Now showing items 493-512 of 609

• #### The role of Mathematical Modelling in understanding Aging

Mathematical models have played key roles in developing our understanding of aging. The first pioneering mathematical models evaluated aging from an evolutionary perspective, generating meaningful insights into why aging occurs and laid the foundations for our current understanding of aging. More recently mathematical models have been used to gain a deeper understanding of the intracellular mechanisms associated with intrinsic aging. This chapter will outline what mathematical modelling is, and the advantages it has over more conventional approaches used in biogerontology. The steps involved in assembling a model will also be described and the leading theoretical frameworks underpinning them will be outlined. Moreover, we discuss in detail a variety of aging focused mechanistic mathematical models which have been developed in recent years. The chapter concludes by challenging the community to develop a unified mechanistic mathematical model which can be used to examine aging in a more integrated fashion.
• #### Rotary bistable and Parametrically Excited Vibration Energy Harvesting

Parametric resonance is a type of nonlinear vibration phenomenon [1], [2] induced from the periodic modulation of at least one of the system parameters and has the potential to exhibit interesting higher order nonlinear behaviour [3]. Parametrically excited vibration energy harvesters have been previously shown to enhance both the power amplitude [4] and the frequency bandwidth [5] when compared to the conventional direct resonant approach. However, to practically activate the more profitable regions of parametric resonance, additional design mechanisms [6], [7] are required to overcome a critical initiation threshold amplitude. One route is to establish an autoparametric system where external direct excitation is internally coupled to parametric excitation [8]. For a coupled two degrees of freedom (DoF) oscillatory system, principal autoparametric resonance can be achieved when the natural frequency of the first DoF f1 is twice that of the second DoF f2 and the external excitation is in the vicinity of f1. This paper looks at combining rotary and translatory motion and use autoparametric resonance phenomena.
• #### Scaling-up ultrasound standing wave enhanced sedimentation filters

Particle concentration and filtration is a key stage in a wide range of processing industries and also one that can be present challenges for high throughput, continuous operation. Here we demonstrate some features which increase the efficiency of ultrasound enhanced sedimentation and could enable the technology the potential to be scaled up. In this work, 20 mm piezoelectric plates were used to drive 100 mm high chambers formed from single structural elements. The coherent structural resonances were able to drive particles (yeast cells) in the water to nodes throughout the chamber. Ultrasound enhanced sedimentation was used to demonstrate the efficiency of the system (>99% particle clearance). Sub-wavelength pin protrusions were used for the contacts between the resonant chamber and other elements. The pins provided support and transferred power, replacing glue which is inefficient for power transfer. Filtration energies of ∼4 J/ml of suspension were measured. A calculation of thermal convection indicates that the circulation could disrupt cell alignment in ducts >35 mm high when a 1K temperature gradient is present; we predict higher efficiencies when this maximum height is observed. For the acoustic design, although modelling was minimal before construction, the very simple construction allowed us to form 3D models of the nodal patterns in the fluid and the duct structure. The models were compared with visual observations of particle movement, Chladni figures and scanning laser vibrometer mapping. This demonstrates that nodal planes in the fluid can be controlled by the position of clamping points and that the contacts could be positioned to increase the efficiency and reliability of particle manipulations in standing waves.
• #### Second generation PEM fuel cells and the indirect reduction of oxygen

2015 is a breakthrough year for fuel cell technology.
• #### Segregation of Anhydrite in Sintered Naturally Occurring Rock Salt

This study examines the sintering of naturally occurring rock salt in dependence of pressure and temperature as is desired for storage and other applications in saline environments where rock salt is thermodynamically stable and shows a mechanical behavior compatible to the surrounding host material. Rock salt consists mainly of sodium chloride with small impurities of less soluble compounds such as anhydrite, CaSO4 . A special interest in the sintering process of naturally occurring rock salt is the segregation of anhydrite to the grain boundaries between individual sodium chloride crystals. Our study has shown that sintering naturally occurring rock salt at different pressures will influence the segregation of anhydrite. Experiments support a greater segregation of anhydrite resulting from an increased pressure treatment. As the solubility of anhydrite is less than sodium chloride, the sintered samples of naturally occurring rock salt show greater stability towards dissolution than pure sodium chloride.
• #### Self-assembled nanostructures in ionic liquids facilitate charge storage at electrified interfaces

