Simulation-Based Identification of Operating Point Range for a Novel Laser-Sintering Machine for Additive Manufacturing of Continuous Carbon-Fibre-Reinforced Polymer Parts

Additive manufacturing using continuous carbon-fibre-reinforced polymer (CCFRP) presents an opportunity to create high-strength parts suitable for aerospace, engineering, and other industries. Continuous fibres reinforce the load-bearing path, enhancing the mechanical properties of these parts. However, the existing additive manufacturing processes for CCFRP parts have numerous disadvantages. Resin- and extrusion-based processes require time-consuming and costly post-processing to remove the support structures, severely restricting the design flexibility. Additionally, the production of small batches demands considerable effort. In contrast, laser sintering has emerged as a promising alternative in industry. It enables the creation of robust parts without needing support structures, offering efficiency and cost-effectiveness in producing single units or small batches. Utilising an innovative laser-sintering machine equipped with automated continuous fibre integration, this study aims to merge the benefits of laser-sintering technology with the advantages of continuous fibres. The paper provides an outline, using a finite element model in COMSOL Multiphysics, for simulating and identifying an optimised operating point range for the automated integration of continuous fibres. The results demonstrate a remarkable reduction in processing time of 233% for the fibre integration and a reduction of 56% for the width and 44% for the depth of the heat-affected zone compared to the initial setup

6th Conference on Sound and Music Technology

This book discusses the use of advanced techniques to produce and understand music in a digital way. It gathers the first-ever English-language proceedings of the Conference on Sound and Music Technology (CSMT), which was held in Xiamen, China in 2018. As a leading event, the CSMT reflects the latest advances in acoustic and music technologies in China. Sound and technology are more closely linked than most people assume. For example, signal-processing methods form the basis of music feature extraction, while mathematics provides an objective means of representing current musicological theories and discovering new ones. Moreover, machine-learning methods include popular deep learning algorithms and are used in a broad range of contexts, from discovering patterns in music features to producing music. As these proceedings demonstrate, modern technologies not only offer new ways to create music, but can also help people perceive sound in innovative new ways

Short-term exposure to antimony induces hepatotoxicity and metabolic remodeling in rats

Antimony (Sb) poses a significant threat to human health due to sharp increases in its exploitation and application globally, but few studies have explored the pathophysiological mechanisms of acute hepatotoxicity induced by Sb exposure. We established an in vivo model to comprehensively explore the endogenous mechanisms underlying liver injury induced by short-term Sb exposure. Adult female and male Sprague-Dawley rats were orally administrated various concentrations of potassium antimony tartrate for 28 days. After exposure, the serum Sb concentration, liver-to-body weight ratio, and serum glucose levels significantly increased in a dose-dependent manner. Body weight gain and serum concentrations of biomarkers of hepatic injury (e.g., total cholesterol, total protein, alkaline phosphatase, and the aspartate aminotransferase/alanine aminotransferase ratio) decreased with increasing Sb exposure. Through integrative non-targeted metabolome and lipidome analyses, alanine, aspartate, and glutamate metabolism; phosphatidylcholines; sphingomyelins; and phosphatidylinositols were the most significantly affected pathways in female and male rats exposed to Sb. Additionally, correlation analysis showed that the concentrations of certain metabolites and lipids (e.g., deoxycholic acid, N-methylproline, palmitoylcarnitine, glycerophospholipids, sphingomyelins, and glycerol) were significantly associated with hepatic injury biomarkers, indicating that metabolic remodeling may be involved in apical hepatotoxicity. Our study demonstrated that short-term exposure to Sb induces hepatotoxicity, possibly through a glycolipid metabolism disorder, providing an important reference for the health risks of Sb pollution

Nasopharyngeal Carcinoma Radiomic Evaluation with Serial PET/CT: Exploring Features Predictive of Survival in Patients with Long-Term Follow-Up

