Search

Highly effective lignin-based microspheres were prepared by inverse copolymerization of lignin (kraft) from suspension, with poly(ethylene imine) and amino-functionalized magnetite nanoparticles (A-LMS_Fe 3 O 4) or manganese(IV)oxide nanoparticles (A-LMS_MnO 2). The XRD, FTIR, SEM, BET, TEM techniques, including the porosity determination, were performed to analyze morphological and structural properties of synthesized microspheres. The effect of pH, the adsorbent dosage, temperature and contact duration on a batch-mode adsorption efficiency of arsenate and chromate (oxy)anions removal was tested. Spontaneous adsorption was found to be feasible, reaching the adsorption capacities of Cr(VI) (62.9 mg g−1), As(V) (47.8 mg g−1) by A-LMS_Fe 3 O 4 , and of Cr(VI) (73.9 mg g−1), As(V) (62.5 mg g−1) using A-LMS_MnO 2 adsorbent. Fast removal rates were confirmed via kinetic study, using pseudo-second order, the Weber-Morris and the single resistance mass-transfer model, with a limiting step of the diffusion transport through pores. The correlation of fixed-bed-column results with Bohart–Adams, Thomas, Yoon–Nelson and Dose Response models displayed that breakthrough behavior was influenced by flow rate and the inlet concentration. Significant potential of produced bio-adsorbent is further confirmed by the pore surface diffusion modeling, desorption study and adsorption from multi-component system using artificial water. [Display omitted] • Hybrid amino-functionalized lignin microspheres loaded with magnetite and manganese oxide nanoparticles. • Boosted adsorption efficiency of As(V) and Cr(VI) oxyanions. • Kinetic data modeling (pseudo-second order, Weber-Morris, single resistance mass transfer) indicates very fast removal rates. • Bohart–Adams, Yoon–Nelson, Dose response and Pore surface diffusion modeling applied. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A machine learning framework to learn the relationship between crowd motion and environments. • An optimization framework which efficiently discovers optimal configurations of environment layouts while considering crowd movement features, without needing to run expensive crowd simulations. • A case study of the Metropolitan Museum of Fine Arts to demonstrate the efficacy of our framework. Evaluating and optimizing the design of built and yet-to-be-built environments, with respect to human occupancy and behavior is both greatly beneficial and challenging. Crowd simulation can provide the computational means to analyze a design through the movement of virtual occupants (agents). A range of analytic information (metrics) can be computed from the simulated movement of the agents that offer insights on the design. Crowd simulation and the related analysis can be part of interactive or offline design optimization pipelines. Unfortunately, large scale crowd simulations are prohibitively expensive, especially when used within iterative design and optimization loops, where hundreds of simulations often need to be computed at interactive rates. We propose a machine learning framework that aims to solve this problem by learning the relationship between a building design and the evaluation metrics extracted from expensive simulations. We train an offline regression neural network using a synthetic training set that we generate for this purpose. Once the network is trained it can evaluate new designs efficiently, and approximate the corresponding analytic information with high accuracy. The proposed framework can also be used to find an optimized layout. We demonstrate the effectiveness of the framework on a variety of real world case studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study conditions for green crosslinking with citric acid of chitosan/PEO (polyethylene oxide) nanofibers were evaluated. The thermal in situ crosslinking enabled penetration of crosslinking agent into the matrix providing an improvement of antibacterial activity, thermal stability and mechanical properties of the prepared material. With an increase of temperature above 80 °C antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli, inversely decreased. Moreover crosslinking provided prolonged controlled drug release with outstanding increase of mechanical properties observed by nanoindentation measurements. Results of the investigation indicated crosslinking as an important parameter for producing material with multifunctional characteristics suitable for drug delivery and tissue engineering. