2,651 research outputs found
Electroactive Artificial Muscles Based on Functionally Antagonistic Core–Shell Polymer Electrolyte Derived from PS-b-PSS Block Copolymer
Electroactive ionic soft actuators, a type of artificial muscles containing a polymer electrolyte membrane sandwiched between two electrodes, have been intensively investigated owing to their potential applications to bioinspired soft robotics, wearable electronics, and active biomedical devices. However, the design and synthesis of an efficient polymer electrolyte suitable for ion migration have been major challenges in developing high-performance ionic soft actuators. Herein, a highly bendable ionic soft actuator based on an unprecedented block copolymer is reported, i.e., polystyrene-b-poly(1-ethyl-3-methylimidazolium-4-styrenesulfonate) (PS-b-PSS-EMIm), with a functionally antagonistic core–shell architecture that is specifically designed as an ionic exchangeable polymer electrolyte. The corresponding actuator shows exceptionally good actuation performance, with a high displacement of 8.22 mm at an ultralow voltage of 0.5 V, a fast rise time of 5 s, and excellent durability over 14 000 cycles. It is envisaged that the development of this high-performance ionic soft actuator could contribute to the progress toward the realization of the aforementioned applications. Furthermore, the procedure described herein can also be applied for developing novel polymer electrolytes related to solid-state lithium batteries and fuel cells
A New Hardware Correlator in Korea: Performance Evaluation using KVN observations
We report results of the performance evaluation of a new hardware correlator
in Korea, the Daejeon correlator, developed by the Korea Astronomy and Space
Science Institute (KASI) and the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan
(NAOJ). We conducted Very Long Baseline Interferometry (VLBI) observations at
22~GHz with the Korean VLBI Network (KVN) in Korea and the VLBI Exploration of
Radio Astrometry (VERA) in Japan, and correlated the aquired data with the
Daejeon correlator. For evaluating the performance of the new hardware
correlator, we compared the correlation outputs from the Daejeon correlator for
KVN observations with those from a software correlator, the Distributed FX
(DiFX). We investigated the correlated flux densities and brightness
distributions of extragalactic compact radio sources. The comparison of the two
correlator outputs show that they are consistent with each other within ,
which is comparable with the amplitude calibration uncertainties of KVN
observations at 22~GHz. We also found that the 8\% difference in flux density
is caused mainly by (a) the difference in the way of fringe phase tracking
between the DiFX software correlator and the Daejeon hardware correlator, and
(b) an unusual pattern (a double-layer pattern) of the amplitude correlation
output from the Daejeon correlator. The visibility amplitude loss by the
double-layer pattern is as small as 3\%. We conclude that the new hardware
correlator produces reasonable correlation outputs for continuum observations,
which are consistent with the outputs from the DiFX software correlator.Comment: 13 pagee, 9 figures, 3 tables, to appear in JKAS (received February
9, 2015; accepted March 16, 2015
An efficient method for detection of key objects in video shots with camera motions
The most fundamental task in video processing is to partition long video sequences into a number of shots and find a key frame of each shot for indexing and browsing.keywords: Video object segmentacion, shot boundary detection, color quantization, MPEG-4/MPEG-7
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Rotating optical catheter tip for optical coherence tomography
The present invention relates to a rotating catheter tip for optical coherence tomography based on the use of an optical fiber that does not rotate, that is enclosed in a catheter, which has a tip rotates under the influence of a fluid drive system to redirect light from the fiber to a surrounding vessel and the light reflected or backscattered from the vessel back to the optical fiber.Board of Regents, University of Texas Syste
Surgical anatomy of the uncinate process and transverse foramen determined by computer tomography
Study Design Computed tomography–based cohort study. Objective Although there are publications concerning the relationship between the vertebral artery and uncinate process, there is no practical guide detailing the dimensions of this region to use during decompression of the intervertebral foramen. The purpose of this study is to determine the anatomic parameters that can be used as a guide for thorough decompression of the intervertebral foramen. Methods Fifty-one patients with three-dimensional computed tomography scans of the cervical spine from 2003 to 2012 were included. On axial views, we measured the distance from the midline to the medial and lateral cortices of the pedicle bilaterally from C3 to C7. On coronal reconstructed views, we measured the minimum height of the uncinate process from the cranial cortex of the pedicle adjacent to the posterior cortex of vertebral body and the maximal height of the uncinate process from the cranial cortex of the pedicle at the midportion of the vertebral body bilaterally from C3 to C7. Results The mean distances from midline to the medial and lateral cortices of the pedicle were 10.1 ± 1.3 mm and 13.9 ± 1.5 mm, respectively. The mean minimum height of the uncinate process from the cranial cortex of the pedicle was 4.6 ± 1.6 mm and the mean maximal height was 6.1 ± 1.7 mm. Conclusions Our results suggest that in most cases, one can thoroughly decompress the intervertebral foramen by removing the uncinate out to 13 mm laterally from the midline and 4 mm above the pedicle without violating the transverse foramen
A study on the tuning parameter of continuous variable valve for reverse continuous damper
Paper presented at the 5th International Conference on Heat Transfer, Fluid Mechanics and Thermodynamics, South Africa, 1-4 July, 2007.Semi-active suspension systems are greatly expected to be
in the mainstream of future controlled suspensions for
passenger cars. In this study, a continuous variable damper for
a passenger car suspension is developed, which is controlled
actively and exhibits high performance with light weight, low
cost, and low energy consumption. To get a fast response of
the damper, a reverse damping mechanism is adapted, and to
get small pressure change rate after blow-off, a pilot controlled
proportional valve is designed and analyzed. The reverse
continuous variable damper is designed as a HS-SH damper
which offers good body control with reduced transferred input
force from the tire, compared with any other type of suspension
system. The damper structure is designed, so that rebound and
compression damping forces can be tuned independently, of
which the variable valve is placed externally. The rate of
pressure change with respect to the flow rate after blow-off
becomes smooth when the fixed orifice size increases, which
means that the blow-off slope is controllable using the fixed
orifice size. Damping forces are measured with the change of
the solenoid current at the different piston velocities to confirm
the maximum hysteresis of 20 N, linearity, and variance of
damping force. The damping force variance is wide and
continuous, and is controlled by the spool opening, of which
scheme is usually adapted in proportional valves. The reverse
continuous variable damper developed in this study is expected
to be utilized in the semi-active suspension systems in
passenger cars after its performance and simplicity of the
design is confirmed through a real car test
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