Microscale flow propulsion through bioinspired and magnetically actuated artificial cilia

Recent advances in microscale flow propulsion through bioinspired artificial cilia provide a promising alternative for lab-on-a-chip applications. However, the ability of actuating artificial cilia to achieve a time-dependent local flow control with high accuracy together with the elegance of full integration into the biocompatible microfluidic platforms remains remote. Driven by this motive, the current work has constructed a series of artificial cilia inside a microchannel to facilitate the time-dependent flow propulsion through artificial cilia actuation with high-speed (>40 Hz) circular beating behavior. The generated flow was quantified using micro-particle image velocimetry and particle tracking with instantaneous net flow velocity of up to 10¹μm/s. Induced flow patterns caused by the tilted conical motion of artificial cilia constitutes efficient fluid propulsion at microscale. This flow phenomenon was further measured and illustrated by examining the induced flow behavior across the depth of the microchannel to provide a global view of the underlying flow propulsion mechanism. The presented analytic paradigms and substantial flow evidence present novel insights into the area of flow manipulation at microscale.     

A remotely operated drug delivery system with an electrolytic pump and a thermo-responsive valve

Implantable drug delivery devices are becoming attractive due to their abilities of targeted and controlled dose release. Currently, two important issues are functional lifetime and non-controlled drug diffusion. In this work, we present a drug delivery device combining an electrolytic pump and a thermo-responsive valve, which are both remotely controlled by an electromagnetic field (40.5 mT and 450 kHz). Our proposed device exhibits a novel operation mechanism for long-term therapeutic treatments using a solid drug in reservoir approach. Our device also prevents undesired drug liquid diffusions. When the electromagnetic field is on, the electrolysis-induced bubble drives the drug liquid towards the Poly (N-Isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAM) valve that consists of PNIPAM and iron micro-particles. The heat generated by the iron micro-particles causes the PNIPAM to shrink, resulting in an open valve. When the electromagnetic field is turned off, the PNIPAM starts to swell. In the meantime, the bubbles are catalytically recombined into water, reducing the pressure inside the pumping chamber, which leads to the refilling of the fresh liquid from outside the device. A catalytic reformer is included, allowing more liquid refilling during the limited valve''s closing time. The amount of body liquid that refills the drug reservoir can further dissolve the solid drug, forming a reproducible drug solution for the next dose. By repeatedly turning on and off the electromagnetic field, the drug dose can be cyclically released, and the exit port of the device is effectively controlled.     

Response and stability of SDOF viscoelastic system under wideband noise excitations

The response and stability of a single degree-of-freedom (SDOF) viscoelastic system with strongly nonlinear stiffness under the excitations of wideband noise are studied in this paper. Firstly, terms associated with the viscoelasticity are approximately equivalent to damping and stiffness forces; the viscoelastic system is approximately transformed to SDOF system without viscoelasticity. Then, with application of the method of stochastic averaging, the averaged Itô differential equation is obtained. The stationary response and the largest Lyapunov exponent can be analytically expressed. The effects of different system parameters on the response and stability of the system are discussed as well.     

Programmable and on-demand drug release using electrical stimulation

Recent advancement in microfabrication has enabled the implementation of implantable drug delivery devices with precise drug administration and fast release rates at specific locations. This article presents a membrane-based drug delivery device, which can be electrically stimulated to release drugs on demand with a fast release rate. Hydrogels with ionic model drugs are sealed in a cylindrical reservoir with a separation membrane. Electrokinetic forces are then utilized to drive ionic drug molecules from the hydrogels into surrounding bulk solutions. The drug release profiles of a model drug show that release rates from the device can be electrically controlled by adjusting the stimulated voltage. When a square voltage wave is applied, the device can be quickly switched between on and off to achieve pulsatile release. The drug dose released is then determined by the duration and amplitude of the applied voltages. In addition, successive on/off cycles can be programmed in the voltage waveforms to generate consistent and repeatable drug release pulses for on-demand drug delivery.     

我国物流业配送系统现状及发展趋势的探讨

物流业配送系统是物流中的关键系统,针对我国市场经济运行时间比较短,物流业配送系统管理相对落后现状,对物流业配送系统的发展趋势进行了分析,提出物流业配送系统的建设措施。     

单周期ATO系统的交货期与价格决策模型

交货期管理已经成为供应链管理研究的热点之一。针对价格和交货期相关需求下,含有两个组件的单周期ATO系统,首先考虑了由组件交货期不确定性对装配商带来的组件非一致性等待成本、组件提前交货的等待成本和产品延迟费用三种类型的提前期相关成本,然后建立了装配商的期望利润最大化的非线性规划模型,求出了最优的产品价格和承诺交货期,并对决策变量进行了敏感性分析,最后通过数值实验,研究了系统参数对装配商利润的影响。对订单装配企业交货期和价格决策具有一定的现实指导意义。     

Viscoelasticity of blood and viscoelastic blood analogues for use in polydymethylsiloxane in vitro models of the circulatory system

