Dynamic time warping in classification and selection of motion capture data

Multidimensional Systems and Signal Processing - The paper is a comprehensive study on classification of motion capture data on the basis of dynamic time warping (DTW) transform. It presents both...     

Ultrasound-Triggered Enzymatic Gelation

Hydrogels are formed using various triggers, including light irradiation, pH adjustment, heating, cooling, or chemical addition. Here, a new method for forming hydrogels is introduced: ultrasound-triggered enzymatic gelation. Specifically, ultrasound is used as a stimulus to liberate liposomal calcium ions, which then trigger the enzymatic activity of transglutaminase. The activated enzyme catalyzes the formation of fibrinogen hydrogels through covalent intermolecular crosslinking. The catalysis and gelation processes are monitored in real time and both the enzyme kinetics and final hydrogel properties are controlled by varying the initial ultrasound exposure time. This technology is extended to microbubble–liposome conjugates, which exhibit a stronger response to the applied acoustic field and are also used for ultrasound-triggered enzymatic hydrogelation. To the best of the knowledge, these results are the first instance in which ultrasound is used as a trigger for either enzyme catalysis or enzymatic hydrogelation. This approach is highly versatile and can be readily applied to different ion-dependent enzymes or gelation systems. Moreover, this work paves the way for the use of ultrasound as a remote trigger for in vivo hydrogelation.     

Microcrystalline Bi2ZnB2O7-polymer composites with silver nanoparticles as materials for laser operated devices

A novel type of composite for optoelectronic which is operated by second harmonic generation in the Bi₂ZnB₂O₇ crystallites (with sizes varying within 1–30 μm) and Ag nanoparticles (NP) embedded in PMMA polymer composites is proposed. The substantial influence of the Ag NP on the bicolor induced second harmonic generation was established. The phototreatment was performed by bicolor beams of nanosecond Nd:YAG laser (1,064/532 nm) at angles between the fundamental and photoinducing beams varying within the 19°–21° range. The studies of the corresponding dependences of the SHG during illumination by the two coherent beams at 1,064/532 nm showed a maximal enhancement of the output SHG for the Ag NP average sizes equal to about 40 nm. The role of the excited plasmons may be here crucial. Additionally the time shift between the fundamental and the doubled frequency beam maxima was found, which shows strong sensitivity to illumination. The established time shift is sensitive to the pumping power.     

Nonlinear optoelectronic materials formed by push–pull (bi)thiophene derivatives functionalized with di(tri)cyanovinyl acceptor groups

Novel nonlinear optical (NLO) materials based on six novel NLO chromophores featuring di(tri)cyanovinyl acceptor linked to (bi)thiophene heterocyclic donor system were fabricated for the first time in polymethyl methacrylate matrices with a 1,064 nm laser working in the 20 ns time pulse regime. Absorption spectra and DFT calculations were also done. This multidisciplinary study showed that tayloring of the optical (linear and nonlinear) properties in the desired direction can be achieved by increasing the length of the π-conjugated heterocyclic system (thiophene vs. bithiophene), the strength of the electron donor groups (H → MeO/EtO → Et₂N) as well as the strength of the electron acceptor moieties (dicyanovinyl vs. tricyanovinyl, two vs. three electron withdrawing cyano groups). Due to the relatively high and tunable second-order susceptibilities (0.08–6.45 pm/V at wavelength 1,064 nm), the studied push–pull chromophores can be denoted as promising second-order NLO chromophores.     

The Kinetics of the Fischer-Tropsch Synthesis

The literature on Fischer-Tropsch synthesis can be divided into two broad categories: The major portion falls into the category of empirical product distribution studies done with catalyst improvement in mind, while a smaller body of data has been slowly accumulated with the intention of understanding the fundamentals of the reaction. Of this smaller body of mechanistic and kinetic work, only part deals with the quantitative formulation of rate and product distribution phenomena. A vigorous effort has also been made in recent years to contribute to this understanding by surface studies. This approach, however, has at best offered tantalizing views of the various adsorbed species without leading to a quantitative formulation of the kinetics of observable phenomena at reaction conditions.     

Catalytic reactions of n-hexenes on amorphous silica-alumina

Reactions of n-hexenes on 80/100 mesh amorphous silica-alumina have been studied in a plug flow reactor at 405°C, and compared with results previously obtained using HY and H-ZSM-5. The dominant primary reaction is skeletal isomerization while the initial selectivity for cracking is very low compared to that on the zeolite catalysts. The dimerization-cracking reaction, the major cracking process on the zeolites, was not a primary reaction on amorphous silica-alumina. This and the slowness of reactions leading to paraffins and dehydrogenated species is attributed to the small number of strongly acidic sites on the amorphous material.     

Studies of the fischer-tropsch synthesis on a cobalt catalyst II. Kinetics of carbon monoxide conversion to methane and to higher hydrocarbons

Six Langmuir-Hinshelwood-Hougen-Watson models have been derived for the kinetics of conversion of carbon monoxide to hydrocarbons in the Fischer-Tropsch synthesis. The models were fitted to experimental data obtained in an internal recycle reactor over a wide range of operating conditions. Two models, one based on the hydrogenation of surface carbon and the other on a hydrogen-assisted dissociation of carbon monoxide as rate limiting steps were both able to provide a satisfactory fit to the experimental rate data. A general model was also developed for the rate of methanation in the presence of higher hydrocarbons. The same two rate limiting assumptions as those used in formulating the rate of total CO conversion are used in these models. The two models were fitted to experimental data for methane formation. It was the model assuming CH formation as rate limiting that showed the best fit for both CO conversion for CH₄ formation.