Fire Propagation Performance of Intumescent Fire Protective Coatings Using Eggshells as a Novel Biofiller

This paper aims to synthesize and characterize an effective intumescent fire protective coating that incorporates eggshell powder as a novel biofiller. The performances of thermal stability, char formation, fire propagation, water resistance, and adhesion strength of coatings have been evaluated. A few intumescent flame-retardant coatings based on these three ecofriendly fire retardant additives ammonium polyphosphate phase II, pentaerythritol and melamine mixed together with flame-retardant fillers, and acrylic binder have been prepared and designed for steel. The fire performance of the coatings has conducted employing BS 476: Part 6-Fire propagation test. The foam structures of the intumescent coatings have been observed using field emission scanning electron microscopy. On exposure, the coated specimens’ B, C, and D had been certified to be Class 0 due to the fact that their fire propagation indexes were less than 12. Incorporation of ecofriendly eggshell, biofiller into formulation D led to excellent performance in fire stopping (index value, (I)=4.3) and antioxidation of intumescent coating. The coating is also found to be quite effective in water repellency, uniform foam structure, and adhesion strength

Higher-order nonlinear modes and bifurcation phenomena due to degenerate parametric four-wave mixing

We demonstrate that weak parametric interaction of a fundamental beam with its third harmonic field in Kerr media gives rise to a rich variety of families of non-fundamental (multi-humped) solitary waves. Making a comprehensive comparison between bifurcation phenomena for these families in bulk media and planar waveguides, we discover two novel types of soliton bifurcations and other interesting findings. The later includes (i) multi-humped solitary waves without even or odd symmetry and (ii) multi-humped solitary waves with large separation between their humps which, however, may not be viewed as bound states of several distinct one-humped solitons.Comment: 9 pages, 17 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev.

Incidence and antibiogram of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in processed and frozen bivalve mollusks in Kuala Terengganu, Malaysia

This study aimed to investigate the prevalence and antibiogram of Vibrio parahaemolyticus in processed bivalve molluscs in Kuala Terengganu. A total of 80 seafood samples, namely mussels (n=20), carpet clams (n=20), cockles (n=20) and scallops (n=20), were subjected to PCR and conventional plating method for the detection of V. parahaemolyticus. V. parahaemolyticus was found in green mussels (55%), carpet clam (80%), cockles (40%) and scallops (55%). Fifty-five V. parahaemolyticus isolates were subjected to 9 types antibiotic sensitivity test using discs diffusion method. All isolates were susceptible to Tetracycline and Gentamycin. Isolates showed high resistance towards Vancomycin (52.73%), Penicillin (45.45%) and Amplicillin (32.73%). Resistance towards Amikacin, Ciprofloxacin and Norfloxacin were found to be 1.82%. It can be concluded that local bivalve molluscs were contaminated with V. parahaemolyticus and isolates showed resistance towards certain antibiotics. Therefore, consumption of raw or semi-cooked bivalve molluscs is not advisable

Do emotional difficulties and peer problems hew together from childhood to adolescence? The case of children with a history of developmental language disorder (DLD)

Children and adolescents with developmental language disorder (DLD) are, overall, vulnerable to difficulties in emotional adjustment and in peer relations. However, previous research has shown that different subgroups follow different trajectories in respect of quality of peer relations. Less is known of the trajectories of emotional development. We consider here the possibility that development in these two domains is interrelated: that is, the trajectories of emotional and peer problems will proceed in parallel. We conducted longitudinal joint trajectories analyses of emotional and peer relations in a sample of young people identified as having DLD at age 7 years and seen at intervals up to 16 years. Potential influences on joint trajectory group membership were examined. Findings revealed five distinct joint trajectories. Emotional and peer difficulties do hew together from childhood to adolescence for just over half of the sample, but not all. The variables most clearly associated with group membership were pragmatic language ability, prosociality and parental mental health. This is the first study to examine joint longitudinal trajectories of emotional and peer difficulties in individuals with DLD. We demonstrate that development in individuals with DLD is heterogeneous and identify three key variables associated with personal and social adjustment from childhood to adolescence. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are discussed

Approximate solutions and scaling transformations for quadratic solitons

We study quadratic solitons supported by two- and three-wave parametric interactions in chi-2 nonlinear media. Both planar and two-dimensional cases are considered. We obtain very accurate, 'almost exact', explicit analytical solutions, matching the actual bright soliton profiles, with the help of a specially-developed approach, based on analysis of the scaling properties. Additionally, we use these approximations to describe the linear tails of solitary waves which are related to the properties of the soliton bound states.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures; submitted for publicatio

Completability and optimal factorization norms in tensor products of Banach function spaces