The non-Newtonian properties of blood are of great importance since they are closely related with incident cardiovascular diseases. A good understanding of the hemodynamics through the main vessels of the human circulatory system is thus fundamental in the detection and especially in the treatment of these diseases. Very often such studies take place in vitro for convenience and better flow control and these generally require blood analogue solutions that not only adequately mimic the viscoelastic properties of blood but also minimize undesirable optical distortions arising from vessel curvature that could interfere in flow visualizations or particle image velocimetry measurements. In this work, we present the viscoelastic moduli of whole human blood obtained by means of passive microrheology experiments. These results and existing shear and extensional rheological data for whole human blood in the literature enabled us to develop solutions with rheological behavior analogous to real whole blood and with a refractive index suited for PDMS (polydymethylsiloxane) micro- and milli-channels. In addition, these blood analogues can be modified in order to obtain a larger range of refractive indices from 1.38 to 1.43 to match the refractive index of several materials other than PDMS.     

Droplet formation and shrinking in aqueous two-phase systems using a membrane emulsification method

Using a membrane emulsification method based on porous hollow-fiber membranes in combination with an aqueous two-phase system (ATPS), we are able to produce “water-in-water” droplets with narrow-dispersed size distributions. The equilibrium phases of the aqueous two-phase system polyethylene glycol-dipotassium hydrogen phosphate are used for this purpose. The droplet diameter of a given fluid system is determined by the flow rates of the continuous and disperse phase as well as the hollow fiber dimensions. When diluting the disperse phase and thus moving the ATPS system out of equilibrium, the droplet size can be further reduced in comparison to the equilibrium case. Generally, droplets formed with this method have diameters 20%–60% larger than the inner hollow fiber diameter. The new strategy of diluting the disperse phase allows the production of droplet diameter below the inner diameter of the membrane.     

“创新药物研究开发与药物创新体系建设”取得重要成果

1项目的意义和特点药物研究和医药产业的发展,对国家经济发展和社会进步具有重大影响。多年来我国药品的研发在很大程度上依赖于仿制国     

Literature storage and retrieval system using a table-top computer

A dialogue-program is described which handles crossreferences within a given set of keywords, author names, journal names and specified reference numbers. It uses the set of basic statements available in a WANG 2200T version which is connected to a floppy-diskette. The program has rather convenient features for editing and processing of literature data.     

Exploring adverse drug reactions of diabetes medicine using social media analytics and interactive visualizations

The aim of this study is to propose an automatic and real-time social media analytics framework with interactive data visualizations to support effective exploration of knowledge about adverse drug reaction (ADR) surveillance. This proposed framework has been prototypically implemented on the basis of social media data. A longitudinal diabetes patient online community data (AskaPatient.com) as well as FDA Adverse Event Reporting Systems (FAERS) data as a benchmark were used to evaluate our proposed approach’s performance. Based on the results, our approach significantly increases the precision and accuracy for ADR extraction. The number of ADR cases, the time when the ADRs occurred, and the rating of Glucophage have been visualized that resulted by mining a collection of 870 ADRs posted in Askapatents.com over a certain time period (from 2001 to 2015). The results have important implications for pharmaceutical companies and hospitals wishing to monitor ADRs of medicines.     

Quantification of the specific membrane capacitance of single cells using a microfluidic device and impedance spectroscopy measurement

The specific membrane capacitance (SMC) is an electrical parameter that correlates with both the electrical activity and morphology of the plasma membrane, which are physiological markers for cellular phenotype and health. We have developed a microfluidic device that enables impedance spectroscopy measurements of the SMC of single biological cells. Impedance spectra induced by single cells aspirated into the device are captured over a moderate frequency range (5 kHz–1 MHz). Maximum impedance sensitivity is achieved using a tapered microfluidic channel, which effectively routes electric fields across the cell membranes. The SMC is extracted by curve-fitting impedance spectra to an equivalent circuit model. From our measurement, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) cells are found to exhibit larger SMC values in hypertonic solutions as compared with those in isotonic solutions. In addition, AML cell phenotypes (AML2 and NB4) exhibiting varying metastatic potential yield distinct SMC values (AML2: 16.9 ± 1.9 mF/m² (n = 23); NB4: 22.5 ± 4.7 mF/m² (n = 23)). Three-dimensional finite element simulations of the microfluidic device confirm the feasibility of this approach.     

Adaptive and online network intrusion detection system using clustering and Extreme Learning Machines

Despite the large volume of research conducted in the field of intrusion detection, finding a perfect solution of intrusion detection systems for critical applications is still a major challenge. This is mainly due to the continuous emergence of security threats which can bypass the outdated intrusion detection systems. The main objective of this paper is to propose an adaptive design of intrusion detection systems on the basis of Extreme Learning Machines. The proposed system offers the capability of detecting known and novel attacks and being updated according to new trends of data patterns provided by security experts in a cost-effective manner.     

