Exfoliated Graphite Nanoplatelet-Carbon Nanotube Hybrid Composites for Compression Sensing

In this study, we investigated the gauge factor and compressive modulus of hybrid nanocomposites of exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnP) and multiwalled carbon nanotubes (MWCNTs) in a polydimethylsiloxane matrix under compressive strain. Mechanical and electrical tests were conducted to investigate the effects of nanofiller wt %, the xGnP size, and xGnP:MWCNT ratio on the compressive modulus and sensitivity of the sensors. It was found that nanofiller wt %, the xGnP size, and xGnP:MWCNT ratio significantly affect the electromechanical properties of the sensor. The compressive modulus increased with an increase in the nanofiller wt % and a decrease in the xGnP size and xGnP:MWCNT ratio. However, the gauge factor decreases with a decrease in the nanofiller wt % and xGnP size and an increase in the xGnP:MWCNT ratio. Therefore, by investigating the piezoresistive effects of various factors for sensing performance, such as wt %, xGnP size, and xGnP:MWCNT ratio, the concept of one- and two-dimensional hybrid fillers provides an effective way to tune both mechanical properties and sensitivity of nanocomposites by tailoring the network structure of fillers

Family Trips and Academic Achievement in Reading during Early Childhood: Evidence from a National Study

This study investigates a popular belief: family trips provide educational benefits for children. Based on the theoretical background of experiential learning, we empirically examine the impact of family trips on academic achievement in early childhood using Early Childhood Longitudinal Study - Kindergarten Class of 1998–99 (ECLS-K) data collected by the National Center for Educational Statistics (NCES). The 3,224 children included in the study are a nationally representative sample. The results show that family trips–especially those to museums, art galleries, and historical sites–has positive impact on children’s academic achievement in reading. As the experiential learning requires reflection and experimentation and is enhanced with repetition, learning from family trips occurs not immediately but rather over time. This study provides rationale for the promotion of family trips for their educational benefits and endorses further examination of different types of trips and travel

Design, manufacturing, and characterization of high-performance lightweight bipolar plates based on carbon nanotube-exfoliated graphite nanoplatelet hybrid nanocomposites

We report a study on manufacturing and characterization of a platform material for high-performance lightweight bipolar plates for fuel cells based on nanocomposites consisting of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) and exfoliated graphite nanoplatelets (xGnPs). The experiments were designed and performed in three steps. In the preexperimental stage, xGnP-epoxy composite samples were prepared at various xGnP weight percentages to determine the maximum processable nanofiller concentration. The main part of the experiment employed the statistics-based design of experiments (DOE) methodology to identify improved processing conditions and CNT: xGnP ratio for minimized electrical resistivity. In the postexperimental stage, optimized combinations of material and processing parameters were investigated. With the aid of a reactive diluent, 20 wt.% was determined to the be maximum processable carbon nanomaterial content in the epoxy. The DOE analyses revealed that the CNT: xGnP ratio is the most dominant factor that governs the electrical properties, and its implications in relation to CNT-xGnP interactions and microstructure are elucidated. In addition, samples fabricated near the optimized condition revealed that there exists an optimal CNT: xGnP ratio at which the electrical performance can be maximized. The electrical and mechanical properties of optimal samples suggest that CNT-xGnP hybrid nanocomposites can serve as an alternative material platform for affordable, lightweight bipolar plates.open0

Improvement of retinoids production in recombinant E. coli using glyoxylic acid

Isoprenoids are the most chemically diverse compounds found in nature. They are present in all organisms and have essential roles in membrane structure, redox chemistry, reproductive cycles, growth regulation, signal transduction and defense mechanisms. In spite of their diversity of functions and structures, all isoprenoids are derived from the common building blocks of isopentenyl diphosphate (IPP) and its isomer dimethylallyl diphosphate (DMAPP). Optimization of IPP synthesis pathway is of benefit to mass production of various isoprenoids. There are two pathways of 2-C-Methyl-D-erythritol-4-phosphate (MEP) and mevalonate (MVA) for IPP synthesis. Prokaryotes including E. coli generally use MEP pathway whereas MVA pathway is used in eukaryotes. To improve isoprenoid production, it was performed the deletion of genes in E. coli, which are involved in both formation of fermentation by-products such as organic acids and alcohols, and consumption of precursors of MEP and MVA pathways, pyruvate and acetyl-CoA. As a result, we were able to develop a strain with improved fermentation productivity and carbon source utilization efficiency, the mutant strain was called AceCo. Higher lycopene production was achieved in the AceCo strain compared to the wild type MG1655 strain due to no formation of the inhibitory by-products. However, retinoids production of AceCo strain decreased to a half of that of MG1655 strain. Please click Additional Files below to see the full abstract

