Creating true molecular composites containing a liquid crystalline polymer by optimizing intermolecular hydrogen bonding

Blending a liquid crystalline polymer (LCP) with an amorphous polymer to create a molecular composite offers a method to use the desirable properties of a LCP at a more modest cost. However, very few such blends are miscible. This study seeks to correlate the extent of intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the two polymers in a blend with the phase behavior of the blend. Using Fourier Transform Infrared technique to quantify the amount of intermolecular hydrogen bonding between the two polymers and Differential Scanning Calorimetry and optical microscopy to determine the blend phase behavior, this study provides results which demonstrate that the broadest miscibility window in the blends studied corresponds to the system that optimizes the extent of intermolecular hydrogen bonding. The first part of this study demonstrates that it is possible to create a true molecular composite by inducing miscibility in a blend containing a LCP and an amorphous polymer by slightly modifying the structure of the amorphous polymer to promote hydrogen bonding between the two polymers. The system that maximizes the extent of intermolecular hydrogen bonding is one where the hydrogen bonding moieties on one of the polymers are spaced out along the chain. The results show that by optimizing the extent of hydrogen bonding between the two blend components, the broadest miscibility window in the phase diagram can be found. To sum up, these results provide guidelines by which miscibility may be induced in polymer blends by such minor structural modification of the polymers

BRIDGE DEVICES FOR WIRELESS PROJECTION OF VEHICLE OPERATING SYSTEMS

Vehicles may provide an infotainment experience that is hosted by a head unit or other computing device. The head unit may execute a native operating system that provides an execution environment in which an operating system client may execute to support execution of a different operating system hosted by another computing device (e.g., a smartphone, laptop computer, tablet computer, etc.). The head unit may require that the computing device physically interconnect with the head unit as the head unit may not support wireless connections (or only support limited wireless connections in the form of bandwidth limited connection – e.g., personal area network connections, such as Bluetooth® connections). Techniques described in this disclosure provide a bridge device for enabling wireless connections between the head unit and the computing devices for wireless projection of the different operating system, where the bridge device provides the physical interconnection required by the head unit while maintaining the wireless connection with the computing device to support wireless projection of the different operating system

Transcriptional Analysis of Distant Signaling Induced by Insect Elicitors and Mechanical Wounding in Zea mays

When plants are under insect herbivore attack defensive measures are activated not only locally, but also in distant and systemic tissues. While insect elicitors (IE) abundant in the oral secretions of the attacking herbivore are essential in the regulation of induced defenses, little is known about their effects on systemic defense signaling in maize (Zea mays). The goal of this study was therefore to identify genetic markers that can be used to further characterize local and systemic signaling events induced by IE or mechanical wounding (MW). We selected genes for this study based on their putative involvement in signaling (allene oxide synthase), regulation of gene expression (transcription factor MYC7), and in direct defenses (ribosome inactivating protein) and analyzed their expression in different sections of the treated leaf as well as in systemic parts of the same plant. We found the most significant transcript accumulation of the selected genes after treatment with insect elicitors in those parts with increased JA levels. Additionally, treatment with IE did also induce the accumulation of MYC7 transcripts in basal parts of the treated leaf and systemically. MW, in contrast, did induce RIP and AOS only locally, but not MYC7. This local suppression of MYC7 was further studied by adding glutathione (GSH) as an electron donor to MW plants to quench putative α, β-unsaturated carbonyls, which build up to significant levels around the damage site. Indeed, GSH-treated MW plants accumulated MYC7 at the damage site and also produced more volatiles, suggesting a putative redox-regulatory element being involved in the suppression of MYC7. The results presented herein provide evidence for the specific induction of distant signaling events triggered by IE, most likely through electric signaling. Additionally, a putative role for MW-induced α, β-unsaturated carbonyls in the transcriptional regulation of defense genes was discovered

Real-time monitoring of laser based 3D printing process using image processing

The Laser Based Additive Manufacturing is an Additive Manufacturing (AM) process in which a part is built or constructed in layers by depositing materials as per the 3D design model. The monitoring of this process is done to ensure whether the part is built as per model dimensions. However, the monitoring process currently experiences problems due to perspective defects, lack of requirement specific calibration and positioning of the Charged Coupled Device (CCD) camera used. Usually, the correction of perspective is done by using devices which require additional setup for their functioning. Deploying additional instruments require space which creates more constraints in the monitoring system. The algorithmic approach for perspective correction requires great understanding of the concept of planes and 3D geometry. The problem of lack of requirement specific calibration is addressed by algorithms and experimental techniques that does not provide a proper physical calibration pattern for measuring the dimensions of the part and to confirm the validity of perspective correction algorithm. This dissertation involves the reduction or possible elimination of the mentioned problems. Image processing tools such as MATLAB and Adobe Photoshop CS4 are used to propose elegant solutions to overcome the errors caused by perspective issues. A grid paper is introduced as a simple and an effective means of measuring the part's dimensions and verifying the correctness of the perspective correction algorithm. The problem of positioning the CCD is solved by means of conducting an experiment which is based on the concepts of concentric circles. Additionally, this paper discusses the repeatability error of the experiment performed to solve the positioning issue of the CCD camera. Solutions are supported with the appropriate results and inferences.Master of Science (Systems & Project Management

Capacity to within one bit of a class of Gaussian multicast channels with interference

Comunicació presentada al IEEE Information Theory Workshop (ITW '08), celebrat a Porto (Portugal) els dies 5, 6, 7, 8 i 9 de maig de 2008, organitzat per l'Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).This paper studies the fundamental operational limits of a class of Gaussian multicast channels with an interference setting. In particular, the paper considers two base stations multicasting separate messages to distinct sets of users. In the presence of channel state information at the transmitters and at the respective receivers, the capacity region of the Gaussian multicast channel with interference is characterized to within one bit. At the crux of this result is an extension to the multicast channel with interference of the Han-Kobayashi or the Chong-Motani-Garg achievable region for the interference channel

Capacity to within one bit of a class of Gaussian multicast channels with interference

Comunicació presentada al IEEE Information Theory Workshop (ITW '08), celebrat a Porto (Portugal) els dies 5, 6, 7, 8 i 9 de maig de 2008, organitzat per l'Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).This paper studies the fundamental operational limits of a class of Gaussian multicast channels with an interference setting. In particular, the paper considers two base stations multicasting separate messages to distinct sets of users. In the presence of channel state information at the transmitters and at the respective receivers, the capacity region of the Gaussian multicast channel with interference is characterized to within one bit. At the crux of this result is an extension to the multicast channel with interference of the Han-Kobayashi or the Chong-Motani-Garg achievable region for the interference channel

Effects of Jasmonyl-Isoleucine (JA-Ile) and Glutathion (GSH) on MYC7 transcript accumulation after mechanical wounding.

<p>JA-Ile (A) and GSH (B) were added to wounding sites as described in <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0034855#s4" target="_blank">Material and Methods</a> and transcript accumulation of MYC7 was measured at different time points as indicated. Data was normalized. All experiments have been performed with at least three biological replicates. A Student t test was used for proof of significance (*, P≤0.05) compared with the respective control (A). For (B) different letters (a–c) represent significant differences for MYC7 transcript accumulation (All ANOVA P values<0.01 with Tukey test corrections for multiple comparisons; P<0.05).</p