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Plasma-based flow control is one of the most promising techniques for aerodynamic problems, such as delaying the boundary layer transition. The boundary layer's characteristics induced by AC-DBD plasma actuators and applied by the actuators to delay the boundary layer transition on airfoil at Ma = 0.3 were experimentally investigated. The PIV measurement was used to study the boundary layer's characteristics induced by the plasma actuators. The measurement plane, which was parallel to the surface of the actuators and 1 mm above the surface, was involved in the test, including the perpendicular plane. The instantaneous results showed that the induced flow field consisted of many small size unsteady vortices which were eliminated by the time average. The subsequent oil-film interferometry skin friction measurement was conducted on a NASA SC(2)-0712 airfoil at Ma = 0.3. The coefficient of skin friction demonstrates that the plasma actuators successfully delay the boundary layer transition and the efficiency is better at higher driven voltage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vortex control is a thriving research area, particularly in relation to flying wing or delta wing aircraft. This paper presents the topological structures of vortex flow on a flying wing aircraft controlled by a nanosecond plasma dielectric barrier discharge actuator. Experiments, including oil flow visualization and two-dimensional particle image velocimetry (PIV), were conducted in a wind tunnel with a Reynolds number of 0.5 x 106. Both oil and PIV results show that the vortex can be controlled. Oil topological structures on the aircraft surface coincide with spatial PIV flow structures. Both indicate vortex convergence and enhancement when the plasma discharge is switched on, leading to a reduced region of separated flow. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the influences of strake wing on unsteady characteristics of aircraft at high angle of attack during rolling oscillation, yawing oscillation, and coupled motion at different frequencies is investigated by using a forced oscillation test rig. The experiments include dynamic force and flow field measurements. As the results show, the rolling moments are affected by the vortices generated by the strake wing. The rolling moment is large and shows strong hysteresis both in the rolling and yawing oscillations. The value of the rolling moment coefficient is small in the coupled motion. The change of the rolling moment is related to the unsteady development of the strake vortices. The characteristics are almost the same for the yawing moment, which may mainly be affected by the sideslip angle. This paper is for the aerodynamic configuration design and the flight control design using flow control method. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presented a detailed chronological survey of scientific output related to electrochemical oxidation in SCI categories of "environmental sciences, environmental engineering and water resources" from 1975 to 2012. Publications were analyzed by distribution of the number of publications and times cited, source categories, source journals, author keywords, KeyWords Plus, and the most cited publications in these years. It was concluded that Pt, boron-doped diamond, TiCE were currently and would continue to be the predominant focused electrode materials at least over the next decade. And the foci of studied pollutants in the electrochemical oxidation were mainly concentrated in dyes and phenols popularly existing in the practical wastewaters. What's more, electrochemical degradation, wastewater treatment, electrochemical determination and fuel cell would be the key research topics currently and recently. Fenton, photocatalysis and coagulation were the most-frequent combination technology with electrochemical oxidation based on the bibliometric results. Contribution of Croatian chemists to the field is mentioned. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We have investigated the selective electroless deposition (ELD) of Cu on functionalized self-assembled monolayers (SAMs). Previous studies have demonstrated that Cu deposits on −COOH and −CH3terminated SAMs using ELD. However, the deposited films were rough and contained irregular crystallites. Further, the copper penetrated through the film. In this Article, we demonstrate that copper can be selectively deposited on −COOH terminated SAMs with improved morphology and without penetration of copper through the organic layer. The method employs a Cu(II) seed layer and an additive, adenine or guanine. We demonstrate the efficacy of the technique on photopatterned −CH3/–COOH SAMs. Copper is observed to deposit only atop the −COOH terminated SAM area and not on the −CH3terminated SAM. The use of a Cu(II) seed layer increased the Cu ELD rate on both −COOH and −CH3terminated SAMs. The deposited copper layer strongly adheres to the −COOH terminated SAMs because the copper layer nucleates at Cu2–carboxylate complexes. In contrast, the deposited copper layer can easily be removed from the −CH3terminated SAM surface because there is no specific copper–surface interaction. The additives adenine and guanine mediate the interaction of Cu2橷 the deprotonated −COOH terminated SAMs via the formation of additive–carboxylate complexes. These complexes lead to significantly reduced copper penetration through the SAM. In the case of adenine, the diffusion of copper through the organic film was eliminated. This new technique for copper deposition will facilitate the development of inexpensive molecular electronics, sensors, and other nanotechological devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Electroless nanowire deposition on micropatterned substrates (ENDOM) is a promising new technique by which to direct the synthesis and precise placement of metallic nanowires. ENDOM is generally applicable to the preparation of metallic, semiconducting, and even insulating nanowires on technologically relevant substrates, is inexpensive, and can achieve high growth rates. The deposited nanowires are ultralong (centimeters) and can be patterned in arbitrary shapes. We demonstrate ENDOM using the growth of nickel nanowires. By controlling the deposition time, the width of the nanowires can be varied from 200 to 1000 nm and the height can be varied from 7 to 20 nm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article discusses a study conducted on mice which found that homeobox gene Vsx1 regulates terminal differentiation of Type 7 ON bipolar cells. As stated, Vsx1 is expressed in bipolar cells and their absence results in proper morphological specification but defects in terminal gene expression in the Type 7 ON bipolar cells. Information is given that Vsx1 is also required for the repression of markers of these bipolar cells.