Magnetic field effect for cellulose nanofiber alignment

Regenerated cellulose formed into cellulose nanofibers under strong magnetic field and aligned perpendicularly to the magnetic field. Well-aligned microfibrils were found as the exposure time of the magnetic field increased. Better alignment and more crystalline structure of the cellulose resulted in the increased decomposition temperature of the material. X-ray crystallograms showed that crystallinity index of the cellulose increased as the exposure time of the magnetic field increased.open6

DIE LIFE PREDICTION IN RAPID PROTOTYPE DIES

ABSTRACT To meet the growing demand for rapid, low-cost die fabrication technology in the sheet metal forming industry, easy-to-machine, polyurethane-based, composite board stock is used widely as a rapid tooling material. In practice, it is desirable to terminate die life by wear rather than by catastrophic fatigue. However, the failure mechanisms of the rapid prototyped tools are not clearly understood, thus making the prediction of tool life difficult. This paper presents a method to estimate the fatigue life of a sheet metal forming die fabricated from ATH (aluminum trihydrate)-filled polyurethane. A finite element model of 90° V-die bending process was developed, and the effects of process parameters on stress distribution in the punch and die were investigated through simulation. Mechanical testing was performed to characterize the fatigue properties of the tooling material. The computer-simulated results were verified through experiments using instrumented, laboratory-scale punch and die sets. Keywords: Rapid Tooling, Die Life, Fatigue INTRODUCTION Rapid prototype (RP) technology has been drawing attention from the manufacturing industry for more than 10 years. Recent applications of RP technology include rapid tooling (RT), which is the technology that adopts RP techniques in die making. As today's ever-competitive business environment demands reductions in product development time and cost, the need for faster turn-around times and more efficient means of producing prototype and short-run tooling has increased. As a result, RT technology has made inroads into conventional die fabrication methods with the aim of reducing the lead time and investment costs of tooling development. Despite the fact that sheet metal forming is a widely practiced fabrication process in industry, its exposure to RP and RT technologies have been rather limited. This is due to th

Advanced structural health monitoring in carbon fiber-reinforced plastic using real-time self-sensing data and convolutional neural network architectures

In this study, advanced structural health monitoring (SHM) using a non-destructive self-sensing method-ology was proposed for large-sized carbon fiber-reinforced plastic (CFRP). Cyclic point bending tests were performed on three types of CFRPs. The damage severity identification and localization were classified and investigated using four different convolutional neural network (CNN) architectures. Electrical resis-tance images were used to train each CNN architecture for damage analysis. An optimized CNN architec-ture for the damage analysis of CFRPs using electrical resistance data was proposed and compared with traditional damage analysis CNN architectures. The applicability of the proposed SHM methodology was verified by analyzing unseen damage in the CFRPs. This study addresses the limitations of previous self-sensing methods by reducing the number of electrodes, which reduces data complexity and increases the sensible area of CFRPs. Thus, this study successfully designed an efficient SHM methodology with a high accuracy of over 90 % for analyzing CFRP damage, including the severity and location, regardless of the type of carbon fiber and stacking sequence of composite structures that showed high applicability.(c) 2022 Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http:// creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/)

Global gene-expression profiles of intracellular survival of the BruAb2_1031 gene mutated Brucella abortus in professional phagocytes, RAW 264.7 cells

Background Since recognizing the interaction between Brucella and host cells is crucial to the elucidation of the infectious process, Brucella researches have prioritized the investigation of genes related to pathogenicity. To demonstrate the roles of Brucella genes, RAW 264.7 cells were infected with the Brucella abortus wild-type and mutant strains (generated using transposon mutagenesis), after which the different transcriptional responses of the infected cells were determined using microarray. Results Following infection, enhanced strategies for intracellular survival, such as down-regulation of genes associated with cytokine responses and apoptosis, were observed in RAW 264.7 cells infected with C3 mutant strain when compared to the transcriptional responses of wild-type infected cells. Using sequence analysis, we determined the mutation site of a C3 mutant strain as the ATP-binding cassette transporter permease (BruAb2_1031). These results were evidenced by an increased level of intracellular survival of the C3 mutant strain. Conclusions Characteristics of each mutant strain including bacterial growth rate, abilities to induce cytokine production in macrophages after infection, internalization, and levels of intracellular survival and replication, were investigated by performing RAW 264.7 cell infection experiments. Our results indicate that the BruAb2_1031 gene might be closely related with intracellular survival of B. abortus in RAW 264.7 cells.This work was supported by NRF grant of MSIP (No. 2014R1A2A2A01007291), Korea Health Industry Development Institute (HI16C2130), BK21 PLUS and Research Institute for Veterinary Science, Seoul National University, Seoul, Republic of Korea. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, writing the manuscript and the decision to submit the work for publication