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In order to explore the effects of cigarette size on the quality of cigarettes, cigarettes of four sizes (circumference x length: conventional cigarette 24.3 mm x 84 mm, 22 mm cigarette 22 mm x 84 mm, slim cigarette 20 mm x 89 mm, super slim cigarette 16.9 mm x 97 mm) were made under the same cut tobacco, filling density, air permeability of cigarette paper, tipping paper specification, tow material and draw resistance of filter rod. After the evaluation of physical indexes, smoke indexes, aroma component contents and sensory quality, the results showed that: 1) When cigarette size gradually varied from conventional to super slim, the cut tobacco content in single cigarette decreased, cigarette draw resistance increased, cigarette hardness decreased, and the ventilation rate of tobacco filler more than doubled. There was a good linear relationship between the draw resistance of tobacco filler and the reciprocal of the cigarette circumference square. 2) When the cigarette size varied from conventional to super slim, the puff number decreased by 0.92 puff/cig. The releases of tar, nicotine and CO in mainstream cigarette smoke presented an overall decreasing trend. The puffing ratio and the tobacco consumption of a single puff increased first and then decreased, those of slim cigarette were the highest, which were 29.37% and 19.98 mg/puff respectively. In addition, the tar release of a single puff from the slim cigarette was the highest. 3) The particulate aroma components of a single puff and their total amount from the slim cigarettes were the highest. When cigarette size varied from conventional to super slim, the contents of heterocyclic compounds in mainstream smoke increased first and then decreased, and the contents of 3-methyl-2-cyclopenten-1-one, 3-vinylpyridine and phenol in a single puff increased significantly. 4) The overall evaluation score of sensory quality of the slim cigarette was the highest, while that of the super slim cigarette was the lowest. As cigarette circumference decreased, the evaluation scores of aroma component contents, smoke concentration and smoke irritancy all reduced. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing service time makes the axlebox bearing of railway vehicle vulnerable to develop a fault in inner or outer races, which can cause some serious adverse effects on a railway vehicle's safe operation. To tackle this problem, we established a railway vehicle vertical-longitudinal dynamic model with inner/outer races faults of axlebox bearing and validated it by experimental data. We utilized the time-synchronous average (TSA) technology to filter the raw signals and studied their vibration features. The results show that the longitudinal vibration features are more sensitive for inner race fault identification, while the vertical vibration features are more suitable for outer race fault identification. For inner race fault identification, the indicator peak-to-peak value (PPV) that increases 1056% relative to the healthy state at the most severe fault performs the best sensitivity. For outer race fault identification, the indicator skewness value (SV) that increases 518% relative to the healthy state at the most severe fault exhibits the best performance. The research work can provide meaningful guidance for accurate diagnosis of axlebox bearing faults of railway vehicles. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A charge-based on-chip synapse adaptation Kohonen neural network circuit is proposed. The properties of the approach are low power dissipation and high density due to the charge transfer mechanism and the novel compact device configurations. The prototype chip which contains 12 X 10 synapses with a density of 190 synapses/mm squared was fabricated with 2 Mu standard CMOS technology. The experimental results from the prototype chip demonstrated successful unsupervised learning and classification as theoretically predicted.

Macrolide-resistant Streptococcus suis is highly prevalent worldwide. The acquisition of the erm (B) gene mediated by mobile genetic elements (MGEs) in particular integrative and conjugative elements (ICEs) is recognized as the main reason for the rapid spread of macrolide-resistant streptococcal strains. However, knowledge about different erm (B)-carrying elements responsible for the widespread of macrolide resistance and their transferability in S. suis remains poorly understood. In the present study, two erm (B)- and tet (O)-harboring putative ICEs, designated as ICE Ssu YSB17_ rplL and ICE Ssu YSJ15_ rplL , and a novel erm (B)- and aadE-spw -like-carrying genomic island (GI), named GI Ssu JHJ17_ rpsI , were identified to be excised from the chromosome and transferred among S. suis strains with different serotypes. ICE Ssu YSB17_ rplL and ICE Ssu YSJ15_ rplL were integrated downstream the rplL gene, a conserve locus of the ICE Sa 2603 family. GI Ssu JHJ17_ rpsI , with no genes belonging to the conjugation module, was integrated into the site of rpsI. All transconjugants did not exhibit obvious fitness cost by growth curve and competition assays when compared with the recipient. The results demonstrate that different erm (B)-carrying elements were presented and highlight the role of these elements in the dissemination of macrolide resistance in S. suis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Multi-trailer articulated heavy vehicles (MTAHVs) are increasingly used around the world due to their economic and environmental benefits. However, MTAHVs exhibit poor maneuverability and low lateral stability, which may lead to fatal traffic accidents. Given the safety risks, it is necessary to solve the steering and stability problems of MTAHVs before they are safely mass deployed on our roads. To this end, active trailer steering (ATS) based on the linear quadratic regulator (LQR) technique has been explored. The LQR-based ATS demonstrates improved maneuverability and enhanced lateral stability. In the ATS design, the vehicle and operating parameters are assumed constant. Thus, it is natural to question the robustness of the ATS in presence of vehicle and operating parameter uncertainties. To address the problem, this paper proposes a robust ATS system. The robust ATS controller is designed using a linear matrix inequality (LMI) based LQR method. In the design, both vehicle and steering actuator parameter uncertainties are considered; to enhance the robustness of the ATS, the weighting matrices of the proposed controller are optimized. The robust controller is applied to an A-Train Double, one type of MTAHV. The effectiveness of the robust ATS is demonstrated using numerical and hardware-in-the-loop real-time simulations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]