, South Korea experienced a cholera outbreak that caused acute watery diarrhea in three patients. This outbreak was the first time in 15 years that an outbreak was not linked to an overseas source. To identify the cause and to study the epidemiological implications of this outbreak, we sequenced the whole genome of Vibrio cholerae isolates; three from each patient and one from a seawater sample. Herein we present comparative genomic data which reveals that the genome sequences of these four isolates are very similar. Interestingly, these isolates form a monophyletic Glade with V. cholerae strains that caused an outbreak in the Philippines in 2011. The V. cholerae strains responsible for the Korean and Philippines outbreaks have almost identical genomes in which two unique genomic islands are shared, and they both lack SXT elements. Furthermore, we confirm that seawater is the likely source of this outbreak, which suggests the necessity for future routine surveillance of South Korea's seashore.

Highly Stable Porous Polyimide Sponge as a Separator for Lithium-Metal Secondary Batteries

To inhibit Li‐dendrite growth on lithium (Li)‐metal electrodes, which causes capacity deterioration and safety issues in Li‐ion batteries, we prepared a porous polyimide (PI) sponge using a solution‐processable high internal‐phase emulsion technique with a water‐soluble PI precursor solution; the process is not only simple but also environmentally friendly. The prepared PI sponge was processed into porous PI separators and used for Li‐metal electrodes. The physical properties (e.g., thermal stability, liquid electrolyte uptake, and ionic conductivity) of the porous PI separators and their effect on the Li‐metal anodes (e.g., self‐discharge and open‐circuit voltage properties after storage, cycle performance, rate capability, and morphological changes) were investigated. Owing to the thermally stable properties of the PI polymer, the porous PI separators demonstrated no dimensional changes up to 180 °C. In comparison with commercialized polyethylene (PE) separators, the porous PI separators exhibited improved wetting ability for liquid electrolytes; thus, the latter improved not only the physical properties (e.g., improved the electrolyte uptake and ionic conductivity) but also the electrochemical properties of Li‐metal electrodes (e.g., maintained stable self‐discharge capacity and open‐circuit voltage features after storage and improved the cycle performance and rate capability) in comparison with PE separators. © 2020 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.1

A Transfer Learning for Line-Based Portrait Sketch

This paper presents a transfer learning-based framework that produces line-based portrait sketch images from portraits. The proposed framework produces sketch images using a GAN architecture, which is trained through a pseudo-sketch image dataset. The pseudo-sketch image dataset is constructed from a single artist-created portrait sketch using a style transfer model with a series of postprocessing schemes. The proposed framework successfully produces portrait sketch images for portraits of various poses, expressions and illuminations. The excellence of the proposed model is proved by comparing the produced results with those from the existing works

A Transfer Learning for Line-Based Portrait Sketch

This paper presents a transfer learning-based framework that produces line-based portrait sketch images from portraits. The proposed framework produces sketch images using a GAN architecture, which is trained through a pseudo-sketch image dataset. The pseudo-sketch image dataset is constructed from a single artist-created portrait sketch using a style transfer model with a series of postprocessing schemes. The proposed framework successfully produces portrait sketch images for portraits of various poses, expressions and illuminations. The excellence of the proposed model is proved by comparing the produced results with those from the existing works

New design for control cage to enhance coverage and uniformity of shot blasting and its validation using DEM and experiment

Abstract Unlike shot peening, shot blasting is a process that primarily uses shot balls to remove foreign substances from metal surfaces. Shot blasting is classified into air-blowing and impeller-impact types. The latter is widely used in commercial large-scale shot blasting. This study proposes a new control cage with a concave or convex shape to improve coverage and uniformity in the impeller-impact type shot blaster. The effectiveness of the proposed control cage is verified using discrete element methods and experiments. Moreover, the optimal design in terms of mass flow, coverage, and uniformity is confirmed. Additionally, the distribution of marks on the surface is analyzed through experiments and simulations. Further, the shot ball is projected over a wider area on the surface when the new concave and convex model is employed at the control cage. Consequently, we confirm that the control cage with a concave shape forms approximately a 5-% higher coverage than the conventional model and uniform shot marks while using a low mass flow rate