Driven by the potential applications of ionic liquids (ILs) in many emerging electrochemical technologies, recent research efforts have been directed at understanding the complex ion ordering in these systems, to uncover novel energy storage mechanisms at IL–electrode interfaces. Here, we discover that surface-active ILs (SAILs), which contain amphiphilic structures inducing self-assembly, exhibit enhanced charge storage performance at electrified surfaces. Unlike conventional non amphiphilic ILs, for which ion distribution is dominated by Coulombic interactions, SAILs exhibit significant and competing van der Waals interactions owing to the non-polar surfactant tails, leading to unusual interfacial ion distributions. We reveal that, at an intermediate degree of electrode polarization, SAILs display optimum performance, because the low-charge-density alkyl tails are effectively excluded from the electrode surfaces, whereas the formation of non-polar domains along the surface suppresses undesired overscreening effects. This work represents a crucial step towards understanding the unique interfacial behaviour and electrochemical properties of amphiphilic liquid systems showing long-range ordering, and offers insights into the design principles for high-energy-density electrolytes based on spontaneous self-assembly behaviour.
• #### Self-Dual Codes using Bisymmetric Matrices and Group Rings

In this work, we describe a construction in which we combine together the idea of a bisymmetric matrix and group rings. Applying this construction over the ring F4 + uF4 together with the well known extension and neighbour methods, we construct new self-dual codes of length 68: In particular, we find 41 new codes of length 68 that were not known in the literature before.
• #### Self-supervised monocular image depth learning and confidence estimation

We present a novel self-supervised framework for monocular image depth learning and confidence estimation. Our framework reduces the amount of ground truth annotation data required for training Convolutional Neural Networks (CNNs), which is often a challenging problem for the fast deployment of CNNs in many computer vision tasks. Our DepthNet adopts a novel fully differential patch-based cost function through the Zero-Mean Normalized Cross Correlation (ZNCC) to take multi-scale patches as matching and learning strategies. This approach greatly increases the accuracy and robustness of the depth learning. Whilst the proposed patch-based cost function naturally provides a 0-to-1 confidence, it is then used to self-supervise the training of a parallel network for confidence map learning and estimation by exploiting the fact that ZNCC is a normalized measure of similarity which can be approximated as the confidence of the depth estimation. Therefore, the proposed corresponding confidence map learning and estimation operate in a self-supervised manner and is a parallel network to the DepthNet. Evaluation on the KITTI depth prediction evaluation dataset and Make3D dataset show that our method outperforms the state-of-the-art results.
• #### The sharp interface limit for the stochastic Cahn-Hilliard Equation

We study the two and three dimensional stochastic Cahn-Hilliard equation in the sharp interface limit, where the positive parameter \eps tends to zero, which measures the width of transition layers generated during phase separation. We also couple the noise strength to this parameter. Using formal asymptotic expansions, we identify the limit. In the right scaling we indicate that the solutions of stochastic Cahn-Hilliard converge to a solution of a Hele-Shaw problem with stochastic forcing. In the case when the noise is sufficiently small, we rigorously prove that the limit is a deterministic Hele-Shaw problem. Finally, we discuss which estimates are necessary in order to extend the rigorous result to larger noise strength.
• #### Shock Reliability Enhancement for MEMS Vibration Energy Harvesters with Nonlinear Air Damping as Soft Stopper