We have investigated the seedless electroless deposition (ELD) of Ni on functionalized self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) using scanning electron and optical microscopies, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry. For all SAMs studied, the Ni deposition rate is dependent on the bath pH, deposition temperature, and complexing agent. In contrast to the physical vapor deposition of Ni on SAMs, electrolessly deposited Ni does not penetrate through the SAM. This behavior indicates that ELD is a suitable technique for the deposition of low-to-moderate reactivity on organic thin films. We demonstrate that Ni can be selectively deposited on SAMs using two different methods. First, selectivity can be imparted by the formation of Ni(II)–surface complexes. As a demonstration, we selectively deposited Ni on the −COOH terminated SAM areas of patterned −COOH/–CH3or −COOH/–OH terminated SAMs. Here, Ni2+ions form Ni2+–carboxylate complexes with the −COOH terminal group, which comprise the nucleation sites for subsequent metal deposition. Second, we demonstrate that nickel is selectively deposited on the −CH3terminated SAM areas of a patterned −OH/–CH3terminated SAM. In this case, the Ni2+ion does not specifically interact with the −CH3terminal group. Rather, selectivity is imparted by the interaction of the reductant, dimethylamine borane (DMAB), with the −OH and −CH3terminal groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As combat aircraft becomes more and more maneuverable, the need to understand the unsteady behavior of aircraft in dynamic flow fields becomes more important. Usually researchers pay more attention to the effects on the changes of AOA, but ignore the effects of velocity variations. It is known that the velocity of aircraft changes greatly when the aircraft undergoes a high angle of attack maneuver, like "cobra" maneuver. To completely simulate and study the effect of rapid changes in both free stream velocity and angle of attack, a pitching motion setup is developed in the unsteady wind tunnel of NUAA. By measuring unsteady loads, unsteady pressure distribution and flow visualization, the unsteady aerodynamic behavior of a pitching isolated delta wing and the pitching delta wing coupled with unsteady free stream are investigated. It is found that the oscillating free stream velocity affects the hysteresis characteristics of the pitching delta wing further. The pressure distribution and flow visualization measurements show that the changes in the structure of the leading-edge vortices are the main reason. These studies conclude that a good understanding of the unsteady aerodynamics is vitally important in the design of super-maneuverable aircraft. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A novel chaotic time-series prediction method based on support vector machines (SVMs) and echo-state mechanisms is proposed. The basic idea is replacing ‘kernel trick’ with ‘reservoir trick’ in dealing with nonlinearity, that is, performing linear support vector regression (SVR) in the high-dimension ‘reservoir’ state space, and the solution benefits from the advantages from structural risk minimization principle, and we call it support vector echo-state machines (SVESMs). SVESMs belong to a special kind of recurrent neural networks (RNNs) with convex objective function, and their solution is global, optimal, and unique. SVESMs are especially efficient in dealing with real life nonlinear time series, and its generalization ability and robustness are obtained by regularization operator and robust loss function. The method is tested on the benchmark prediction problem of Mackey-Glass time series and applied to some real life time series such as monthly sunspots time series and runoff time series of the Yellow River, and the prediction results are promising. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, an attempt to use a multimode optical fiber sensor in tomography is made. Two types of lens, one sphere and one cylinderical, are designed for two terminals of the fiber. It solves the problem of insufficient power collection of natural light beam using current fiber with polished terminals. A theoretical analysis of the relationships among the sphere lens radius, the cylinderical lens radius, the refractive index of the fiber is carried out. The relationship between the scanning angles and the number of the optical fibers is experimentally investigated in the air medium. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

We investigate numerically the interaction between two finite Airy-Gaussian (AiG) beams in different media with the defected photonic lattices in one transverse dimension. We discuss that the beams with different intensities and phases launch into the different lattice structures but accelerate in opposite directions. During interactions, the interference fringe, breathers, and soliton pairs are observed. In the linear media, the initial deflection direction of the accelerated beams is changed by adjusting the phase shift and the beam interval. For a certain lattice period, the periodic interference fringe can form. A constructive or destructive interference can vary with the defect depth and phase shift. While the nonlinearity is introduced, the breathers is generated. Especially in the self-defocusing media, the appropriate