[EN] Given s-finite measure spaces ( 1, 1, mu 1) and ( 2, 2, mu 2), we consider Banach spaces X1(mu 1) and X2(mu 2), consisting of L0(mu 1) and L0(mu 2) measurable functions respectively, and study when the completion of the simple tensors in the projective tensor product X1(mu 1). p X2(mu 2) is continuously included in the metric space of measurable functions L0(mu 1. mu 2). In particular, we prove that the elements of the completion of the projective tensor product of L p-spaces are measurable functions with respect to the product measure. Assuming certain conditions, we finally showthat given a bounded linear operator T : X1(mu 1). p X2(mu 2). E (where E is a Banach space), a norm can be found for T to be bounded, which is ` minimal' with respect to a given property (2-rectangularity). The same technique may work for the case of n-spaces.J. M. Calabuig and M. Fernandez-Unzueta were supported by Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad (Spain) under project MTM2014-53009-P. M. Fernandez-Unzueta was also suported by CONACyT 284110. F. Galaz-Fontes was supported by Ministerio de Ciencia e Innovacion (Spain) and FEDER under project MTM2009-14483-C02-01. E. A. Sanchez Perez was supported by Ministerio de Economia, Industria y Competitividad (Spain) and FEDER under project MTM2016-77054-C2-1-P.Calabuig, JM.; Fernández-Unzueta, M.; Galaz-Fontes, F.; Sánchez Pérez, EA. (2019). Completability and optimal factorization norms in tensor products of Banach function spaces. Revista de la Real Academia de Ciencias Exactas Físicas y Naturales Serie A Matemáticas. 113(4):3513-3530. https://doi.org/10.1007/s13398-019-00711-7S351335301134Abramovich, Y.A., Aliprantis, C.D.: An invitation to operator theory. Graduate Studies in Mathematics, Vol 50, AMS (2002)Bennett, C., Sharpley, R.: Interpolation of Operators. Academic Press, Boston (1988)Bu, Q., Buskes, G., Kusraev, A.G.: Bilinear maps on products of vector lattices: a survey. In: Boulabiar, K., Buskes, G., Triki, A. (eds.) Positivity-Trends in Mathematics. Birkhäser Verlag AG, Basel, pp. 97–26 (2007)Buskes, G., Van Rooij, A.: Bounded variation and tensor products of Banach lattices. Positivity 7, 47–59 (2003)Calabuig, J.M., Fernández-Unzueta, M., Galaz-Fontes, F., Sánchez-Pérez, E.A.: Extending and factorizing bounded bilinear maps defined on order continuous Banach function spaces. RACSAM 108(2), 353–367 (2014)Calabuig, J.M., Fernández-Unzueta, M., Galaz-Fontes, F., Sánchez-Pérez, E.A.: Equivalent norms in a Banach function space and the subsequence property. J. Korean Math. Soc. https://doi.org/10.4134/JKMS.j180682Curbera, G.P., Ricker, W.J.: Optimal domains for kernel operators via interpolation. Math. Nachr. 244, 47–63 (2002)Curbera, G.P., Ricker, W.J.: Vector measures, integration and applications. In: Positivity. Birkhäuser Basel, pp. 127–160 (2007)Gil de Lamadrid, J.: Uniform cross norms and tensor products. J. Duke Math. 32, 797–803 (1965)Dunford, N., Schwartz, J.: Linear Operators, Part I: General Theory. Interscience Publishers Inc., New York (1958)Fremlin, D.H.: Tensor products of Archimedean vector lattices. Am. J. Math. 94(3), 777–798 (1972)Fremlin, D.H.: Tensor products of Banach lattices. Math. Ann. 211(2), 87–106 (1974)Yew, K.L.: Completely $$p$$-summing maps on the operator Hilbert space OH. J. Funct. Anal. 255, 1362–1402 (2008)Kwapien, S., Pelczynski, A.: The main triangle projection in matrix spaces and its applications. Stud. Math. 34(1), 43–68 (1970)Lindenstrauss, J., Tzafriri, L.: Classical Banach spaces II. Springer, Berlin (1979)Luxemburg, W.A.J., Zaanen, A.C.: Riesz Spaces I. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam (1971)Milman, M.: Some new function spaces and their tensor products. Depto. de Matemática, Facultad de Ciencias, U. de los Andes, Mérida, Venezuela (1978)Okada, S., Ricker, W.J., Sánchez Pérez, E.A.: Optimal domain and integral extension of operators acting in function spaces. Oper. Theory Adv. Appl., vol. 180. Birkhäuser, Basel (2008)Schep, A.R.: Factorization of positive multilinear maps. Illinois J. Math. 579–591 (1984)Zaanen, A.C.: Integration. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam-New York (1967)Zaanen, A.C.: Riesz Spaces II. North-Holland Publishing Company, Amsterdam (1983

Adiposity impacts cognitive function in Asian populations: an epidemiological and Mendelian Randomization study.