Purpose: We aim determine the value of PET and CT radiomic parameters on survival with serial follow-up PET/CT in patients with nasopharyngeal carcinoma (NPC) for which curative intent therapy is undertaken. Methods: Patients with NPC and available pre-treatment as well as follow up PET/CT were included from 2005 to 2006 and were followed to 2021. Baseline demographic, radiological and outcome data were collected. Univariable Cox proportional hazard models were used to evaluate features from baseline and follow-up time points, and landmark analyses were performed for each time point. Results: Sixty patients were enrolled, and two-hundred and seventy-eight (278) PET/CT were at baseline and during follow-up. Thirty-eight percent (38%) were female, and sixty-two patients were male. All patients underwent curative radiation or chemoradiation therapy. The median follow-up was 11.72 years (1.26–14.86). Five-year and ten-year overall survivals (OSs) were 80.0% and 66.2%, and progression-free survival (PFS) was 90.0% and 74.4%. Time-dependent modelling suggested that, among others, PET gray-level zone length matrix (GLZLM) gray-level non-uniformity (GLNU) (HR 2.74 95% CI 1.06, 7.05) was significantly associated with OS. Landmark analyses suggested that CT parameters were most predictive at 15 month, whereas PET parameters were most predictive at time points 3, 6, 9 and 15 month. Conclusions: This study with long-term follow up data on NPC suggests that mainly PET-derived radiomic features are predictive for OS but not PFS in a time-dependent evaluation. Furthermore, CT radiomic measures may predict OS and PFS best at initial and long-term follow-up time points and PET measures may be more predictive in the interval. These modalities are commonly used in NPC surveillance, and prospective validation should be considered

Electronic nature of chiral charge order in the kagome superconductor CsV₃Sb₅

Kagome superconductors with TC up to 7 K have been discovered for over 40 y. Recently, unconventional chiral charge order has been reported in kagome superconductor KV3Sb5, with an ordering temperature of one order of magnitude higher than the TC. However, the chirality of the charge order has not been reported in the cousin kagome superconductor CsV3Sb5, and the electronic nature of the chirality remains elusive. In this paper, we report the observation of electronic chiral charge order in CsV3Sb5 via scanning tunneling microscopy (STM). We observe a 2 × 2 charge modulation and a 1 × 4 superlattice in both topographic data and tunneling spectroscopy. 2 × 2 charge modulation is highly anticipated as a charge order by fundamental kagome lattice models at van Hove filling, and is shown to exhibit intrinsic chirality. We find that the 1 × 4 superlattices form various small domain walls, and can be a surface effect as supported by our first-principles calculations. Cru- cially, we find that the amplitude of the energy gap opened by the charge order exhibits real-space modulations, and features 2 × 2 wave vectors with chirality, highlighting the electronic nature of the chiral charge order. STM study at 0.4 K reveals a superconducting energy gap with a gap size 2 = 0.85 meV , which estimates a moderate superconductivity coupling strength with 2/kBTC = 3.9. When further applying a c-axis magnetic field, vortex core bound states are observed within this gap, indicative of clean-limit superconductivity.Nanyang Technological UniversityNational Research Foundation (NRF)Accepted versionThe work at Beijing Institute of Technology was sup- ported by the National Key R&D Program of China (Grant No. 2020YFA0308800), the Natural Science Foun- dation of China (Grants No. 92065109, No. 11734003, and No. 12061131002), the Beijing Natural Science Foundation (Grant No. Z190006), and the Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) Research Fund Program for Young Scholars (Grant No. 3180012222011). Z.W. thanks the Analysis & Testing Center at BIT for assistance in facility support. Experimental and theoretical work at Princeton University was supported by the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation [Grants No. GBMF4547 and No. GBMF9461 (M.Z.H.)]. Y.S. was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. U2032204), and the K. C. Wong Education Foundation (Grant No. GJTD-2018-01). G.C. would like to acknowledge the support of the National Research Foundation, Singapore under its NRF Fellowship Award No. NRF-NRFF13-2021- 0010 and the Nanyang Assistant Professorship grant from Nanyang Technological University. P.D. is supported the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE), Basic Energy Sciences (BES), under Contract No. DE-SC0012311. S.S. and Y.W. were supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China under Grants No. 11822404 and No. 11774127