On organizing and accessing geospatial and georeferenced Web resources using the G-Portal system

In order to organise and manage geospatial and georeferenced information on the Web making them convenient for searching and browsing, a digital portal known as G-Portal has been designed and implemented. Compared to other digital libraries, G-Portal is unique for several of its features. It maintains metadata resources in XML with flexible resource schemas. Logical groupings of metadata resources as projects and layers are possible to allow the entire metadata collection to be partitioned differently for users with different information needs. These metadata resources can be displayed in both the classification-based and map-based interfaces provided by G-Portal. G-Portal further incorporates both a query module and an annotation module for users to search metadata and to create additional knowledge for sharing respectively. G-Portal also includes a resource classification module that categorizes resources into one or more hierarchical category trees based on user-defined classification schemas. This paper gives an overview of the G-Portal design and implementation. The portal features will be illustrated using a collection of high school geography examination-related resources.     

Analysis and robust control of system with uncertainty and disturbance using equivalent-input-disturbance approach

This paper addresses the control problem of an uncertain system suffering from an exogenous disturbance. A new degree of control freedom is developed to handle the problem based on the equivalent-input-disturbance (EID) approach. The effect of the disturbance and uncertainties is equivalent to that of a fictitious disturbance on the control input channel, which is called an EID. A state observer and an improved EID (IEID) estimator are devised to produce an estimate that is used to compensate for the disturbance and uncertainties in a control law. A second-order low-pass filter is employed in the estimator to provide a way to solve a tradeoff between disturbance rejection and noise suppression. The slope of the Bode magnitude curve at high frequencies is two times larger for the IEID estimator than for a conventional one. This makes the IEID estimator less sensitive to measurement noise and more practical. Sufficient analyses reveal the mechanism of disturbance rejection, uncertainty attenuation, and noise suppression of an IEID-based control system. A theorem is derived to guarantee system stability and a procedure is presented for system design. Simulations and experiments of the position control of a magnetic levitation system are carried out to show the validity of the presented method.     

利用粒子间相互作用的量子系统的纯度及相干性补偿

研究了混态粒子的纯度补偿以及消相干过程的抵消问题,提出了利用辅助粒子及其与目标粒子的相互作用进行纯度及相干性补偿的方法。给出了2种不同情况——混态目标粒子的纯度补偿和消相干过程的抵消——辅助粒子的充要条件。并通过系统数值仿真实验验证了所设计方法的有效性。     

Integrated microfluidics system using surface acoustic wave and electrowetting on dielectrics technology

This paper presents integrated microfluidic lab-on-a-chip technology combining surface acoustic wave (SAW) and electro-wetting on dielectric (EWOD). This combination has been designed to provide enhanced microfluidic functionality and the integrated devices have been fabricated using a single mask lithographic process. The integrated technology uses EWOD to guide and precisely position microdroplets which can then be actuated by SAW devices for particle concentration, acoustic streaming, mixing and ejection, as well as for sensing using a shear-horizontal wave SAW device. A SAW induced force has also been employed to enhance the EWOD droplet splitting function.     

Position detection and vibration monitoring system using quad-cell optical beam power distribution

In this paper, we study the accuracy of an optical vibration sensing system using Gaussian beam analysis. The proposed optical system uses a He-Ne laser source whose Gaussian beam impinges on a quad-cell photodetector array. The normalized optical power for each cell is obtained through numerical simulation based on the well-known Gaussian beam optics formulation, as the beam scans the plane of the photodetectors due to vibration. The system detection principle lies upon finding a relationship between the power distribution of the quad-cell and the position of the beam centroid, which allows us to identify the characteristics of the vibration applied, such as direction, frequency and strength. The aspects of practical implementation and experimental limitations on the power distribution accuracy are discussed and the discrepancies with the theoretical results are presented.     

Optimal location and controller design of STATCOM for power system stability improvement using PSO

The optimal location of a static synchronous compensator (STATCOM) and its coordinated design with power system stabilizers (PSSs) for power system stability improvement are presented in this paper. First, the location of STATCOM to improve transient stability is formulated as an optimization problem and particle swarm optimization (PSO) is employed to search for its optimal location. Then, coordinated design problem of STATCOM-based controller with multiple PSS is formulated as an optimization problem and optimal controller parameters are obtained using PSO. A two-area test system is used to show the effectiveness of the proposed approach for determining the optimal location and controller parameters for power system stability improvement. The nonlinear simulation results show that optimally located STATCOM improves the transient stability and coordinated design of STATCOM-based controller and PSSs improve greatly the system damping. Finally, the coordinated design problem is extended to a four-machine two-area system and the results show that the inter-area and local modes of oscillations are well damped with the proposed PSO-optimized controllers.     

在科技馆体系天文科普工作中运用互联网的研究

文章分析了国内科技馆体系天文科普资源匮乏的现状——实体场馆少;从事或参与天文科普的专业人才少。分析了在天文科普中运用互联网的优势,包括各种传播形态和方式并存、高度的交互性、运营成本低廉等;以及我国天文科普互联网资源的现状:官办网站内容丰富但缺乏人气,而互联网天文论坛事实上已成为天文科普主力军。并从实际工作的角度对于在科技馆体系天文科普工作中如何运用互联网提出了具体的建议。