This paper presents a novel application of utilising nonlinear air damping as soft mechanical stopper to increase the shock reliability for MEMS vibration energy harvesters. Theoretical framework for nonlinear air damping is constructed for MEMS vibration energy harvesters operating in different air pressure levels, and characterisation experiments are conducted to establish the relationship between air pressure and nonlinear air damping coefficient for rectangular cantilever MEMS micro cantilevers with different proof masses. Design guidelines on choosing the optimal air pressure level for different MEMS vibration energy harvesters based on the trade-off between harvestable energy and the device robustness is presented, and random excitation experiments are performed to verify the robustness of MEMS vibration energy harvesters with nonlinear air damping as soft stoppers to limit the maximum deflection distance and increase the shock reliability of the device.
• #### A Silanol-Functionalized Polyoxometalate with Excellent Electron Transfer Mediating Behavior to ZnO and TiO 2 Cathode Interlayers for Highly Efficient and Extremely Stable Polymer Solar Cells

Combining high efficiency and long lifetime under ambient conditions still poses a major challenge towards commercialization of polymer solar cells. Here we report a facile strategy that can simultaneously enhance the efficiency and temporal stability of inverted photovoltaic architectures. Inclusion of a silanol-functionalized organic–inorganic hybrid polyoxometalate derived from a PW9O34 lacunary phosphotungstate anion, namely (nBu4N)3[PW9O34(tBuSiOH)3], significantly increases the effectiveness of the electron collecting interface, which consists of a metal oxide such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, and leads to a high efficiency of 6.51% for single-junction structures based on poly(3-hexylthiophene):indene-C60 bisadduct (P3HT:IC60BA) blends. The above favourable outcome stems from a large decrease in the work function, an effective surface passivation and a decrease in the surface energy of metal oxides which synergistically result in the outstanding electron transfer mediating capability of the functionalized polyoxometalate. In addition, the insertion of a silanol-functionalized polyoxometalate layer significantly enhances the ambient stability of unencapsulated devices which retain nearly 90% of their original efficiencies (T90) after 1000 hours.
• #### Simultaneous determination of dopamine, uric acid and estriol in maternal urine samples based on the synergetic effect of reduced graphene oxide, silver nanowires and silver nanoparticles in their ternary 3D nanocomposite

A facile and efficient electrochemical biosensing platform based on screen printed carbon electrode (SPCE) modified with three-dimensional (3D) nanocomposite consists of reduced graphene oxide (RGO) with the insertion of silver nanowires (AgNWs) followed by the anchoring of silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) is constructed as RGO/AgNWs/AgNPs/SPCE for the simultaneous determination of dopamine (DA), uric acid (UA) and estriol (EST). The morphology characteristic and surface elemental composition of RGO/AgNWs/AgNPs nanocomposite are investigated by field-emission scanning electron microscope, transmission electron microscope and X-ray photoelectron spectroscope. Cyclic voltammetry, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy, linear sweep voltammetry and differential pulse voltammetry are utilized to explore the electrochemical performances of the constructed electrodes. Due to abundant active sites and excellent electrocatalytic activity of the nanocomposite, the RGO/AgNWs/AgNPs/SPCE sensor exhibits well-resolved oxidation peaks and enhanced oxidation peak currents in the ternary mixture of DA, UA and EST with respective linear response ranges of 0.6 to 50 μM, 1 to 100 μM and 1 to 90 μM and detection limits (S/N = 3) of 0.16 μM, 0.58 μM and 0.58 μM, respectively. Moreover, the constructed biosensor exhibits good selectivity, reproducibility and stability, and excellent performance in determining DA, UA and EST in synthetic urine samples with excellent recovery. The results reveal that the RGO/AgNWs/AgNPs nanocomposite is a promising candidate for advanced electrode material in electrochemical sensing field and possesses great application prospects in further sensing researches.
• #### A single parameter approach to enhance the microstructural and mechanical properties of beta Ti-Nb alloy via open-air fiber laser nitriding