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent years, human trajectory prediction (HTP) has garnered attention in computer vision literature. Although this task has much in common with the longstanding task of crowd simulation, there is little from crowd simulation that has been borrowed, especially in terms of evaluation protocols. The key difference between the two tasks is that HTP is concerned with forecasting multiple steps at a time and capturing the multimodality of real human trajectories. A majority of HTP models are trained on the same few datasets, which feature small, transient interactions between real people and little to no interaction between people and the environment. Unsurprisingly, when tested on crowd egress scenarios, these models produce erroneous trajectories that accelerate too quickly and collide too frequently, but the metrics used in HTP literature cannot convey these particular issues. To address these challenges, we propose (1) the A2X dataset, which has simulated crowd egress and complex navigation scenarios that compensate for the lack of agent-to-environment interaction in existing real datasets, (2) evaluation metrics that convey model performance with more reliability and nuance, and (3) a guideline for future data acquisition in HTP. A subset of the proposed metrics are novel multiverse metrics , which are better suited for multimodal models than existing metrics. The dataset is available at: https://mubbasir.github.io/HTP-benchmark. [Display omitted] • A new human trajectory prediction dataset featuring high agent-to-agent and agent-to-environment interactions. • Novel evaluation metrics that provide greater reliability and nuance than current popular metrics. • Analysis showing that future trajectory datasets should be sampled at rates higher than 20 Hz. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: The aim of this work was an investigation of structural and electrical properties of sintered zinc-titanate ceramics obtained by mechanical activation. Mixtures of ZnO and TiO2 were mechanically activated in a planetary ball mill up to 90min and sintered isothermally in air for 120min at 1100°C. The phase composition in the ZnO–TiO2 system after milling and sintering was analyzed using the XRD method. Microstructure analyses were performed using SEM. The results of electric resistivity, capacitance and loss tangent of the sintered samples were obtained. The existence of zinc-titanate as a dielectric was proved (ɛ r =12.5, Q =386.1, tgδ =0.0026, ρ =1.02Ωm). [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Conventional electrodialysis can be used to recover ammonia from dewatering centrate (i.e., down-stream wastewater from digested sludge dewatering). However, ionic impurities of the recovered ammonia solution are still a limiting factor for broad applications of ion-exchange membranes (IEMs) in wastewater treatment and resource recovery. In this study, an electrodialysis stack with bipolar membranes (BPMs) and cation exchange membranes (CEMs) but without anion exchange membranes (AEMs) was examined under various operation conditions to demonstrate high-purity ammonium sulfate production using low-grade sulfuric acid and dewatering centrate. Two significant benefits of removing AEMs from the bipolar membrane electrodialysis (BMED) are no more membrane fouling problems on AEMs and complete exclusion of impurity anions (e.g., chloride ions) in the recovered ammonium sulfate solution. A higher applied voltage condition (30 V over 7 pairs of CEM and BPM) resulted in a substantially high ammonia recovery (88.4%) and concentration (4.34 g-N/L) in 90 min. The ammonia recovery and concentration were also improved by increasing the flow rate through the BMED stack. The lowest electric energy consumption in the membrane stack was 9.6 kW h/kg-N, indicating energy efficient production of high-purity ammonium sulfate from wastewater. The amount of divalent cation scales accumulated in the BMED stack was linearly proportional to the average electric current, implying that the scaling problem can be controlled by reducing the applied voltage. Even with the scale accumulation, the electric current generation (i.e., separation performance) was hardly affected during the experiment. These findings demonstrated the strong potential of AEM-lacking BMED for practical ammonia separation from wastewater with reduced impurities. Image 1 • Highly concentrated (NH 4) 2 SO 4 production using bipolar membrane electrodialysis. • High (NH 4) 2 SO 4 purity and no fouling without AEM (anion exchange membranes). • Enhanced ammonia separation at high applied voltage and high flow rate in BMED. • Importance of CIP of BMED stack for CaSO 4 and Mg(OH) 2 scaling control. • Low energy consumption (as low as 9.6 kW h/kg-N) by excluding AEM. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