AiG beam amplitude and lattice depth may lead to the formation of soliton pairs, On the contrary, the interaction of two Gaussian beams is diffraction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is an attractive technique for the metallization of organic thin films because it is selective and the thickness of the deposited film can easily be controlled. However, thermal CVD processes often require high temperatures which are generally incompatible with organic films. In this paper, we perform proof-of-concept studies of photochemical CVD to metallize organic thin films. In this method, a precursor undergoes photolytic decomposition to generate thermally labile intermediates prior to adsorption on the sample. Three readily available Ru precursors, CpRu(CO)2Me, (η3-allyl)Ru(CO)3Br, and (COT)Ru(CO)3, were employed to investigate the role of precursor quantum yield, ligand chemistry, and the Ru oxidation state on the deposition. To investigate the role of the substrate chemistry on deposition, carboxylic acid-, hydroxyl-, and methyl-terminated self-assembled monolayers were used. The data indicate that moderate quantum yields for ligand loss (φ ≥ 0.4) are required for ruthenium deposition, and the deposition is wavelength dependent. Second, anionic polyhapto ligands such as cyclopentadienyl and allyl are more difficult to remove than carbonyls, halides, and alkyls. Third, in contrast to the atomic layer deposition, acid-base reactions between the precursor and the substrate are more effective for deposition than nucleophilic reactions. Finally, the data suggest that selective deposition can be achieved on organic thin films by judicious choice of precursor and functional groups present on the substrate. These studies thus provide guidelines for the rational design of new precursors specifically for selective photochemical CVD on organic substrates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Interneuronal subtype diversity lies at the heart of the distinct molecular properties and synaptic connections that shape the formation of the neuronal circuits that are necessary for the complex spatial and temporal processing of sensory information. Here, we investigate the role of Irx6, a member of the Iroquois homeodomain transcription factor family, in regulating the development of retinal bipolar interneurons. Using a knock-in reporter approach, we show that, in the mouse retina, Irx6 is expressed in type 2 and 3a OFF bipolar interneurons and is required for the expression of cell type-specific markers in these cells, likely through direct transcriptional regulation. In Irx6 mutant mice, presumptive type 3a bipolar cells exhibit an expansion of their axonal projection domain to the entire OFF region of the inner plexiform layer, and adopt molecular features of both type 2 and 3a bipolar cells, highlighted by the ectopic upregulation of neurokinin 3 receptor (Nk3r) and Vsx1. These findings reveal Irx6 as a key regulator of type 3a bipolar cell identity that prevents these cells from adopting characteristic features of type 2 bipolar cells. Analysis of the Irx6;Vsx1 double null retina suggests that the terminal differentiation of type 2 bipolar cells is dependent on the combined expression of the transcription factors Irx6 and Vsx1, but also points to the existence of Irx6;Vsx1-independent mechanisms in regulating OFF bipolar subtype-specific gene expression. This work provides insight into the generation of neuronal subtypes by revealing a mechanism in which opposing, yet interdependent, transcription factors regulate subtype identity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experimental results show that there are two growth modes of crystalline metal oxide in the colloidal crystal template, which depend on the quality of the colloidal crystal. In well-ordered colloidal crystal templates, the metal oxide growth follows the structure of the colloidal crystal; and high quality three-dimensional ordered macroporous (3DOM) Cu2O or ZnO are formed. In contrast, in less-ordered colloidal crystal templates, metal oxide is grown according to its own capital structure, and cubic-shaped macroporous Cu2O or sheetlike macroporous ZnO are formed. Our method provides an easy and convenient way to prepare three-dimensional ordered macroporous materials or shaped macroporous materials via adjusting the level of ordered arrangement of the colloidal crystal templates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigate the properties of gap solitons in spin–orbit-coupled Bose–Einstein condensates in mixed linear–nonlinear optical lattices. The mixed linear–nonlinear optical lattices can support parity-time (PT)-symmetric soliton solutions, and these PT-symmetric solitons can stably exist in the semi-infinite gap of linear optical lattices. The PT-symmetric gap-stripe solitons are found by increasing the strength of the spin–orbit coupling. It is found that the amplitude of the nonlinear optical lattices can significantly affect the stability of these gap and gap-stripe solitons. With an increase of the amplitude of the nonlinear optical lattices, the stable domains of the gap and gap-stripe solitons are shrunk. The unstable solitons can show unique evolution characteristics and the stability analyses are also confirmed by the evolution simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]