In this study, the idea of applying open-air laser nitriding to improve the microstructural and mechanical properties of beta Ti-45 at.% Nb alloy was demonstrated. Surface cracking after laser nitriding is one of the main reasons impeding direct translation of the laser nitriding technique from the laboratories to industries as cracks can be the weak points to initiate mechanical and corrosion failures in long-term usage. With proper selection of duty cycle (DC) between 40% (modulated mode) and 100% (continuous wave, CW mode) to control the laser energy input and laser-material-gas interaction time, the cracking problems of laser nitriding can be alleviated and even solved. A crack-free and uniformly gold-coloured nitrided surface was successfully obtained at the DC of 40% in this study. The morphology, microstructure, composition and mechanical properties of the nitrided samples were studied and analysed by optical microscopy (OM), scanning electron microscopy (SEM), SEM-energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and Vickers micro-hardness tests. The OM results indicated that minimum overlapping between the laser tracks would give desirable results to obtain the crack-free surface. The measurements from the SEM micrographs indicated the depth of the laser-nitrided areas ranged between 22 and 43 µm. The XRD findings showed that a clear conversion of the TiNb surface to a nitride as a result of laser nitriding was observed. The maximum hardness, as measured by the Vickers method in cross-sections, lay in the range of 780 to 870 HV after laser nitriding. To summarise, control of DC to obtain a crack free and quality surface via fiber laser nitriding in open air is a simpler and quicker approach in comparison with the conventional substrate preheating and nitrogen (N) dilution approaches. The single-parameter approach is more efficient than parameter optimisation via design of experiments (DOE) employed in conventional methods.
• #### Sketching Designs Using the Five Design-Sheet Methodology

Sketching designs has been shown to be a useful way of planning and considering alternative solutions. The use of lo-fidelity prototyping, especially paper-based sketching, can save time, money and converge to better solutions more quickly. However, this design process is often viewed to be too informal. Consequently users do not know how to manage their thoughts and ideas (to first think divergently, to then finally converge on a suitable solution). We present the Five Design Sheet (FdS) methodology. The methodology enables users to create information visualization interfaces through lo-fidelity methods. Users sketch and plan their ideas, helping them express different possibilities, think through these ideas to consider their potential effectiveness as solutions to the task (sheet 1); they create three principle designs (sheets 2,3 and 4); before converging on a final realization design that can then be implemented (sheet 5). In this article, we present (i) a review of the use of sketching as a planning method for visualization and the benefits of sketching, (ii) a detailed description of the Five Design Sheet (FdS) methodology, and (iii) an evaluation of the FdS using the System Usability Scale, along with a case-study of its use in industry and experience of its use in teaching.
• #### SLAM-based dense surface reconstruction in monocular Minimally Invasive Surgery and its application to Augmented Reality

Background and Objective While Minimally Invasive Surgery (MIS) offers considerable benefits to patients, it also imposes big challenges on a surgeon's performance due to well-known issues and restrictions associated with the field of view (FOV), hand-eye misalignment and disorientation, as well as the lack of stereoscopic depth perception in monocular endoscopy. Augmented Reality (AR) technology can help to overcome these limitations by augmenting the real scene with annotations, labels, tumour measurements or even a 3D reconstruction of anatomy structures at the target surgical locations. However, previous research attempts of using AR technology in monocular MIS surgical scenes have been mainly focused on the information overlay without addressing correct spatial calibrations, which could lead to incorrect localization of annotations and labels, and inaccurate depth cues and tumour measurements. In this paper, we present a novel intra-operative dense surface reconstruction framework that is capable of providing geometry information from only monocular MIS videos for geometry-aware AR applications such as site measurements and depth cues. We address a number of compelling issues in augmenting a scene for a monocular MIS environment, such as drifting and inaccurate planar mapping. Methods A state-of-the-art Simultaneous Localization And Mapping (SLAM) algorithm used in robotics has been extended to deal with monocular MIS surgical scenes for reliable endoscopic camera tracking and salient point mapping. A robust global 3D surface reconstruction framework has been developed for building a dense surface using only unorganized sparse point clouds extracted from the SLAM. The 3D surface reconstruction framework employs the Moving Least Squares (MLS) smoothing algorithm and the Poisson surface reconstruction framework for real time processing of the point clouds data set. Finally, the 3D geometric information of the surgical scene allows better understanding and accurate placement AR augmentations based on a robust 3D calibration. Results We demonstrate the clinical relevance of our proposed system through two examples: a) measurement of the surface; b) depth cues in monocular endoscopy. The performance and accuracy evaluations of the proposed framework consist of two steps. First, we have created a computer-generated endoscopy simulation video to quantify the accuracy of the camera tracking by comparing the results of the video camera tracking with the recorded ground-truth camera trajectories. The accuracy of the surface reconstruction is assessed by evaluating the Root Mean Square Distance (RMSD) of surface vertices of the reconstructed mesh with that of the ground truth 3D models. An error of 1.24mm for the camera trajectories has been obtained and the RMSD for surface reconstruction is 2.54mm, which compare favourably with previous approaches. Second, in vivo laparoscopic videos are used to examine the quality of accurate AR based annotation and measurement, and the creation of depth cues. These results show the potential promise of our geometry-aware AR technology to be used in MIS surgical scenes. Conclusions The results show that the new framework is robust and accurate in dealing with challenging situations such as the rapid endoscopy camera movements in monocular MIS scenes. Both camera tracking and surface reconstruction based on a sparse point cloud are eff active and operated in real-time. This demonstrates the potential of our algorithm for accurate AR localization and depth augmentation with geometric cues and correct surface measurements in MIS with monocular endoscopes.
• #### Smart guaranteed time-slot allocation algorithm for industrial wireless sensor networks emergency message transmission

