An electro-pneumatic force tracking system using fuzzy logic based volume flow control

In this paper, a fuzzy logic based volume flow control method is proposed to precisely control the force of a pneumatic actuator in an electro-pneumatic system including four on-off valves. The volume flow feature, which is the relationship between the duty cycle of the pulse width modulation (PWM) period, pressure difference, and volume flow of an on-off valve, is based on the experimental data measured by a high-precision volume flow meter. Through experimental data analysis, the maximum and minimum duty cycles are acquired. A new volume flow control method is introduced for the pneumatic system. In this method, the raw measured data are innovatively processed by a segmented, polynomial fitting method, and a newly designed procedure for calculating the duty cycle is adopted. This procedure makes it possible to combine the original data with fuzzy logic control (FLC). Additionally, the method allows us to accurately control the minimum and maximum opening pulse width of the valve. Several experiments are performed based on the experimental data, instead of the traditional theoretical models. Only 0.141 N (1.41%) overshoot and 0.03 N (0.03%) steady-state error are observed in the step response experiment, and 0.123 N average error is found while tracking the sine wave reference

Spin Fluctuation Induced Linear Magnetoresistance in Ultrathin Superconducting FeSe Films

The discovery of high-temperature superconductivity in FeSe/STO has trigged great research interest to reveal a range of exotic physical phenomena in this novel material. Here we present a temperature dependent magnetotransport measurement for ultrathin FeSe/STO films with different thickness and protection layers. Remarkably, a surprising linear magnetoresistance (LMR) is observed around the superconducting transition temperatures but absent otherwise. The experimental LMR can be reproduced by magnetotransport calculations based on a model of magnetic field dependent disorder induced by spin fluctuation. Thus, the observed LMR in coexistence with superconductivity provides the first magnetotransport signature for spin fluctuation around the superconducting transition region in ultrathin FeSe/STO films

Integrated inverse design of ventilation for an aircraft cabin

Cabin ventilation is crucial for maintaining thermal comfort and air quality for passengers and crew. The genetic algorithm, proper orthogonal decomposition (POD), and adjoint method have been proposed to inversely design the cabin ventilation. However, each method has its cons and pros. This paper proposed to integrate the above three methods in cascades. The genetic algorithm was applied first in the first stage to roughly circumscribe the ranges of design parameters. Then POD was applied in the next stage to further narrow the ranges and estimate the optimal parametric sets for each design criterion. The estimated optimal design from POD was supplied to the adjoint method for fine tuning. The air-supply parameters of a five-row aircraft cabin were inversely designed to achieve the minimum absolute value of the predicted mean vote (PMV) and the minimum averaged mean age of air. The results showed that the integrated method was able to improve the design stage by stage. The integrated method has superior advantages to assure the optimal design while minimizing the computing expense

Recent Advances of SnO2-Based Sensors for Detecting Fault Characteristic Gases Extracted From Power Transformer Oil

Tin oxide SnO2-based gas sensors have been widely used for detecting typical fault characteristic gases extracted from power transformer oil, namely, H2, CO, CO2, CH4, C2H2, C2H4, and C2H6, due to the remarkable advantages of high sensitivity, fast response, long-term stability, and so on. Herein, we present an overview of the recent significant improvement in fabrication and application of high performance SnO2-based sensors for detecting these fault characteristic gases. Promising materials for the sensitive and selective detection of each kind of fault characteristic gas have been identified. Meanwhile, the corresponding sensing mechanisms of SnO2-based gas sensors of these fault characteristic gases are comprehensively discussed. In the final section of this review, the major challenges and promising developments in this domain are also given

Direct Ethanol Production from Lignocellulosic Sugars and Sugarcane Bagasse by a Recombinant Trichoderma reesei

Trichoderma reesei can be considered as a candidate for consolidated bioprocessing (CBP) microorganism. However, its ethanol yield needs to be improved significantly. Here the ethanol production of T. reesei CICC 40360 was improved by genome shuffling while simultaneously enhancing the ethanol resistance. The initial mutant population was generated by nitrosoguanidine treatment of the spores, and an improved population producing more than fivefold ethanol than wild type was obtained by genome shuffling. The results show that the shuffled strain HJ48 can efficiently convert lignocellulosic sugars to ethanol under aerobic conditions. Furthermore, it was able to produce ethanol directly from sugarcane bagasse, demonstrating that the shuffled strain HJ48 is a suitable microorganism for consolidated bioprocessing

The Role of ARV Associated Adverse Drug Reactions in Influencing Adherence Among HIV-Infected Individuals: A Systematic Review and Qualitative Meta-Synthesis

Poor adherence remains a major barrier to achieving the clinical and public health benefits of antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). A systematic review and qualitative meta-synthesis was conduct to evaluate how ARV adverse drug reactions may influence ARV adherence. Thirty-nine articles were identified, and 33 reported that ARV adverse drug reactions decreased adherence and six studies found no influence. Visually noticeable adverse drug reactions and psychological adverse reactions were reported as more likely to cause non-adherence compared to other adverse drug reactions. Six studies reported a range of adverse reactions associated with EFV-containing regimens contributing to decreased adherence. Informing HIV-infected individuals about ARV adverse drug reactions prior to initiation, counselling about coping mechanisms, and experiencing the effectiveness of ARVs on wellbeing may improve ARV adherence