BACKGROUND: Obesity and related metabolic disturbances including diabetes, hypertension and hyperlipidemia predict future cognitive decline. Asia has a high prevalence of both obesity and metabolic disease, potentially amplifying the future burden of dementia in the region. We aimed to investigate the impact of adiposity and metabolic risk on cognitive function in Asian populations, using an epidemiological analysis and a two-sample Mendelian Randomization (MR) study. METHODS: The Health for Life in Singapore (HELIOS) Study is a population-based cohort of South-East-Asian men and women in Singapore, aged 30-84 years. We analyzed 8769 participants with metabolic and cognitive data collected between 2018 and 2021. Whole-body fat mass was quantified with Dual X-Ray Absorptiometry (DEXA). Cognition was assessed using a computerized cognitive battery. An index of general cognition ' g ' was derived through factor analysis. We tested the relationship of fat mass indices and metabolic measures with ' g ' using regression approaches. We then performed inverse-variance-weighted MR of adiposity and metabolic risk factors on ' g ', using summary statistics for genome-wide association studies of BMI, visceral adipose tissue (VAT), waist-hip-ratio (WHR), blood pressure, HDL cholesterol, triglycerides, fasting glucose, HbA1c, and general cognition. FINDINGS: Participants were 58.9% female, and aged 51.4 (11.3) years. In univariate analysis, all 29 adiposity and metabolic measures assessed were associated with ' g ' at P < 0.05. In multivariable analyses, reduced ' g ' was consistently associated with increased visceral fat mass index and lower HDL cholesterol (P < 0.001), but not with blood pressure, triglycerides, or glycemic indices. The reduction in ' g ' associated with 1SD higher visceral fat, or 1SD lower HDL cholesterol, was equivalent to a 0.7 and 0.9-year increase in chronological age respectively (P < 0.001). Inverse variance MR analyses showed that reduced ' g ' is associated with genetically determined elevation of VAT, BMI and WHR (all P < 0.001). In contrast, MR did not support a causal role for blood pressure, lipid, or glycemic indices on cognition. INTERPRETATION: We show an independent relationship between adiposity and cognition in a multi-ethnic Asian population. MR analyses suggest that both visceral adiposity and raised BMI are likely to be causally linked to cognition. Our findings have important implications for preservation of cognitive health, including further motivation for action to reverse the rising burden of obesity in the Asia-Pacific region. FUNDING: The Nanyang Technological University-the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, National Healthcare Group, National Medical Research Council, Ministry of Education, Singapore

Poet: Product-oriented Video Captioner for E-commerce

In e-commerce, a growing number of user-generated videos are used for product promotion. How to generate video descriptions that narrate the user-preferred product characteristics depicted in the video is vital for successful promoting. Traditional video captioning methods, which focus on routinely describing what exists and happens in a video, are not amenable for product-oriented video captioning. To address this problem, we propose a product-oriented video captioner framework, abbreviated as Poet. Poet firstly represents the videos as product-oriented spatial-temporal graphs. Then, based on the aspects of the video-associated product, we perform knowledge-enhanced spatial-temporal inference on those graphs for capturing the dynamic change of fine-grained product-part characteristics. The knowledge leveraging module in Poet differs from the traditional design by performing knowledge filtering and dynamic memory modeling. We show that Poet achieves consistent performance improvement over previous methods concerning generation quality, product aspects capturing, and lexical diversity. Experiments are performed on two product-oriented video captioning datasets, buyer-generated fashion video dataset (BFVD) and fan-generated fashion video dataset (FFVD), collected from Mobile Taobao. We will release the desensitized datasets to promote further investigations on both video captioning and general video analysis problems.Comment: 10 pages, 3 figures, to appear in ACM MM 2020 proceeding

Unsupervised Learning of Category-Specific Symmetric 3D Keypoints from Point Sets

Automatic discovery of category-specific 3D keypoints from a collection of objects of a category is a challenging problem. The difficulty is added when objects are represented by 3D point clouds, with variations in shape and semantic parts and unknown coordinate frames. We define keypoints to be category-specific, if they meaningfully represent objects’ shape and their correspondences can be simply established order-wise across all objects. This paper aims at learning such 3D keypoints, in an unsupervised manner, using a collection of misaligned 3D point clouds of objects from an unknown category. In order to do so, we model shapes defined by the keypoints, within a category, using the symmetric linear basis shapes without assuming the plane of symmetry to be known. The usage of symmetry prior leads us to learn stable keypoints suitable for higher misalignments. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first work on learning such keypoints directly from 3D point clouds for a general category. Using objects from four benchmark datasets, we demonstrate the quality of our learned keypoints by quantitative and qualitative evaluations. Our experiments also show that the keypoints discovered by our method are geometrically and semantically consistent