INTRODUCING SWIPING ACTION IN THE SEARCH RESULT PAGE FOR REALTIME REFINEMENT

A system and method are disclosed to select or eliminate search results by introducing swiping action in the search result page on a mobile device. Swiping away one or more irrelevant search results allows previously hidden results to become visible, thus enabling faster navigation through the search. The interaction afforded with the search results provides direct feedback on user preferences and allows realtime refinement of the search results by the search engine. The method can also be combined with search preferences according to past queries or similar queries by other users using collaborative filtering concepts. The system and method disclosed thus provide a faster and better search experience on a mobile device

Global Auto-regressive Depth Recovery via Iterative Non-local Filtering

Existing depth sensing techniques have many shortcomings in terms of resolution, completeness, and accuracy. The performance of 3-D broadcasting systems is therefore limited by the challenges of capturing high-resolution depth data. In this paper, we present a novel framework for obtaining high-quality depth images and multi-view depth videos from simple acquisition systems. We first propose a single depth image recovery algorithm based on auto-regressive (AR) correlations. A fixed-point iteration algorithm under the global AR modeling is derived to efficiently solve the large-scale quadratic programming. Each iteration is equivalent to a nonlocal filtering process with a residue feedback. Then, we extend our framework to an AR-based multi-view depth video recovery framework, where each depth map is recovered from low-quality measurements with the help of the corresponding color image, depth maps from neighboring views, and depth maps of temporally adjacent frames. AR coefficients on nonlocal spatiotemporal neighborhoods in the algorithm are designed to improve the recovery performance. We further discuss the connections between our model and other methods like graph-based tools, and demonstrate that our algorithms enjoy the advantages of both global and local methods. Experimental results on both the Middleburry datasets and other captured datasets finally show that our method is able to improve the performances of depth images and multi-view depth videos recovery compared with state-of-the-art approaches

Protein Nanofibrils and Their Hydrogel Formation with Metal Ions

Protein nanofibrils (PNFs) have been prepared by whey protein fibrillation at low pH and in the presence of different metal ions. The effect of the metal ions was systematically studied both in terms of PNF suspension gelation behavior and fibrillation kinetics. A high valence state and a small ionic radius (e.g., Sn4+) of the metal ion resulted in the formation of hydrogels already at a metal ion concentration of 30 mM, whereas an intermediate valence state and larger ionic radius (Co2+, Ni2+, Al3+) resulted in the hydrogel formation occurring at 60 mM. A concentration of 120 mM of Na+ was needed to form a PNF hydrogel, while lower concentrations showed liquid behaviors similar to the reference PNF solution where no metal ions had been introduced. The hydrogel mechanics were investigated at steady-state conditions after 24 h of incubation/gelation, revealing that more acidic (smaller and more charged) metal ions induced ca. 2 orders of magnitude higher storage modulus as compared to the less acidic metal ions (with smaller charge and larger radius) for the same concentration of metal ions. The viscoelastic nature of the hydrogels was attributed to the ability of the metal ions to coordinate water molecules in the vicinity of the PNFs. The presence of metal ions in the solutions during the growth of the PNFs typically resulted in curved fibrils, whereas an upper limit of the concentration existed when oxides/hydroxides were formed, and the hydrogels lost their gel properties due to phase separation. Thioflavin T (ThT) fluorescence was used to determine the rate of the fibrillation to form 50% of the total PNFs (t(1/2)), which decreased from 2.3 to ca. 0.5 h depending on the specific metal ions added

TiEV: The Tongji Intelligent Electric Vehicle in the Intelligent Vehicle Future Challenge of China

TiEV is an autonomous driving platform implemented by Tongji University of China. The vehicle is drive-by-wire and is fully powered by electricity. We devised the software system of TiEV from scratch, which is capable of driving the vehicle autonomously in urban paths as well as on fast express roads. We describe our whole system, especially novel modules of probabilistic perception fusion, incremental mapping, the 1st and the 2nd planning and the overall safety concern. TiEV finished 2016 and 2017 Intelligent Vehicle Future Challenge of China held at Changshu. We show our experiences on the development of autonomous vehicles and future trends

Robust Assembly of Cross-Linked Protein Nanofibrils into Hierarchically Structured Microfibers

