Continuous physical activity recognition for intelligent labour monitoring

Multimedia Tools and Applications - The paper addresses the problem of human activity recognition based on the data from wearable sensors. Human activity recognition depends on a wide context of...     

Weak Delocalization in Graphene on a Ferromagnetic Insulating Film

Graphene has been predicted to develop a magnetic moment by proximity effect when placed on a ferromagnetic film, a promise that could open exciting possibilities in the fields of spintronics and magnetic data recording. In this work, the interplay between the magnetoresistance of graphene and the magnetization of an underlying ferromagnetic insulating film is studied in detail. A clear correlation between both magnitudes is observed but through a careful modeling of the magnetization and the weak localization measurements, that such correspondence can be explained by the effects of the magnetic stray fields arising from the ferromagnetic insulator is found. The results emphasize the complexity arising at the interface between magnetic and 2D materials.     

Methods and Applications of In Silico Aptamer Design and Modeling

Aptamers are nucleic acid analogues of antibodies with high affinity to different targets, such as cells, viruses, proteins, inorganic materials, and coenzymes. Empirical approaches allow the design of in vitro aptamers that bind particularly to a target molecule with high affinity and selectivity. Theoretical methods allow significant expansion of the possibilities of aptamer design. In this study, we review theoretical and joint theoretical-experimental studies dedicated to aptamer design and modeling. We consider aptamers with different targets, such as proteins, antibiotics, organophosphates, nucleobases, amino acids, and drugs. During nucleic acid modeling and in silico design, a full set of in silico methods can be applied, such as docking, molecular dynamics (MD), and statistical analysis. The typical modeling workflow starts with structure prediction. Then, docking of target and aptamer is performed. Next, MD simulations are performed, which allows for an evaluation of the stability of aptamer/ligand complexes and determination of the binding energies with higher accuracy. Then, aptamer/ligand interactions are analyzed, and mutations of studied aptamers made. Subsequently, the whole procedure of molecular modeling can be reiterated. Thus, the interactions between aptamers and their ligands are complex and difficult to understand using only experimental approaches. Docking and MD are irreplaceable when aptamers are studied in silico.     

Application of hydrocarbon mixtures in small refrigerating and cryogenic machines

Application of hydrocarbon mixtures enables the creation of simple, reliable and durable refrigerating and cryogenic Joule–Thomson micro coolers for the temperature range of −73 to −183 °C. The temperature, thermal, power and hydraulic performances of a series of prototypes are presented. The results of tests demonstrate that small, single stage, sealed, lubricated compressors can be applied to these purposes. The start up and steady operation hydraulic performance of those machines are quite similar to the performance of domestic refrigerators. The last, together with the fact that in the studied micro coolers the lubricated compressors are used at temperatures down to −183 °C, ensures a large resource of operation. That is just the reason that holds out a hope for prospects in a broad field of applications for the studied prototypes, despite their lower power performances in contrast to gas micro coolers.     

Adaptive boundary control for unstable parabolic PDEs—Part II: Estimation-based designs

The certainty equivalence approach to adaptive control is commonly used with two types of identifiers: passivity-based identifiers and swapping identifiers. The “passive” (also known as “observer-based”) approach is the prevalent identification technique in existing results on adaptive control for PDEs but has so far not been used in boundary control problems. The swapping approach, prevalent in finite-dimensional adaptive control is employed here for the first time in adaptive control of PDEs. For a class of unstable parabolic PDEs we prove a separation principle result for both the passive and swapping identifiers combined with the backstepping boundary controllers. The result is applicable in any dimension. For physical reasons we restrict our attention to dimensions no higher than three. The results of the paper are illustrated by simulations.     

Limit Cycles in a Class of Hybrid Dynamical Systems

This paper deals with qualitative analysis of the so-called switched fluid networks. Such networks are used to model communication, computer, and flexible manufacturing systems. We prove that for any deterministic network from a specific class, there exists a finite number of limit cycles attracting all the trajectories of the system. Furthermore, we determine this number. Date received: March 11, 2000. Date revised: January 19, 2001.     

Synthesis, characterization and catalytic application for wet oxidation of phenol of iron-containing clays

High-surface-area pillared clays (PILC) were prepared from naturally occurring montmorillonites by exchanging interlayer ions to polyoxocations containing (i) aluminum (Al₁₃-PILC), (ii) iron adsorpted onto Al₁₃-PILC, and (iii) iron and aluminum located within the same complex (Fe_0.8Al_12.2-PILC). The obtained Fe_0.8Al_12.2-PILCs were characterized by DR–UV–vis and IR spectroscopy, XRD, ESR, scanning electron microscopy and low temperature N₂ adsorption measurements. Important factors affecting catalyst activity and phenol removal efficiencies have been studied, i.e. the effect of pH, temperature, catalyst concentration and stability of the catalyst.