This paper presents investigation on application of wireless sensor networks (WSNs) in wind power generation systems and highlights an important issue associated with the deadline for the delivery of messages among nodes based on the IEEE 802.15.4E standard. Owing to the limits of standard and the power system application requirements, this research proposes a smart guaranteed time slot (S-GTS) allocation algorithm which is based on the urgent/important matrix. This proposed algorithm promotes the utilisation of contention free period in a superframe. Besides, over seven GTSs can be allocated in a superframe, there are only seven GTSs that can be used in the standard. In addition, this study proves the value of BO and SO upper bound is 6 for the WSN application in power systems. Moreover, the network delay of S-GTS performs better than the 16-time-slot mechanism and i-GAME mechanism.

• #### Solution of a singular integral equation by a split-interval method

This article discusses a new numerical method for the solution of a singular integral equation of Volterra type that has an infinite class of solutions. The split-interval method is discussed and examples demonstrate its effectiveness.
• #### Some time stepping methods for fractional diffusion problems with nonsmooth data

We consider error estimates for some time stepping methods for solving fractional diffusion problems with nonsmooth data in both homogeneous and inhomogeneous cases. McLean and Mustapha \cite{mclmus} (Time-stepping error bounds for fractional diffusion problems with non-smooth initial data, Journal of Computational Physics, 293(2015), 201-217) established an $O(k)$ convergence rate for the piecewise constant discontinuous Galerkin method with nonsmooth initial data for the homogeneous problem when the linear operator $A$ is assumed to be self-adjoint, positive semidefinite and densely defined in a suitable Hilbert space, where $k$ denotes the time step size. In this paper, we approximate the Riemann-Liouville fractional derivative by Diethelm's method (or $L1$ scheme) and obtain the same time discretisation scheme as in McLean and Mustapha \cite{mclmus}. We first prove that this scheme has also convergence rate $O(k)$ with nonsmooth initial data for the homogeneous problem when $A$ is a closed, densely defined linear operator satisfying some certain resolvent estimates. We then introduce a new time discretization scheme for the homogeneous problem based on the convolution quadrature and prove that the convergence rate of this new scheme is $O(k^{1+ \alpha}), 0<\alpha <1$ with the nonsmooth initial data. Using this new time discretization scheme for the homogeneous problem, we define a time stepping method for the inhomogeneous problem and prove that the convergence rate of this method is $O(k^{1+ \alpha}), 0<\alpha <1$ with the nonsmooth data. Numerical examples are given to show that the numerical results are consistent with the theoretical results.