Natural, high-performance fibers generally have hierarchically organized nanosized building blocks. Inspired by this, whey protein nanofibrils (PNFs) are assembled into microfibers, using flow-focusing. By adding genipin as a nontoxic cross-linker to the PNF suspension before spinning, significantly improved mechanical properties of the final fiber are obtained. For curved PNFs, with a low content of cross-linker (2%) the fiber is almost 3 times stronger and 4 times stiffer than the fiber without a cross-linker. At higher content of genipin (10%), the elongation at break increases by a factor of 2 and the energy at break increases by a factor of 5. The cross-linking also enables the spinning of microfibers from long straight PNFs, which has not been achieved before. These microfibers have higher stiffness and strength but lower ductility and toughness than those made from curved PNFs. The fibers spun from the two classes of nanofibrils show clear morphological differences. The study demonstrates the production of protein-based microfibers with mechanical properties similar to natural protein-based fibers and provides insights about the role of the nanostructure in the assembly process

Complex 3D microfluidic architectures formed by mechanically guided compressive buckling.

Microfluidic technologies have wide-ranging applications in chemical analysis systems, drug delivery platforms, and artificial vascular networks. This latter area is particularly relevant to 3D cell cultures, engineered tissues, and artificial organs, where volumetric capabilities in fluid distribution are essential. Existing schemes for fabricating 3D microfluidic structures are constrained in realizing desired layout designs, producing physiologically relevant microvascular structures, and/or integrating active electronic/optoelectronic/microelectromechanical components for sensing and actuation. This paper presents a guided assembly approach that bypasses these limitations to yield complex 3D microvascular structures from 2D precursors that exploit the full sophistication of 2D fabrication methods. The capabilities extend to feature sizes <5 μm, in extended arrays and with various embedded sensors and actuators, across wide ranges of overall dimensions, in a parallel, high-throughput process. Examples include 3D microvascular networks with sophisticated layouts, deterministically designed and constructed to expand the geometries and operating features of artificial vascular networks

Materials Based on Protein Nanofibrils

Protein nanofibrils (PNFs) prepared from whey protein isolate (WPI) at low pH and elevated temperature were processed into materials, i.e. hydrogels, films, foams, and fibres, for different applications where they could potentially be sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based polymers. WPI was chosen as the starting material due to the high accessibility of whey as an industrial side-stream product from cheese manufacturing, and its ability to easily grow PNFs. PNFs grown in the presence of different metal ions were generally curved and short, and they formed hydrogels, in contrast to the straight ones fibrillated without metal ions. The effect of metal ions with different acidity was systematically studied with respect to fibrillation kinetics and gelation behaviour. The protein fibrillation was accelerated by the addition of metal ions. The strength of the hydrogel increased with increasing acidity of the metal ion at the same ion concentration, as long as the ion did not precipitate as hydroxide/oxide.  Protein nanocomposite films were prepared by adding separately grown PNFs into a non-fibrillar protein matrix from the same WPI starting material. The glycerol-plasticized composite films obtained an increased elastic modulus and decreased strain at break with increasing content of PNFs.  The produced PNF foams showed high-temperature resistance during aging at 150 °C for as long as one month (maximum testing time), far exceeding the properties of many petroleum-based thermoplastics. The aged foams were also able to retain their properties in different solutions that normally degrade/dissolve protein materials. PNFs were also organized into microfibres using a flow-focusing method. Genipin was added as a natural crosslinker to improve the mechanical properties of the obtained fibre. The crosslinked fibre (using only 2% genipin) obtained a significantly higher stiffness and strength at break as compared to the fibre assembled without genipin. Protein-nanofibriller (PNF) framställda av vassleproteinisolat (WPI) vid lågt pH och förhöjd temperatur användes här för att göra material, dvs. hydrogeler, filmer, skum och fibrer, för olika applikationer som möjliga hållbara alternativ till petroleumbaserade polymerer. WPI valdes som utgångsmaterial på grund av vasslets stora tillgänglighet då det erhålles som sidoström vid osttillverkning, och dessutom dess förmåga att lätt bilda PNF. PNF som framställts i närvaro av olika metalljoner var i allmänhet krökta och bildade hydrogeler, i motsats till de raka, som framställs utan metalljoner. Effekten av metalljoner med olika surhetsgrad studerades systematiskt vad gäller fibrilleringskinetik och gelningsbeteende. Hydrogelens styrka ökade med ökande surhetsgrad hos metalljonen vid samma jonkoncentration, så länge jonen inte fälldes ut som hydroxid/oxid.  Protein-nanokompositfilmer framställdes genom tillsats av separat framställda PNF i en icke-fibrillär proteinmatris från samma utgångsmaterial (WPI). De glycerol-mjukgjorda kompositfilmerna erhöll en ökad elastisitetsmodul och minskad brott-töjningen med ökande innehåll av PNF.  De tillverkade PNF-skummen visade sig klara tuffa miljöer, det vill säga en temperatur på 150 °C i luft så länge som en månad (maximal testtid), vilket var betydligt bättre än för många klassiska petroleumbaserade termoplaster. De åldrade skummen behöll dessutom sina egenskaper i olika vätskor som normalt bryter ned/löser upp proteinmaterial.  Med hjälp av en flödesfokuseringsmetod tillverkades här också PNF mikrofibrer. Genipin, en naturligt förekommande tvärbindare, tillsattes till för att förbättra de mekaniska egenskaperna hos den erhållna fibern. Den tvärbundna fibern (med endast 2% genipin) erhöll en signifikant högre styvhet och brottstyrka jämfört med fibern utan genipin. QC 2021-08-31</p