For transportation hubs, leveraging pedestrian flows for commercial activities presents an effective strategy for funding maintenance and infrastructure improvements. However, this introduces new challenges, as consumer behaviors can disrupt pedestrian flow and efficiency. To optimize both retail potential and pedestrian efficiency, careful strategic planning in store layout and facility dimensions was done by expert judgement due to the complexity in pedestrian dynamics in the retail areas of transportation hubs. This paper introduces an attention-based movement model to simulate these dynamics. By simulating retail potential of an area through the duration of visual attention it receives, and pedestrian efficiency via speed loss in pedestrian walking behaviors, the study further explores how design features can influence the retail potential and pedestrian efficiency in a bi-directional corridor inside a transportation hub. • Jointly simulated pedestrian efficiency and retail potential in transportation hubs. • Attention-based movement behaviors are studied in visual attention and locomotion. • Explored the impact of building design on pedestrian efficiency and retail potential. • Demonstrated our framework aids designers in balancing between the two metrics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • A novel sketch-based facial identity editing framework for videos. • A robust 2D to 3D sketch-based identity deformation transfer algorithm. • A new contour-based interface for accurate 3D model refinement. • Decent results can be easily produced by both professional and amateur users. Abstract We address the problem of using hand-drawn sketches to create exaggerated deformations to faces in videos, such as enlarging the shape or modifying the position of eyes or mouth. This task is formulated as a 3D face model reconstruction and deformation problem. We first recover the facial identity and expressions from the video by fitting a face morphable model for each frame. At the same time, user's editing intention is recognized from input sketches as a set of facial modifications. Then a novel identity deformation algorithm is proposed to transfer these facial deformations from 2D space to the 3D facial identity directly while preserving the facial expressions. After an optional stage for further refining the 3D face model, these changes are propagated to the whole video with the modified identity. Both the user study and experimental results demonstrate that our sketching framework can help users effectively edit facial identities in videos, while high consistency and fidelity are ensured at the same time. Graphical abstract [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New mineralized, agar-based nanocomposite films (Zn-carbonate and Zn-phosphate/agar) were produced by a combination of in situ precipitation and a casting method. The presence of minerals significantly influenced the morphology, properties and functionality of the obtained nanocomposites. Reinforcement with the Zn-mineral phase improved the mechanical properties of the carbonate-mineralized films, but had a negligible effect on the phosphate-mineralized samples. Both nanocomposites showed improved optical and thermal properties, better Zn(II) release potential in a slightly acidic environment and exhibited antimicrobial activity against S. aureus . These results suggest that Zn-mineralized agar nanocomposite films could be potentially used as affordable, eco-friendly and active food packaging materials. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study is to analyze the validity of a computer vision-based method to estimate 3D L5/S1 joint moment during symmetrical lifting. An important criterion to identify the non-ergonomic lifting task is the value of net moment at L5/S1 joint. This is usually calculated in a laboratory environment which is not practical for on-site biomechanical analysis. The validity of the proposed method, was assessed externally by comparing the results with a lab-based reference method and internally by comparing the estimated L5/S1 joint moments from top-down model and bottom-up model. It was shown that no significant differences in peak and mean moments between the two methods and intra-class correlation coefficients revealed excellent reliability of the proposed method (>0.91). The proposed method provides a reliable tool for assessment of lower back loads during occupational lifting and can be an alternative when the use of marker-based motion tracking systems is not possible. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