Calcium Supplementation Enhanced Adipogenesis and Improved Glucose Homeostasis Through Activation of Camkii and PI3K/Akt Signaling Pathway in Porcine Bone Marrow Mesenchymal Stem Cells (pBMSCs) and Mice Fed High Fat Diet (HFD)

Background/Aims: It has been implicated that calcium supplementation is involved in reducing body weight/fat and improving glucose homeostasis. However, the underlying mechanisms are still not fully understood. Here, we investigated the effects of calcium supplementation on adipogenesis and glucose homeostasis in porcine bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (pBMSCs) and high fat diet (HFD)-fed mice and explored the involved signaling pathways. Methods: In vitro, pBMSCs were treated with 4 mM extracellular calcium ([Ca2+]o) and/or 1 μM nifedipine, 0.1 μM BAPTA-AM, 1 μM KN-93, 50 nM wortmannin for 10 days. The intracellular calcium ([Ca2+]i) levels were measured using Fluo 3-AM by flow cytometry. The adipogenic differentiation of pBMSCs was determined by Oil Red-O staining and triglyceride assay. The expression of marker genes involved in adipogenesis (peroxisome proliferator activated receptor γ (PPARγ) and CCAAT/enhancer binding protein α (C/EBPα)) and glucose uptake (glucose transporter 4 (GLUT4)), as well as the activation of Ca2+/calmodulin-dependent protein kinase II (CaMKII) and PI3K/Akt-FoxO1/AS160 signaling pathways were determined by Western blotting. Glucose uptake and utilization were examined using 2-NBDG assay and glucose content assay, respectively. In vivo, C57BL/6J male mice were fed a HFD (containing 1.2% calcium) without or with 0.6% (w/w) calcium chloride in drinking water for 13 weeks. The adipogenesis, glucose homeostasis and the involvement of CaMKII and PI3K/Akt signaling pathway were also assessed. Results: In vitro, [Ca2+]o stimulated pBMSCs adipogenesis by increasing [Ca2+]i level and activating CaMKII and PI3K/Akt-FoxO1 pathways. In addition, [Ca2+]o promoted glucose uptake/utilization by enhancing AS160 phosphorylation, GLUT4 expression and translocation. However, the stimulating effects of [Ca2+]o on pBMSCs adipogenesis and glucose uptake/utilization were abolished by L-VGCC blocker Nifedipine, [Ca2+]i chelator BAPTA-AM, CaMKII inhibitor KN-93, or PI3K inhibitor Wortmannin. In vivo, calcium supplementation decreased body weight and fat content, increased adipocyte number, and improved glucose homeostasis, with elevated PPARγ and GLUT4 expression and PI3K/Akt activation in iWAT. Conclusion: calcium supplementation enhanced adipogenesis and glucose uptake in pBMSCs, which was coincident with the increased adipocyte number and improved glucose homeostasis in HFD-fed mice, and was associated with activation of CaMKII and PI3K/Akt-FoxO1/AS160 pathways. These data provided a broader understanding of the mechanisms underlying calcium-induced body weight/fat loss and glycemic control

EbMYBP1, a R2R3-MYB transcription factor, promotes flavonoid biosynthesis in Erigeron breviscapus

Erigeron breviscapus, a traditional Chinese medicinal plant, is enriched in flavonoids that are beneficial to human health. While we know that R2R3-MYB transcription factors (TFs) are crucial to flavonoid pathway, the transcriptional regulation of flavonoid biosynthesis in E. breviscapus has not been fully elucidated. Here, EbMYBP1, a R2R3-MYB transcription factor, was uncovered as a regulator involved in the regulation of flavonoid accumulation. Transcriptome and metabolome analysis revealed that a large group of genes related to flavonoid biosynthesis were significantly changed, accompanied by significantly increased concentrations of the flavonoid in EbMYBP1-OE transgenic tobacco compared with the wild-type (WT). In vitro and in vivo investigations showed that EbMYBP1 participated in flavonoid biosynthesis, acting as a nucleus-localized transcriptional activator and activating the transcription of flavonoid-associated genes like FLS, F3H, CHS, and CHI by directly binding to their promoters. Collectively, these new findings are advancing our understanding of the transcriptional regulation that modulates the flavonoid biosynthesis

Robust estimation of bacterial cell count from optical density

Optical density (OD) is widely used to estimate the density of cells in liquid culture, but cannot be compared between instruments without a standardized calibration protocol and is challenging to relate to actual cell count. We address this with an interlaboratory study comparing three simple, low-cost, and highly accessible OD calibration protocols across 244 laboratories, applied to eight strains of constitutive GFP-expressing E. coli. Based on our results, we recommend calibrating OD to estimated cell count using serial dilution of silica microspheres, which produces highly precise calibration (95.5% of residuals <1.2-fold), is easily assessed for quality control, also assesses instrument effective linear range, and can be combined with fluorescence calibration to obtain units of Molecules of Equivalent Fluorescein (MEFL) per cell, allowing direct comparison and data fusion with flow cytometry measurements: in our study, fluorescence per cell measurements showed only a 1.07-fold mean difference between plate reader and flow cytometry data