Materials Based on Protein Nanofibrils

Protein nanofibrils (PNFs) prepared from whey protein isolate (WPI) at low pH and elevated temperature were processed into materials, i.e. hydrogels, films, foams, and fibres, for different applications where they could potentially be sustainable alternatives to petroleum-based polymers. WPI was chosen as the starting material due to the high accessibility of whey as an industrial side-stream product from cheese manufacturing, and its ability to easily grow PNFs. PNFs grown in the presence of different metal ions were generally curved and short, and they formed hydrogels, in contrast to the straight ones fibrillated without metal ions. The effect of metal ions with different acidity was systematically studied with respect to fibrillation kinetics and gelation behaviour. The protein fibrillation was accelerated by the addition of metal ions. The strength of the hydrogel increased with increasing acidity of the metal ion at the same ion concentration, as long as the ion did not precipitate as hydroxide/oxide.  Protein nanocomposite films were prepared by adding separately grown PNFs into a non-fibrillar protein matrix from the same WPI starting material. The glycerol-plasticized composite films obtained an increased elastic modulus and decreased strain at break with increasing content of PNFs.  The produced PNF foams showed high-temperature resistance during aging at 150 °C for as long as one month (maximum testing time), far exceeding the properties of many petroleum-based thermoplastics. The aged foams were also able to retain their properties in different solutions that normally degrade/dissolve protein materials. PNFs were also organized into microfibres using a flow-focusing method. Genipin was added as a natural crosslinker to improve the mechanical properties of the obtained fibre. The crosslinked fibre (using only 2% genipin) obtained a significantly higher stiffness and strength at break as compared to the fibre assembled without genipin. Protein-nanofibriller (PNF) framställda av vassleproteinisolat (WPI) vid lågt pH och förhöjd temperatur användes här för att göra material, dvs. hydrogeler, filmer, skum och fibrer, för olika applikationer som möjliga hållbara alternativ till petroleumbaserade polymerer. WPI valdes som utgångsmaterial på grund av vasslets stora tillgänglighet då det erhålles som sidoström vid osttillverkning, och dessutom dess förmåga att lätt bilda PNF. PNF som framställts i närvaro av olika metalljoner var i allmänhet krökta och bildade hydrogeler, i motsats till de raka, som framställs utan metalljoner. Effekten av metalljoner med olika surhetsgrad studerades systematiskt vad gäller fibrilleringskinetik och gelningsbeteende. Hydrogelens styrka ökade med ökande surhetsgrad hos metalljonen vid samma jonkoncentration, så länge jonen inte fälldes ut som hydroxid/oxid.  Protein-nanokompositfilmer framställdes genom tillsats av separat framställda PNF i en icke-fibrillär proteinmatris från samma utgångsmaterial (WPI). De glycerol-mjukgjorda kompositfilmerna erhöll en ökad elastisitetsmodul och minskad brott-töjningen med ökande innehåll av PNF.  De tillverkade PNF-skummen visade sig klara tuffa miljöer, det vill säga en temperatur på 150 °C i luft så länge som en månad (maximal testtid), vilket var betydligt bättre än för många klassiska petroleumbaserade termoplaster. De åldrade skummen behöll dessutom sina egenskaper i olika vätskor som normalt bryter ned/löser upp proteinmaterial.  Med hjälp av en flödesfokuseringsmetod tillverkades här också PNF mikrofibrer. Genipin, en naturligt förekommande tvärbindare, tillsattes till för att förbättra de mekaniska egenskaperna hos den erhållna fibern. Den tvärbundna fibern (med endast 2% genipin) erhöll en signifikant högre styvhet och brottstyrka jämfört med fibern utan genipin. QC 2021-08-31</p