New bioactive and antimicrobial biomaterials were produced by alginate-mediated biomineralization with Zn-mineral phase. The synthesis procedure is simple, cost-effective and resulted in two different Zn-mineralized alginate nanocomposites, Zn-carbonate/Zn-alginate and Zn-phosphate/Zn-alginate. The presence of Zn-mineral phase and its type, have significantly affected nanocomposite morphology, stability, total metallic loading and potential to release Zn(II) in physiological environment. Antimicrobial experiments showed that both types of Zn-mineralized nanocomposites exhibit strong antimicrobial effect against Escherichia coli, Staphylococcus aureus and C andida albicans. These results suggest that alginate biomineralization, where minerals are salts of essential metallic ions like Zn(II), represents a good strategy for designing multifunctional biomaterials for potential biomedical applications. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Within this study a matrix assisted pulsed laser evaporation technique was employed for deposition of CdS quantum dots onto TiO 2 nanotubes. The number of laser pulses and laser fluence were varied to control the amount of CdS deposit. TiO 2 nanotubes were obtained via anodization technique of sputtered Ti film on FTO glass. For CdS synthesis, dimethyl sulfoxide (DMSO) was used as a matrix of the target which absorbs radiation of KrF* laser ( λ =248 nm), then evaporates enabling the deposition of CdS quantum dots dispersed into DMSO. This study showed that the size of the CdS nanoparticles synthetized in DMSO can be controlled with microwave treatment that causes the release of S 2− ions from DMSO for creation of CdS nuclei and/or their further growth. The optimization of CdS synthesis is achieved by varying the duration of the microwave treatment and the microwave power. The obtained TiO 2 photoanodes with different amounts of CdS were assembled with PbS cathodes and the polysulfide electrolyte was injected between. The influence of amount of CdS deposit and the microwave treatment of CdS on photovoltaic performance of the fabricated solar cells were analyzed under AM1.5. The results showed that microwave treatment produced a Cd(S)–DMSO complex onto CdS nanoparticles which led to a higher current density of the solar cells obtained using microwave treated CdS target. Also, the increase of CdS content by increasing the number of laser pulses provided the enhance of I–V characteristics of the solar cells. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Partially purified polysaccharides (FP) and hot alkali extract (FNa) obtained from fruiting bodies of the wild basidiomycete Grifola frondosa were examined for their antimicrobial, antioxidant and cytotoxic activity. The structural properties of FP and FNa samples were investigated by FT-IR and high resolution 1H- and 13C-NMR spectroscopy. From a group of various G − and G + bacteria the antibacterial effects were highest against the G + B. cereus . FNa was the better antioxidant shown by the lower EC 50 values of DPPH scavenging ability, ferric-reducing antioxidant power and ferrous ion-chelating ability. Ferric-reducing antioxidant power and ferrous ion-chelating ability were mostly linked to total polysaccharides, total- and β-glucan content, as well as total protein content. Both extracts displayed a moderate dose dependent antiproliferative action towards malignant human breast cancer MDA-MB-453, cervical adenocarcinoma HeLa and myelogenous leukemia K562 cells not observed in the non cancer derived MRC-5 fibroblasts. The highest effect was found in HeLa cells for FP extract. The mean diameter of Ca-alginate bead loading FP was 960.7 μm while the mean diameter of beads encapsulating FNa extract was 1051.7 μm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Objectives: The aim of this study was to investigate the effect of fiber post light transmitting ability to the continuity of resin cement-root dentin (C-RD) and resin cement-fiber post (C-FP) interface, elastic modulus and hardness of a dual-cure resin cement. Methods: Spectrophotometric measurements were applied for the determination of light transmission at coronal, middle and apical level as well as at the apical tip through Tech 21 X-OP (TECH) and DT Light Post (DT). Posts were cemented using dual-cured resin cement (Calibra). Roots were sectioned longitudinally through the post. Epoxy resin replicas were made and used to evaluate C-RD and C-FP interface under SEM. Modulus of elasticity (E) and Vicker''s hardness (VH) of the cement layer were assessed. Results: No light transmission was detected through TECH. Light transmission through DT decreased from coronal to apical and rose at the apical tip. TECH presented a significantly lower percentage of continuous C-RD and C-FP interface in comparison to DT. Coronal third of C-RD interface in TECH specimens had a significantly higher percentage of continuity than apical third. No regional differences in continuity of C-RD interface were found in DT specimens. E and VH were significantly lower when TECH was used, and decreased from coronal to apical for both posts. Significance: Cementation of fiber post with no light transmitting ability using a dual-cured resin cement resulted in lower E and VH of the cement layer, and lower percentage of continuous C-RD and C-FP interface in comparison to cementation of light transmitting fiber post. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]